AN: Welcome to the new readers out there. Thank you for giving this story a chance. And for those of you that have been with me all along, thanks!
This is one of my favorite chapters. It's a little citrus-y. You're welcome.
Lost Souls of Nott Castle
Chapter 19 - Choice Made
Friday finally arrived. After finishing at work for the day, Draco had a few errands to run. He made a few stops before stopping at the Leaky Cauldron to meet Blaise and Theo for drinks. Part of him felt guilty for leaving Hermione alone for the evening, but she had insisted that it was fine.
She had spent the last two days reading, researching and practicing the charms in the set of books they had pulled from Hogwarts. She was unstoppable. Obsessed even. And getting close to being ready to attempt the unplottable charm. There was no way he would pull her away from that.
The waitress brought them their food and refilled their drinks.
"You think she's actually going to pull it off?" Blaise asked during a lull in conversation.
Draco glanced up at him, then at Theo.
"Have you ever known her to fail at anything she sets her mind to?" He asked, raising his brow. Of course she would pull it off. This was Granger they were talking about.
"She isn't infallible," Theo pointed out. "And from what I've seen, it takes years of practice to perfect these charms. She's had, what? Three days?"
He simply stared at his friend for a long moment. Was he actually doubting her abilities?
"She brewed polyjuice potion when she was twelve years old." He responded, as if that was all the proof they needed that she was an incredibly talented witch.
"We have one week left until NEWT's." Blaise reminded them. "I would think she'd be focusing on that right about now instead."
Draco just raised his brow and shook his head. She knew the material for their tests front and back. She could probably pass those tests with one arm tied behind her back.
This project was more than a challenge for her. It was more than peace of mind. This is what she lived for. She was having the time of her life right now.
He knew it from the time he had spent with her the previous evening. She had been so animated as she told him about the charm and the different aspects that she needed to consider in order to cast it successfully.
The conversation at their table drifted to other topics. They were finished with their food and working on their third round of butterbeer when they were interrupted by an unwelcome guest.
Harry Potter walked right up to their table and leaned over, placing his hands on the wooden table top directly across from Draco.
"Malfoy," he seethed with as much venom as he could inject into his voice.
"Potter. What an unpleasant surprise."
Theo had frozen in place with his glass halfway to his mouth. Blaise pushed back from the table ever so slightly. Draco simply leaned back and smirked up at the man that he had hated most of his life.
"Where is she?" Potter growled.
"You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that, mate." Draco took a long pull from his mug.
"Hermione. She hasn't been to work in days. Where is she?"
Fury rushed through his veins. There was only one way that Potter would have known she hadn't been to work. He had been watching her. Spying on her. Stalking her, even.
"My guess would be in a library somewhere." He shrugged his shoulders in a bored gesture.
"I don't know what kind of game you think you are playing here, but I promise you are going to lose." Potter glared across the table. His hand tightened into a fist and he stopped just short of pounding it on the table.
Draco had made it a habit over the last several years to rile up his dark haired nemesis on every occasion that he could. In all that time, he had only seen the man this angry one other time. That had landed him in the hospital wing for days as Snape tried to heal the wounds Potter had left behind with one careless curse.
"I'm not playing any games, Potter." He leaned forward in his seat and returned the glare. "And what, exactly, is it that you think I'm going to lose?"
A grin stretched across the dark haired wizard's face.
"She's mine, Malfoy." He stated with a laugh. "She will be, anyway. One way or the other."
Draco's chair scraped across the floor behind him as he stood and mirrored Potter's stance, leaning on the table.
"Draco," Theo hissed a warning.
"She doesn't belong to anyone, Potter, least of all you. The sooner you get that through your thick skull, the better off you'll be."
The smile fell off of Harry's face and was replaced by a look of bewilderment, then slow dawning understanding.
"You actually think she would pick you over me." It was a statement, not a question, and the disbelief in his voice spoke volumes.
Draco let his lip curl up into a smirk. Then he stood tall and looked down on the other wizard.
"I think she already has." He raised his eyebrow and dared Potter to contradict him. "You know it's true. Otherwise, why would you be asking me where she is?"
Off to his side, Blaise chuckled while Harry's face contorted in anger. Around them, people were starting to take notice of the growing confrontation between the two men.
"Mark my words, Ferret. It's the last mistake she'll ever make." Harry seethed in a voice just low enough that only the four of them could hear what he said. Then he turned and stormed out of the tavern.
Draco watched him go, wishing he could curse the man in the back as he walked away.
"The nerve," Theo seethed in a tone that Draco had rarely heard him use.
"It's high time someone put that prat in his place," Blaise followed up with a tone that rivaled Theo's.
Draco looked back and forth between his two friends, realizing that although neither of them had romantic intentions towards Hermione as he did, they both had developed affection for her as well. They cared about her and wanted to protect her, too.
"Sorry to cut things short, but I need to go." He tossed some coins on the table to settle his tab. Then he stepped out into the alley and apperated back to Nott Castle as quickly as he could.
He took the stairs to the library two at a time and found Hermione sitting at the table reading over her notes. Relief washed through him as soon as he saw her, even though he had known she was fine.
She was engrossed in what she was doing, her hand mimicking wand movements as she read. She shook her head, dropped the parchment to the table and groaned out loud in frustration. Her head tilted back to the ceiling. Only then did she realize he was there.
"Hey," she smiled at him. "How long have you been standing there?"
She stretched her arms over her head.
"Not long." He admitted.
"You're home early. I figured you guys would be out a lot later. Wait. What time is it?" She looked at the clock as she realized it may have been later than she originally thought.
He ran his hand through his hair then joined her at the table.
"Potter was there." He told her with a deep sigh.
Her movements stilled.
"And?" She asked after a long moment.
"And, I may have confirmed his suspicions about us." He sighed.
She appraised him for a long moment. Then she moved from her chair to sit down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"What did he say?" She asked.
"That you belong to him." He ran his hand up and down her thigh, pulled her closer to his chest. "That choosing me over him would be the last mistake you ever make."
Her eyes met his. A smirk tugged on her lips.
"Best mistake of my life," she told him.
He stared into her eyes for a lifetime, searching for something he hoped to see. He found what he was looking for buried in her brown depths. Honesty. Conviction. Vulnerability.
Then he was kissing her. Their tongues tangled together. They breathed together as one. Over and over their lips met as he tasted her.
His hand tangled in her hair and held her ever closer. His other hand slid under her shirt and spread across her back.
She moaned into his mouth, then pulled away just long enough to move so she was straddling his lap. Then she was kissing him again, drinking him in.
Both of his hands were under her shirt now, sliding across her skin, lifting the silky fabric inch by inch until the night breeze hit her exposed flesh. She pulled back until her eyes met his. They were breathing hard, trying to catch their breath. Her hands were on his shoulders. Slowly, deliberately, she lifted her arms into the air, making sure to keep her eyes locked on his.
Just as slowly, he pulled her shirt up and over her head, discarding it behind her. He kept his eyes locked on hers as his hands skimmed back down her arms. He guided her hands back to his neck.
Then his lips were on hers again. He pulled her closer, moaning as she ground herself against his erection. Her head fell back and he kissed her neck. His hands skimmed up her sides and slid across her lace covered breasts.
"Draco," she moaned and she ground against him again. He cupped her breasts, letting his thumbs skim across her hardened nipples. The noise that escaped her throat went straight to his cock.
His hands moved quickly to her hips and he pulled her down in a hard thrust.
"Hermione, look at how fucking sexy you are," he growled against her chest. His tongue darted out to lick her lace covered nipple.
"Oh fuck, Draco." Her back arched. Her hand gripped his hair, holding him there until he wrapped his lips around her breast and sucked gently. Her resulting moan seemed to echo through the library.
In the back of his mind, a small voice told him to take her to his room. He ignored that voice. He didn't want her in his bed. He wanted her right then. Right there. Any way he could get her.
Abruptly she pulled away, stood up and backed against the table. She was breathing heavily. Her face flushed, her lips plump and red from his attentions. He thought maybe he had pushed too far, until she kicked off one shoe, then the other.
He swallowed thickly and readjusted himself as he watched her unbutton her pants.
"Are you sure?" He stood in front of her, tilting her chin up with one hand so he could look into her eyes.
"I want you to touch me, Draco." She replied with absolute determination. "I want you to feel what you do to me."
He kissed her. As his tongue slipped in her mouth, his hands slid down her sides to her waist. He continued, pushing her pants over her hips and letting them fall to the floor. Then he lifted her up on the table.
"You know exactly what you do to me." He pulled her against him. "Don't you?"
She made that moaning sound that she knew he loved. He held her there against him. He pressed his forehead against hers. Their eyes locked together as he rocked against her again.
"Draco," she pleaded.
"Tell me, Hermione. Tell me what you want me to do."
"I don't know," she said with a small laugh. "I just need more."
His hand slid between them. He kept his eyes locked on hers as his fingers slid closer to her center.
"You wanted me to touch you." He waited for her to nod her head and whisper 'yes' before he continued.
Her eyes fluttered shut as his fingers slid through her wet heat. They both moaned in appreciation as he explored her most intimate region.
"Fucking hell, you are so wet," he gasped in appreciation.
She leaned forward and kissed him deeply as his long fingers slid between her slick folds. Her hand dropped down to his waist and fumbled with the button on his pants.
"Hermione, Love," he muttered against her skin. "I don't want our first time to be on a table in Theo's library."
Despite his words, he didn't stop her when she slid her hand against his hard length.
"Me either," she told him as she wrapped her hand around him. He bucked against her and pressed his fingertips further inside her folds.
Their eyes met for a brief moment. Then they were kissing almost frantically. Together they found the perfect rhythm. Two of his fingers plunged inside her as she pumped his cock with her hand. The soft sucking sounds of their lips mixed with moans of ecstasy as they pushed each other higher and higher.
He was going to cum all over her. His brain told him to stop before that happened. Instead he pumped into her fist harder.
"Draco," she breathed against him. He pushed a third finger inside her. She shuddered in his arms. "Oh Merlin, Draco. Don't stop."
"Never, Princess." He growled into her ear.
She was rocking against his hand now. For a moment he considered saying to hell with propriety. She was so fucking wet. And she was ready. He knew it. It would be so easy to just bury himself inside her right then and there.
She was pulsing around his fingers, so hot and so tight. Her head fell back and she moaned loudly, the sound echoing off the books that surrounded them. As she came, she tightened her hand around his cock, increasing the pressure and the rhythm. He came only moments after her, spurting hot cum all over her hand and leg.
Their bodies stilled, but they remained wrapped around each other for a long moment while they each tried to catch their breath.
"Holy fuck," she whispered against his chest.
He lifted her chin and kissed her gently. Then with a shaky breath, he stepped away.
Slowly, they re-dressed themselves and cleaned up the mess they had made.
"I may need to buy Theo a new table," he told her with a very self-satisfied smirk on his face.
"Do you have any idea how hard it will be to concentrate on anything at this table now?" She laughed.
He stood behind her with his arms around her waist, holding her back against his chest.
"Stay with me tonight."
She glanced up at him over her shoulder and nodded. She returned to her own room to shower and change, then joined him in his room.
They lay together in his bed, wrapped around each other.
He was drifting off to sleep when he heard her mumble "Draco?"
"Yes, Princess?" He asked into the darkness.
She hesitated. He could almost hear the internal debate she was having on whether or not to say whatever it was she wanted to say.
"Nevermind," she mumbled with a sigh.
He ran his hand across her back in slow circles and waited. A few seconds later, she propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. The room was dark, but he could feel the weight of her stare.
"Just say it, Granger."
She released a deep breath.
"What did you say to him?"
"To who? Potter?" His brow furrowed in confusion. That had not been what he was expecting her to say at all.
"Well, you said you might have confirmed his suspicions about us. Right? So what did you say?"
He released a short laugh and ran his hand over his face as he thought back to the conversation he had with Potter hours earlier.
"Well, he laughed at me. Said that you wouldn't pick me over him." He hesitated a few seconds. "I told him that you already had."
She stared at him for a long moment. Then she leaned in and kissed him.
"Good night, Malfoy." She said before laying back down with her head on his chest.
"Good night, Granger." He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes.
Lying in the dark, a smile tugged at his lips as one resounding thought rebounded through his mind.
She didn't deny it.
AN: I would love to hear your thoughts! Until next time.
-mezy