𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇

Chapter 24

“A ferret? A bloody ferret!” Ron repeated for the twentieth time. His howls of laughter had filled the common room for the last five minutes. Harry was sure everyone was getting heartily sick of it.

“Yes, a ferret,” Harry sighed in resignation. He knew he wouldn’t get anything else out of Ron until he had milked it for all he was worth. “Come on, Ron – it’s not that funny.”

“Oh you’re wrong, so wrong!” Ron began to chortle once more. “A fucking ferret!”

Harry began to lose his temper. “This coming from someone whose Patronus is a small, yappy dog!”

Ron’s laughter disappeared in an instant, making Harry wonder if it wasn’t entirely genuine. “It’s a Jack Russell terrier.”

“It’s a small yappy dog. At least ferrets make very little sound.”

Ron scowled at him. A small, tired giggle came from his side and he looked round at Hermione, who had been curled up on the sofa, taking a well deserved nap. “What’s your problem?”

“You two arguing over Patronuses. Honestly! Boys!” She sat up and attempted to rearrange her hair from the birds nest it had become. “It doesn’t matter if it takes the form of a phoenix or a flea. A corporeal Patronus is still powerful magic – magic that only people with the best of good intentions can produce, which is why Death Eaters can’t usually make them.” She gave up with her hair and scraped it into a rough knot. “It means that Malfoy has changed.”

“Could have fooled me,” Harry muttered. “He’s a brat, even if he did ask me to trust him.”

“What do you mean?” Hermione, as always, couldn’t be kept in the dark for long. “Why would he ask you to trust him?”

Harry sighed and told them both about the DADA lesson and Malfoy’s insistence that he learn Occlumency properly.

“He’s right,” Hermione agreed finally. “I told you this back in fifth year. If he’s willing to teach you, then you should take him up on the offer. He’s very good and you... have too many dangerous secrets.”

“How do you know Malfoy’s good?” Ron asked suspiciously.

Hermione bit her lip for a moment, “Oh, well, I imagine that if he managed to keep Voldemort from ripping his brains apart, then he must be.” She tried to look busy with her books. Harry saw the guilty look on her face and wondered if Ron would see it. He wondered what had happened to make her look that way. He pondered as Ron grunted, then sniggered again.

“A fucking ferret...”

Harry gave Hermione a questioning look. She refused to meet his eyes and he wondered what she was hiding. He knew it wouldn’t be anything untoward – at least where Ron was concerned – he knew that Malfoy wasn’t interested in girls – or so he said. For the first time, he considered that Malfoy might have been lying. After all, Hermione had pretty much been on his side since they had restarted school. Had her sympathy turned into something more?

He shook his head. No way. Even if Hermione was, in any remote way, interested in Malfoy, her Muggle-born status meant that Malfoy wouldn’t touch her with a bargepole, let alone his wand, or anything else... more.... intimate.

The image of Malfoy grabbing Hermione, pushing her against the wall and kissing her hard sneaked into his mind, along with a rising heat and arousal that he knew was entirely inappropriate. He hurriedly leapt out of his chair and muttered some excuse before hurrying off to the bathroom.

There was absolutely no way he was wanking off to that image. He doused himself in cold water instead, and bent over the sink staring into the mirror at his flushed face, fighting the fluttery feeling that had gone from his stomach right to his cock.