Seek and You Shall Find

Chapter 4: Scrap the Surname

It was him. She moved to close the portrait. She was in no mood to confront him again. He was too fast. He rushed a hand out and opened the portrait wider.

"Hermione...I..." She stood rigid. What did he call me? Hermione? What happened to Granger or Mudblood?

"What did you just call me?"

Whether or not he heard her, he went on. "I...well, see the thing is...I...but...you...I...I'm...I'm...sorry..."

Hermione made sure to close her mouth and to stop staring, but she couldn't help but carry a sense of suspicion. Leaning in towards him, she could smell Firewhiskey on his robes and breath. It was then she realized he was wearing the same clothing from yesterday. "Look, Malfoy. I don't know what you're at; but-" She was stopped by Draco's lips. He had pushed the portrait wide open, enveloped Hermione in his arms, and kissed her. Hermion's lips did not yield to his persuasive tongue, but she could feel her knees turning to jelly, could feel a warm tickling between her legs.

Draco broke away to notice Hermione's cheeks flushed, and her chest heaving. Hermione, doing the only thing she felt right, grabbed Draco's face and brought his lips back down to hers. Their tongues battling a stalemate war, their hands fluttering on each other's skin.

Hermione was the first to pull away, out of breath, eyes wide. That wasn't supposed to happen. Was it? Was Ginny right? No. He wouldn't have treated her like scum hours before. "Malfoy..."

"Draco."

"What?"

"My name's Draco."

She eyed him wearily and sighed. "So is this your brilliant plan? Now that you've kissed the ole goody McGonagall II you're going to resort to jokes about my virtue? You're stinking drunk, Malfoy. Go back to your room and sober up."

"If I remembered correctly, you didn't stop me." Draco stepped up to Hermione, his height towering over her. He gripped her shoulders tightly, shaking her a couple times to make her see through his perspective. "If I may object, you seemed to like it." He leaned down, his face centimeters away from her face. "And I believe the second time, you-"

"Shut up!"

The smirk replaced his features again, but his eyes spoke different. She searched to decipher their meaning, but stopped when the cold trickle of water poked at the heels of her feet. Water? It hadn't registered in her mind yet. Water? And all of a sudden her eyes became wide.

"My bath!" She rushed to the bathroom and noticed the taps still on, the water overflowing. Rushing into the forming lake, she turned the taps off and began pulling towels down to dry the floor. "Oh no no no. No. It will never dry like this. No no no."

She had forgotten about Draco until she felt a firm body brush up against her back and two warm hands grip her arms. She could feel his hot breath on her neck, and he whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "You've forgotten something, Hermione." His right hand left her arm, and appeared in front of her again, this time grasping his wand. "Evanesco!" The water vanished in front of her eyes leaving her feeling entirely ridiculous. Stupid. Malfoy gave her a smirk and left the room, leaving Hermione to leak out a piercing scream as the portrait closed and locked. How could she be so stupid? And Malfoy. Who did he think he was? Malfoy. The kiss. She ran shaky fingers over her lips, remembering the brief heated passion between them. What was that? And why did it feel so...right? She peered out the window and noticed the sun was up. There was only time left for a shower before she had to go to breakfast and face him.

Her bath was quick, nothing like what she had been thinking of when she'd first turned the taps on. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a shirt, she slipped on a pair of sandals and pulled her robes on. Stopping in front of a mirror she tied her hair into a loose bun, put a touch of makeup on, and left through the portrait. The old man was gone. Again. She would have to bring this up with Dumbledore - her portrait guardian was even worse than the Fat Lady who had spent her hours attempting to sing arias.

She padded into the Great Hall and walked to her designated seating, which was at one end of the long table and to her disgust, beside Malfoy. Pulling the chair as far away from Malfoy as it would allow her, she finally plopped down. Immediately a goblet of pumpkin juice popped up, and some waffles. She sighed, and instead of eating, thought of the poor elves down below. Perhaps it was time to bring up S.P.E.W. Again. A sudden thought came to her. The students! Yes, yes. She would influence the students about the freedom of the elves.

Seduced by the smell, she shoved a forkful of waffles into her mouth and in a few minutes had cleaned her plate. A professor down the table rang for announcements. Dumbledore stood up, walked in front of his compeers, and spoke.

"School will start in a few days, and I am sure that all of you have reacquainted yourselves. I hope no one's memory is out of date, for only slight changes that have already been mentioned have been put to use. The war is over, and I would still like to stress the matter of inter-house unity. We may never know. Perhaps Voldemort left an heir." At these words most shivered. Only a few, like Snape and Malfoy, looked skeptical. "I will mention it now; there is a yuletide ball before the Christmas break. I could save you the suspense, but I'd rather not, and leave the details till later." He smiled, waved a hand of dismissal, and the teachers walked off in different directions, all having tight schedules. The first day of school must be perfect.

Without greeting anyone, especially Malfoy - who was presently staring at her - she walked off to her rooms. She had planned this day to go to Diagon Alley and look for a few books. She wasn't going to let anyone ruin her day. Not even Malfoy.