**I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe – if I did, things would have ended very differently and I wouldn't have a mountain of student loans.**

A/N: Enjoy your lemons.

oOoOoOo

I think I might've inhaled you

I could feel you behind my eyes

You'd gotten into my bloodstream

I could feel you floating in me

Words can be like knives

They can cut you open

And the silence surrounds you

And hunts you

- Stateless, Bloodstream

oOoOoOo

It was getting worse. She was laid on the ground in the same position she had been in every day for the past six days, Malfoy kneeling near her head with his left palm pressing firmly on her shoulder and his right hand hovering over her right arm.

"Again," she growled, muffled by the gag. He cast without pause, face carefully blank, and her legs spasmed for two excruciating minutes before he let up.

She ripped the fabric from her mouth and gasped, noting in some distant part of her mind that he hadn't moved his hand from her shoulder. She raised her arm and examined it, trying to choke back a cry of frustration. It hadn't changed at all from an hour ago when they started.

At first the cleaning charms, unbearable as they were, had helped, reducing the swelling and whisking away some of the redness and discharge. She even felt slightly better after them. But now her arm was mottled with angry red splotches, extending away from the rancid gashes and engulfing her from wrist to elbow.

They had briefly considered the idea of amputation, but even if they could get through her arm with dulled severing charms, she would unquestionably bleed to death without blood replenishing potions and proper cauterization spells.

She couldn't hold it in anymore, not caring what Malfoy thought of her. It wasn't as though it mattered now. His hand slipped off her shoulder as she got to her feet, tears pouring down her cheeks, choking as she tried to gasp around the sobs wracking her body, nearly doubling her over. She swiped her left arm across her face and violently shook her head.

No. This was absurd. She wasn't going to die like this. She was supposed to die in battle, fighting for the light, protecting Harry. Not fade into nihility, forgotten in her own filth and surrounded by nothing but endless grey.

She whipped around and strode toward the door, ignoring how her head spun from pain and blood loss.

"Let me out of here!" she shouted, pounding her fists against the cold iron and spattering blood across the floor. "Let me out you bloody, buggering bastards!"

She struck the metal over and over again, screaming and swearing until she was hoarse and her whole body ached. Malfoy knelt unmoving on the ground where she had left him, next to a pool of her blood, silent as the grave.

Her blood. It all came back to her filthy, muddy blood. The irony wasn't lost on her. All these years clawing her way to the top, proving that she was better than they thought she was, and she was going to die of sepsis. Hermione Granger was going to perish from a literal fucking blood infection. She distantly heard a hysterical laugh bubble from between her lips.

She eventually collapsed in a heap against the base of the door, curling in on herself and crying so hard she couldn't breathe or see. She barely registered when two strong, steady arms wrapped under her shoulders and legs, scooping her up easily and depositing her on the makeshift bed in the corner.

He made to pull away, but her shaking hands curled desperately into the fabric of his shirt and he paused.

"Please," she begged, emotionally shattered and utterly deprived of human contact, "please."

A beat passed before he sank down next to her, one arm wrapped firmly around her shoulders, the other resting lightly across her hip. She let her head fall forward onto his chest and wept until there were no tears left to cry.

oOoOoOo

Hermione awoke sometime later to a pop. Her head was pounding and her whole body was sore, battered and dehydrated. She knew the skin around her eyes was probably puffed and red. Those weren't the first things she noticed though. The first thing she noticed was that she was warm. For the first time in weeks, she was thoroughly, truly warm.

She peered up and saw Malfoy's face inches from her own, relaxed and slack as he slept.

His jaw had a shadow of blonde hair across it. Not thick, but noticeable up close. It was slightly darker than the hair on his head. His lips, when not pursed or twisted as they often were, were a soft pink, thin with a defined cupid's bow and a small dimple on either side. She tried to remember if she had ever seen Malfoy smile to the point of showing dimples and she didn't think she had.

His nose was sharp looking, that was undeniable, but it wasn't harsh. It fit the rest of his features and spoke to what she knew was French heritage. And his hair… once white-blonde, easily his most defining characteristic, had grown dingy and dirty during their weeks in the cell.

She brought her aching arm up and lightly threaded her fingers through it, starting at the temple and coming to rest at the base of his neck. It was softer than she thought it would be. He stirred slightly, eyes roaming behind closed lids.

She figured that now was as good a time as any to be honest with herself. At some point between their shouting match and her emotional breakdown she had come to care for Malfoy, though in what sense she couldn't be sure. She joked with him, teased him like she would Harry or Ron, but there was something else to it. Something darker and more challenging. Heated.

There, lying in the pale grey light that was their world, totally engulfed by him, she could admit that much. And she could admit how wretchedly selfish it was to care about him now.

He stirred again and shifted a bit, one arm pulling her in closer so that she was angled tight against his chest. That was when she felt his erection press into the side of her abdomen. Her stomach fluttered and she had to suppress a little gasp.

While not lacking in firsthand experience with male anatomy, it had been a terribly long time since she had possessed the mental capacity to even consider such a thing. She had only been in such a position with two other men, Viktor Krum and, surprisingly enough, Fred Weasley. Perhaps by proxy George too, but she dared not dwell on that thought.

Heart pounding in her throat, she considered what it would be like to reach her hand down and wrap it around him. She wondered how he would respond. Would he pull away? Would he consent to her touch? Would he like it?

The thoughts and questions swirled in her head and she didn't notice when his eyes fluttered open and came to rest on her face. She took a deep breath and revelled in the way their chests rose and fell together.

"Enjoying yourself?" she heard a mocking, sleep-addled voice, shaking her from her musing.

"You wish," she replied acerbically, one corner of her mouth pulling up. For a brief moment neither of them moved, each openly taking in the other and disregarding how their bodies were entangled. In short order though, he slipped his arm from underneath her and shifted to stand. The ache that she felt at the loss surprised her a bit.

Malfoy made his way to the tray and basin that had been deposited near the door and dropped to the ground, picking up a piece of toast. She sat up and groaned a little, her body resentful of the treatment it had received the day prior.

Moving over to join him, she nibbled at a piece of the dry bread and sipped her water, swirling it around her mouth and desperately wishing, not for the first time, that she had a proper toothbrush, before turning to the basin. Her arm throbbed but, thankfully, it appeared the disease no longer sat near the surface of her skin, instead extending outward under her flesh. It didn't make a difference besides being moderately less unsightly.

She turned, angling away from Malfoy and stripped off her jumper, discarding it next to her. He was silent, but she could feel his eyes on her back. She contemplated trying to drag the thing around the curtain in the corner, but there was barely room to turn around behind it and her own imminent demise pushed her past caring about modesty.

She paused for a moment before reaching up behind her back with her left hand and unclasping her bra, letting it fall forward on her shoulders.

The wretched thing hadn't been removed since she had been back in the tent and she almost groaned at the relief she felt, noting the puckered, irritated skin under her breasts and along the side of her ribs where it had chafed.

She stretched down and grabbed the cloth, dunking and wringing it out before bringing it up to meet her skin. Malfoy had threatened to drown her the last time she had disrobed, perhaps that would be the easiest way to go now, she thought darkly. She didn't hear the small, strangled sound he made in his throat as she ran the flannel under her breasts, hissing at the friction.

After cleaning the front of her body she made to bend her arm and wash her back, but her diseased limb disobeyed and spasmed, making her drop the cloth. She reached down to grab it and froze when her fingers weren't the only ones clutching the discarded rag.

She felt as though her heart were going to beat out of her chest as she turned her head and peered over her shoulder, warm brown colliding with icy grey. His pupils were dilated, and his cheeks had the barest hint of a flush to them. Perhaps her musings earlier hadn't been one-sided after all.

He cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows, inclining his head in the direction of her back but not breaking their eye contact. She drew in a shaky breath and then nodded at him, a small, almost indistinguishable jut of her chin.

She reached up, trying to ignore how her hands quivered, and pulled her hair forward over her shoulder, twisting it out of the way. He placed the flannel against the middle of her back, above her spine, and dragged it across her flesh.

The air in the cell had shifted, no longer tight and angry, nor riddled with grief as it had been the night before. Now it was filled with a different kind of tension, wrapping taught around them and making her skin hum.

Malfoy continued his ministrations until her entire back had been wiped down, several beads of water cascading and disappearing into the waistband of her trousers. He pulled the cloth away but didn't move, so close that she could feel the warmth radiating off of him.

There was a question hanging between them and, before she could stop to think about it, to rationalise it away, she pivoted on her knees and pulled him in, crushing her lips against his and fisting a hand in his hair.

His body stiffened and his lips parted slightly in a gasp. For one horrifying moment she thought she had misread, ruined the progress they had made with her impulsivity. Just as she began to retreat and draw away, she felt a hand press into her bare, damp lower back, fingers spanning between her hips and ribs and holding her in place. He leaned into her and returned the kiss, and a dam broke. He tasted of desperation, raw and unfettered.

For the second time since she had woken, she was pulled against him, but this time there was only a thin layer of fabric separating them, her nipples hard and pebbled as they brushed against his shirt. She wondered if he could feel her heart beating, pounding like a battering ram trying to escape her chest as it heaved with ragged, frantic breaths.

She opened her mouth a little and he took advantage, sliding his tongue inside where it met with her own. His other hand moved up the side of her abdomen, ghosting across her ribs until it came to rest just below her right breast, his thumb stretching and stroking the sensitive underside.

She lifted her tattered arm up, careful not to bump it, and reached between them, unfastening the buttons on his shirt one by one until it hung open. Her diseased limb ached and burned, but she didn't care. In a twisted way she relished the pain; let it burn, let the flames consume them both. Nothing fucking mattered anyway. She tore her mouth away and drew back, wanting to see him, wanting to memorize every plane and angle.

Her hand glided across his body, fingers lightly tracing the three gash-like white ropes that marred his porcelain flesh. His eyes dropped to her torso, the hand that was on her back shifting around to track across her own scar, a raised purple line that started at the top of her right breast and sliced downward to her left hip. Their eyes met in silent understanding.

Without breaking the contact, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against the topmost scar where it wrapped under his left nipple, her tongue flicking out against the puckered flesh, tasting him. There was no soap or cologne hanging on his skin, there was only Malfoy, musky and primal. She imagined in any other situation that may have had a different effect, but here it stoked embers deep within her.

His eyes darkened and he licked his lips, shuddering slightly at the contact. She drew her mouth back up to connect with his and her hands slipped his shirt off his shoulders. Any chance they had of stopping evaporated when her chest pressed against him again. The feeling of his skin against hers was so utterly delicious, so wanted, she couldn't suppress the groan that escaped against his mouth.

He pulled her to her feet and guided her backward until her burning flesh hit the cool, grey wall of their cell, eliciting a gasp. He dragged his lips away and trailed them across her jaw and down her neck, one hand braced against the stone behind her and the other lightly palming her breast, his thumb flicking back and forth against her sensitive nipple.

She gave in to her earlier impulse and brought her hand down to rest upon his hard length, where it strained against the fabric of his trousers. He moaned softly into her neck and dropped his forehead against her shoulder, breathing heavily and shuddering at the contact.

She pushed him away from the wall and toward the blanket in the corner, where they had awoken not an hour prior, and motioned for him to lay back. As he did, she dropped in front of him and crawled between his knees, reaching her hands down to unfasten the button of his slacks. She glanced up and met his eyes again, quirking her brows in question. A second passed where everything stood still before he nodded.

She unzipped him in a quick, fluid motion and guided his trousers and pants down his hips and past his feet, tossing them to the side. His erection twitched where it rested against his lower stomach and she wrapped one hand around him, the other, her 'good arm' as she had come to think of it, supporting her weight as she glided her fist along his rather sizeable shaft. His head tipped up toward the ceiling and his eyes pressed shut, lips parting slightly in a silent cry of pleasure. She took advantage and quickly dropped her mouth over him.

"Granger," he gasped in surprise, eyes flying open and hips bucking upward as his hands fisted in the blankets on either side of his body. She flicked her tongue along the velvety underside of his cock while her hand continued stroking and squeezing in concert with her lips.

"For the love… of… Merlin," he bit out between clenched teeth, chest rising and falling rapidly. She chuckled, her throat vibrating around him.

All of a sudden, a hand wrapped in her mass of curly hair and she was pulled sharply upward, his arousal dropping from her mouth with a light popping sound. His lips crashed into hers once more and he rolled so that she was under him.

She felt the button on her trousers pop open, laughing internally at how opposed he had been to that prospect when they first arrived here, before he drew back, moved her legs to one side, and slid them down past her thighs, taking her knickers with them. Then she was naked, wholly and completely bare, laid out in front of him.

He placed her legs on either side of his, nudging them further apart with his knees, and traced one long finger up her inner thigh and across her soaked entrance before circling it around the bundle of nerves at the top. She keened under his touch, back arching off the ground.

He leaned down and kissed her again, surprisingly gently with one hand gripping her neck below her ear, slanting his mouth against hers. She brought her hand up to the side of his face, fingers trailing lightly along his jaw and through the blonde hair that had grown there. She felt him reach down and guide himself to her center, the warm tip barely slipping between her folds when he paused.

"Please," she whispered against his lips. That was apparently all he needed because he pushed forward until he was buried in her to the hilt. She cried out and spasmed around him, the sudden fullness shocking her, and the sound rang through the empty room. It wasn't her first time, nor her second or third, but it had been roughly eight months since she had last been in such a position. He stilled completely, seeming to take a moment to collect himself, before he slowly rocked back and then forward again into her.

She brought her knees up, hitching them on either side of his hips and seating him more deeply inside of her. She lifted her pelvis slightly, rolling it up to meet his and he groaned low in the back of his throat.

"Touch yourself," he growled in her ear a moment later. He shifted down onto his forearms, which were locked on either side of her head, and picked up the pace, sliding in and out of her. She glided her good arm down her stomach and flicked her fingers back and forth over her clit, breathing heavily as warmth pooled in her belly and she coiled like a spring.

"I'm going to come," she gasped into his shoulder a few moments later, fingers frantically playing over her bud until she felt herself release, falling over the edge and into ecstasy, her nails sinking into his shoulder and a cry slipping from between her lips.

As she came back to herself, still shaking and spasming around him, she felt Malfoy's rhythm start to falter, pounding into her once. Twice. And then he stilled, a guttural noise bubbling from his chest, one hand dropping to her hip where fingers bit down in a desperate attempt to gain traction. She shifted again and rolled slightly, squeezing and stroking him until he was spent. He nipped her shoulder in a play to cease the movement and she let out a breathy laugh before dropping her head back to the blanket.

Malfoy pulled out of her and rolled to the side over her left arm so their shoulders were touching and they were staring up at the ceiling, laboured breathing slowly returning to normal. The cool air felt good on her heated skin.

Hermione felt another laugh rising in her throat and clapped a hand over her mouth to stop it from escaping. It was no use though. Her shoulders shook and her abdomen tightened as she snickered into her palm.

Malfoy propped himself on his elbows and looked over at her, one eyebrow arched and eyes wide, as if she had lost her mind.

"I can't say I've ever inspired quite this reaction," he mused. She dropped her hand and all out guffawed in response.

"It's just that," she gasped a breath in before continuing, "if someone had told me a month ago that I would be having sex with Draco Malfoy, on the ground no less, I would have thought they were barmy. Just completely mental."

He tilted his head and quirked his mouth in silent agreement before snorting out a soft laugh himself and sinking back to the blanket. Surely the same was true in reverse too. Her giggling eventually faded, and they lapsed into a pensive but comfortable silence. Quiet had become a familiar constant between them.

She focused on his warm arm pressed against hers and let the wave of calming endorphins wash over her.

"Granger?" he asked, eyes fixed on the ceiling above them.

"Yeah, Malfoy?"

He paused. "I don't hate you."

oOoOoOo

A/N: I love this chapter because when I started writing this story, I did not plan for them to have sex. At all. But then one thing led to another and suddenly they're banging on the ground like bunnies...

Also, a general disclaimer: I am not in any way a medical professional, the closest I ever came was a couple summers as a lifeguard, so please take my depiction of sepsis with a grain of salt.

Next chapter will be up 10/16!

Many thanks to my Betas, TanzaniteWrites and JustLilyJade.