Love Is The Darkest Art

Part 15: Close Calls

Scene 20:

Hermione liked this. Being on top of Draco and in control. Pleasantly pinning him, she lovingly kissed his ear, his neck, throat. She turned his head toward her and playfully bit at his lip, which he seemed to like. But he was distracted. With his eyes he directed her to look one aisle over at the two pairs of lover's feet. He'd been the first to see them. In their act of trying to be quiet and undetected, Hermione had busied herself with planting silent kisses upon her boyfriend.

But now, seeing the two pairs of feet she realized they werent the only secret lovers in the greenhouse. After all, the barefoot feet, toenails painted strangely, stood on top of the boy's shoes, as if trying to gain the height to share a kiss. From her vantage point, Hermione couldn't see who they were, but if she moved a little atop Draco, she knew she might be able to slide out enough under the table to tell their identity.

With a little effort, she peered out from under the edge of the low table. She could just make out the figures this way, but they were so closely wrapped about each other she couldn't see their faces. Just dark hair and yellow tresses nearly blending into one.

"Who is it?" Draco whispered.

"I don't know, " she answered, and then, "Oh hell..."

"What?"

"It's..."

A voice, sounding incredulous in its tone, interrupted her. "Hermione, is that you?"

There was nothing she could do. She scrambled out from under the table.

"What are you doing?" Luna Lovegood asked, her barefeet squishing the loose dirt between her painted toes.

Hermione brushed the dust off her uniform. "Um...I...I just dropped something."

Neville Longbottom came around the aisle and peered under the table. "What did you..."

No one said anything for a moment.

"I don't see anything," Neville finally noted. "Except...a boy's shoe?" He reached under the table and picked it up. Hermione jerked it out of his hand.

"Yes I found it," she explained. "I was going to take it to the lost and found." Secretly she hoped that neither Draco nor his mother had etched his name inside it.

Hermione noticed Luna was now looking under the table too, but there was nothing else there. "You found it here?" the Ravenclaw girl asked. "What were you doing there? Class isn't until next period, you know."  She them looked at Hermione with a suspicious eye. "Were you spying?"

"Oh, no. No. Not at all. Honest."

Neville frowned. "It's not what you think. Um..um...uh...I had something...uh...stuck in my teeth."

Hermione smirked. "So Luna was helping you get it out?"

"Of course!" Luna exclaimed happily. "That's exactly it!"

"I think it's still there," Hermione replied. "You didn't get it all. Better try again." Then she put on her biggest, brightest smile. "Got to run! See ya!"

She headed for the door, but before she could get out of the greenhouse, something unseen brushed past her. For a moment, she thought it touched her butt. Goosed, she let out a little yelp. Both Longbottom and Lovegood were looking at her strangely.

"Woo! It's warm in here," Hermione said, fanning her face. "I didn't see you guys by the way. Laters!"

Now she went out the door. Luna called out after her. 'We didn't see you either!"