"Happiness can be found even in the Darkest of times, only if one remembers to turn on the light."
-Albus Dumbledore
It had been a few days since that the last time Draco had seen the witch, he didn't know if he should be thrilled or plain infuriated. It was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him feel this way, it was unusual and unsettling. The aura inside his room had shifted uncomfortably, the usual allure of darkness and venom was bitter than usual, consequently, his mood.
He had been missing his classes, he knew, didn't even try to cover up for his missing work and he knew, now, when he stepped his foot in the potions' classroom, all of this will bite him sore in the ass. With his usual scowl framing his handsome features, Draco clutched his books tighter in his hands, his knuckles almost turning white with the lack of blood flow in his body.
With his chin held high and gaze straight, he locked eyes with the potions' teacher, Horace Slughorn greeted him with a usual smile on his face, to which Draco only narrowed his eyes at.
What's he playing at?
Before the Slytherin could open his mouth to speak, he was already cut off, "How are you feeling now, Mister Malfoy? Has the cold subsidized?" There was actual concern laced to his voice which made Draco uneasy to the maximum.
"Miss Granger told me you will be on leave for a few more days but it's good to have you back, please take a seat next to your fellow head." But the room was spinning, so was head. He wasn't listening. Draco felt like emptying his nonexistent breakfast right at Slughorn's shoes but he held his bitter tongue. When the potions' teacher walked away, it was only then that he let his words sink in.
please take a seat next to your fellow head.
On cue, his eyes cut sharply to the petty Gryffindor in the corner of the huge room. Draco realized she had been looking in his direction all this time, only lowering her gaze when Draco had caught her ogling him, red-handed. He didn't say anything, merely closed his eyes, sighing before he trudged his way to the girl who had been giving him plaguing nightmares about that one sensual kiss they shared the other day. Hermione made no action to take notice of the blond boy now sitting next to her, she continues mixing several substances together as if she herself didn't know what exactly was she doing.
Draco was aware of the tension between them, he hadn't missed the fear in her eyes the other day when he had miraculously tortured her, burned her skin with his touch as he enjoyed watching the girl squirm under his body weight. He hadn't missed the glint of his sadistic self in her eyes for him, no, he was a clear witness to it all.
But he kept his mouth shut, well, at least till the end of class, that is.
Slughorn had just stepped outside of the room that he turned to the petty Gryffindor. Throughout the whole damn lecture he could not do anything but wonder why would Granger make up a damn excuse for him so she could save his sorry ass from trouble. Different things kept hurting his head but he just couldn't decipher anything at this very moment. It was then that Draco Malfoy decided to confront the witch himself (which, by the way, was the last thing he wanted to do) He knew, one look into her eyes and he would feel all those same emotions from that kiss, one look and he would be deprived off his sleep in the next coming nights, one look and he would be an absolute mess. So believe him when he let his eyes wander to her, the ground beneath his feet shook.
"I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP!" His masculine voice had echoed all over the place, every student inside the room had turned their head to face the scene before them. Hermione cringed visibly, but only for a moment had she let her guard down before returning to her courageous Gryffindor self. She didn't shiver even a bit when he yelled again loudly, this time, much louder. "Don't you understand?" He hissed standing as close as an inch to her, ignoring everyone else in the room, "I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"
Before he could hurl more insults in her face, Hermione snapped his cold wrist in her hands, trying to take him out of the room to explain but the sudden gasp leaving her mouth only confirmed what she had done. She held his wrist, dragging him outside the classroom which was filled with people already whispering to each other. Almost instantly, Draco's eyes went as wide as a saucer. His mind wasn't working anymore, only his eyes had locked themselves on the hand grasping onto his wrist like second skin.
Hermione was already regretting her decision to touch him, if that bloody kiss wasn't enough already, she had to go out and grab onto his wrist too now. She was pulled to an abrupt stop when Draco yanked his hand out of her embrace, "Don't you dare touch me again, you-"
Mudblood.
It was on the tip of his tongue but it never came out, all that did come out of his mouth was a hurling insult in the direction of the students eavesdropping on them, making them womble their way out of the room. By now, the whole school knew not to mess with the ex-deatheater.
When he turned his undivided attention back to the witch who had been keeping him up at nights, all she did was remain silent, which, for some reason, only made Draco angrier, she wasn't retaliating to his anger and it was making his head spin. "Don't touch me again, you hear that?" he voiced out, the silver of his eyes never leaving her warm browns.
When Hermione didn't say anything for a good long period of five minutes, he realised that he didn't need an explanation at all, why she saved him from trouble of heck, why was she so stupid to think that it would be a good idea to start a bond anyway in the first place.
Stupid Gryffindors, Draco thought to himself, always ready to help others even if they are clearly not asked to.
And then, there came a soft voice that cracked his world right then and there.
"Why didn't you say it?" Hermione let her gaze travel to the books he was holding, a mere book of potions (which she had most probably already read) held all her attention.
It was frightening.
Draco didn't dare ask her what she was talking about, he knew, for a fact, what she was referring to, he wasn't stupid, of course he did- still he managed to keep his mouth sealed. He started counting numbers in his head, keeping his mind busy to make sure he didn't feel the urge to answer her question.
"Why didn't you say it, Draco?" she called his name without any hesitation whatsoever, almost as if they were fast friends, childhood buddies even. She didn't make it sound foreign on her tongue, quite the opposite actually, like she had spoken his name all her life, and that was the scary thing because Draco didn't want to think if she had.
"It's none of your business." the expression on his face, however, told a different story.
He made the unforgivable mistake of looking at her in that moment, regretting it instantly when he let his eyes stare right into her soul, he could see she was hurt but who was he to care? That was him, all tough and upbeat on the outside and a mess on the inside, it was just who Draco Malfoy was, and nobody could change that.
The room felt like it was closing in on him, maybe it was the imaginary invitation she felt to kiss him again or maybe it was Draco, who wanted another piece of that broken kiss they shared, he didn't quite know.
And quite frankly, didn't even want to.
If he didn't get out of this room quick, he was going to do something he will regret in the morning, maybe even during the plaguing nightmares he has in his bed all alone at night.
So he did, he left without another word, his lips quivering at the mere thought of smashing his mouth against Granger's again.
Dear Merlin, what is wrong with me? He had asked himself before him gathering every ounce of courage his Slytherin blood had and running for the door.
One more look at her and I will lose it.
One more look at her and I will do something I will regret.
One more look at her and I won't be able to resist it anymore.
The last words he heard before running for his life were that of who else, but Hermione, "McGonagall told me to tell that lie!" she had yelled as fast as she could, hoping that he would've heard her and not think that she was some sick girl in love with someone like him, protecting him at all costs and dangers, she didn't want her wrong image to be plastered in his brain.
Like he cared about your image, she was quick to scold herself.
On the other side of the castle, Draco had locked himself up into his dorm room, which didn't help at all, knwoing that Granger would eventually return to the same place. He didn't know what has happening to him, his hands were shaking and his lips were quivering, a tingling and unfamiliar sensation made him unrest, the same tingling feeling which he had experienced when he had kissed her that day, that bloody awful day.
Draco kept his brain above his feelings and all these sensations, just like he always had, only hoping that he would succeed through this time as well, but a nagging feeling at the back of his mind kept telling him otherwise, because this time, Granger was involved.
-------
Draco wasn't the only one feeling the sudden urge to kiss her again, apparently, it was also Hermione. As soon as he had fled the scene, she had wiped the back of her hand on her mouth instinctively, as if something was burning her delicate lips.
Only one person could've answered her question about this, and that was Ginny Weasley.
So without any further ado, she made her way to the Gryffindor common room, Harry was nowhere to be seen when Hermione stepped inside, Ron in the other hand couldn't even look at her, as if all this drama had been her fault. He had glanced at everywhere else except Hermione when she came, only adding to the aura of awkwardness.
Though hurt, Hermione didn't show anything like the brave witch she was, only when she had locked eyes with Ginny on the couch, she started speaking. "Ginny," she breathed, curling her lips inside to forget about the tingle she felt. "I need to talk to you." The concern in her eyes was enough for Ginny to step up almost instantly and follow her friend outside the common room.
She took a moment to smile, "Hermione what a pleasa-" but Hermione hadn't forgiven her friend yet, for all the humiliation she had to endure.
"Ginny please." she rushed in an irritated voice, "I need to know what you didn't tell me about that stupid charmed kiss cam of yours, I know you're hiding something and I want to know what it is, why am I feeling this way-" Hermione rambled, only stopping when the familiar electricity burned her lips once again, this time, it was sharper that all times before combined.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ginny asked, frantic, she put a hand on her shoulder to steady her friend, it seemed like she was going to pass out from the burn any moment now.
"Ginny, just please tell me, there is more to kiss cam than you let on, isn't there? Is this normal? I feel like-" she paused, swallowing her disgust when she opened her mouth again, "Feel like kissing him?" she almost dragged the words to make her point.
Ginny on the other hand, fiddled with the hem of her red sweatshirt, clearly not looking at Hermione.
"Ginny tell me what is it?" her patience was running thin, and the thought of going back to Malfoy didn't help to calm her nerves either.
"Well," Ginny started, "It makes you continue to want to kiss the other person to make that tingling sensation disappear... The burning feeling doesn't go away until... Almost one month... I'm so sorry, Hermione, I didn't know it would backfire this har-" But Hermione wasn't listening to her, the only thing that was running in circles in her mind was that she was going to have to kiss Draco Malfoy again in order to keep the burn at bay...
"But don't worry, as long as you keep kissing him from time to time, it's going to go away! It's not much! Whenever you feel like you've had enough of the stupid burn, only then it requires you to kiss the other person, I'm sorry, 'Mione." Ginny pleaded when Hermione didn't say anything.
"Doesn't any spell work against this?" she had crossed her fingers behind her back when she spoke tiredly, ready to fall any moment now.
"No, I'm sorry." she had said and all her world had cracked right at her feet.
Leave your thoughts! I am really looking forward to hear what you all say. Also, this hadn't been proof read, sorrryyy.
Also, a dear friend made this, thank you so much! If you want to send something feel free to do so on my Instagram, @dramioneserendipity