LOVE BITE

Hermione got out of bed before anyone else and went straight to the showers. She scrubbed until her mistakes from last night washed away. She wished she would've just said no and gone to bed. Why did he have to be so compelling and so fucking attractive? She felt used.

When she looked in the mirror, the first thing she saw was a purple and red blotchy mark on the side of her neck. Her stomach turned. Luckily, she was talented in glamor charms and quickly put one on. It concealed it just enough to be barely noticeable.

She went back to her room and packed her bags. The train to London would be departing in less than an hour. She gathered all her belongings and started for the Gryffindor common room to meet Harry. On her way out, Draco stopped her in her tracks. He was lounging on the couch.

"Nice hickey, Granger." He called to her as she passed him. He looked like the devil.

Hermione's face turned into an angry red. She knew he couldn't see it but he knew it was there. She quickly covered her neck up with her hair and left without saying anything. She walked down the halls nervously fixing her hair so that nobody else would see if her charm happened to wear off.

Once she got to the common room, she overheard Harry and Ron talking about Cho. She sat down next to Ron and joined the conversation in an attempt to get her mind off things. Sure enough, they were talking about snogging so it didn't help at all.

"What was it like?" Ron was intrigued.

"Well, she was crying so it was kind of wet."

"I guess that's farther than either of us have been." Ron pointed to himself and Hermione. "Congrats, mate." Harry looked over at Hermione. He caught a small glimpse of Hermione's faded love bite.

"Are you sure, Ron? Looks like Hermione had a bit of fun last night as well."

Ron went to touch it and Hermione quickly smacked his hand away.

"Blimey, Mione. Who did that to you?" Ron's mouth was wide open and Harry was cracking up.

"It looks like you've been fighting off vampires!" More laughter. Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat and waited for their howling to calm down. She was very disappointed in the two for making jokes.

"It's none of your business." She said, sticking her nose in the air. "Now come on, we've got a train to catch." She raised her eyebrows at them and removed herself from the conversation. Ron talked to Harry behind her back.

"I bet it was Anthony. He's always going on about how bad he wants to bed her. I never knew he was her type."

***

The three of them stepped onto the train. Harry headed towards the student compartments and Hermione and Ron went to the prefect's. Ron put up their trunks and Hermione fixed her hair around her neck so that he wouldn't be staring at it the whole time. She sat by the window and hoped to fall asleep until they got to London. She didn't want to see Draco. Fortunately, the compartments were separated by house so she wouldn't have to see him unless they both happened to go to the restroom at the same time.

When the train left the Hogwarts station, Hermione pretended to be asleep. She didn't want Ron to interrogate her about who she hooked up with last night. To her luck, she ended up drifting off to sleep in no time to the rumbling of the train.

A few hours later, she woke up and looked out the window. It was dark out so she assumed they would be arriving soon. She got up to use the restroom that was at the front of the train. The other compartments on the way were full of sleeping students waiting for their arrival. In the bathroom, Hermione looked into the mirror. Her glamor spell had already worn off. She worried about what her parents would say if they saw it. She decided on turtlenecks and hoodies for the next couple of weeks. She redid the spell. It would be her last one before she got home.

She walked down the aisle and back to her compartment. She squeezed past Pansy Parkinson who was making her way to the restrooms. Out of nowhere, a door opened and a hand pulled her inside. The jump scare made her heart skip a beat. In two seconds flat, she was face to face with Draco once again.

"You've got to stop pulling me into confined spaces, Malfoy!" she asserted as she pulled her arm out of his grip. He shrugged his shoulders.

"My bad. I just wanted a chat."

"Then why didn't you just ask?"

"Are you kidding? I can't have anyone seeing me having a conversation with you."

"I'll just go then." Hermione turned to leave and Draco grabbed her arm again.

"Sorry. Stay. I actually do want to talk to you." Draco offered her a seat. Hermione slowly sat down. Draco crossed his arms and observed her. "So, what did you tell people when they asked about the love bite?" He pointed to his neck where her mark was.

"Nothing." Hermione shook her head and looked down at her feet. She didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Good." They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Hermione debated on leaving multiple times but her feet wouldn't work. She sat up and tried to make the situation a bit less awkward for her.

"It was kind of a shock this morning. After all, I remember you telling me that you don't bite." She raised an eyebrow.

Draco let out a chuckle and smiled at her. She could feel his eyes all over her. He was about to get up and sit by her when the door swung open. Pansy was back from her bathroom break.

"What are you doing here?" She said in a bitchy tone. Draco and Hermione looked at each other trying to come up with an excuse.

"We were just..." Hermione started.

"We were just discussing next semester's schedule." Draco chimed in. "I got it, Granger. You can go." Hermione frowned at him. Before she left, Draco winked at her. Hermione has never been so confused. She felt out of control, which was tragic because she was always in control. She hated the mix signals. She told herself if anything like that happens when they came back, she would simply have to put an end to it.