Daydreams of Desire

Saturday morning found Hermione refreshed and happily searching the library for a book on Mind Melding. Snape was willing to teach her, she owed it to him to study. As she perused the shelves, she thought back to the night before.

It had been such a wonderful experience. She had fallen asleep afterward and slept better than she had since before discovering that her best friend was to be responsible for bringing down the Dark Lord.

Humming to herself she continued down the aisle, searching for some sign of what she was looking for. She was so consumed in her concentrating that she completely missed the set of eyes that were watching her.

She could have missed him altogether if he had not stepped out of the shadows to greet her. “What? The famous, know-it-all Granger can’t find what she’s looking for?”

Gasping, she turned to face him and found the grey eyes she had always considered as cold and calculating staring back at her with an expression she couldn’t quite identify.

“Malfoy!” she muttered, wondering why she had to run into him and ruin her perfectly good day.

He feigned hurt and pressed his hand to his chest. “Oh, she wounds me. Aren’t you glad to see me?” he smirked. “Being as your friends deserted you to return here alone, one would think you would welcome a familiar face.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned to continue searching the shelves. “Oh, of course I would welcome a familiar face, ferret.” She cast him a dismissive look. “But I would prefer a friendly familiar face. That’s why I do spend time with Ginny, when I can.”

Draco sighed and fell into step beside her. “I have not been unfriendly. Not since all the horror of Voldemort was put behind us.”

Inclining her head, she agreed. “That is true.” She hated having to acknowledge his civility but saw no reasonable argument. Of course she always believed he was just doing as he believed his father wished.

The death of the Dark Lord meant freedom for him to be who he truly wanted to be. But couldn’t he do it from far away? Resigning herself to his company, she asked, “What do you want, Draco?”

His face broke into a giant grin and he shrugged. “Actually, I was going to offer to help you. It is apparent that you can’t seem to find what you’re looking for.” He held his hands out in a beseeching gesture. “I thought perhaps I could help?”

Somewhat surprised, she stopped to search his face; sure he was having her on. “Sure you do.” She replied.

He smirked. “Oh, come on, Granger. We aren’t enemies anymore. How can I prove that if you won’t even give me a chance?”

Glancing at him, she blew a breath out, as if it was a difficult thing, and turned to look at him. After a moment, she gave in. “Oh, alright. But I am sure if I can’t find it, you won’t be able to either.”

She examined his face only to see him looking back with an expectant expression. Straightening her shoulders, she said, “I’m searching for a book on the power of Mind-melding.”

Draco’s face seemed to fall as he stared at her with a shocked look for several seconds. “Why would you be looking for a book like that, here?”

She frowned, “well, where else would I look?”

He seemed to take in her words, and shrugged, looking away. “You won’t find it out here, in the open. That’s a Dark Arts text.”

Her heart stopped when she heard what he said. Her feet nearly got tied up and she had to grab the bookshelf to keep from going down. “What did you say?”

He reached out and put a steadying hand under her elbow only to release her when he saw she wouldn’t fall. “You okay?” he asked softly, to which she nodded.

He pointed toward the curtain that separated the dark art texts from the rest. “What you’re looking for is beyond that curtain.” He smiled. “Aren’t you glad that you are allowed back there now?”

She bit her bottom lip, staring at the curtain. “I hadn’t realized that it was Dark Arts.” She shook her head. “It never crossed my mind.”

He nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Well, between lovers, it isn’t dark. Not at all. But there are ways. . .” he trailed off staring at the curtain himself with a wistful expression.

“Some of the darkest magic is tied to mind-melding. The charm that drove Bellatrix crazy was done with mind-melding magic.” Draco shook his head with a serious expression. “It is something only to be practiced with someone you trust.”

Hermione suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Fears assailed her like wildfire. What Snape was doing with her . . . what he was teaching her. . . It was Dark Arts? She felt stupid and naïve; she should have known.

Severus Snape was a master at the Dark Arts. Why else would he covet the D.A.D.A. class. He wanted that position so badly, Dumbledore had almost seemed to take pleasure in denying it to him. It should be no surprise to her that this talent he was now sharing with her was considered dark.

He had asked her. He had warned her that what they would be embarking on was something that she should enter into willingly. He really hadn’t deceived her, she told herself, trying to push back her feelings of betrayal. He would know if her emotions were too frantic. She had to calm down.

“Too late,” his voice sounded off in her head. “I felt your shock the second it gripped you. Miss Granger, if you wish to back out of our agreement now, then by all means, feel free.”

Even though his words spoke of releasing her the velvet of his voice played in her mind like smooth satin. She expelled a sigh, and noticed that Draco was watching her with a bemused expression. She half smiled at him, “Sorry, I am just doing some research. That’s all.”

He nodded slowly, looking her over with a knowing smile. “Well, if you get tired of who ever you are sharing your little research project with, Granger, I certainly wouldn’t mind helping you with it.” His smile widened and he winked at her suggestively. “It could prove quite interesting.”

Despite herself she returned his smile. “My, Draco Malfoy; flirting? Oh my. . . What would your father say?” She teased back, wondering if she was trying to get in a sticky situation, even as she ignored the growl vibrating in the back of her mind.

Malfoy moved to pass her and paused, leaning close enough to whisper in her ear. “We Slytherins are actually very adept at pleasing our lovers, Hermione.”

His fingers brushed her cheek as he turned her face so their eyes met. “And, since we are no longer enemies, we could be fantastic lovers.”

She almost choked at his flirtatious manner although it was on the tip of her tongue to blurt out that she already knew what he stated to be fact.

Instead, she just smiled and moved out of his reach. With a raised eyebrow, she answered, “I will bear that in mind.”

Without another word, she turned and moved beyond the curtain that kept the dark Arts section separate from the rest of the library.

Because she had played a pivotal part of the Golden Trio that had defeated Voldemort, she had been given many special allowances when she chose to return to Hogwarts. Private quarters, complete with a kitchenette, a private bath, and even a balcony were part of it. She had also been given permission to use any part of the castle that she felt the need of. That included the Restricted Section of the library.

She didn’t want what she and Snape were doing to end. If anything, she was more determined than ever that she would learn and master every single thing about this mind-melding. She was more than just curious. She was obsessed.

Looking through the aisles, she had the strangest feeling she was missing something. After a few more minutes of searching, she drew her wand and made a circle around the closed section of the library, “Illuminato Revealisio!”

Suddenly, she saw a section of the Restricted Section that she had never seen before. A huge purple and silver curtain appeared and pulled back as if in offering. Wide eyed, she stepped into the area and looked around.

No wonder this part had been so carefully hidden. These books were all about sexual magic. Not silly little things like love spells or potions, but marriage rituals that would end the life of one when the other passed, orgasms that could be given to each other from the other side of the world, mind-melding to share dreams and sexual fantasies; that was what was hidden throughout this section.

Her insides felt as if they were about to go up in flames. She was so completely aroused, she could feel her clit tingling. Every book in this section was one that she wanted to read. There was even one that went into graphic detail on the Magical Karmasutra.

Unable to stop herself she reached out and took it, as well as the first book she found on mind-melding and quickly departed for her quarters. She had some studying to do!