Extinguish
Disclaimer: If I owned any of the Potter-verse, I would never end it.
The fire reflected in her eyes, coming to life in the dark gloom that enveloped her like a lovingly sinister embrace. Her voice was raspy from years filled with a lack of passion, as her vocal chords searched for the perfect pitch with which to convey indignation, all at his teasing; his insolent, insulting, encumbering and endearing teasing. He hadn't changed much. He hadn't changed at all. The caged beast in him still reigned but this was a cage of his own choosing. He had built this cage, bar by bar, fueled by self-contempt.
His eyes danced in the firelight laughingly, using her discomfort to reap a moment of enjoyment, even if at the expense of his love. When his vengeful moments struck, he was beyond mercy, beyond empathy, beyond emotion. But he never caused pain, that was the difference. That was the change nobody saw, not even her. Without another word, he silenced her, drinking her life in and willing himself to absorb her innocence; that pristine naiveté she managed to possess even after the war, even after losing so much and gaining nearly nothing.
She lost herself in his desperation, knowing in her core that nothing could ever equal his passion...nothing and nobody. Not her husband, not her family, not even her. She had birthed children and even they had not craved her, needed her this hungrily. Sometimes his possessiveness frightened her. She wasn't afraid for her safety, she was of not being what he needed from life. She ran her hands through his hair and down his cheeks; removing the glasses he wore, so seldom, from his face, letting nothing mar his beauty.
As usual, he stopped himself from going too far. A few stolen kisses is all he would take from her, all that he would let her give. He knew that all he would have to do is ask and she would give. But he would not do that to his former ally. For he was not The Boy Who Lived, he was merely himself, merely Draco. How could he rip her away from her husband, even though she would come willingly? He couldn't...he wouldn't...take his Ginny, not from the man who freed him; the man who freed them all.
