Threat of Love

Prologue

"I know, Granger," said the cold voice in a whisper. He was standing right behind her in the dark, otherwise empty room. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck as he spoke the frightening words. An involuntary shudder ran through her body. She half wanted to turn around and laugh, ask him what he was talking about, pretend she didn't know. But she knew. And she could tell from the calm confidence in his voice that he knew, too. She didn't turn around.

"I'll do anything. Just don't tell." She was used to rumors being spread about her; two years earlier, in her fourth year, Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter had written several false, negative articles about her. But this was one secret that Hermione just couldn't handle getting out. She wondered why Malfoy had even bothered letting her know that he knew before telling the rest of the school. For a second, she wondered how he found out at all; she hadn't even told Harry or Ron. But Malfoy had an annoying habit of knowing things he shouldn't.

"What makes you so sure I haven't already?" She could hear a laugh in his voice; he was enjoying this thoroughly.

"If you had, I'd have heard about it by now from someone else." She certainly hoped he hadn't told anyone. She was trying to seem confident; she couldn't sound afraid. "What do you want?"

One word. All he said was one word. But that word was the worst possible word he could have said. "You." He walked away, but Hermione could still feel the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck, and she knew he was still watching her, even if he was across the castle.

When she was certain he was no longer looking at her, Hermione turned around, stuck her head out of the doorway, made sure no one was around, and ran to her dormitory, blushing furiously all the way.

~*~*~*~

Chapter One

What was that about? Hermione asked herself. But she knew exactly what he meant. The real question was how she was going to give him what he wanted. She could come up with no answer, so she decided to ask him herself.

She pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink, and began to write:

Draco -

I told you that I would do anything in return for your cooperation, and I meant it. But now, I'm not so sure. The vagueness of your "request" in addition to the strangeness of it leads me to the conclusion that what you want is something that I will be unwilling to give. Please hold your tongue, however, until we have an opportunity to discuss the specifics.

Hermione

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Draco was slightly ashamed of his blackmail. Of course, it would have been easier to just tell the school. This was, he was being fair, giving Hermione a chance to avoid the scandal. He had decided to give it three days; if she hadn't contacted him by then, the school would know.

He wasn't asking for anything undoable; he just wanted to see how willing she was to make good on her offer of "anything". He thought it had been most unwise of her to offer so much, when she had no idea what he wanted. For that, she needed to learn a lesson. He hoped dearly that she would suffer in the decision-making.

Draco didn't expect the letter to come the next day; he was a little disappointed that she hadn't suffered over the decision as must as he had hoped. Because of his anger at her quickness to respond, he didn't just write a letter telling her what he wanted; instead, he held the owl at the table, turned the parchment over, and wrote "midnight tonight outside the Slytherin common room", rolled it back up, and wrote "Return to Sender" on the outside. He tied it to the owl with the same string it had been attached with, told it to give the letter back to whoever sent it, and watched it as it flew over to the Gryffindor table.

Hermione sat for a minute, trying to figure out a way to get out of going to the Slytherin common room in the middle of the night to meet Draco Malfoy. An excuse popped into her head rather quickly, but she thought it would look too suspicious to keep sending the same school owl back and forth across the Great Hall. She sat for a few minutes, trying to figure out another way to talk to him, but by the time she came to the conclusion that the owl was the only way, it had taken off.

She truly had no choice now. She would just have to tell him in person. A plan quickly formed in her mind, and she prepared to make a complete and total fool of herself.

"Oh look, Draco. It's that ugly little mudblood, Hermione Granger," said Pansy Parkinson who was infatuated with Draco. "What's she doing?"

Draco thought he knew. Be tactful he thought. Don't make a scene. But he had no such luck. Hermione had decided to give Draco's words meaning. And she wasn't going to be subtle about it, either, She was Hermione Granger, and she did nothing halfway. If she did it right, which she knew she would, the entire school would know that something was up.

She walked over proudly, purposefully. For once, her nose was not stuck in a book, and she didn't let the weight of the bag over her shoulder show. Instead of looking at the floor like she usually did, she kept her eyes firmly fixed on her goal. She spoke loudly and clearly, so the entire room would hear her even if they didn't want to, but that was unnecessary; just the way she was holding herself demanded unwavering attention.

"Draco, honey." She put her hand naturally on his shoulder and tried to look innocent. "I'm sorry, but I can't make it tonight. I don't know how to get to your common room. We could meet somewhere else, a little earlier, if you want to."

"No, Hermione. It looks like we don't have to talk tonight." His voice was gentler than Hermione had ever heard it, and she could tell that he was hiding a grin.

Hermione was worried that he had changed his mind about giving her a chance to keep it quiet. "Why not?" She tried to keep her voice as calm and casual as her face, but inside she was afraid.

"Because, it looks like you already know what I wanted to tell you." He stood up and put his arm around her. He picked up his bag and they walked out of the Great Hall together, talking and laughing like they'd been best friends since birth. And as they reached the doorway out to the rest of the castle, every eye in the Great Hall saw Draco lean down and kiss a blushing Hermione.