Three Decembers

Part III: A Warning

"Granger."

Hermione knew who the voice belonged to before she even turned around. She rose her eyebrows.

"Malfoy."

He gave her his usual superior smirk. She knew he had the advantage of surprise, but what they were competing for, she had yet to guess. Malfoy circled her, reminding her of a hungry cat preparing to pounce on its prey. It reminded her of Crookshanks and Scabbers.

Well,

Hermione thought to herself, I am no prey.

She gave him a pointed glance and secretly slipped her wand out of her cloak pocket.

"Is there something you want, Malfoy?"

Malfoy ignored her question and merely gave her another smirk with an addition of a single raised eyebrow.

"I don't think you should be chasing what is too good for you, Granger," he told her calmly. It was if they were discussing the weather.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, puzzled and becoming irritated.

He moved closer to her and the atmosphere suddenly shifted to something a little more dangerous. Malfoy looked the same as he always did, if not a little more civil, so why did he suddenly look so malicious to her? Malfoy was altogether too close to her. So close, in fact, that even with her wand Hermione was nervous.

She could smell his cologne. It was distinct and obviously expensive. She could feel his warm even breaths touch her skin in the cold of the afternoon. Malfoy was so impossibly near that she yearned to take a step back from the sudden unfamiliarity, of his complete violation of her personal space.

As soon as she got her body alert enough to move, he came yet closer. The next moment his lips were by her ear, so near that she felt his lips brush against her. He had her against the wall outside of the locker rooms and his wand was shoved underneath her chin. So surprised at his sudden movement, she did something very unlike herself, and dropped her wand.

Hermione never in her life felt so vulnerable, so completely and utterly helpless. For one of the few times in her life, Draco Malfoy had the best of her. Their bodies were perfectly aligned and if anybody were to pass-

Harry!

Hermione thought wildly.

-they would have thought the two were lovers.

Yet, there was nothing at all loveable about the painful way Malfoy held her, or the way his lips moved as he spoke in a mockery of a seductive whisper.

"Potter is mine, mudblood."

Hermione opened her mouth in shock and was about to exclaim when he banged her roughly against the wall and into silence. The only thing to escape her lips was a cry of pain. His hips pinned her own from any possible escape.

"Keep the fuck away from him if you know what's good for you. Understand?"

Hermione understood no such thing, but nodded so he would let go and she could curse him to oblivion. Malfoy didn't let go right away, however. He shifted his hips so his thigh was between her legs. Hermione gasped and Malfoy released some of his hold and began to kiss her neck and allow his hands to roam her body.

"This is all you mudbloods are good for," he told her in a husky whisper.

Hermione snapped. She regained her bearings and with strength she didn't know she possessed, shoved him off of her. Before he was propelled away from her body, she felt his teeth sink into her neck.

Draco gave her another superior smirk. Hermione was trembling in shock and indignation. Her wand was completely forgotten. She slapped him full force in the face and was satisfied to hear the loud "Crack!" it made. He stumbled backwards.

With a pinkened face from lust and fury, Malfoy narrowed his eyes until they were glittering grey slits on his face. "You'd best watch your step from now on, Granger."

Any reply of hers was never heard because at that moment, Harry walked out of Gryffindor locker room. Hermione's heart was like a trapped bird in a cage; it beat maniacally. She had no idea what to say.

As it turns out, she needn't say a word.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry greeted. "Malfoy and I are going to the library to discuss some strategies. Want to come?"

Hermione's mouth went dry. She shook her head.

"What about dinner?" she croaked.

Harry gave her a concerned glance. "We'll just go to the kitchens later. Are you all right?"

She nodded mechanically. She yearned to say something to Harry, but with Malfoy standing right next to her, she couldn't sum up the courage Gryffindors were famous for.

"I might be late," Harry told her. "Don't wait up. If you need me, you know how to find me."

He began to walk away with Draco at his side. Hermione watched them until they disappeared, feeling more helpless and alone than she had in a very long time. Something rolled next to her black school loafers. Her wand lay abandoned next to her feet. Feeling more desolate by the moment, she picked it up and wandered back into the castle.

"I'll show you what I'm good for, Malfoy," she swore to herself.