Title: A Friendly Game of Poker
Author: Mrs. Witter
Rating: R
Pairing: D/Hr
Summary: A boys' poker game leads to interesting revelations.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own them. The characters belong to JK Rowling.

Part Four: Consummation

Damn it, the miserable sod was right. She had started it. Stupid bloody alcohol and its repercussions. Nevertheless, they had a deal, no matter that it was unspoken.

It was bloody smart, is what it was. There was no way in hell the two of them could have continued an affair (if she even wanted to – which she so totally did not, not at that time. Uh-uh. No way. No thanks.).

The man was seriously deluded.

She stared into his smug, mercurial eyes and cursed him to an afterlife in hell for his insistence that they drudge up their horrible tawdry and quite frankly, a little bit clichéd, past. Didn't he know avoidance was the best policy? Hadn't he ever closed his eyes and wished anything to just go away?

Goddamn it, and just when she was just really getting good at willful blindness the tosser has to come and make her face the truth. Ron would be so disappointed that his lessons were for naught.

Steeling herself for another battle, she tossed her head back and stuck out her chin defiantly, "I don't care what happened or how it happened. It was a mistake and I refuse to pay for it now."

He glared at her angrily for a moment before relaxing his features into a pleasant smile. "Okay. Say we forget about it. We've managed to steer clear of this mistake for eight years, I'm sure we could do it for eighty more. Unfortunately, no one else is going to forget this. My mates and especially yours. Cat's out of the bag, Granger."

She let out an exasperated yelp, "Because you opened your big, fat mouth!"

He shrugged carelessly. "Still, the damage is done."

Clenching her fists to keep from punching him, she whined, "What's your bloody point, Malfoy?"

He stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder, twirling a strand of hair in his finger as he did so. He bent his head, bringing it closer to hers as he whispered, intimately, "Why are you fighting this?"

Hermione tried to concentrate on being indignant but it was proving to be hard to do with his face and lips just inches away and that intoxicating (No, pretentious! she corrected herself) cologne clouding her senses. Finding her voice, she managed to get out, "I-I'm not fighting anything. There is nothing to fight."

Malfoy simply raise an eyebrow and smirked. "Granger, Potter and Weasel already know and they'll get over it. There was never a need to give a rat's arse about what they think…"

"Do you honestly think that I make every decision in my life only with their approval?" she asked, eyes flashing angrily.

"Not every decision," he conceded condescendingly, "but the ones concerning me."

"You egotistical, arrogant, vul -"

Draco's grip tightened on her shoulder as the other snaked around her waist and she gasped when he pulled her flush against him. "Now, now, love, no need for sweet nothings. I'm already yours."

Even as her mind rejected such a silly, not-so-charming declaration, her traitorous heart flipped over in her chest and her seriously-in-a-sex-draught body was reacting wildly, touching his so intimately, even through their clothes. Placing her hands on his chest, she tried (meekly) to push him away. "Let. Me. Go."

"Not a chance," he replied and brought the hand resting on her shoulder to cup the back of her head, his fingers twining in her hair. "I'm going to kiss you, Hermione. And you're going to kiss me back."

The alarms bells were getting frighteningly loud in her head as his lips slowly descended towards hers. Everything slowed down and her heart and pulse were beating really, really fast and her blood was pounding in her ears but still, she managed to say, "I will bite your lips if I have to."

Malfoy only smirked again and whispered a breath away, "I'm counting on it."

When his lips claimed hers, her eyes fluttered close and her body rejoiced, rather pointedly ignoring her mind's dimming protestations. Involuntarily, her hands clutched at his crisp white shirt, wrinkling the material between her fingers and he held her as close and humanly possible. His insistent lips parted her own, battering away all of her carefully constructed resistance and on a moan, she surrender to his kiss. The bastard smile against her lips as she went pliant against him. When she opened her eyes and saw the satisfaction in his, she made good on her threat and bit his lower lip in retaliation.

Draco flinched and broke the kiss but then only chuckled, "Still kinky, Granger. I love it."

"You planned all of this, didn't you?" she asked, suddenly, her hands on her hips.

"Well, not everything," Draco relented with a smile as he pushed her robe off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. "When I went to Potter's to play poker I had no intention of revealing anything."

"Then why the bloody hell did you?" she asked, to angry again to notice or care that he was undoing the buttons of her blouse, one at a time.

He shrugged and parted the blouse, his eyes feasting on her pink lace-covered breasts, so utterly feminine and wispy under her sensible clothes. That was his Granger: a pleasant surprise underneath all that common sense. "It just came to me; I knew Potter and Weasel would report back to you as soon as they could. I'm surprised it took them a week to work up the nerve."

"They were just waiting for me to say no, to deny it and let them live in their bubble," she murmured, to herself mostly as she remembered that shock and pathetic look on their faces when they were dealt the truth.

"A little slap from reality will do the wankers good, really," Draco stated as his fingers trailed from her collarbone to the peak of her breasts. Experimentally, he bent his head and nuzzled her neck. She still smelled the same; soap and hint of vanilla. His lips grazed against her skin as he continued, "You did them a favor, Granger. Think about it this way, doesn't it feel great to not hide our night of passion from them anymore?"

"I suppose," she stated with a dreamy sigh as his lips trailed lower still and his mouth closed over a hardened nipple. "Oh. Mm, yes. I still hate you for opening your big mouth."

"Well, we'll just have to rectify that, won't we?" He bent down and scooped her into arms. Even as she gasped and tried to struggle free, her heart thudded in her chest and fluttery feminine feeling tingled up her spine. The idiot, she admitted it, kept in terrific shape. "I'll give you the tour of my flat. We'll start with the bedroom and work our way through the entire place."

"I'm not sleeping with you, Malfoy," she stated but really only for the principle of it all. Her fingers were already twined in his hair and her lips were tracing the shell of his earlobe.

"Okay," he agreed as he continued towards the bedroom. "We'll just shag then."

- & -

"Pansy," Harry stated rather forcefully as she shed her coat and revealed a magnificent Muggle dress of deep, rich maroon that hugged all her curves and showcased those lovely long legs of hers. Even as Harry's blood raced through his veins at the sight of her, his reason and logic prevailed. "Do you think that dress is appropriate for an event like this?"

They were standing in the foyer of London's Ritz's Carlton hotel, attending Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's 45th wedding anniversary. Pansy gave her coat to the attendant and then turned to him and shrugged. "No but since when have I ever been appropriate?"

Harry nodded and adjusted his bowtie. "Point taken. You look hot."

"And for once I agree with you, Potter," Draco stated as he walked up to the couple. He took Pansy's hands in his and kissed her cheek, "although I would have much preferred to see you in green, love."

"Malfoy," Harry stated stonily at his enemy-turned-friend-turned-bastard-who-shagged-his-best-friend.

"Potter," the blond-haired wizard stated with a smile. "Now don't look so fierce."

"I thought by now you'd be a pile of ashes once Hermione was through with your sorry arse."

"Honestly Harry," Pansy interjected, shaking her head. "It was eons ago, let it go."

"Easy for you to say," The Boy Who Lived replied petulantly. "You've known forever. And you never told me and I haven't dealt with it yet."

Draco shrugged. "Your problem mate."

"Arsehole!" Ron's voice rang out in the foyer of hotel as he came charging in Draco's direction, Luna following him and trying to grab his flailing arms. "I'm going to kill you!"

Despite his earlier remarks, Harry blocked Ron's attack by grabbing his best friend by the shoulders. "Don't do it, Ron. Calm the fuck down. This is your parent's party!"

"Stop protecting him, Harry!" the redhead tossed back, his face purple as he struggled against his mate's restraining hands. "S'not your job anymore! The fucking bastard has this coming!"

"Oh come off it, Weasel. You're just mad I got there first," Draco piped up, amused at the entire situation. Ron growled and Harry shot him a dirty look. Luna looked on miserably. It had been awhile since he had caused this much trouble, Draco realized with a wistful smile; he missed it. Pansy smacked him upside the head. "Ow! Fuck Parkinson! That hurt!"

"Just filling in for Granger," she replied with a sweet smile. "By the way, where is she?"

On cue, the witch in question appeared, her high heels clicking against the marble of the entrance as she hurried towards her friends. She could see that there was a bit of commotion and Harry was holding Ron back. Sighing, she looked at Malfoy and glared angrily. Damn him, she had wanted to get to the party first so she could ease her friend's in on the development in her life.

"Hello everyone!" she stated cheerfully through her nervousness. She rambled, like she was prone to do when people stared at her intensely, expectantly. "Oh, Luna, you look lovely. Pans, your hair! Glad you decided to wear it up. Much more effective. And boys, I do love it when you clean up, so handsome."

"Why thank you, Granger." Draco smirked and moved towards her to help her with her coat, revealing her dark navy blue gown, with a slit up one leg and a particularly daring neckline, for Hermione anyway. Inwardly, she reveled at the little hitch in Malfoy's breathing as he stared at her.

Outwardly, she glared at him. "I wasn't speaking to you, Malfoy."

"Ha!" Ron mocked him with a smug smile. "She wasn't talking about you."

Fed up, Luna pulled her boyfriend away. "Merlin, Ronald, let's go see your parents. It's their party."

Harry and Pansy followed Ron and Luna, both men stopping to scowl at Draco and give him the universal we've-got-your-eyes-on-you look before following their dates into the main ballroom.

Shaking her head, Hermione started to head in that direction when Malfoy grabbed her arm. "And where do you think you're going, Granger?"

"To the party," she replied calmly. "Let go of my arm."

"You're not walking in their alone, looking good enough to eat," he told her with a smile as he slid a possessive arm around her waist. "Everyone is going to know you're here with me, love."

Her eyes widened in fear. "No! Draco. We're not telling anyone anything."

Draco's mouth opened and closed, wordlessly as he stared at her incredulous. Shaking his head, he started to chuckle. "I never thought I'd say this to you pet, but you never learn, do you? Do you remember what happened last time we kept us a secret?"

"I'm not ready!" she retaliated stubbornly.

"Come now. Let the world know you're shagging me, Granger," he stated, kissing her lightly on the lips. "It'll only improve your image."

"Fuck you!"

"Not now, love," he answered pleasantly as he pushed her towards the festivities. "We have to go congratulate the Weasleys. Then watch as their youngest son charges for me, having an apoplectic seizure when he sees me groping your delectable arse."

"Malfoy! You bastard!" she yelled at him as he dragged her.

"So I'm told, Granger," he returned jovially as they entered the ballroom. "So I am told."

THE END

Author's Note: Thank you so much for all those who read and reviewed this fic. My first completed Harry Potter fiction! Wee! And thank you to whoever nominated this fic at Dangerous Liaisons Awards. I was flattered and touched!