The sky was thick with fog tonight, as the summer breeze blew lightly across the leaves, rustling in the darkness. Tonight was an eerily quiet night. There were no cries in the distance, no rumbles of rain, or voices to be heard. It was deathly silent and still – and for the first time in a long time, I welcomed it with immense joy.
I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the absence of sound for once and a small smile formed on my lips. After years of listening to screams and cries, the silence was a rare delight.
A quiet creek on the floor had broken my trance and I suddenly became alert of my surroundings, though my eyes remained closed. I took a deep breathe and let myself inhale the faint scent of spearmint that traveled through the air, and let out a small sign of disappointment. The silence tonight would not last long – that I was sure of.
I felt his warmth radiating from his body as he stood behind me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and slowly caressed my arms as he placed a small kiss at the base of my neck.
I opened my eyes and turned around to meet his blue-grey eyes. We stared at one another - neither spoke out loud. We never had a need to speak during moments like these, as we knew what the other was thinking. His arms slipped around my waist and he pulled me closed to him, as our eyes remained in contact, though I felt our gazes intensify as the proximity between our bodies was disappearing.
We didn't dare kiss now – no, we would do plenty of that underneath the black blanket of darkness.
My hand moved towards his face and I gently caressed his cheek and continued in a soft downward motion until I reached his chest. I paused for a moment, searching for his heartbeat. Faintly, but surely it was there, like a small beating drum.
His hand grasped onto mine firmly as he brought it up and placed his lips gently onto each finger. A small and humble smile crept onto my lips at his gesture, as he was never a romantic figure. Never in all my years of knowing each other had I ever seen him so vulnerable and meek. But my small moment of happiness and elation was replaced by a sad frown.
We had been through a lot these past years, Draco and I. The war would be reaching it's 5th year in 3 months time, and no one had expected it to last this long. When it started, there were confident convictions that victory would be attained within the 1st year.
But the victory never came.
The Order had proved to be a formidable enemy, and the war has continued to wage since. After four long years of death, corruption and destruction, I could finally see the tiredness and weary on Draco's face – and I could only but imagine what the war has done to my once youthful appearance.
He cupped my face in his hands and placed his lips passionately onto my own, removing any doubts and worries I had in my mind.
Tonight, there was no war, no Order, nor Death Eaters. Tonight, there would be no sadness or anger, but only passion and comfort.