Saved From The Cold

The light, powdery snow blew peacefully in spirals across the grounds of the ancient castle school. Against the setting December sun, Hogwarts looked more regal than ever. The towers seemed to glimmer with caps of snow and the ornately decorated windows looked warm and inviting. To the 7th year Gryffindor princess, the sight before her was picturesque. This was almost the complete opposite of how she felt. Nearly the entire school was empty. Christmas was three days away and it seemed that only she and her co-head were left inside the stone institute. She had kept to herself for the last week. Her mother and father had written to her to stay at Hogwarts. Her grandmother was in the hospital and so they felt it would be better for her not to spend her holidays in a hospital.

This was certainly not her first Christmas at Hogwarts, but she did miss having her normal company. Ron and his family were in Romania, visiting his brother Charley, while Harry was secretly looking for a flat to rent in London for him and Ginny. She often didn't realize how loneliness could nearly choke you. She came to depend so strongly on having Ron and Harry around that being without either had left an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

While she walked the wintry grounds around the castle, she tried to push away any feelings of sadness or loneliness, and just enjoy the beautiful sunset. Just before rounding another tower base, she heard a string of loud thuds and whisper-like screams. Wearily, she peeked around the stone column, watching with wonder and confusion at what she saw. Her co-head, Draco Malfoy, standing in front of a thick oak tree, punching the trunk fiercely. With each blow, she could hear his muffled growls of pain. She crept up behind him and soon could see tears coursing down his red and raw cheeks.

"Malfoy, what are you doing??" She shouted.

He spun frantically, and raised his hand as if to punch her too. Once seeing who it was behind him, he froze, then lowered his bloody and mangled hand. A shocked gasp slipped between her lips.

"Oh my God, what have you done to your hand?" She reached out to touch the bleeding pale flesh but he jerked his hand away from her delicate fingers.

He turned around back toward the tree and began to walk away. "It's nothing you need worry about, Granger."

"Malfoy," She called after him, "Get back here!" Whether she meant this sweetly or angrily, she didn't seem to care.

"Shove off, Granger." He sneered angrily over his shoulder.

"Stop right there!" She shrieked as she sprinted ahead of the Slytherin.

He glared down at her. "Get out of my way."

Hermione stood her ground. He didn't intimidate her in the slightest. "Not until I get a look at that hand." She demanded.

Sneering at her like he wished to simply shove her into the stone wall and leave her to bleed to death, he repeated himself. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

"Not on your life. Now give me that hand." The brunette insisted, laying her hand out before him.

Exasperated, and in severe pain, he rolled his eyes and gingerly dropped his mangled right hand into her awaiting palm. With a gentle few taps of her wand and a softly whispered healing spell, his broken bones snapped back into place and the layer of blood coating his knuckles dissolved. The pain faded so quickly, Draco let out a sigh of relief.

Hermione and Draco had developed a mild friendship over the last few months. Being head boy and girl, they had become roommates. With only two people in one common room, they knew the year would go FAR more smoothly if they were at least civil with each other. Draco still had his moments where he would be snide or arrogant or rude and she still could not help herself but be a know-it-all and generally abrupt. Still, a kind of friendship had, none the less, blossomed between them and they didn't necessarily mind it. So, Draco's behavior was slightly surprising to her.

"Thank you." He groaned through clenched teeth.

"You're welcome." She replied, dropping his hand. "What was that back there?"

A wrinkle formed between his eye brows as he forced himself to calm down. If he was going to be around Hermione, and it seemed she wouldn't allow him to get away, he had to keep his temper in check. "I'm sorry you had to see that." He said slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose in concentration. "I... This is becoming a difficult season for me."

"Why?" Hermione asked quietly, trying not to provoke him anymore than she already had.

He took a long, deep breath of the icy December air before answering,"It's just that... with my father and mother dead-"

"What??" Hermione gasped, interrupting him. "You never told me your parents were dead."

"Nobody cares when a Death Eater and his wife die." He growled softly. "I hated my father. He hated me for being weak. I did love my mother. She was kind, in her own way. I was the only person at their funeral." He took another chilling breath, feeling his body shake from the bitingly cold air swirling around the two 7th years.

"Why don't we go inside and finish this conversation in the common room?" Hermione offered, seeing him quake and knowing that she would soon be suffering just the same. With a quick nod of agreement, they walked together back inside the empty halls. Once inside the cozy common room, decorated with aging tapestries, thick green curtains and soft gold rugs, they sat down on the cozy brown leather couch which sat in front of the diorite fireplace. Hermione loved the way the rock looked in the room.

"Please, go on." Hermione urged lightly.

Taking a deep breath of the warm air from the large fireplace, Draco started where he'd left off. "Well, after the funeral, I couldn't go back to the mansion. Every surface held a memory and every memory there was like a paper cut. So simple and seemingly unnoticeable, but undeniably painful."

After a two minute pause, Hermione stretched out her ivory hand to touch his. A jolt of shock coursed through him as he eyed her wearily. His mind tried to convince him that this was dangerous and that this could be a trick. He shook his head too faintly to be noticed as he found himself wrapping his long fingers around her small hand. "Thank you again." He chanced a glance to her soft brown eyes, only to find her looking deeply into his liquid silver ones.

"I'm so sorry you had to carry this all on your own." She spoke softly, still mentally trying to understand the strange emotion she was feeling for the Slytherin prince. He was supposed to be the enemy. He was the one who had made her life miserable for the last six years. He was the one who nearly killed Harry. All of these things should have made her relish in his pain. His emptiness.

Staring into his eyes, she saw a single tear begin to snake down his porcelain cheek. Out of sheer instinct, she reached out to delicately wipe away the bead of salt water with her free hand.

Feeling her feather-soft skin on his cheek, he shocked himself once again by leaning softly into her palm which lingered on the side of his face. He felt a strange rush of emotions as her satin skin gently caressed his cheek-bone. Her body and mind filled with a want and need to see him smile. To see him happy. To never see him cry in such crushing grief again. Slowly, she inched her head forward, giving him warning of her actions to stop her if he wished. However, as she inched her face closer to his, he felt his body being pulled toward hers. As their lips lightly touched, a zing of electricity coursed through the sensitive flesh. He slid his newly healed hand to wrap around her thin waist. Feeling this simple touch sent their hearts pounding furiously.

Swept up in a strange wave emotions, Hermione coiled her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, while his left arm wound itself around her back, pulling her frame against his stone body. Their kiss deepened quickly, becoming more passionate by the second. Once they could collect themselves to take a breath, she was straddling his waist, her deep blue, cashmere sweater thrown on the floor, leaving her in her powder-blue silk camisole.

"Hermione," He breathed, loving the feeling her name left on his lips, "Please forgive me for the last six years. I don't know how you could, but please tell me could try."

"I already have, Draco." She ran her fingers through his silky blond hair. "You are not who you once were. I can see that." He stared into her chocolate eyes and found himself once again being propelled toward this small witch in his arms.

Reclaiming her mouth, he trailed his tongue along the length of her pink lips. Moaning lightly, welcoming in the hot muscle into her hot, wet chasm. His hands roamed her silk-covered frame, memorizing every line of her body. Her left hand trailed down his alabaster neck to his sculpted chest. Traveling further south, she reached the hem of his beige, long-sleeved t-shirt. Tugging lightly, she pulled it over his head, disconnecting from his lips for only a moment.

Another swell of emotion coursed through his body, and he found himself standing up, with Hermione still in his arms, pressed up against the wall to the left of the fireplace. Moans echoed deep in their throats as Hermione writhed beneath his marble body. Pulling away for one last deep breath, he took in the vision before his eyes.

Sweat was building a light film across Hermione's porcelain skin. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, taking in short gulps of heated air. The only garments of clothing left on her body was her black lace bra and her lavender knickers. Her soft pink lips were slightly swollen and a deep red. The sight of her took his breath away and he couldn't even keep his lips off of hers long enough to take one more deep breath. His lips crushed down on hers as he grabbed her milky thighs, pulling her up higher on the wall as she wrapped her legs tightly around his hips. It was only then that he realized that all he had left on was his silk emerald-green boxers. He reached up, ripping the constricting bra from her and immediately pressed one heated palm to her now free left breast. This contact made her arch her back, pressing his hand further against the sensitive flesh. A deep moan rumbled in his throat as his lips traveled down her jaw line, to the hollow at the base of her neck. A sharp gasp sang in her mouth as he bit lightly on her neck where her pulse pressed against the skin. Her nails raked down his exposed back as waves of pleasure she'd never felt before wracked her body.

His left hand still massaged her left breast as his lips claimed her right, sucking hard on her erect pink nipple. The shock of sensation made her whole body quake beneath his. He sucked, and licked, and bit the sensitive nub, ripping whimpers of desire and need from the lioness in his arms.

Far too quickly, his own need was becoming too much for him to hold back. He wanted to draw this out as long as he could. He wanted to show the beauty he held how much this truly meant. He would never attempt to lie and say he had never slept with a woman, but those had all been simply lustful. There was no meaning behind it from his end. Those other girls had been a means to an end. This was an entirely different thing. Every moment of contact, every moan he pulled from her lips and every moan she pulled from his made this love making, just that. In these moments of passion, he found one thought dominating his mind: Hermione. She was his everything now. He could feel it before, but he had had no name for it. Love was something strictly not discussed in the Malfoy family. Tender feelings were a weakness and weakness could not be tolerated. But now, free from his father's disapproving gaze and his mother's madness over perfection, he could now see that he had slowly but surely been falling deeply in love with the magnificent woman in his arms.

"Hermione," He forced himself to pull away from her sweet, tempting lips. "Is this what you want? Are you sure you want to do this with me?"

She stared tenderly into his silver, gleaming eyes, "Draco, I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I want you. No one else. Just you."

And with that, he fell over the edge. He ripped his own boxers off before tearing the lavender fabric from her body. Pushing her slightly higher on the wall, he whispered into her lips, "I will be as gentle as I can. I want you to be able to enjoy this." She nodded quickly as he plunged his thick, quivering member deep into her hot, wet core. She let out a scream of pleasure and pain. With every grain of will power he had, Draco held still, waiting for her to adjust to the feeling of him sheathed inside her. Quickly, the pain subsided and she rocked her hips slowly into his, urging him to move. He pulled out slowly until only the tip was left inside and then pushed measuredly, but forcefully, back into her body. Her legs wrapped more firmly into his hips, pressing him deeper until their bodies met. No distance at all from each other. They were now simply two parts of a single whole.

"Gods, Draco!" She moaned, "Faster! Harder!"

With a quick nod, he pulled out a second time, but no more did he hold back. With brutal force, he pounded himself into her. In, out, in, out.

"Faster. Oh, GODS!" She screamed as he hit the spot inside her that sent her mind careening over the edge. Quickly, he memorized that angle, as he arched once again and stuck that same spot with every ounce of strength he had. Her walls tightened around him, massaging his member.

"God, you are so tight, Hermione." He panted heavily as he pounded frantically into her aching core. Sensation, passion, and love wracked their bodies until with one final thrust, they both exploded, screaming each other's name.

Slowly, they slid down the wall, until they landed, her still wrapped in his arms, on the stone floor. Panting helplessly, Draco placed chaste, butterfly kisses across her cheek bones, lips, eyes, and forehead.

"I love you, Hermione. Please know that." Draco hummed into her hair.

"I do, Draco. And I love you too." She sighed lightly, kissing his lips.

They lay there for ten minutes, until they had gained enough strength to move to the closest bedroom: Hers. As they fell down under the satin covers, he held her gently in his arms. They both fell asleep to his soft whispers of, "I love you." in her ear.

---------

The next morning, Hermione awoke with the sun low in the sky.

"Good morning." Draco whispered into her ear.

As the night before flooded her mind, a smile flashed across her face and she tucked herself tighter into his embrace. "Good morning, my love." She sighed.

His heart jumped as he heard her voice whisper, "my love" into his chest. He reached down and tilted her chin tenderly up so he could look into her eyes. "Thank you."

She raised an eyebrow slightly. "What for?"

"For saving me from the cold."

She chuckled softly, "I just wanted to talk inside so we both didn't freeze."

"No. That's not the cold you saved me from." She looked up at him, a question in her eyes. "Do you want to know why I was punching that tree last night, to the point where my hand could have been mangled forever?"

She nodded softly.

"Because I needed to have some kind of proof that I could still feel something. Even if it was only pain, it was better than nothing else. Then you," He beamed down at her radiant face, "You saved me. You saved me from the cold of my empty life. The life that yesterday I saw stretched out before me until the day I died."

"I love you, Draco Malfoy." She whispered softly before leaning up to kiss his soft lips.

"I love you, Hermione Granger." He brushed some hair from her face. "Will you stay with me?" He whispered, staring into her cocoa colored eyes.

"As long as you want me." She promised.

As long as I want you?? He thought. "Hermione, I will always want you beside me." he swore as he pulled her into a warm, loving kiss.