Warning: bit of lemon zest here. Not super graphic but just so you're aware! See you at the bottom with A/N!
"So how was the party?"
Hermione looks up from the book in her lap. Tonight she is settled into an over-stuffed sofa in a cozy room. Bathed in the low light from the fireplace in front of her, she looks warm and comfortable in this dream when he arrives.
She snorts inelegantly at his question. "You should know. You were there after all."
Draco flops down beside her and drops a kiss on her head. "Not really. I mean I crashed for a moment but didn't really have a chance to enjoy myself. You looked gorgeous of course."
She blushes and looks back down at her book. "I'm sure you didn't even notice me. Occupied as you were with Filch and Snape."
"I always have time to notice you. Sometimes it feels like you're all I see," he whispers against her neck, nuzzling her and letting a hand creep up her leg.
"I bet you say that to all the witches," she teases.
"Hardly." The hand reaches beneath her skirt and tugs at the side of her knickers. "I'm completely besotted with you, you know."
Hermione lifts her bum, allowing him to pull the lacey garment down and then slides her arms around his neck. "You're eager this evening."
"I spent the entire day and night yesterday imagining that cretin McLaggen trying to get his hands on your silky skin."
"As if I'd let him." She pulls his head away from her neck and looks at his face. "I'm rather selective you see, about which boy is worth my time."
"Not so selective. You let Potter and Weasley hang around." He smirks and she swats at him but smiles in response.
"So what are your holiday plans?" He settles back and pulls her against him, happy to just be in her presence.
"Hmmm? Oh! I suppose I'm staying here. My parents often holiday in Paris. I could join them of course but I get the idea they wanted to spend some time alone. I'll just get a head start on next semester. Are you going home?"
He shifts a little uncomfortably. "No. You might remember my mother suggested I not return to the manor." He lets his usual confident smirk take over his face and gives her a once over. "So I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you then, Granger."
She surprises him by climbing into his lap, straddling him and running her hands through his hair. "I honestly can't think of a better way to spend the holidays."
She pulls her jumper over her head and unbuttons her white blouse, leaving her in nothing but a blue satin bra and her wool skirt spread over his lap. The Room version of this witch is getting bolder all the time, more often the initiator of their little trysts.
"You are the sexiest witch I've ever known." She blushes again as she often does at his attentions and he pulls her down to join their lips. He feels her press down against him and groans into her mouth.
"Can we try something new?"
Well that perks him right up. Draco looks at her in question and pushes a curl behind her ear. "What did you have in mind?"
"I thought maybe, like this. With me on top? Let me set the pace."
"Oh I like that idea very much." He licks his lips and settles back deeper into the sofa. "You're in charge, Granger. I'm not really surprised you like it that way, bossy witch that you are."
She scowls a little good naturedly but shifts to the side, off of his lap.
"Those will have to come off of course," she indicates his trousers.
He doesn't hesitate to lift himself and shimmy out of every stitch of clothing. He pulls her atop him once he is bare and feels her, ready and pressed against him. He'd nearly forgotten she was undressed beneath the skirt.
He shifts to impale her and she lifts above him. "Nuh uh… I'm in charge remember."
He'd forgotten that too. "Yes, Mistress."
She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. "No, don't do that. I'm not going to spank you or anything."
They both laugh and he pulls her down into another kiss. "Whatever you want. Anything. Anytime. You know I'm yours."
She reaches between them to guide him, to join them together. "Fuck, Hermione…"
She opens her eyes and locks onto him as she starts to move slowly. He is helpless under her gaze, unable to look away even if he wanted. The intensity is suffocating and he matches his breathing with her pace. First they are slow and methodic with Draco meeting her almost lazily as he studies the depths of her eyes. He watches her chest rise, her breath hitch, and then she is increasing her pace and her mouth falls open. He bites down on his lip, making an effort not to do what he really wants and flip her over on her back so he race towards his completion. Instead he lets her build them slowly, never looking away and keeping her pace excruciatingly careful.
He's sweating by the end, most with the exertion of keeping control. She has dropped close, her nose brushing his and her mouth nipping at his own. Her moans have slowly morphed into pants and then delicious screams and then she is tumbling over her own precipice and he follows her like a man possessed.
In the afters, he spoons her on the sofa and traces lazy paths down her arm.
"Is it strange, do you think, how amazing we are together when it's not real?"
Draco takes a breath to answer but ends up with a shrug and a casual, "Probably."
She snickers. "That's it? 'Probably'?"
Sighing, he rolls onto his back. She follows, rolling herself over and draping herself across his chest. "Probably. But honestly I don't think it's worth worrying about. So this is a dream? Well, it's delightful isn't it? Why stress about it beyond that?"
"I'm not stressing. Just curious. You know me: Hermione Granger, know-it-all extraordinaire. I can't help myself."
She giggles and the mood of the room is such that he should follow her in mirth but suddenly it doesn't seem funny at all. He tries not to dwell on the truth of this little joy that the Room provides.
She responds to his quiet with a hand on his cheek. "Hey. I'm sorry. I just… you know in the beginning I thought maybe there was something you needed from me. Am I just wasting time? Is there something else I should be doing?"
He glances at her and kisses her forehead. "I don't know what you could do truthfully." He thinks it goes without saying that this, here and now, is not for nothing. The days that stretch him to breaking point always end in nights like this and somehow he makes it through the next day. And really, if the real Hermione did try to help him, would he even accept? He can't even admit to this figment the extent of his task. How could he tell a flesh and blood witch what he can hardly face in his own head?
"Now, what should we do for Christmas? Perhaps I can manipulate my dreams that night?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Christmas is spent skating on a frozen lake. Some muggle sport upon which his dream lover insists. They spend the night turning circles and falling on ice; laughing and nurses bruised limbs. At the end, they tumble onto a rug in front of a fire in a small cabin and Draco makes love to her as many times as the span of his dream allows. He feels like he's been here, in this dream, for days and says a prayer to every higher power of possibility in sincere thanks for this respite.
Hermione is drifting to sleep within the dream and he pulls her closer, breathing in her scent and basking in the warmth of her skin. He whispers so soft she probably wouldn't hear even if awake. "Merlin save me but I think I love you."
A/N
Apologies for the shorter length. This was a bit of a transition chapter. For those who are looking forward to them speaking in real life again, we get a bit of that in Chapter 11! I didn't edit this as much as usual. Just a quick once through so I'm sorry in advance for any typos or mistakes but I felt bad not posting yesterday. There are over 100 of you following now! Big number for me so thank you for reading! Much love as always to those that fave and follow and everyone who reviews, including anons to which I can't send my thanks in a PM. Looking forward to your thoughts on Draco's feels!