Must Be Hell Freezing Over

MUST BE HELL FREEZING OVER (2/?)

It started out as the typical, normal day; well, normal by Hogwarts standards. Little did Hermione know that it was not the typical day and it was going to be far from normal.

It was a picture perfect morning, unerringly like one of those surreal scenes out of a Muggle movie. The sky was untainted, a clear azure blue color. Clouds painted the blue campus in wisps that looked feather light and took the shape of fuzzy, cute animals. The birds were singing merrily and all was perfect within the massive walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; well, perfect for everyone except Hermione Granger it would seem.

"Whatever are you doing inside on a beautiful day like this, Hermione dear?"

Hermione Granger visibly stiffened in her chair. She didn't have to look up from the book in her lap to see who had spoken to her. God, she loved the way he spoke her name. It rolled seductively over his tongue and through his parted lips. It had to be a sin the way he said her name.

"Sod off, Malfoy," she snapped, not even looking up from the pages of her book.

He had smiled genuinely when she had said that, but she didn't know. Instead of heeding her advice, Draco casually took the chair opposite of hers, nonchalantly kicking up his feet and studying the top of her head.

'Ah, the morning after,'

he thought sardonically.

Hermione was just as beautiful sulking in the library as she was standing in a Transfiguration doorway clad in only her negligee and a light robe, Draco concluded. Her hair was in a French twist, held in place by a Muggle pencil. A few unruly strands escaped the confinements to frame her pale face. She looked up at him then, frowning disapprovingly at his feet. Not that he noticed anyway. He gazed at her face, now in view to him.

She wore little or no makeup. 'Not that she needed it,' he thought dryly. Her face was a picture of perfection. The only makeup she wore was a bit of lip gloss on her naturally rosy lips.

She was trying to act calm like nothing had changed and they didn't have that one-on-one conversation just last night. He smirked to himself. She could deny it all she wanted, but he wouldn't let her forget.

Hermione was too busy giving Draco an appraising once over to notice that he was staring at her. He seemed, well, less dangerous in the light of day. The fact that they were in a nearly vacant library didn't help much to calm her scattered nerves, however. The shadows danced across his face, lending to him that air of mystery that had so fascinated her last night. He looked dark, handsome and every bit an enigmatic Slytherin. He looked forbidden to her. She couldn't have him, and knowing that only made her want him more.

"What are you doing here, Draco," she smiled seductively, emphasizing his name.

'Well, I suppose two can play his game,'

she thought, watching in victory as he shivered at the hidden promise in the way she had purred his name.

He shook it off though. She was a Mudb- Muggleborn. Damn it to hell! Ever since last night, he couldn't bring himself to think of her as a Mudbl- God, he couldn't even think the word anymore!

He frowned as she smiled back at him, unaware of the havoc she was unknowingly wreaking on him.

"Well," he began, removing his feet from the table so he could lean closer to her. "You left in such a hurry last night, you forgot something."

Hermione frowned. She had forgotten something? What the hell was that supposed to mean? She didn't have to wonder long. Draco pulled something out that was hidden behind the many folds of his expensive, top of the line robes. Grinning triumphantly, he slammed her Hogwarts, A History book in front of her, causing her to jump back.

Hermione's mind screamed the ever intelligent 'Oh, that,' in the back of her mind. Well, she couldn't let him know that he had completely made her forget about her precious book, it would be like letting him win a small battle in this ongoing war of theirs.

Hermione gave him a lopsided grin. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I was in such a hurry to leave your company that I might have just left it there to retrieve later?"

Draco smiled knowingly, causing Hermione to sit back- fuming. This was one battle she had lost. Why did he have to be so- so, smart, handsome and irresistible? Damn, he was right when he had suggested that the other night. He was smart, everyone of the female gender knew he was handsome, and right now, he seemed very irresistible.

"Nice try, Hermione dear, but I know that it was my dazzling charms that distracted you from your book," he proclaimed nonchalantly.

Hermione groaned. "More like the dazzling headache you brought on, you pompous ass."

Draco grinned. He really was starting to enjoy these encounters. "I see we're in top form this lovely morning, my dear."

Again, Hermione groaned irately. "What's with the endearment, Draco? What are you playing at?"

Draco's smile faded with the hurt he detected behind her words. "I'm not playing at anything," he replied in a low voice, studying her face for a reaction.

Hermione's eyes fell shut. "This isn't a game, you know. It's life. Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

Draco frowned. Why was he being nice to her all of a sudden? Damned if he knew. All he really did know was that he couldn't stop thinking about her last night, ever since she had left the classroom. He knew that he liked her, more than a friend. And he also knew that he shouldn't be having these feelings for her.

A romance between them would be doomed from the start and would be scorned by everyone else. His father would disown him, but he considered that as a plus. His fellow Slytherins would belittle him, not that they really meant anything to him though. And everyone just plain wouldn't understand, not that he gave a rat's ass about anyone anyway.

Draco grinned inwardly. He had just negated and shot down every single reason why he couldn't be with Hermione. All it really came down to was that Draco just really wanted her, and he always got what he wanted.

He smiled kindly at her, relishing in the tide a red that rose to her cheeks. "You are a nice person that deserves to be treated nicely, that's all."

'Hermione Granger, meet your doom. You'll be mine soon, pretty. Draco Malfoy always gets what he wants,'

his mind announced in triumph. She wouldn't stand a chance against him.

Hermione's brow furrowed. His smile seemed friendly enough, perhaps a little too friendly. His eyes were filled with that same fire from last night that seemed to be reaching out hungrily for her. His eyes devoured her, causing her breath to quicken pace and her heart to thump violently against her chest. She shouldn't be here; this was wrong and dangerous. One always gets burned when playing with fire.

God, she felt like she was actually, well, as Ron had once put it so eloquently, fraternizing with the enemy!

"I should be going," Hermione announced, jumping to her feet and throwing her books, quills and parchments into her bag in an orderly heap.

Before she lost the nerve, Hermione started for the Library exit that seemed to stretch out far into the distance. With every step she took, the door seemed to shrink further away. Trying not to panic, Hermione forced herself to take quick, calculated strides towards freedom.

"Oh, Hermione," Draco called out, coming up in back of her. She inwardly cursed as she came to a rigid stop. "Don't forget your book."

His left hand held out the book to her. She stood there for a moment, noticing how close they were standing and that his breathing became deeper and in hoarse gasps as they continued to stand there. Why it suddenly seemed so important to her, she did not know.

Tentatively, she reached out her hand to collect her book, his fingers purposefully grazing hers. Snatching away the book, Hermione whirled around and left a grinning Draco behind her.

'She'll be mine, whether she wants to be or not,'

he admitted to himself, coolly striding out of the library and towards the Slytherin Common Room where he would count down the hours for the night to arrive.

~*~*~

Hermione ran down the halls, recklessly trying to get away from the library as fast as she could. The library, her long time haven, was no longer safe. She was no longer safe anywhere around Draco Malfoy.

Finally reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione breathlessly relayed the password and flew up the stairs to the seventh-years girls' dorm, ignoring the people that called out friendly 'Hellos' to her.

Unceremoniously throwing her book bag onto her bed, Hermione plopped down, breathing heavily.

'Damn that Draco Malfoy and those eyes of his!'

her mind shouted.

Propping herself up against the headboard of her four poster bed, Hermione opened the cursed Hogwarts, A History book for some reading to calm her down.

This, if anything, made her growing frustration and confusion worse.

There, on the title page, scrawled in neat cursive handwriting was a note. A note for Hermione. A note for Hermione from Draco.

'Come to the Transfiguration classroom again, tonight at midnight. I will, once again, be awaiting your arrival.

~Draco Malfoy'

Before Hermione could fully react to the thought of meeting him again, his words from the night before finally clicked in.

~

Hermione had been surprised and shocked speechless, which was a very rare occurrence. He sat there so casually with the fire glowing in welcome at his back. It was almost as if he had been waiting for her...

"What are you doing?" she had logically asked him.

He smiled his humorless smile. "Waiting for you."

He had said this in voice barely above a whisper. It was more to him than to her, really, but she failed to notice this. The truth in his words, which was clearly evident, did not register in her mind, given her current state.

~

Anger replaced her current confusion as she shouted to the empty dorm, "'waiting for you!' Just what the hell is that supposed to mean!" her shrill voice echoed in the empty room.

Forcing herself to calm down, Hermione took deep, relaxing breaths. Her hands shook in her rage and her teeth clenched and unclenched furiously. She was almost in a state of hysteria.

Oh, she would go to him tonight, but only to give him a piece of her mind and put him in his place. At least, that was how Hermione justified her decision to go.