"First Kiss"
Hermione quietly tiptoed out of the Christmas party, slipping right under the nose of the great jolly host, Horace Slughorn. When she rounded the corner of the hallway, the telltale wisps of a quiet conversation settled over her ears. She ducked quickly behind a suit of armor, tucking herself close to the wall and prayed to remain unseen.
“I have a plan Sev, I know what I’m doing!” The voice of Draco Malfoy protested. Hermione’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth to stifle a gasp of surprise.
“Draco, if your plan is to simply be caught in the act and thrown into detention all year—“ Snape spat.
“It’s not! I just had to check on her.” Draco interrupted.
Several seconds of silence followed, and Hermione wracked her brains for who “her” would be.
The voices that argued got impossibly quieter, and Hermione could no longer hear the words being said. She dared to crane her neck around the armor’s wide trouser leg, seeing that both men were, in fact, still there speaking.
Abruptly, Malfoy pushed Snape away from him.
“I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP. THIS TASK WAS GIVEN TO ME.” He bellowed, so loudly that Hermione almost toppled over the armor in shock. She held onto it carefully, afraid to take a breath.
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed throughout the hall away from them.
Hermione watched for the reflection of Snape’s deep robes as he retreated. Pausing for a few extra seconds of caution, she took a breath and hurried off in the direction she believed Draco to have disappeared to.
She paused in front of the 6th floor bathroom.
Hermione cautiously peeked around the corner of the bathroom’s entrance, eyes searching for the familiar head of blond hair. When they found it, she entered the bathroom slowly. Draco was crying, washing his hands and face in a bathroom sink. His skin looked gaunt and unnaturally pale, and the sight of his state broke something deep in Hermione’s chest.
“Draco,” she offered quietly. He spun around on the spot, wand drawn, eyes wild. He took in the sight of her and quickly scanned the room for more bodies.
He found none.
“Granger, get the hell out of here,” he warned. The tip of his wand faltered from the spot it pointing in her face, and he hastily lowered it when Hermione watched the change.
She reached out to him instead. “Draco,” she began, “—please. Let ME help you. To hell with Snape.” Draco’s mouth fell open in surprise.
“What in Merlin’s name are you talking about Granger? Don’t involve yourself in places where you're bound to get hurt.” He said, his voice rising. Hermione stepped closer to him. Draco’s back was pressed to the sink basin, unable to retreat.
“Draco, stop this. Whatever it is they’re making you do—“
“NO,” he roared. “You can’t.” Tears escaped his scared eyes, leaving marks down his sallow cheeks. He pulled her in sharply to him, embracing her tightly.
His next words came out as almost a whisper. “They’ll try to kill you, Granger. They’ll take you away from me.”
Hermione looked up into his frightened eyes, tears pooling in her own. After only a second of thought, Draco angled her jaw toward him with his hands, caressing her soft skin against his own. He placed a shaky kiss gently across her mouth, slipping his hands back from her jaw and into her thick curls.
She sucked in a gasp, and his tongue met hers where her lips parted.
This kiss, their first kiss, Hermione could not bear to break from. She kissed him back greedily, rubbing circles over his shoulder with her thumb where her hands rested against him.
A loud gasp echoed off of the marbled bathroom walls, and Draco quickly pushed Hermione behind him, shielding her from view. The mouth the gasp escaped from belonged to Harry. He took in the scene before raising his wand, and throwing a loud curse in Draco’s direction.
Hermione shrieked loudly as Draco sent back hex after hex, and he pushed her away from him quickly to the wall, out of the line of jinxes aimed toward himself. Hermione’s loud protests were drowned out by the spells from both wands.
Then, clearly, over the sound of the commotion, she heard the curse leave Harry’s mouth. “Sectumsempra!” He shouted, and wide gash marks sliced against Draco’s chest. The white shirt there grew a deep stained crimson as Hermione abandoned her spot on the wall.
“DRACO!” She shouted, dropping to her knees in front of him. She helplessly tried mend and mend, but the bleeding did not cease.
Her wild eyes sought Harry, who looked like he’d seen a ghost. His hands shook with shock.
“GO! FIND SOMEONE NOW.” She barked at him. Tears ran down her face as she smoothed the hair away from Draco’s eyes and clasped his hand. “Please stay awake Draco,” she whispered to him. She placed a soft kiss against his unmoving lips.
“Please.”