Friday 18th December
Draco slept well and deeply until he heard the bang of a door somewhere along the corridor which roused him from his sleep. He wasted no time in making his way to the kitchen for coffee and this is where he found himself. Stood in the doorway, watching her as she spooned a careful half a sugar into her tea then grabbed for the milk in the fridge. He didn't realise that he would feel like this.
After last night, well he didn't know what he expected. Not this. This intense feeling in the bottom of his stomach. A sort of lurch as he watched her. Her hair was pulled into a messy knot in the middle of her head a few stray hairs falling down carelessly and her skin wrinkled beneath her fingers as she rub the back of her neck.
He felt like a deer caught in the headlights when she finished making her drink and turned to find him watching her. She jumped slightly, spilling some of her tea over the egde of her mug. She placed her other hand on her chest and his stomach lurched again, remembering his hands pressed to her skin last night.
"You scared me" she whispered across the room. His feet wouldn't move. She met his gaze and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear. He saw the slow creep of a blush up her neck and to her cheeks. She looked away from him, to the floor and to the door and to the space behind him until she places her mug on the table and turned to the cupboard.
"Do you want some breakfast?" She called over her shoulder as she reached for the butter in the fridge. Draco's stomach lurched again and he couldn't stop the dirty thoughts running through his mind. He took a quiet breath to steady himself before he joined her, flicking on the kettle and reaching for a mug and the coffee.
He brushed his arm against hers purposefully and she glanced at the spot where his arm touched her but still doesn't look at him. He reached over her to grab the sugar and she stills until his hand is back across his side of the counter. She pulls a butter knife from the draw and slowly opens the bread and pulls out a slice. She reaches over him to put in the toaster and she takes her time to press the button. Her hair is a breath away and he leans in slightly until it tickles his face. She smells of sleep and her room and vanilla and it makes his stomach lurch again.
She looked at him then, when he was so close. She turned her head, still leaning slightly over him and he finally sees her deep brown eyes and the way her lips open so lightly and he was captivated. As he was last night. As he was the night before. As he has been for what could possible be weeks but is only realising now just how much and he can feel himself trembling. He's terrified. Even after last night, after he had touched her and kissed her he is more terrified of this because this is somehow more intimate than anything that has ever happened.
This is acknowledgement. This is a moment of waking. A realisation that he wanted to kiss her not only in the quiet, sparse moments that they have on their own but at any moment he could.
So he kissed her. A gentle press of his lips to hers. She droped the knife she was holding and it clatters to the floor but they both ignore it. He turns when she turns and he feels her arms wrap around his shoulders and he grips her waist and pulls her into him. He is unable to stop himself and he backs her into the counter, his hands roaming over her nightwear and she is the same. Pushing her hands under his t-shirt and dragging her fingers over his stomach.
He grips her bottom and in a second he lifts her to sit on the edge of the counter. Hermione wraps her legs around his waist, pulling him into her. She is kissing him so fervently, massaging her tongue against his. He is shaking. He is shaking everywhere and her hands are stroking down his back and he digs his fingers into her thighs and she is moaning into his lips and it vibrates somewhere deep within him.
She pulled back a fraction but he doesn't want to stop kissing her, so he moves his hands to frame her face and kisses her again distracting her from her thoughts. It works, for a few more precious seconds she kisses him until she is pressing her hand forcefully to his chest making his stomach lurch - and not in a good way this time. He opens his eyes and watches the her way her nose is turned to the air and wrinkling because of all the sniffing she is doing.
He smells it too then, a feint burning. She turns to him, confusion written all over her face and then, flattens her hands to his chest and pushes him back forcefully into the kitchen table. Draco grabs onto a chair for support trying to understand what is going on as he stands slowly.
"Shit!" Hermione yells loudly as she presses the cancel button on the side of the toaster. Two black pieces of toast pop out of the top and she plucks at them until the are lying, black and burnt on the kitchen counter.
"It's just fucking toast." Draco says into the space between them, trying to catch his breath. He places his hand on the side of his chest, where he fell against one of the kitchen chairs. He can already feel it bruising.
"You distracted me." She bites back quickly.
"Did you have to push me so fucking hard?"
"I didn't want the house to burn down!"
"It's burnt toast! Not a fucking kitchen fire!"
"It could have been worse!"
"Yeah like a bruised chest because you're an idiot!"
"Whoa!" Harry burst into the kitchen and places himself between Draco and Hermione. "What's going on?" Hero-boy here to save the day. He places a hand on Draco's shoulder which he is quick to smack away. Harry turns to look at Hermione and Draco can see the scowl on her face. He smirks at her because he know it will piss her off even more and he see's her eyes widen in annoyance.
"Want to tell me what's going on?"
"Nothing." Hermione bites quickly but then he see's the change in her face when she looks at him. She softens. The way she did last night with him and he remembers everything that happened in a wave and he is no longer angry at her. He is angry at the toast. For burning and interrupting them. "It was just a silly argument." Her eyes flick to Draco and he straightens up. Harry turns to him too.
"Yeah. It's fine."
"Do I need to move one of you to Andromeda's?"
"No." Hermione said quickly and Draco smirked at her over Harry's shoulder. "We're adult enough to deal with this situation."
Draco nodded when Harry looked at him. He didn't want to leave and he certainly didn't want her to leave. Not now. Not when they had just... had just found whatever this was.
"Okay." Harry said ruffling his hair. "I need to leave. Can I trust that you two will not kill each other while I'm gone?"
"Promise." Draco said, dragging his finger in a cross over his heart as Hermione nodded and looked to her feet.
They stayed where they were until the heard the kitchen door close behind Harry and a few seconds later, the pop of Apparition signalling he had left. His heart was thumping, banging. Was it the argument or the anticipation he could feel rushing inside of him? He could see the heavy rise and fall of her chest too.
"I'm going for a shower." He said quietly before he turned to leave. When he reached the door he turned back to look at her. She was watching him carefully from across the room. "I'll leave the door open for you." He said with another smirk as he left the room and made his way to the bathroom.
She had stayed there in the quiet kitchen for a full two minutes as she listened to the close of the bathroom door behind him and the rush of water running hitting the basin before she had made up her mind. She didn't know what she was doing. She just knew that she wanted to go in there, to see what it would be like. With every quiet step she took going up the stairs her heart pumping faster and faster. Just as she reached the top to take the last step to the door, Neville clambered down from the third floor.
"Is someone in there?" He called along the corridor.
Her heart stopped beating. She had been seconds away from Neville watching her walk into the bathroom and the blood rushed to her head. She watched him pound on the door. "Who's in there?"
"I am." Draco's muffled voice called back.
Neville turned the handle and gripped the door happy that it had been left unlocked. "Sorry mate! I'm desperate!" Neville called to Draco as he burst into the bathroom and started relieving himself with the door wide open for Hermione to see.
She burst out laughing just as Theo walked out of his room. "Even heard of boundaries, Neville?"
Draco's head swung around the shower curtain which made her laugh even more. All thoughts of them being caught had been replaced. He yelled at Neville as he finished and begun washing his hands. "Longbottom get the fuck out, now!"
"I'm going, I'm going!" He rushed as he left the bathroom but failed to close the door behind him as he began to make his way downstairs. Draco turned to Hermione and Theo who had tears in their eyes they were laughing so much.
"Unless you want to stare at my naked form for the next twenty minutes I suggest one of you shuts the door."
"I don't know." Theo shook his head. "It's an interesting proposition." He turned to Hermione next to him and she was silently laughing into her hand and Theo smiled even wider.
"Hermione?" She didn't quite know exactly what Draco was propositioning when he said her name like that but she liked it. It wasn't a question, it was more of a statement. A plea of some sorts. Was it for her to shut the door, or to join him? She thought about it, joining him but with Theo next to her that wasn't an option.
She smiled at Theo then walked towards the bathroom door without a word. Draco's eyed went wide looking at her moving closer and closer to the door. She stepped into the room and smiled up at him, his wet hair falling into his eyes and she longed to shut the door behind her and join him. To feel his wet, warm skin beneath he fingers and finish what they has started in the kitchen. She took a deep breath before she took the door handle between her fingers and pulled the door shut behind her with a smirk.
She had waited until she had heard the click of his bedroom door before she made her own way into the bathroom to shower. She rushed it, knowing exactly where she would be going after she had finished. She dried her hair with her wand, letting it hang in soft loose curls around her shoulders. She then left her room and walked across the hallway, rapping her knuckles against his door.
He opened it a few seconds later dressed in a grey jumper and dark jeans. The grey seemed to illuminate his eyes and they shone from the winter sun making its way into his room from the large window on the back wall.
"I wanted to talk about the house."
"Sure." He stepped back and allowed her entry to his bedroom. It felt a rather poingniant moment, stepping over the threshold although in all honesty there was nothing much in there. The walls were a basic magnolia and his bedsheets were a pale blue that matched the curtains. She walked over to the window and looked down at the garden.
Theo was down there, standing with his bare feet on the frosted grass with a cup of something in his hand and taking in the sun. Something that was rare for this time of year. Despite the sun it was still December. He only had jeans and a shirt on. He must have been freezing.
"He does that a lot." Draco said from her side. He was watching him too.
"Isn't he cold?"
"Probably, but he likes to feel it." He turned to her and his eyes roamed her face in a sad sort of way before he passed her and went to sit on his bed.
It hit her like a tonne of bricks. Theo had died. He had stopped breathing. He may have never ever had the chance to do that again. To stand in the sun and feel the rays touch his skin, to feel the frost bite at his toes or to feel the chill of the wind ruffle his hair.
She supposed that was why he was out there. To experience it when he could. Because in this War you never knew when you're time would be up. It could happen now. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week.
Hermione had two such instances where she had been close to the end. One before she got put into White Rabbit safe house and the incident which saw her move to this safe house. To Blackgate.
Then it was all Dean. He couldn't hear the wind, he couldn't feel the sun or touch... That's why she was here. To fight for what Dean could have had. To fight for what Theo has and what his future could be. What all their futures could be.
"Granger." Draco called from his bed, his eyes watching her face closely as she finally tore her eyes away from Theo. She blinked away the fading memory of Dean and passed Draco a piece of paper she had been working on since she woke up in the morning.
"I think it's the best option. Go at night with the cloak. If we can get inside then that would be a bonus."
She didn't want to risk anything. Her life or his but as they were the only ones that knew about the house it was the only option. Rather this than get anyone else involved and have the Ashes find out about their plan.
"Okay." Draco nodded after some time of scanning her proposal. "When?"
"Tonight."
Saturday 19th December
The evening came quickly much to Draco's disappointment. Not that he wasn't looking forward to walking into what could potentially be a Death Eater trap. Although he could think of worse things do be doing.
He had accompanied Potter to Andromeda's at the request of Kingsley and had been tasked with getting Theo's agreement with something that he could only think would inevitably end in disaster. They wanted him to talk to his Father. Draco had no idea that they had captured Theo's Father a month ago. Theo it seems was also ignorant of this information and Draco would rather not be the one to tell Theo this, or try to convince him to see his Father.
But this would have to be pushed to the back of his mind, because at that moment he was crouched under Potter's invisibility cloak with Granger to his side. They had left the safety of the house at around one in the morning after Theo and Neville had gone to bed. Potter was awake and waiting for them both ( after multiple protests against Hermione's decision) and with instructions of what to do in case of an emergency. They Apparated about half a mile away and walked to this spot; the spot where they had Disapparated from only a few days ago. Granger had told him to wait, so they were waiting. He could hear her slow breaths and the shift of the cloak as her head turned, scanning the area for any movement. They had come at the best time. It was quiet, and early in the morning. The best possible chance to avoid detection however now they were here, in the dead of night, Draco was staring to regret agreeing to this.
"Let's go" She whispered quietly next to him. She grabbed onto his arm and they stood slowly together. They both checked the trees once more before they took slow steps through the brush following the wall to the back of the property. The wall rounded to their right so they turned, following it until they reached an arched opening. He grabbed her arm to stop her before she walked through.
"Wards." He whispered as quietly as he could, feeling a feint pulse of the protective enchantments begin to throb in his chest. Luckily they had planned for this. They crouched once again, in front of the archway and as Draco scanned their surroundings, Hermione began checking the wards. "Okay." She whispered after a few tense minutes, in a breathy sigh. She stood slowly and he knew breaking the wards must have taken it out of her because her breaths were heavy and she leaned on him for support. He waited patiently until she was ready, until she nodded her head but he stopped her once more.
"Stick close and don't do anything stupid." He whispered in her ear. She pulled back slowly. He could make out her eyes, glistening back at him and she stroked her finger across his lips before she kissed him. It was only for a second but he felt her stand a little straighter. That was another thing he had to move to the back of his mind. Her lips and how much he would rather take her home and continue kissing her than being here.
She moved first, stepping through the archway and Draco followed right along next to her. He held his breath as he walked though however he should have trusted her. He didn't feel any kind of magic as they made their way into the back garden of the house which meant she had successfully broken through the wards.
They walked slowly down the pathway that lead to the house and with a silent 'Alohamora' the lock clicked and they opened the door. They found themselves in a dark wooden clad hallway, luckily carpeted to hide their footsteps, with three doors dotted along the hallway and a staircase to their left. Hermione drew the cloak over their heads and wrapped it up into her jacket pocket. Draco nodded towards the first door to their right and stepped past her backing himself into the wall to its side and motioned for her to do the same on the other side.
He could see her face. She was scared and he was sure she was looking at the same look on his face. He kept eye contact with her and took a few deep breaths, wishing he were anywhere but here. Wishing he could take her away, stow her away somewhere safe, lock away the key until all of this was over but she would never forgive him. She needed this as much as he did. She needed to see this through until the end, to be a part of this until it was over and it felt like he needed the same. When he could feel his nerves subside, he mouthed one, two and on the count of three he opened the door and stepped inside. He scanned the room quickly with his wand outstretched.
When he was satisfied it was empty he turned to see Hermione doing the same until he nodded at her and she lowered her wand. The room was full of parchment scattered all over a large table in the centre of the room. She grabbed the papers, checking the open doorway behind her every so often and sifted them into a small bag she had concealed inside her jacket. When she was happy she nodded to him and they stepped together out of the room and along the hallway to the next door.
As before he backed himself to one side of the door and Hermione on the other. This time she opened the door and stepped inside with him close behind her. It was empty. A small tiled kitchen with a few plates piled up in the sink which meant someone either was here, or still was here. She turned and pointed to the sink and he nodded and placed his finger to his mouth then nodded to the hallway for her to follow.
As they stepped towards the last door along the hallway, Draco was sure that he heard something. It sounded faintly like someone turning over in bed. It could have been nothing. The darkness can play tricks on the mind and Draco fought down that sickly feeling that had been building in his stomach ever since he entered this house.
Once again, the same routine found them backing into the wall beside the door. After a few more deep breaths he opened the door, wand outstretched in front of him and his eyes immediately fell to a form below the window.
"Petrificus Totalus." He whispered and held out his arm to stop Hermione getting any closer. Her eyes were wide and her mouth parted. She placed her hand on his arm and lowered it so she could pass by him. He kept his wand trained on the dark form below the window whilst she crept over to where the form was lying. He used a quick 'Lumos' charm to illuminate the room and he immediately stopped in his tracks.
From what he could see it was a young man, probably a few years older than Draco. His hands were bound together by a rope that was tied up to a radiator. His wrists were red raw, most probably from trying to free himself and he looked like he had been beaten up, badly.
"We need to get him out of here." Hermione whispered back at him as she used her wand to slice through the rope keeping him tied up. Draco stepped toward her and grabbed her wrist before she could reverse his spell.
"We don't know who he is."
"Even if he's on their side, they did this to him. He could help us."
He didn't like the idea. They came here to search the house for clue's, for the stone, not to play saviour for someone who may have got themselves in with the wrong crowd. But she was right. If he was on their side before, it looks like he wasn't now.
"Quickly." He nodded to her and checked the empty hall behind him.
"We're going to get you out of here," he heard her whisper to the man, "but you need to keep quiet okay?" She waited a few seconds before she reversed his spell.
"Thank you." The man whispered back to her in an accent he couldn't yet place as she helped him to his feet.
"They're going to know we were here." Draco whispered to her across the room.
"I can replace the wards. We need to get him to the archway." She said quietly back to him. The man was struggling next to her, making noisy footsteps as they made their way back into the dark hallway. Draco ushered them out of the room as he listened for any movements above them as they stepped closer to the exit.
Just as they reached the front door, he heard a dull thud behind him and he immediately spun round. He could see a terrified look on Hermione's face. The man they had been helping had fallen to his knees. Draco held up his hand to stop her from helping him back up, waiting to see if any noise came from upstairs.
It felt hours that they stood there in the silence, waiting. Waiting for a bang of a door, waiting for a scream of a spell and for a green flash of light be seen. However nothing came and he had never been more relieved in his life. Draco nodded and helped Hermione lift the man back to his feet. "I'm sorry." The man whispered.
"It's okay." Hermione replied with a grimace as she tried and failed to help him. They needed to get out of here and fast. Draco ushered for Hermione to walk on first, then hooked the mans arm around his neck, hoisting him and taking most of his weight.
In a few small steps they were out of the house. As they made their way slowly back along the path Draco could see Hermione a few steps in front of them, checking all around for anything out of place and his heart pounded in his chest and his ears as they finally passed through the archway a few seconds later.
He watched as she murmured the incantations, replacing whatever wards she had taken down when they arrived. After a few tense and silent moments, she breathed a heavy sigh and turned back to them. She nodded her head, reaching out to grasp onto Draco's arm and seconds later, they arrived back at Blackgate.
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! Can you guess who the man might be? - Think I made it quite obvious...
Please leave a review and let me know if you like the way this is going!
Going to shamelessly plug my new story Journals. It's a multi-pairing story (Eventual Dramione). A bit different but please go check it out and leave me a review if you like it. It would mean so much to me as I really want to keep writing it but haven't had much feedback as of yet.
Much love, Elle x