Author's Note: Just a quick one shot in between Somewhere Down the Line updates! Much love to LightofEvolution for betaing and MCal for prereading. Enjoy :)
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Hogwarts castle courtyard, enjoying their end of term freedom under the starlight despite it already being past curfew, when the approaching boisterous cries of triumph interrupted their conversation. Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott came into sight, mischievous glints in their eyes. The pair of wizards paused their laughter when they spotted their company.
"Well, well," Draco said with a smirk. "Potter, Granger, and Weasley. Just who we were hoping to run into."
Ron frowned. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
"No need to get so defensive, Weasley," Draco returned, raising both his hands to indicate his innocence. "Theo and I merely thought you three might enjoy one final round of actual rule breaking before we're out of this place."
Theo pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and then used his wand to bring it back to proper size.
Hermione's eyes widened when she noticed the label of Ogden's Old Firewhisky. "We're not supposed to drink on Hogwarts grounds!"
Draco shrugged, unfazed by her protest. "And you're not supposed to be out here this late. So what's the big deal? We're all of legal age. Besides, our N.E.W.T.s are over and that calls for some celebrating." He stepped forward and grinned. "Or is Gryffindor's precious princess scared of a bit of alcohol?"
Harry wasn't convinced. "If this is just some final ploy to get us in trouble before graduation-"
"Tell me, Potter," Draco interrupted. He quirked an eyebrow in challenge. "When was the last time I did something that implicated you and your friends?"
Harry paused, trying to recount something from recent memory.
"Exactly," Draco said after several moments of silence from Harry. "I haven't done anything since the end of the war and don't plan on resuming now. So what do you say to drowning the last remnants of lingering resentment before we leave this place behind?"
Harry narrowed his eyes, still seeming to assess the sincerity of Draco's offer, but after enough consideration, he grabbed the bottle from Theo's hand and took a swig.
Theo cheered. "That's the spirit, Potter!"
When he lowered the bottle from his lips, Harry's face twisted at the taste. "The least you could have done is bring something to chase with."
Theo revealed a jug of pumpkin juice. "Two steps ahead of you."
Having moved to the more shadowed corner of the courtyard, Draco conjured five chairs for them all to sit on and looked expectantly at Hermione and Ron. "Are you just going to stand there or join us?"
Ron grumbled his assent and joined the rest of the wizards in the circle, but Hermione wasn't as easy to persuade. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at Draco.
A devious smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Granger?"
She huffed before settling in the free seat between Harry and Ron. "Just know that I'm not pleased about this," she stated, staring at Draco as she said it. "So what's your plan now? That we pass the bottle around and chat?"
"Of course not." Draco swished his wand and a black cup appeared in each of their hands. "Drinking's always more fun when there's a game involved. Perhaps... Never Have I Ever?"
Theo began pouring some of the firewhisky in each of their cups while Ron still seemed sceptical. "Isn't that a game girls giggle over at sleepovers?"
"Have a lot of experience with those, Weasley?" Draco taunted. Hermione impulsively kicked him, and his jesting stopped. "Fine. It's essentially the same, except now you have to drink each time you've done something that the other person hasn't."
"Can't you just lie?" Harry asked.
Theo chuckled. "Not with these cups. They're charmed to measure your pulse sort of like Muggle lie detectors, and when it senses that the statement applies to you, your cup turns red."
A boastful grin stretched across Draco's lips. "Charmed them myself."
Hermione examined her cup, silently impressed by the creative use of magic even if she didn't entirely approve. She glanced up at Draco and the blond wizard's grin widened.
"Enough stalling," Draco announced. He took a generous gulp from his cup and then motioned it towards Hermione. "Last to join, first to go. Granger, you start."
Hermione racked her brain, thinking of a good statement to begin. Something that would get most of them to drink…
"Never have I ever... been on a Quidditch team."
The circle of boys erupted in boos.
"What?" Hermione protested, sincerely confused by their apparent dismay.
She glanced at Draco who was hiding a snicker behind his cup.
"C'mon, Hermione," Ron said, shaking his head back and forth. "That's not how one plays this game."
Hermione's forehead puckered. "But I said something I haven't done before."
"Yeah, but it's supposed to be something interesting."
Theo raised a suggestive eyebrow, and Hermione instantly understood.
"No one told me that!" she argued, feeling a slight blush starting to creep up her cheeks. "So it has to be something… sexual?"
Draco snorted, seeming highly entertained by the situation. "Not necessarily, but it should at least be something that you'd be uncomfortable with the Headmistress overhearing. So let's try again, shall we?"
"Fine," Hermione resigned with a huff. She sucked in a breath and came up with a new statement. "Never have I ever gone skinny dipping." She glared at Draco. "Better?"
Draco looked down at his now red cup and smirked. "Slightly."
Harry's cup had also changed colours. He turned to Hermione with a frown. "You knew that would get me."
"How would I know that you've skinny dipped?" she challenged.
"Cause I told you? When Ginny and I-"
Ron clamped his hands over his ears. "I can't hear you! I don't want to know!"
Hermione yanked Ron's hands away. "Oh, calm down, Ron. And I sincerely forgot about that!"
"Sure you did." Harry raised an eyebrow, not convinced. "But just in case, never have I ever had a crush on a professor."
Her cup turned red. "That's not fair!"
Draco looked at her, intrigued.
"Don't give me that look!" she said, feeling her cheeks grow hot. "It was second year! And in my defence, I was far from the only student who had a crush on Lockhart."
Ron chuckled at the memory. "Remember when you didn't want to give Madam Pince that pass to use the restricted section just because it had his signature on it?"
"I'm not liking this game," Hermione pouted instead of addressing Ron's remark. She tilted her head disapprovingly at Draco only to find that he was still laughing.
"Oh, but I'm quite enjoying myself," he returned with a massive grin. "I'm next, yes?" His grin turned vicious, and Hermione got a bad feeling about what he would say next. "Never have I ever not made my partner finish in bed."
"Draco!" she cried before she could catch herself, but none of the others seemed to notice, too focused on the shifting colour of their cups.
"That was cruel, mate," Theo said with a snort before sipping from his drink.
Ron and Harry were not half as amused. Ron grumbled something that sounded along the lines of, "Show off," while Harry finished his drink and complained about not being drunk enough for this level of play.
It was now Theo's turn. "If you're going that far, then never have I ever gotten head in the library."
He peered at Draco with a quirked eyebrow as Hermione's cheeks flushed cherry to match Draco's cup.
"What's the matter, Granger?" Theo taunted while Draco gladly sipped his drink.
"Nothing," she said, even though they both knew precisely what was the matter. "Just— the library isn't intended for that."
Theo grinned as he leaned in towards her. "Really now? So you're saying you've never thought about it? Or perhaps… suggested it?"
"Moving on!" Hermione clearly announced, not letting the conversation linger on that subject before any questions could be asked. "Ron? And please ask something a tad more tasteful!"
"Trust me. I don't want to hear much more about Malfoy's apparent sex life," he lamented, a shiver shuddering down his spine. "But considering he's still a heartless prat, we should be safe with this one. Never have I ever slept with someone that I love."
Harry's cup turned crimson, and much to Ron's surprise, so did Draco's and Hermione's. Ron first glanced at Draco's, surprised at the revelation, but his jaw hung slack as he glared at Hermione's.
"I was trying to target Harry with that question after he targeted you!" he spluttered, struggling to grapple with the present reality. "But you and I never— With who?"
The blush on Hermione's cheeks was undeniable, as was the amused expression on Draco's face.
"The words 'love' and 'slept with' can have many interpretations," she defended, prompting a laugh out of Theo.
"Really?" He let out a loud cackle. "That's your explanation?"
But before she could respond, Draco whipped his head in alarm.
"Fuck. I think I just heard Mrs Norris."
None of them willing to risk the possibility of having to endure even one more of Filch's detentions, the crowd scrambled to disperse. Theo reshrunk the firewhisky bottle back into his pocket. Draco vanished the cups and chairs. Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept watch to make sure that the coast remained clear.
When the incriminating evidence was gone, Draco suggested that Hermione stay behind and claim Head Girl duties in case Filch showed up. The rest of them began to run back to their common rooms, but before he disappeared from sight, Theo turned back and winked.
She should have known he was involved in this scheme.
No more than a few seconds later, Draco sauntered back into the courtyard.
"The words 'love' and 'slept with' can have many interpretations?"
"I panicked!"
Draco snorted. "You'd make a terrible Slytherin."
Closing the space between them, Draco tugged Hermione by the fabric of her robes and pulled her in for a kiss. Her fingers found their home in the familiar locks of his hair, tasting the lingering flavour of firewhisky on his lips. Even months after their first stolen kiss on their way back to their dormitories after another late night of studying together in the library, each kiss continued to spread a tingle of warmth to every extremity, a reminder of how much they had grown in the past year since the war.
But they understood that not everyone, including Ron and Harry, had been able to forgive and move on at the same pace, which was why they still reserved moments like this for when no one else was around. Except, with graduation a few days away, they knew the time had come. Only Hermione didn't intend for her friends to find out about her and Draco through a game of Never Have I Ever!
When they pulled away from their kiss, Hermione glared up at Draco. "So what was your plan? Get them drunk and somehow reveal ourselves during your little game?"
"Would that have been the worst thing?"
Hermione tilted her head disapprovingly.
Draco peered down at her with mild resignation. "You're going to have to tell them eventually."
"And I agreed to do it before graduation," she defended with a huff. "But on my terms, and not like that!"
"But it would have been so entertaining," Draco said, laughing at the thought. Hermione once more glared at him, but her stare was interrupted when Draco grabbed her hand and turned her so her back was flush against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a quick squeeze. "You really going to deny me the glory that would have been Weasley's face when he realised what's been going on underneath his freckled nose?"
Hermione leaned her head back to give him another disapproving look, but her snort weakened its strength. "You're terrible."
Draco grinned as he gripped her tighter. "And yet, you love me."
He leaned in and sealed the moment with another kiss before turning Hermione back around.
"So," he said, a hopeful sparkle in his eyes. "Never been skinny dipping, you say?" He glanced in the direction of the Black Lake before waggling his eyebrows.
Hermione playfully knocked him on the shoulder. "Don't get your hopes up."
"Too late," Draco toyed. "Something else for us to do before graduation?"
Hermione bit the inside of her lip. "I'll consider it," she conceded. "But only if you don't pull any more stunts like this! And you keep Theo out of our business! He already knows enough as is."
Draco twined their fingers together. "It's a deal."