THE PHOENIX

Chapter Eighteen


Draco woke up smiling to himself as he felt the even breathing under his cheek from her stomach. He carefully looked up to see her hand over her chest while the other one rested on his shoulder. He looked down her body to see her shirt had ridden up, baring her stomach.

He pulled the ties of her shorts slowly to inch them down her hips. She shifted in her sleep, stilling Draco’s hand at her hip. He waited until she lay still again then worked the shorts over her thighs. He was really glad that the couch was well cushioned at the time, as he was able to slip the shorts off easier.

He grew instantly hard at the sight of her panty-less body. He leaned up on his one arm as he bent over to kiss her hip. He moved her one leg so it rested over the edge of the couch, then looked up again, not believing how deep of a sleeper she was. Mind you, over the past couple of days, she’d been rather busy.

He moved down slowly to lay between her legs and leaned in, inhaling her scent. He pointed his tongue to glide over her slit, down then back up again. Her other leg went over the back of the couch, spreading her more. He looked up to see her eyes open, looking down at him. “Don’t stop,” she said, her voice still heavy with sleep.

He delved his tongue around her folds, sucking the lips inside of his mouth. His tongue swirled around her clit, her hips bucking up against his mouth. “Gods, that feels so good,” she groaned. She tugged at his hair as she raised her upper body, “but I want to taste you too.”

He reluctantly drew away from her and stood up to remove his sweats and boxers, along with his tank top. He looked down at Hermione as she lay on her side. “Put your leg over the back,” he said huskily as his hand gripped his erection.

Hermione licked her lips as she removed her tank top and raised her leg over the back of the couch again. “I love when you do that,” she said huskily as she watched his hand glide up and down his shaft. Her hand skimmed down her stomach to slide between her legs, watching as his hand moved faster, his breathing getting erratic. “You like when I do this don’t you?” she asked as she slipped a finger inside of herself.

“Yes,” he answered hoarsely as he came closer.

He came back to the couch and bent over to taste her again. Hermione’s hand went up his thigh until her fingers found what they were looking for. They wrapped around his shaft, pumping the hardened flesh, her thumb sliding over the leaking head.

He groaned against her clit, the vibration shooting through her lower body. He moved to lay sideways on the couch, never leaving his mouth from her. When he felt her lips go around his cock, her tongue flicking against the head, he lapped at her furiously. His arm came around her bottom to come between her legs. He slipped two fingers deep inside of her while he licked her up and down, his chin rubbing against her clit as he licked near his knuckles.

Hermione moaned as she took him deep in her mouth, her hand gripping his ass as she pulled him closer. Her mouth moved up and down on him, her tongue moving insistently along his length. When she felt him suck in her clit while swiping at it with his tongue, she took him deep in her mouth, moaning as the building pressure finally exploded in her lower body, clutching his fingers tightly as she came. He moved his mouth down as he lapped at the juices seeping out of her. She reached around to cup his balls, massaging them until she felt them tighten into themselves. He groaned against her as he moved his hips forwards, thrusting his cock into her hot mouth, spilling his cum down her throat. Her mouth kept moving on him until his body quivered under her hands.

He pulled back, both of them breathing heavy. She shifted until she lay beside him to nuzzle her nose into his neck. “I like the way you wake me up,” she said smiling against the steady pulse at his neck.

“Yes, well now I’m ready for sleep again,” he said yawning.

“Oh no you’re not. We play quidditch today against the old folks, remember?” she laughed as she crawled over him, heading for the bathroom.

After both changing into part of their quidditch uniforms, they made their way down to breakfast. They sat side by side across from Harry and Ron who were talking about the upcoming games. The games that day were to be house against old house. For example, this years Gryffindor team against wizards and witches from the past ten years, the best formed into one team. There was to be four games today. Two in the morning; Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, then two in the afternoon; Gryffindor and Slytherin. The next day, and also the last day of the fund raiser event, is the final game. People vote for the best players to make up the team for the present year and past year, combining all the houses.

The Great Hall was overcome with excited talk about the games when they heard a commotion at the guest table. Hermione’s face was bent down, facing the wall while Draco kept trying to touch her back to have her flinch away. McGonagall and Snape rushed over to the table while Mitch kneeled in front of her. From the Slytherin table there was a witch that looked on with a triumphant look on her face, then slowly made her way out, satisfied at the turn of events.

Hermione was bent over holding the side of her face, tears gliding down her cheeks. Mitch tilted her head up to see an angry red mark, trail across her cheek, already blistering. He looked to McGonagall and Snape, “we should get to the infirmary,” he stated as he helped her up.

“Hermione,” Draco said worriedly as he got up, confused to what happened. She reached out to take his hand when he flinched back from pain. He looked down to see a red handprint burned onto his hand.

Severus saw the flinch, then looked to the others where Hermione and Draco sat. “Is there anyone else with these symptoms?”

Each person tentatively touched the person closest to them. When they shook their heads, Snape nodded then followed Draco to the infirmary.....Ron, Harry, Sirius, and Remus behind him.

Mitch and Severus helped Hermione and Draco sit on a bed, separate from each other. Mitch and Madame Pomfrey healed the burns on Hermione’s face. Mitch then touched Hermione’s back to have her move away from him. He carefully touched her arm to thankfully see no marks. He looked to Draco, “did you touch her anywhere else other than her face?” he asked.

“Yeah. When she bent over, I touched her back to see if she was okay,” he replied worriedly. “What’s going on?”

Madame Pomfrey lifted Hermione’s shirt to see the burn on her back. Mitch came over to heal it, a soothing coolness going over her back. Draco stood up to see her back. He went to reach out to touch her when Severus grabbed his hand, holding it back.

“Hermione, I need to check something,” Mitch started, “I need you to touch Draco....and Draco to touch Hermione.”

Hermione traced her fingertip on Draco’s hand to leave a burn. Draco did the same. “Why can’t I touch him?” Hermione said looking into Draco’s eyes.

“It looks like the effects of a spell or potion. Did you touch each other before breakfast?” Severus asked.

“Yes,” Draco replied.

“I have my suspicions on what it might be, but I’d like a sample of each of your blood to verify it,” Mitch instructed. “If it’s what I think, we’ll need a bit of the blood anyway.” He then drew a bit of blood from each of their fingers. “You two might as well try to enjoy the games. It won’t affect you physically, besides the not being able to touch each other for awhile. I’ll get back to you right away about the results.”

They all walked out of the infirmary towards the quidditch pitch to watch the Hufflepuff game that was in progress. Severus walked between Hermione and Draco silently. They were all quiet until they sat down. “What do you think this is Severus?” Draco asked.

“I’m guessing it was a potion that was probably slipped into your breakfast. It’s from the Dark Arts, a potion call simply ‘The burning touch’,” Severus replied.

“Is there a cure?” Hermione asked hopefully.

“Yes, it takes a day to brew. We’ll know for sure once Mitch gets back to us.”

“Who would have done this to us?” Hermione asked, her eyes starting to blaze with anger.

Harry looked behind him to Snape, “I would guess someone from your house professor.”

“Yes, you are probably right. She’s certainly smart enough to brew it, but not smart enough to realize there was an antidote,” Severus said.

“Are you just going to let her get away with it?” Ron said angrily.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Weasley, we need solid proof to take action,” Severus said. “Although I will have a search of her things to see if there is proof available.”

Draco didn’t really pay attention to the game as he leaned his elbows on his knees. He looked to Hermione as she clasped her hands together. She felt his gaze on her and looked into his eyes. “I love you,” he mouthed to her silently.

“I love you too,” she mouthed back to him clasping her hands tighter so as to not reach out to touch him.

Severus saw the silent words they exchanged and saw the anguish in their eyes. He tapped Harry on the shoulder, “Potter, sit between these two, I’m going to check with Mitch on his progress.”

Harry nodded and sat between then as Severus left the stands. He put a comforting hand on Hermione’s knee where she linked her fingers through his.

Draco saw the gesture, “Potter,” he warned.

“What, you want me to hold your hand too Malfoy?” Harry said smirking, joking with the blonde Slytherin.

Draco couldn’t help but smile back, “bugger off Potter,” he said laughing, slapping Harry’s hand away from his knee.

Harry tried to lighten the mood talking about the older quidditch team. “You know, these games could be more challenging than we think. Some of these players are professional quidditch players,” he said looking out to the pitch.

“Yeah, but some of these older players are heavier than us...it will definitely affect the speed of their brooms,” Draco added.

“I wonder who the team will be for tomorrow?” Hermione voiced.

“I would say it’s between Harry and Malfoy for seeker,” Ron said.

Draco laughed, “was that an off-hand compliment Weasley?” Ron shrugged his one shoulder not admitting to anything. “My bets on Harry,” he said.

“So you’re finally admitting who’s the better seeker?” Harry grinned.

“I’m not admitting nothing,” Draco smirked. “You’re the Boy-Who-Defeated-Voldemort.....of course they’re going to pick you.”

“Maybe I’ll play a different position...and you could be seeker,” Harry said grinning.

“Yeah, right,” Draco laughed, “we want to win, right?”

“Well, whatever the choice,” Harry said, “I’m fine with it.”

“Me too,” Draco replied looking to Harry.

“At least our team can practice in the morning before the final game in the afternoon to get the feel of each others moves,” Hermione said leaning on her knees.

The Hufflepuff game ended with the present year catching the snitch, winning 230 to 60. The Ravenclaw players were just coming out when Mitch sat in front of them. He looked to Hermione and Draco. “The potion was slipped into your breakfast. It was the ‘burning touch’ potion, it’s a colorless, tasteless potion that is hard to detect. Someone must have managed to get something from each of you....possibly a strand of hair to add to the ingredients. We are working on the antidote now. It’s mixed, but it needs to sit for twenty-four hours before it can be digested.”

“Did Professor Snape do a search of Pansy’s things?” Ron asked.

“Yes, he and mum looked through the room and found nothing. The house elves are being questioned now. It had to have been slipped in before the food appeared,” Mitch replied.

“How did they know it would get eaten by us?” Hermione asked.

“You two have pretty well been sitting in the same spot all week. It wouldn’t be that hard to arrange it to be slipped into your food,” Mitch said as he stood up again. “In the meantime, try not to touch each other huh,” he grinned getting a glare from Draco.

“God this is going to be hard,” Hermione said quietly.

“We’ll make up for it....I promise,” Draco said grinning over to her.

Harry and Ron laughed, “well, we won’t be seeing them for a couple of days after,” Ron said getting a smack across the back of the head from Hermione.


At lunch they sat across from each other waiting for Dobby to bring them their food personally. They hadn’t found out which house elf helped with the potion yet, so they weren’t taking any chances. They ate in silence until dessert came up, a sundae topped with whipped cream and a single cherry. Hermione looked up to see Draco watching her. “What?” she asked, grinning at him.

He leaned over to her, “do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you right now?” he asked licking his lips.

She leaned over to him also. “Yes,” she smirked, “because I’ve been thinking about it too.”

He smiled back at her and dug into his sundae. Hermione looked down at her ice cream, her mind wanting to torment Draco a little. She picked up the cherry by the stem and ran her tongue over it licking the whipped cream off before popping it into her mouth. She dipped her finger in the cream to bring it to her mouth, her tongue darting out to lick the cream off.

Draco, along with some of the other guys, had stopped eating their ice cream to watch Hermione slowly savor her treat. “I love cream, don’t you?” she asked innocently to Draco. “Whipped cream that is,” she smirked mischievously as she dug her spoon into the ice cream.

“Hermione,” he said huskily. “You’re not playing fair.” He shifted in his seat, while others around them were trying not to laugh at the two.

She reached over to take his cherry and popped it into her mouth, stem and all. He saw her tongue working inside her closed mouth. She started to chew the cherry while she handed him the stem that was tied in a bow, licking her lips.

Draco reached out to take the stem carefully as to not touch her. “Lucky man,” Sirius smirked seeing Draco’s dazed expression.

Draco’s ice cream took a long time to eat as he was watching Hermione eat hers bite by bite, licking her spoon after each mouthful. “Hermione, you’re a tease,” he said.

She smirked, “I don’t think so.....a tease usually doesn’t back anything up. Although I can’t right now, tomorrow I can,” she said as she stood up to leave with Harry. “I’ll see you later, got to go warm up for our game.”

Once she was gone, Draco leaned his forehead on his hand trying to control to urge to go after her. He felt a hand rubbing his back and looked around to see Angie sit beside him grinning knowingly. She leaned closer to him to talk to him about a way to retaliate against Hermione tonight. As she talked, he planned.


Draco went out to the pitch with Blaise and Remus to watch the Gryffindor game. Once settled he looked on the pitch to see Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione flying around their end. At the other end, he was not surprised to see Oliver Wood circling the hoops. He was surprised to see Mitch, Sirius, and Angie out there though.

“How come you never played professor?” Draco asked Remus.

“Me being a werewolf didn’t help. When it’s close to a full moon, my body and mind don’t seem to want to cooperate with each other,” he said smiling.

Meanwhile in the air Angie hovered beside Sirius as they watched Harry and Hermione fly around the pitch. “You do realize that we’re going to get our asses kicked, right?” Angie said smirking.

“Probably,” Sirius grinned, “but it will be fun.” Then stuck out his tongue at Hermione who was looking over at them.

Hermione laughed at Sirius, then flew by Ginny to get into position. She noted the other team players; Oliver as keeper, Angie as seeker, Sirius as chaser along with two others she didn’t recognize. Mitch was a beater along with a woman seen on one of Ron’s Chudley Cannon’s poster, Christa something or other. ‘Should be interesting,’ she thought to herself.

The whistle blew and the quaffle was thrown up high. Sirius had caught it and was racing towards Ron when Hermione, on the faster broom, sped beside him to knock it out of his arm towards Ginny. She glanced back and smirked at him cockily.

Ginny turned towards the other end, passing it back and forth between Hermione and Seamus, who was the other chaser. Sirius had come up behind Hermione when she had the quaffle and reached for her side to tickle her. She laughed and squirmed as she tossed the quaffle, unfortunately to the other team.

“Sirius.....stop it,” she said laughing to finally free herself. “You should be fouled for that.”

“It doesn’t say anywhere in the rule books about tickling the opponents team mate,” Sirius replied.

“Well your little trick cost us a goal,” she said smirking. The game was 10-0 for the older team.

She flew to Ginny. “Stay away from Siri,” she said smirking.

“Yeah, I saw that. Time to get serious now?” Ginny said grinning.

Hermione nodded, then sped up to assist her teammates, keeping a watch out for the bludgers and Harry.

The game went on for about an hour. The present team Gryffindor team managing to get in three goals to their five. Harry was seen speeding haphazardly around the pitch, Angie close to his side. The snitch veered up, then down, then right. Angie was keeping pace with Harry pretty good, when Harry glanced to her and smirked before leaning onto his broom more to pick up speed. He reached out his hand and caught the snitch effortlessly. Game over. 180-60 for the present team.

They all touched down on the ground, all in good spirits. Angie lunged at Harry to jump on his back as she headlocked him, while Mitch and Sirius were stalking towards Hermione. She began running to the stand stairs when all of a sudden Draco was in front of her, grinning at her. She was about to hug him when she was pulled back by Mitch who shook his head.

“Right.....almost forgot,” she sighed.

“I’ll take a rain check on that Granger,” Draco said smirking as he adjusted his arm guards. “I didn’t realize you were that ticklish either.”

Hermione glared at Sirius who stood back innocently. “Thanks Siri,” she said. Sirius just shrugged his shoulder as he walked out with the rest of the team to sit in the stands to watch the Slytherins play.

She sat by Mitch and Severus still in her uniform in the front row of the stands. She thought this game would probably be the nastiest, the Slytherin team; especially some past players, were known to play dirty. It was hard to say how dirty of a game it would be though considering they were playing against their own house.

She caught sight of Draco easily with his blonde hair. He always looked good in his quidditch uniform, especially now that she knew what was hidden underneath.

Draco flew around the pitch after the quaffle was released looking for the snitch. He wasn’t overly concerned with the other seeker as he had seen him play in their first year at Hogwarts, when Harry caught his first snitch. It also helped that Harry and himself had been practicing with the snitch in some of their spare time last week. He kind of tuned out the cheering people in the stands to try to focus on the sound of the fluttering wings of the snitch as it hovered above the other players.

He glanced down to see a glint of gold by the ground, then bolted down to follow. The other seeker, seeing him give chase, went after Draco. The chase was on. It headed right for the stands then suddenly veered left. Draco made the turn, the other seeker didn’t, but Draco did have to change course suddenly because a bludger was headed his way. After avoiding that, he lost track of the snitch.

He flew back up, noticing the other seeker was okay and on top of his broom again. The game was progressing at a fast pace.

Draco again caught sight of the snitch by the Ravenclaw stands. He shot full speed towards it, following it close as it moved in and around the stands. It then zipped towards the ground. He clung onto his broom as he headed down, hearing the swish of a broom behind him, coming closer. The snitch moved through the hoops by the ground, then turned suddenly to go through again. Draco reached out to grasp the pole of the hoop and swung around it, catching up to the snitch faster. The other seeker did a wider turn to come around, and that was what cost him the catch. Draco had stretched his body on the broom, his arm outstretched to finally brake to a halt, the walnut sized ball in his hand, the wings fluttering through his fingers. The whistle blew, the players surrounding Draco on his catch. The present Slytherin team won by ten points against the past team.


Thanks to Lessa for beta-ing