Manacled by Senlinyu

Chapter 35: Flashback 10

July 2002

Hermione felt paranoid the following Tuesday when she was foraging, but the journey passed again without incident. That morning, when she arrived at the shack, Draco was already there waiting.

"So, dueling," he said, spinning his wand in his right hand as she walked through the door.

Hermione froze and blanched slightly.

She had braced herself—reminded herself repeatedly that Draco would likely do something incredibly nasty to her as soon as he started feeling better. It was apparently his default method for maintaining distance between them.

She'd healed him considerably more from his punishment than she had after his fight with a werewolf. If he regarded her as overstepping recently in the way she had been touching him—if the space between them really had narrowed—she had reminded herself that eventually he might do something horribly cruel to widen it again.

She'd known—

But walking into it still felt like being gutted.

She dropped her eyes, and forced her expression not to change.

"Right," she said. She dropped her bag by the door and warded it.

His expression was cool and calculating as he stared at her from across the room.

"I want to see if your dodging and evading has improved, but I don't want to rennervate you every minute—"

Hermione flinched faintly.

"Just don't hit my hands," she interrupted him, "I can't work—if you hit my hands again."

His eyes narrowed with annoyance.

"Fuck off, Granger, I'm not intending to hex you," he snapped. He flicked his wand sharply toward her and she felt—liquid.

She glanced down and found a large water droplet spattered across the back of her hand.

"I realize you consider me a total monster," he said flatly, "but I do make a general habit of keeping my word. I presume water will not offend you."

Hermione was still staring down at her hand in astonishment. Finally she looked up at him and blushed.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Right." His expression was stiff. "So—I'm primarily interested in seeing how you move. However, do try to land a hex on me, if you possibly can."

He entered a very uncommitted dueling stance, and waited for her to do the same.

She did, and then bobbed her head slightly in a bow before she sent a jelly-leg jinx toward him. He blocked it with the faintest flick of his right hand.

He sent a dozen drops of water in her direction and she easily blocked them with a nonverbal shield.

She sent a series of stunners and he blocked them without moving.

"Why are you so concerned with how I move when you never do?" she inquired as she sent several leg lockers and jelly leg jinxes toward his feet.

"I'm not dueling," he said, shooting her a thin smile as he blocked her spells and caught her feet with several drops of water. "Your shield isn't comprehensive. Stop maintaining it and dodge, or make sure it's full-body."

She flushed and physically dodged the next twenty water droplets while shooting several mild hexes in his direction.

"You aren't even trying to hit me," he said, frowning. "You do realise I basically duel for a living. I fight werewolves, your Order, Death Eaters... Especially lately, everyone in the Dark Lord's ranks thinks that my injury is an open invitation to try to steal my spot."