One Fine Line

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

A/N
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-dolceamara: revelling in her narcissism

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Chapter 6

Avoiding Draco for the past few days had been easy, avoiding the curious glances and insinuations from the other students had been a tad more difficult. Naturally, she had Malfoy to thank for that. Apparently, those enticing nibbles he trailed along her neck had left annoying little love bites. As she was not accustom to waking up with love bites, she hadn’t bothered to check.

But when a fellow classmate squeals “Those are love bites!”

…at the top of her lungs

…in the middle of the Great Hall…

Let’s just say she had been checking her neck every hour to see if they were fading.

She could have killed Lavender on the spot.

Harry and Ron were taking the news better than anticipated. Granted, they looked rather shocked to begin with, but once that wore off, they set into her. The barrage of questions was undeniably better than the lecture that she had expected.

Taking one more glance in her hand mirror, she sighed. They still looked as noticeable as ever. She cursed herself for not being one of the many girls that kept personal stores of make up, as they certainly would have come in handy right about now. She even went so far as to research some medical charms, but it was as if the blasted things were impervious to any sort of magic. Her visit to Madame Pomfrey had cemented what she had been dreading all day: the only thing that would heal them would be time.

What good is being a witch if you can’t even get rid of a few minor bruises!

With an irritable grumble, she tossed the hand mirror on her bed. She was expecting Ron and Harry any moment. After they had felt they thoroughly interrogated her, they proceeded to beg her to help them figure out a topic for their project. She originally planned to refuse, seeing as she hadn’t even come up with one for herself, but she figured that if they were so willing to downplay the earlier events, she should be willing to help them out.

Grabbing her potions notes, she made her way to the common area. Luckily, it seemed Malfoy was out doing what ever he does and wasn’t there to annoy her.

“He’s probably out torturing some poor woodland creatures…” she mumbled to herself as she walked over to the small stone hearth at the front of the room. After dropping her notes onto the couch, she gave her wand a flick, conjuring a low fire.

She woefully wished it were cold enough to wear a turtleneck.

Settling into the couch, she began flipping through her notes. Her latest parchment was defaced with her many ideas that she had written down, only to be scratched out in a fury of indecision. In the back of her mind, she knew that she would have to eventually sit down and discuss her topic with Malfoy and she was definitely not happy that it was affecting her decision-making abilities.

“’Mione!”

Her ears perked as she heard her portrait door swing open.

“In the common room!”

She smiled when she saw their heads pop around from the corner, though the mischievous glints in their eyes were rather disconcerting.

“Aw, we were hoping to catch you with your mystery man…”Harry pouted playfully as joined her on the couch. “Please tell us!”

“Since when did you two become gossipmongers?” She found it almost amusing that they were begging her for information on a nonexistent lover.

“Since you came to breakfast with love bites! How could you not tell us, ‘Mione! We’re your best mates!” Ron whined, sandwiching her between Harry and himself.

“First of all, even if I was snogging someone, I don’t think I would rush to tell you two…need I remind of fourth year? Does the Yule Ball ring any bells?”

“That was different! Viktor was way too old for you!”

“And,” Harry interjected, “Don’t forget that he was competing against me. For all we knew, he could have been using you to get to me!?”

Hermione snorted, “You know well and good that’s not true. You two just couldn’t handle that someone fancied me.”

Harry waved dismissively, “That’s all in the past. Don’t you want your friends’ approval of your new boyfriend?”

Ron nodded fervently, “I want to make sure that he’s good enough for you.”

“You two are as bad as Lavender!” Hermione moaned, “I did not invite you two here to talk about my love life, so if you wouldn’t mind, I would rather we just get down to business. I’ve my own project to think about.”

Both grumbled as they pulled their notes out of their bags.

The night went on with a mixture of potions, gossip and way too much sugar. She had managed to keep the two on task long enough to steer them to at least a narrowed category for their project, though sadly she was unable to help them finalize anything. What was even more distressing was that she hadn’t even begun to think about her own. Each time she did, she thought of Malfoy, and that was a place she didn’t care to let her mind wander. At least, not as long as she had to entertain Ron and Harry.

“I don’t know about you two, but I think that my brain is shot.” Hermione rubbed her temples gingerly.

Ron blew out a sigh of relief. “My brain was shot two hours ago.” He quickly moved when Hermione shot him an indignant glare. “Not that I’m not eternally grateful from your help! It’s just…I don’t have the intellectual stamina that you seem to have.”

“Those are rather big words for the likes of you, Weasel.” Draco shot from the doorway of his bedroom.

Hermione rolled her eyes before turning around in her chair, “Malfoy, honestly, do you have to be such a prat. Need I remind you of what happened last time you went around insulting my friends?”

“Oh,” Draco sauntered towards her, “I remember perfectly. That was…what…three nights ago.” He glanced at her neck before a smirk set across his lips.

Harry and Ron shot each other curious glances as they watched the interaction between the two.

Hermione’s cheeks began burn. “Well, I wouldn’t want to see that happen again, so I suggest you behave.” She slanted him a scornful glare before turning back to her friends.

“It’s already after curfew. Give me a couple minutes to change and I will walk you two back to the common room so you don’t get into any trouble.” She glanced at Draco, then turned back to Ron and Harry, whispering, “And don’t start anything…”

She rose from her chair and turned to Draco before going to her room, “That goes for you too. I don’t think Professor McGonagall would appreciate having to lecture you twice in one week.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it…”

Once Hermione had shut herself in her room, Draco turned to the other two. He bit is tongue as insults swam in his head. As much as he hated to seem like he was actually taking orders from Granger, he didn’t fancy another lecture from McGonagall.

Of course, he wasn’t exactly known for self restraint when it came to slandering the Golden Trio.

“I have to say I’m surprised that you’ve been here studying all this time.” His eyes flashed mischievously. Placing his palms on the small round table, he leaned in closer to Ron’s face. “I mean, your performance in academics over the past six years has been less than stellar. Of course…,” he glanced at Hermione’s door, “If I had a tutor with an ass like that, I would dedicate more time to my studies as well.”

Ron bolted from his chair, causing it to tumble to the floor. “How dare you speak of Hermione like that!” He charged to the other side of the table and grabbed the collar of Draco’s shirt, “I should pummel you for just thinking about her!” His face grew redder by the second.

“Ron! Let him go!” Harry rushed to separate the two. As much as he would love to smash Malfoy\'s face in for his comments, he didn’t think it was worth receiving a months detention. He grabbed at the sleeve of Ron’s shirt, only to be shaken away.

“What? Protecting your little mudblood girlfriend. I’d like to see you take a shot at me.”

Draco felt a sharp pain explode across his cheek when Ron’s fist connected with his jaw. He stumbled from the unexpected blow, but quickly regained his balance and grabbed at Ron’s sweater

“You’ll pay for that one, Weasel!” With a swift swing of his arm, he returned the punch.

It wasn’t long before the two were in a full out scuffle on the floor, and Harry stood watching, completely at a loss as how to separate the two.

“Stop it!” Hermione rushed from her room when she heard the aggressive thumps coming from the common area. Grabbing her wand, she thrust it into the faces of the two boys.

“Don’t make me use this…” She warned.

With a grunt, the two separated, making sure to give one last shove before they rose from the floor.

“I thought I told you to behave!” She glared at Ron, who was rubbing his jaw gently.

“You should have heard what he said about you! You would have punched him yourself! ” he shouted in frustration. “You’d been offended if I hadn’t punched him! He bloody well deserved it!”

“That’s no reason to start a fist fight! Learn to be more civilised!” She threw her hands in the air.

“Of course he’s not civilised! Look at the family he grew up in.” Draco shot him a disgusted glance as he wiped at the blood that seeped from the new cut on his lip.

“Shut it, Malfoy! You’re just as much to blame as he is!” She turned on him, pressing her finger into his chest, “I told you to behave as well!”

“Since when have I ever taken orders from you? He attacked me! I was merely defending myself.” He glared down at her as he smoothed his rumpled jumper, which was sporting a number of snags and small tears.

Hermione let out a cry of frustration, “Well, I’m sure that it didn’t go without provocation.” She turned to Harry as she tried to calm herself, though her eyes still flashed with anger, “Take Ron and return to your common room. Try not to be seen.”

Harry nodded quickly, not wanting to upset her any more than she already was, “Don’t worry; I will get him cleaned up.”

He glared at Ron, “What’s gotten into you!” he hissed.

Sure he would have loved to sock one to Draco, but that didn’t mean he was gonna start throwing punches and asking questions later, no matter how much he wanted to do so.

Before Ron could answer, Harry was already throwing his school back at him and shoving him out the portrait hole.

“Git…” Draco murmured, touching his fingers to his swelling lip.

“Oh shut up and follow me.” Hermione grabbed his sleeve, tugging him towards her bedroom.

“What another round on the bed eh? Guess it’s true that violence turns women on…”

“You wish…” She prodded him through her room and into her bathroom, forcing him to sit on the small chaise in the corner.

“Hey, you get a sitting area? That’s hardly fair…” Draco commented as he ran his hand over the plush scarlet fabric.

“How many guys do you know spend time lounging in the bathroom?” she asked, grabbing a washcloth from a small wire rack next to the sink.

“Point taken…” He contemplated asking her why he was being forced to sit in her bathroom, but curiosity kept his mouth shut.

Reclining slightly, he inspected his surroundings. Her bathroom was about the same size as his though much more feminine. It reminded him of pictures he had seen of ancient Roman baths. The floor was tiled white and, he assumed, was charmed to look like marble. He highly doubted that such an extravagant material would be used in the bath of the head girl. The bath itself was a large circular recess in the middle of the floor, just like his. The in each corner of the room there was a simple, Doric style column decorated with painted vines and the walls were decorated with frescos of landscapes: rolling green expanses littered with small rustic towns and fields of grape vines. It reminded him of a family trip he took to Tuscany.

“Malfoy…look at me.”

“Huh? What?” He snapped out of his thoughts and saw that Hermione was standing before him, damp washcloth in hand.

She crooked her finger under his chin, inclining his head, and dabbed the washcloth at his lip.

“What are you doing?” He raised an eyebrow, intrigued but slightly disturbed by her gentleness. He felt almost like a pig being fattened only to be slaughtered later.

“Cleaning your cut.” She replied simply. Folding the cloth to expose its clean side, she continued dabbing.

“I see that, but why are you cleaning my cut. I’m a big boy, and a wizard for that matter. I can clean my own wounds.” He didn’t move to stop her, it was almost nice to have a woman care for him, even if it was her.

“It’s partially my fault you are sporting this split lip,” she admitted. She didn’t want to admit it; she wasn’t sure why she was, either.

“I should have known better than to leave you alone with them, especially Ron. He’s not exactly known for his common sense when it comes to confrontation.” She surveyed her work before walking to the medicine cupboard. She tapped her finger on her lip in thought before picking up a small cobalt blue vial and a pack of cotton balls. Walking back towards Draco, she popped the cork of the vial and shook a small amount of the clear liquid onto the cotton.

“Tilt your head again.” She instructed, holding the cotton up to his lips.

As he inclined his head once again, he held back a smile as he watched her brow furrow in concentration.

“It’s only a minor cut; you needn’t concentrate so hard. It will give you wrinkles.”

She stopped, “Are you giving me beauty advice, Malfoy? I’m sure the male population of Hogwarts would get a kick out of hearing that…” a unspoken warning lurked in her words.

“I’m merely pointing out that if you relax once and a while, more guys would see that you are, well…pretty.”

Her hand dropped from his mouth, “Excuse me?” Was he giving her relationship advice…did he just say she was pretty?

Draco immediately regretted the words that seemed to slip out on their own volition. Cursing his moment of weakness, he scrambled to save face.

“Well, I’ve seen the way you act with Weasley. I was merely trying to help further your relationship…” he crossed his arms across his chest.

Just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom…you grab a shovel…

With a small laugh, Hermione tossed the cotton ball into the rubbish bin. Placing the vial on the counter, she turned back to Draco.

“First of all, I’m not ,nor do I wish, to date Ron. Secondly, my personal life is none of your business and I find your current interest in it to be a bit disturbing.” She rested her back against the counter, folding her arms across her chest, “Why, exactly, are you giving me relationship advice?”

In truth, he had admitted to himself, reluctantly of course, that she had gotten into his head. After his rather vivid dream in the bathroom, she had been annoyingly stuck in his thoughts. His first initial solution was that if he could get her to go with some other guy, then she wouldn’t be around as much and thus, he would have to see her less. He hoped that would squash any impure thoughts that happen to creep into his thoughts.

That seemed to be failing miserably.

As he was at a loss for words and feared any further explanation of his motives would dig a deeper hole for himself, he simply shrugged. He touched his finger to his lip briefly and found that it was no longer painful to touch.

“What was that stuff that you put on my lip?” he asked, somewhat shocked that she had been able to relieve the pain without magic.

“It was just a simple topical anaesthetic and cleaner. Muggles aren’t completely daft, you know. Not everything in life requires magic.”

He’d never really thought about not using magic, seeing as he was a pure blood wizard, though he supposed she had a point.

He sat watching her as she washed her hands and put away the medicine that she had used. He was somewhat shocked that they had just had a civil conversation.

Must have been the blow to the head…

“Um…thanks, Granger.” He finally said, rising from the chaise.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied, wiping her hands dry. “By the way, what exactly did you say to make Ron want to hit you?” She hadn’t really wanted to know, since she assumed that it was something vile and horrid, but curiosity got the best of her.

“I said you had a nice ass.”

“Well, no wonder he hit you…” she laughed to herself. Surprisingly, she wasn’t offended. She should be, but she was almost flattered that a male had given her a complement…even if the source was less than desirable.

Draco cleared his throat to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen upon them.

“We need to discuss our potions project.”

She nodded in response, “That’s fine with me, just meet me back here after our rounds.”

Returning her nod, he turned and left her bathroom, completely confused as to what had just passed between them.