CH-24

I take another step, entering her personal space, and she automatically steps back, away from me.

"And you say you're not scared."

"Not scared, cautious," she says.

I laugh lightly. "All right, then. You define what you'll consider as scared, and I'll test whether or not you're scared of me."

She sighs. "I really should be getting back."

"Now that sounds like you're scared."

She glares at me. "I am not! Fine. If you can make me scream, or yelp, or… I don't know, quiver with fear, then you win."

"Sounds fair to me," I say with a devilish grin.

I take the parchment from her and place it on the table behind me. Then I hold out my hand.

"Wand, please. You won't be needing it."

She looks at me carefully but doesn't hand over her wand. Instead, she steps around me to put it down on the table, next to mine. I turn around to face her.

"Well, get started. I don't have all night," she says impatiently.

I grin. I don't intend on scaring her at all. This bet isn't for me to win. It's just a test. And I can't believe how easy it was to goad her into it.

"Close your eyes," I say.

She eyes me distrustfully before closing her eyes. I take a moment to admire her face. Her lashes are long and dark, and they curl upward just slightly. She has dark eyebrows, maybe a shade darker than her russet brown hair. My eyes travel down the curve of her small nose and rest on her lips.

Oh, fuck.

I extend my hands slightly so that they're hovering around her wrists, down at her sides, prepared to grab them if she resists. Then I wait.

Impatiently, she opens her mouth to speak, but before she can get a sound out, I lean down and press my lips to hers, slipping my tongue into her open mouth. She tastes of strawberries and mint.

My doubts fade away. Hell, this is worth dying for.

Her hands start to move—to push me away, no doubt—but my hands wrap around her wrists, holding her arms down at her sides.

I explore her mouth and massage her tongue with mine, trying to elicit a response from her. Her stance is already loosening up, and her arms aren't struggling against my grip anymore. I let my hands slide up her arms to rest on her shoulders, then bring them around behind her, tangling them in her long, bushy hair.

She lets out a shallow breath that flows into my mouth, and then her tongue comes alive, battling for dominance with mine. Fire courses through my veins as she wraps her arms around my neck to pull herself up against me. I don't bother trying to hide my arousal and walk her backwards until she's against the wall beside the fireplace.

When I decide that I need oxygen and start to back away, she takes a step forward, not allowing our lips to separate. I break the kiss, breathing unevenly.

"Fuck," I mutter.

Her eyes are still closed, and her arms are still wrapped around my neck.

"You got that right," she whispers breathlessly.

I start trying to pull my hands out of her hair, but they're hopelessly tangled.

"Ow—ow, stop! That hurts," she says when I try to get my right hand out.

She reaches behind her head and tries to untangle my fingers.

"Maybe you should do something about that ridiculous hair of yours," I say.

I'm lying. I love her hair when it's bushy as hell. It's just so Granger.

"I like your mouth better when it's not making any noise," she replies, glaring at me.

Ouch. That stings. "Likewise," I say coolly.

"There," she says.

I realize that my hands are free, and I pull them away from her, backing up a step. Fuck… now that I've tasted her lips, her tongue, her mouth, I can't stop looking at them, longing for another taste.

There's a long pause.

"Well… I'm not scared of you," she finally says.

I smirk. "Are you sure about that? Maybe we should try it again, just to make sure."

She shakes her head. "You lost."

"All right, then. What do you want me to do?" I ask.

"I don't have anything in mind yet. I'll tell you when I think of something," she replies.

She walks around me to pick her wand up off the table. I expect to hear the pop that would signal her Disapparition. When it doesn't come, I turn around to see her watching me, still with that wary expression.

"Did you need something else, Granger?" I ask innocently.

"Malfoy… what was that supposed to mean?" she asks.

"Oh but Granger, I thought you would know. It means that I am deeply and irrevocably in love with you," I say mockingly.

"I can't stand you," she says. "I couldn't back when we were at school, and I still can't now."

My chest clenches painfully at her words, but I hide my reaction.

"That may be true," I reply. Then I take a step forward, lean down towards her, and lower my voice, "but you have to admit you liked kissing me."

"I did not."

I reach down behind her and grab my wand off the coffee table. She tries to back up but finds that the backs of her legs are right against the table. She looks at me piercingly.

"Liar," I whisper.

I brush my lips against hers ever so gently before Disapparating.

I appear in my room at the Manor and sit on the bed. I want more than anything to go back there and finish that last kiss, but the point of it was to leave her wanting more, not me. Fuck!

I run a hand through my hair agitatedly and walk into my private bath to take a cold shower. Once inside, I see the sink, and I'm unable to resist checking on her. I fill the sink with water, and a moment later, her image is there. She's still in my cottage, pacing back and forth furiously. Her mouth is moving, and once again, I wish that I could capture sound. She seems to be speaking angrily. Talking to herself? More likely, she's cursing my name.

I like the thought of that. If the only emotions I can stir up in her are anger and hate, I'll take them. Anything to have some sort of effect on her.

But there was something else in that kiss, something decidedly… other.

Fuck, I can't think about the kiss.

I can still taste her tongue, can still feel the way her lips pressed urgently against mine once she began to respond. I Vanish the water in the sink and strip out of my clothes.

I really need that shower right now.

I turn to lie on my other side and heave a sigh, staring into the dark.

I can't stop thinking about it. I shouldn't have kissed Blaise yesterday. I was just so angry with Ron, and I couldn't help it! He may have been about to kiss me before Ron interrupted us, but I… I was going to push him away, wasn't I? I don't want to get involved with someone like him. He may have changed for the better as far as good and evil goes, but I know that he's not the committing kind.

No, no. I don't want a relationship with him.

I don't want a relationship with him.

Then I sit upright, jolted into motion by a sudden burning on my chest. The charm, damn it. I pull it out from beneath my nightgown and hold it up, using my wand to light it up just enough for me to read it. One side still reads "HG", so I turn it around and see the word, "now".

Frowning, I get out of bed and get dressed quickly. Then I move over to Ginny's bed and shake her gently by the shoulder.

"Ginny, wake up."

She yawns and looks at me. "Oh it's you, Hermione."

"I have to go. Can you open the door for me later?" I ask.

She heaves a sigh. "All right, I'll get the door for you," she replies.

"Thanks, Ginny."

A moment later, I'm walking down the steps and exiting Number 12 through the front door.

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