Trial by Fire

Hey guys, I know worst person on the planet right now for making you all wait so long. Thanks again for sticking with me. Here is the next chapter. Happy Reading ~Ivy



At some point during the night Hermione had gotten up to pee. She had found a pair of jammies neatly folded on the long bathroom countertop. After taking care of a few things and changing she shut off the bathroom lights, plunging her bedroom back into darkness. The bed was warm and welcoming, as were Draco’s arms. Hermione awoke a few hours later, her body at complete ease with being incased in Draco’s arms.



The pre dawn sun started streaking across the sky in varying shades of pastels. Hermione stretched and wallowed in a feeling she hadn’t been able to remember in a long time. Peace. Turning as she stretched she shifted to look at Draco’s sleeping form.



“Morning Beautiful,” he whispered in the early morning, pulling her flush against his chest. “Let’s pull the covers over our heads and pretend it’s Sunday.”



“We can’t. We have class, and not only that we have to set the proper example AND we have Head duties to see to.” Even though she said the words and firmly believed them, she snuggled closer.



“You know none of the teachers would be upset if we skipped. It is Friday after all. Not to mention that they are aware of our special situation. We could always tell them we were working on some Veela issues.”



“Absolutely not! The teachers trust us. It would be wrong to abuse that trust.” Hermione scolded as she climbed out of bed. If only to solidify the point she was trying to make. “I will not have you abuse that trust so you can take a nap.”



“What makes you think I was after a nap with you?” Draco asked climbing out of her bed. “I did however have your bed in mind.” He whispered in her ear, breezing past her into the bathroom.



Hermione stood in the middle of her bedroom dumbfounded. ‘Well then” was all she could think as her blush crept higher on her cheeks. She’d let Draco have the shower first. Hermione began gathering the clothes she would need for the day and began thinking about what had happened the night before. Part of her felt as though there should be some sort of awkward tension. She wasn’t frazzled, she was apprehensive waiting for those pesky “morning after” feelings to finally show.



Once she had gathered her clothes and daydreaming a little, she made her way to the bathroom. The shower was no longer running so she opened the door. Hermione found Draco standing in a room full of steam with a green towel wrapped around his waist. Water still dripping off most of his body, starting at the ends of his hair, running down his chest to slip below said towel. As if someone had just punched her in the chest she stopped dead in the doorway. After last night she knew it shouldn’t make a big difference, but it did. They had shared something amazing, only they didn’t share it. The night before had been an experience for her, not them. She looked up in time to see Draco smile at her before walking into his own room.



All those thoughts and feelings she had been worried about showed themselves now. Only she still didn’t feel awkward how she thought she would. Now she was concerned that the reason Draco made it all about her was because he was dreading her active participation. There was no way not to disappoint him. After all he had countless encounters with the opposite sex. He knew how good he was, and how bad she would undoubtedly be.



Hermione shook her head, trying to dislodge those unpleasant thoughts. Now was not the time for her to worry. He’d know and she just wasn’t ready for that. Hermione turned on the shower as hot as she could stand and tried to rinse away the tears thoughts of her future failure had formed.



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Potions class passed without incident. The trio walked towards lunch together catching Hermione up on what she had missed in the common room over the week. She in turn filled them in on how her parents were recovering.



“It really wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Everyone was driving really slow,” she informed. They took their seats at the house table. “but with both of them having broken bones it was impossible for them to take care of each other.”



“Well, while you were off playing Florence Nightingale Ron got asked out on a date.” Harry spoke.



“Really Ron? That’s just great! I’m so happy for you, who is she?”



“You really don’t need to sound so surprised Hermione. I mean really you sound shocked that I found a date. What am I not the dating kind?” Ron joked back.



“It’s not like that…” Hermione broke off. Draco had just entered the Great Hall. “It’s not like that at all Ronald. You just never seemed very interested in dating before.” Hermione responded after getting her body back under control.



“I was joking Hermione. When we were younger, well, we were younger and stupid. When we got older we got into trouble, then we were caught up in the war. I guess dating never got to be a high priority. Are you alright Hermione? You look a little sick.”



Unfortunately she was. Hermione had glanced over to catch a glimpse of Draco, only to see him framed by Pansy and Blaise. That picture shouldn’t upset her, but it set her mind to working. She knew Draco had slept with Pansy among others making her wonder if she would ever live up to his past. He caught her eye and smiled across the room at her. Hermione smiled weakly in return hoping she didn’t give herself away.



The look of concern on her face was not lost on Draco. Nor was the exchange lost on Blaise and Pansy.



“Draco darling, what have you gotten into? Hermione perhaps?”



“Pansy you know Draco is going for the romance angle,” Blaise retorted.



“I also know the look he gets when he has had a sexually fulfilling night. So spill, how far did you go?”



“Don’t be crass Pansy, it wasn’t like that. We just spent sometime together.” Draco felt the need to defend what had happened. “She woke me up and leaned in to kiss me good night I guess and my brain was kind of fuzzy. Then we got kind of… hot and heavy.” Pansy’s eye widened. “No not that far! But by then she was so far gone I had to do something. She would have been in pain all night. You both know that.”



Pansy, like most pureblood families knew about fairytales, what was real and what was made up. “So how far did you go?”

“I alleviated the stress. I got the impression she was scared after. “



“Good god Draco! What did you do to the poor girl?” Blaise asked sincerely.



“I didn’t do anything she didn’t enjoy.” Draco looked around the Great Hall and thought better of elaborating then and there. “Lets take a walk.”



As the group got their things together Draco walked over to Hermione. He leaned in and brushed his lips across her neck. “You’re stunning. I’ll be around the grounds,” he whispered. Her heart was still racing as she watched him walk away with his friends.



Harry leaned in, though the action didn’t have the same effect, to whisper words of his own, “You’re falling in love with him.”



“I know,” was all she could say.



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“So?” Pansy asked as soon as they were out of earshot.



Draco looked around, just to double check. Making sure they were out of ear shot. After deciding that they were far enough away from prying ears he began.



“I’m going to be blunt, seeing as you two are the only ones I don’t have to censor myself around. That being said, I don’t know if I did something wrong last night, or if maybe I just can’t read women anymore.”



“Draco,” his friends yelled in unison. “Just tell us what happened.” Blaise asked.



“Well, last night after I gave Hermione her first orgasm, I mean ever not just last night, she realized I was still sporting a raging hard on. I was looking up at her and I swear as she reached for my belt I saw fear in her eyes. So I stopped her. Before she had been begging for me to go further, I knew no other man had ever given her an orgasm. I did however think she had at least given herself one.”



“Draco, trust me when I tell you, as a woman who has many of her firsts with you, she probably was scared. Hell I was scared the first time I went down on you.”



“Do I need to be here for this conversation?” Blaise painfully questioned.



Pansy ignored him, “You have to remember that this is her first experience she’ll have on the giving side. I was the first girl to ever go down on you, and you were the first boy I ever went down on. Even knowing that I was still terrified at the time. She wont have the benefit of having gotten some practice in with someone she wont be spending the rest of her life with. You are it for her. That is a daunting thought, even with out your impressive track record. If she fails, in her mind this will be in your history forever. She is probably petrified of you. No older siblings, only close girlfriend is the only girl and youngest in a family for generations. She doesn’t seem to have a great support system in place for sex ed. How much longer do you guys have?”



“Christmas Eve.”



“That doesn’t leave you a whole lot of time. What is your plan?”



“You make it sound as though he is invading the French Pans.”



“No, Blaise, he’s invading a virgin’s bedroom. It’s trickier territory.”



“Please stop. Both of you. Blaise is right. I’m not waging war. I just need to make her more comfortable with the whole situation.” Draco began pace, trying to work out the puzzle that had become his love life.



“Let Pansy talk to her,” Blaise commented. That comment was met with blank stares from his fellow Slytherins. “Pansy made a valid point. Hermione has no close girlfriends with any sort of experience. She has no support system when it comes to sex. You can give her one. Who better then Pansy to be that person. First off she is Slytherin, so you know she can follow a sneaky plan. And while it may not seem like a benefit, no one currently knows how you work in the bedroom better then her. She can guide Hermione in the right direction. Give them a little girl time.”



“Blaise, how will that not make things worse? Pansy and Hermione have never been friends. I could get them in the same room, but Hermione would never work up the nerve to ask her anything. Hermione would think it was too personal. I’ll talk to her tonight myself. We’ll figure it out.”



“Draco Malfoy, love of my life pain in my ass. She isn’t going to tell you.” Pansy held up her hand to cut off Draco’s impending interruption. “Talking to her would be worse then bungling the whole act all together. You have to understand there are some things, right now she wont let you in on.”



Blaise glanced at his watch and stood offering his hand to Pansy. “We should really get to class.”



Draco followed behind his friends, all the while working out what Pansy had said. Maybe there was some merit to what she said. As they approached the front door of the castle Draco stopped short. “Pansy?” She turned to look at him. “How out of line would it be if I asked you to try and do a girls night thing with Hermione?”



“It wouldn’t be out of line, but it would never work. You can’t plan on putting me alone in a room with her and expect her to open up to me. There is too much history.”



“What if we got her drunk?” Blaise questioned. They continued walking toward class.



“You know,” Draco said as they reached Charms, “That might work. What if I suggest that Hermione have Ginny up to our dorms. You and I could hang out Pansy, then Blaise swings by needing me for a quick Quidditch problem. I’ll say how I wont be gone long and you should hang out there, then you know you guys could get to talking.”



“I’ll bring the booze,” Blaise contributed.



“Draco Black Malfoy, are you blushing?” Pansy asked. And he was. “I’ve known you since birth and you’ve never blushed, and like a school girl no less. Are you nervous?”



“She is different Pansy, let him be.”



“I’m sorry, it’s just too good to be true. Draco taken down a notch or two in the bedroom.” pansy looked at her childhood best friend and felt a stirring of pity. He really was hurting and he had fate to blame. Not that it would do him a lot of good to try. “Alright let me get this straight. You want me to have a sex ed class in your dorms with your soon to be girlfriend, soon to be mate and her best friend?”



“Yeah pretty much.”



“Look boys and girls we are about to be late for class, let’s get in and settled and we can work out all the details in class.” Blaise turned and walked into Double Charms.



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Hermione was vibrating. Her whole body felt like a live wire. She’d been like this since Draco had sauntered into the Great Hall. She sat with Ginny, Harry and Ron like always. Hermione of course was grilling them about the status of their homework. All in all it was a regular Friday night.



“Hey Ginny do you have ant plans tonight?”



“Not really Hermione. I was toying with the idea of getting a jump on my History of Magic essay. What’s up?”



“I was hoping maybe we could hang out. You know spend some time catching up.”



“You sure Hermione? I mean you haven’t really been leaving your common room lately. Not that anyone blames you.”



Hermione looked down at her dessert, a blush creeping high on her cheeks. “I know I’ve been distant. I did enough damage when I left, I’ve just been trying to get back on solid ground.”



“He needs you to be a lot closer then your currently talking about.”



“That’s kind of one of the things I wanted to talk to you about tonight. We could go up to my common room that way it’s private.”



“Sure thing. I’m done here, you still eating? We could head up now.”



“Yeah, let me just go warn Draco that we are taking over the common room tonight.” Hermione gathered her things before heading over to Draco’s table.



Draco knew without looking that Hermione was heading over to his table so he quickly wrapped up his plans with his fellow cohorts. “As soon as I can plant the seed we go. Understood?”



They had argued all through Double Charms mapping out a plan of attack as Blaise called it. The problem left was how to start the topic of sex before Draco and Blaise left. “I still say it has to be mentioned by someone while all the players are in the room.” Pansy spoke quickly. “We have to figure out how to get sex on the table.”



“Pansy darling that’s easy, lay her down on it,” Blaise joked.



“That’s it! Blaise you flirt with Pansy before we leave. Shh, here she comes.”



“Hey, Draco I just wanted to let you know that Ginny and I are going to head up to our common room. We wanted to hang out and she hasn’t gotten a chance to see it yet.”



“It is your room too Hermione you can invite who ever you like up. I was going to show Pansy the common rooms one of these days so she’ll stop bitching.”



“Well, ok then. See you later. Pansy, Blaise have a nice night.”



As soon as Hermione walked away Draco turned to his co conspirators and said, “Well, we’re up.”