Cursed [Dramione/Beauty & The Beast]

Library

'There are a couple of things in here you could start with...'

Draco threw open the doors dramatically. Hermione gasped as she walked into a large library. Floor-to-ceiling shelves covered every wall, each crammed with hundreds of books.

'Woah,' Hermione whispered.

Draco grinned and wandered through the room, running his fingers along the dusty spines. He disappeared around a corner. Hermione followed, and found more bookshelves stretching out in front of her.

'Have you read all these books?' Hermione asked.

'No, not all of them,' Draco scoffed. 'Some of them are in Greek.'

'Was that a joke?' Hermione laughed, incredulously. 'Are you making jokes now?'

'Maybe,' Draco smirked, winking at her. 'This is the section that had the most promising-looking books in them,' he gestured at a shelf in the far corner. 'These are the ones that mother used to create the potion.'

'Ok,' Hermione nodded, her face serious. 'This seems like a good place to start.'

'They don't have the answer in there,' Draco frowned as she gathered up the small pile of books he had gestured to. 'Mother read them hundreds of times.'

'I know, but it'll catch me up on what I need to know. And it's always good to get a new perspective. I might see something that she didn't.'

Hermione settled at a desk by the window, overlooking the gardens. Draco disappeared for a few minutes, then returned with a pile of parchment, quills and ink. Beastly followed, carrying a teapot, cups and a pile of biscuits on a tray.

'Thank you,' Hermione smiled at them both.

Draco slumped into a chair opposite her, grimacing slightly. He grabbed one of the books and started reading.

*****

Day faded into night, neither of them moving from the table by the window. Beastly appeared occasionally, bringing them food.

'God, is it that late already?' Hermione yawned, stretching out the kinks in her back.

Beastly nodded to her as he pottered around the library, lighting lanterns for them. Hermione rubbed her eyes as she squinted at the meticulous notes she had made. Rolls of parchment were filled with her tiny handwriting.

'Find anything?' Draco asked, massaging the muscles in his stiff neck.

'Not much. I'm very impressed that your mother was able to create a potion from all of this, she must have been incredibly talented.'

'She was. She was an amazing woman.'

'I think I understand the curse a little better, and I found a few references to other books. If you don't have them I'll get Harry to send them. Maybe he'll let me visit the Hogwarts library over the summer...' Hermione tapped her lip with the quill as she thought.

'Absolutely not,' Draco snapped.

'You're not the boss of me!'

'I'll not have you put yourself at risk for me! No way.'

They glared at each other, tension rippling in the air. Draco looked away first and snatched up a book. Hermione grinned to herself, feeling as though she had won. She soon sobered as she remembered that both their lives were at risk.

'Ron? Oh my God, Ron!' Hermione rushed over to the tall red-head, stopping suddenly as he looked at her coldly. 'How...how've you been?'

Ron had lost his gangly awkwardness, growing into his height. His eyes flicked around the room, taking in every entrance. His stance was balanced and ready. He was dressed in muggle clothing, his t-shirt clinging to his freckly, muscled arms.

'What are you doing here?' Ron's voice was deeper than she remembered, with a slight accent from his years in Europe.

'I was coming to see Harry, we've got lunch plans,' Hermione shivered, barely recognising the man before her.

'Sorry Hermione,' Harry rushed into the room, his arms full of files. 'I need to reschedule. I've got to take Ron's report and debrief him. I'll be in touch, ok?'

'Yeah, no problem,' Hermione smiled at them and backed quickly out of Harry's office.

'Ok, tell me all about this underground group...' Harry was saying as Ron shut the door.

*****

A ball of parchment bounced off Hermione's head, startling her.

'Wake up, lazybones,' Draco sneered. 'Bored of helping already?'

'No, sorry,' Hermione yawned. 'What time is it?'

'Just after midnight,' Draco said as he tidied up the desk. 'Go to bed. You look like hell.'

'That's rich, coming from you,' Hermione saw the colour had faded from his face. 'You ok?'

'Yeah, fine, why?'

'Because I can see you're bleeding through your bandages. Why didn't you say something?'

Draco shrugged, not meeting Hermione's eyes.

'Lift up your shirt, let me see.'

'Knew you couldn't wait to get another look,' Draco joked, wincing as he pulled his shirt off. The bandages on his arm and the ones around his middle were soaked in blood.

'Yes, the bleeding to death look is really hard to resist,' Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Let's go back to your room.'

'Sorry love, you're not my type,' Draco winked.

'So I can change the dressings, idiot!' Hermione swatted his good arm and stomped out of the library.

*****

A/N: What did you think of this chapter? I liked the banter between Draco and Hermione. It was tricky to write about the library, I hope you feel I did ok! Don't forget to vote if you liked it. Much love, Charli