AN: Hello again! I am blown away by the wonderful comments you guys are leaving. I hope you continue to enjoy this story. We have a ways to go yet.
Lost Souls of Nott Castle
Chapter 15 - Falling
Draco worked well with Master Abbott. After only a week, he was learning to anticipate what he would need next. He was staying one step ahead of the older man, and the entire operation was running smoothly.
He was constantly moving. Putting away ingredients for completed potions. Selecting ingredients for the next batch. Packaging completed potions. Cleaning cauldrons. It made the day go by rather quickly.
Before he even knew it, the day was over and they were both cleaning up the lab and getting ready to go home.
He left the apothecary and went straight across the street. As busy as he had been all day, he had still been thinking about Hermione since the minute he left her side that morning.
Maybe that wasn't accurate. His thoughts turned to her between tasks and as he took his breaks. He wasn't worried about her, per se. He knew she could take care of herself if it came down to it. It was more like he was curious to see if Potter was stupid enough to try something while she was at work.
There were a few people milling around downstairs, but he knew she would be on the second floor. He found her easily enough, looking through shelves of books on charms.
"Hello, Princess." He said as he made his way towards her.
She smiled and rolled her eyes at him.
"You can stop calling me that anytime now," she said with a laugh.
"Don't pretend you don't like it," he joked with her. He stood behind her and put his hands on her waist.
She leaned back against him and he savored the feeling of having her in his arms again. He hadn't realized just how anxious he had been all day until that moment. Maybe he had been slightly more worried than he thought.
"That's what you called me that night, in the study." She commented quietly.
"Ah yes. When you got so drunk off of firewhiskey, you couldn't even walk up the stairs on your own." His hands tightened around her waist as the memory washed over him. He had almost kissed her that night. "Wait, you remember that?"
"Of course." She looked up at him and their eyes locked.
"I guess I should have kissed you that night after all. I didn't think you would remember it in the morning." He smirked down at her.
"You could just kiss me now, Malfoy." She said with a grin.
She didn't have to ask twice. He leaned down and kissed her quickly, then stepped away. If he didn't, they could easily get carried away again.
"No luck finding the book?" He asked.
"Not yet." She sighed. "Maybe we have it in the back?"
She turned around and faced him, leaning back against the shelf.
"Ron was here." She told him. "He actually just left. I'm surprised you didn't pass him when you came in."
"Weasel? What the hell did he want?" He looked around to see if they were still alone, which they were.
"He was looking for books to study for NEWT's. I think he was as surprised to see me as I was to see him."
He waited for her to continue. She wouldn't have brought it up at all if it was as simple as him being another customer.
"I told him." She bit her lip to try to keep from smiling. He wondered if she knew how distracting that was. "About Harry. About us."
He had to tear his eyes away from her lips to focus on what she was saying.
"So wait, Weasel knows about us? What did he say?" He stood in front of her and took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb across her wrist.
"That if you hurt me, he'll kill you." She lost her battle and finally smiled up at him.
That smile, intended just for him, took his breath away.
"Yeah? That sounds fair to me." He leaned down and kissed her again. His lips lingered against hers for several heartbeats before he pulled away.
He wanted nothing more in that moment than to take her back to Nott Castle and snog her senseless.
The sound of a throat clearing loudly behind him had him turning quickly, wand in hand. The red haired weasel was standing just meters behind them.
"You know, if you two are trying to keep this unholy union of yours a secret, you're doing a real shite job at it."
Draco put his wand away and stepped back so he was next to Hermione instead of in front of her. She was trying not to laugh, and failing at it.
"Ron. I thought you left." She said when she stopped laughing.
"I saw this git come in and had to see for myself, I guess." He sighed.
"Did you see enough, then?" Draco asked, glaring at the other man. For as long as he could remember, he had been taught to hate the Weasley's. When he had first met Ron, he had known that he was better than the other boy. Known it in his soul.
Just as he had known that he was better than Granger because her parents were muggles. And well, now he knew better, didn't he? At least on her account.
Maybe he was wrong about the Weasley's too? Or maybe not, but for her sake he would give the other wizard a small benefit of the doubt.
"Mione, what in the bloody hell do you see in this prat?"
Draco waited, holding his breath. He wanted to know the answer to that question himself.
"Well," she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked into his eyes. "He does this thing with his tongue..."
Ron made a gagging sound while Hermione smirked up at him. Draco couldn't help but laugh as she got the exact reaction she was looking for. Then, of course, he had to capture her lips and demonstrate exactly what he could do with his tongue.
"Please, Merlin, stop!" Ron turned his back on them.
"Sorry, mate." Draco said with a smirk as he pulled back. "It's impossible to resist when she gives me that look."
"Like I said, an unholy union." Ron shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Mione, I don't think I've ever seen you this happy. You deserve it."
Hermione left Draco's side and threw her arms around Ron's neck.
"Thank you," she told him as he hugged her back. After a few seconds she stepped back.
"Malfoy, you look happy, too. You definitely do not deserve it, just so you know."
"I'm aware," he acknowledged.
"Right. Just take care of her, yeah?"
"As much as she'll let me." He held out his hand. Ron hesitated a moment, then he took it in his and shook.
Hermione was grinning ear to ear.
"What?" He asked her, raising his brow.
"Nothing," she insisted, but the smile stayed in place.
"Mione, it isn't like we're going to start hanging out together now or something. We aren't friends. I still hate the git." Ron rolled his eyes at her. His words didn't have the same venom in them they once had, though.
"I know. Still, I appreciate the two of you trying to get along."
He sighed.
"Great. I'm not braiding your hair, Weasley."
"Shut it," she said with a laugh as she hit him in the stomach. Then they were all laughing.
Later that evening, after eating dinner and taking a shower, Hermione stood on her balcony and gazed at the moon. She had a glass of tea she was sipping on and a book in her lap that she had tried reading, but just couldn't get into it.
Her mind kept wandering to Draco. They hadn't gotten any time alone that day. She really just wanted to see him, maybe to kiss him without other people around to see.
So what was stopping her? He was in the next room. All she had to do was go over there. Would he think that too forward? She debated it for a long time before she finally gathered her Gryffindor courage and left her room.
She knocked on his door and held her breath as she waited for him to answer. It took a minute or two, but the door finally swung open.
He was wearing a black t-shirt and flannel pants. His hair was mussed like he had just rolled out of bed.
"Hermione? Everything okay?"
That's when she realized how late it had gotten.
"Everything's fine." She pushed her hair back. Suddenly she felt foolish. "I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd see if you were still up. It looks like you were sleeping, though."
She turned to leave, but he stopped her.
"No. I couldn't sleep either. Come in."
She stepped through the doorway into his private sitting room. The door closed behind her.
Her eyes met his in the dim light. Then he was right there. His hands in her hair. His mouth covering hers. He kissed her deeply, just the way she wanted him to.
She didn't realize they were moving until her back hit the door. Even then, she didn't break away from him. She drank him in.
His hands drifted down, skimming over her breasts then continuing to her waist. She moaned into his mouth. Then he was moving, kissing her neck as she pulled in much needed air.
"I've wanted to do that all day," he growled into her ear.
"Me too," she breathed as she pulled his lips back to hers.
His hands slipped under the hem of her shirt and spread out across her bare back.
She arched against him. Her head fell back and she moaned as he kissed her throat.
"Fuck," he muttered against her skin and she remembered that he said he liked it when she moaned like that.
He took a deep breath and stepped away.
She didn't want him to go.
She took a deep breath and followed him as he made his way to the couch. He sat on the end by the armrest and she sat next to him, leaning against his shoulder.
"You never answered Weasel's question, you know?"
His hand started drawing small patterns on her leg.
"Which question?" She mimicked his actions, drawing small patterns on his thigh.
"What could you possibly see in me?" She froze and turned to face him. "Besides that thing I do with my tongue, of course."
"And that sexy voice thing that makes me incredibly wet?" She smirked at him when his hand froze as well. She swore his eyes darkened a shade, too.
"Besides that, too."
She leaned her head against his shoulder and considered her answer for a moment.
"You have never tried to change me. You accept me for who I am, a bit of a know it all with anxiety issues and an incessant need to know everything about everything. You have never teased me about studying. In fact, most of the time that I've spent here in the library, you have been right there with me." She bit her lip, then continued. "When I told you I wanted to get a job, you didn't make fun of me or try to talk me out of it. You went with me and you got a job too. One that you love, by the way."
She couldn't help but smile as she remembered how proud he had been to take her out with money that he earned himself.
"You look at me like," she paused, sure she was rambling and not at all sure she should go on. Then he turned her face towards his as he waited for her to continue. "Like you might think I'm beautiful." She finished quietly.
"You are," he told her. "You are beautiful. Body, mind and soul."
He kissed her gently. It was slow and soft, but so full of emotion.
"You are smart, and brave, and kind. You stood up for me when no one else would. When you had no reason to do so." He swallowed and took a deep breath. "You make me want to be a better man, Hermione."
She searched his eyes for a long moment. The atmosphere in the room had completely changed. The lust from moments earlier had simmered into something more. Something she felt deep in her soul.
"That isn't me, Draco." She told him. "That's you, becoming the man you were always meant to be."
This time when he kissed her, she knew that it meant so much more than a physical attraction. She didn't know how it had happened so fast, but she knew she was falling for him. Falling hard.
Hell, she was tumbling head first off the cliff with no hope of surviving unscathed.