This Subdued Fire

Cat pointed out a minor error, yeah I flubbed Draco\'s name. :P So I changed it. He\'s now officially Draco Octavian Malfoy. Although...Octavian and Augustus were the same person :) I know, I know. I went the less graphic route last chapter. It didn\'t seem fitting to be all *grunt* *moan* \"yeah, sock it to me, baybay!\" and so on and so forth. Sometimes you want lovemaking instead of just simply knocking boots. :) Oh, speaking of which, I felt the insane need to write a fair bit of smut, so this chapter is fairly smutty! Enjoy, my lovelies! :-x
As usual, thanks for the reads and reviews. They mean lots to me.
Disclaimer: *Draco raises hand*
JK: yes, Draco?
Draco: When do I get to shag Hermione?
JK: Over my bloody dead body.
Draco: That can be arranged *wink wink*
JK: Ungrateful brat. :|
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Love Ridden

And so it went.

Ten days after the induction, Ron celebrated his eighteenth birthday. For the first time in a very long while, Hermione took stock of how much her friend had changed. Despite his often ill-timed outbursts, Ron managed to become a reasonably polished young man. Hermione smiled, wondering if that could be laid squarely at Lavender\'s feet. As the small revel took place in Gryffindor\'s common room, she watched her old friend move about the room with an insouciant ease. His hair had grown out just enough to be pulled into a queue and there were the faint beginnings of a mustache and goatee on his lip and chin. The years of Quidditch had paid off. Ron had lost much of that lanky creakiness he had and now moved with an assured athletic stride. Lavender, small and blonde, was the perfect foil to Ron\'s lean physique. They strolled around the room, talking to a few fifth-years who\'d come to partake of ice cream and cake.

The sight of Ron\'s hand resting in the small of Lavender\'s back made Hermione wish that Draco was there with her. The constant sneaking around was wearing on her in a way that it hadn\'t before.y woy would rendezvous in either her room or his or the dungeon chamber. But she longed to walk with him down the corridor. She wished that she could\'ve been able to cheer openly for him during the Quidditch season. Hermione wanted to have been able to wear his green and white striped scarf during the cold months. She watched Harry and Ginny on the couch all hugged up, wishing that it was her and Draco. Neville and Parvati were basically disgusting, as wrapped up in each other as they were. Hermione gave a heavy sigh and put down her bottle of butterbeer and slipped out of the room.

She went into the library, determined to find something to occupy her time. Hermione pulled down a well-worn copy of \"Hogwarts: A History\" but even that couldn\'t distract her enough. She felt restless and prowling. Slamming the book shut, she left it on the book cart and got up from her hidey hole. Hermione stalked out of the room feeling vaguely angry and needing to work off some energy. The last meeting of the Order had left her with a bad taste in her mouth. The basic plan was to sit and wuntiuntil Voldemort brought it. Whenever she tried to suggest that maybe the best defense was a good offense, her ideas had been shot down.

It wasn\'t quite curfew and so a few students lingered around the hallways. Hermione felt an odd thrumming in her ears and along her nerve endings. As she strode around the corridors, she managed to run into Draco. And he, true to form, turned his nose up at her and whispered something to one of the few Slytherins who hadn\'t turned their back on him. The two boys laughed and Draco smirked wickedly. Hermione abhorred the situation which allowed them to visit these occasional cruelties upon one another. She was fed up and spoiling for a fight.

\"Oi, Malfoy!\"

He swung around lazily, as if her shout was beneath his notice. Inwardly though, his brain was turning furiously, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. \"Yes, Granger?\"

\"If you\'ve got something to say, I suggest that you say to my face, you spineless bit of crap.\" Hermione\'s eyes blazed.

That had the effect of knocking Draco for a loop and setting his temper to a low fire. \"I hardly think I could be arsed with telling you - even if despite your low background, you could understand the joke.\"

Hermione said nothing. She walked calmly over to him and slapped him hard enough so that he saw stars. \"Understand *that*.\"

\"Why you little bitch!\" Draco\'s head began to clear as his temper blazed hot and clear. \"I told you what would happen the next time you put your hands on me.\" He grabbed her roughly by the wrist and twisted it behind her.

\"Why are you doing this?\" He whispered furtively.

\"Why not?\" She replied cruelly.

Draco had a flash of intuition. He divined that she was looking for a fight and he was the most convenient target. With a cocky smirk, he was willing, ready and able to provide her with suitable combat. He twirled her about and clamping his fist around her wrist he dragged her down the flight of stairs to the Potions classroom.

Snape was nowhere to be found although there were a few cauldrons on the boil at the back table. Draco pulled Hermione around to face him and released her arm at the same time. She went stumbling up against one of the worktables.

\"What the hell is wrong with you, Hermione? Don\'t go starting fights you can\'t finish.\"

\"Believe me, I\'m more than capable of taking anything you want to dish out.\"

\"How childish. You\'re frustrated with things and you want to provoke the ones closest to you. I thought we\'d grown past that. Apparently *you* haven\'t.\" Draco said the things that were sure to prod her past confrontational into attacking.

\"Why you -\" The lioness leapt forward, nails extended.

Draco caught her before she did him some unintentional damage and bore her back against the desk. \"Claws in, you cat!\"

She struggled against him in earnest, trying her damnedest to scratch his eyes out. Draco could feel the coiled tension in her and he, in turn, was trying his best to keep her from doing them both serious injury. He felt Hermione\'s movements slow and turn to something entirelyfereferent. She began attacking him in a different manner. Instead of trying to tear his eyes out, she was tearing his clothes off. And God help him, he was going to let her.

Draco responded in kind and buttons began flying all over the classroom. They landed with tiny *plinks* on the tables and stones of the floor. Draco stifled back a low groan at the sight of Hermione\'s nearly non-existent golden bra. He felt Hermione\'s hands tunnel down into his trousers, nearly ripping them open in her haste. \"Easy there,\" he murmured.

She paid him no heed.

A few harsh breaths and hard, furtive kisses later, he was there. Draco felt her slender, graceful hands slide down to his bum, grabbing impatiently. He felt the need to tease her, to punish her for her flare of temper with him. Draco nudged her softness with the tip of his penis, rubbing slightly. Hermione squirmed, trying to make him enter her. He refused, continuing to tease her until she was near breabreaking point. Draco slid his hands underneath her lifted her to the top of the worktable. Stepping between her opened thighs, he slid home ever so slowly.

Hermione kept moving against him, trying to make him speed up his pace, to match her still flaring temper. However, Draco was not to be moved. They were going to do this his way or not at all. For his trouble, Hermione bit him on the neck, breaking the skin.

\"Mm. You feral little vixen.\" In repayment, he gave her what she wanted. Draco began slamming in and out her, not caring that she\'d be sore afterwards. Hermione\'s head fell back, savoring the feeling. Her hands fell away from his body to rest themselves on the table top. She gained a bit of leverage and rose to meet his thrusts hungrily.

The sight of her breasts quiveriner ter the lace of her bra was too much for Draco to handle. Thank Merlin that it was a front clasp. He latched onto one coral tip and felt the serrated moan that rippled through Hermione. It was one the best sounds he\'d heard yet. A slight nip and the shivers began. Her convulsions pulled Draco up and over into his own orgasm. His shout was buried in the flesh of her chest.

He stepped away from her. The two of them were breathing so hard and their hearts were pounding so fast it felt as if they\'d burst from their chests. Hermione slipped from the table top, smoothing her skirt and replacing her bra and shirt. She bent down to retrieve her panties, noticing with dismay that they were still damp.

\"Damn,\" she swore softly. \"They\'ll take forever to dry.\"

Draco looked up from where he was busy setting himself to rights. \"It\'s your own bloody fault, Hermione.\" He gave her a speculative glance. \"What was that all about anyway?\"

She looked vaguely chagrined. \"Would you believe that it all came about from a fit of jealousy?\"

He crossed his arms and leaned against Snap des desk. \"Elucidate.\"

\"Well, I was at Ron\'s birthday party - don\'t look like that. Ron\'s not a bad guy once you get to know him.\" Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco\'s look of disdain. \"Anyway, as I was saying, I was at Ron\'s birthday party and I was looking at all of the couples hanging about and I got really pissed because you weren\'t there with me to do all the couple things - out in the open.\"

\"So...as I suspected, you were just spoiling for a fight and I happened to conveniently wander into youth.\th.\"

\"Pretty much.\" Hermione had the good grace to blush a bit. \"But I don\'t know why we\'re hiding this from the school. I mean, Lucius knows about us. I\'m sure that Voldemort does and if he doesn\'t, he dumber than I thought. Harry and Ginny know. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape know. It\'s unnerving to carry on a clandestine affair when it\'s unnecessary.\"

He shook his head at her. \"I think I can tell you with a fair amount of certainty that Voldemort IS dumber than you think. He doesn\'t know and I know Lucius won\'t let pridpride down enough to tell him. Voldemort just thinks that I\'m an ordinary traitor.\"

Draco took a breath. \"Believe me, I would like nothing more than to roam the halls holding your hand. This bit of sneaking around is getting to me, too. But you can\'t take out your frustrations on me.\" He grinned a bit. \"No matter how pleasant the outcome.\"

She pulled a face. \"You\'re right and I\'m sorry.\"

\"You\'re forgiven.\" Draco led the way to the door and held it open for Hermione as they exited the room.

From the fireplace inside another, smaller chamber off of the Potions classroom, someone came thumping through from the school\'s internal floo network. He shook his robes clear of the dust and soot and crossed the room to go fully into the classroom, but the sight which greeted his eyes stalled him. His eyes widened appreciatively at the sight of Draco and Hermione giving new meaning to the titles of Head Boy and Girl.

The Potions Master had half a mind to go tell them to cease their lascivious activities - especially since they\'d seen fit to go at it on one of *his* worktables. But he noticed that it was thble ble that Weasley and Potter shared. His saturnine face curved in a malicious grin. The knowledge that someone, let alone Draco Malfoy, had been screwing on their workspace would squick them beyond all recognition. Severus hugged it to himself. It was another little thing he could snicker at them about, much to his secret pleasure. Speaking of pleasure...

He\'d always found it fascinating to look at a woman\'s expression whilst in the throes of passion. Hermione\'s face was no less interesting because he was not the one causing those expressions. In fact, he found himself caught in the mix of anger, love, rapture and, strangely enough, vulnerability. Severus shook himself.

(She\'s a student and you\'re a dirty old man. Just stop it.) He thought, turning away and shutting the door.

Besides, he\'d never thought of her as anything more than a student but this display brought home the fact that soon she\'d be out from under his auspices. Then again, when Albus had not-so-subtly commanded him to watch out for the girl, hebegubegun to think of her in a slightly possessive light. He knew he\'d have shown no compunction about breaking Draco in half if the boy had ever hurt his best Potions student. Truth be told, it made him slightly uncomfortable down in his wormy little soul to have witnessed such a private moment between the two of them.

It squicked him a bit to know that these two children that he\'d protected for seven years were now, for all intents and purposes, adults. Draco, he knew, still needed some sort of guidance. Lucius could not ountounted on to give Draco something resembling a steady male hand. And judging from the mess he\'d found Hermione in over the Yule holidays, she was ied oed of a fair bit of counsel as well. Neither of them would take kindly to someone sticking their nose in, trying to parent them. But a well-placed friend wouldn\'t hurt either...
***********

The nervous, angry tension having abated, Hermione was now free to concentrate on other, more important matters. Like NEWT\'s. They were drawing ever closer and with all the nonsense going on with all the various schemes, plots and revelations, she\'d nearly forgotten. That was a first - Hermione Granger forget an exam? Unthinkable!

Less than five weeks to go and it was NEWT time and then...then the end of her years at Hogwarts. She\'d long since gotten her letter of acceptance from A.J.\'s alma mater. Having heard glowing things from all her professors, even the taciturn Potions Master, along with the added recommendation that Armande was an excellent student, UdAM was itching to get their hands on Hermione. Only problem, it was so far away from everything and everyone - not the least of whom was Draco.

Then again, the Edinburgh Conservatory of Alchemical and Arithmantic Theory (ECAAT) had made a very intriguing offer. They also had a very good Transfiguration department. In exchange for three to four years of study and research, she\'d get a degree. Not at all a bad deal. ECAAT also had numerous apprenticeships with different Potions Masters and Mistresses from all over the globe. It was still in the British Isles, relatively close to Hogwarts and to Nox Aeternum, otherwise known as Malfoy Castle.

Dwelling on this last, Hermione\'s mind was made up. She penned a response to ECAAT, accepting their offer and she owled off a polite letter of rejection to UdAM. Boolean seemed less than thrilled to have been awakened from his slumber early. He nipped her finger sharply in admonishment before flying off.

Watching the bird soar into the rapidly darkening sky, Hermione decided to give some serious thought to the situation with Draco. Love was one thing, actually living with someone, sharing their day-to-day, was quite another. With the posting of those letters, she\'d effectively allied herself with Draco. It hadn\'t even been a question, really. Although the chance to live and study in another continent was intriguing, nothing could compare to the comforts of the familiar. Still...she wondered, as always, if she were doing the right thing. There had been none of the usual deliberation over matters.

In fact, she hadn\'t been very deliberate over much except the failed plan to kill Voldemort. That scared her. No, scared is too harsh a word. It made her sit up and take notice. Hermione sat at her desk, thinking about how much she\'d changed in the last nine months. From the time she\'d awakened the first day of term - so long ago, it seemed - she\'d been different. Perhaps it was being a mage, perhaps it was the untimely death of her parents. Maybe it was her relationship with Malfoy. And then it could be something else altogether. Hermione suspected it was all of and and more.

At least she\'d been careful of one thing. There wouldn\'t be any accidental offspring running about. Every month since the day she\'d begun shagging Malfoy, she\'d been taking a contraceptive potion. The transparent, light gold concoction looked like chablis and smelled of angelica. Hermione wanted children, one day. But now, with a guerilla war going on, it was not the time for procreation. Hermione smiled, thinking of what her children would look like. Any physical beauty that they possessed could be laid squarely at their father\'s door, she thought. She was not a vain woman and knew she had her charms, but she erroneously felt that beauty was not one of them.

She sat bolt upright at that. (Holy Mother...I\'m thinking of having kids with Draco.)

(And what?) her fevered brain queried, (Was wrong with that? You love him, he loves you. He\'s forsaken his family for you. For God\'s sake woman, he carries your mark. That\'s nometomething to be taken lightly.)

Hermione leaned back in her chair. That was most certainly true. But other than whispered words of love and affection, nothing had been said of a more permanent arrangement between them. It niggled faintly at the back of the more practical side of Hermione\'s brain. Then, too, perhaps Draco didn\'t want to \"sully the line\" as it were, by aligning himself with her. (Although, he\'s already considered a blood traitor, so that shouldn\'t matter.) She reasoned.

Then, too, there was age. Although there had been many, many couples who married fresh out of Hogwarts. She did want to finish her education before settling down. Perhaps travel a bit.

(Silly girl,) she thought, self-deprecatingly. (How are you going to marry someone when you can\'t even make the fact that you\'re \"dating\" known fact?)

Hermione smirked disgustedly, shutting her mind off to this line of thought and turned her brain back to NEWT preparation.
**************
Little did she know that Draco was thinking along those same lines.

He sat in a chair before the barely lit fire in his fireplace. He\'d asked the goblins at Gringotts to send him several pieces of jewellery from his vault. His mother had long since turned over the Malfoy family jewels to him, saying that she no longer wore them or had need of them. And indeed, she didn\'t. Lucius, to make up for his despicable ways, had fallen into the habit of presenting his wife with stunning piecveryvery so often. They were usually gifts to her when he\'d ended an affair or done something else rotten. They were tokens of appeasement to his lady wife, empty gestures which cost a great deal. Narcissa always took the jewelry and wore it with great pride. It was the only sort of pride she had left, having to continually swallow it in the face of Lucius\' carelessness and infidelities. And so, after acquiring a spectacular set of diamond necklace, earrings and bracelet, she had the ancestral Malfoy jewels transferred over to Draco\'s vault, along with the traditional Malfoy engagement band. Lucius had gifted her with an anniversary band along with the diamond pieces.

Draco opened the black taffeta box. The large emeralds gleamed in their platinum setting. The collar was set with three extraordinarily large stones. Their blue-green facets winked up at him cheerily, as if they knew that they would soon be gracing the neck of the newest lady Malfoy. Within the circle of the collar there was an emerald bracelet and inside that the earrings nestled. They were studs of unusual quality and size, perfect matches to the stones in the necklace and earrings. He laid aside the box and opened a smaller, velvet covered container.

There it was. A traditional engagement ring. It was a simple thing, but it had been in his family for generations untold. The band was heavy white gold, chased with runes and had been set with one flawless diamond. The metal of the ring had been enchanted to enlarge or shrink with the wearer\'s finger, so he had no worries about whether it would fit or not.

Draco did worry about whether or not she would even accept his offer. No words other than love words had been spoken. Indeed, it seemed as if they went to great lengths to avoid the subject. He knew intuitively that Hermione wished to wait a bit before settling down. There was the matter of university to consider, after all. He had no need to go for further education, being satisfied with the coursework at Hogwarts. But he knew that Hermione craved academia with the same fervor as a Albus chasing down a chocolate toffee. Matriculating from Hogwarts simply wouldn\'t be enough for his bluestocking. Draco smiled at that. Despite her bossy, know-it-allness, her thirst for knowledge was one of the things he most admired and loved about her.

But tongues would begin wagging if she were seen sporting a huge diamond on her hand. And therein lay the conundrum: how do you propose to a girl whom no one knows you\'re dating? As much as Draco liked to brag, it was chafing him sorely to stay quiet on the matter. But it was in their best interests to remain silent. He had no doubt that if word got \'round about he and Hermione being wed, it would set off shockwaves of the most unpleasant sort. Lucius\' reaction being uppermost in his mind. Although Draco\'s father knew that his son had defected to be with the Muggle-born girl, it was quite another to actually legally bind himself to her. It was a slap in the face of all that seething pureblood pride. Went completely against the grain, it did. And as Pansy said, he had more to fear from Lucius than Voldemort.

He snapped shut the little velvet box and cursed the situation once more. A slice of pure irritation grated on Draco\'s nerves. He\'d like nothing more than to race up to Gryffindor and make that portrait open and claim Hermione as his own, everyone else be damned. Circumstances made that difficult and it made him bitter. Draco slammed the box down onto the deep mahogany pie-crust table and went to the library to get a bit of work done.
********************

The rest of the week sped by and it was Friday. Most of the prefects looked tired and worn. The Seventh-Year Dance was a week away and there was much to be done in preparation. Calliope Cantata had written the entertainment committee back and informed them that she would, indeed, be able to spin for their party. The Weird Sisters were playing again, along with the newest wizard band to hit the scene, M*stery. Hermione was of the opinion that boy bands sucked. She was more of an alternative sort of girl, but since the younger prefects were so enthusiastic, she went along with a minimum of grousing.

Despite the name, the Seventh-Year Dance was open to all students fifth-year and up. The focus, however, was on the departing students. And if there were any fifth-years who were with fourth-years or fifth-years with fifth-years, after ten o\'clock, they\'d have to leave the dance. Honors not academic were handed out during the dance. They were just silly little superlatives, but it was a tradition not easily broken by both students and staff alike.

When Hermione queried the decorations committee about what they had planned, the six exchanged secret smiles and April Grey, the fifth-year Ravenclaw prefect, told Hermione that it was a great surprise. Hermione didn\'t press the girl but continued on. Refreshments had been squared away with the elves, who were more than happy to please. And the invitations, a formality but still part of the tradition, had been printed and were ready to be handed out to all of the students who were eligible to attend.

It seemed that all was in readiness and Hermione called the prefects\' meeting to a close. She gathered up her things and left the room, Ron and Ginny trailing in her wake. Ron left Ginny and headed with Hermione, joining up with Harry, to Professor Flitwick\'s classroom. The sprightly little wizard reviewed a few charms and started them on new ones. Hermione concentrated with a fierceness that she hadn\'t felt since...sixth-year, really. She took notes and cast spells with an assuredness that left her fellow classmates in awe. Filius was especially impressed. He\'d never had the opportunity to have a magus in his classroom before and being that she was one of his best and favorite students was...gratifying.

An exhilarating two and a half-hours later, the students filed out of the class, colliding with the students who hung around the corridor waiting for the second Advanced Charms of the class of the day. Hermione purposely brushed up against Draco, reveling in his sharp intake of breath. She didn\'t look back as a rather naughty grin curved her lips. Draco just shook his head as he watched her sashay down the corridor on her way to the Great Hall. He and his other classmates filed into Prof. Flitwick\'s room to begin their lessons.

The very slow Friday passed without event and soon it was evening. Draco was in his room, catching up on his homework, when without warning, there was a large thump by the fireplace.

\"What in the bloody hell?\" He swore and turned about. Draco gave off a grin as Hermione picked herself up from the floor and began brushing off the ash and soot from the flue. \"What brings you down here?\"

She shrugged. \"I missed you.\"

\"Really?\" He looked unaccountably hopeful. Even after all they\'d shared, Draco always felt that he would never be certain of her. Hermione\'s independence was something he was unaccustomed to, his mother and most other wealthy pureblood women having the attitudes of Pansy and Blaise and his mother, relatively passive and willing to serve their men.

\"Of course.\" She walked over and insinuated herself into his lap.

Draco raised an eyebrow. \"You\'re interrupting my homework, Granger.\"

\"But this isn\'t your home, Malfoy. So how can I be interrupting homework?\" She bobbed her eyebrows at him.

He gave her a mock gasp. \"Hermione Granger, interfering with someone\'s learning! Unheard of!\"

Hermione laughed. \"I finished my assignments earlier today. It\'s not my fault that you\'re a slow worker.\"

Draco looped his arms around her waist. \"Ah, but slow work is appreciated in other areas, isn\'t it?\" His hands crept up her back.

She squirmed a bit. \"Indubitably.\" She paused for a bit. \"You know, the front\'s far more interesting.\"

\"Just taking my time.\" He gave her a devilish glare.

\"Oh.\" Those rosy cupid\'s bow lips he loved so much pursed a bit. \"But I want you to kiss me.\"

\"Well if that\'s all you want.\" He gave her a brief smack on the mouth and set her on her feet.

Draco was hard pressed to contain his laughter at the squawk he could see forming at the corners of her lips. To stave off the inevitable, he yanked her back down and gave her a tonguing she wouldn\'t soon forget. He made sure that she was sufficiently starry-eyed before pulling back. He wasn\'t too clear headed, either, truth be told.

\"Is that better, my dear?\"

\"Mmm. Much.\" Draco wondered at the crafty look that had entered Hermione\'s expression until he realized that he was suddenly shirtless underneath her roaming fingertips.

\"You little vixen. When did you do that?\"

\"Does that matter so much?\" Hermione fastened her mouth to the sensitive spot behind his ear and nibbled slightly.

\"Uhh...not in the least.\" Her saucy fingers found their way to his flat nipples and began to pluck and tease at them in a manner that was most distracting.

\"Good.\" She mumbled around his flesh. Hermione shifted so that she straddled him in the strangely austere ladderbacked chair Draco used to study in.

\"You...witch.\" (Not terribly inventive there, Draco, old son. But...what is she doing with her hands?)

Hermione\'s hands left his chest and had wormed their way into his trousers and suddenly they were gone as well. He found the friction of the denim of her jeans terribly exciting as she moved back on his very lightly furred thighs. The little demon was still fully dressed while he was sitting there completely naked and calf-eyed like a big stupid git. That situation would be rectified shortly.

Hermione felt a bit of cold air snake across her back and grinned. Draco had taken his sweet time about undressing her. \"Finally.\" She raised her head and her cinnamon eyes glowed with an orange-gold fire.

Draco grasped the twin moons of her bottom in his hands and squeezed, eliciting an \"ooh!\" from Hermione. \"I felt this would be more...conducive to our activities. Don\'t you agree?\"

Before she could answer, Draco leaned over and captured one of her nipples in his mouth. His left hand slid from her bum to flicker between her outstretch thighs. A soft grunt from her was his reward as his digits slipped through the carnation colored folds of flesh to circle her nub. Draco bit down on her nipple at the same time as he tweaked that bit of flesh that throbbed enticingly. A rather high-pitched sound escaped her mouth and she shuddered a bit.

In repayment, Hermione grasped his erection and began stroking him in an expert manner. Up and down and in a sort of Archimedian screw motion her hand went. Each pass of her thumb over the livid head made Draco groan in anticipation and not just a little bit of pleasured pain. Hermione delighted in the little jerks his hips made, pushing his penis deeper into her palm. Draco intensified the movement of his hand on her lips and slid a finger inside her, curling it into a \'come hither\' motion.

That had the effect of stilling Hermione\'s hand on his fevered shaft. Her hand tightened with amazing ferocity around him, her palm damp with her sweat and his own juices. For a few moments the only sounds in the room were the noises she made in the back of her throat as he continued to tickle her g-spot with unerring accuracy.

Draco could see the flush rising from her chest to spread to her face. Hermione\'s eyes were closed and her head tilted back, laying out her lovely neck. He saw the pulse in the hollow of her neck fluttering madly. The tightening of her thighs signaled her imminent orgasm and he pulled the invading fingers away to sheath himself within her wet body. The convulsions that wracked her muscles pushed Draco towards his own orgasm and as Hermione collapsed on his shoulder, he surged into her one last time and was still.

Hermione recovered first. \"Bloody fantastic, love.\"

Draco gave her a sated grin. \"Not bad yourself.\" He pushed the sweat darkened curls that had fallen from her loosely woven bun away from her face. \"Come on, up with you.\"

\"Not quite sure I could stand after that...\"

Draco took Hermione by the waist and hauled her to her feet. She settled back, rather shakily, against the desk. He stood up, taking her by the hand and leading her into his bathroom. Like her chamber, his chamber contained its own en suite bath. In stunning contrast to Hermione\'s white and gold bathroom, Draco\'s was silver and black. The tub itself was a mercury coloured pool sunken into the floor with obsidian taps that ran differently scented water into the recess.

\"It\'s lady\'s choice, Hermione. Anything except something overtly flowery.\"

\"Pity.\" Hermione had regained some of her composure. \"I would have rather enjoyed you smelling like roses.\"

\"Yes, well. I wouldn\'t have.\" He made a face at her. \"Come on, pick something. I\'m becoming damnably sticky.\"

\"Ergh. Thanks for reminding me. Sandalwood then, if you have it.\"

\"But of course.\" Draco reached down and turned one of the taps and mauve coloured water and bubbles came streaming out. The steaming scent of sandalwood began to fill the room and when the tub was halfway filled, Draco stepped in. He led Hermione down the steps into the nearly scalding water. The feline purred in delight.

\"This was a wonderful idea. The bath feels exquisite.\" Hermione floated lazily to one side of the tub. Half as big as the tub in the prefects\' bathroom, it still was extra-ordinarily large compared to a normal sized bath. She pulled out the numerous hairpins securing the mass in its precarious bun. Her hair tumbled down and she ducked beneath the bubbles and came up, full of suds and laughter.

\"*Accio* towel.\" A small hand towel came flying over and landed in her hand. She wiped the stinging bubbles from her face and settled on a ledge within the tub.

\"Having a good time?\" Draco asked.

\"Having a *marvelous* time.\" Hermione got a strange look on her face and ducked beneath the water once more. She stayed under a while and Draco began to get concerned. But then he felt the the strangest sensation. Parting the suds, he saw her hair rippling out over his lap. The long tendrils were floating lazily on his cock, teasing it lightly. He shook his head and his grin widened. Hermione was certainly an inventive little minx. With marvelous breath control, it would seem. Her hands slid up his legs and she levered herself up to float before him.

She looked like a siren bobbing there amid the bubbles. Draco slipped from his perch to float along with her. He reached out and grasped the ends of her hair, gently pulling her to him. Their mouths connected like magnets.

Their legs paddled aimlessly, keeping them afloat as hands began a careful and slow exploration. No matter that the places they were touching had been touched a thousand times before, the fact that it was each other\'s hands was what made it exciting every time. Draco reveled in the feel of her breasts in his hands, the nipples firming under his thumbs as he whisked them across the bits of flesh. Who knew that the skin of his abdomen would prove to be so sensitive as her hands stroked the ridged muscles. Their legs entangled and rubbed against one another. Draco slipped a Quidditch-hardened thigh between her legs and pressed upwards, so that Hermione rode it.

Hermione slid herself up and down along his leg until the friction drove her insane. The nails from her right hand dug into his shoulder just as her left gripped his erection, bringing him to the same frenzy she felt. Hermione felt that enough was enough and, leaning back slightly in the now warm water, srew rew Draco into her. His thrust and parry flowed along with the gentle motion of the current of the bathwater. Sighs and moans joined the sounds of the water lapping against the sides of the tub. Draco kept the presence of mind to have manoeuvred them over to a side of the bath. After that, it was all her. She moved and pressed and thrust against him and he concentrated on not letting them sink. It wasn\'t long before he felt the familiar convulsions twist her body.

For the first time, Draco was composed enough to actually watch her as she orgasmed. Her face was a wonder. There was softness and vulnerability there, along with a fierce joy suffusing her features. Hermione\'s just above pretty features were transformed into something otherwordly and extraordinary. (She truly is beautiful), he thought with not just a slight bit of awe.

And when she quieted and became still. Hermione felt a little chagrined. \"You didn\'t come, did you?\e ase asked quietly in the now nearly cold water of the tub.

\"No. But I\'m next.\"

And he was.

And next again.