"You must be mad," Draco finally spoke, breaking the silence. He stared at the man before him in disbelief.
"Who knows, maybe I am," Filch replied. He smiled once again, but to Hermione it seemed more as if the man was baring his teeth at them.
"Oh come on, Mr Malfoy," Filch spoke once again. "Everyone knows that the two of you hate each other, I would think that you would be quite willing to join in on any plan to bring Harry Potter down. In fact, I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't help me."
"But no matter," the caretaker said with a shrug. "You will play your part whether it is of your own free will or not. If you do not agree to assist me, then an owl will be sent to your loving father. I'm sure that he would be very interested in some photographs of his only son and a certain Mudblood."
Draco's jaw tightened in anger. It wasn't a case of not wanting to bring Potter down, as Filch seemed to be thinking. No, Draco still hated the Gryffindor Golden Boy just as much as he had all the other years. But this was a far different situation than the one that Draco would like. He was the one who was supposed to oversee the humiliation of Harry Potter, not some half mad old caretaker who was practically a squib.
And although Filch seemed to think that Draco was afraid of his father, that certainly wasn't the case. He knew that when it came right down to it, he could handle his father. Lucius Malfoy had gotten too used to being Voldemort's little pet. If there was anything that Draco knew, it was that assumptions and relaxing your guard could get you into trouble quicker than anything else.
But Lucius Malfoy would find some way to blame his son's latest indiscretions and mistakes on his mother. Whenever something went wrong in his life, Draco's father had always found some way to blame it either or Draco, or his wife, or anybody - just as long as it was somebody other than himself. It was his favourite subject - blaming others for what he himself had done. And while Draco hated his father with a passion, he loved his mother. Not that he would let anyone other than her know that, of course. As far as the world was concerned, Draco Malfoy loved one person and one person only - himself.
He was interrupted out of his thoughts by the sound of Filch laughing. It was more of a cackle, really, the rather shrill sound filling the still air of the library and grating on Draco's nerves.
"Its rather funny, really," Filch said, regarding Draco and Hermione closely, amusement sparkling in his murky eyes. "Two of the people who admire Potter the most will help me bring him down. Oh, not you, Mr Malfoy," the caretaker said, seeing the disbelief on Draco's face. "Mr Creevey. I caught him the other day in the corridors when he should have been in class. He was late because he was trying to get a picture of Peeves, he told me. Stupid kid thought that that made it ok for him to be out in the halls. I took his camera away, naturally. But who would have known that it would prove so useful?"
Hermione shook her head to herself. That answered the question that had been lingering at the edge of her thoughts. Filch was hardly the type to be carrying around a camera as he prowled the halls of Hogwarts, looking for rulebreakers. Poor Colin, she thought. The fifth year student no longer followed Harry around the way he had in first year, but she knew that he still admired her friend very much. The knowledge that his camera had brought any harm to his hero would break his heart, no doubt.
"And what makes you think that I'll go along with this?" she finally asked, narrowing her eyes as she stared at Filch. "Harry's my friend, I'm willing to take the consequences of what Malfoy and I did if I can protect him."
"I'm sure that you would, Miss Granger," Filch said slowly. "You are the noble type."
The words were spoken with a bit of a sneer.
"But I doubt that you would want to put your loving parents into any danger."
Filch paused a moment, staring at Hermione closely before continuing softly. "And you will indeed put them into danger if you do not comply with what I am asking. Lucius Malfoy and his fellow Death Eaters have a nasty history of doing rather evil things to people that they perceive as getting in their way...and that extends to their families as well."
Hermione felt the blood drain from her face as she took in the meaning of the caretaker's words. She knew herself that Lucius Malfoy was a cruel man that had instigated and taken part in despicable acts in the past. And her parents were muggles, without a trace of magic at all, content to be dentists. They would have no way to defend themselves against Draco's father or any other Death Eaters.
They were so proud of her and her accomplishments here at Hogwarts. The Grangers had been shocked when they learned when their daughter, also their only child, possessed magical powers. But they had regrouped and told Hermione that she must go to Hogwarts, and that they were sure she would do wonderfully there. She knew that the thought that their daughter's schooling would threaten their safety had never crossed their minds.
And as she took note of the cruel smirk that was spread across the greasy, sallow face of the man in front of her, there was no doubt in her mind. Argus Filch was perfectly aware of that fact, and he was counting on it to ensure that Hermione would do whatever he asked her to.
Hermione had to swallow back the lump in her throat before she was able to speak.
"It seems that I have no choice," she said bitterly, staring at Filch, refusing to let him sense the emotions that were swirling around inside her.
"No, you don't, Miss Granger," Filch said, the smirk that was plastered across his face growing larger. "I knew that you would come to understand eventually. Everyone here at Hogwarts knows that you are very intelligent."
Hermione made no reply, merely glared at the caretaker before turning to stare off into the deep shadows that lay between the shelves.
"Now that I have ensured your cooperation," Filch said greasily, "It is just a matter of time - time is the key ingredient. I will come and find you when I have finished the plan, and I trust that you will be ready and willing when that day comes."
For a moment silence fell once again. Hermione refused to look at either Filch or Malfoy, staring determinedly off into the blackness. Draco, in the meantime, did not take his eyes off of the caretaker. Through his piercing blue gaze he made it clear to the other man that if anything ever went wrong for Filch, Draco Malfoy would make very sure that the caretaker would regret it deeply.
Finally Filch chuckled, the shrill, grating sound breaking the silence. "Alright then, I shall leave the two of you to your detention together. I'm sure that if you get tired of cleaning and organizing you will no doubt find...something to occupy yourselves."
Hermione swung around to say something to the man, but he was already vanishing off into the depths of the Library, Mrs Norris trotting at his heels. She listened for a moment to see if she could tell where he was heading, but after his footsteps died away the only sounds she could hear were that of the books rustling.
"Well, isn't this great," she finally spoke. She swung to face Draco once again, and glared at him. "We'll be able to take care of it, you said. Anybody that could have taken that picture will be easy to control. Well, what happened to that, Malfoy?"
"You know as well as I do that the likelihood of Filch being able to blackmail us on any other occasion is slim," Draco snapped, turning his head to look at her. "If that stupid Creevey hadn't got his camera taken away, Filch wouldn't be able to do a damn thing to us."
"Its not Colin's fault," Hermione blazed. "It figures. You would try to blame this on someone who really doesn't have any part in it. Its not his fault, we were the ones who were doing something that we shouldn't have been."
"Actually, if it were any other students," Draco drawled, pinning Hermione with his intense gaze, "Filch wouldn't have bothered with camera, except to take a few pictures for his own enjoyment. Its not against the rules for students to have sex, as far as I know. Unless you've come across such a rule in your vast reading experience?"
Hermione blushed angrily at the mocking tone in his voice. "No," she admitted. "I haven't come across anything like that."
"Exactly," Draco said. "As long as we aren't hurting each other or forcing one another to do something, the Professors and Dumbledore don't care what we do in our spare time. I doubt the thought of what we might be doing even crossed the minds of half of them. And for most of the students here, it wouldn't even matter. Unfortunately, however, for you and I it is a different case. Purely because of who we are."
"Alright, I get the idea," Hermione snapped. "But that still doesn't answer my question - what are we going to do about it?"
Draco shrugged his shoulders. "What can we do?" he asked. "Filch isn't going to hurt Potter, he'd never go that far. He just wants to humiliate him or bring him down from that shiny golden pedestal that everyone insists on putting him on. So we have no choice but to go along with his little plan."
"I would have thought that you'd be able to come up with something to get us out of this," Hermione said. "You're a Malfoy, you must be used to getting yourself out of trouble."
Draco glared at Hermione, then turned and picked up the dust rag that he had dropped earlier from the table, holding it gingerly between thumb and index finger.
"We might as well get started," he said. "McGonagall expects us to get further tonight, and talking about Filch isn't going to change matters. I don't know about you, but two weeks of detention at the beginning of the year is enough for me."
As reluctant as she was to admit it, Hermione knew that Malfoy was right. She had enough to worry about as it was, without having to worry about Professor McGonagall getting angry at her because she wasn't completing her detention properly. She didn't grace Malfoy with a reply however, merely moved over to the stacks and began running her fingers along the spines of the books, checking to make sure that they were all in order.
Draco watched her for a minute, his lips curved slightly in amusement, then moved over to the shelves himself. He sighed, then began running the cloth in his hand along the polished wood that supported the heavy books.
Time seemed to pass slowly for both of them. Hermione continued to examine the books closely, making sure that all was in order. Slowly, however, all that had occured began to sink in, and her fingers began to tremble. One of the heavy books nearly slipped out of her suddenly numb fingers, and she had to fumble to stop it from crashing to the floor. As she slid it into place, she sighed, her thoughts swimming.
She had been in danger before, of course. Being friends with Harry Potter seemed to ensure that. But never had danger really threatened her directly, up until this point. And never before had the safety of her family been threatened, either. And if she wanted to keep her family safe, she would have to betray the one person who had been through so much before, the one person who the majority of the wizarding world admired. And not only that, but Harry was her very best friend. He had always been there for her before, same as Ron had. Her eyes began to blur with tears, and she found it difficult to see the spines of the books through her watery vision.
As Draco ran the cloth along the shelves, his mind too, was filled with thoughts of what had occured here tonight. He had originally thought that whoever it was that was blackmailing him and Granger would come, they would put him in his place and then scare him off in disgrace. He would then seduce Granger with the sexual tension between them, and enjoy another session of breathtaking sex before going back to Slytherin House for the night.
But now...now he was facing something else entirely. He did not like the thought of having to do what Filch said at all. But even more than that, he hated the idea of his mother being in danger. He knew that she faced a certain stigma, being the wife of Lucius Malfoy. Many other witches didn't want to have anything to do with her because of her husband's association with Voldemort, and the ones that followed the Dark Lord themselves did not view her reluctance to assist her husband more fully with kind eyes.
As a result of this, Narcissa Malfoy spent much of her time cooped up in the large mansion that her husband owned, doing her best not to irk him. She looked forward to seeing Draco every summer, and he knew that the owls that he sent home when he was at school were what she lived for. It was hardly a good life. And now this on top of it? The last thing that Draco wanted to do was put his mother in any more torment. True, Lucius Malfoy would never physically harm his wife - the repurcussions would be to great. But he was a cruel man, and mental torture and abuse was an easy thing to cover when the person didn't venture out of the house very often and had a son to worry about.
Draco was interuppted from his thoughts by a soft sound coming from behind him. He froze in the act of sweeping the cloth along the front of another shelf, listening intently. The soft sound came again, and he realized with shock that it was the sound of Granger crying.
"Granger?" he said, turning around.
He sighed impatiently when he saw her leaning up against the shelf directly behind him. What the hell did she expect him to do, he wondered to himself. Comfort her? Not bloody likely. If he didn't know that she was probably worried about her family, he actually wouldn't give a shit at all. She was everyone's little pet, if it was just her, he was sure she would find some way to get herself out of this mess.
"Look, as long as you do what Filch says, your precious little Muggle family will be safe," he pointed out. "So stop sobbing."
"I know what I have to do," Hermione replied, swinging around and glaring at him. A few shimmering tears were making their way down her skin. "But that doesn't mean that I like it at all."
"You think I like this?" Draco asked incredulously.
"Why wouldn't you?" she snapped. "You've always wanted to have your chance to hurt Harry, and now here it is, being handed to you on a silver platter! And not only that, I have to help you do it! You must be absolutely thrilled," she finished bitterly.
"Ordinarily I would be," Draco drawled. "The chance to see Potter brought down is too good to pass up. But I do not like being dragged into this by that sniveling, cowardly squib that Dumbledore made the mistake of keeping on here."
"Of course, you would call him that," Hermione said with a bitter laugh. "Anyone who doesn't measure up to your oh so high standards. He's not a pureblood, is he? The nerve of him, trying to threaten the high and mighty Draco Malfoy."
"What the hell are you doing, Granger?" Draco yelled, incredulous. "Have you lost your bloody mind? You're practically defending Filch!"
Then before Draco could reply, she crossed over and yanking his head down to hers, pressed a fiery kiss to his lips. For a moment he was too surprised to reply, and he remained still as she moved her lips over his frantically, nipping at his bottom lip slightly and then slipping her tongue through to silkily stroke along his. Then reality set in and he pushed her away from him and stared down into her eyes, which were still glistening from her recent tears.
"What in bloody hell are you doing, Granger?" he asked, studying her face closely.
"Just shut up," she repeated. "Don't make me think about this right now, Malfoy," she finished quietly before pressing her lips to his again.
Draco pondered briefly on pushing her away once again, but then as her tongue slipped in to swirl around his, he found himself wondering why he was resisting this. There was no question as to who had started this, who wanted this, and why should he deny himself what he wanted when it was offered to him? With that thought running through his mind, he returned her heated kiss with passion.
Their tongues tangled desperately as Hermione slipped her hand up to run through Malfoy's blonde hair. Somewhere in the back of her head a small voice of sanity was telling her that later she was going to regret this very much indeed, but right now she didn't care. All she wanted was to not have to think about all that had happened. With that thought, she pushed away the little voice of reason and tugged at Draco's shirt.
As the buttons gave way, thankfully without ripping out of his shirt altogether, Hermione pressed hot kisses to the tan skin revealed to her eyes. She continued pushing his shirt open, then tensed slightly as she felt Malfoy move his hand up to cup the back of her neck and tilt her head up, taking her mouth in another fiery kiss. She shivered at the touch of his warm fingers on the delicate skin of her neck, then turned her own attention to his bare chest, running her hands over the heated skin.
Draco was pleased to note that the passion that he had felt with Granger before did not seem to have faded at all. Her body was pressed up tightly against him, and he could feel her trembling slightly, whether from nerves or from passion, he wasn't sure. He deepened their kiss, increasing the pressure of his lips on hers. At the same time, he began to skillfully unbutton the blouse that she was wearing, lowering his head to press a heated trail of kisses along the slope of her breast as he did so.
Reaching the last button on her blouse, he slipped his hands inside to skim across the sensitive flesh of her waist. Her skin was delicately soft underneath his fingertips, and he enjoyed the way she responded to his touch as he stroked her gently. Moving his hands up, he found the clasp of her bra which fell open quickly underneath his nimble fingers, and within seconds he cupped her breasts in his hands.
For a moment he merely enjoyed the feel of their weight in his palms, then he brought up his thumbs to graze over the tips of her erect nipples, smiling to himself as he regarded her. Her head had fallen back slightly to rest against the shelf that he had backed her up against, and her eyes were closed, her hands resting at his waist inside his open shirt as he ran his hands over her. She arched into his touch as he brushed his thumbs against her, and after continuing the movement for a moment, he pushed her bra up slightly and lowered his head to her heated skin.
As he drew one of her nipples into his mouth, he heard her intake of breath, and then felt the touch of her hands as they came up to rest on his shoulders. Her fingernails dug into the firm muscles there, and he wondered idly if he would have a new set of scratches before the night was over. Then his attention returned to what he was doing, and he moved over to her other breast, swirling his tongue around her nipple and then sucking upon it lightly.
Hermione opened her eyes and gazed down at the blond head that was bent over her. For a moment she enjoyed the sight of her white fingers against the bronze skin of his shoulders, finding the contrast oddly erotic. Then she shivered and moaned slightly as his mouth tightened upon her and pleasure streaked from the tip of her breast to pool down between her legs. She cupped his face in her hands and pulled him up to cover his mouth with hers, then her hands slipped down over his broad chest to run along the length of his belt.
At last she felt the cool metal of the belt buckle beneath her fingertips and it fell open under her seeking fingers after a few moments. She undid the button at the top of his pants and then slipped her hand inside, not bothering to tease him as she had the night before.
He was already hard, and the hot length of him throbbed as she cupped him in her hand, running her fingers along him. She heard him gasp against her lips at her touch and underneath her fingers his penis swelled. A tingle of elation swept over her as she felt these reactions. At least he had the same type of reaction to her as she did to him, she thought.
Pulling her mouth away from his, she ran her lips over the skin of his chest, pausing to swirl her tongue around his small nipples. He moved back slightly, making more room for her between him and the shelf as she continued on, moving lower and lower. She wasted no time with delicate maneuvers this time, yanking the fly of his pants open with little grace. As she lowered herself to her knees on the soft carpet of the library floor, her fingers found and tugged down the waistband of the silk boxers revealed under his pants.
For a moment the thought that it was fitting that Malfoy would be wearing such expensive boxers flitted through Hermione's head, then she was lowering her mouth to him and forgot about everything else other than his reaction to her. After swirling her tongue around the tip of him, she took him fully into her mouth, sucking firmly and taking him in deeper with every movement of her head. She didn't have much experience in this area, but she knew from the way his fingers were digging in to her hair that she must be doing something right. She felt him shudder between her lips, and then he was abruptly pulling her up to face him.
She was damn good for being a virgin up until the night before, Draco thought as he tugged Granger up to face him. She licked her lips as she met his gaze boldly, and as he pressed his lips to hers he could taste the muskiness of himself on her tongue. Her hands slipped underneath his open shirt once more, sweeping over his back, and he reflexively arched his back as he felt her nails graze lightly over him. Oh yes, she was damn good, he confirmed silently.
But he could drive her just as wild. And he was going to make sure that he did.
Draco moved his right hand down to smooth it over the soft silky skin of her outer thigh, smiling as Granger sighed at the soft touch. His hand continued its way upwards, moving underneath her skirt to skim along the band of her panties. He wasted no time, slipping his fingers underneath to find her hot and wet centre, her hips jerking eagerly at his light touch. He dipped his fingers inside her and skimmed his thumb across her clit.
He wasn't gentle as he had been the night before, deliberately flicking his thumb lightly but firmly across her. Her head fell back and she moaned deep in her throat. Draco leaned down to kiss the white skin exposed for his lips, feeling the vibration of her moans against his mouth. He continued to flick his thumb across her, probing with his fingers deep inside her body, feeling her wet, tight walls close around him eagerly. His efforts were rewarded when her body tensed and then shuddered uncontrollably, another deep moan accompanying her climax.
He bent for a moment to jerk her panties down her slender legs. They were deep red and made of a satiny material this time, he briefly noticed before he tossed them on to the floor beside them.
"Wrap your legs around my waist," he instructed her as he cupped her butt underneath her skirt and lifted her up.
As the aftershocks of her orgasm rippled through her, Hermione opened her eyes to find Draco's hot blue gaze boring into her. She responded to his request without questioning, wrapping her legs around his torso as he lifted her efortlessly. Behind her back she felt the books shifting slightly, then all thoughts and sensations were driven out of her head as Draco thrust into her.
For a moment they remained still. Draco felt Granger's nails digging in to his back, and once again the thought of the scratches she had left the night before went through his mind. Then she shifted slightly and a groan escaped his lips. She was hot, wet and tight around him, her muscles clenching slightly with the movement of her body. He shifted his own position slightly, making sure that he had a firm grip on her, and then began to move inside her.
It was even better than the first time, Hermione thought dazedly as she felt Malfoy began to move inside her. He wasn't being gentle. But she didn't want gentle. With every firm thrust he moved deeper and deeper inside her body, and she felt the pleasure that was growing familiar start to build once again. She began to move against him as best she could, and she opened her eyes slightly to see his blue eyes fixed on hers. She resisted the impulse to close her own, instead staring deep into his as he continued moving inside her.
Then he was leaning forward to cover her lips with his own, and she responded heatedly, nipping his bottom lip and catching him slightly off guard as her tongue swept through to swirl with his. She tightened the grasp of her legs around his waist and felt him swell deep inside her. Desperate to feel the deep pleasure she had found the night before once again, Hermione shifted slightly, then moaned as she felt him come into contact with that spot she was dying for him to touch.
As the sound escaped her lips she felt Malfoy respond, shifting to drive deeper inside her while grinding against her with every thrust.
"Don't hold back," she heard him say, and she opened her eyes to find his gaze boring into her once again. A small smile quirked his lips even as his own breathing began to come faster, his hips picking up speed as he moved against her.
"I like to hear you," he said softly. Then his gaze grew more intense. "I want to hear you," he continued.
Although she was sweating, Hermione felt a new rush of heat form in her cheeks, but she had no time to respond before his hand was moving down, inbetween their bodies. His thumb sought out and found her, rubbing across her flesh gently but firmly.
"Oh god," she cried, unable to help herself.
A series of small moans escaped her throat as she began to tremble uncontrollably. She reached out and drew his head back down to hers. As their lips met she felt him throb inside her and then a burst of pleasure swept over her as they both slipped over the brink.
