This Subdued Fire

bah. I have to keep posting the longer chapters in more than one post. :| sucks.
*waves my wand* Anti-Litigatio! there. :)
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Hermione marked his steps, remembering which way to go so that she didn\'t run into the boney gang again. They reached the opened door of the hidden sanctum. The room has been changed mightily since Hermione had seen it last. Instead of the Slytherin standard of green, white and black the room was done up in cranberry and gold. There were rosewood tables and bonsai trees scattered around with vases of orchids of various colors. There was a scent of sandalwood drifting through the lush chinoiserie. Hermione loved it. Draco closed the door behind them.

\"Why did you change it?\"

\"Last time you mentioned something about changing the decor...\" Draco trailed off, a bit sheepishly. But his demeanor changed. \"However, had I known you were going to snipe at me the first time you talk to me all day I\'d not have been arsed about it.\"

\"I\'m sorry. And that\'s one of the few times you will ever hear me say that, so relish it.\" Hermione warned with a grin playing around her lips.

\"Apology accepted. Have a seat.\" Draco gestured toward the cranberry velvet chairs which flanked the brightly burning fireplace.

Hermione sat. \"I suppose that Snape has talked to you?\"

\"Yes.\" Draco conjured up a firewhiskey from the stocked minibar which rested against a wall. \"So the question is, what are we to do about it now that he knows?\"

Hermione cleared her throat unnecessarily. \"What do you want to do?\"

\"I\'d much prefer it if things went on as before.\" Draco took a sip of the alcohol, feeling it burn down his esophagus. \"However, I leave the choice to you.\"

Hermione sighed and rose from her chair. She went over to a branch of pure white orchids and fingered a smooth, cool petal. \"You would put this all on me, wouldn\'t you?\"

\"It\'s Lady\'s Choice, my dear, and never let it be said that I am not a gentleman. Whatever you decide will be fine with me.\"

\"Before I do, there\'s something I want to ask.\"

\"Fire away.\"

\"Why do you want to continue with this? It\'s the perfect out for both of us. We could stop here and end it; no harm, no foul.\"

Draco set the half finished whiskey on a gleaming rosewood table. \"The truth?\"

\"I\'d prefer the truth to lies right now.\"

\"Right. The fact is, Granger, I\'ve gotten used to you. And I\'ve grown fond of our times together. There\'s no logical reason that we shouldn\'t continue on in this vein.\"

\"I see. I agree that we manage to spend pleasant times together. But there\'s the little matter of your father...Voldemort. We\'re on opposite sides of the same fight and that will inevitably cause a clash.\"

\"I\'ve told you, I wouldn\'t inform my father or the Dark Lord of our business. And as for being on opposite sides...\" Draco trailed off. \"I\'m not so sure about that anymore.\"

Hermione whirled to face him. \"You\'re just yanking my chain, aren\'t you?\"

Draco looked at her steadily. \"No, I\'m not.\"

Hermione could read the open honesty in that clear grey gaze. \"Why aren\'t you certain that that is what you want to do?\"

\"I won\'t lie and say that I\'m totally convinced about the whole Mud- um, Muggle-born thing. But it does serve my own ends to not bind myself to my father\'s ideals nor to the Dark Lord\'s crazy crusade.\"

\"\'It serves your own ends?\' And it\'s self-preservation above all, isn\'t it?\" Hermione\'s mouth smirked a little.

\"Damn right it is. No one else is going to look after me but me. I know which way the wind is blowing. I\'m not going to delude myself into thinking that *he* is going to come out of this alive. Harry Potter *will* kill the Dark Lord, whether the both of them want to admit it or not. And when the dust settles I intend to be alive, rich and free. I won\'t be one of those poor devils pent up in Azkaban for the rest of my life. Besides, this whole thing is going to blow up in his face. The Dark Lord is insane, trying to make up for the fact that he, himself, is a half-blood. He hates the Muggle in his veins so much that he\'s created this fantastical reign of terror to try to erase it. As if history would forget it. He\'s a madman and a sycophant to his own foolish ravings and torments. Lucius won\'t see the folly of following such a person, his ideals are so closely tied to the Dark Lord. Indeed, the whole of the Malfoy family backs the Dark Lord because he upholds the pureblood standard. Ironic, isn\'t it, that a family consumed by pureblood mania is following a dirty half-blood mad wizard with delusions of grandeur?\" Draco finished off his whiskey in one shot and gave Hermione a little half-smile.

\"So you see. I need you. If only as a way to annouce to my father that I\'m breaking ties with him and with the Dark - V-Voldemort.\"

\"In other words, I\'m just a tool of your teenage rebellion?\" Hermione asked with a rueful grin.

\"Don\'t underestimate yourself. You\'re not just *a* tool. You\'re the *supreme* instrument of my teenage rebellion.\"

\"Ah.\" Hermione left her spot by the orchid and paced the length of the room from one end of the chamber to the other. She turned in mid-stride and stopped by the foot of the bed. She passed herd ovd over the golden velvet coverlet and the bedlinens turned themselves down. Hermione stripped down to her skin and climbed into the satin swathed bed. Draco sat in his chair watching her curiously. \"Well? Aren\'t you coming to bed?\" She grinned at him cheekily.

He gave her a grin in turn. \"Yes, ma\'am