Born The Day You Kissed Me

Draco silently stepped out into the hallway of Malfoy Manor, chill bumps rising all over him due to the drastic temperature change. He took an immediate right, which led to the Library and the living quarters. He had to make sure that the West Wing was secure and Malfoy-free (save for him, of course) before he could bring her out. He didn't know what his parents would do to her if they caught them, and he didn't even want to imagine the torture he'd have to endure for years to come if he were found with her.

He cracked open the Library door, and when he saw a light he stepped in further to investigate. It didn't appear that anyone was there, but empty bottles littered the floor. The room reeked of fire whiskey, and he hoped that his father wasn't wandering around pissed out of his mind.

Just then he heard loud, booming male voices. He stopped dead still, but it seemed as though the voices were coming from the hall. He hurried back to the door, and peered around the edge to find Crabbe Senior and Goyle Senior, his father's loyal cronies. He rolled his eyes in amusement at their intoxicated conditions, but the smile was instantly wiped off his face when he realized that they were entering the room he had left Granger in.

* * * *

"Why the hell do we have to come all-hiccup-the way over to the West Wing? Lucius-hiccup-usually wants us to meet him in the-hiccup-West Wing...I mean East Wing. Wait, is it-hiccup-the West or East Wing? Ugh, now I've gone and forgotten where to meet him," Goyle mumbled.

"Wait, where are we? The East or the West Wing?" Crabbe asked before he downed his fourth bottle of fire whiskey.

"The East Wing. No, the West...now I've gone and forgotten where we bloody are," Goyle said, opening the first door he saw. "He can find us if he needs us," he joked, walking over to the desk in the back of the room. "Look, I'm Lucius Malfoy," Goyle joked around with Crabbe. He began to mock Lucius, while his drunken state took a toll on how idiotic he sounded.

Hermione's eyes were fixed opened twice as large as normal, and she broke out into a cold sweat. The obviously drunk men were death eaters for all she knew, and her first priority was to remain dead still considering she was hiding under the desk that one of the men was now sitting behind.

"Lets see if there's any more whiskey in here," Goyle said, opening one of the desk drawers. He began to carelessly toss parchment and quills and books all over the floor. "Nope, nothing in here."

"You should pick that up. If Lucius comes in here and sees-hiccup-what a mess you've made, we're going to be cursed," Crabbe shouted out, not aware that he was talking so loudly.

The man behind the desk suddenly leaned down to pick up some parchment, and before Hermione could react, his gaze fell upon her.

"Well would you look what we've got here," Goyle said, motioning for Crabbe to come see.

Hermione felt her heart stop, and she scrambled to try and get past him.

It didn't work. Goyle grabbed her ankle before she could slip away, and he hauled her back to him. Crabbe's chubby hands reached for her and he hauled her up by her wrists. He flung her against a bookshelf, and stared at her sleazily.

"She's a piece o' work, isn't she Goyle," Crabbe said, pressing himself against her.

"Get off me!" she screamed. When all he did was laugh in her face, she spit in his.

This was the wrong move however because the man in front of her pressed against her even more roughly. She winced in pain, and didn't even notice the other man that came to stand right beside her. He began to whisper in her ear, "there isn't anything you can do," he taunted her. "You're all alone," he said, laughing even harder.

"Leave me alone-" she tried to yell but the man next to her slapped his hand over her mouth.

Hermione thought she was going to throw up. She didn't know what to do, one of them was holding her wrists so tightly that she couldn't possibly get her wand, and the other had a hand suctioned so tightly over her mouth that she could hardly breath. They were two grown men who were three times bigger than she was. Just when she thought things couldn't possibly get worse, the men began to grope her, and make sickening suggestions aloud to each other about what they should do with her.

"Malfoy," she thought helplessly. She willed her tears of defeat to stop, but they began to flow steadily down her cheeks. Suddenly, she heard the door swing open and her heart surged as she saw Malfoy furiously grabbing his wand.

"Stupefy!" Draco roared, hitting Crabbe square in the back. "Stupefy!" he screamed again, hitting Goyle in the chest before he could get his wand. Both of the men fell to the floor, lifeless.

Hermione was trembling from head to toe, and before she could collapse onto the floor, Malfoy ran to catch her.

Draco didn't say a word to her. He merely lifted her in his arms and quickly walked out of the room, leaving Crabbe and Goyle in their stunned states.

Once they reached his room, he set her down on a huge couch and went to light the fire. He was furious with himself. How could he have been so stupid as to leave her alone? She wasn't safe at Malfoy Manor, and he knew he could never leave her alone again. After the fire was flourishing with life, Draco turned back to her. He could see that she was still shaking so he went to wrap a blanket around her shoulders. He knelt in front of her, and finally made eye contact with her for the first time. Her eyes were red from crying, and her bottom lip was quivering.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked her.

She looked down, then back up into his eyes. "I am now," she barely whispered.

"What did they do to you? Did they hurt you? What-?" Draco was cut off from his words as one of Granger's fingers covered his lips.

"I don't want to talk about it. I already told you, I'm fine."

Draco shook his head. "You're not fine, you're shaking," he said, moving closer to her. He reached up and squeezed her hand lightly. He stared into her eyes intently, and unconsciously glanced down at her lips. He let go of her hand and grabbed each side of the blanket wrapped around her and began to slowly pull her closer to him. All he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss her.

Hermione had already forgotten about the men who harassed her because all she could think about was how much she wanted to kiss him.

Neither of them however, were brave enough to make the first move, so they each continued to sit in silence staring at each other. The tension continued to grow, but before either could speak, a soft "Pop!" was heard in the corner.

Draco leapt up, but relaxed when he saw that it was just Tish, his house elf.

"Tish is sorry, Master Draco, Tish did not know that Master Draco had company, sirs. Tish will come back later, sir," the tiny house elf squeaked.

"No, wait. Tish, draw up a bath for my guest," he ordered sternly. "Please," he added at Granger's irritated look.

"Yes Master, right away sir!"

Draco walked back over to the couch and offered Granger a hand up. "A bath will make you feel better," he said, leading her to his porcelain restroom.

"Thank you," Hermione said, stepping out of her shoes. Malfoy stood behind her, tracing his hands over her arms. Chills invaded her body, and she turned around to face him. "And thank you again...for earlier," she said sincerely, a look of genuine gratitude on her face.

"We're even now," he said. It had just hit him that if it weren't for her, he would probably still be in her backyard, presumably dead.

Malfoy bowed his head to her, but his eyes remained glued to hers. The way his eyes looked up at her from under his eyelashes made her not want to take a hot bath, but a cold shower. He turned to leave and Hermione closed her eyes while shaking her head with puzzlement.

"Miss, the bath is ready!"

Hermione opened her eyes slowly. The restroom was beginning to smell like freshly cut roses. She smiled down at the house elf. "Mmmm, thank you very much, Tish," she said warmly, inhaling languidly.

Tish scurried out of the restroom, and Hermione began to undress. Once she stepped into the warm water, a loud sigh escaped her mouth. She grined, and sunk in as deep as she could, leaving only her nose above the water so that she could breath. "Talk about relaxation," she thought as she felt all of her stresses melt away.

* * * *

"Master Draco, is there anything else Tish can do for you, or for Master's guest?"

"Yes, wash my guest's clothing, and bring us up something to eat. Oh, and be discrete. No one knows we are here, understand?"

"Sir, yes, Tish understands very well Master Draco," Tish peeped before she ran off to fulfill her duties.

Draco sat down on his leather couch in front of the now diminishing fire, and rested his head in the palm of his hands. His mind was reeling with questions. He didn't know why he ended up in Granger's backyard a few days ago, but he ended up there. He didn't know how he found that portkey the next morning, but he found it. He didn't know how he remembered that secret passage in the East Wing, but he remembered it. He didn't know how he managed to save her from those drunken rapists, but he saved her. He didn't know why he was starting to fall for Hermione Granger, but he was falling for her.