I stunned myself silent as I realized some of what I'd said to Harry could also be applied to myself. A strange warmth flooded through me at the notion that understanding him was helping me understand myself. Seems like every day I'm finding out new ways we're similar. Just how did he figure that out before me?
It's kind of… Scary.
"You're right. I'm sorry for… Feeling feelings? I dunno… Sorry for apologizing."
He gave me a sad smile, and I couldn't help but lean in to wrap my arms around him. The tugging of him into my embrace sent him forward and me backward until we were sprawled out on the grass, dissolving into easy laughter.
"This is the best dream I've ever had," I realized as he tucked his head onto my chest.
"Hm," he hummed in assent. We lay there on the grass peacefully for a long several moments before we both resurfaced into consciousness.
I was surprised to find we'd woken up in the same position we'd last been in in his dream. The right side of my body was thrown over Draco, my head on his chest, as we both inhaled the morning air.
"Mmmmorning," I groaned as I stretched my limbs over him.
"Is it already? Feels like we just fell asleep."
"Hm. Time works weird in dreams." I angled my face up to blink up at his. "Without a doubt, the best night's rest I've had in years, though."
He gave me a soft, wondering smile.
"Me, too." Being on the receiving end of that look made my limbs feel like jelly, but I couldn't not lean up and kiss him. It was with this movement of my body against his that I remembered we were both naked. A flush stole into my cheeks as I propped myself up on my elbow suddenly. Draco chuckled at my expression. "You keep that blush up long enough, everyone's gonna know what we've done."
"Shut up," I retorted as I shoved my hot face into the empty pillow next to Draco's. With a chuckle, his fingers touched my bare back, stroking up and down the length of my spine. Despite the initial shiver this contact caused, it was very calming. I could almost fall back asleep, but then he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my shoulder.
"We should get ready for class," he murmured against my skin. I twisted my face to look at him with one eye.
"I… Didn't bring a change of clothes." He huffed.
"Well, then I suppose you're doing the walk of shame back to your dorm, as per tradition."
He laughed again as I groaned.
"Oh… Er…" Draco cleared his throat and withdrew his hand, and an alarm sounded in my mind. "You… You might want to extend the range of your, um… Cloaking spell you were using for your back."
I sat up suddenly, already assuming the worst.
"No…"
With still-waking limbs, I ambled out of bed and to his bathroom mirror. Shock stained my features in my reflection as my eyes lighted on a small, red welt that had formed on the side of my neck.
"Draco!" I whined as he joined me, my glasses dangling from his fingers. Once I'd shoved them onto my face, I realized it wasn't small at all. I clicked my tongue. "Honestly!"
His expression said he wanted to feel bad, but didn't in the slightest. The conflict there seemed to settle into something like satisfaction as I brushed past him to find my wand. I wasn't as upset as I was acting, but once my enchantments were back in place, the slight amount I was upset vanished, and was quickly replaced with something like pleasure.
Draco was clearly pleased, too, judging by the look on his face as he leaned against his bathroom door watching me.
"How the hell did I get so lucky?"
I rolled my eyes, but purposefully hid the pleased flush I felt under my skin as I crouched to retrieve my pajamas. When I straightened and glimpsed him checking me out, I playfully swatted at him.
"Stop looking at me!"
He laughed.
"Okay! Okay, I'm sorry," he 'apologized' as he covered one hand over his eyes.
Our banter was both comforting and slightly unsettling, but I was stepping back into my pants and trousers before he finally looked at me again.
"You are lucky. Lucky you're so damn cute, leaving love bites on me… The audacity!"
He chuckled again, and it infected me.
"Personally, I thought it suited you. You shouldn't hide it."
My gut twisted as I realized now he wants to broadcast that I'm what, his property, or something? The twisting wasn't wholly unpleasant, though…
"In your dreams," I retorted as I snatched my shirt off the floor. Realizing what I'd said, the memory of our dream resurfaced, and I paused my redressing. "We should… Do that again…" When I saw his eyebrows shoot up suggestively, I continued. "Sleep! Together, I mean… It… It was really nice."
His playful expression softened as he came up to me, taking my face in his hands and kissing me soundly. Even after all the events that transpired last night, his kiss still somehow manages to make my heart race.
"I agree."
We shared a smile before his eyes glanced behind me.
"We really need to get to breakfast, though. Don't want to run into too many people on your walk of shame, do you?"
"Shit…" Hastily, I pulled my shirt back over my head and collected my book bag. "Er… Keep the snacks, I guess. I brought way too many…"
"Never did get to that herbology project, either." He reclined on his bed, grinning at me shamelessly as my eyes strayed over his pale limbs. The damn flush that'd never really left my face warmed further as my eyes finally met his again.
"Twat," I said with a subdued smile as I turned and left, closing the door behind me quietly.
My dorm was just a hallway, a staircase, and another hallway away, but as I was turning the corner from the top of the stairs onto my floor, a ruffled-looking Hermione was returning to her own room.
"Oh… Hi…"
"Harry?"
"M-morning, I was just… Er…" I vaguely gestured toward my door and brushed past her without another word.
"Oh… My god…" I winced with my hand on my door handle as she put two and two together. Slowly, I turned to see her shocked expression. "You…!"
"Shh!" I shushed her hastily and sighed. "It's… Ah, fuck… Exactly what it looks like. And no more from you!"
I pointed at her increasingly amused expression emphatically as I twisted my door knob and retreated into my dorm. Of all the people I had to run into…
My shower passed in a blur as I mentally braced myself for all the teasing I'd just bought myself, but my grimace couldn't affix itself to my face. I was too lost in thought about all that had happened overnight. Briefly, in the mirror after my shower, I lifted my cloaking spell to steal another glance at the blossoming red on the side of my neck. Did he bite me harder than I thought? If I'd suspected it might leave a mark in the moment, I certainly would've stopped…
My cheeks reddened as I realized, in the moment, I definitely would not have stopped him. Recasting my cloaking charm, I swore under my breath and wrapped my towel around my waist. Hermione was waiting for me on my bed, swinging her legs gleefully. After the initial 'bloody hell!' I sighed.
"What do you want?"
"Details. Or at least more of an explanation."
"How did you even get in here? The doors-"
"Are spelled very weakly. Honestly, do you know who I am?"
I rolled my eyes as I went to my wardrobe to pick out my robes for the day. Turning my back to her, I resigned myself with another sigh.
"I… Went over to stay up to see the constellation together, and then… We…"
Tossing my robes in her general direction (and carefully avoiding eye contact) I went to my dresser to withdraw a clean pair of pants. When I withdrew back into my bathroom to change into them, she must've insinuated the rest of my sentence because, when I reemerged in only my briefs, she was grinning broadly. With another roll of my eyes and a sigh, I snatched my robes from her tightly gripped fingers and started dressing. We'd changed around each other enough during our months hunting Horcruxes, this was nothing for us.
"Also… I've kind of… Been, like, Legillimency-ing his dreams? Unintentionally at first, but last night it was intentional, and…"
"I bet it was," she commented snarkily under her breath, but I continued.
"Honestly, I've never felt more rested. Like I was actually awake when we woke up."
Her smug expression softened into something like compassion.
"Harry…!" Once again, I rolled my eyes as she stood and approached me, still topless. "That's amazing. The whole 'silver lining' bit just happened to be real?"
My cheeks warmed as I realized she was implying Draco was my silver lining. I ducked my head.
"Yeah… I guess." I pushed my arms into my shirt and started doing up the buttons. "He's… Still the same, but… Somehow, completely different."
As I tucked the last few buttons into their respective button holes, I finally met her eyes again, and what I saw melted my heart slightly.
"I'm so happy for you." Her genuine inflection squeezed my slightly melted heart. "But don't think you're safe now, Mr. No-Longer-A-Virgin." She grinned slyly at me, poking my arm again. I tried, in vain, to distract myself by shakily tucking in my shirt tails to my trousers. "How was it?"
"Hermione!" My cheeks couldn't possibly be any hotter, but her curiosity didn't turn into shame. Guess her experience with Ron has opened her up a bit more to this kind of conversation. Ugh, gross. I sighed, again. "It was… Amazing." More heat in my face. "But why do you care?"
Hermione pretended to be hurt as I turned back around to my dresser, this time withdrawing a tie that I fumblingly tied around my neck (as always).
"Just can't picture it, I guess. Malfoy?"
"Yeah, well, don't picture it, please." Now Hermione rolled her eyes as she took over my tie tying.
"Were you… His first time?"
"Why-" I'd meant to ask why are you asking me this, but all her involvement and questions prior to this moment emptied the air out of me before the question could form on my lips. "No," I decided to answer honestly, albeit quietly.
"Really? Pansy?" She inferred.
"'Mione, I really don't see how that's any of your business," I asserted as I tore myself from her hands. My legs carried me to my dresser, where I withdrew my blazer, and started pulling it onto me. One glance behind me at her pitiful expression drew yet another sigh from me. "No. Some guy, as it turns out."
"I knew it!"
Fully clothed, I rounded on her.
"This is not to leave this room, d'you hear me?" I tried my best to leak some intimidation into my tone as I stepped closer to her. "I don't care about what suspicions you had that may or may not have been confirmed. This isn't mine to tell, nor is it yours to share!"
Again, she mimed zipping her lips, locking them, and throwing away the key, all the while grinning smugly. With a groan, I pushed past her and collected my book bag, when I suddenly realized I'd left my wand in Draco's dorm. I froze.
"Harry?"
Of course she noticed.
"I-it's nothing. Let's just get to breakfast."