Tango * dramione

Chapter 31

Chapter 31: The lackin' laggens

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"Oh don't you dare look back

Just keep your eyes on me
I said you're holding back
She said shut up and dance with me
This woman is my destiny
She said oh oh oh
Shut up and dance with me

~Walk The Moon, "Shut Up and Dance With Me"

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Center Stage: Draco and Hermione
Setting: ?
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It didn't matter how soft or forceful her approach - Draco refused to tell Hermione where they were headed as he took her hand and Disapparated them from her flat with a loud pop. The push and pull of the magic that spun around them in a cosmetic pinch irritated Hermione to no end, and she gasped for air as they landed expertly in an upscale drawing room, decorated not in the usual Slytherin colors she associated Draco with, but reds and golds instead. They were subtle yet hard to miss; from the trimming around the doorframe to the accented pillows, everything screamed Gryffindor!

As her eyebrows knit together, she watched Draco perform a satisfied chuckle, followed by a small sweep of the coffee table beside them with his index finger.

"Draco...where are we?" she asked.

Draco simply blew a bit of dust from the tip of his finger and replied, "For all that bragging, you'd think their home would be spotless."

"Bragging?"

"Arrogant sods..."

"Sods?"

"I wasn't aware you were one of those repeating stuffed birds from the Weasleys' joke shop. Should I return you to the store instead of keeping you on my arm this evening?"

It was just enough goading to force her to gather her senses, straighten her shoulders, and shake a finger in his face. "Now you listen here. I'm dressed in a ridiculous...ly beautiful gown for you. The least you can do in return is tell me what the Hell is going-"

But before she could finish her sentence, there was a rattle at the door, and she felt herself being scooped up into Draco's arms in a blur. The next thing she knew, her leg - the one exposed by the seductive slit in her dress - was hiked up around Draco's waist by his left hand while his right cradled her spine and his lips were set upon hers. She thought about screaming in surprise, but the expert way in which he kissed her made her forget about the room, the dress, or her confusion. It wasn't often Hermione Granger was baffled into forgetting her environment, but Draco Malfoy had a way of forcing her to do just that. His lips, full but not overly so, caressed against hers, batting away her sense of reason. He melted her like an ice cube, leaving her a puddle of dampness (particularly between her thighs). It took the clearing of a throat beside them for her to jump, realize her loss of inhibitions, and jerk away from his kiss.

To the side of them, a rather pointed looking wizard with dirty blond hair, at least twenty years their senior, raised a curious eyebrow. "You're not supposed to be up here."

"Pardon us," Draco said casually, feigning an embarrassment Hermione knew he didn't have. "Lost our way escorting my date to the powder room."

"Mhmm..." The wizard sounded skeptical but pleasant as he said, "Well, I'm afraid you've both taken a wrong turn."

"So it seems." Bashfully, Draco rubbed his hands down his robes and pretended to avert his gaze - however, Hermione could see the hint of a smirk playing across the corners of his lips. "Come, dear." With a graceful touch, he pressed his palm against Hermione's lower spine and guided her forward, past the leering wizard and out into the hallway - a wide, carpeted hallway with floating candles down the center of the ceiling, leading all the way to the hint of a staircase.