Chapter 5: The fact is, I only know how to block the spells that come out your wand

Blaise noticed Draco telling numerous concerned "friends" that the reason he had not being talking, eating or concentrating properly for the last week was because he was feeling rather ill. Malfoy had ignored their repetitive suggestions to go to Madam Promfrey. Blaise understood why.

He had not been talking properly because his voice was usually croaky and low as he was constantly restraining himself from moaning and holding back shouting and curses whenever he saw Granger in the corridors. She would simply gaze at him slightly before speeding up, tugging the arm of one of her two best friends.

Draco also had several faint burns marks on his left hand because he had a serious accidental magic problem when he was angry. Whenever he strolled down corridors, he always had his wand in his hand as he was probably waiting for an excuse to hex Weasley (who always seemed to have his arm around Granger whenever Draco was in proximity).

He had not been eating simply because Granger was always there to watch instead. Blaise had been summoning house elves into their dormitory and spent a few hours every night, begging Draco to eat. Malfoy would never speak when he listened to Blaise become angrier and angrier. Very reluctantly, he would slowly eat one of the dishes that were brought to him.

It is quite clear why he was having concentration problems.

***

When Draco entered his Defence Against The Dark Arts lesson, he was annoyed to see the Gryffindors lined up in front of the high windows. He knew this meant Granger was there somewhere though. He stepped into the classroom and leant against the back wall to the right of the door. He glanced around and listened to the whole class groan about the unfortunate arrangements. The teacher was quite oblivious so he cheerfully started telling the two houses about the purpose of today's lesson, with an unusually high-pitched voice that must have been tampered with permanently with magic.

The temporary professor explained how the two groups had been joined for this one off lesson to practise body curses and how to return their opponents into their usual state without speaking any incantations. Draco heard none of this since he was watching Granger trying to pull a leaf out of her hair. They were both standing on the outer edge of the group, furthest away from the Professor and with everyone's back to them. Draco watched her for a few moments, taking in how radiant she looked with the sunlight streaming in through the thick window behind her, shining around her small figure. She was struggling since the leaf was tangled deep in her mad waves.

While the teacher warned them about the charms preventing serious hexes (which received a large amount of groaning and swearing from the pupils), Hermione froze when she saw the leaf twitching. Quite astonished, she watched the leaf fold independently; making a soft crunching noise at it did so. The leaf now resembled a crispy brown origami bird. It fluttered its tiny wings and flew quite elegantly out of her hair. She watched, enchanted by the leafy textured bird, as it flew, with so much grace and life across the room. Then, it was sucked into a wand.

Before she could tell herself to stop, Hermione looked up at the owner of the wand and gazed shamelessly into the pools of grey that were watching her. Malfoy's eyes were wide open even though he had not slept much. He was gazing back at her, drinking in greedily at her state of awe and fascination. He was as pale as ever, hiding in the shadows from the sunlight pouring through the windows. He almost smiled at her.

The professor giddily said "The Headmistress is still exercising inter-House partnership so you'll be paired with the person -" he swished his wand manically "- opposite you."

There was a wonderfully symmetrical fluid motion throughout the room. Each house had been swung very elegantly, as though they were hovering over the floor, towards the other house, making it quite clear who their partners would be.

Draco was both extremely delighted and horrified to see he was with Hermione. Choosing very quickly how he was going to act around her, he beamed at her (and was ecstatic by the distracted and dumbfounded expression he received) and placed his hand on the dip of her back before pushing her towards the front. He felt a swooshing sensation inside him when she gasped involuntarily.

Each pair had walked through a giant wooden door that had appeared in the front of the room. When Hermione and Draco entered, the teacher squeaked "make sure you get plenty of practise! You haven't got long!" and shut the heavy door behind them.

The new air around them was a lot warmer than the classroom. Hermione stepped forward and took in the features of the quite small stony chamber they had entered. It was completely empty and had a beautiful white glow coming from the high ceiling which appeared to be a giant thick cloud.

The room echoed gently with every step she took. Malfoy watched her scan the chamber until she was on the other side of it. She turned on her heel to face him. They said nothing.

Out of nowhere, Granger bounded Malfoy's whole body tightly. Malfoy was rigid, with his arms stuck to his sides, making him unable to reach for his wand. Before he hit the floor however, she performed a hover charm, causing him to float in the air like a useless piece of wood. Still gripping her wand to allow him to continue to hover, she swished her wand briefly, releasing the total bind.

He smiled at her as he floated and said "Must be a pretty powerful hover charm, Granger." Still saying nothing, she continued to watch him with an air of curiosity, quite shocked that Malfoy did not end the hover charm himself. She also thought it was odd that she liked how dominant she felt.

Feeling cruel, she performed a hair thickening charm in her head and smiled when Draco moaned with annoyance when he saw streams of white blonde hair grow in front of his face. Her growing smile faded when he swished his wand, causing his hair to jerk strangely and then suck back into his head, returning to its usual perfect state.

Hermione dropped her arm and allowed Draco to fall to the ground with a sharp thud. She muttered "Off course you know the bloody spell concerning your hair…"

He smiled at this, rubbing his arm as he got up and said confidently "I'll know most of the reversal spells to anything you throw at me. The number of times Zabini tried to tamper with my good lucks, you have to know what to do."

Hermione rolled her eyes and then did a lot of curses, one after another without warning. Draco was flung upside down midair, hit with a pillow, jerked violently across the chamber, spun around (while still upside down), attacked by a flock of golden birds, hands stuck together, tongue tied, had a plant growing quite painfully out of the top of his head and turned red with gold stripes and as these were the Gryffindor colours, this caused him to swear repeatedly with anger.

Hermione did not laugh when she turned him back round and placed him gently back on the ground, his appearance completely normal again. He staggered dangerously so he held onto the side wall and started roaring with laughter.

Granger was breathing heavily and then shouted "SHOOT ME. NOW!"

Draco continued to laugh, eyes tight shut, his head lolloping around. Hermione jutted out her chin and waited impatiently.

When his laughing quietened a bit, she said slowly "…the POINT, of this is lesson is t -" but Draco interrupted her, smiling widely.

"What's the point? I mean, we ARE the best in year. This practical is a doss anyway. Stop being so bloody keen…"

Hermione narrowed her eyes and took a few stern steps towards him. He was still grinning but felt Goosebumps on his arms.

"I don't get you." She said, leaving a two metre gap between them.

Draco pushed off the wall and stood as normal and exhaled one long breath before retorting "I'll shed some light." He opened his mouth to continue but Hermione cut across him.

"You don't even know what I don't underst -"

"Aaaaaah. But I actually do." he said, smiling innocently. Hermione folded her arms, and waited, blinking repeatedly. His smile faded when he continued. He tensed his eyebrows as he concentrated on what he was saying and made sure it sounded right. He walked in a circle as he spoke, knowing that she'd mirror it. He stopped when she was the one with her back to the wall. "I don't want to throw any spells at you. I don't want to hurt you…even if it is only in a practical school situation."

He took four tiny steps forward before continuing, so he was standing right in front of her. Her crossed arms were almost touching him. The cold surface of the walls touched the back of her school jumper. She glanced at the small space between them before looking back up at Draco's deep grey eyes.

He sighed and asked, very frankly "Weasley told you about his feelings…didn't he?"

Hermione pouted subconsciously while she tried to look angry but Draco thought she still looked ridiculously gorgeous. "What's it to you?" she asked in a quiet stern voice, eyes narrowing again.

"Everything" Draco barely whispered as she unfolded her arms and looked away, looking uncomfortable. She looked back at him briefly before looking away again, as if something significant was written in the air behind him.

Draco pressed on. "But there's nothing there for you, is there?"

She sighed, and closed her eyes, tensing them very deeply. She said nothing.

"No…adrenaline rush…" Malfoy held her arm extremely lightly right above her wrist, causing her to gasp and look at him very suddenly as she felt a strong bolt shoot through her. "…when he touches your arm." He was barely speaking now; it was more like croaking.

She still said nothing. She watched him, inhaling his cologne when he leant forward, hovering over her face and almost felt his lips moving when he breathed "Don't fight it."

Replying wasn't an option, as she was silenced. He had closed the distance between them and pressed his lips hungrily against hers.

She gasped from the sudden movement, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. Draco pressed her firmly against the wall but kept the kiss gentle. He felt her wrap her leg behind his leg, drawing and forcing him even closer. Granger pressed her lips harder, licking Draco's bottom lip sharply. Draco opened his mouth, panting from the friction, as Hermione fought for dominance again. Draco had to lean into her, to stop himself from falling due to the dizzy feeling of amazement and want.

Draco had to keep reminding himself this was real. The situation was like one of Draco's distant delusions but all his senses were too wrapped round this moment for it to be a dream. Hermione kept moaning, holding him tighter, making Draco groan. He never wanted it to end.

A few minutes later, a loud echoing voice squeaked "TIMMMMES UP!" Draco stopped kissing Hermione to swear at the top of his voice and bang his head on the wall next to Hermione's head, who was laughing.

She unravelled her arms from his neck and unhooked her leg from the back his. Draco stepped back, panting heavily, and feeling that his lips were slightly sore. He held out his hand, which she took as they headed towards the door, footsteps echoing in the chamber.

In front of the thick wooden exit, Hermione wrapped her fingers round Draco's tie and pulled it sturdily to bend his face towards hers. She planted a kiss on his cheek. She then opened the door and walked straight through it without even a backwards glance, leaving Draco standing in the doorway blushing. Hermione glided through the crowd, to go stand with Harry who instantly began his story of how he had thwarted Goyle, not sensing anything unusual. Draco staggered awkwardly towards Zabini, who was sniggering like an idiot and only silenced when Draco kicked him in the shins.

***

The main difference from now on was that at various points of each day, both Draco and Hermione would disappear. Draco's friend's assumed he was strutting about the castle, giving students unneeded detentions and grief. Hermione's friend's assumed she was in the library, catching up with homework not due for weeks.

Plus, in every Arithmancy lesson, Granger, the headstrong, pretty and caring Gryffindor, would be secretly holding hands with Malfoy, an ambitious, handsome yet remote Slytherin.