Shadow and light

Draco found Hermione lying on his bed when he returned, later that evening. He approached her silently and looked at her. Her hair was splattered on the pillow and her eyes were closed. She appeared to be asleep. One of the straps of her nightgown had slipped from her shoulder and Draco suddenly had the urge to plant a kiss on her bare shoulder. He shook the thought away quickly - this simply won't do. It shouldn't have happened like this, he never expected to feel attracted to her. At first he just wanted to save her from all the torture by taking away her virginity, but then the saved her life and continued to keep her at his place. He might fool the deahteaters and the Dark Lord, but the wasn't fooling himself. That night they shared had been special and it meant something to him.

He run a hand through his hair in frustration and, supposing she was asleep, he started to undress. He striped down to his boxers and slipped under the covers careful not to wake her. He could feel the heat of her body radiating underneath the cover and remembered how his naked body felt against hers. The thought made him harden. It wasn't easy, she smelt like strawberries and it made him come closer. He carefully pressed himself against her, his chest against her back and he placed his other hand on her waist, pulling her closer to him. She didn't make a sound - he presumed she was still asleep. He buried his face in her curls and slid his hand along her bare thigh. His erection was pressed against her bum and he tried to ignore it, but it was rather difficult. He couldn't force himself on her, and he didn't have the slightest chance to convince her to give herself to him freely. What explanations could he possibly give her for the treacherous reaction of his body? She would question it, and she wouldn't want to hear the answer. Neither would he. Maybe it was better this way. He kissed her hair softly, snuggled closer to her warm body and fell asleep soon afterwards.


Hermione opened her eyes. She couldn't find an explanation for what had just happened, or whey she reached like that and didn't push him away. She just let him touch her, feigning she was asleep. The worst part was she even enjoyed it, although she knew it was terribly wrong. The irony of it all was that it felt good, almost right. His firm and naked body felt wonderful against hers and she wasn't afraid. It felt natural and she even felt safe in the arms of Malfoy. She somehow knew he wouldn't harm her. Deciding not to think about it anymore, she drifted to sleep too.


Hermione woke up the next morning pressed against something warm and pretty much alive. She opened her eyes slowly and realized, to her horror, that an almost naked Draco Malfoy was holding her possesivly in his arms. He appeared to be carelessly asleep, a peaceful look on this face. She panicked at first, what had they done? She supposed they didn’t do anything though, since her body felt normal and she still had her nightgown on. Still, she couldn’t ignore the intimate position they were in. She shifted a bit to slip out of his embrace, but he simply groaned in his sleep and pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair. She found his reaction rather cute and decided to stay like this. She didn’t want to have to deal with an awake Malfoy, a sleeping one was much better after all. She was afraid he would be disgusted by their position, but a small part of her mind told her he wouldn’t have slept with her in that case anyway.

She closed her eyes and relaxed in his arms, she felt oddly safe, safer than she had felt in a long time, and the warmth of another body was really comforting right now, even if that body belonged to Malfoy. Almost an hour passed until Draco began to stir. Hermione panicked, what would he do now that she was awake? She decided she should feign to be asleep again.

Draco raised his head to look at the sleeping girl beside him, still holding her in his arms. He had had a wonderful sleep and he felt better than he had in years. He sighed and stretched a bit, and then pulled her hair from her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. His morning erection was pressed against her bottom and he was thankful she was asleep. Deciding it would be better not to wake her up, he went to the bathroom, then dressed quietly and left without saying a word. Hermione only opened her eyes after she heard the door shut. She didn’t understand him. He didn’t want to harm her, quite contrary, he was rather tender around her, at least while she pretended to be asleep. She couldn’t help wondering why he was acting this way, let alone why his body acted the way it did when he was near her. Maybe he wasn’t the bastard she always thought he was.

But she shouldn’t care about him, her priority was to find a way to escape. Deciding she would think of a better plan tomorrow, she went to the libraby to look for a book to read. Time passed quickly, and Draco returned around noon, looking a bit tired.

“Good afternoon Granger”, he greeted casually.

“Good afternoon Malfoy”, she curtly replied. “Where have you been tonight?” she asked.

“Oh…I returned rather late and slept on the sofa” he lied.

“I see”. Interesting…she thought.

“Would you like to eat with me?” he asked. She nodded. A house elf brought them the food and they ate in silence for a while. After they finished, Draco broke the silence.

“I’m staying here this afternoon, since I don’t have any duties to attend to. I thought maybe we could do something to entertain ourselves, watch a wizard movie or something.”

“Malfoy… why are you acting like this?” Hermione asked, frustration in her voice.

“Don’t start again, Granger”, Draco warned her. Is it so difficult to accept that I’m not a monster? I’ll treat you civilly, as long as you’re here. I don’t understand…would you prefer the dungeons instead?”

“But why? You hate me!”

“What makes you think that?” Draco asked.

“I don’t know…at least you did…so why the sudden change?”

“People change, Granger. Get over it, I’m tired of this. Look what I get for being nice to you.”

“You have no right to treat me nice, Malfoy. We are enemies, keep that in mind.”

Draco got angrier. “Would you like me to threat you like I should? Like a Deatheater should treat a mudblood?” He grabbed her roughly by the wrist and threw her against a wall, trapping her with his body. ”Like a whore.” He pressed her hard to the wall, using his body. “Do you like it like this, Granger?”

She was trembling with fear and anticipation and very aware of his hard body. There was too much tension between them. Her breathing became louder.

“Answer me!” he shouted, his hands grabbing her waist roughly. She was scared, tears were beginning to form in her eyes, but he was so angry at himself and at her, that he couldn’t stop.

The closeness of her body made him instantly hard, “Or perhaps I should use you as my sex toy, I’d chain you to the bed and have my way with you. Would you like that? Or would you prefer if if fucked you right here, against the wall?” He ground his hardened member against her for emphasis and it made her take a sharp intake of breath. She involuntary rotated her hips against his. Draco froze and immediately let her go. She began to cry.

Draco immediately regretted it. “Granger…” he tried. She refused to look at him. “Hermione…dammit….I’m sorry.” The use of her first name caught her attention and she looked up at him. His grey eyes were sad. They didn’t have to. She sighed and moved to the couch.

“Don’t make this personal, Malfoy. Don’t forget we are on different sides…If I’ll ever have to face you in battle, I will, and I will have no mercy.” But it’s already much too personal, she thought, remembering this was the man she gave her virginity to.

He simply looked at her, It’s not easy Granger, it’s never easy. You don’t know anything.

“Forget it, Granger”, he drawled. His face was expressionless once again. Hermione felt a pang of regret, but she didn’t say anything as the disappeared.


She threw herself on the bed and cried out in frustration. She preferred the hateful Malfoy, at least he would have known how to deal with him.


He returned late that night, and Hermione was already asleep. He felt somewhat relieved that the wouldn’t have to deal with her questions again and relaxed. He considered moving her into another room, but decidec against it. He would keep her here. He didn’t have an explanation for this, but didn’t try to find one either, at least he had a warm body to spend the chilly nights with.

He undressed to his boxers, as usuall, and slipped under the covers. He didn’t kiss her, like last night, he was still angry at her, but he took her in his arms nonetheless.

Interesting…Hermione thought, It was the second time she was faking to be asleep and the second time he came to her. She didn’t say a thing, just like before, but the warmth of his naked body affected her more than she liked to admit. The problem was one of his hands was resting on the inner thights and he smelt good, masculine. His body was hard against hers. She snuggled closer, and his grip on her tightened for a moment. The truth was, she was aroused, and she felt terribly guilty for it. This was Malfoy, but apparently her body didn’t care. She knew it was wrong, but she had to admit he was treating her civilly, he saved her from torture and death. If he wasn’t the enemy, she would have considered him her saviour. He wasn’t that bad, after all, but the attraction she felt for him wasn’t right either. Pushing the disturbing thoughts aside, she fell asleep in his arms in the end.

Hermione woke up very rested the next morning, almost in a good mood. She felt warm and stretched her arms over the source of warmth. Warmth…she thought,,,,skin….bare skin.

She slowly looked up and saw Malfoy looking at her, a smile upon his face. They stood like that for a moment, but Draco’s look suddenly turned into one of confusion and the mumbled “Morning, Granger.”

Hermione studied his almost naked form in daylight, until she realized what she had been doing and averted her gaze, blushing slightly.

“I didn’t hear you arrive last night”. She said.

“Yes, well, it was pretty late. I was tired and I fell asleep rather quickly.” He explained.

“Malfoy….why don’t you put something on?”

Draco smirked.

“Why would I do such a thing? Is something bothering you? Am I that ugly?” he asked, faking to be hurt.

Hermione rolled her eyes. ”You know that’s not the problem. I thought maybe you were cold. ”

Clever, Hermione, very clever.

“Well….you were keeping me warm.” He smirked.

Bastard!

“Besides, this is how I sleep, get used to it. There are my quarters, my rules apply. ” he smugly added.

Hermione raised from the bed quickly and stormed off to the bathroom. Draco chuckled…he knew his body affected her more than she liked to admit.

She came out smelling like wild honey and he would have rather eaten her than breakfast, but he needed to control himself. He pulled out a chair for her and motioned for her to sit down. He joined ther at the table and they ate breakfast together. It was pretty late, almost 11 AM.

“Don’t you have any business to attend today?” she asked.

“No…I have a day off. Would you like to do anything in particular.”

“Sure, how about this: I’d like to be free.” She spat at him.

Silence.

Then he sighed.

“Granger…you know I don’t have a say in this matter.”

“No…but it’s your fault I’m a prisoner here.” She accused him.

“Yes…it’s true. Otherwise you’d be dead by now.” Here she goes again…

“It’s not as if you would release me if you could.”

“Really? Give me a reason why I would like to keep an annoying little thing such as yourself in my own quarters!” he retorted, annoyed. “You complain and ask stupid questions all the time. Who wouldn’t possibly like to keep you?”

“But still, you do.” She pointed out. “You could keep me in a dungeon.”

“Don’t tempt me, Granger. You should appreciate the fact that I treat you civilly.”

He was right. Hermione realized. She could have been much worse. He didn’t beat her up, starve her or rape her.

“Sorry…” she muttered. ”I suppose you’re right.”

Draco’s mood lightened, hearing her words and he nodded.


He became a man, Hermione realized. He has changed a lot. Gone was the former school bully, and while his temper was almost the same, he became more mature. The old Draco Malfoy would have been easier to read, while the new one was an enigma.