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Author's Note:
A majority of this chapter is sexy and therefore had to be cut for FFN guidelines and is posed in its entirety on ArchiveofOurOwn.
I strongly urge you to head to AO3 to read the rest of this chapter if you like your fics dirty and delicious. lol.
You can search my username there: SyrenGrey Or you can search this story: omnia vincit amor
Link: Archiveofourown dot org forwardslash works forwardslash 13094955 forwardslash chapters forwardslash 29958723
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XXIX: Knight of Cups
"D'you smell that?"
Hermione Granger zoomed down the wide pathways of the Greenhouse, moving with determination toward a stocky tree that barely reached her eyebrows. The branches grew perpendicular to its trunk, like outstretched arms covered in thick luscious green leaves, adorned with the juiciest purple-brown fruit Draco had ever seen. It was perfectly round and reminded him of a massive malt ball. As he took a step forward, the scent was undeniable: rich, indulgent, and overwhelmingly saccharine.
"Yum. I've never smelled anything like this! Oh, if Helga Hufflepuff were here I'd kiss her," Hermione shared wildly.
Draco trailed behind, an amused smile playing on his lips at the thought. He watched the happy girl bouncing on her tiptoes to reach for a particularly large fruit from the back. She pulled it with ease as if it'd been patiently waiting to be plucked from its fat branches. The skin of the fruit was slightly shiny and thin, puckering under the pressure of her thumb. It was perfectly ripe.
They had spent nearly an hour wandering up and down the bright building. Row after row they discovered trees, bushes, and flowerbeds full of unusual plants. Though he recognized some from his home, others from herbology class, and many fruits and vegetables he had eaten before — even the most familiar-looking plants had a different appearance to them. A simple brown seed like the Ononcula, which Draco used in his youth as a remedy for stomach aches, was glistening and blue herd. It had been enchanted and mutated, resulting in additional unknown properties.
Hermione had explained the significance of the location, stating that Helga Hufflepuff had an affinity for food-related charms and was exceptional at gardening. In her later years, she discovered the curious art of mystical plant mutations and would experiment with various herbs, seeds, and plants to create what had never been crafted before. After a child fell ill with an incurable coughing sickness, she was forced to discover a natural cure in private — and the greenhouse, Hermione reasoned, was likely where she'd do it.
Draco didn't care about any of that. As they passed species after species of non-sentient, boring plants, his eyes roamed the tenacious vines that snaked their way up to the soaring ceiling. He contemplated which strand of vine he could cut and use to bind the delicate little wrists of Hermione Granger. His mind wandered further as he considered which fruit nectar he would like to spill into her open mouth and watch as the juices coat her pretty tongue.
Sure, the history was interesting, and the different edible foods they had encountered increased his blood sugar so much that he shook with energy, but his focus was easily swayed from the vegetation to Hermione's sheer unadulterated joy at discovering something new.
Each time she would rush to a new plant, whether something benign or potentially hazardous like Spitting Saponarias, her eyes would grow wide and she would gasp and bounce with excitement. He had seldom seen this side of her, save for when he would tease her for her glee over a particularly challenging lesson in Potions or a perfect score she'd gotten on a boring History of Magic essay.
He was fine walking several paces behind, enjoying the way her eyes would sparkle in the sunlight and how her body would bounce with each step.
"Er — " he recoiled slightly as Hermione held the fruit to his face. Upon closer inspection, the mysterious fruit filled Draco's nostrils with the scent of plum, toffee, and aged port-wine.
"Taste it," Hermione urged.
"What — no, I don't know what that is!" Draco responded, pushing her hand back toward her. "It could do anything — Granger!"
Before he could finish his argument, Hermione took a large bite out of the fruit. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head in response to the pleasure occurring in her mouth.
"O ma gaw," she said as her tongue coated in the sticky sweet fruit. "So good."
"Are you mad?" His hand instinctively slapped the fruit out of her hand, causing it to fall to the floor with a loud wet splat. "What if it's got magical properties?"
Hermione nodded, "It does."
Draco's eyes grew wide as he raked his fingers through his hair, an infinite number of potentially unsavoury symptoms running through his head.
"I think," Hermione continued after a large swallow, "it's a hybrid plant that she made with, hmm, feels like the Merry-o-Berry-o plant and —"
She smacked her lips together, trying to get oxygen in her mouth to help differentiate the flavour notes.
"Perhaps some Perk-Me-Up White Pepper — and — ooh, that burns! Yup, that's alcohol."
Hermione reached to pluck several more pieces of ripened fruit which she tucked into her book bag for later.
"You think you need some more perk, ey?" he quirked a brow at her, and she grinned with a small hop in her step.
The sight of her smile caused a rush of warmth to fill his insides. As if sensing that he was too happy at that moment, his mind flashed to their experience near the walnut tree, before the Dementor's unwanted visit.
The burn of his mark had summoned him to Surrey, a fact Draco had no way to reconcile as he knew nothing of note in Surrey. He could not even theorize what Voldemort could want from him there — with the exception of his head, no doubt. It was fortunate, then, that the burning sensation ceased as they passed the threshold of the Greenhouse.
"Wait, Granger," Draco said, suddenly distracted by his train of worrisome thoughts as he paused before a lush tree. It was adorned with bright yellowish-green leaves and large bright crimson fruit with a tough, textured rind and a crown drooping down toward the earth.
"These are my favourite," he said, reaching to pull a large circular fruit off a branch so thin it was a wonder it could bear the fruit at all. As he plucked the globe from the branch, the sound of a soft sigh escaped near them.
Draco glanced at Hermione with a quirked brow.
"Don't look at me," she said.
They were met with another, heavier, sigh of contentment as his forearm flexed with a swift pull, severing another fruit from its branch. It didn't sound bad. In fact, Draco didn't mind the sound at all.
"What is that?" Hermione asked curiously, taking one of the crimson spheres from Draco's hand.
"It's pomegranate," he responded. "You've never had it?"
Hermione's curiosity won the war in her head when she finally obliged it by reaching for yet another heavy pomegranate. She delicately tugged it until it plopped off the branch and fell into her hand. This time, the sound of a clearly defined moan came out.
"Oh my," she whispered.
Draco fought the urge to laugh at the bright red blush that had risen in her cheeks before he slammed the large fruit onto the stone parapet, splitting it open to reveal its glistening vivid core. He popped a few of the red seeds into his mouth. With a crunch, he released the tart sour flavour, intermingled with a healthy dose of sweetness that enticed him to go for more.
The hard seed that put-off most people was likely his favourite part, serving as a regular reminder that within all sweet things remained imperfections.
"Oh — wait, Draco, that's not pomegranate."
"Of course it is —"
"Look," Hermione pointed to a small sign on the bottom of the tree that neatly read:
Eropiea
for lovers
"Oh."
The few bites he had taken felt heavy in his stomach as he waited for the mysterious effects of the fruit to take over him.
For Lovers?
It was just him that had eaten it. What would that entail?
With a playful glint in her eyes, Hermione held her bookbag open and, before Draco had a chance to decide whether he wanted to toss the fruit or keep them, she stole them from his grasp and hid them safely away in the labyrinth that was her bag. The action took him by surprise as his look of concerned contemplation quickly morphed to an impish grin.
"You've gotten quite naughty, Granger," he observed and reached to press a quick peck to the side of her head, making a mental note that — should the effects of the pomegranate be benign, he would have to feed some to her as well.
They mindlessly continued their trail down the rows of greenery, allowing Hermione to collect a few more notable items for her potions stash, including Wiggentree Bark, Giggling Greygrass, and Moly. They encountered a section of aquatic plants that seemed to be suspended in an upward flow of water and she managed to collect two handfuls of Gillyweed before they determined it was time for a much-needed break in the gardens.
Draco could not have agreed more, his body still desperately recovering from days spent in bed, and the experience of a Dementor nearly sucking his soul out did nothing to help his depleted stores of energy.
Following the signs labelled "Gardens", the pair found themselves in front of two glass double-doors with yet another golden placard marking its entrance:
Mind the Fairies
Darkness dare not dwell
"Fairies?" He eyed her suspiciously. Hermione gave him a shrug, peering outside from the safety of the glass door.
"Are you scared of fairies, Malfoy?" she asked him with a mischievous smile. His drowsiness mixed with the use of his surname caused an instinctive glare to form on his features before he realized she was teasing.
"Ha. Ha. Let's go," he pushed the doors and they stepped outside.
Their vision swirled with a cacophony of colours, both so vivid that he could make out each and every flower amidst the vast overgrowth, and pale enough that everything seemed to blend with a sense of beauty and wonder that made him want to lie and count the petals. With the slightest brush of Draco's fingers against the canopy, the bright sun's rays pierced through at any opportunity to share its warmth and life. She lingered close behind as he pulled on the vines of flowers to reveal — a garden.
Hermione's hand flew to her chest where she seemed to cradle a breath that struggled to release, caught — stunned — from the impossible beauty. Akin to the several summers spent at Versailles or the Chateau de Chenonceau, the green, grassy ground were pristinely kept with vivid shrubs of perfect order and size to adorn the circular form. They seemed to draw the eyes from where the pair stood out toward an open circular space occupied only by a single marble statue of two Greco-Roman figures.
As they roamed toward the centre of the garden, the air filled with the rich odour of pink-blossoming roses and sharp freshness of dew-covered grass, which, with the quick tilt of Hermione's head and the warm breeze that danced across her face and through her hair, the honeyed perfume of vanilla and violets serenaded in a delectable fusion that caused Draco to pause and take a breath.
The beauty was almost painful to bear, illuminating his own every external and internal imperfection in his eyes — and yet before him stood an angel in her heavenly dwelling of pure serenity. If only he could reach out - and touch her — to capture the perfection for a mere moment and claim it as his.
It was his.
As if sensing the weight of his eyes on her, Hermione glanced back toward him, a simple smile of happiness splayed on her perfectly pink, plump lips.
This place was dangerous.
He would never leave.
With her there, he would never leave this place.
She reached her hand toward his, his fingers hardly kissing hers before they gently slipped against her skin. The friction seemed to cause sparks to radiate from his fingertips toward his knuckles and up his arm. It was immediate and intense as it coursed through his muscles and seeped into his veins.
"Granger, I've got to sit," he murmured, the effects of the pomegranate catching up with him.
She gave him a look of concern before they approached the statue where a wide white marble bench curved facing both the alluring nude figures and the rest of the gardens. He slipped onto the cold stone, releasing a gentle sigh as the cold seemed to dull some of the heat that had stirred in the rest of his body.
"Are you alright?"
He nodded gently, his eyes lightly following the gentle sprite of a girl as she seemed to bounce on the tip of her toes, taking in the space around her.
Hermione noted a pristine row of laurel trees that seemed to grow before her eyes, but it wasn't the rich vegetation that caught her attention — rather there appeared several structures built on and in-between the branches of the laurel trees. They reminded Hermione of her childhood books: houses made of mushrooms and quaint little straw cottages that oozed with an enviable charm made for various woodland creatures of her youthful imagination. They sat there like mysterious little statues, splattering the tree with subtle bursts of colour and texture that would make any passer-by stop and stare with curiosity. She wasn't sure what to make of it, and eventually, her attention drew toward the statue in the centre of the garden.
Hermione faced away with a private smile, sensing the weight of Draco's gaze following as she stopped to observe the statue before her. The large figure in the centre of the garden was not, she discovered, of two simple Greco-Roman figures but was the romantic embrace of young lovers.
The female lay, the curves of her hips so pleasingly round that Hermione could feel the smooth sloping marble skin in her mind. Her arms were outstretched toward the heavens, held open for the embrace of her angel — a curly-haired adolescent male with enormous wings that had braced from a stopped flight. It was their moment's respite as he slipped into her arms and leaned in for their first caress.
Etched in the stone below the elegant paramours, read:
EROS AND PSYCHE
"Hermione," Draco said, his voice a low, silky murmur.
Dazed from her little romantic fantasy, she turned to see him pointing to the grassy ground, his eyes dark and full of an unspoken longing that caused Hermione to fall to her knees at his command.
"Open your mouth," he instructed, and, despite the reddening of her cheeks, her lips parted for him.
Draco's gaze remained unwavering as he lifted a handful of Pomegranate seeds and dropped them onto her visible and willing tongue, taking his time as each one fell past her parted lips and rest there until he was finished.
A final one remained in his palm which, when her mouth was full of seed, Draco punctured the skin with the nail of his thumb and squeezed until the vibrant juice dripped out of its restrictive shell.
Dark eyes and heavy lids watched as he languidly dragged the wet fruit over Hermione's parted lips and coated them in the crimson liquid. When he was finished, he pressed two fingers under her chin, drawing her open mouth to his to seal in a featherlight kiss.
He could taste the sweetness of the fruit — and her — as he withdrew.
Hermione flinched a bit when she bit into the seeds.
"It's sour," she murmured with her nose scrunched up.
"And sweet," he added, letting his thumb draw over the subtle curve of her jaw before resting on her chin, watching as the fruit slid down her throat with her swallow.
Draco's fingers gently trapped her chin and drew her toward him for another kiss, though this time the kiss seared with more than just sweetness. With Hermione on her knees and Draco seated on the bench above, he had no trouble slipping his fingers down her throat and toward the wide V that formed at the top of her blouse, his hands eager to find the soft skin of her supple breasts.
She moaned in anticipation against his mouth, her body arching toward him, seeking him with an equal amount of instinctive need. Much to Draco's surprise, Hermione was the one to break the kiss as she reached forward toward him, her fingers hastily gripping, tearing, and undoing the buttons of his shirt as she whispered against his mouth.
"I want to please you," her gaze averted as she spoke, her eyes hovering on his slightly parted mouth that still tingled with the sensation of her kiss.
He leaned back slightly, forcing her to move with him as she dragged her knees forward to keep contact with his shirt. She had nearly unbuttoned half of it when he rose and with quick precision undid the rest. Her fingers moved toward his trousers, unbuttoning and unzipping the fabric as she pulled them down until Draco stood, only in his pants and shoes — the latter of which he rapidly kicked off and tossed to the side. Still, on her knees, Hermione stared up at the pristine figure of masculinity before her, lifting her hand to gently graze the already swelling bulge in Draco's pants.
As his reputation with her preceded him, Draco Malfoy did not enjoy being vulnerable in the least. It felt more awkward to him than attractive, and he much preferred being in the driver's seat of the broomstick than anything else. So when Hermione's hands excruciatingly rubbed against him, in his ultra heightened state, it took him almost a minute to realize that the current situation wasn't quite right.
Her fingers hooked into the tops of his pants, threatening to drag them down until he was fully in the nude as she pressed tantalizing kisses over his bare torso, drawing lines with her lips as she followed those of his hip bones. It only took another moment or two of pure want before Draco's good senses returned and his fingers clasped around her wrists.
"Hermione, you don't have to do that."
"Does that mean 'you don't want me to'? Or that I don't have to?"
Hermione's sharp retort was dulled by the daze of his arousal as her palm pressed against the ever-hardening bulge, causing his toes to curl and the muscles of his thighs to tense. She seemed to glow, radiating her warmth and sheer beauty into the world around her, and spreading her delight with each touch of her skin against his.
Draco wrung himself away to consider the question.
"Er, the latter — "
"Good then! Because I want to."
Rest of scene omitted due to FFN rating standards. Please see Author's Note above for link to AO3.
Author's Note:
Thank you to my dear friend and Alpha/beta GeekieBeekie for reviewing this chapter for me.
It's been a life-changer to have eyes on my writing, and I can feel myself improving with each day.
As always, your kudoses and comments mean the world to me.
Please let me know what you think, share your feedback,
I am here for it.
S
