29. Chapter 29: Draco

OMG... I've read HBP... NO! How could JK do this to us D/Hr shippers? Ahhhhhhhhh! Die, Ron, Die! I can't believe she put Ron and Hermione together. (Well, it was pretty obvious that it was coming, but still!)

I shall always be a Draco/Hermione shipper! T.T -Strangled sob- Even though it'll never be canon...

On a happier note... WHOA! I reached 1000 reviews! So happy! -Dances around crazily- Thank you so much!

About the Ginny seeing thestrals thing - my bad, my bad, I forgot she couldn't see them. Just pretend she pointed in the general direction of the Hospital Wing when Harry asked where they were, and that she only knew the thestral was there because of Harry's mumblings.

I'm also sorry about underlining so much, I'll try to emphasize less words from now on. U.U But I'm not going to change to italics, because I'm a perfectionist, hehe. :P

& let's go...

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10 Ways to Kill Draco Malfoy

Chapter 29

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DRACO

"I'll see you later. We'll talk tomorrow night. Look out for an owl from me."

That was what she said. I wonder what she wants to talk about. Maybe she wants to beat the crap out of me for beating the crap out of Weasley. That would make sense, but she'd be pretty dumb to think that she, a girl, could beat me up.

And Hermione is definitely not dumb.

I pace around the Slytherin common room. Unfortunately, it's just after dinner on a Sunday night, so the room is pretty crowded. Which means that I am forced to pace in a very small area of space while around me, idiots are giggling and playing games like Exploding Snap or Gobstones, primitive forms of entertainment that I have never found very amusing.

Except when a card explodes in someone's surprised face, or they get squirted with stinky goo. Now that's what I call entertainment.

"Draco-poo, want to play a game of Strip Poker?" Pansy coos. The room falls silent at her question and all stare at me hopefully. What the fuck? She only asked me to play a game. It's not like she asked anything obscene.

Oh wait. Did Pansy say 'Strip Poker'? Are my ears deceiving me? "Wh-what did you say, Pansy?" I ask, just to make sure. Not that I mind playing such a game, as long as Parkinson's not there to ogle at me the whole time.

"S-t-r-i-p Poker, darling," she says, spelling it out like I am some kind of retarded person. My hands itch to smack her head until her neck has the flexibility of an owl's, but restrain myself by deep breathing. In... out... in... out... Phew, that's better. Yes, think calm... think meadows of flowers... and crystal clear lakes... with piranhas on the lake bed, snapping their jaws.

Ahhhh. Very relaxing, thinking of killer fish.

I think for a moment, deciding whether to keep pacing or play an innocent game of Poker. "Sure, why not?"

At my words, the whole room starts cheering and crowd around the centre of the room, where Pansy leads me to a table inhabited by Blaise (oh God), Zack (a cute-looking brunette boy who recently started hanging out with Blaise and co.) and a few others I don't quite know the names of. One is a tall boy with cropped, dirty blond hair; the other two consist of a pair of giggling girls that, I find, is the source of the loud giggles I had heard earlier.

If they keep that up, I might just resort to Spellotaping their lips together.

"Hey there, Draco," Blaise says, his eyes sweeping from my ice-washed jeans to my hooded red and white jumper. I am suddenly glad that I didn't decide to wear a t-shirt or anything less revealing than what I have on now. Blaise had always said he wanted to be a fashion designer when he left school, but when he looked you up and down you could never be sure if he was just having a look at your outfit or if he was checking you out.

Fuck, that brings a shiver to my spine. Quickly I sit down on the thick carpet next to Pansy and the tall boy. What's his name again? I wonder as Blaise explains the basic rules.

"Before we start, I'd like to get a few things sorted. First, the teams." Blaise motions with his hands to Zack, Pansy and one of the girls. "Zack, Pansy and Laura will be in my team. Draco, your team'll be Kyle," he pointed to the boy sitting next to me, who nodded in acknowledgment. Oh, that's right. Kyle. Isn't he in the Quidditch team or something? I'm sure I've seen him there when I give out pep talks. "Natalie and... whoops. We've got seven people." He turns to the crowd. "Anyone up for a game of Strip Poker?"

A few hands raise eagerly, and at last a goth with short, spiky black hair and pale face sits down next to Kyle. "Your name is...?" Pansy asks, raising an eyebrow. The boy isn't ugly, but his nosering and several earrings on each ear gives him a foreboding air.

OK, well I'm guilty of having pierced ears too, but not that many.

"Nathan," he answers casually. Natalie and Laura start giggling again, much to my annoyance.

Blaise starts speaking again. "Right, now that we have equal numbered teams, I'll just go through the rules.

"First of all, and most importantly, you need the willingness to bare it all." Blaise and I exchange smirks across the table. "I think that, because we're in the presence of younger people, we'll stop the stripping at underwear. You're allowed no more than six items of strippable clothing. Socks, gloves, etc. count as two."

"Damn," I hear Zack mutter. Glancing at him, I see that he is wearing enough clothes to survive in Antarctica. I stifle a laugh as he is forced to take all his extra jackets and sweaters off. Most of the others take some clothing off too, since it's approaching Winter and the weather is getting cold.

"First we split the 9s, 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces from the deck of cards. Then we lay two cards face up in the middle of the table. One team asks a question, which they must know the answer to. The other team gets 10 seconds to say the answer. If the answer is correct, they get to pick a card and the other card goes to the other team. The group that asked the question must also take off one item of clothing. If the answer is wrong, the team that asked the question gets to choose the card and the answering group will be the ones stripping.

"When both teams have 11 cards in their hands, the team with the most clothing on wins." Blaise looks at me.

I smile at the cue. "Well then," I drawl. "Let the game begin."

Blaise's team wanted to ask a question first, so we let them. "Who likes Hermione Granger?" he asks.

Oh fuck. Could he know? I search his face for signs of smugness but find none. Phew.

"Four... three..." Kyle mutters next to me.

"Ron Weasley," I say loudly. Beside me, Natalie cheers while Kyle looks dumbstruck. Obviously he doesn't know who any of those people are, strangely enough. Oh well.

Zack groans as I pick a card - an Ace - and slides the other one towards them. "Come on, take it off," Nathan cajoles evilly. Zack glares at him and reluctantly takes off a sock. Laura and Blaise do the same, while Pansy takes off her woollen jumper to reveal a pink tank top. I roll my eyes. Typical Pansy.

"Our turn," I say. "Alright. In my first year here, Harry Potter went through a series of ordeals in order to get to Voldemort, each set by different teachers. What was Snape's?" Professor Snape had told me a few years back, when I had asked him. I doubt anyone could answer that, apart from the trio themselves.

A few seconds passed. Suddenly, Blaise speaks up. "A logic puzzle, involving bottles of potions."

Dammit! I forgot that Blaise was there also when Snape had told me. I grumble a bit and take off a sock. The rest of my team follow suit, except for Nathan, who is barefoot. He is forced to take off his black jacket. Zack laughs at him, and he does the finger back.

The game progresses for a while longer, until both of our teams have 9 cards in our hand. Their team, mostly due to Pansy's fast mouth (and usually wrong answer) suffered the most, having had to take off 5 pieces of clothing. They are all pratically in their underwear. Zack looks very embarassed, while Pansy doesn't seem to mind a bit.

However, my team isn't too well off either. Us three guys are all bare-chested due to the fact that none of us wanted to give up pants just to keep our tops on. Natalie's face is flushed bright red, and I don't blame her. I mean, she's surrounded by three guys, one of which is the hottest in the whole school (I'm not bragging, just relaying what other people say of me), and the other two fairly decent too. The girls in the crowd are all swooning and are egging us on.

At that moment, a snowy white owl swoops through an open window and lands on my head. "Don't you dare poop," I hiss as I pick up the letter it had dropped in front of me. I recognize the owl as Potter's - Hedwig, I think it's called. It hoots indignantly and jumps off my head to land on the table, and pecks at the cards. Unfolding the letter, I absently shoo it away and start reading.

Draco,

Meet me outside Snape's classroom. We're going to the Astronomy Tower to have a little friendly chat. I'm sure whatever girl that is clinging onto your arm at this minute won't mind too much if you go for a little walk. Without her, mind you.

Hermione

Astronomy Tower, huh? Isn't that the unofficial official spot for all Hogwarts couples to snog their throats out? I smirk to myself and refold the letter. The owl, seeing that I had read the contents of its delivery, hoots one more time and escapes from the clutches of Laura, who was hugging it tightly. A few white feathers fall from its tail as the bird zooms up through the window and away.

"Sorry guys," I say. "I've got to go. Maybe I'll play again next time." The crowd gives a big, disappointed 'awwwww' and watch me as I put on the shirt I was wearing and stuff my jumper into my bag.

I head out of the common room and walk slowly towards the Potion classroom for us sixth years. What could Hermione want? It's unlikely she called me out to go to the Tower to do what everyone else does. I really don't think she's the type, even if I myself wouldn't really mind.

Maybe she's going to try and push me off the tower in revenge for physically bullying wimpy Weasley. Hm. That rather has a ring to it. Wimpy Weasley. Sounds like a good nickname to me. It doesn't matter that we don't happen to be as spiteful towards each other as before; I still reserve the right to mock him freely.

But still. Hahaha! What a joke. Even she's not that violent.

I think.

Well, even if she tried, she won't succeed. I'm stronger than her. She won't have a chance to do anything funny to me.

Moments later, I arrive at the designated spot. Stopping a few metres away, I watch as Hermione glances at her watch a little agitatedly, and keeps looking around. After sweeping the surrounding area with her gaze she spots me. "Oh, good. You're finally here." A idiot wouldn't have missed the heavy emphasis on the word 'finally'.

I roll my eyes. "What am I, 20 seconds late?"

She grumbles at my remark but says nothing. Motioning for me to follow her, she starts striding briskly towards the Astronomy Tower. Shrugging, I jog to catch up and walk alongside her. The silence, strangely, isn't the usual strained, uncomfortable type, but somehow more casual and almost... friendly.

I must be imagining things. OK, I might like Hermione but it's unlikely she'll ever return my feelings.

Urgh. I'm going all soppy and lovey-dovey. Man, the things I say... sometimes I scare myself with what comes out of my mouth.

Ten minutes into the walk, we enter the more populated areas of the corridors. A group of girls walk past and give me seductive looks. "Hey, sexy," one says boldly, batting her lashes at me, while her friends giggle.

Hermione frowns at them. "Don't you have better things to do than flirt with him? In any case, you're blocking the way."

The girl who spoke looks slightly abashed and glares at her. "No one spoke to you," she says, with a venomous edge to her voice. Her friends blatantly refuse to move when Hermione tries to walk through them.

I sigh. "Move," I command. Immediately a path is cleared. "Thank you," I say, smiling graciously at them. Several girls titter and blush. I turn back to Hermione as we amble away. Her face is stormy as she glances irritably at me. "There, that wasn't too hard, was it? You could have just asked me to tell them to get lost, you know."

"Oh, for goodness sakes, you don't need to show off your hypnotic power over females in front of me, you know," she says, looking peeved.

However, she's bound to get more peeved. As we pass by all the people, a large amount of girls - those who aren't too shy to look at me - flirt outrageously with me or at least give me longing stares. Hermione's face, at first with a politely interested smile, slowly turns stony as if she's been petrified, until by the time the fourth bunch of girls had bid me goodbye she looks really to murder someone, anyone. "Hey, if you keep your face like that, it'll stay that way forever," I warn her. "Not that it looks much worse than your normal expression..." I add as an afterthought.

The punch I receive is almost expected. "You're a real bastard," she mutters. "The next time those stupid girls come giggling, I'll show them..."

I snicker. "What are you going to do, lecture them to death?"

She glowers at me. "Wait and see, Draco."

Almost as soon as she finishes her words, we pass by a large gang of 7th year girls. Just as I thought, because they are older, they have more confidence and wasted no time showing their interest in me. "Hi there," a girl who shows every sign of being a bimbo brushes my arm as the group stops next to us. "My, you're a handsome one. Are you single?" She gives a disdainful look at Hermione, who did not seem to notice.

To my surprise, she speaks up. "Sorry girls, this one's mine," she purrs in an almost Pansy-like manner, at the same time grabbing my arm and leaning her head on my shoulder. I smirk. Where Hermione learns things like this, I'll never know.

The 7th years hardly seems put off by her display. "Why do you go out with someone like her?" the same girl asks, looking like there is something smelly under her nostrils. She puts a hand on her hips, showing off her figure and pretty face. "Dump her and come with me. I'll fulfill your wants much better than that girl."

"Still not convinced, are we?" Hermione says pleasantly. "Draco, I think we need a bit more exhibition." She puts her hand on my chest and digs her nails in. Taking the painful hint, I circle my arms around her waist and am shocked when she tips her toes and starts to kiss me.

And I'm talking a real snog, not a lip-to-lip peck. Of course, dumbstruck as I am, I return the kiss. Might as well take advantage of the situation. When we break apart, the look on the girl's face is priceless.

"Damn slut," she mutters ominously as she stalks off, but finds her path blocked by me. "What do you want?"

I place a finger under her chin and force her to look into my eyes. "Did I hear you call my girlfriend a slut? Because if you did..." I make a threatening gesture with my hands and push her back roughly. She glares at us, but I detect the trace of fear in her eyes as she hurries away with her mob.

Hermione gives me a high five as they disappear around a corner. "Nice job, you caught on fast," she says, beaming. "That girlfriend bit was awesome. She looked so scared! I should have taken a photo of her face!" She chuckles. "Well, let's go."

Before she turns I grab her wrist and pull her close. "I know there's a part of you just screaming for that to be true," I whisper throatily. "Isn't there?"

She blushes crimson. "Shut up! I'm thinking no such thing. Hurry up, and stop asking stupid, pointless questions like that!" She pulls her arm away from me and walks very fast to the base of the stairs to the tower. "Oh damn, I hate this part. At least it's good exercise..."

I smirk. Her expression pretty much gave away the fact that I'd be right. Maybe the feelings are more mutual than I'd thought.

Twenty minutes and a long climb up the stairs later, we finally arrive at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Here, couples can be seen entertwined with each other very tightly. Most are also practically sucking the other's face out with their passionate snogging. I glance at Hermione and notice that she seems vaguely uncomfortable.

"We look a bit out of place here, don't we? Maybe we should imitate everyone else," I say conversationally. She throws me a dirty look and beckons me over to the very side of the platform, where the telescope is. "What, don't tell me all we're coming up here to do is look at the stars."

"Well, we're certainly not going to do that," she says viciously, jabbing a finger over her shoulder at a pair in the corner who are obviously playing tongue tennis.

I stifle a laugh at her nervous look, as though just looking at them might spur me on to do the same to her or something. "I don't force girls to do anything," I reply lightly. "It's all up to you, Hermione."

She rolls her eyes. "Come over here," she says, sounding annoyed. "Look at Jupiter. It's so big."

I obey and stare through the telescope. "I don't see anything."

"Turn it, dumbass!" she says, as if talking - though rudely - to a three-year-old.

I scowl and do what she says. Still nothing. I turn around rapidly, a bit pissed. "What exactly am I lo- holy shit!"

"DRACO!" Hermione screams as the force of my impact upon bumping into her when I turned pushes her off the ledge. Quickly I grab her arm to stop her falling, but the gravity pulls me down too and in the end, I'm left hanging onto the ledge with one hand while grabbing her arm with the other.

Shrieks ring out from the top of the platform. "Oh God! Someone get help! Somebody's fallen over the edge!"

Minutes later, I hear a laughing couple come up. The voices sound very familiar... Potter and Weaslette! My mind realizes as Potter's face materializes above us. "HERMIONE!" he screeches. "Hermione, is that you?" Oh yes, some welcome I get.

"Harry?" Hermione yells back. "Oh, thank God you're here. Now pull us up!"

Pulling us up took a very, very long time, and we didn't even get back up. Somehow Potter managed to involve a bloody thestral and when my fingers slipped, it caught us, thankfully. At least the thestral was useful. More so than Potter, that's for sure.

Are you alright? The skeletal horse asks us when we land on its bony back, and after the initial shock had worn off.

I massage my back and glare at it. "Not particularly, no. Next time, bring a cushion, will you?"

Hermione thumps my head. "Draco! Thank it at least!" To the thestral, she does a little bow and says curteously, "Thank you for saving our necks. If it weren't for you, we'd be human pancakes right now, plastered to the stone ground by bl-"

"Skip the details, Hermione," I snap. "I really don't want to visualize my pancakerized body right now, not when there's still a chance it might happen."

I assure you, I will not let you fall off, says the thestral, sounding a bit ruffled. Clinging on tightly enough, however, is up to you. If you fall because you did not hold on, then that is not my fault.

I snort. "Yeah, that really makes me feel better." After a slight pause - "Thanks, anyway."

You are most welcome.

The thestral lands gracefully next to the Hospital Wing. I pat its neck as I slide off and rap on the door. Madam Pomfrey's face appears at the window and the sound of bolts and locks being opened is heard. "Yes?"

"I dunno," I say blankly, after a few moments of silence. "Ask the thestral."

Hermione and I don't hear what the thestral says, but obviously it said something that satisfied Pomfrey, and we are led inside. "Goodness gracious, fell off the edge of a building? The Astronomy Tower, of all buildings, too!" She clucks and tells us to lay on two beds in a room in the corner. "Get some rest, you two. I'll get some shock medication for you now."

I shut the door as she leaves. Hermione looks a bit panicky at the prospect of spending the night in the same small room as me, and on beds that are so close by. "God, I'm not going to rape you or anything," I sneer when she sits on the bed farthest from me.

She flinches. "I never said you would," she says loudly. With a slight blush, she lowers her voice, glancing around. "Whoops."

"I think," I begin quietly so not to wake up the other patients, advancing towards her with a smile. "that I deserve at least some kind of repayment for the mental trauma that I went through up there. After all, it was all your fault for asking me to go up there and look through the telescope."

"It was your fault for bumping into me," she retorts, folding her arms across her chest. "Watch where you swing that big butt of yours next time!"

I laugh. "You're saying I have a big butt? That's like the pot calling the kettle black."

She flushes. "I do not have a big bum!" she complains. "You-"

But she is silenced as I put a finger on her lips. "Shh," I whisper. "Is the nurse coming?"

Hermione shakes her head, looking confused.

"Good," I smirk, and lean down to kiss her hard on the lips. Her response is almost immediate; I guess she was half-expecting it. Slowly the kiss deepens and I push her down onto the bed, one hand supporting myself, the other holding one of her wrists down. I move my lips down, past her ear, to her neck and then flick my tongue at her collarbone.

"Draco... no, don't, not here," she moans softly, trying feebly to push me off. Enboldened by her pathetic, half-hearted attempts, I start to undo the buttons of her blouse with my lips when suddenly the door handle turns and Madam Pomfrey's head appears in the doorway. The two of us stare at her like deer caught in headlights, her lying underneath me on the bed, me with my head lifted a few inches off her buttons just in time.

"Well, well, well," she says, an uncharacteristic smirk flickering to her mouth. "You two definitely don't look like you need any medicines. You seem healthy enough - or maybe this is something that'll help you get over the shock? I'll just leave you to it then, Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger. Please don't make too much noise, there are sick students next door." With one last wink, she closes the door.

Embarrassed, and as if suddenly realizing what had happened, Hermione nearly kicks me off her and stands up, buttoning her top as fast as her fingers will allow her. I am also surprised at the very unexpected response from Pomfrey. Kicking us out in disgust was something I would have bet that she'd have done, but encouraging us? Maybe she was sex-deprived in her late teens and so, supported people like us.

Though I wasn't really going to get as far with Hermione back there as I might have with any other girl. I mean, we're not even going out, so I don't really have the right to shag her...

Not that you minded with most of your other relationships, an evil little voice says in my head. Half of your sex partners were girls that you weren't even dating.

Oh, shut up, I think dismissively, and shut the voice away into the back of my head. Hermione is very different from them.

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I had to do quite a bit of research for the strip poker rules... XD I hope you liked that. Anyway, guess what? Tom Felton is a proven D/Hr fan! -Dances around in glee- I'll get the link to the page where he says that up as soon as I find it again. Basically, the question went something like this:

Q: So, who do you think Draco will end up with, girl - or boy wise? (Gotta love the slash.)

Tom: Well, I still think Hermione's going to turn bad and go out with Draco.

HeheheHE!