Irresistible Temptations

IT Chapter 2-Second Year

Last time: Draco and Hermione get sorted, into the wrong houses! Both are very depressed and are able to ignore all events for the entire first year! Then, fate brings them together on the train and they make plans for being *gasp* friends in this AU hell of theirs.

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Over the summer, Draco and Hermione exchanged quite a few owls and she learnt his birthday was on August twenty-first. She wanted to go to Diagon Alley anyway to get her supplies, so she picked up a ring that reminded her of Draco. It was a snake that was coiled and it was made of silver and white gold. While perusing Flourish and Blotts, she saw a poster advertising Gilderoy Lockhart autographing his books on August twenty-eighth, so she made plans to return on that date. Meanwhile, she waited patiently for Draco's next owl so she could send him his birthday present.

On August twenty-eighth, Hermione was one of the first people in line with her copy of Magical Me to be autographed. When she had it, she was leaving the store when she ran into Draco...and his father. She embraced Draco in a hug, which he returned. His father cleared his throat.

"Draco, who is this girl?" Lucius asked.

"Oh Father, this is Hermione. Hermione, this is my father Lucius Malfoy" Draco said.

"Hello Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said shyly.

Lucius was about to ask another question when Potter and a collection of Weasleys came up behind Hermione. He threw a few insults at Potter and the Weasley clan and then knocked Ginny's cauldron over. He slipped Tom Riddle's diary inside it when pretending to help. Then he left, with Draco and Hermione trailing behind. When Lucius noticed her trailing behind, he decided to ask another question.

"So where are your parents Hermione?" he asked.

"Oh, they are at home. They did not feel like coming again within a week," she said.

"So you were here recently?" Lucius questioned.

"Yes, I came to get my school supplies and Draco's birthday present," she replied.

"The ring on his finger?" She nodded. "You have an excellent taste."

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy." She noted that they were at Madame Milkin's. "I'll be leaving now," she said. Draco looked at his father and Lucius took the hint.

"If you have no other plans, you can spend the last few days before school at our manor."

"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Malfoy, but I wouldn't know how to get there."

"Just use floo powder and say 'Malfoy Manor.' You can do that, right?"

"Not unless I apply for a temporary connection to the Floo Network."

"Your parents don't floo very often?" Draco mouthed, "Lie fast."

"Ah, no. They're hiding in the muggle world as a part of the WPP."

"I see. Well, owl Draco your address and our car will pick you up."

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy. Bye Draco, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said and left, her heart beating rapidly. Draco had not cared when she told him she was muggle born (she didn't tell him about the Sorting Hat though), but by his warning, obviously his father did. She went through the Leaky Cauldron and called for the Knight Bus to go home, because it was the quickest way.

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Her parents agreed to Hermione going away, so she quickly scrawled her address on her letter to Draco and gave it to the very patient owl, which had been waiting since the night before. Then she packed all her stuff into her trunk. Her parents called her for dinner and she ran downstairs eagerly. They had just finished the meal when a loud horn blast sounded outside. Mr. Malfoy had sent the car already. Her father went to grab her trunk and her mother opened the front door. Outside was Draco leaning against a very nice limo. Her father brought the trunk to the car where the chauffeur put it in the boot of the car. Hermione introduced Draco to her parents and then she said goodbye to them, whoever they were. Draco opened the door for her and she climbed in. he got in after her, shut the door and they were off.

When they arrived at Malfoy Manor it was very late and very few candles were lit Hermione was very tired and was leaning against Draco when they pulled up. The chauffeur opened the door and Draco pulled Hermione out. He went to the front door where it opened and he led her inside. After greeting his father who was still awake, he supported Hermione to her rooms in the same wing as his. She gave him a hug goodnight and he left her to go to sleep himself.

Lucius had been searching his copied Ministry documents for the address Hermione had given his son. He found the address eventually, but not under the WPP files. Oh no, he knew those well and it definitely was not there. No, it was in the Wizard Adoption Files. It was on an adoption paper as the place of residence of the adopters. He scanned the form: standard reason for wanting a child, all the proper signatures and change of the child's surname, and all the parental information. Two things made Lucius want to faint, but Malfoy's did not faint. One: Angelica Hermione Serenity Belouvre to become Hermione Celesta Granger; and two: couple applying for adoption: Thomas Patrick Granger, muggle and Annelise Marie Bulstrode Granger, witch. It seemed Hermione's 'parents' were planning on keeping it a secret for awhile and that now Lucius had some very important information for Voldemort. Lucius had found the long-lost Belouvre child and the traitorous Death Eater Annelise Bulstrode, who had escaped her betrothal to him.

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The time spent at Malfoy Manor was enjoyable. Draco gave her a tour of the vast mansion and showed her how to not get lost. Lucius and Narcissa were very kind to Hermione and made her feel quite welcome. They enjoyed meals in a family dining room with a table for four that Draco never remembered eating at and all the meals were excellent. Lucius surprised Draco by giving Hermione broom lessons and her own broom, which was better than the Nimbus 2001's that Lucius was giving Draco's Quidditch team to get him on it. On the day that they were to go to Hogwarts, Lucius surprised them again with a letter from Dumbledore telling them about a private study room in the library for their use only.

Lucius escorted them to the platform and said goodbye to the pair. A firm handshake for Draco and Hermione gave Lucius a hug. Then the friends mounted the train and snagged a compartment. During the ride, Draco reluctantly traded Hermione's Slytherin cloaks back for his Gryffindor ones that had been buried in her trunk. They bought a small feast from the snack lady and Draco brought out his secret Chocolate Frog trading card collection and Hermione had fun teasing Draco with cards he wanted. They got into their robes when they had to, and when the train stopped, they got a carriage to themselves. The sorting and feast were as boring as last year, so they got the new passwords as soon as possible and took off to their private room in the library. The keys they had opened the library itself and their room, which was a great trust. The room was cozy with two couches, a table with two chairs, a magic bookshelf and a large fireplace. A note was on the table:

'Hope you like the room. Obviously you are here instead of in your common rooms on the first night. I remind you that the curfew still applies to you, so you cannot get caught leaving here after ten o'clock at night. Feel free to decorate the room as you like it. Professor Dumbledore.'

That note sent them back to their common rooms after carefully locking both doors. Hermione changed and went to bed when she got to her second year dorm. Draco found his father's owl waiting for him with a letter about when the brooms would arrive. That letter kept Draco pondering about what he could do to hide his Gryffindor status from his father until his eyelids were too heavy to keep open and he fell into a restless sleep.

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Throughout second year, Draco and Hermione, their schedules almost identical to first year, use their room every time they could. It was a time of deep studying or random conversations. Draco decided to try out for the Gryffindor team and he was made a spare chaser. He let his father give the brooms to the Slytherin team which Hermione got onto thanks to Lucius' flying lessons. Hermione received a pretty silver swan pendant from Draco for her birthday, a boxed set of famous wizarding stories from her parents and a silver bracelet with diamonds and emeralds on it from Lucius and Narcissa. At Christmas Draco and Hermione went to Hermione's house and Draco had a blast. Hermione got Draco a Slytherin cloak of his own and he got her an ink collection that contained scented, permanent and invisible types.

The end of second year was marked by Hagrid coming back from Azkaban, Slytherin winning the Quidditch cup, Slytherin winning the house cup (because Harry had a million detentions) and Potter almost dying facing a journal that had a live person inside. The journal had stolen his wand and tried to 'Avada Kedavra' him but Fawkes peed on the diary and destroyed it. Draco was disappointed of course, but he and Hermione tied for top score in their year again. And almost the entire female population was dismayed that the handsome Gilderoy Lockhart mysteriously lost his memory of all the flirting they did.

On the train home, Hermione and Draco shared a compartment. Draco finished his trading card collection, getting very lucky by finding the rarest cards in four of his frogs. The pair switched cloaks again, but Draco preferred his cloak he'd received as a present the best. When the train stopped at King's Cross station, they promised to write each other a gain and the two parted ways as Draco went to his father and Hermione to her parents.