I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this story so far. Sorry for the long wait; I've started working as a ghost writer alongside my normal office job, so time has been a little short lately.
Read and review :)
DPOV
I woke up to the sound of a sharp scream.
Granger's sharp scream.
I shot out of bed and sprinted into the kitchen where I found her, mouth open as she clutched a letter in her hand.
"Granger?"
She shook her head, the parchment slipping from her fingers, but she said nothing.
I took a few steps toward her, but she took a sharp step back.
"They knew. They knew that you were my soulmate. It's why they let me go."
I grabbed the letter from the ground and began to read:
Our Dearest Hermione,
We're so glad that you found Draco. We're all a bit surprised that it took so long, especially since you were living with him.
No matter, now that you and my nephew are bound, we can play again. Wouldn't you like that my dear Hermione? We had so much fun together. Your skin flushes beautifully when you're in pain, and I've missed it dearly.
We eagerly await your return to us.
The Lestranges
My blood was boiling.
"I'm going to fucking kill them." I snarled, incinerating the parchment in my hand.
"This is all my fault." she whispered, her eyes glassy as she backed into the wall and slid down it. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
She kept repeating it, her eyes unfocused and fuck if it didn't make my heart twist painfully in my chest.
I crossed the distance between us and knelt down in front of her, tilting her face so she was looking at me, "None of this is your fault. Do you hear me?"
She shook her head, a few tears spilling over her cheeks as she choked out, "If I wouldn't have let you come we wouldn't have...we wouldn't be..."
She broke off, her shoulders shaking with the effort of holding in her sobs and I felt like I was being torn apart. I'd never felt like this about anyone, and I'd be damned if anyone took her away from me.
"I would've followed you anyway." I said, and it was the truth, "I'm here by choice. I'm with you by choice."
"They're going to kill both of us." she sobbed, her tears falling freely now, "The things they did to me -" she broke off, her sobs overwhelming her.
I pulled her into my arms, one hand on her back, the other in her hair holding her to me.
"I will not let them hurt you. You're the smartest witch I know; we will figure this out."
She didn't say anything else, but her tears had stopped, reduced to small hiccups every now and again before she leaned back to look at me. Her eyes were flooded with so many emotions as she brought her hand up to my face, her fingertips lightly tracing my cheek before she pulled away entirely.
"We need to go. They obviously know where we are." she said, standing up.
"Why would they send a letter instead of just coming here?" I asked, following her lead to cast a spell to collect all the things we'd brought here.
"It's all a game to them. They enjoy the build up almost as much as the actual torture." she said, her voice flat. "I found stronger warding spells in one of those books...hopefully that'll help. At least for a while."
"Come on," I said, offering her my hand, "Let's go."
She nodded, taking my hand, her other resting on my chest as I apparated us away from the cottage.
HPOV
I should've known they'd find me.
I couldn't get rid of the pit in my stomach ever since I'd gotten that letter from Rodolphus. The fact that I'd put Malfoy in danger made me sick. I never should've involved him. I should've kept my mouth shut and none of this would be happening.
If anything happened to him...
Merlin, I couldn't stomach it.
But I needed to get a grip. The only way we weren't both going to end up dead was by stopping them, and to do that we needed to know what their plans were.
Knowing that it had something to do with the magic of our soul bond did narrow it down, though, which was at least a start.
When we'd gotten to the studio in Prague I'd warded the room with a spell from one of the books I'd read. I'd felt absolutely drained afterward and ended up passing out - which scared the shite out of Malfoy.
But that was the thing about dark magic, there was always a price. We were lucky that one was a small one.
Now, though, I was at least satisfied that the Lestrange brothers wouldn't be able to find us. At least not for a while.
I looked over at Malfoy, his nose buried in a book as his quill scribbled out notes a mile a minute.
It was hard to look at him and not get caught up. He really was beautiful.
His white-blonde hair hung over his forehead covering his sharp, silver eyes, though I could imagine the crease between his brows as he was concentrating. It was something he'd done since Hogwarts.
Merlin, that seemed like a lifetime ago now.
"If we assume that your muggle blood has something to do with the spell, that leaves us with three options." he said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Fuck," he muttered, shutting the book, "I need a bloody drink."
I watched as he rose from his spot on the small couch and moved into the kitchen. Though it was a ridiculous thought to be having now, I envied his grace. The way he moved was so fluid, each movement slipping into the next with a practiced agility that I could never even hope to have.
It brought me back to the one time I'd seen him fight, during the war. He'd moved with speed, yet each graceful twist of his body had moved into the next seamlessly. It was ethereal in a way.
He came over to the bed, sitting on the edge as he handed me a glass as well.
"The Malfoy vintage, I assume?" I asked, a small smile on my face.
He smirked, "I told you it'd come in handy."
He certainly wasn't wrong. All of this was incredibly overwhelming.
We sat in comfortable silence for a while, but I couldn't stop the nagging thought at the back of my mind. I'd had it ever since we'd gotten that letter a week ago back at the cottage.
"What if this isn't just about my blood, but yours, too?"
DPOV
"You're a Malfoy. That lineage is old and powerful, right?"
I nodded slowly, "Well yeah, but -"
"What if this has something to do with your family's blood purity...all that powerful ancestral magic mixing with my muggle magic?" she said, her toffee colored eyes holding mine as she continued, "Dark magic always has a price, so what if this is the price? Having to use muggle magic to get what they want...having to sacrifice one of their own?"
I had to admit, it didn't sound that far fetched...but why? And how would they have known Granger was my soulmate?
"We need to get books about my family." I said, unconsciously sliding my hand over hers, stroking the signature on her finger, "Maybe there's something in them that could explain some of this."
She bit her lip, her eyes falling to our hands as she said, "They've got to be watching the Malfoy Library...it's way too dangerous."
"Good thing that's not where we keep them." I said with a smirk, using my free hand to tilt her face up to look at me, "I swore to protect you, Granger, and I can't very well do that if I'm dead."
"I just...I can't lose you, Malfoy." she said softly, her free hand resting lightly on my cheek, "I need you to survive this."
"I will. We both will."
She nodded, and though I knew she wasn't completely convinced, I let her change the subject.
"So where do you keep those books?"
I couldn't keep the smirk off my face as I said, "One of the many vaults we have at Gringots."
Her eyes widened slightly with surprise, "Really?...That might actually be doable."
"We're going to have to Obliviate their memories of us, in case anyone comes looking."
"Or if someone already has." she added. "I'll wear a glamour."
I nodded, it was probably a good idea. Everyone had heard about Granger's disappearance, so her just showing up to Gringots with me certainly would've drawn attention.
Hopefully I'd be able to talk my way around the fact that I was also MIA.
HPOV
How Malfoy managed to get us in and out of Gringots without alerting, well, everyone, was quite impressive.
He'd managed to sweet talk his way into getting the key to the vault without the workers spilling his cover - saying that he was looking for me, but no one could know because it was top secret.
Funny how easily persuaded some people were.
So now we were back in Prague, a mountain of books higher than I stood tall piled near the bed.
"I can't believe that worked." I said, unable to keep the smile out of my voice as I flopped backwards onto the bed.
I heard Malfoy shrug out of his jacket before crawling over me, that devilishly handsome smirk on his face.
"Were you doubting my finesse, Granger?" he murmured, his lips lightly grazing mine as he spoke.
"I would never." I said with a breathless chuckle. Malfoy never ceased to make my heart pound in my chest when he was close - especially this close.
He nuzzled his face against my neck, pressing soft kisses there before murmuring, "You're beautiful, Granger."
"You think I'm beautiful?" I asked, unable to stop myself from voicing my surprise.
He leaned up onto his forearms so he could look down at me, a strange look in his eyes as he said, "For the brightest witch, you've not got much common sense."
I huffed, slightly annoyed, and tried to push him off, but he simply chuckled.
"I think you're stunning, Granger. You should know that by now."
I rolled my eyes, but stopped trying to shove him off me, "This isn't exactly a normal relationship."
"Doesn't make my feelings any less real." he countered, pressing a soft kiss to my lips before pulling back to look at me again.
"What are your feelings?" I asked softly. It's not that we hadn't kinda-sorta discussed it, but in truth, we really hadn't. It wasn't like there were any clear cut answers in our situation, but I couldn't stop myself from asking.
Because for me, being around him was calming. It was as though I could have a million thoughts running through my head, and as soon as he put his hand over mine, they seemed to still. He was the eye of the storm. He made me feel stronger. He was like this missing piece of a puzzle that I hadn't realized was missing until I'd found him - and now I couldn't imagine my life without him.
Which was so utterly ridiculous and strange and I knew that soul bonds were a special sort of magic - old magic - that really did mean a lot, but it didn't seem to make it any less strange that I was feeling all these things for a man who I didn't even really know that well.
Although it certainly seemed like my magic knew him very well.
He trailed his fingers over my cheek, a small smile on his face as he studied me.
"I'm sure I could show you better than I could tell you right now."
DPOV
I knew what she was asking me, and honestly I had a pretty good idea of how I felt about the brilliant witch under me, but now wasn't the time to voice any of those thoughts. It was far too early, and the situation we were in far too complicated to even begin to discuss and dissect these feelings.
But I wanted her, and I certainly wanted her to know that I found her stunning and brilliant, even if she was the most infuriating witch I'd ever met in my life.
It seemed that was part of her charm.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, tugging me down into a kiss. It was like every time we touched my magic was reaching out to hers, intertwining together, melding, entangling.
And fuck I'd never felt anything like it before in my life.
Rodolphus and Rabastan be damned. There was no way I was letting anyone take her away from me.
I used the hand not supporting my weight above her to slip beneath her shirt and roam up and down her side, lightly teasing the delicate skin.
She sighed against me, one of her hands sliding into my hair as she pulled me more firmly against her lips.
Without warning, she flipped our positions, a fiery smirk on her face as she tossed her shirt to the ground.
And though I loved dominating the little minx, the sight of her topless, not even a bra on, certainly gave me pause. She looked bloody fantastic.
I slid my hands up her stomach, cupping her breasts and giving them a firm squeeze before sliding them back down to her hips.
She wasted no time unbuttoning my shirt and pushing it from my shoulders, her lips pressing open-mouthed kisses to my neck and chest.
Before she could get too carried away - or before I let her get too carried away - I flipped our positions again, pinning her to the bed with my weight.
"My turn, Granger." I murmured, kissing and biting my way down her neck to her breasts.
I lightly flicked my tongue over the rosy buds, her soft moans spurring me on to suck and nip in earnest.
"Malfoy," she murmured softly, her hands tangling themselves into my hair as she slowly rocked her hips up against mine. "Please."
"Please, what, love?"
When she said nothing I took the opportunity to slide a hand under her skirt, teasing the soaked material of her panties.
"I don't think I heard you, Granger." I murmured, my mouth still toying with her breasts.
"Please fuck me." she gasped, her hips arching up as I slipped my fingers into her panties.
"Fuck you? But I'm just getting started."
With that I left her breasts, kissing a slow trail down her stomach. I paused to nip at her hips before tugging both her skirt and panties off, tossing them somewhere behind me.
HPOV
Malfoy was placing soft kisses to my inner thighs, biting every so often, and gods I just wanted him to touch me already. This was torture, and he knew it.
Enjoyed it, even, if his smirk was of any indication.
"I love seeing you like this." he murmured, his tongue finally sliding over my wet folds.
I couldn't help bucking my hips up toward his mouth. He was driving me absolutely insane with his teasing touches.
"Please don't stop." I begged, one of my hands tangling themselves into his hair as he began to lick me in earnest, his lips closing around my clit and flicking repeatedly.
He simply chuckled in response, never ceasing his ministrations as he pushed my thighs down onto the mattress when I tried to close them.
It was all so much - too much - but he simply continued, going so far as to slip two of his long, skilled fingers into my tight heat.
"I'm going to come, Malfoy." I gasped, my thighs beginning to shake.
"Do it." he encouraged, "Come all over my fingers, love."
And I did. His dirty words all but shoving me off the edge.
"You're fucking exquisite." he growled, crawling back up my body to crash his lips against mine.
My stomach clenched at his words, and in that moment all I wanted was him inside me, immediately.
It seemed he felt similarly, because before I knew it, he was stretching me, filling me so perfectly.
"Fuck, you feel amazing." he groaned, his face buried in my neck as he began a torturously slow place that did nothing to quell the fire burning in the pit of my stomach.
The feeling of having our magic dancing together, merging together, was stronger than any aphrodisiac or love potion in existence. Of that I was positively certain. Nothing had ever felt more right in my life.
As he began to pick up his pace I couldn't help but dig my nails into his back, leaving little crescent moons on his skin.
"Are you close, love?" he asked, pushing himself up a bit so he could look down at me.
I could only nod, the tension in my stomach so painfully close to snapping.
He captured my lips in another kiss while slipping his free hand between us to press against my clit -
And I was lost. Hurtling over the edge yet again, except this time he was falling with me.
Gods, this would never get old.