LUST | dramione

01 | wingardium leviosa

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C H A P T E R   O N E | wingardium leviosa

charm. levitation.

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OUTSIDE OF THE LIBRARY, snow is crashing down from the slate-grey sky above Hogwarts in fist-sized puffs, burying the students for the third time that week. It has been a month since the winter holidays but the coursework is already beginning to pile up.

Gryffindors, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley, occupy one of the several tables in the back of the library. Like the other students, they're attempting to study but not everyone has come here to research charms and potions.

"Hey, 'Mione?"

The brunette's eyes dart to those of her friend's. Ginny, so kind and understanding. She wishes so desperately that she could reveal the truth, they're best friends after all, but that would mean committing social suicide. Instead, she coughs, feigning a sudden illness.

"I can take you down to Pomfrey, if you'd like?" Ginny studies her as if a simple look could explain the craziness that happened over the long winter holiday while everyone was away.

She reassures Ginny that she will go to Pomfrey if she begins to feel worse, but for now, she just wants to get work done. Her friend nods, accepting the answer for what it is, before turning back to her own book, allowing Hermione to place her attention back to where it probably shouldn't be.

Her dirty little secret leans against the table where a certain young Slytherin is watching him with glittering eyes and pouted lips, her slender arms cover the coursework that lays in front of her. Draco Malfoy has been making one of the Greengrass girls giggle for several minutes now, but the moments seem as though they have lasted a lifetime. Her thoughts turn bitter. Swiftly, she reminds herself that she shouldn't care. What happened between her and Draco was a one-time, albeit three-week-long, affair. However, it meant nothing - he said as much.

"You'd have to be daft to not stay as far from that maniac as possible. I still can't believe McGonagall let him come back." Her eyes crawl over Draco like he's a rotten fruit at the market.

"He didn't exactly have a choice, Gin." The words slip past her lips with little effort but she instantly regrets speaking her mind. She stares back at her friend in disbelief.

Ginny's thick brows knit together.

"Oh, piss off, why don't you? Do you know who didn't have a choice? Fred." She shoves her chair back, drawing the attention of the students surrounding them, including Draco.

Hermione stands to stop her.

"Ginny, wait. I'm sorry."

The red-head turns on her heels to stare at Hermione with tear-filled eyes.

"It should have been him, not my brother, who died that night." Her finger jabs in the air, pointing at Draco several feet away. Then she retreats to the corridor, disappearing from sight.

Hermione glances around and witnesses Draco escaping between a pair of towering bookshelves. She extracts her wand and directs it at the pile of books, flicking her wrist.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

The tomes levitate from the table as if they weigh nothing, and she directs them through the aisles until she has one left. She still hasn't found Draco. The last book drops into her hands when a soft chuckle erupts from behind her.

"I've never seen Weasley so peeved without hexing the other person. You're lucky."

"Don't congratulate me just yet." She turns on her heel to look at him.

In the darkness of the ill-lit aisle, his smile reveals a dimple in his left cheek. She finds it so attractive, the sight makes her middle tingle. She even blushes, making her turn in embarrassment. "You should probably leave."

She shoves her book aggressively into its proper slot on the shelf. Suddenly his body is pressing against her, his breath is hot against her neck.

"Don't take your frustrations out on the literature, Hermione," he says, placing his hand on top of hers. Ever so slowly he helps her slide the book into its rightful place on the shelf, his movement is fluid and his skin, warm. His lips begin to trail down her neck and she nearly gives in.

She side-steps to avoid his touch, exhaling loud enough to be considered a groan. When she looks up at him it is with frustration.

"Why are you like this?"

"Oh, stop. You weren't complaining any of the previous times. Besides, you're blushing like a rose." He gives a breathy laugh as he steps toward her. He tucks a curl behind her ear. His silver eyes trace her lips for a fraction of a second, then they dart back up to her eyes.

"You know what I mean. Why mess around with me when everyone in the school knows you're with her."

Astoria. A prim and proper pureblood that surely make Lucius and Narcissa beam with pride. The opposite of Hermione in every manner, even down to her bloodlines.

He laughs again, but she remains curious and calm, waiting for an answer that will put an end to the dizzying storm of questions that have been swirling around in her head for the past few weeks.

"Look, I get it," he says, reaching out to touch her arm. "The rumors are only partially true. I am courting Greengrass but it's simply a formality. Let me show you that I haven't moved on."

He pulls her closer, intent on kissing her but she shoves him away.

"I can't. I won't. Not while you're gallavanting around the castle with someone else. I will not be some shameful secret."

"You're jealous, aren't you?"

Hermione stifles a laugh. "I'd have to like you to be jealous."

She turns, arms crossed over her chest, her attention on the books whose words don't register in her mind.

"You'd better go before people start more rumors."

"Right. I'll see you around then, Granger. If you're ever looking for a good time, you know where my room is."

He leaves her with memories of their night together at the mention of his room.

The library returns to the familiar and comfortable silence, only the occasional student muttering shifts the dynamics.

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