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Draco was fucked.
He knew he was fucked, he just wasn't sure how.
Hermione was being suspiciously quiet and demure. Which were two qualities that she, blessedly, did not possess on a regular basis.
Generally speaking, Hermione Granger was of the definitively forthright nature; honest, righteous, upfront, and all the other things indicative of strong moral fiber. Traits that Draco did not possess, and never intended to.
What he did possess was a keenly honed sense of self-preservation, one which had rarely failed him since reaching adulthood. At the moment it was telling him that he was fucked.
Hermione was only quiet and cooperative when she was scheming. It was one of the many endearing things about her; her honesty managed to shine through even when she was plotting vengeance. Unfortunately, despite the tell, she always managed to come at things in a manner sideways enough that knowing that vengeance was coming didn't necessarily allow Draco to evade it.
She also almost always managed to have a meticulous array of backup schemes lined up to make up for any he thwarted.
Draco knew he was fucked and, in the meanwhile, he was left to dread it by being saddled with an eerily sweet and cooperative Hermione.
There were nervous bubbles of anticipation in his stomach as he took her arm and they departed for home. She gripped the crook of his elbow in a way that would have been endearing in other circumstances.
Instead her every touch was managing to send a shiver down his spine.
"You were brilliant tonight," he finally said after the quiet grew unbearable.
"Thank you," she said, her voice detached and demure. She tilted her head so that it rested against his shoulder. "And thank you for coming. I know it must have incredibly dull sitting through all those speeches when it's not your field. I appreciate that you came anyway."
"I enjoyed parts of it," he said, lowering his eyes and glancing at her through his lashes.
Her mouth twitched and one of her eyebrows quirked slightly.
Yes. He was definitely fucked.
"You're getting the research grant you've been angling for years now, I wouldn't have missed it."
She squeezed his bicep slightly and pulled him closer. He tilted his head and dipped it towards hers tentatively. She simply kissed him, her hand gripping his shoulder and sliding up to touch his face in order to draw him into a deeper kiss.
She was still vibrating with nervous energy from the evening. His mind went slightly blank as her fingers combed through his hair, her kiss fiery and almost bruising against his lips.
After a minute, her hand slipped away and she drew back, staring ahead. Her cheeks had a low flush to them. Draco could feel her lipstick on his mouth.
