Guilty Pleasures

Chapter 2

It had been a week since Hermione and Draco kissed. No one knew about it. She definitely hadn't said anything of it to anyone and she could guarantee that Draco wouldn't breathe a word. A Slytherin kissing a Gryffindor---a Mudblood nonetheless---would've completely destroyed his reputation. But reputations did not enter Heroine's mind. All she could think of was Draco. Not the kiss, not them nearly being caught, but how she wanted him, needed him.

She was walking down the hallway with Ron when she nearly ran into someone for the second time. Parchment scattered, an ink bottle spilled, and her bag dropped from her shoulder. Hermione quickly tried to regain herself and repeated apologies to the poor victim of her collision. She shoved everything in her bag, zipped it shut, and walked on, blushing brightly. Ron stared at her for a moment and then looked ahead. He spoke in a concerned tone.

"Are you...okay?" he questioned without looking at her.

Hermione glanced at Ron. "Fine," she replied quickly. "I'm just fine. Just a bit, ah, sleepy." She faked a convincing yawn.

Ron grinned. "Great, because I wanted to, er, ask you something," he stopped and stood, facing her. He took a deep breath. "Would you like to---go out? On a date?" he asked.

Hermione was cornered into a question she had so longed to hear until now. If only he'd asked her a week ago. If only he'd showed up on time at the field and gotten to her before Draco did. Then she wouldn't even have to pause and think like this. She watched Ron's face and then slowly nodded.

"Sure, I mean, maybe," she said, forcing a smile. "That'd be great. But I'm still tired so I think I'll go lie down a moment. I'll meet you at dinnertime."

"Okay then," Ron seemed relieved. "I'll tell Harry that you'll meet us at dinner later."

They parted and Hermione started towards the Gryffindor House, but then turned a corner and leaned against the wall. She stared at the ceiling as thoughts raced through her mind. What could she do? She wanted to go with Ron so badly. She wanted to have fun and forget Draco. But her body ached for him. That one kiss was all that it took to leave her yearning for him.

Hermione circled the corridor and pulled herself together. She closed her eyes and turned around, but she slammed into someone. She fell backwards and rubbed her head, groaning.

"Not again!" she cried aloud. "I'm sor---" she opened her eyes and stopped short when she saw who she ran into. "Draco," she almost whispered.

Hermione stood up swiftly as did Draco when he saw her. They both looked extremely uncomfortable and looked at the ground. But good old Draco, he would never admit when he lost his composure. He merely straightened up, but no smug smile showed on his face. Hermione looked him in the eye, not willing to give in to the charm he possessed that she had just recently been aware of.

"Hermione," Draco said. It may have been the first time he called her by her first name.

Silence overwhelmed them as well as the heat of sexual tension. Hermione back away a few steps and so did Draco. Apparently, they each felt very awkward. Draco shrugged his shoulders in a masculine way and looked around. Hermione was trying to look anywhere but at Draco. Finally, Draco spoke.

"I've been thinking..." he said quietly. "...about, you know."

"Yes, I know," Hermione said as she stepped forward. "I have, too, and I don't know what to do."

Draco nodded his head in agreement. "Me neither." He stepped forward as well.

Hermione knew he was as confused as her. She had seen him out of the corner of her eyes in Double Potions the day before. He was watching her intently while Crabbe and Goyle joked endlessly. She didn't dare look at him for fear that someone would notice them too easily. It was hard to pretend nothing happened, but she kept up the façade of their enmity.

"Hermione," Draco said. Hermione realized that they were suddenly very close. "I've been wanting you for a long time."

Hermione was silent. She just looked into his eyes, those soft, now innocent-looking eyes.

"But I could never say anything," Draco continued.

Hermione was going to respond. She was going to say something, anything. But somehow, her words never met her lips. Instead, Draco's lips did. They groped each other in a heat of passion and Draco backed Hermione into the nearest room. It was an abandoned classroom with nothing but a few broken desks and a teacher's desk inside. He shut the door, still kissing her, and they moved towards the teacher's desk.

Draco pushed everything off the desk, like a classic love scene in a movie. He grabbed Hermione's waist and put her on top of the desk. They slowed down, kissing long and passionately, as Draco explored her body. Hermione responded with soft moans and moving her body with the motion of his.

Their hour of fervor was a writhing, twisting act of the two making their bodies sync together. In a more lucid state, Hermione would most likely be ashamed of how she had let herself fall into whirlwind of blissful sin. In a more lucid state, Draco would be afraid for himself, having done such a thing with his adversary. But they were vindicated in their minds and they saw it as redemption from years of hatred and loathing.

Finally, Hermione and Draco righted themselves and reclaimed the clothes they so eagerly shed. They kept their eyes away from each other as they dressed in silence. Nothing had come close to the adrenaline each felt only moments ago. But the painful quiet made the anxiety in the air even worse.

"I don't know what came over me," Hermione said after they became fit to be seen once more.

"Me either," Draco said as he ran a hand through the golden blond locks that fell into his eyes. "I couldn't help it."

Hermione stayed silent as did Draco. When she spoke again, it was in a very solemn, serious tone.

"We can't do anything like this again," she ordered. "It's best that we just...ignore it."

"Yeah," Draco agreed. "Like nothing happened."

A few more moments of silence. "I'm going now,"

Draco nodded.

Hermione walked out slowly and down the hallway. She was headed to the girls' bathroom to take a cold shower. Everything was so mixed up and confusing. She just pushed the last week's events---and that day's---out of her mind. But they kept recurring and she seriously considered having a spell put on her to forget. But having that done would mean she would have to tell somebody about what happened.

She sighed and stepped into the chilling shower waters. If she didn't know better, she'd think she just walked straight through Sir Nearly Headless Nick. The water took all of the heat from her body. The forbidden heat that she had just recently felt when she and Draco's bodies clashed. She threw water in her face, putting the thought from her mind. It was settled then.

Hermione would have her memory erased.

TO BE CONTINUED....