House: Hufflepuff
Class: Herbology
Type: Drabble
Prompt: [Emotion] Eagerness
WC: 607
TW: None
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"Hermione, love of my life, my reason for being, the sun in my sky," Draco half-opened one eye to fix his wife with a glare. "It is three A.M. Better known as too early for any rational human to be awake."
"You're awake," Hermione countered, almost absent-mindedly as she barely paused in her pacing. She twisted a quill round and round in her hands, the barbs shimmering in the low light of the lamp.
"I'm awake because you're awake, but I seem to be the only one suffering," Draco groaned. He couldn't blame her for her eagerness, not really, but there was a headache pressing at the backs of his eyes and he felt sick from exhaustion, the room seeming to sway around him. "Please, come back to bed."
Hermione dropped the quill onto the nightstand with a clatter before she scrambled onto the bed. The mattress dipped beneath her weight, and Draco could feel the blankets shift, pulling tight against his back as she crawled beneath them. This close once again, he could smell the faint flowery scent of her perfume beneath the bitter ink that covered her hands no matter how many times she cleaned it off.
"I'm just excited," Hermione whispered, her eyes wide and dark as the dim light behind her threw her face into heavy shadow while illuminating her wild curls like a halo.
"I know, love. It's a big day for you, but you still need sleep."
Hermione was nodding before he had even finished his sentence. "I know, but…" She trailed off with a shrug. "I'm still too excited to sleep."
Draco bit back another sigh. He could feel her feet still moving, ice cold and brushing against his, sending shivers rattling up his spine.
"What did your parents use to do when you were a child?" He asked her, reaching up — goosebumps pricking over his arm as it emerged from the blankets — to tuck one more securely around her. He felt her smile as his fingers brushed her cheek.
"I'm not sure they even realised until the next day," Hermione said, "when I would be groggy and irritable at breakfast. I'd just stay up and read to help the time go faster when I was too excited to sleep."
"How many Wizarding fairy tales do you know?" Draco only held a few memories of his parents reading to him — the task normally falling to a house-elf when he was too young or himself when he was old enough — but he treasured them dearly.
"I know the ones from The Tales of Beedle the Bard." There was a note of amusement in her voice, and Draco knew he was missing some nuance from what Hermione referred to as her 'missing year' during the Horcrux Hunt.
"Do you know…" Draco frowned as he scoured his memory for a suitable story. He could dismiss several for the anti-Muggle message that they contained, which only made his task more difficult. "Do you know 'How Six Men Travelled Through The World'?"
"Nope." Hermione shuffled closer and, in the brief second before she dimmed the light back into a comfortable darkness, Draco caught sight of the spark in her eyes. "Can you tell it to me?"
Draco began, fumbling at first, but falling into the easy rhythm of the story as he progressed. He heard Hermione's breathing slow and level over time, as she drifted off into sleep despite her impatient excitement and eagerness for the next day's events.
"Goodnight, love," Draco whispered, before closing his eyes and joining her in sleep, knowing he would be awoken far too soon.