Contingent | D.M. + H.G.

Chapter 17: Inked

A/N: I'm sorry this is so late – I was really sick last weekend, and then I got the vaccine, so my arm hurt and I couldn't type. In all honesty, I wasn't expecting to get this up until this coming weekend, but I caught myself by surprise. Thank y'all for bearing with me.

Betawork done by AlmondMilkTeaDoubleBoba, LeilahMoon, and lost_poetx.

xoxo, carm

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Coming back to school felt like coming home, but better.

Hermione adamantly refused to acknowledge why it was that she was so bloody excited to be back. Instead, she crossed her ankles to keep from bouncing in her seat and tried her best to pay attention to her book and tune out Harry and Ron's chatter.

Besides, she wouldn't be seeing him until later anyway. They avoided each other in public as far as they could. Both wanted to avoid scrutiny.

It didn't do anything for the tension that coated the air for her, though. Its thick tendrils snaked their way around her, laced themselves into her actions, tainted her thoughts. It was inescapable.

Reaching up to roll her necklace between her fingers – a nervous habit she'd adopted recently – she did her best to push all thoughts away and focus solely on her book.

The ride to the castle dragged incessantly, and, by the time she'd put her robes on for the feast, she was nearly bouncing in her seat. Harry and Ron both eyed her strangely. "Alright, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Fine," she insisted. "Just excited to be back. And I'm a bit hungry too, so I'm excited to eat."

Neither of those things were lies, but it definitely wasn't the whole truth, either.

By the time they were all seated in the Great Hall, she was scanning the room, searching. She caught a familiar flash of platinum hair from across the room, and she found his eyes.

He was already staring at her.

It was good to know that it wasn't just her. It was also interesting to recall what Ginny had said over break. She was definitely going to try to take more notice of the things he did – especially when it involved her – from now on.

Her heart stuttered in her chest and her lips quirked as she tore her eyes away from him and tried to throw herself into the surrounding conversations. She could still feel his eyes on her, and a part of her loved it.

As she left dinner to head to bed – later than usual: she'd gotten caught up in an interesting conversation with Parvati and Seamus – she hummed to herself.

A hand reached out to grab her as she headed for the stairs, yanking her into the nearest classroom. She would have been startled if she didn't know better – he liked to pull stunts like this.

Before she knew it, his lips were on hers. On instinct, her hands threaded into his hair and she sighed against his lips. They stuttered down her neck, and her head tilted back to grant him better access.

"How was your break?" she asked breathlessly.

"Useless," he muttered, hot against her skin. "Here is undeniably better."

Hermione gasped as his teeth grazed her pulse point. "I'm inclined to agree." Her fingers curled into his broad shoulders and she couldn't do anything but feel as he reduced her to a puddle with just a few kisses.

He hummed against her skin, bringing his lips back up to kiss her. "Are you going to sleep well?" he asked.

That threw her. "What?"