AN: Hello again! I want to thank you all for the great notes for last chapter. I love reading all of them.
Big love for all of my readers, and my beta, Bex. She is recovering from the covid and feeling better.
Mini-lemony goodness in this chapter. ;)
Lost Souls of Nott Castle
Chapter 13 - The Library
The library was quiet. Only the occasional sound of a page being turned or a book sliding off the shelf broke the silence. Hermione sat at the table, in the chair that had become hers.
She flipped the book she had been reading closed. It had turned out to be another dead end. She was starting to think they would never find what they were looking for. Not in Theo's library, anyway.
She rolled her neck and stretched her arms over her head. A look out the window told her that the storm had passed and the sun had set. They had been in the library all day.
She knew that Theo and Blaise had left hours ago for their dates. She was almost positive that Draco was still there. Though, come to think of it, it had been quite a while since she actually saw him. She wondered if maybe he had snuck off somewhere whilst she wasn't paying attention.
She found him in the back corner of the library reading through a mid-sized book that he had propped against one of the shelves. She stood back for a few moments and just watched him. It was almost shocking to her how quickly she had fallen for him. Not that she was in love with him or anything like that. Not yet.
She couldn't deny her attraction to him, though, and it was more than just physical. In the past few weeks she had seen what a good person he truly was. Yes, he had his faults and he had made mistakes along the way. That didn't define who he was, though.
He was intelligent with a dry sense of humor that she could appreciate. He was fiercely loyal to his friends, and he was determined to make something of himself beyond his surname. Or perhaps despite it.
The way he looked at her made her feel beautiful, even though she never thought she was. He didn't make fun of her for reading or studying. In fact, he encouraged it. When he kissed her, she felt things she had never felt before. Not that she had a lot of experience with men to compare it too.
She sighed to herself as she wondered what the hell he could possibly see in her.
"Are you going to help," he asked, startling her out of her thoughts. "Or just stand there staring at my arse?"
He turned towards her with a smirk on his face. She felt her face burn at being caught, but laughed anyway as he turned her words from earlier around on her.
"Well it is a rather nice arse," she acknowledged.
"Come here," he said, holding his arm out for her. "Look at this."
"Did you find something?" She went to him. He put his hand on her waist and positioned her between himself and the bookshelf so she could read what he had just been reading.
Her eyes skimmed the page quickly, then she reread it slower. It was a passage detailing the unplottable wards and explaining what they did. It was the next paragraph that made her heart skip a beat, though.
'For detailed instructions on how to cast the wards, see 'Advanced Concealment Charms, Volume 3' published in 1843.'
"Draco! This is wonderful. You found it!" She turned around and threw her arms around his neck, pulling gently until his lips met hers in a heated kiss. It was an impulsive move, to kiss him like that, but she didn't even think about it. She simply acted on what felt right.
And Merlin, did kissing him ever feel right!
He did not hesitate to kiss her back. His tongue danced around hers and his hands covered her back, pulling her in as close as he could.
She couldn't tell you how long they stood there, kissing each other like there was no tomorrow. Tasting each other. Breathing each other in like their lives depended on it.
She moaned into his mouth as his hands drifted down to her waist, then lower. Then he was lifting her up, pressing her against the bookcase. She gasped, her head falling back and her legs wrapping around his waist while his lips continued to leave hot kisses down her neck.
"Draco," she breathed and she didn't even recognize her own raspy voice. Her hands tangled in his hair and guided him back to her mouth where he kissed her deeply.
Then he ground into her. Even both fully clothed she could feel his arousal between her legs. She was wet. So fucking wet already. She was torn between hoping he couldn't feel how wet she was through her clothes, and wanting him to know exactly what he was doing to her. Just as she could tell how affected he was.
She moaned again as he ground into her once more and the sound echoed through her ears.
"Fuck, Hermione." He practically panted as he pulled back just far enough to lean his forehead against hers.
"Again," she responded, not at all embarrassed by how needy she sounded.
He obliged, grinding into her once more, and she moaned out loud in appreciation.
"Hermione. Princess. If I keep going I'm going to cum in my pants." He growled into her ear right before grinding into her once more.
"Me, too," she admitted with a short laugh.
His eyes searched hers for a moment, then he kissed her again. Softer. Gentler. Slowly he lowered her to her feet.
They stood there for a few long minutes as they caught their breath and calmed their hormones.
Oh, Merlin. She was in trouble. She had been on one date with the man, and now they were dry humping in the library.
Too fast. This was happening way too fast.
She took several deep breaths.
"You okay?" Draco asked her.
"Yes. No. I don't know." She gave a short humorless laugh. Then she ran her hands through her hair and realized they were shaking.
He stood back, waiting for her to continue, not sure if he had done something wrong or not.
"It's just...I've never...I don't...I can't..."
"Granger," he put both hands on her shoulders and waited until she looked at him. "Breathe."
She did. Deeply. Then she blew it out and took another. He kept his eyes locked on hers and she focused on those silver blue orbs while she put her thoughts in order.
"I've never been with anyone like this before," she finally said quietly. "I've never felt like this before. I don't have any idea what I'm doing. And even though that felt amazing and I didn't want you to stop, it's really fast, and I'm glad you did because I'm not sure I'm ready for this."
Her cheeks flamed red at her admission, but once it was out there she breathed a sigh of relief.
He lifted his eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again a moment later.
"I've never been with anyone like this before, either," he admitted after a long silence. "I have never felt like this before, and I have no idea what I'm doing."
His hands drifted down her arms and came to a rest on her waist. He pulled her forward so she was flush against him. Then he leaned down and spoke into her ear.
"What I do know is that when you made that little moaning sound, my cock got so hard it was almost painful. Knowing that no one else has ever heard you make that sound is making me hard all over again."
"Oh Merlin, Draco. Stop it." She laughed, but only to cover up the fact that his words, which sounded rough to her ears, were going straight to her core.
"I can't wait to find out what other delicious sounds I can get you to make just for me." His hands on her waist started to slide down to cup her arse.
"Draco..." she dug her fingers into his chest. His name sounded like a plea, but she wasn't sure if she was begging him to stop, or to continue.
"There is no rush. No pressure. We'll figure it out together. When you're ready, not before."
His lips grazed over her ear and she sighed deeply, relaxing against his chest.
"When you are ready, I am going to learn every square inch of you. I am going to know what you feel like against my skin, what you taste like," he kissed the skin below her ear, and unbidden, she moaned softly.
"And what you sound like," he continued breathily. "When I'm buried deep inside you."
She bit her lower lip.
"Fuck," she whispered against his chest as her body shook with an involuntary shudder from head to toe.
Before she even knew what was happening, his lips were moving against hers again. She honestly did not know if he had kissed her or if she had kissed him. Perhaps they had moved in tandem, meeting in the middle in a passionate embrace. She allowed herself to indulge. All thoughts of moving too fast left her as she clung to him.
All she could think about was how amazing his lips felt, soft but demanding. The way his tongue caressed hers. The tingles that spread across her body as his hands splayed across her back. A moan tore from her throat when he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth.
She felt him shudder underneath her fingertips. She knew then, he was as far gone as she was. But still, it was too fast.
It took all of her willpower, and several more seconds of convincing herself that it needed to be done. She pushed against his chest and he stepped back immediately. Her eyes met his - deep silver and filled with desire. She stepped backward until her back hit a bookshelf and she couldn't step back anymore. Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily.
"Merlin, Draco," she breathed with one hand covering her heart, which felt like it would beat clear out of her chest. "I need a shower. A very cold shower."
She laughed, then bit her lower lip at the sight of his smirk. He was going to be the death of her yet.
"For someone that doesn't know what he's doing, you're doing a fantastic job of it," she told him breathily.
"I'm a fast learner." He told her with that smirk still in place. "For example, I just learned that you, Hermione Granger, get turned on when I talk dirty to you."
She couldn't argue with that. Her whole body was humming and he had barely touched her.
"I'm leaving, before you start talking all sexy like that again." She said with a short laugh. It took every ounce of willpower that she had to get her feet moving.
At the end of the aisle, she turned and found that he hadn't moved. He was still standing there, watching her.
"Grab that book," she reminded him. Then she turned her back on him once again as she left the library.
When she made it to her room, she closed the door and leaned back against it. She slid to the floor and sat there with her knees up in front of her, her arms wrapped around them and her head back against the wooden door.
She could not believe that had just happened. A smile spread across her face that she couldn't have stopped if she tried.
Draco stood in the back corner of the library for several long minutes after she left. He could still smell her lavender and vanilla scent lingering in the air around him. He could still feel the energy pulsing through his body. He was still hard as a fucking rock.
He took a deep breath and ran both hands through his hair, lacing his fingers together behind his head. The memory of what had just happened replayed over and over in his mind.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?!
He had come to terms with the fact that he liked the curly haired Gryffindor. He would even go so far as to admit that he enjoyed her company. The kisses they had shared the previous evening had shown him he was obviously attracted to her.
But this. This had been so much more than mere attraction. Desire. Need. Passion. He was not lying when he said he had never felt that way before. He was acting on pure instinct. Watching her, feeling her respond to him, was an aphrodisiac in itself. Moving him forward, telling him he needed more. So much more.
He groaned to himself, acutely aware of his throbbing cock. He certainly was not going to take care of that particular problem in the library of all places.
He forced his mind to think of anything else, willing his body to calm down. An image of Potter harassing Hermione the day before flicked through his brain, flooding his blood with a completely different kind of heat.
Harry Potter made his blood boil. He always had. Ever since they were eleven years old and the git turned up his nose at his offered hand. Everyone thought he was special, just because some fluke of magic saved his life when he was a baby.
He could imagine what the look on Potter's face would have been, when he saw Hermione with her arms around him only moments after turning Potter down yet again. His lips twitched into a smirk at the thought. Perfect Potter needed to be knocked down a few pegs.
He sighed and let his head fall back against the bookcase. As much as he hated Potter, and he really did, that didn't have anything to do with how he felt about Hermione.
He wasn't in it just to take her away from him. She had already told him that she wasn't interested in Potter. It wasn't like he took her away from the dark haired wizard. Pissing Potter off would certainly be a benefit, but that wasn't the goal.
He was amazed, though. After everything they had been through. She was given a clear choice. Knowing everything she knew, about both of them, she had still chosen him, Draco Malfoy, over the boy that lived.
She had chosen him. She had gone on a date with him. She had kissed him under the stars. She had slept beside him. She had snogged him.
Him. Not Potter. Him.
He felt his heart swell at that thought. The most brilliant witch of their age, renowned for her intellect and bravery, wanted him.
Even though she knew every bad thing about him. Even though she had seen him at his absolute worst. Even though he had called her names and made fun of her growing up. She had forgiven him for all of it. She still chose him.
He took a long, deep breath. He blinked his eyes and the library came back into focus around him. He shook his head to clear the remaining thoughts from his mind. Then he set off for his room.
One final thought flicked through his mind as he left the library.
She chose him, and he chose her. He wanted to get to know her better. He wanted to learn everything about her. He wanted to see the glint in her eye when she solved a puzzle and the way she chewed on her bottom lip when she was thinking. He wanted to hold her, to touch her, to comfort her, to take care of her. He wanted to be a better person than he was because of her.
And he would be damned if he let Harry Potter hurt her.