Love's Horrid Fruit

Hermione

Draco had totally won me over. The room was absolutely beautiful, and the idea of dinner was wonderful. I had a cod, a dish I had while vacationing in France with my parents. The dessert was a traditional French desert, a sugar wrap with chocolate melted in the middle.

“So… what’s the point of a rubber duck?” Draco leaned over his plate as more sushi appeared.

“Um….” I giggled, “When you draw a bath for small children the duck is like a toy they can play with while in the water. As people grow older it becomes very nostalgic.”

He sat back and smiled, “Muggles are very odd.”

“They would say the same about Wizards.”

“What are you eating, by the way?”

I smiled, “Cod. Want a bite?”

“Sure,” He moved his chair over and I put a piece of fish onto my fork and I fed him the food.

“This is great!” He smiled.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I smiled.

“Have you ever had sushi?”

“No.”

“Here. It’s a tuna and cucumber crunch roll.”

“What’s that red stuff in the middle?”

“It’s hot sauce, but don’t worry, it’s not that hot.”

I giggled, “Okay, I trust you.”

He smiled, “Open up.”

I did and he put the entire roll in my mouth. I chewed slowly, savoring the taste, and I found it rather enjoyable. I swallowed and smiled.

“Well?”

“It’s delicious.”

He let out a short laugh, “Good.”

Our faces were close, and the two of us grew quiet. Cautiously, he leaned in and gave me a small kiss. Pulling away, he made sure he was okay, then kissed me again.

This kiss was different than all the other ones we’ve had. This wasn’t hungry of lustful, but sweet and filled with feeling. His hands tangled in my hair, holding me to him. My hands cupped themselves around the back of his neck. His moved down my back and pulled me from my chair onto his lap. I pressed myself to him as I felt his strong arms around me. I moaned into the kiss and Draco reacted strongly.

Pulling away he rested his head on the back of his chair, “Merlin’s beard, Hermione.”

“What’s wrong?”

He sighed, “We… should probably stop.”

I bit my lip and frowned, “Why?”

“I don’t want this going to a place we’re not ready for.”

I looked at him and smiled, “Well…. You’re right. We’re not ready for that yet.”

I slid off his lap and back into my chair. I smiled at Draco as he held my hand. We were quiet for a moment, then a warm feeling came from the pocket of my robe.

“What in the world?” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the galleon sized coin used back in my Dumbledore’s Army days. The coin read Hermione where are you?

“What’s that?”

Looking at Draco I said, “It’s a coin I enchanted with a Protean Charm. I um… was inspired by the Dark Mark. You enchant the master coin and the others will change to the message you want to send.”

Draco looked at me in awe, “You did this?”

“Yes.”

“That’s amazing, Hermione.”

Blushing I said, “Thank you. But it looks like Harry is trying to find me. I guess that means dinner is over.”

Draco frowned, “It doesn’t have to be for us.”

I frowned, “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to stir suspicion.”

He nodded, “You’re right.” Giving me a kiss he said, “I’ll see you later Hermione… have a good night.”

I smiled and stood, leaving the Room of Requirements before walking down the corridors to the Gryffindor common room. I said the password “wattle bird,” and crawled through the hold on the other side. Entering the common room, I found Harry and Ron in front of the fireplace.

“There you are,” said Ron, “We were looking all over for you.”

“I was in the library,” I said, “I’ve been frequenting an unused section so I can do my homework.”

“What section?”

“Ronald, if I told you, I wouldn’t be able to work alone. I don’t want you bothering me.”

“I’m bothering you?”

“Only sometimes.” I smiled at him to let him know he was not in the wrong, then took my spot on the couch next to Harry, “So, what do you want?”

“Malfoy wasn’t at dinner this evening.”

I shrugged though my heart was beating rapidly, “So? Maybe he was working on homework? Slughorn did give us quite a load last class.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, do you think you could hello with that, Hermione?” Ron asked.

“Um, yeah sure-”

“What if Malfoy wasn’t working on homework,” Harry asked, “What if he was working on something else?”

“Like what, mate?” Ron shrugged.

“Oh, I don’t know, something for Voldemort?”

I sighed, mostly with relief, but also because the three of us have had this conversation already. “Harry, Malfoy is not a Death Eater.”

“Yes he is.”

“You don’t have any proof.”

“You weren’t in the train car, Hermione. You didn’t listen to their conversation. He said he was leaving next year. Why would he do that if he weren’t a Death Eater?”

“Because it’s Malfoy,” said Ron, “He’s been wanting to jump ship for years. He thinks he’s better than everyone here, this is nothing new.”

“Malfoy is a Death Eater, you guys, trust me. When have I ever been wrong?”

Ron and I were quiet. Harry was right, his hunches were usually right, in a round about way. Our first year his hunch about Snape stealing the Sorcerer’s Stone might have been wrong, but he was right on which night Quirrel was going to take it. Our second year when he doubted the credibility of Gilderoy Lockheart when no one else did. Our entire fifth year he war right about Umpbridge, tough wrong about Sirius.

But if anyone knew how wrong he was about Draco being a Death Eater it was me. Surely I would have noticed a dark mark slithering over his skin.

“Believe me or not, but I know I’m right.” Standing Harry left in the direction of the stairs, “Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater, and I will prove it.”

Ron and I watched as he left, walking up the staircase to his bed chambers. Ron sighed, “Bet he’s going to fall asleep reading that bloody potions book again.”

I turned, suddenly alarms, “Again? Ron how long has this been going on?”

“Weeks I imagine.”

“And you’re not worried?”

“It’s just a book. What harm ever came from reading a book?”

I frowned, “Why don’t you ask your sister? She certainly has a few stories about what a book can do.”

Ron frowned, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Lavender Brown came over and smiled at Ron, “Hi.”

Ron looked up at Lavender and smiled, “Oh, hey.”

Lavender held out her hand and he took it, allowing himself to be lead to a chair in the far corner were the two of them began snogging. A look of disgust and shock came over me as Ginny took Ron’s spot.

“I know, disgusting.” She sighed, “No idea what they see in each other.”

I shook my head, “Same.” Turning to her I asked, “How are things between you and Dean?”

She frowned a little, but nodded, “We’re well. Both a bit distracted by school work and things, but we’re okay.” She smiled suddenly, “He’s taking me to the Three Broomsticks next weekend.”

I smiled, “That sounds fun.”

“I know. I’m so glad he didn’t ask to go to that silly café. I only hope he doesn’t want to go there on Valentine’s Day.”

I smiled, “It wouldn’t be that bad, the first trip in. She has nothing to decorate for.”

The two of us laughed then were joined by Dean, Prevarti, Lee, and Neville. The six of us then spent the reminder of the evening talking about classes and mocking Ron and Lavender. Times were very good at Hogwarts, even if they weren’t beyond the grounds.