Just a Kiss

Chapter 1

Draco slowly walks up the pathway to the quaint house that sits at the edge of a dark, evergreen forest. After looking around in hopes of discerning the owner of the home, to no avail, he ascends the steps of the porch and raps his knuckles against the hard wood of the front door. Of all punishments to give the Malfoy heir, this was perhaps the worst of them all.

While he waits for the door to open, his thoughts drift back to the day of his trial.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you stand accused of crimes against muggles. After an extensive trial in which many spoke for and against your behalf, we have decided on your punishment," the Chief of the Wizengamot says, his voice echoing in the room.

Draco swallows back the words rising in his throat, instead choosing to raise his gaze from the ground and meet the eyes of those who are punishing him.

The chief goes on, "for one year, you will stay with a member of the ministry, someone we trust to uphold our truths and the rules of our race. This individual will teach you to live without magic, bring humility to you when you lack so much of it, and show you the livings and customs of the muggle world that you speak so poorly of."

Narcissa stands at Draco's side, her hand gripping tightly to her son's. Her face is blank, but Draco's is alight with barely controlled rage.

"One week from the day, you will arrive at your temporary home, where you will remain for a year and a half. You may bring any non-magical item that you need, but other than that, you go with only the clothes on your back."

His mother's hand tightens when she asks, "might we ask who it is that my son will be staying with?" Her voice was soft, but Draco was in no way fooled. That soft tone masked the anger boiling underneath, both for her son and for the ridiculous sentencing.

The judge smirked and everyone, save Narcissa and Draco, chuckled with the shared secret. "You'll see when you arrive. But I can assure you, you are quite familiar with the person."

"I'll be there in a moment," a fairly recognizable voice calls from inside, startling Draco back into the present. The door opens to reveal the smiling face of the girl he'd seen in every paper but hadn't met in person for several years now. "Hello, you must be the-" her smile drops into a scowl the moment she notices it isn't just anyone on her porch. Draco happily returns the scowl.

"Hermione Granger, " he snorts, "of all the filthy mudbloods."

She spits, "why are you here, Malfoy?" Hermione places her hands on her hips and glares darkly at him.

Draco has to admit, she has certainly changed a lot in the time since the war. Her hair is tame, and though it had been better since fifth year, it now fell down her back in ringlets. She still wears those dreadful muggle clothes that she had in Hogwarts, but now she fills them out better, in some places better than others. Her height has changed as well, though she is still shorter than him.

He forces his eyes away from her body, silently scolding himself, before meeting her gaze again.

"Do you have an answer, or would you rather stand there looking like a bloody idiot until I decide to hex you?" She pulls her wand from a small, thin sheath that hung at her hip and points it at Draco.

"Of course, I definitely came here because I want to be hexed. Your confundus charm truly brings me joy," he snarks, shoving away her hand, but she holds firm and presses it against his chest. His own wand had been taken away under the threat of snapping it in half so there is nothing he can do to defend himself. "I'm here because the Wizengamot sentenced me to change my ways. That's the only reason on the planet I would ever willingly stand on your doorstep."

Granted, he hadn't known it would be her doorstep in the first place, but the way her jaw drops tells him that she hadn't been aware that he would be the one staying with her either. Draco smirks at her shocked expressions and takes the chance to knock away her wand.

Having regained her composure, Hermione barks, "wipe that smirk off your face, Malfoy!" The wand is thankfully being put away though. He gives her an expectant look to which she responds with confusion. "What is it now?" 

Draco shoots back with, "aren't you going to let me in?" he gestures to the doorway that she is still blocking. With a huff, she steps out of the way and allows him to walk through.

"Come right in," says Hermione, voice dripping with sarcasm. He's barely past the door before she slams it closed, causing the corner of the door to catch on his heel. Draco yelps, more out of shock then pain, but it doesn't stop the triumphant chuckle from spilling from her lips. "Be more careful next time and maybe you won't get hurt." In a fit of rage, he shoves her towards a wall, but she's faster than he'd thought. "Nice try," she smirks as she catches herself.

"Quite acting like a child, this isn't Hogwarts anymore. You're nearly twenty-two, it's time to grow up," he growls and stalks away, hands itching for his own wand.

"The same goes for you," she snaps, staying near the door.

After a short exploration of her house and discovering it was much larger than it appeared on the outside, he finds himself standing at the entrance to a bedroom. It was the only one whose door was open, so it was the only one that he bothers to look in.

Hanging on the wall are pictures of the girl with two older people, her parents, he assumes. They gazed so lovingly at their daughter, smiling and hugging her. The photos don't move like those in his own house. Even still, they seem to hold more life than the ones of his own relatives. Turning away, he scans the rest of the room. It was not unlike any other; There was a chest of drawers, a desk and nightstand, and a sprawling bed. The lack of books was perhaps the only surprise. In fact, if he recalls properly, there hadn't been a single book anywhere in the house.

She couldn't have possibly stopped reading, he thinks to himself, she loved books in school, so where are they now?

"It's rather rude to snoop through someone's bedroom, ferret," she says, dredging up the old nickname. He brushes it off and grins cheekily at her.

"It's just as much my home as it is yours, Granger," he taunts. Her face burns crimson and in an instant her wand is aimed at him once more. Draco falls back a step in shock, tripping over his own feet and tumbling to the floor with a grunt. Hermione's composure never wavers, there isn't even a twitch of a smile, but he has to turn away to hide his embarrassment.

Frightened by a mudblood! How much more of a coward can he be?

He shakes his head and turns to look at her when she speaks. "This will never be your home! The only reason I didn't blast you off my porch, and the only reason I'm not doing it now, is because I've got to do this for work. But you had better watch yourself. I don't believe I have to remind you that I have the upper hand in this situation."

Draco climbs back to his feet while she puts away her wand and combs a hand through her hair, letting out a long breath.

"Your room is the second door on the right of this hall. Get out of mine and don't bother me until evening. Then I'll make dinner before retiring to bed. Tomorrow we'll start your lessons on muggles and humility. Understand the schedule?" He chuckles while she rattles all of this off and bobs his head as an answer. "Wonderful! Now get out." She grabs Draco by his shoulders and shoves him from the room, slamming her door afterwards.

He groans and rubs his face before turning away to find his room. It was going to be a very long year.

Author's Note- Just a quick message to say that this story is on another site. I was the original writer, so I haven't stolen it or anything like that. I wanted it here because I'm trying to transition to using Wattpad more and I figured that I'd try rewriting one of my more popular stories to see how well received I'll be here. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy!!