Draco stirred awake to find sleepy chocolate eyes on him. A smile tugged at his lips as he tightened his grip on her, burying his face back into the pillow.
"Good morning." Hermione cuddled a little closer into his chest, her eyes sliding shut once more.
"Bonjour, mademoiselle," he breathed, seeking her lips with a kiss. He could feel the upwards curve to her mouth as she sank into the contact, her tongue darting out to tease his own. "How are you feeling?"
She withdrew, eyelids fluttering open slowly once more. "Alright, I think." Grazing a hand along his side, she sobered. "You shared a lot with me last night. Are you okay?"
Draco felt a sudden bout of shame spike through him, dispelling the warmth and comfort he had felt upon waking with her in his arms. Brushing a kiss to her jaw, he glanced away. "I suppose so. Those things I shared last night... I want you to know that I don't... that isn't―"
"I know," she whispered.
He rolled onto his back, tugging her with him as he stared at the ceiling. "I have a difficult time opening up to people."
She laid her face on his chest, idly tracing the trail of subdued scar tissue leading down his abdomen; Draco forced a thick swallow as his body flared awake at the soft touch. "I've noticed that as well. But I hope you know you can talk to me."
Absently, Draco toyed with her loose curls splayed across his chest, snickering when his fingers snagged in her hair. She fired him a look.
"I know," he sighed at last. "At least, I hope I can. There are so many things in my past that, looking back, I can't reconcile with the person I've tried to become. Things I believed, implicitly, without question."
For a moment, Hermione remained silent, her fingers still drifting along his scars, gentle and distracting. His attention to the matter at hand faltered at her touch, and his mind raced back to the conversation they'd shared several nights prior. He hadn't wanted to press, or to push things too soon when the whole situation between them had felt so uncertain and tumultuous.
But ever since they'd broached the subject, Draco hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. Her soft skin, bared to his gaze and hands. The feel of her when he―
"I don't know that I ever want to meet your father," she admitted, the words acting like a bucket of cold water as heat began to race in his veins at the thought.
"I don't want you to meet my father," Draco scoffed, feeling a flush of colour in his cheeks. "But with the investigation ongoing, you'll likely never have to."
"What will happen to him?"
He released a long sigh. "He's on trial for the Dementor's Kiss. It's... not pleasant. Dementors are wraiths that feed on positive emotion, and they feast on human souls."
"Souls?"
Draco grimaced, realising how barbaric it must have sounded without any context. Hell, even with context it was barbaric. "Right. So if he's found guilty―and the evidence is likely to lead in that direction―he'll lose his soul. Essentially, he would just be a shell of who he once was." Explaining the process left it clinical enough that he could do his best to ignore the sudden lump in his throat.
"That sounds dreadful," she breathed. "I'm sorry, Draco."
He nodded slowly, releasing a breath. "Yeah." She peered up at him, eyes wide and devastated for him, and Draco offered a grimace. "He's terrible, but he's still my father. I don't really know what to make of it―and maybe that's why my supervisor didn't want me anywhere near the case."
"I'm sorry you've had to deal with so many things at once," she said quietly.
She had a way about making his heart race, and Draco didn't know what to make of that either. He couldn't rationalise it to himself, and maybe it wasn't rational, but he didn't know how to face whatever it was. His suspicions pointed in one direction with which he was wholly unfamiliar.
Pushing back the thoughts, he pulled her tight into himself and, in a quick motion, rolled the pair of them so he was hovering over her, her back flat on the bed.
"We aren't here in Paris to be sad all weekend," he muttered, ducking in to plant a string of kisses along her throat and down towards the curve of her chest. A bright, mirthful laugh fell from her lips as she tracked her hands up his back. "I don't know about you, but I want to enjoy our time together."
Hermione hummed softly in his ear, the sound of it prickling along his spine, and she sighed under his ministrations. "So do I." She lowered her voice and added, "Though I'm certain I would still enjoy myself if we spent all weekend in bed."
Pressing a kiss to the swell of her breast, Draco glanced up, allowing a wicked smirk to tug at his lips. "I would definitely enjoy that." He tweaked her nipple through the thin fabric of her shirt and a breath fell from her lips. She watched him through heavy lids, her gaze filled with delicious heat that he longed to indulge, and a soft groan fell from his lips. "We have a lot to do today."
"Yes," she whispered, slipping one hand into his hair even as she arched from the bed, bringing her chest closer to his face. "I suppose we should get up."
"Your words and actions are misaligned," Draco snickered, tugging the low collar of her shirt aside. Her stare lingered on him when he flicked the tip of his tongue out, teasing the peak of her nipple, then sucked it between his lips. Her grip tightened in his hair as she groaned, and taking it as encouragement, he ducked in, tasting and licking her breast as he gently palmed the other. "You're going to need to tell me if you want to get up or stay in bed," he drawled, switching his attention to the other side.
"You're making this decision very difficult," she said, the words breathy but with an undertone of humour. "I thought you wanted to go to the magical district."
"I've been there plenty," he said, even as he pulled back from her nipple with a quiet pop and flashed her a smile. "Maybe we'd best finish this later."
"Okay," she said, propping up on her elbows. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as he fixed her shirt, eyeing him with no small measure of desire that made him want to strip her fully bare beneath him.
Draco shifted back to catch her lips with his own, and muttered, "It isn't my fault you're so bloody gorgeous."
"Flattery will get you somewhere, Draco Malfoy," she breathed, "but later."
He flashed her a grin and swooped in for another kiss. "Deal."
Even though they were in Paris and not London, the thought registered in the back of his mind that it was their first proper outing together in wizarding society. Despite himself, Draco felt a swell of pride in his chest when Hermione laced her fingers through his, as though she didn't mind being seen with him.
The look on her face as she took in La Rue Mystique was more than he could have imagined. She had scarcely blinked since they arrived on the high street, her eyes filled with a glossy sheen of wonder.
In an odd way, it made Draco wish he hadn't grown up with the banalities of magic. If for no reason other than for the chance to experience it all for the first time.
"This is incredible," she said at his side, gaping at a group of wizards in vibrant robes who rushed past, a loud chattering in French following in their wake. The shop fronts on La Rue were alive with magic, dancing and swirling and drawing patrons through the doors.
"There's the wandmaker," Draco said, pointing out one shop, "but we'll have to visit the bank first."
Hermione had been insistent upon purchasing her own wand and other magical supplies, especially since Draco had paid for the hotel, but she had only Muggle currency.
"I keep wondering what happened to my old wand," she mused out loud, casting him a glance. "I must have had something with me in Australia, surely. But without knowing anything about where I went or what I did, there would be no way to figure any of that out."
"You didn't have anything with you when you woke up?" he asked, the idea catching in the back of his mind. "Your reports didn't include anything like that."
She hummed for a moment, gaze roving the shops as they made towards the bank. "I had a hotel key on me, and luggage in the room, but nothing remotely magical."
"Some sort of decoy maybe," he said quietly. "Your identification was false―maybe you were acting as a Muggle for some reason. I can't say where your magical supplies could have ended up. Potter might have a better idea about that."
"I'll ask him." Worrying her bottom lip, she added, "He intimidates me a little. He's supposed to be my best friend and I feel like he knows me better than I know him. Which, of course, isn't his fault."
"Potter's naturally intimidating," Draco acquiesced. "He means well, though. But if you need him to back off, just tell him."
She gave his hand a squeeze, beaming up at him. "I'll ask him about my things. He might know something. Although it's been years at this point, so it likely won't matter."
"Speaking of," Draco said, catching her eye, "I asked Potter about the composition of your old wand, in case it's useful to know. He didn't know the exact length, only that it was vine wood with a dragon heartstring core."
"Oh!" Her mouth fell open in surprise. "That's wonderful."
Draco came to a halt in front of the white marble facade of the Parisian branch of Gringotts. "This isn't our home branch, of course, so whatever you have by way of a vault won't be accessible here, but we can check when we get back to England if you like. You'll be able to exchange currency though."
"And if we go in England..." she trailed off, hesitancy crossing her brow. "People will recognise me?"
"Yes. It's up to you how you want to go about all of that. Neither Potter nor I have updated your case files yet." He hesitated, and added, "Although we should. But it isn't technically a criminal investigation anymore."
"I appreciate that," she said quietly, "but I think if I'm going to do this and attempt to reintegrate back into a magical life, memory or not, I'd like to clear the air. Even if it'll be a lot to take in for a while."
Nodding slowly, he gave her hand another squeeze before swinging the door open. "That's your decision to make. I just don't want you to overwhelm yourself."
In the back of his mind, always, the thought lurked that at any point all of this could be too much. That her memory damage could be irreversible―or worse, that her mind could overload and she could suffer some sort of adverse reaction.
"Neither do I," she whispered.
Gesturing into the bank, he drawled, "After you."
"You know," Hermione said, her brow tight with concentration, "I can't help but wonder if I knew French. Not necessarily well, and not fluent like you, but enough to understand some of what people are saying around us."
His lips twitched at the thought. More than once, he'd caught her staring at him as he spoke French, heat in her eyes. With the attendants at the hotel, the shopkeepers, the banker.
"It's possible," he said, quelling the thought. "I wondered whether you might―in the same way you still knew how to read and write in English despite forgetting the content of what you must have read before. That difference between learned knowledge and inherent understanding."
She nodded, looping her hand through his elbow and tucking into his side. "It's fascinating." Her eyes flitted to his, as though measuring his reaction. "Something I might want to dig into a bit more if I speak with that healer."
Draco froze, nearly stumbling a step as his momentum dropped off. "You've decided to meet with the healer?"
"Yes." Her brows knitted as she turned to face him. "I've been thinking about it, and while the idea frightens me in case something goes wrong to make everything worse, I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering… wishing I could remember."
His heart surged and he pulled her into a kiss on the pavement. Tucking a curl behind her ear, he breathed, "Okay."
Draco had known for a while now that he was in trouble when it came to her―further exacerbated by their conversation the night before and the way he had felt that morning, her body pliant beneath his hands.
But the cautious wonder that crossed her face when they entered the wandmaker's shop left a strange tightness in his chest.
He stayed out of the way, watching as she conversed with the proprietor and tested wand after wand, her eyes alight when they snagged on his. And he could still remember it, too―picking out his wand at only eleven years old. The sudden surge of warmth and natural, inherent energy that came from recognising the wand that was meant to be.
Draco saw the sparkle in her eyes before he felt the swell of her magic. The raw power that filled the small shop and left his mouth dry.
And he bit down on his bottom lip, the essence of her magic teasing against his own core and setting every part of him ablaze.
"I think that might be the one," she whispered.
"That's the one," Draco echoed softly.
The wandmaker simply clapped his hands together, a self-satisfied smile crossing his face. "Magnifique!"
As the man proceeded to pack it up and ring it through the register, Hermione drifted to Draco's side, some of the tension gone from her shoulders. A smile played about her lips as her eyes drifted sidelong to his, and she said, "It's dragon heartstring."
Draco felt a jolt race through him and drawled, "Of course it is."
"Where to next?"
He proffered his hands in supplication. "Wherever you want to go. We have a dinner reservation at eight―and beyond that, the day is yours."
He almost couldn't bear the unreserved joy shining through her countenance, and he didn't think he could ever get used to the way she smiled at him. "That sounds perfect," she whispered, "because I'd like to see it all."
Draco pulled her close, planting a kiss into her hair. "That doesn't surprise me in the slightest."
Draco fiddled with his cufflinks, glancing up when Hermione emerged from the loo. He sucked in a sharp inhale; forced an audible gulp.
By the time they had returned to the hotel, Draco was exhausted from exploring from one end of La Rue Mystique to the other. But it had been worth it to see the brightness in her face as she took it all in, an insatiable curiosity in her eyes leaving him with a thrill chasing down his spine.
As soon as he began planning their trip, he had made dinner reservations at one of the trendiest and most highly coveted spots in all of wizarding Paris. His eyes swept the length of her, however, and Draco instantly decided he would have happily forgone the rest of their plans.
Hermione wore a small black dress, the cut of the collar classy but sumptuous, revealing enough cleavage for his imagination to run away with him, and the hemline stopping at her mid-thigh. Her curls were artfully tousled in a way that shot straight to his groin, her eyes were lined with smoky makeup that spoke to the darkest parts of him.
She snagged her bottom lip, painted in a deep red, between her teeth as she approached, a smile curling her mouth, and Draco realised he hadn't moved since she stepped out. Her tall black heels brought her nearly to eye level, and he clamped his jaw shut as he observed her.
"You look beautiful." The words fell, softer and less certain than he'd intended them, and he cleared his throat, securing the cufflink at last. A hint of colour brightened her cheekbones as she ran her hands down the fabric of his shirt.
"You're looking quite sharp yourself," she said softly, and it took Draco several moments to drag his stare up from her lips.
Blood thrummed, coursing through his veins just below the surface of his skin, and his tongue darted out. "I don't suppose you want to just skip dinner altogether and say we did," he said, only half teasing.
A burst of mirth fell from her lips as her fingers curled around the silk of his tie. "I'm tempted."
Draco blinked at her, an irrational fear darting through him that she might simply vanish. He wanted to reach for her, to indulge himself in the enticing call of her creamy skin, but he didn't know if they would make their reservation.
He simply tugged one of her curls between his fingers, toying with the spiral before letting it spring back. "You are the most exquisite woman I've ever met."
"Draco," she breathed, a knit lifting into her brow. Her face faltered for just a moment though a soft smile returned. Her fingers drifted to the freshly shaven line of his jaw, and she sucked in a quick breath. "You're far too good to me."
Thinning his lips, he managed a snicker. "If only that were true. Maybe I have too many years to make up for."
Her other hand nudged his, fingers entwining with his own. "I admit I'm looking forward to a nice evening out with you," she said, her eyes darkening. "But the sooner we go, the sooner we can return."
Momentarily speechless, Draco forced a breath from his lungs and the tension from his stance as he collected his jacket from the back of the chair and slipped it on. "Noted."
And he tugged her from the room.
The restaurant was everything Draco had heard and more. The food: expensive but impeccable. The ambiance: thrilling, romantic, sensuous. The wine: a much better pairing than he could have picked himself.
But he scarcely noticed any of it, so enraptured in the company.
The teasing sparkle in her eye, the subtle way her magic flared and played about the air between them since she had selected a wand. The way her darkened lips curved with a wicked smile in his direction.
Draco felt hot around the collar all through the meal, and he didn't think he was the only one. When the toe of her shoe nudged against his knee below the table after they were through, he thought he might have simply dragged her off to the loo. But instead he folded his handkerchief into a tidy square atop the table, left an exorbitant stack of galleons for the meal and gratuity, and led her from the restaurant.
Although they had walked the short distance from the hotel, Draco barely managed to pull her into the alley beside the building before her lips were on his, her hands sliding back to the nape of his neck as he dragged a hand down her back and pulled her flush into him.
His lips parted to the sweep of her tongue, insistent and voracious, and his stomach twisted into a flurry of knots.
"Hold on," he muttered against her mouth, clutching her tight to him as he turned on the spot and pulled them both into Apparition. Hermione tensed with surprise, her eyes wide when they landed within the wards of their hotel room, but Draco only flashed her a smirk and pulled her in again.
The kiss softened, deepening into something indolent and teasing as he backed her into the wall, trailing kisses along the curve of her jaw. Slipping a hand beneath the thin strap of her dress, Draco pulled it down around her shoulder, following the feather light touch with kisses.
Chest heaving, she pushed his jacket from his shoulders and pulled at the silk of his tie, her fingers shaking a little as she fumbled with the knot.
Draco paused, waiting for her as he caught her eye, her pupils so large they nearly eclipsed her irises, and desire shot straight through him. Capturing one of her breasts through the thin fabric of her dress, he brushed her peaked nipple and a slow grin dragged across his face as he teased it gently with his fingers, inciting a soft cry from her lips.
She threw his tie to the floor, drawing in a shaky breath, and began on the buttons of his shirt. Holding her stare, Draco slipped loose his cufflinks, setting them on the sideboard before she tugged his shirttails from his trousers and pushed the fabric from his shoulders.
He stared at her for a long moment, tongue darting out to moisten his lips. Her hair was wild and disheveled, her eyes sparkling with lust, the straps of her dress around her arms.
At last, her lips tweaked upward. "What?"
"Nothing," he said, catching her lips in another searing kiss. "I just want to enjoy this for a moment."
She sank back against the wall with a smile, tugging him closer by his belt buckle, and Draco propped a hand to the wall beside her face.
"I intend to enjoy all of it," she breathed, slipping the buckle loose. A soft groan fell from his mouth when her fingers grazed his erection.
Draco snickered, reaching up the small of her back towards the zip of her dress, and slowly dragged it down before freeing the fabric. She hadn't worn a bra, and he raked his gaze over her bare chest as the dress pooled at her feet and she toed it carefully aside. She stood in only her black lace knickers and her heels, and Draco's arousal throbbed as he took her in.
"Fucking gorgeous," he whispered, ducking in to capture her breast with his lips.
He sucked and teased at her flesh, swirling his tongue around the nipple as he palmed the other, luxuriating in the soft sounds the actions drew from her throat as her nails raked his back.
She groaned his name, dragging a hand through his hair, and he hitched her closer with one hand to her back.
Hermione ground against him, creating a glorious friction; Draco drew in a long, deep breath. If he wasn't careful he would barely last with the way she made him feel encompassed by heat. But he had promised her he was going to take his time―and he intended to do so.
She reached for the closure of his trousers with one hand, tugging at the zipper and pushing his trousers free. She palmed his cock through his pants, and Draco buried his face in her throat with a groan.
Dragging a hand along the smooth curve of her hip and down her thigh, he found her knickers soaked. He released a shuddering breath, nudging the lace aside, and slipped a finger between her folds. She was already so wet for him his heart raced in anticipation, and as he drove his finger up inside of her, he caught her lips with a kiss.
Although she hadn't been shy about her intentions, and she wasn't as she pushed his shorts down his hips and took him fully in her hand, he murmured, "Are you sure you want to do this?" He pulled his pants the rest of the way down distractedly, kicking them to the floor.
"Absolutely," Hermione whispered, dragging her hand along his length. Chasing his lips in another kiss, she pumped him as he inserted another finger into her, and one of her legs wound up around his hip. "If you're sure?"
"Fuck yes I'm sure," he ground out, arousal growing and flaring within him at her languorous strokes.
Without warning, he withdrew his fingers from her cunt, grabbed her arse with his other hand and hitched her up into him. A bright laugh fell from her lips as he carried her across the suite and into the bedroom, and she kicked her shoes off as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Draco laid her upon the bedding with care, gazing down at her splayed out before him for a long moment. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes darkened with desire, and she bit down on her bottom lip as her eyes roved his form.
Climbing atop her, Draco pressed a kiss to her sternum, trailing a line down her abdomen and grazing his teeth along her hipbone as he toyed with the waist of her knickers.
He tugged the fabric free, planting kisses to her thigh, her knee, her calf as he went, before tossing them to the floor behind him. He sucked in a careful breath, adrenaline roaring through him and pulsing as a dull roar. Sliding his palms down her thighs, he spread her legs as he held her gaze for another prolonged moment.
Anticipation and desire danced in her eyes as she watched, her chest rising rapidly with each intake of breath. Draco leaned down again, tasting the skin of her inner thigh, raking his teeth along her flesh and making her squirm. With a smirk, he eyed her exposed pussy, drinking in the sight of her bare before him, and ducked in.
He flicked the tip of his tongue out, tasting her clit, and a cry fell from her lips. Laving his tongue along the moisture in her slit, he allowed his eyes to fall shut when her hand swept through his hair, her nails grazing his scalp. Teasing the bundle of nerves again, he sucked it between his lips, indulging in her soft cries of his name.
As Draco set a rhythm with his lips and tongue, he carefully shifted her leg further and slipped two fingers into her tight warmth, plunging into her as he lost himself in her decadence.
"Draco," she breathed, her fingers tangling in his hair, tugging just hard enough to bite. Her thighs began to tremble as he doubled his efforts, swirling his tongue around her clit as he thrust his fingers inside of her.
Hermione came with a cry, her walls tightening and legs shaking as her chest heaved with the draw of breath. As she came down, he grazed his thumb gently against her clit and pressed a kiss to the interior of her thigh. Licking her juices from his lips, he pushed up, finding her searing gaze on him. His already throbbing heart leapt into a race.
She pulled him in for a kiss, her breath heated and enticing as she drew his cock into her hand again and dragged her thumb through the bead of moisture at the head.
Without preamble, she positioned him at her entrance and, releasing a breath, offered a bit of a nod.
In one smooth movement, Draco sheathed himself to the hilt inside of her. A heavy breath fell from his lips as he blinked at her, the feel of her so divine wrapped around his cock he could hardly bear it.
Wrapping a hand around the back of his head, she drew him in for another kiss, and his eyelids fluttered shut as he began to move. Careful at first, testing the feel of it as he rolled his hips against hers, sliding into her tight walls.
She arched from the bed with a breath, a quiet exultation of his name, and the movement drove him deeper still. Measuring her reaction, Draco withdrew to just the tip, then slammed back into her, drawing a cry from her lips. He smiled into her jaw, planting a string of kisses to her neck and collarbone as he set a teasing, punishing pace.
"That feels so good," she groaned, her quiet words spurring him on as he drove into her, already feeling his impending orgasm threaten.
Her nails dragged along the flesh of his shoulders; a thin sheen of perspiration broke along his temples as he pushed into her, faster, her quiet cries playing about his nerves as he kissed her again, less careful and with a lingering edge of desperation. The intensity of the moment swept through him, her leg winding up his hip and urging him deeper, harder.
"Fuck, Hermione," he breathed, biting into the line of her collarbone as her breaths fell faster, her bare skin slick against his own.
And still he drove into her, lost to the feel of her wrapped around him, as she clung to him and erased the space between them. Draco felt every part of himself tighten, release a blur at the edges of his vision, and he sought her clit with the pad of his thumb.
She broke with an incoherent cry, his name falling from her lips as her walls clenched around him, and thrusting into her again, climax crested and peaked within him like the crash of a wave.
His vision went dark with the sweep of pleasure racing with his pulse, and he spilled into her with a groan. Draco stilled above her, the tension breaking from his muscles, and he sank, sated, alongside her, his heart racing uncontrollably.
Easing himself out from within her, he sucked in a deep lungful of air and stared at her sleepy chocolate eyes.
A lazy smile curled her lips as she gazed back, something shining within her eyes that reached every part of him. Draco brushed his thumb along the line of her cheekbone and ducked in to plant a lingering kiss against her mouth.
Palming her lower abdomen, he released a soft swell of magic; a breath hitched in her throat as she drew back, and he drawled, "Contraceptive charm."
"I'm on the pill," she whispered, and Draco snickered.
"I don't know what that means."
Another soft, indolent smile curved her lips. "I suppose it doesn't matter."
Draco only hitched her close against him, her skin still warm, and breathed deeply of her hair. Exhaustion pulled at his eyes in the darkness of the room, and her eyelids slid shut as she clung to him. He pulled the sheets over them both, pressing a kiss to her temple.
"Good night, Hermione," he murmured, his lips lingering against her skin as he felt a strange fluttering of thoughts playing about the back of his mind. But he didn't know what to make of the rest of it, and he bit back the urge to say anything more.
She only released a quiet, contented sigh, and tucked into his chest. "Good night, Draco."
Before he could make any sense of the strange intensity thrumming in his heart, he drifted to sleep in her embrace.
Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this one! I so love reading your lovely comments.
Much love to my alpha and beta on this story, Kyonomiko and FaeOrabel.
One additional note for my FFN readers: some of you might already know, and there are more details on my profile, but I've been gradually shifting more of my content to AO3 exclusively for a handful of reasons. A number of my recent stories/one shots are only on AO3 (especially the explicit ones). I'm going to finish posting Adrift here, but I'm not sure yet whether I'll post my next WIP on FFN. You can find my AO3 handle on my profile if you prefer that. So... just a heads up, and thanks for your understanding xo
