CH-16

Fuck. No one should ever be able to affect me like this. Just a touch from her, and my blood is boiling.

Thankfully, she releases my arm quickly.

"Follow me, Granger," I growl. "I won't ask twice."

"I already said this once—don't make me repeat it again. I am not taking any orders from you, Malfoy."

"All right, then. I'll leave, and that'll be the end of it," I say.

"Fine. Leave."

I walk around the table and start toward the door, but my feet stop taking orders from my mind before I can leave the room. I hate not having a choice. Reluctantly, I turn around.

"Fine, you win," I say. "There's an Imperturbable Charm on this door, right?"

She nods.

"All right then. I'm going to take you to a cottage in Bradford on Avon, in Wiltshire."

"Wiltshire? Isn't your home in Wiltshire?" she asks.

I nod. "Yes, but we're obviously not going there. Now come on."

I start toward the door, but still she doesn't budge.

"Why do we have to go now? Can't you just give me the location?" she asks.

"As I said before, I'd much rather just take you there."

"That makes me think you have an ambush awaiting me there," she says.

"What are you, scared?"

This earns another glare from her.

"I am not scared," she says defensively.

Aha, I'm still just as good as I used to be at pissing her off. I smirk. "That's exactly what you are. You're scared of me."

"Fine, let's go."

She walks toward me, tucking the charm under her shirt as she comes closer. I turn and pull the door open, waving for her to go ahead.

Potter and Weasley are in the hall, along with Shacklebolt, McGonagall, Lupin and Nymphadora. They seem surprised that we emerged so soon.

"We're going for a walk," I say, following Granger out of the kitchen. "I'll let her return unharmed, on my honor. But I myself won't be back for a long time, so I suppose this is goodbye."

"Just a minute, Mr. Malfoy," Shacklebolt says, blocking our way.

Granger steps aside, as though she'd been in the way of our conversation.

"Where do you think you're going?" the tall, dark man asks me.

"To set our rendezvous point," I reply, noting from the corner of my eye that Weasley has one of his paws on Granger's arm. Anger flares up inside me, but I tamp it down. It won't do to explode now.

Shacklebolt eyes me suspiciously. McGonagall gives me a small smile. I suppose Shacklebolt shared the story of the Patil family with her—one of those twins was from her house, after all.

"Very well," he finally says. "Go on."

I put my hand on her shoulder but don't feel that burning sensation. Maybe she has to initiate contact. Hmm, maybe I don't understand myself as well as I thought.

"Come on, Granger," I say. "We don't have much time before I'm expected back home."

She starts walking toward the exit, but Weasley grabs onto her arm again. I want to pry his fingers off and break them one by one, but she tugs her arm away from him, and the surprised look on his face makes me feel better.

Fuck. I'm jealous. That's why I was pissed to see him touching her. Jealousy is not an emotion that befits a Malfoy. Now I'm furious with myself.

I hear my name.

"Oi, Malfoy," the weasel says. "If you lay a finger on her, I'll hunt you down."

I reach out and open the door for Granger. She exits, and I follow her out. Before closing the door, I consider replying to Weasley, but I find that I just can't bring myself to care. I pull the door shut and reach into my pocket, taking out an emerald-green pouch. I reach inside and extract my Nimbus 2001. My father offered to buy me a Firebolt, but I actually rather like this broomstick.

I'm about to mount the broom when I see the look on Granger's face. I can't hold back the laughter.

"Shut up, Malfoy," she says, cheeks reddening. "Can't we just…"

She stops, and I wonder what she would propose as an alternative.

"Well, if you want me to take you there by Side-Along Apparition, I won't object, but you'll have to lend me your wand," I say.

When she doesn't reply, I figure she's running circles in that giant brain of hers, trying to think her way out of getting on a broom. Grinning, I tuck the green pouch back into my pocket and mount.

"Malfoy, isn't there any other way?"

I smile. "Is poor Granger still afraid of flying?"

"Still?"

"Sure. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that Granger the bookworm couldn't fly a broom to save her life."

She looks positively livid, but she's still quivering a little with fear. She mounts the broom behind me and puts her hands on my shoulders, barely touching them. I fight the urge to shiver as all the hairs on my back stand up. I bark out a short laugh and move her hands to my hips—she's going to fall if she holds onto my shoulders like that.

"You should probably cast a Disillusionment Charm over us, so that we're not seen," I remember.

I feel that odd sensation of having an egg cracked over my head and know that she's cast the charm. Her hand touches my hip again lightly, and I draw a long, quiet breath, thinking furiously of Vince's big mother in an attempt to suppress the immediate reaction down below.

"You might want to hold on a bit tighter," I say.

Then I kick off, and she makes a sound that I find—oh, fuck me—adorable.

I bring us up above the roof of Number 12 before slowing down. Her fingers are gripping me almost painfully, and I don't think I'll be able to stand having those nails digging into me through my clothes for the whole ride.

"Granger, either put your arms around me or just tell me to touch back down. I won't have you boring holes into my waist," I say.

I slow to a stop and wait. Her hands slowly slide around to my front, and her fingers clasp together just below my navel. Then she pulls herself forward, and I feel her small, warm body pressing against my back. My heart rate increases, and I have difficulty swallowing.

Fuck! Mrs. Crabbe, Mrs. Crabbe, Mrs. Crabbe…

"Hold on tight," I manage to say.

Then I lean forward, and we glide off toward the west. Her arms tighten around me, and she leans forward as well, closing the distance between our upper bodies.

I try to pretend she's holding me because she wants to, but I know that she's just caving to her fear of heights.

Still, the hopeless idiot inside of me, the culprit behind all these recklessly stupid decisions, wishes that she has some inkling of feeling for me.

I touch down in a small garden. All the plants inside are enchanted to grow without care, a trick I learned from Naree, one of our house-elves. He told me what the magic had to do, and I just had to find the correct words to make it happen.

I start to dismount, but she hasn't released my waist yet. I clear my throat, and she pulls her hands back with a jolt. She dismounts quickly and takes a few steps away from me.

As I stow the broom away, I hear her walking toward the cottage.

"Mind lifting the Disillusionment Charm?" I ask.

She appears, and then her wand taps the top of my head, and I can see myself again.

"We're going to meet here, then?" she asks me.

I walk past her, open the back door, and enter a small sitting room. I wave my hand at the fireplace, and orange flames burst into life. I relax into a couch and wait for her to come in.

This is my only real home. It was the only gift worth receiving from my father, aside from my Nimbus 2001, of course. He gave me the money for it, but I never told him which house I had chosen to buy, or where it was located.

The first thing I did was learn how to cast the Fidelius Charm so that I could protect my home. I am the only Secret-Keeper, and I've told no one. Blaise and Theo know of its existence, but I've only mentioned it in passing. They asked to see it, but at the time, I couldn't stand the thought of sharing this with anyone. I still don't think I can let anyone in.

But Granger… I somehow feel no need to hide from her. Maybe that means I should be even more diligent in hiding myself from her.

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