Spin the Bottle
“Honestly Harry, do you ever part with that bloody thing?” Harry was clutching the old book in her hands, and Hermione was glaring at it. The book from what she had heard from Ginny–was something that Harry didn’t part with. When she thought about it, she realized that almost every time that they had met up or she had seen him, the book was tucked into his robes like he was afraid somebody was going to swipe it from him. Even now, he was clutching it tighter to his chest while she eyed it curiously. Ronald was droning on in the background, perched up far too loudly in their Common Room in her opinion. She had come here to try and talk to them, and to hide from Theo and Pansy’s prying eyes. Pansy had been rather adamant about throwing a party for her birthday and the idea of it made her sick. There wasn’t anything for her to celebrate.
“I just like to read it, that's all.”
“Right mate, not that it has you at the top of the class or anything! He’s even better than you!” Ron jabbed a finger in her direction and she wrinkled her nose at him.
“Either way, I am just curious what you are so attached to.” She made a swipe to snatch it from him and failed, fingertips flailing in the air as he held it away from her.
“Hermione! Mind the binding, it's ... .fragile.”
“I’m sorry, what?” A scoff fell from her lips that was very similar to Malfoy’s and she furrowed her brows at the realization. She hadn’t seen him since her threat in the hallway last week. Her birthday was approaching and she winced when she knew that she should probably seek him out if Harry wasn’t going to give up the book.
“Who’s the Half Blood Prince?” Ginny was standing behind the couch, triumphantly holding the book in her hands as Harry glared at her. His fingertips reached out, snatching the book from her and Hermione raised an eyebrow.
“What about the fragile binding, Harry?” He glared at her, before tipping his head to the side, and tucking the book against him.
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There was nothing in the library about The Half Blood Prince and she sighed, twisting her hair into a bun huffing at the pieces that always escaped as she jabbed her wand through the bundle of hair. Pansy rounded the corner, raising an eyebrow at her as she approached. “Mi, please tell me that something isn’t going on between you and Draco.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s been broodier and far more depressing lately than usual. He seems bloody serious. I invited him to your party–well honestly I mentioned it to him because I thought that you invited him already and–”
“--I told you I didn’t want a party, Pansy.”
“Granger. Be real here, half of the school already knows about it. There isn’t any way that you can cancel now.” Hermione’s jaw dropped open and Pansy froze. “Well, I mean. I didn’t tell a lot of people. It seems like everybody else can’t keep their mouths shut. We should really talk about your outfit though, being the center of attention you can’t show up dressed like…well that.” Pansy waved a hand over Hermione who narrowed her eyes at her.
“Dressed like what? I look perfectly fine.”
“If you say so. I am going to agree to disagree with you on that one. Come on, it’s time to give you a makeover.”
“I’m in the middle of something, Pansy.”
Pansy huffed, rolling her eyes as she stood while pointing a finger at Hermione. “Fine. Tomorrow night in our tower. Understand? Don’t be late either, you have to meet me in my room tonight so that we can find something for you to wear. If you don’t show up I will hunt you down in the morning! And for the love of Salazar, please talk to Draco!”
Hermione rolled her eyes, tucking herself back into the books, reading until her eyelids drooped.
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Somebody was shaking her, and she was cold, shivering in the empty hallway when her eyes finally opened. Somehow she had made it all the way to the Astronomy Tower and her eyes widened, realizing how close to the edge she was. Theo was standing behind her, an arm wrapped firmly around her waist as he attempted to pull her backwards. She scrambled with him so quickly that they tumbled back onto the stone, Theo’s arms circling to cradle her from the fall.
“Bloody hell, Hermione.”
“What the fuck, Theo!”
“What do you mean, what the fuck?! You were the one who almost sleepwalked off the damn ledge. Thankfully I caught you in time, otherwise you would be pigeon food tomorrow morning!” Hermione scrambled to her feet, wrapping her arms around her middle trying to keep the cold out that was howling in the wind around them.
“What do you mean sleepwalking?”
Theo ran a tired hand over his face, before his hands tugged on the curls at the base of his skull. “You-you’ve been sleep walking lately. It’s why I was able to convince Snape to let Pansy and I stay in the tower with you. You did it in the Manor as well, before you left. When you came back from….from the house. I used to sit outside of your door when we weren't there with you. It seemed like the nights that Draco was with you, you didn’t do it much. Here though….here you’re everywhere. Pansy said that you had been in the library and I knew that you didn’t sleep yesterday so when I came to check on you and found out that you weren’t there, I bumped into Potter and he told me that some map said you were heading towards the Astronomy Tower.” Hermione took a stuttered breath before fixing Theo with her gaze.
“That’s why you both have looked so tired….you, you haven’t been sleeping because of me.”
Theo took a step closer to her cautiously, his feet sliding along the ground. “Hermione.”
“Theo! Look at you, you’re exhausted! Why haven’t you said anything to me! Locked me in my room or something?” As soon as she said the words, his expression changed, pain crossing his features and she realized why. Tiberius had done exactly that, locking her in her room like it was a prison. The truth settled around them, and she swallowed, shaking her head as if it could clear the words she had just spoken. “You all don’t have to be doing this. I’m sure that it’s rather difficult for Draco to slip from the Dungeons and help.”
“Draco doesn’t know about it.”
Confusion etched her features, her chin tipping up towards him. “What do you mean he doesn’t know?”
“He doesn’t know about you sleepwalking, I figured that he had enough on his plate.”
Hermione narrowed her eyes and Theo’s widened. “What do you know about what he’s keeping from me?”
“Hermione…”
“Theo.” She stepped towards him, her palm against his cheek and he groaned.
“Please don’t make me tell you.”
“Theo. Please. What is he doing?” The pleading in her voice seemed to soften him, his blue eyes closing as the secrets spilled from his lips. Hermione realized, with a chill up her spine that she might be the one to hex him herself.
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The party was in full swing by the time that she had emerged from Pansy’s room, tugging the ends of the skirt she was wearing down. Pansy had dressed her in a short black skirt, with charmed fishnets that had snakes slithering along the front. Thigh high black boots had her holding her breath with every walk terrified that she was going to fall. Thankfully, Pansy had let her be more conservative with the top and she tugged the sleeves of Draco’s Slytherin green jumper over her hands. It was rather packed, but with her hand in Pansy’s they made their way towards the small pack of her friends that were tucked into the corner.
Catcalls echoed around her, causing a flush to break out across her skin. She scanned the small crowd that had gathered around the few couches, and smiled. Neville, Ginny, Harry, Pansy, Luna, Blaise, Theo, and Draco were all stationed there. Draco was leaning against the fireplace, a glass of something in his hands and instantly she met his eyes. Dark gray roamed over her from head to toe and she swallowed roughly, knotting her fingers together to hide the trembling. Harry had managed to pull his eyebrows from his hairline and stopped gaping at her. Blaise was smirking at Theo who was glaring now at Harry. Luna, Ginny and Pansy surprisingly had all gathered on one of the couches, smiling and whispering amongst one another.
Flicking her eyes down, she slipped onto the couch in between Neville and Blaise. Theo raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes momentarily glaring at Neville in warning who only held his hands up towards him in surrender. “We should play a game.” Pansy was smirking, already gathering the bottles off of the table and tossing them aside.
“What game?”
“Mmm…it’s a little something I like to call spin the bottle.”
Draco finally spoke, growling from the wall. “Absolutely not, Pansy.”
“Oh sod off, Malfoy. I don’t think that Granger is scared of kissing a few witches, are you Mi?” Hermione smiled, grabbing the rest of Blaise’s drink and downing it. Meeting Draco’s eyes she replied.
“Bring it on Pansy, I’ve always dreamed what it would be like to kiss you.”
Pansy smirked, setting a bottle down onto the table. “Alright, who’s in!” A collective show of hands raised around the small area and Hermione flushed, avoiding eye contact with Draco who had come closer into the circle, standing between the couch and chair that separated Harry and Neville. “Rules of the game: you spin the bottle and whoever it lands on you have to kiss. If you don’t accept it and kiss the person it lands on, they get to come up with a dare for you to do and you have to do it otherwise you’re out of the game.”
Hermione nodded, scooching closer to the table. She could handle a few dares. Besides, it might get under Draco’s skin enough for him to admit the truth to her. He didn’t know that she knew exactly what was bothering him, and had him so stressed. She also knew that the reason he didn’t share what he was doing was because he didn’t want her involved. Theo had known that much.
“Birthday girl first.” A shy smile pulled at her lips and she leaned forward, clasping the bottle as she spun it. It twirled, reflecting the light from the flames before finally settling on Ginny. She swore that she heard Draco inhale before she met the redhead's eyes.
“Ginny, care for a snog?” The redhead leaned forwards, her fingers meeting the base of her neck and tangling into her curls as she leaned into Hermione over the table. Hermione balanced herself with her palms flat against the wood of the table between them before pushing her lips against Ginny’s. It wasn’t a peck, and Ginny immediately opened up to her, swiping her tongue across Hermione’s bottom lip. She obliged, kissing her back and swiping her tongue along Ginny’s before pulling away after a moment. It was silent around them when she settled back into her spot between Neville and Blaise. She could feel Draco’s eyes burning into her as he cleared his throat.
Ginny grabbed the glass, spinning it on the wood and laughing when it landed on Harry. His green eyes widened and Hermione watched as she leaned forwards, being as brazen with her kiss with him as she was with her. Harry looked scared, unsure of where to place his hands and before he could move Ginny was pulling back, setting the bottle into his lap with a satisfied grin. “I give you a ten, Hermione. Best snog I’ve ever had so far.”
Hermione flushed, twirling a strand of hair around her finger before leaning back into the couch. Harry fumbled with the bottle as he tried to set it onto the table, the glass bounced against the table before he spun it delicately. It landed on Theo and he raised his eyebrows at him. “I’m not kissing Harry Potter.” Theo had said the words before the bottle even stopped wiggling on the table.
“I had no intention of kissing you, Theodore.” His eyes narrowed on Harry and Hermione watched. “Pick a dare for me then.”
“I dare you to snog Pansy.” Pansy sat up straighter, before climbing off of the couch and dumping herself into Harry’s lap. He looked startled, before his hands came to snake around her waist, and she pressed herself into him. Hermione risked a glance at Draco, swallowing as heat pooled in her stomach at the intensity of his gaze. Draco’s silver eyes were almost black in the lighting, shadows dancing across his face as he stared at her. There was something written all over his expression but before she could decipher it, Pansy was spinning the bottle. It landed on Draco and Pansy smiled, slapping her hands on her thighs.
“Come here, big guy.” Draco hesitantly stepped forward before tipping his head towards Pansy. Pansy pecked him softly on the lips and Draco stood still, before stepping back into his spot between Neville and Harry. “Spin the bloody bottle, Draco.”
Draco flicked his wand, not taking his eyes off of her, as she stared at the bottle spinning on the table. It landed…on Luna. Draco made a face before shaking his head. “Nope, give me a dare Luna.” His voice was low and husky and Hermione shivered.
“I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in the room.” Draco didn’t miss a beat, he was standing in front of her, his hand held out and she only had a second to grab it before he was hauling her from the couch and into his arms. Hands cradled her cheeks as his lips crashed into hers, swallowing up the groan that he stole from her. They kissed for a moment before the sound of someone clearing their throat had him pulling away. Her knees gave out and she landed softly onto the couch, Neville offering a steady hand to her back before pulling it away quickly. Draco stepped back and Hermione reached shakily for the bottle.
Her eyes didn’t register who it landed on until she lifted her gaze to meet Theo’s. He shook his head and Hermione was attempting to clear her head from Draco’s kiss. “Give me a dare, lovely sister of mine.” Blaise shifted next to her and the words tumbled from her lips before she could think about the consequences.
“I dare you to snog Blaise.” Theo’s eyes widened marginally before he swallowed. Blaise chuckled before swigging back the rest of his drink.
“Come on then, Theo. I know I’m the handsomest here. Besides, can’t let all the girls have the fun can we?” He was standing, moving towards Theo who was sitting deathly still, staring at Hermione with large blue eyes. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say, maybe he wasn’t ready for this. Maybe he wouldn’t talk to her afterwards. The only thing that had registered to her was that she was tired of them dancing around one another and if Blaise could bring him some semblance of happiness that Draco brought her (usually), then she would risk being the bad guy by giving a little shove. Hermione was supportive after all.
Blaise leaned down, his finger sliding underneath Theo’s chin as he tipped his head up towards him and whispered something before pressing his lips against Theo’s quickly. It was a peck, but by the time that he was pulling away Theo’s face was a brilliant red. Blue eyes flicked down to the table as Blaise’s hand came to rest on top of the bottle, spinning it. She was too busy staring at Theo to realize that it had landed on her.
Blaise was smirking, and Hermione swallowed. Soft hands brushed against her cheek as he tipped her head towards him. A smile pulled at his lips before he leaned forwards to whisper to her. “I don’t quite fancy you as much as I do your brother, Granger.” Draco had yanked Blaise from his seat, shirt rumpled in his fist as he held him.
“I will fucking kill you, Zabini.”
Hermione stood, sliding in between the two of them and Draco glared at her, before releasing Blaise. In a split second she was standing and the next she had a large robe dropped over her and was scooped over Draco’s shoulders. He was vibrating with restrained anger and Hermione squealed. His arm was locked firmly behind her knees while the other adjusted the robe around her. She heard him mumbling something but couldn’t make it out over the music. Peeking her head up, Blaise was staring after her with a smirk and Pansy was smacking him on the arm with a playful smile tugging at her lips.
“Put me down you giant arsehole!” She screeched against his back, slamming her fist into his back. He cursed, a hand coming up to smack her on the bum and she shrieked. “Draco Lucius Malfoy! I swear if you don’t put me down this instant–”
“What will you do, Granger? Snog somebody else? Bloody hell.” His voice was low and threatening and Hermione swallowed when the noise from the party disappeared, and she was tossed lightly onto a green and silver four poster bed with a tall blonde scowling at her from the end of it.
“Malfoy…”
“No. Don’t you fucking dare, Granger.” His hand was raised, and he closed his eyes, inhaling before they focused on her again, his nostrils flaring. “You do not get to say anything to me for a moment while you’re dressed like that and lying on my bed. Making me forget why I was even angry at you in the first place. Merlin.”
Hermione swallowed, before glancing down at herself. The black skirt had ridden up slightly, bunched around her thighs that were a contrast to the snakes coiled around her legs in the fishnet. Black thigh-high boots were tight and digging into her skin from the position she was sprawled out in and she noted that Draco’s jumper had fallen off of her shoulder along with his dress robe pooling around her like a blanket. Draco let out a stuttered breath, running a hand over his face when she peeked at him from under her lashes and he cursed. “Move, Granger. For the–please just move off of the bed so I can focus enough to yell at you.”
“You yell at me?! Are you serious? Malfoy? You have no bloody right.” She slipped off of his bed, rounding it to get closer and tilted her head up to glare at him. “You have been lying to me, keeping things from me, and being a downright arsehole! And yet you’re mad at me?!” Draco smirked at her, stepping into her space and she glared, stepping back.
“Yes, I’m mad at you, you infuriating witch. You haven’t spoken to me for a week and yet here you are locking lips with witches and wizards–which by the way if he would’ve kissed you, I probably would’ve Avada’d him right in the damn Common Room.”
The air around them was charged, crackling and she jabbed a finger into his chest. “What, being tasked with one murder this year wasn’t enough?” Hermione wanted to take the words back as soon as they rolled off of her tongue and Draco stumbled back a few steps. His gray eyes went black before a closed off expression flitted over his face and she stared at him. “Don’t you dare Occlude right now, Draco.”
He turned his head, jaw tight as he stared at the wall. “Granger.” It was low, gravelly and dangerous. “Get out.”
She gasped, shock filtering over her features as she sputtered. “You cannot be serious right now. You’re really going to push me away instead of letting me help you?”
“You can’t help me, Granger! When will you get that through your head? I know for a fact that you’re not daft, I know that you know what me doing this means. You cannot do anything to help with this, I won’t allow it. You have done enough. You have almost died on me time and time again; it is my turn to protect you. Let me do something instead of standing by every time that you show up battered and broken. I can’t do it anymore. I won’t allow it.” Even though his face was closed off from the Occlumency, the falter in his voice had her heart clenching in her chest.
Hermione’s eyes hardened before she took a step towards him. His gaze flew to her feet, and she swallowed, closing the distance between them, pressing her palms against his chest. “Draco.” He shook his head, attempting to pry her fingers from his shirt but she grasped on tightly. “Stop.”
“No, there isn’t anything that you can do to help me with this. I won’t allow it. I refuse to drag you into this mission, I don’t know who told you–” He stopped, tilting his head towards the door and she saw the wheels turning in his mind. “Fucking Theo.”
“Don’t you dare get mad at my brother for telling me the truth that you weren’t able to. We don’t keep things from one another. We don’t lie. That isn’t who we are. You promised me when you gave me this necklace.”
“I also promised to keep you safe, Granger. That promise is worth more than any others I have ever made to you.” His voice was low, menacing and sent shivers down her spine. Draco might infuriate her on a normal basis, and vice versa but one thing that she knew for certain was that when it came to her safety Theo and Draco weren’t opposed to do anything necessary.
“Draco. I love you.” His eyes softened momentarily, and she stepped onto her tiptoes, her lips brushing over his. He still wasn’t touching her, having given up on attempting to peel her hands from his shirt–both of which hands were now tangled into the curls at the bottom of his skull. He was tense, angry, terrified. All of those feelings locked behind a wall of Occlusion that she desperately wanted him to drop. Hermione paused, pulling away and brought her hands up to push the robe from her shoulders and felt it brush against her leg as it fluttered to the ground. Draco swallowed, his eyes still on hers. Hermione brought her foot up onto the trunk at the bottom of the bed and leaned forward, pulling the zipper down softly before discarding the boot behind her. Draco swallowed again, his eyes flicking back to her face as pink spread across his cheekbones.
“Granger…” She brought her other foot up onto the trunk, Draco was transfixed with the expanse of skin that was showing.
“I think this one’s stuck, can you help me…please?” Draco didn’t move for a moment, before stepping forward attempting to keep his fingers from brushing against her skin and causing his undoing. It didn’t last very long; he had been ridiculously tired lately. As soon as his fingers brushed the fishnet that covered the milky flesh beneath there was a fire licking its way up his fingertips and Hermione felt the same.
They were burning together.
Hermione watched, transfixed as Draco slid the boot from her foot, fingers brushing over any inch of skin that they could before he promptly stepped back. She heard his inhale, attempting to put as much distance between them as possible. Narrowing her eyes, fingers made a move to carefully start rolling the stocking down over her leg. Honestly, if you asked her where this sudden surge of seduction had come from, she wouldn’t have been able to tell you; but she couldn’t stop, not with that look of adoration and complete enrapturement on Draco’s face in the light of the room. His eyes tracked every move, following the fishnets as they slid down her leg, exposing inch after inch of her skin. A gulp and she wet her lips, his eyes snapped to her face at the inhale she took, and she knew that he was transfixed.
“Granger.” A warning, a growl.
“Malfoy.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Low, raspy. She was making progress. He didn’t look completely undone, but his voice was the betraying factor. Fingers twitched, Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed, gray eyes almost black in the soft light.
“I am attempting to seduce you into forgetting that you were ever mad at me to begin with. Maybe then you’ll spill all of your secrets to me.” A soft look from under her lashes. “Is it working?”
He took a hesitant step towards her, before suddenly gaining confidence and stepping right up to her, his hands still at his sides as though touching her would lead to his undoing. “You don’t want to do this, darling.”
She glared at him. “How would you know? And do what, exactly? I am merely getting ready for bed.”
He raised an accusatory eyebrow at her. Gloriously posh while she stood half naked in front of him. She shivered. “Wildly presumptuous to assume that you were going to be anywhere near my bed, Granger.”
“Considering that you threw me onto the thing like a bloody caveman when we first got into here, I would assume that was my invitation.” He grabbed her wrist, stopping her from climbing into the bed and she lifted her chin at him.
“You will not use your body to get information from me, Hermione. You are worth more than that. I refuse to allow you to do that to yourself. I can’t tell you because I can’t have you running right into it. I have stared Death in the face too many times when it came to you, when it comes to you. You have an uncanny ability to somehow summon any and all trouble around you. You feel the need to save everybody, and I almost wonder if you should’ve been sorted into bloody Gryffindor. All of that aside, you have been through far too much for me to allow you to climb into my bed and offer whatever pieces of yourself you are willing to give in order to persuade me to tell you. Please don’t make me do that. Please don’t ask me to put myself into a position where I have to stand by and watch as you do something reckless over and over and I question if I am going to lose you.”
Hermione didn’t know what to say, snapping her mouth shut and staring at his chin. There wasn’t any courage left at the moment to be able to come up with a retort and shoot back at him. There wasn’t anything that she could say in response to that. For once, Hermione Granger was speechless, and she didn’t fight him when he draped his cloak over her shoulders and dropped her off at the door to her room. She didn’t even fight when he placed a chaste kiss to her lips and slipped down the hallway as though he wasn’t taking her heart with him every time that he left.
She was going to get him to break. And she didn’t care how much or what she had to do to make sure. He wasn’t doing what he was doing alone. She wouldn’t let him.