A/N: First off, I want to apologize for this missing the update last week. There's more notes at the end of this chapter but I don't want to keep you waiting any longer.
But before I let you go, Archie… my sweetest and biggest fan- Babe, this chapter is for you.
Soundtrack- "Tribulation (Stripped)" by Matt Maeson
Chapter 24
Hermione was furious. Furious with him, with herself, and with pretty much everything right now. He had turned into the cruel purist that he had always been as soon as she had… as soon as she had said that she didn't want someone like him to love her. It had been harsh, but it was how she had felt! But she hadn't meant him, Draco, she had meant a Death Eater.
But wasn't that what he was? He called Voldemort his Master and he told her his plan to serve him once he accomplished his task here. The murder.
The murder he didn't want to do though! The murder he had been putting off so that he would have more time to talk to her and try and fix things between them and now it was all more convoluted an than it ever had been before.
She leaned back in her seat, breathing deeply. So this is where they were now. Separate and alone but still bound to each other by the dark secret they shared. And the love. She couldn't forget about the love.
She couldn't forget about the love.
The lies, the hurt, the hate, it all buzzed in her mind like a swarm of angry insects, but then she'd remember the cool feeling of his hands in her hair, the crisp mint of his lips, his tongue, the misty grey of his eyes as they pulled tight when he slid himself inside of her.
Oh goodness. Hermione felt her heat rush through her and pool between her legs. She crossed them quickly and shifted in her seat a little. She shouldn't think about Draco like that anymore.
She shouldn't think about the lightning strikes in his stormy eyes when he got excited or his deep chuckle that reverberated in her ears or how he looked so cute and almost bashful when he smiled.
Hermione took a deep breath in through her nose and dipped her quill back in her inkwell before bending down to finish her Arithmancy homework. Tomorrow was the last day of classes before their exams and then after that it would be the end of the term and she could leave and go home and-
And sit in her room and think about him all summer. Wonder what he was doing and if he was okay. Worry that he would be forced to commit acts like the one he had over Christmas. Would he be thinking of her? Would he miss her?
Probably not. She wasn't anything but a Mudblood whore to him right? No. Hermione sighed and paused, forgetting the premise of the paragraph she was on. She had thought over everything he said that night and again and again came to the conclusion that he had done what he always did and strike out at her when he felt wounded.
She had said something harsh to him and so he had said something harsher. But she hadn't meant she didn't want him to love her, she just didn't want a Death Eater to. Because she didn't want to love a Death Eater back. But she did. Godric help her, but she did.
Part of her wanted to go and find him, tell them exactly that and somehow it would all work out, right? But this wasn't a fairy tale and the only kind of prince Draco was, was a Slytherin Prince. He certainly hadn't wasted anytime taking that mantle up again either. He certainly played this part this morning in Transfiguration.
"Pansy!" Draco said, sounding impressed as Hermione sat herself down next to Harry before McGonagall arrived, pushing her curly hair out of her face. She was bending down, pulling her book from her bag when she heard his voice and looked back over her shoulder to see Pansy walking in front of Draco's desk in the back of the class.
"Damn, you look good today."
Pansy laughed her bark like laugh and shook her short black hair, swaying her hips as she passed in front of him.
"Oh no you don't," Draco snaked out an arm and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him. "I've got a seat for you right here." He pulled her down onto his lap.
Pansy gave a small squeal and wiggled a little on him, crossing her legs so her skirt rode up on her thigh.
Hermione felt sick watching them. Draco's grey eyes gleamed as he slid his hands over Pansy's waist. He snapped his jaws at her playfully and Pansy fell into a fit of giggles, pushing against his chest as he growled and pulled her back to him. Hermione could feel her face pulling in distaste. It was disgusting what he was doing and it was even more disgusting that it was working.
She wanted to march over there and yank Pansy off of him by her short black hair and slap Draco before grabbing his tie and haul him up to her and show Pansy what he really looked like when he was turned on. Burning cold flames licked her insides and she felt one of her eyes twitching.
Draco pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, smirking smugly as Pansy ran her hands up around the back of his neck and played with his hair a little.
She wanted to vomit.
And that's what he wanted. Well, maybe not to make her spill her breakfast, but to get on her nerves at least. He was trying to make her jealous, trying to make her feel something. It was juvenile, but effective. But she didn't have to let him know that. Hermione turned back around where Ron was turned around in his seat and looking at her with a troubled expression on his face.
"Are you okay? You look upset."
"I'm fine, Ronald!" She snapped and hoped that Draco hadn't heard her. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," she said in a softer voice as Ron pulled back from her. "I'm just nervous about exams and I want McGonagall to her here so we can start to cover everything we need to before-"
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
Hermione spun back around to see Nott standing next to Draco who still had Pansy on his lap.
"Oh, playtime's over." Draco grinned at Pansy and patted her ass right before Nott grabbed Pansy's arm and hauled her up from Draco's lap.
"Ow, Theo, that hurts!" she whined, but Nott didn't let go.
"I was just keeping her warm for you, Theo," Draco smirked and leaned back, stretching out his legs.
"Pansy is my girlfriend. Where's yours? Or did you get dumped again?"
A few students made low noises of surprise and shock and Hermione felt heat rush up into her face furiously.
Draco stood up slowly and Nott pulled Pansy a little farther away from him. She saw his fingers twitch at his side and knew he was seconds away from either cursing Nott or hitting him.
"Why have my own when I can have yours any time I want? Isn't that right Pansy?" Draco tilted his head and smirked at her.
"Draco, don't…" Pansy said in a strained voice and tried to pull at Nott's hand still wrapped tightly around her arm.
"See? She doesn't want you," Nott snarled.
Draco leaned forward. "You sure about that?"
Theo glared back at him and then pulled Pansy away to another desk. Pansy whimpered a little and rubbed her wrist as he threw her down in a chair, glancing back and forth between the two Slytherins.
Hermione's body felt numb and she knew she was staring, but at least she wasn't the only one this time. Almost everyone was watching Nott glower in Draco's direction while he rolled his eyes and leaned over to whisper something low to Crabbe who chuckled darkly in response.
The rest of the class started to settle back down in the still tense atmosphere, but Hermione was not able to pull her gaze away from Draco. Her heart rate spiked as he glanced at her. His lids hung low over his eyes and she could now see purple tinged circles under them and noticed a hint of stubble along his jaw. He threw her a sneering smirk before dragging his eyes over to Theo and Pansy's desk.
Hermione watched as his smirk turned mischievous and he threw a wink over at Pansy.
"That's it!" Nott stood up, slamming his hands onto his desk. "You fucking come near her again and I'll-"
"Mr. Nott!" Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway of the classroom. She was an imposing sight with her lips pursed tightly and her eyes blazing fiercely at Nott who awkwardly dropped back into his seat.
McGonagall took a moment to look around at the rest of the class who scrambled to get into their seats, pulling out quills, books, and notebooks.
Professor McGonagall stiffly yet quickly made her way to the front of the classroom, flicking her wand to close the door behind her before turning to glare sharply at the Slytherins in the back of the class as if daring them to make as much as a hiss.
"She should take points," Ron leaned back and muttered to Hermione and Harry. "Snape would do it to us."
"Mr. Weasley," her curt voice cut through the classroom. Ron paled and turned back to the front of the room. "I am quite capable of keeping order in my own classroom without your comments!"
"Yes ma'am," Ron gulped and Hermione saw the back of his neck and ears turn as red as his hair.
Draco snorted loudly and Hermione's head whipped back around, glaring at him just as harshly as she knew Professor McGonagall was.
"Sorry, Professor," Draco said smoothly. "I've been unwell."
He fake coughed loudly into his fist. She had to admit he didn't look well, but she didn't believe it was because he had been sick for a minute.
"Do you need to see Madame Pomfrey?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.
"No need," he said and his eyes met Hermione's again. "I'm getting better."
What he had meant by that she wasn't sure. She also didn't understand why he had said this wasn't over when he clearly was ready to move on. But Hermione wasn't asking him. In fact, she had ignored him completely for the rest of the day and well into the evening until she had fallen back into her deep thoughts of him.
Hermione set her quill down and looked over her Arithmany work before sighing and rolling it up. It was late and she was exhausted. Her mind had not stopped spinning, going over and over everything that Draco had said to her.
Lavender and Parvati were already asleep when she got upstairs and she quietly dressed for bed. It felt unseasonably cool in the dorm tonight and Hermione thought about casting a warming charm on her sheets before realizing she was just too tired to do anything else tonight. Maybe Crookshanks could snuggle and keep her warm.
She sunk down into the soft bed, wishing her brain to slow enough so that she could find some rest tonight. Images of Draco slouched on the Library floor pervaded her mind, forcing themselves forward as she closed her eyes. Of course they did. He couldn't even give her a good night's sleep could he? Ugh, she was so angry with him!
"I love you, Hermione Granger."
Hermione sighed and curled up on her side.
I love you too, Draco.
Fuck her.
Fuck that bitch.
Fuck that god-awful dirty little Mud-
Draco took a swig from his bottle and then slammed it down on the table next to his bed. No. He had felt a bitter sick feeling when he used it again, as if it was poison in his mouth. But her face had been worse. He had done it again. He had hurt her in the way only he could.
He was a piece of shit.
And that's why she didn't want him to love her. Granger was a smart girl, she knew exactly who and what he was. And she didn't want him anymore. He'd even tried to take Veritaserum for her and somehow he had fucked that up too. By telling her he loved her. By opening up to her and being fucking honest on his own! Fuck, he had felt the second the Veritaserum had loosened its hold on him and he had stupidly opened his fucking mouth again and fucking told her he loved her.
He gave her everything. Everything he had. And she didn't even fucking want it.
Draco grabbed the bottle again and quickly swallowed down a couple mouthfuls, wincing as it burned deep into him. He should have just oblivated her. He was there, right fucking there. He could have plucked that memory right from her pretty little head and then taken her against the shelves just like he had before. Fucking her tight little cunt until she was moaning, coming, and declaring her love for him.
But that was never going to happen. Not now. This had all ended before it even started when he lied to her about the mark. He had always known, on some level, this was only a play out of the fantasies in his head and never anything real. He had just let himself believe that it was because it felt good. One shining golden thing in his cold, dark world.
But he couldn't stop. These feelings had dug claws into him, pulled him tight, and was mercilessly holding him hostage in his own body.
He brought the bottle to his lips again, but stopped when a deep wave of guilt rolled through him. She didn't like him when he drank. She didn't like him at all now, though. Still, he set the bottle back down and laid back, staring up at the canopy above his bed. Rich thick waves of dark green moved through it interspersed with intricately woven silver threads creating a scale-like pattern. How many nights had he stared up at that and thought of her?
Draco felt himself slowly start sinking into the depths of sleep, dragged under by the fire whisky and the mental exhaustion of going over everything again and again. Every time he caught her eye in class, every time he brushed his hand through her hair, every time she had said his name.
It wasn't just her body that he missed, it was her. He might not know much about her, but he knew who she was. He couldn't list her favorite food or color or make her laugh about something that happened years ago because they'd been best fucking friends forever, but he knew her bravery from when she got on his broom, and her kindness from when she tried to help him when he was drunk, and he knew her goddamn goodness because she had forgiven him for every terrible thing he'd done to her.
He closed his eyes and swallowed.
Fuck, Granger, I miss you.
The silence between his ears was deafening.
"Hermione, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Hermione looked at Parvati who looked at the little door to the bathroom in their dorm that Lavender had just disappeared into.
Hermione glanced at the bathroom door and heard the shower start running and Lavender start singing.
Parvati quickly crossed over to Hermione's side of the room and stood strangely close to her. Hermione felt a little uncomfortable and tried to find any indication as to what Parvati was about to say in her deep, dark eyes.
"Are you shagging Malfoy?"
Hermione paled. "W-what?"
"You and Malfoy," Parvati said seriously. "Is there something going on between you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione said breathlessly. "Malfoy? Can you imagine?"
"Lavender can."
Hermione's heart started beating in double time and her lungs stopped working altogether. Lavender's voice echoed in from the bathroom and Hermione felt the simmering anger flare up inside her.
"I really don't care what Lavender thinks of me-"
Parvati shook her head making her long silky hair shake down her back. "You don't understand. She thinks you're the reason she and Ron broke up. Now she's trying to ruin your relationship with him because she thinks you ruined hers. It's crazy, I know but Lavender says you're always sneaking looks at each other and that he was flirting with you one time after Charms."
Hermione did not take this lightly. She had noticed Lavender watching her over the past few months, Parvati too for that matter, but the fact that Parvati was here warning her instead of plotting to out her with Lavender showed the difference in the two girls.
"Hermione, I know we've never been… close, but I don't want-" Parvati stopped talking and glanced over at the bathroom door. "She's tried to tell Ron, but he got mad at her as soon as she mentioned Malfoy and your name in the same sentence."
"Thank you for telling me," Hermione managed as her mind spun faster and faster. "But there's really nothing for Lavender to tell Ron in the first place."
There wasn't. Not anymore. This entire conversation was a painful reminder and one she didn't need. In fact, Hermione wanted to be long gone by the time Lavender came out from the shower in case her anger sparked up and she clawed Lavender's prying little eyes out of her head.
"Hermione," Parvati gently touched her arm.
"What?" she said sharply. Was there some sort of intramural competition to see who could piss her off the most?
Parvati looked at her knowingly. "It's just… I share a dorm with you too. I've heard you say his name."
Hermione opened her mouth, but her brain failed to make up any excuse as to why she would be calling Draco's name out in her sleep. She looked deep into Parvati's dark eyes which were surprisingly understanding.
"It was just a dream. Nothing more."
Dinner that evening was awkward as Hermione tried to be extra friendly so that Ron and Harry did not notice how nervous she was and so that Ron wouldn't believe the rumors Lavender was spreading about her. Even if they were true.
But it didn't matter because it wasn't happening any more and it would be devastating if now, after everything, it came out that she had slept with Draco. She could imagine the looks of disappointment and anger on their faces when they found out what she had done. And if they ever found out what Draco was… Oh goodness.
"Can you pass me those rolls?" Hermione asked in a high pitched voice.
Ron handed her the tray and she smiled brightly at him, hoping he didn't see how anxious she was. Ron didn't seem to and returned her smile with his own.
It was easier than she thought to fall into conversation with them and started to feel a little of the tension in her shoulders fade as they talked more. Harry was worried that this would be the first year he failed Defense Against the Dark Arts because of Snape, but Hermione assured him that his skills spoke for themselves and although Snape might be biased, he had never failed Harry at Potions.
"She's right," Ron chimed in through a mouthful of potatoes. "Plus, Dumbledore would send him straight back to the dungeons if he tried to pull anything like that."
"He'd have to get in line," Ginny said under her breath and Hermione watched Harry smile down into his green beans, a red tint rising up in his cheeks.
"Thanks, Gin." He grabbed her hand in his.
Hermione found herself smiling as she watched her two friends. She was so happy for them and it was such a long time coming, but they had finally managed to work it out and end up with each other. Sometimes it was just a matter of timing she supposed, and sometimes it was waiting on one person to realize how they really felt.
Draco had finally said that he loved her, but only after she saw the mark and only after she had ended things. Would he have said it otherwise?
Hermione sat her fork down. It didn't matter either way. What happened happened and it was useless the daydream about any other alternative.
"I don't have to meet Luna in the Library until later, want to go down to the Lake before it gets dark?" Ginny asked, squeezing Harry's hand.
Hermione felt Ron shift uncomfortably next to her and he said, "I don't know, I'm pretty tired."
Ginny glared at her brother. "You're not invited," she snapped.
Hermione stifled a laugh as she locked eyes with Harry who was doing the same thing as she was.
Ginny stood up and pulled Harry after her. He waved a quick goodbye to Ron and Hermione before hurrying to follow Ginny out of the Great Hall.
Ron shook his head, making his copper hair fall into his face a little. "She does that on purpose, you know," he said, motioning with his fork to the disappearing figures of Harry and Ginny. "She knows I'm still getting used to it, she doesn't have to rub it in my face every time she gets a chance."
Hermione laughed a little. "You're just very sensitive, Ron."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Do you ever think that maybe part of the reason you feel like this is because Harry is your best friend?"
"Well of course!"
"No, I mean, because now Harry has someone that he wants to hang out with that's not you and maybe you feel a little lonely."
Ron blinked. "Oh. I don't know, I mean, I still have you, don't I?"
His powder blue eyes were clear and open. Hermione could see exactly what he was feeling in that moment and quickly looked back down at her food.
"Yeah," she said in a softer voice. "I'm your friend too."
She could feel Ron still looking at her and poked at the last couple of green beans on her plate, pretending to decide whether to eat them or not.
"Well, since it's just the two of us tonight, what do you want to do?"
Hermione looked back up at him and bit her lip. "Maybe we should just go back to the common room, you said you were tired."
Ron had a strange look on his face that she couldn't quite place. "Yeah, but if you wanted to… walk somewhere too… we could."
Hermione took a deep breath, mouth opening slightly. The strange expression was gone and now he looked hopeful. Oh dear.
"The common room is fine."
They gathered their things and walked into the Entrance Hall, talking about their plans for the summer when Hermione saw him. His pale blond hair stood out starkly even though it was messy and a few locks fell down over his forehead. She stopped walking and watched as Draco leaned back against the wall, his tall frame slouching a little as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"I'll be glad to see the last of him for a while," Ron leaned down to say in a low voice, nodding towards Draco.
Draco laughed loudly at something that Goyle had said and Hermione narrowed her eyes disapprovingly at him. Why was he doing this? Hanging out with his goons again and loitering, looking for trouble. Being the cruel Slytherin Prince he had been for so many years. If he thought she was just a Mudblood whore then what was he still doing here? He said he had a way to accomplish his task and she certainly wasn't the reason he was staying.
Or was she? Draco had always liked messing with her, making fun of her and he had said it wasn't over. Could it be that's why he had elected to stay, just to torture her further?
Well, she hadn't stood for that kind of behavior before and she absolutely wasn't going to stand for it now.
Hermione touched Ron's arm. "Me too," she said loudly and Draco's laughter died at the sound of her voice. Good. "I can't wait for this summer when I get to come and see you."
Ron looked a little surprised, but mostly pleased. "Yeah?" he grinned widely and Hermione nodded.
"I think I might come early, if that's okay with you? Maybe sometime in July?"
"Yeah, of course!" Ron said excitedly. "I can write to Mum when we go up and tell her you'll-"
"Aren't you two just fucking adorable." Draco's cold voice came from behind her and Hermione turned to see him standing a little ways off, shirt untucked and hanging loosely on him. "Oh don't stop planning your honeymoon on my account!" He mockingly held up his hands.
"Fuck off, Malfoy," Ron growled from beside her.
"Wow, Granger, you sure move on fast, don't you?" His eyes were as hard as iron and the purple circles were deeper. He must not have slept much last night.
Hermione felt her nerves light up in her fingertips.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron took a step towards Draco.
"Nothing!" Hermione grabbed his arm, fear spiking up in her.
Crabbe and Goyle were hovering slightly behind Draco and if it came down to it, they were outnumbered. But Hermione was less worried about the damage Draco would do with his wand and more about what he could do with his mouth.
Draco sneered at the pair of them and moved a little closer. At this distance she was able to see the grey pallor of his skin and even though she didn't want to be, Hermione couldn't help but be worried about him.
"Let's just say you won't have to worry about changing the sheets after your wedding night, Weasley."
Hermione's heart stopped beating. What was he doing?!
Ron's face was turning a deep shade of red and she had no idea what she would do if they hit each other. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
"Ron, please," she pulled hard on his arm. "Let's just go. Let's go back. Together." She added the last word. For him, for herself.
Draco's cold eyes turned on her and she saw the pain cracking in the hard stone of them. Why was he doing this? Hadn't he taken enough from her already; did he really need to take Ron too?
"What's he talking about?" Ron asked seriously, bending his head low to hers.
Hermione looked away from Draco, unable to keep staring into his eyes. "Nothing," she muttered nervously and pushed her hair behind her ear. "It's nothing."
"Hermione-"
"Granger-"
Hermione looked between them and felt like she was being ripped in two. Her heart was in her throat, causing a lump that she wasn't able to swallow back down and it was pushing painful emotions up, pressing tears into the corners of her eyes and she didn't want to cry right now and especially not in front of him.
"I'll explain everything, Ronald," she said quickly. "Please, just take me back."
"Don't-" Draco's voice was softer, pleading and Hermione looked back at him. His entire expression had changed. No longer cold and cruel, instead he looked lost and in pain. She just barely shook her head, a few curls trembling.
Draco pulled himself up to his full height and his face turned stoic as stone. "Don't you need to go plan out your next good deed? Save the Snorkacks or something?"
Hermione raised her chin and took a shaky breath, trying to pull herself together.
"At least Snorkacks can be saved," Ron retorted. "You're a lost cause, Malfoy."
Draco closed the last bit of space between them and stared dead straight into Ron's eyes.
"You don't know what I am, Weasley, but you'll find out soon enough." He raised his eyebrows quickly and Ron glowered back at him.
No… he wouldn't. Her heart sank inside her.
She pulled on Ron's hand and led him up the stairs. She could feel Draco watching her as she walked away so she focused on each marble step under her feet and not at the fact that she had left her heart at the bottom of the stairs with him.
She didn't want him anymore? Fine. Fucking fine. She could run off with Weasley, back to their cozy little common room and snuggle up in front of the fire with him, letting him put his lanky arm around her and touch his fucking chest while he looked down at her big doe eyes right before he tried to-
Oh fuck that.
Draco turned on his heel and headed back up the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Blaise asked him.
"None of your fucking business!"
He rolled his eyes as he heard Blaise rushing to catch up with him.
"You're going after her, aren't you?"
Draco ignored him.
"Don't ignore me, Draco."
He groaned and slowed, turning to face Blaise.
"Yes. I'm going after her. Because she's up there with that fucking ginger prick and she should be-"
"With you?"
"YES!"
Blaise looked at him sadly. "Mate, you've tried. She's not coming back."
Draco sighed heavily. He had tried. He had tried everything he could and it still hadn't been enough. He thought telling her how he felt would have… changed something. But it hadn't because he could love her all he wanted and it would not erase that mark from his arm.
And that's what he was to her now, a Death Eater. Just like she had been a Mudblood to him for so many years. And just because he was willing to look past her blood status didn't mean that she was willing to see past his mark.
He couldn't blame her. He hated it too.
"Come on," Blaise touched his shoulder. "We can play a game of chess-"
"I don't want to play fucking chess, Blaise!"
"Okay, okay!" Blaise tried to calm him back down as Draco ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "But you can't stay here and shout about her."
Draco leaned back against the cool stone of the castle wall and closed his eyes. He couldn't stay here and shout about her or at her or anything to her anymore. There was only one thing he could do at this point. Draco swallowed and tried to ignore the bitter taste in his mouth.
He had spent the last six months thinking he had killed a man and only the past few days knowing that he wasn't a murderer. It was a nice reprieve, just like she had been. But reality was just as cold and hard as the wall behind him.
"I'm going to go."
"What? What do you mean 'go'?"
Draco shrugged.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Blaise snapped.
Draco focused on a chipped stone on the floor. "Thanks for everything, Blaise." He looked up into Blaise's deeply troubled eyes. "You're a good friend."
Blaise blinked and took a step back.
"Draco-"
He pushed himself up off the wall and started down the corridor.
Blaise didn't follow him and to be honest, Draco didn't expect him too. He was a good friend and he had done everything he could to help Draco get through this past year, but… the year was almost over and there was nothing left he or anyone could do.
Draco felt numb as he moved through the castle. Nothing felt real or tangible or really there. He wondered if this is what it felt like to be a ghost or if this was it was just like without Granger. Without light. Without hope.
What hope had there ever really been for him anyways?
He decided to stop by Myrtle's bathroom. Strangely enough, after Blaise, Myrtle was the closest person, well not person, but closest... thing he had to a friend.
"Draco! You're back! Oh I'm so glad you're alright, I was so worried about you!" Myrtle swooped down to hover in front of him. He gave her a flat smile and moved past her, further into the bathroom, carefully making his way around several puddles until he leaned back against the side of one of the tall green stalls.
"Hey Ghostie."
"I told everyone what Harry did to you," she said so emphatically that her pigtails swung back and forth. "It was awful, he almost killed you!"
Draco leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling. "I know."
"I'm so glad you're okay. I knew you'd come back. I knew you'd want to see me-"
"Did you?" he asked dryly. "Because I don't know why the fuck I'm here."
He had come here many times this term to… talk. And think. But he had made up his mind and had said everything he needed to already and none of it had made a difference. Nothing ever had. It had all been leading to this; his entire life. His entire miserable life had only ever been a lead up to death death death.
So maybe that's why he was here, in the cold damp bathroom with a bloody ghost for company.
"Are you okay?" Myrtle asked softly, floating towards him.
Draco gave her a wry smile. "I'm dead. Can't you tell?"
Myrtle blinked her glazed eyes and Draco felt his stomach turn at the sight of them. Death. He was drenched in it. Drowning. And the only thing that had kept him above water was gone now. She was gone.
"That's not funny," Myrtle pouted. "You shouldn't joke about that. I would give anything to be alive again. Just for one more day. Taste food, walk on the grass, feel the sun on my face…"
Draco watched her as tears spilled down her cheeks. Ghostie was always crying over something, but he supposed, missing life was as good a reason as any. Not that his life was one to envy.
"Trade you," Draco muttered.
"You have no idea what you're saying," Myrtle said and for the first time she looked angry.
Draco was a little shocked. "Tell me then. Tell me what death feels like."
He needed to know. So he'd know what he was sending Dumbledore to or if he failed, what he'd be facing at the end of the Dark Lord's wand. He felt sick as he waited for her to answer, terrified to know the truth of it.
Myrtle appraised him for a moment. "Cold," she said softly. "It feels cold."
He could understand that. Without Granger he felt like he had swallowed a corrosive poison, turning his blood bitter inside him. She had been like daylight, streaming over him and keeping him warm. He had cursed the way she scorched him, but now, like Myrtle, he would give anything to have it back. Just once.
"Does it hurt?" His voice was soft. There was a good chance that he wasn't going to make it much longer. If he didn't kill Dumbledore the Dark Lord would surely kill him and even if he tried to kill Dumbledore, he might die in the process. His father had always said Dumbledore was a demented old fool, but something in his twinkling blue eyes made Draco think he wouldn't go down without a fight.
Myrtle didn't say anything for a long while then softly said, "It was so long ago, I… I don't remember."
Hermione twisted her fingers in front of her. She had gone over this in her head more times than she could count and still had come to zero conclusions about what to do. Since she couldn't figure out the correct answer, she did the next best thing and landed on what she thought was the right answer.
Or most right.
Maybe right.
Not wrong, at least.
"Professor McGonagall?" she said breathlessly as the older witch ushered some third years serving detention out of her classroom. Professor McGonagall blinked in surprise to see Hermione standing in the hallway, bouncing up and down nervously on her feet.
"Miss Granger," she looked Hermione over, as if she was making sure she was in one piece.
Hermione took a quick step forward and glanced down the hall. "Professor, I need to speak with the Headmaster. It's imperative-"
McGonagall held up her hand as the last student hurried past and Hermione paused until the boy was well down the hall to salvage what he could of the evening.
"What is this about?" she asked.
Hermione checked around once more. She didn't think Draco would appear, but that seemed to be exactly when he did, like earlier in the Entrance Hall. She had to pull Ron all the way up to Gryffindor Tower and then up into his dorm where they were less likely to be interrupted before trying to explain Draco's accusations. She ignored Lavender's deep glare as Ron ran up the stairs with her. She'd deal with her later.
Hermione didn't want to lie to Ron, but Draco hadn't left her any choice. She supposed he had done that on purpose though.
She spun around as soon as the door closed behind Ron and said, "He knows about… my someone." It was the best thing she could come up with on what felt like both the shortest and the longest walk back to the common room. "He- he caught me."
Goodness, had he ever. He had caught her completely and she didn't think he had any intention of letting her go. At least not until he was done breaking her heart into as many little pieces as possible and ruining every other relationship in her life.
Ron gaped at her, clear blue eyes wide. Hermione cringed having to tell him even this much. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she had to tell him that her someone was actually Draco.
"Oh."
"Ron, it wasn't-"
"I just-" He looked down at the floor between them. "I mean, I wondered if you… when Lavender said you were out that night, but I didn't-" He took a deep breath and looked a little confused. "I didn't think you'd really…"
Hermione felt the creature inside her sit up and flex its claws. "Didn't think I'd what, Ron?"
He frowned. "I thought you'd wait."
She blinked a few times in surprise. "Wait?"
Ron's expression turned darker, brow hanging low. "For me."
Her brows shot up her forehead. "For you? You thought I'd just wait until you were what? Done with Lavender so I could have my turn?"
Face reddening, Ron shouted, "I didn't think you'd fuck some guy you didn't even really like and let Malfoy watch!"
Hermione wanted to slap him. She wanted to hex him. She wanted to storm out of here and never speak to him again. How dare he say those things to her?! He was supposed to be her friend!
"Is that why he's always staring at you? Trying to catch the next show?"
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest where her lion's pride was roaring with fury. "That is not at all what happened! I can't believe you right now!"
"Same here!" He threw his hands up. Ron's ears had turned violently red and he was breathing heavily. Why was he mad at her?
"I really don't care what you have to say about my private life so I think it would be best if we didn't talk about it. Or anything right now for that matter." She was done with this.
"Are you really going to leave right now? Going to go back to the guy you won't even tell me his name?" Ron accused.
"If I am," she matched his tone and his gaze. "It's not your concern, Ronald. I am not your girlfriend, I am not your anything. And I never was."
That was true. She didn't know what she was to Draco exactly, but she had never been Ron's.
"Don't go," Ron said quickly as she moved towards the door.
"Why not?" Hermione rounded on him, hazelnut curls fanning out around her.
"Because-" Ron pinched his lips together. "Because I don't want you to."
"Well that's too bad because I'd rather face off with Draco again instead of stay here with you!"
Hermione pulled the door open and Ron slammed his hand into it, closing it back. She looked up at him and exhaled sharply. "What do you think you're-"
"That's the second time you've called him Draco."
Hermione blanched. Her voice was soft and breathy as she tried to play it off. "What? That's his name-"
"You never called him Draco before."
"I've never called you Weasley before either, but if you don't let go of this door, by Godric, I will."
Ron held her gaze, but Hermione refused to be the one to break it. She held her ground and the doorknob. The red in Ron's face drained a little and he dropped his hand from the door.
"Hermione, I didn't mean-"
She wrenched the door open and slipped outside, closing it sharply behind her before he could say another word. Hermione tore down the stairs and back into the common room, still ignoring Lavender and her now smug look and headed to the east wing of the castle, long rays from the burning sunset behind her.
It had been what Ron said that made her do this, not about her, but about Draco; that he was a lost cause. He… wasn't. He had only ever done those bad things because he felt like he didn't have any other options. Despite his threats, she knew he didn't really want to kill Dumbledore, but without an alternative, would he try?
Either way, she couldn't stay in the common room without attacking Lavender and didn't want to sit alone in her dorm anymore so she held her head high and let her twisting curls fall back over her shoulders with each step until she arrived at Professor McGonagall's door.
"Please, Professor, can you take me to him? I can explain everything once we are there," Hermione said urgently.
Professor McGonagall eyed her carefully. "Is this about Potter?"
"No," Hermione said quickly. "It's about-" she let out a sharp breath. "Please, Professor, someone could get hurt."
McGonagall straightened her neck and her thin frame tensed. "Very well."
Hermione could have hugged her in that moment. She was going to get to talk with Dumbledore and tell him- well… not everything, but enough. Enough to try and stop him. Enough to try and help him.
Professor McGonagall led her through the corridors and up several flights of stairs. Hermione's legs were shaking, but they carried her there all the same. She glanced around every few seconds, expecting to see storming eyes, but there was no sign of him. Maybe that in itself was an omen, but not good or evil, she wasn't sure.
Hermione tried to push him from her mind. She needed to focus and stick to her resolve. And she needed to not let herself start sounding like Professor Trelawney with her predictions of doom and despair either.
She couldn't help but feel the tinge of hurt and disappointment by what Ron had said to her tonight. They had been doing so well, better than ever, really and now… This was all Draco's fault. Why couldn't he have just stayed on his side of the Entrance Hall getting drunk with his friends like he seemed perfectly happy to?
"Well, I'm glad to cause discord between you and Weasley."
"Why's that?"
"Because he wants to fuck you."
Is that why he had said those things in front of Ron? Was he making sure that if he couldn't have her, no one else would either?
"Tell. Him."
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"That prick is trying to fuck my girl."
"Well your girl isn't fucking anyone but you so you don't need to worry about that."
It was as true now as it was then. She had said she wasn't his girl anymore but… she was. And she couldn't picture a time where she would want to be with someone else. She knew she was young and he was her first, but she didn't want him to just be her first, she wanted him to be her forever.
Hermione shook her head. But his forever was branded onto his arm and he had no place for her in it. Draco had made his choice and now she was making hers.
Professor McGonagall stopped in front of the large statue of a griffin and stood up straight as she said, "Toffee Éclairs."
The griffin started to move and McGonagall led her up the winding staircase and knocked on the door at the top before a deep, melodious voice from inside called out, "Enter."
Hermione followed her Professor McGonagall in and Dumbledore was already on his feet, walking around his desk to greet them. She glanced around, never having been here herself before and was vastly intrigued by the cabinets and tables full of magical items and objects that at any other time she would have been thrilled to explore and ask questions about, but right now all she wanted to do was get this over with.
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore's warm tone extended. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Professor, thank you for seeing me," she started and Dumbledore gave her a patient smile. He must have been used to students nervously addressing him and people fawning over him. Now that she was here, her stomach was in knots and she found it hard to say what she came to.
"All my students are welcome to drop in for a visit and a cup of tea, somehow they never seem to." Dumbledore had such a strange way of being calm and collected during the most intense situations. Hermione wished she could keep that much composure, but her mind always seemed to race too far ahead to be considered calm.
Both Dumbledore and McGonagall were watching her and Hermione realized she hasn't said anything in quite some time. "That must be very lonely for you."
She cringed. What was she doing?! She had come here for a reason, a very important reason, and now she was talking about… tea? And commenting on Professor Dumbledore's social life? Good Godric.
He took pity on her. "How may I help you, Miss Granger?"
Well that really was the question of the hour, wasn't it?
She had waited so long to come here and now that she was, she was finding it hard to say the actual words. Why? Because she was still waiting. Waiting on Draco. He had always come back and smoothly talked her into his arms again. He had always known what to say to make everything alright and she, like a fool, had been waiting on him to do it again.
She took a short breath and looked to Professor McGonagall before turning back; meeting Dumbledore's blue eyes and finally doing what she should have done all along.
"Professor I need to talk to you about Draco Malfoy."
"Oh?"
"Yes sir. I… I have reason to believe that he is a Death Eater."
McGonagall inhaled sharply and then in a fierce voice said, "Miss Granger, as you are aware Mr. Potter has already brought this subject to both mine and Professor Dumbledore's attention-"
Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but Dumbledore beat her to it. "Minerva, would you mind terribly giving Miss Granger and I a moment?"
Professor McGonagall looked a little surprised that she was being asked to leave, but then graciously inclined her head and took her leave.
The door closed behind her and Hermione felt the full weight of Dumbledore's attention on her. "Would you like to sit down, Miss Granger?"
He led her a little further in and up on a dais where his desk sat, motioning to one of the chairs on the opposite side of it. It was then that she caught her first glimpse at his hand. Harry had told her about it, but she hadn't really seen it up close before now. Blackened and withered, Hermione knew enough about curses to know that was a serious one. Dumbledore noticed her staring and tucked it back into his sleeve.
Hermione gently sat down, folding her hands in her lap only to unfold them and pick at her fingers. Dumbledore made himself comfortable in his own chair, settling in with a deep sigh.
"Would you care for a Pepper Imp?" he offered.
"No thank you."
"Licorice Snap?"
"No sir."
"Toffee?"
"Sir-"
"Do you mind if I…" Dumbledore started to unwrap a toffee loudly.
Hermione decided to wait until he had finished. The Headmaster popped the candy in his mouth, rolled it around a few times, and folded the wrapper up into a small, flat square. She felt awkward enough already and something in Dumbledore's easy manner in conjunction with his quick dismissal of McGonagall made her feel even more nervous.
"Now," he said with a smile. "You believe that Draco Malfoy has taken the dark mark and pledged his life to Lord Voldemort?" He made it sound like Draco had just picked out a new hat.
"Yes sir."
"As Professor McGonagall said, Harry has discussed his concerns on this with me already as I am sure he has you. I am afraid that I must give you the same answer."
It was now or never and how she wished that it had never come to this.
"I saw it. I saw the mark on him."
Her blood was rushing in her veins and her hands were shaking in her lap, but Dumbledore sat across the desk from her, just as calm as he had all evening. How was that possible when she just told him- Oh… he knew.
"Professor-"
"Have you told Harry what you have told me?"
"No sir."
"Anyone?"
"No sir."
"Good." He pressed his fingers together, the contrast between his healthy hand and his cursed hand was more apparent than ever. "I must ask you to keep this information to yourself."
"But Professor-"
"Miss Granger, please," he sounded… tired. Like an old man who had seen too much. "I am asking you, do not speak of Draco's predicament to anyone. Harry most of all."
What? Out of all the ways she had envisioned this going, this outcome had never been one she imagined.
"This is a delicate situation, one that is being handled, I can assure you."
Handled?
"...hand me over to Dumbledore and his lot and let them torture it out of me."
"You must not know much about your precious Order then, Granger."
"Please don't hurt him." The words came tumbling out before she could stop them. Because as much as she wanted to, she couldn't stop any of this. She felt so disoriented, like she couldn't find the earth under her feet. She had always had her rules to guide her, but she had broken all of them for him. How was she supposed to get back to that now?
Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise behind his spectacles. "I have no intention of harming Mr. Malfoy. In fact, I am hoping for the opposite."
She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
"I must say, your concern for him is something I had not expected."
Oh no... In a moment of weakness, she had let her guard slip. She hadn't even stopped to think what Dumbledore might say about that fact that she was worried about the well being of the person she just named as a Death Eater.
Hermione looked down at her hands in her lap. She had picked her nails down to the beds again. "Neither did I."
She should hate him. She should hate him for all the lies, the names, the utter disrespect, but she couldn't find it in her to do so. She was certainly angry and upset with him, but that didn't mean that her other feelings had just gone away. It was the sad, awful truth that she hadn't wanted to admit to herself; there was nothing that Draco could do that would stop her from loving him.
"Ah," Dumbledore said softly and Hermione turned her large eyes up to his again. "I see."
She felt her blood rush into her face. Was it that obvious? One comment and he knew? But this was Dumbledore and he did have an uncanny way of just… knowing things.
"It must have taken a lot of courage for you to come here this evening."
She looked back down at her hands and bit her lip. "Thank you, sir."
It had taken courage for Draco to take the Veritaserum and be honest with her. He could have erased her memory of his mark and had her go one just life before, but he didn't. He chose to open up in hopes that she would… accept him as he was. Give him a chance. Hermione brain began to whirl.
Dumbledore gave her a few moments before he gently leaned forward. "There are some whom our hearts are drawn to, no matter what our minds may tell us."
She looked back up at him, biting her lip so hard it hurt. His voice was soft and warm and almost like… he knew. Like he knew what this felt like. The constant longing. Constant heartbreak. And above all else, constant love.
"I am trying to save him," Dumbledore said with such sincerity that Hermione's heart surged. "I wasn't sure he'd want to be saved. Until now."
It skipped a beat. "And you think that's because of me? That I can save him?"
"I think you could be instrumental in Draco saving himself. He is a powerful young man, but terribly misguided. I believe that he thinks he is doing the right thing."
"No, he doesn't!" Hermione sat forward. "He's only doing this for his family and because V-Voldemort threatened to kill him-"
"Exactly!" Dumbledore interjected. "It is a common issue I have been with many students who come from Pureblood families; although they spend years with classmates from different backgrounds and lifestyles, they have been conditioned from such a young age that often by the time they arrive here it is almost impossible for them to reject the ideologies they have been indoctrinated with."
"But it's not too late for Draco!" Hermione jumped to her feet and Dumbledore looked up at her. "He's not a bad person, we can't just give up on him because he's-"
Dumbledore's eyes had a curious gleam in them and Hermione awkwardly sat back down again.
"What I mean to say is that he… he…"
"I think you said exactly what you meant," Dumbledore smiled warmly at her. "And I agree; I do not think it is ever too late for redemption and I don't think I have ever known someone who deserved a second chance more than Draco."
A second chance? Was that possible? She wanted that so much, but had no idea how they could. She had meant what she said; Draco wasn't a bad person, despite the things he did. She knew Draco, the real Draco, and he was thoughtful, caring, and surprisingly generous. She had kept thinking about everything he had done to her, but still remembered everything he had done for her. Taking her flying, creating the chaise in the room, not to mention the way he kissed her sometimes. With gentle control and pressure, opening up a part of her that only he had ever been interested in seeing more of. Only him.
Her brain began to move faster, pulling together what Dumbledore was telling her now and what Draco had told her the other night. If he had done all those things thinking, or at least convincing himself, that they were right, she could understand that a little. She had helped a convicted murder escape the Ministry, formed an illegal student army, put a woman in a jar in blackmailed her, and even set a Professor's robes on fire. Those hadn't been wrong, although they had been a little less than right in other people's eyes. What had Draco said to her? That everything was wrong to someone and just do what feels good and try to make it to the next day? She didn't know how she would have made it this year without him. Or how she was going to make it going forward without him.
He had taken the mark, but he hadn't done anything unforgivable yet, had he? Maybe only to her. The lies, the cruel words… would those change if he changed too?
He took Veritaserum for you. He doesn't want to lie anymore.
Only after he tried to erase her memory. And as soon as it wore off, he spat as much venom at her as he could.
He said he loved you.
And the truth buried deep in her bruised heart was that meant more to her than anything else he said. Despite his beliefs, his background, his mark, Draco loved her. He was confused and honestly, so was she! All of this was so disorienting and she had never felt this disconcerted or lost or unbalanced. She had clung to structure to keep her life in control and then… and then she had let Draco take it. She had let him take everything.
There was only one way she could get it back.
"I'm sorry, Professor, I need to go." Hermione stood up.
"I thought you might," Dumbledore gave her a caring smile. "And I too have another engagement this evening. Please remember, you are welcome back for tea anytime, Miss Granger."
Hermione took a deep breath and felt herself tighten and loosen all at once. "Thank you, Professor. I'd like that."
Draco stared at the Vanishing Cabinet. He felt a strange sense of calm settle over him; not a warm gentle peace, but a cold empty numbness. This was what he had been sent here to do. This was what his Master required of him. After this, there would be no going back.
No more wondering what if or what could have been. No more trying to figure out what he could do to say to make her forgive him or do to make her come back. She wasn't. She wouldn't. And that was all there was to it. He was a Death Eater and she was a Mudblood. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his drawn face. She wasn't that anymore and he couldn't pretend she was. Another thing he couldn't do. Another failure.
Just like his father. Maybe it was better that Lucius die in prison than see what his only son and heir had turned into. A drunken, lovesick fool who couldn't even kill an old man to save his own skin. His father probably would prefer staring at a grey wall holding him captive than see Draco pissing away his future for some gash. He had always been disappointed in Draco and now he thought he understood why. His father had taken the Malfoy name to new heights and what had Draco ever done but get pissed and chase tail? His father was right to be ashamed of him; he was ashamed of himself.
What would Lucius be like once he got out? Would he be crippled and broken from the despair and illness? Would he be deranged and maniacal like Bellatrix? Would there be anything left of the man that Draco had worshipped as a boy? Extended exposure to dementors was known to have lifelong effects and being weakened by illness, they were sure to take root in him.
Should he be released? Once he was, he would join the Dark Lord's ranks once more and do unspeakable things in his name. Shit, he had attacked Granger and her friends last year! He could have killed her.
Draco's blood ran cold. The Dark Lord allowed his servants to redeem themselves by taking vengeance on those who had wronged them, like Bellatrix and her Blood Traitor sister's family she kept going on about. Would his father go after Granger again? And if he did, what would he do? He couldn't stand by and let his father kill the girl he loved, but could he do what needed to be done to stop him? He knew what he wanted to do.
What was happening to him? Why was he having these thoughts? They were dangerous; they were traitorous. If the Dark Lord even suspected a hint of disloyalty, it wouldn't matter to him if Draco was a Malfoy for a Pureblood or anything. He'd kill him just like anyone else. So if the Dark Lord didn't care about his blood, should he?
His chest tightened and his heart gave an extra thump. If he didn't care about his blood then where did that leave him? He'd have nothing. Less than nothing because he still wouldn't even have her. The only way they could make this work, be together, is if she would have come with him. If she would have chosen him and let him protect her. The Ministry was going to fall and there was nothing her little Order could do to stop it.
Nothing but hope their bodies tripped the Dark Lord on his path of power.
But he could fly, so there went that plan.
And she would die alongside them. Unless he could save her.
But he had fucked that up too because he'd treated her… like a Mudblood. Using her and lying to her and never fucking loving her like he should have.
His chest constricted and his breath caught in his throat. Granger deserved to spend the last few months or, if she was lucky, years of her life with someone who was good to her, good for her.
He knew deep down it would never be him, but Sweet Salazar, he wanted it to be.
He counted to three and pushed the painful thoughts behind a mental wall, closing them off. Granger didn't want him anymore. She wanted someone like Weasley who didn't treat her like shit and who was brave enough to hold her fucking hand in public and who probably would never make her come a single day in her life, but that's who she wanted.
Not him. Not anymore. His dreams of having her leave here with him, and be with him were just more fantasies he had made up. She had given him a taste and he had swallowed whole, letting himself get lost in the idea of Granger loving him enough to choose him. To actually want to be with him.
If he'd just kept it all under control, he might have been able to steal her away, but she wouldn't even come near him now. He'd lost his chance at saving her. He'd as good as killed her himself.
Fuck.
The last mental wall slid into place and the icy sense of lack of emotion passed over him. Her rich brown eyes, and sweet smile, and tender warmth all faded from his mind. The cold inside him intensified, a strange comparison to the June heat that was streaming in from the high windows as fiery golden light. Draco shrugged out of his coat and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.
His breathing started to come easier and he tried not to think about what he was about to do. What he had to do. Because he had no other choice. He pulled out his wand and tapped the Cabinet to open it. He had a stash of parchment and a quill sitting beside the Cabinet and ripped off a small piece, quickly writing on it.
He didn't know why he felt so upset, he had known it would come to this all along. He had known since August what he had to do and what would happen if he didn't. He had failed at everything else; being a proper son and heir, achieving awards and honors in school, and being the kind of man who Granger could love. No, not Granger- Hermione.
She was Hermione.
She'd always been Hermione.
He closed his eyes and whispered the incantation to pass the note through. Borgin knew the deal, he would pass it along to Bellatrix and she would of course jump at the opportunity. He looked down at the mark on his arm. The same as her's, the same as his father's. Both had been locked in Azkaban, both ruined by it. Would that be his fate too?
It didn't matter. He could be surrounded by a hundred dementos and none of them could make him feel any worse than he did now.
Draco opened the Cabinet again and the note was gone. His face was stoic and expressionless. He threw his fist into the stack of random objects beside the Cabinet. He hit something solid and hot pain shot up his arm.
Fuck.
He did it again.
"FUCK!"
"Draco?"
Hermione.
Hermione was frozen in place as Draco spun around, grey eyes storming wildly. He looked half mad, his white blond hair messy on top of his head and his shirt untucked. One hand was balled into a fist and the other held his wand like a weapon. He raised it up quickly, aiming right at her.
She just stood there, unable to look away or even lift her own wand up to match his. What was he doing in here and with that weird piece of furniture? What had she walked in on?
She had come here straight from Dumbledore's office. It would have made more sense to check his other haunts first, but somehow, she just knew he'd be here. She didn't know exactly how she had gotten in when Harry had tried dozens of times and never been able to break in, but she had just paced up and down the corridor three times thinking about him him him and then the door had appeared.
She had yanked it open quickly and then her jaw dropped open at the sight in front of her. She had been here before; Draco had ordered her in after the incident with Ron and she had thought it was just some random form the Room had taken. She never stopped to think it was where Draco had been disappearing for months.
Impossibly large towers of furniture with books, cauldrons, and glass bottles stuck into every crevice, every space and took up the entirety of the oversized room. In between the stacks were paths; some wide enough that a Hogwarts carriage could fit down them, others so small Hermione wasn't sure she'd be able to pass between. To call it impressive would be an understatement. This place was unbelievable.
Her next thought had been how she was ever going to find Draco in here. He could be anywhere, doing anything. She could shout out his name, but it might bring one of the piles down on her and she had no idea what else or who else might be in here to hear her. And there was always the chance he wouldn't want to speak with her and there had to be a hundred places he could duck into to avoid her if he wanted.
She picked a path pretty much at random because where else was she going to start and hurried down it. Hermione jumped back as a large stuffed troll came into view and pulled out her wand. She should be more careful. If something happened to her in here, who knew how long it would be before help would arrive? Taking a turn she passed a cauldron large enough to hold the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team in it and then some. She stopped when she saw that the bottom had been melted through.
Hermione ran her hand over the black iron side of it. What sort of potion could have done that and who had tried to brew so much of it? She shook her head to clear it. She needed to focus on finding Draco, not on the vast amount of hidden and ruined objects in here.
But goodness, she could have spent days exploring and still not found everything. She pushed herself onwards towards Draco. She had come here to tell him… well, she wasn't sure exactly, but she knew she needed to talk to him just to get some sort of explanation or… closure. It wasn't exactly that she wanted it from him, but she needed it for herself. Her conversation with Dunbledore had made her look at everything he said differently. Maybe it had just taken time for her to sort through it all and organize it, but now she finally was ready to… talk. To consider what he was asking, offering, giving.
This was so unlike her, rushing headfirst into something without thinking it through or planning it out, but… Hermione bit her lip. Everything was different with Draco.
She heard something in the distance, but in the way was a large stack of broomsticks, empty cages, and… good Godric, was that a cannon? Hermione rushed forward, trying to find her way around the random junk piled up in front of her. She passed by a box full of crystal balls that filled with a hazy grey mist as she moved by them and then saw a small cut through in the direction that the noise had come from.
She squeezed between a large table and an overturned telescope before emerging back onto a walkable path. Her footsteps were light and quick as she passed a broken globe of a planet that was clearly not earth and then he appeared in front of her, standing before a large cabinet looking thing and raised his fist.
She hadn't really even meant to say his name, but it had just come out and now he was standing before her, frame moving with each heavy breath, making his wand lift from her chest to her face and back down, but never off her.
He slammed the cabinet shut.
"What are you doing here?" Draco growled. The angles in his face were deeply shadowed and combined with his black shirt made a stark contrast on his pale marble face.
Hermione took a small step forward. "What is that?"
"What are you doing here, Granger?" he asked more forcefully. Hermione didn't answer. "Fuck!" Draco lowered his wand and she took another step. He raised it quickly back up. "Why did you come here? Why did you have to… Fuck, Granger!"
He was agitated and upset by her appearance here, but… not with her. He didn't want her to see whatever he was doing and not just because it was something he shouldn't, but because it was her who was seeing it. What was he doing? Was there something in the cabinet he didn't want her to see? Was he hiding something in there?
"Draco," she said his name softly and he lifted his eyes back up to hers. They were troubled and wary. Like he didn't trust her, or maybe himself. "What is that thing?"
"I don't have to answer your questions anymore, Granger. You saw to that."
"I want to talk to you."
Draco snarled at her. "Come to tell me how you don't love me again? Thanks, but I got the message the first time. Then again when you fucked off with your new boyfriend."
The lion in her chest sat up and growled a little. "Ron is not my boyfriend. And I certainly don't want him to be."
"Did you lie to him?" Draco sneered at her. "Told him I was making it all up? That the big, bad Slytherin was just out to get you and you're really just a good little girl who's never done anything naughty in her whole life?"
Hermione lifted her chin up. "I have done naughty things. I've done them and I've enjoyed them. I loved them." She took a step towards him and Draco watched her carefully. "And I thought that's all this was, for a long time. But then-" she sucked in a breath.
"Then what?" Draco asked, voice a little softer, but still demanding.
"Then I fell in love with you."
Draco looked like he had been stunned; the marble mask on his face cracked and shattered. Hermione watched as his mouth slowly opened, but no breath passed into him. He blinked and his eyes changed from dark and stormy to a soft rain grey. Draco.
The last bit of air left in his lungs was sharply forced out and he seemed unable to do anything but stare disbelievingly at her. His hand had fallen to his side, wand pointed uselessly at the floor. He wasn't moving, wasn't even breathing and Hermione realized that she wasn't either.
Her eyes darted down to his wand and on their way back up, she saw the black skull and dark twisting serpent on his ivory skin. The sight of it made her want to cringe, to pull away from him, but this was why she was here. So she took a breath and closed the distance left between them, stopping in front of him.
"Don't fucking lie to me." His voice was laced with deep emotions; fear, anger, and hurt.
Hermione's heart swelled at the sight of him, scared, nervous, and maybe a little hopeful She shook her head, a few tawny curls falling down around her face. "I don't know what this means, but I know that… that I love you, Draco Malfoy."
"Oh, Hermione." Draco's arms were around her, pulling her into him, holding her, containing her like he was scared she was going to run away.
Hermione took a breath, a full breath and smelled his crisp mint and creamy parchment scent. God, she had missed it. She had missed everything about him, everything she hadn't let herself think about, remember, or feel. His chest was firm and pressing against hers with every quick breath he took. She wanted to stay right here forever.
"You mean it?" Draco pulled back, still holding onto her, and bent his head down, searching her face. "You… you love me?"
"I don't think I'll ever stop."
"Don't stop," Draco ran and his hand up her back and into her hair. "Merlin, don't ever stop."
"But that's the problem, Draco," Hermione tried to explain. "You… you're so mean to me. No one has ever treated me like you do and," she sniffed. "And I feel so stupid because no matter what you say or do I still feel like this and I can't-" she felt her breathing speed up. "I can't stop loving you."
Draco's hands tightened on her and he leaned down, pressing his head against hers. "I can't either. Fuck, I love you so much, it's burning my blood with it. With you."
Hermione's brows pulled together and she felt her throat tighten a little. "Then why do you hurt me like you do? You flirted with Pansy right in front of me, you called me- that again, you almost told Ron about-"
"I'm sorry!" Draco cut her off. "I'm so sorry, Sweetheart." He looked deep into her eyes. "I didn't mean it, you know that. I'm a fuck up, I can't help it. I'm so sorry- for what I said, what I did… I... I don't know why I do that. Why I try to hurt the people who care about me. But I don't want to. I want you. I want this."
Hermione's chest felt like it was caving in again. There were so many things she wanted to say, wanted to shout, but all that came out was a whisper. "I don't want you to hurt me again."
"Look at me," he tilted her face up to his. "I swear on Salazar's watery grave, I won't hurt you. Not if you…" Her heart was bursting, begging to jump out of her chest and back into Draco's arms. "Just give me one more chance, I'll be good to you. I'll take care of you."
Oh God, everything he was saying was exactly what she wanted to hear, but hadn't it always been just the right thing? Hadn't he always known what to say, how to touch her, what to make her feel so that she would come back? And each time it had been better than before then worse. So much worse. And there was still the mark... what did that mean for them?
"When you took the Veritaserum, you said I shouldn't give you another chance."
"I… I don't know why I said that," he exhaled deeply. "But I want you to and I'll do everything in my power to make this up to you. Anything. Everything."
How was this going to work? She didn't want to ask him to choose her over his family, what sort of person would that make her? But at the same time, how could she not at least try and help him? Dumbledore had said he needed to save himself, but he wasn't doing this for glory or power, he was doing this for the people he loved. And she had become one of those people.
Tension rang inside her, tightening until she felt like she might burst. "I want to, but.."
Draco went still. "What does that mean?"
Hermione looked up into his storm cloud eyes. "Everything between us was tainted by lies and I don't know what was real and what wasn't and-"
He grabbed her face and made her look up at him. "Granger, you know it was real. You know that. I lied to you, but… never about that. This," he pulled her hand up and pushed over his heart. "This never lied to you."
Hermione felt like something was about to explode in her chest. "Draco, I don't know how to do this with you anymore. Honestly, how is this going to work? You're a Death Eater!"
"I'm not a very good one," he said with bitter sarcasm.
Hermione blinked up at him. "What?"
"Well for starters," he tilted his head. "I'm in love with you."
"Draco-"
"Yes, Hermione?" Her name. He grinned at her. She felt his pull on her heartstrings, dragging her bruised heart from the deep place she had hidden it and trying to take it back. "You say you don't know how to do this? Let me show you. Like this-"
He pulled her close to him and pressed his lips to hers.
Oh God, it felt so good to kiss him again. The creature inside her purred happily and the bubbles rose back up into her chest. Draco's lips moved with hers, a passionate pressure pushing her onwards as his hands slid over her body. She wanted to lean into him, wrap her arms around his neck and give into all of this again.
He wanted her. He wanted this. And he said he would make everything up to her, give her everything. Surely he knew what that meant, what she needed from him? He must have thought this through and he was still willing to do it. For her. Hermione's heart surged with emotion, beating to the point of bursting, and she kissed him back fervently.
This was happening. This was real. Draco was going to leave it all behind and they could start again. If he could put everything in the past, certainly she could too, right? They deserved a happy ending. They had already been through so much in such a short time and there would be more they had to go through, but at least they could do it together.
"I want you," Hermione murmured against his lips.
Draco made a noise deep in his throat and her body hummed along with it. She felt her blood move quickly in her and heat pooled in her lower stomach. They had their problems they had to work through, but this had never been one of them.
"Draco, I want you right now," she gasped. "Please."
"Fuck," he said softly. "Oh kitten, I thought I'd never hear you beg me again."
Hermione felt heated arousal rush through her veins. She blinked slowly and watched as the blacks of his eyes expanded. "Please, Draco," she breathed out. "I need you. I need this."
Draco growled and grabbed her under her backside, lifting her up onto him. Hermione gasped a little and wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging tightly to his shoulders.
Draco was breathing heavily and she could see the lust rising up in his smoky grey eyes. "I'm going to fuck you like you should be fucked."
Oh my… Hermione felt her body clench in anticipation and Draco started moving, walking down one of the pathways quickly and Hermione glanced around, watching as piles of rubbish passed them by. Finally he stopped and held her tightly to him with one arm as he pulled a musty blanket off of a large four poster bed, throwing it to the ground as a cloud of dust rose up from it.
The bed might have been the largest one Hermione had ever seen. One of the wooden posts was broken and another was charred, but other than that it seemed to be in decent condition. Wispy white curtains hung around it and Draco lifted her up and little before throwing her down on the bed.
Hermione bounced a few times and laughed as Draco crawled onto the bed with her. She scooted back, giving him room, but he gave her a wolfish grin and grabbed her leg, pulling her back across the bed and towards him.
"Oh you're not getting away from me this time," he growled playfully.
Hermione giggled as he ran his hands up her body then back down to her legs, pushing them open and kneeling in between them. His eyes travelled the length of her and Hermione leaned back, sighing. All the times they had been together, it had never been in a bed. The chaise was the closest thing, but this felt different, meaningful. Her hands spread out, touching the soft white sheets.
Draco leaned down over her, placing a hand on either side of her head. "Tell me you love me."
Hermione smiled at him. "I love you, Draco."
"Again." His silver eyes shined.
"I love you, Draco."
He grinned. "I love hearing you say that. Maybe even more than hearing you beg for my cock." He gave her a quick kiss to stop the small scoff she was chastising him with and leaned back up on his knees.
He slid his hand under the hem of her shirt and his fingers were cool against the skin of her stomach. "I want this," he pulled it over her chest and Hermione lifted herself up a little so he could slide it over her head and arms. "Off."
Hermione fell back against the pillow giggling a little. "And this," he growled playfully pulling at the middle of her bra. "I'd be happy to never see this again." She felt the cool air hit her breasts as her bra fell to the floor with her shirt.
Her nipples hardened slightly and Draco cupped her breasts, palming them and pushing them up on her chest. He sucked in a heavy breath. "I fucking love your tits," he muttered before leaning down and taking one in his mouth. Draco moaned as he sucked on the nipple, flicking his tongue over it in his mouth.
She took a deep breath and her chest expanded with it, pushing up towards him. Oh God, how could she have ever not wanted this? But now she had it. She had him. He was hers and they were going to be together. Draco released her nipple from in between his lips and smirked at her again.
"Are you wet for me?" he asked huskily.
Hermione felt the familiar pulsing heat between her legs and slight sense of embarrassment at his dirty words. She bit her lip and nodded.
Draco placed his hands on her hips and gave her a sly smile. "Maybe I should check, just to be sure." He pulled at the button on her jeans. "Would you like that, pet?"
Hermione made a small noise and nodded eagerly, trying her best not to smile like an schoolgirl. "You should definitely check."
Draco smirked at her and started pulling her jeans off. "You dirty little slut."
Maybe it was the euphoria of their reconciliation or the fact that after weeks of being miserable, Hermione was one of the happiest she had ever felt, but she didn't stop herself from saying, "Your dirty little slut." Draco eyes cut back up to her quickly as he hooked a finger on either side of her knickers. "Sir."
"Oh kitten…" Draco's voice was strained, but deep with longing. He leaned down and trailed a line of kisses from one hip to the other before he pulled her knickers the rest of the way off. "You deserve a treat for that."
Oh, he was doing it again, making something wrong sound so right. Hermione sunk back into the bed and felt Draco shifting a little lower down.
"Fuck, you're beautiful." Draco had pulled his erection from his trousers and was stroking it as he kneeled with her legs on either side of him, gazing down at her. "And this," he breathed out sharply and leaned down so his face was in between her thighs. Draco ran a single finger over her slit and Hermione's stomach clenched tightly.
"Such a pretty pussy." He spread it apart and she could feel her heart beating madly, blood racing into every inch of her. "I could sit here for hours and play with it." His mouth was so close to her she could feel the breath of each word, cool and soft. Hermione looked down the length of her body to see him staring at it with dark, lustful eyes. "Make you come until you go numb."
She felt like she might ignite any second or maybe just explode if he didn't touch her soon. "Granger..." he slid a finger slowly inside her and Hermione let out a high-pitched moan. "You're so fucking wet."
Draco kissed the inside of her thigh. "You must have missed me, your little pussy is quivering already."
"I missed you so much," she said breathlessly. "I never want to go through that again. I never want to leave you again."
"I missed you too," Draco said in his low voice, breathing against her. "I missed my good little whore with her pretty pussy she only lets me fuck."
Hermione gasped as Draco slid a second finger in, pushing them deeper into her. Fire was shooting in her veins and she looked down at him to see him stroking himself along with the pumps of his fingers.
"I only ever want you, Draco," she whimpered. "Only you."
Draco groaned and latched his mouth onto the soft skin of her thigh, sucking on it then biting it, sinking his teeth into her.
The fire was raging in her and she lifted her hips, meeting his movements.
Draco ran his thumb in a circle around her sensitive bud and Hermione moaned, her chest shaking with it.
"Don't worry about that," Draco smirked. "I'll never let anyone else have you. I'll never let you go. You're mine."
A thrum of pleasure reverberated through her whole body and it shook. His lips were on her thigh again, kissing the bite mark and sucking on it as he slid his fingers into her faster. The circles around her clit became smaller and smaller until he was on it, pressing his thumb into it and she felt the heat in her rise into a slow explosion, reaching up and down her entire body and creating a steaming cloud of pleasure and bliss that filled her head. She felt herself tighten on him and Draco's mouth responded by sucking harder on her thigh as she rode out the wave of her orgasm.
"Mmm, good girl," Draco cooed softly and kissed up her thigh to and then over her lower stomach. Hermione gasped, trying to catch her breath and listened to her wild heartbeat in her ears. Draco planted a soft kiss against her swollen, sensitive clit and Hermione cried out. Her body convulsed with an after shock and she heard Draco chuckle at what he had done.
"Such a whore," he said affectionately. How could he make that sound so good sometimes and so terrible others? "I bet I could lick it… five times and make you come again."
Hermione looked down at her. "What?"
Draco smirked at her. "One." He ran his tongue over her clit.
"Oh, God, Draco!" Hermione's body tightened sharply again. It was still so tender from his attention on it that even the light pressure of his tongue was like sweet pain.
Draco placed his hand on her, spreading her open. "Two." He did it slower this time.
Hermione whimpered and tried to push his head away from her. She grabbed his hair, but Draco pulled against it. "Push me away and I'll bite it." Hermione dropped her hand back down. Draco made a happy humming noise as he dipped his head back down. "Three."
He flicked it fast and her hips bucked up, trying to follow him. Oh, God, how was this happening again so soon? Draco softly laughed.
"Please, Draco," Hermione moaned. She didn't exactly know what she was begging for, him to stop or to keep going or what, so she just closed her eyes and gave in.
"Four." He kissed her. Soft and sensual, his tongue tenderly pressed against her and his lips encircled her.
Hermione's body fell into nothingness, everythingness. She heard herself moaning loudly, trying to form his name, but wasn't able to do anything but feel the tortuous pleasure licking away at her.
She made a weak, pitiful noise and her blood felt hot in her veins. Too hot. Burning. God, she loved it. Hermione sucked in a deep breath and her eyes slowly opened. That was… intense, but incredible.
"So, four is the number to beat." He sat up, a smug smile on his handsome face. Hermione's arms and legs felt too heavy to move. She laid there, breathing deeply as Draco played with himself a little more and watched his eyes move over her, hovering in places and growing dark. "How was that?"
Hermione felt sluggishly satisfied and all she could come up with was a breathy, "Good."
Draco's face fell a little. "Good?" He sounded offended. Hermione tried to fill her lungs in hopes oxygen would make the fog in her mind dissipate. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"
She tried again. "Thank you."
Draco's eyes turned a deep, smoking grey. "That's more like it." He moved up on the bed next to her, leaning on his side and resting his head in his palm while he spread his other hand out over her stomach.
This. Felt. So. Good.
Letting go of the pain and the anger and frustration and hurt and resentment and everything else that she had been focusing on instead of the fact that she loved him and he loved her. She hadn't even considered this as an option, being with him again, but now, she couldn't imagine any other alternative.
"I can't believe this is happening," she said softly.
Draco leaned closer to her and pushed his hand lower. "Do you need me to prove it to you again?"
She grabbed his wrist, feeling his muscles flex but not fight her, and pulled his arm back. "You're incorrigible," she giggled.
Draco shrugged. "You turn me on. I love watching you come."
"And here I thought you just liked coming on me."
"Coming in you is a hundred times better," he said darkly. "Feeling your tight little pussy squeeze me and getting to mark you on the inside-"
"Draco!" Hermione pushed her hands into his chest. He grabbed them and held them there. "You've let me mark up every other part of you; neck, tits, ass…" he slid his hand down to her thigh. "Left you another little treat down there, Pet."
Hermione looked down and saw the beginnings of a bruised bite mark and stained skin of a hickey where he had his mouth. She had to admit, she liked his possessiveness just a little. And more than a little when he did things like that.
"Is that to let everyone know where you've been?" she said playfully.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "No. No one else is going to see that because it's only two inches away from your pussy and-"
"I was joking."
"Fucking better be," he grumbled, but she saw his lips twitch.
Hermione pulled at the collar of his black shirt. Why Draco insisted on wearing button down shirts every day, she'd never understand. Did he even own a casual shirt? "You try and act all bad, but I know deep down, you're really just sweet."
"Sweet?" He raised his brows. Hermione smiled and nodded against the pillow. Draco grinned. "I can be sweet."
He pushed himself on top of her. "I can be very sweet."
Hermione breathed out. "Prove it."
He kissed her, slow and deep. Hermione ran her hands up into his hair, pulling him down into her as she sunk back against the bed under his weight. Draco lifted himself from her a little, making sure he didn't crush her under him. It felt like it had been hours they had been here, but she knew in reality it couldn't have been more than twenty minutes. Is this what it was going to be like from now on?
Draco pulled back a little and gazed hungrily down at her. She had seen that expression on him enough times to know what he was thinking behind those silver shields of his. He had sated her twice, but he hadn't found his own release yet. Hermione shifted under him, spreading her legs a little wider.
And she started on the buttons of his shirt. He'd never really let her do this before, not without careful consideration and anxious apprehension taking away from the experience of being able to undress him. Oh wow… everything was so different now. She wanted to plunge her hands into his shirt, run them over his smooth chest, but controlled herself and continued on until his shirt was completely undone.
Draco sat up and pulled his shirt back off his shoulders and down his arms. Hermione couldn't help but gasp.
Jagged white lines crossed over his chest and stomach, marking the once pristine skin with evidence of a dark curse.
He froze, watching her face and then pulled the shirt back over his arm. "I… I'll put it back on so you don't have to see-"
She followed his line of sight and realized they were thinking two very different things. She hadn't even noticed the mark. Hermione's heart gave an extra hard beat. She hadn't even noticed the mark. It had plagued her thoughts every day and now when it was in front of her, when he was in front of her, it was like it wasn't even there.
"It's not that," she murmured and traced her fingers over one of the white scars on his lower stomach.
He looked down at her hand and then himself, frowning. "Yeah, he… it fucked me up."
Harry. Harry had done this. Everything was so muddled now, lines were blurred and things that had once been so clear were now distorted. A single moment in time, a mistake, had marked him forever.
Hermione traced the lines across his body. "Do they hurt?"
He shook his head. "No. They just look ugly."
She had only ever seen his chest a few times, but it certainly had been quite a sight. The scars didn't make it ugly, but she was sure they were a painful reminder of what had happened and everything leading up to it. Her marble statue was cracked, but not broken.
"I was so scared, Draco. You looked like you were dying," she looked up into his hazy grey eyes. "That night I came to see you in the hospital wing."
"I wanted to," he said softly. "Hearing you say those things about what I'd done to you."
Hermione's chest tightened. There was so much, so much, that happened, that they needed to talk about, but… she didn't want to. Not right now, at least. They had time to do all that later, they had so much time now.
"I told you I loved you that night," Draco placed his hand over hers, holding it against him. "I just couldn't say it out loud, but… I said it to myself."
Draco was being open and honest with her, on his own. Finally. Something had changed in him, he was… more relaxed around her. Not guarded and wary like he had been. He was… happy.
"I should have told you. I should have told you everything, from the very beginning. Granger, I-"
"Stop," Hermione said firmly. "Come here." Draco leaned back over her. "Draco," she ran her hand over his heart, feeling the oddly smooth but carved scar against her palm. "It doesn't matter. None of that matters anymore."
They could start again. Start fresh. Together. Draco was putting everything he believed in the past and turning away from Voldemort. If he was willing to do that for her, she was willing to forgive him. It might be hard for other people to accept, but surely they would be able to see the difference in him that was so clear to her now.
Draco closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm so glad you're doing this. You don't know what this means to me."
Forgiving him and allowing him back in her life was a big step, one that she was taking with shaky legs, but one that she was taking because he was taking an even bigger one and leaving his past behind him.
Hermione touched his face. "You're doing so much for me, I'm so proud of you."
Draco had a slightly curious expression on his face like he didn't quite understand what she was saying and then shook his head. "I don't think anyone has ever said that to me before; that they're proud of me."
How was that possible? With how confident and honestly arrogant he was, how could it be that no one had ever told him they were proud of him? Certainly his father or mother or even Snape had said it at some point. But... the very little he had mentioned about his family didn't exactly paint a loving picture. He had taken the mark to help his father who couldn't even be bothered to say he was proud of his son. It seemed... inhuman for a father to not care for his child like that, but then again, there were many things about Pureblood society she couldn't wrap her mind around.
She placed her palm fully against his cheek. "Well, let me be your first."
Draco smiled. A true and honest smile. "Oh Sweetheart," he breathed out. "You're so much more than that. You're my only."
His lips enveloped hers, soft and sensual. Taking his time, Draco slowly turned the soft kiss into a deeper one, opening his mouth to let his tongue move into hers, pressing against her own before sliding over it softly, moving their lips in time together.
Hermione's hands slid over his sides, feeling the muscles tighten under her touch until she came to the waistband of his trousers. They were undone from earlier and she pushed them down over his hips. Draco shifted, kicking them off and then settling his body back down.
He felt so good on top of her. She could feel the rough hairs on his legs and the firmness of his chest as it pressed deeply on her own. His skin was cool and was soothing against her own burning flesh, heated by the arousal in her blood.
Draco pulled her farther under him and she felt as his hard length rested against the tender bite mark on her inner thigh. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, against hers, matching it thump for thump.
His hand slid down her body and over the slope of her waist. "Everything is going to change, but it's going to be worth it."
"Oh, Draco," she breathed out. It was almost hard to believe that this was actually happening, but here he was, saying it. Hermione shifted under him and brought her legs up around him, squeezing his hips with her knees. Then because she had to say it or she was going to burst added, "I love you."
He made a noise deep inside his throat and then reached down between them and slid himself inside of her.
"Oh God, Draco!" Hermione clasped her hands on his shoulders, closing her eyes tightly against the feeling of his size inside her again.
"Granger, fuck," he groaned and slowly pulled himself back and then slid into her warmth again.
It wasn't like the other times. Not when he bent her over and pushed all of himself in at once or when he held her down and fucked her hard and fast, or even when he teased her, barely letting her have him at all. This was something different than they had ever done before. Laying together in a bed, her body wrapped around him in every way it could and Draco breathing heavily as he slowly dipped himself into her.
This was… love. Draco was making love to her.
"Yes," her head sunk into the pillow underneath and Draco's mouth attached itself to her exposed neck. His lips sucked at her skin, softly pulling and kissing it when he released it back. "Yes, yes, yes."
The feeling of him was wonderful. He began to move a little faster, building up with each thrust into her. He was moaning into her neck, her hair, her ear and sending frissons down her spine and in between her legs where they mixed with the growing passion burning brighter and higher with each movement.
"I love you," he said in a deep voice. "Fuck, I love you so much."
"I love you too," Hermione gasped as he filled her again.
She tightened her legs around him as he drove himself in deeper, running a hand up into his hair and Draco groaned again. Her body rocked with his, extending the pleasure of their movements.
Draco looked down at her with his storming grey eyes. "Tell me you'll come with me. I want to hear you say it."
She'd do anything he wanted right now and she was already close.
"Yes Draco," she whined. "Make me come."
"Fucking hell," Draco hissed and pumped his hips back and forth making Hermione gasp at the quicker movement. He was so deep, so far in her and the pressure of him was, Godric, it was ecstacy. Hermione clung onto him as her body moved under him.
Draco brought his hand up to rest on her neck, fingers diving into her hair as his palm rested against her jaw. "You won't regret this, I promise."
What? Why would she regret this? It didn't matter. The feeling rising up in her pushed everything else away and this felt too good to stop. Pleasure surged into every inch of her as he pushed himself back in her.
She loved him and felt near bursting with it as it filled her again. She loved him even though he had lied to her, hurt her. All that was over now and Draco loved her too and they were going to be okay and this was going to work. Somehow. She didn't know yet, but she had come here tonight not knowing what would happen and look how that turned out.
Hermione's body arched up, pushing into him as he bore down on her. Even with his cool skin she could start sweat pooling between them, mixing together. She held onto him tightly, fingers and nails digging into him as her body absorbed his deep movements in her.
"Draco," she moaned out his name. "Oh God, yes! I want you. I want everything with you. Please, please, Draco..."
Draco's mouth found hers again just long enough to let a low groan out into it before he pulled back a little, panting. "It's so good. So fucking tight... Oh Granger, you're so good."
Hermione was losing it. Her control, her heart; Draco had it all. She tilted her hips up a little under him and he gratefully sunk down into her. The pressure and pleasure of him inside her was too much, never enough, perfect. She slid her hands down his back a little and clenched her thighs as the fire in her sparked and flared. This was happening, there was no turning back now. In that moment he wasn't a Death Eater or a purist or anything he had ever been. And after tonight he'd never be again.
"I can't stop," he gasped, eyes wide. "Granger, I-"
He leaned heavily onto her, resting himself on the arm bent by her head. She saw something out of the corner of her eyes and looked over to see the dark mark, right there, right next to her. Her whole body tightened and tensed. She told herself it was just another scar, like the ones on his chest. It wasn't anything, it didn't mean anything.
"Fucking come for me," Draco pleaded. "I can't hold on, I can't stop-"
He slammed his hips into her and himself into her, pushing her to her limit and then over it.
"Draco!" Hermione cried out as her body contracted and explosions shot off behind her eyes. Her orgasm roared up in her, mixing with the heat of the passion between them and the love beating in her chest and pushed the air from her lungs and her eyes fluttered as it burned from the inside out. The fire in her raged and roared, rising up up up and reaching what felt like her soul.
"Fuck!" Draco pressed himself hard into her, his body heavy on top of her smaller one. He wrapped a hand around the back of her head, pulling her up into his neck and chest. "Holy fuck, Hermione!"
He came undone inside her. She blinked her eyes wide feeling him release deep and hard. He was straining, twitching, and gave a final small groan before exhaling quickly and panting to catch his breath.
"Oh hell, Sweetheart," he breathed out heavily and laid her head back down on the pillow, hands shaking. "I don't think I've ever come that hard before."
Hermione's mouth opened in a small O before she felt the bubble inside her pop happily. She was looking up into the storm grey eyes of the man who just made love to her. Her heart swelled with love, admiration, and affection for him. Draco. It would always be Draco.
Her lips pulled into a wide smile. Draco stared at her for a few seconds and then returned it with his own. Hermione ran her fingers over his cheek, loving how he looked when he smiled. Really smiled.
Draco leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "You aren't mad at me, are you?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm always mad at you."
"Yeah, you are," he grinned. "And your pouty little glare is so fucking cute."
"Get off of me," Hermione jokingly pushed her hand into his chest and Draco growled, pushing back down on her.
"Never." He smirked. "You're mine." Hermione felt the creature inside her purr pleasantly. "And I think I just proved that."
"You are so vulgar!" Hermione's voice rose higher.
Draco looked guiltily at her. "You were squeezing me between your thighs and with your…" he lifted one brow. "It's been weeks since the last time and I know you said that potion was for accidents, but…" he rolled his eyes dismissively then grinned at her again. "I wanted to. Do you have any idea how fucking good it feels to come inside you?"
Hermione's doe eyes were wide with shock and her mouth dropped open. He had always been possessive and controlling, but... last time had actually been an accident, this time he had meant to?
"Tell me you love me again. Say it. Tell me you're coming with me." Draco was smiling, silver eyes bright and shining, happier than she had ever seen him.
"W-what?" Did he think… Wait… Did he mean actually go somewhere with him?
"Thinking about that, just you and me… Shit, I think that's what did it for me. Knowing that you're mine, all mine and that you chose me and you're coming with me."
Hermione's heart stopped beating. "Draco, what are you-"
"She's not going anywhere with you, you sick fucking bastard." A voice. A male voice. An angry male voice.
Draco's body hardened into cold marble and he moved as quick as a striking snake to look over his shoulder at where the voice had come from.
Hermione's heart stopped beating and she got a clear view of who had spoken from underneath Draco's arm.
At the end of the path to the bed, stood a shaking, red with rage, Ronald Weasley with his wand pointed directly at Draco.
A/N: A few things:
1) I am working on being more active on my social so you might find me actually posting on my twitter and Insta about Daylight and maybe even my tumblr! Oh my… The links are in my profile if you are interested and you can always message me on those platforms if you want or have any questions or anything.
2) I am working on putting up the song recs at the beginning of each chapter so be on the lookout for that. I'll post a composite list at the end of the fic for anyone who is feeling lazy.
3) After Daylight ends I think I have to take a small break. This was supposed to be a fun distraction from another one of my fics Light Years and it ended up being just as emotionally taxing. So I just need a bit of a breather before I dive into…
4) This Bitter Earth is going to be the title of the sequel so be on the lookout of that in a few weeks? If everything goes according to plan.
5) I want to apologize again for the late update, but like I said, this fic is really taking it out of me. So I am going to try and get the final chapter up next week, but if I'm late, know that it's because I am sitting here banging my head into the keyboard and trying to put forth something that is not complete shit. You all love this so much and I don't want to let you down. Hopefully this chapter came out alright because I worked on it so much and then just today scrapped the whole ending and rewrote it completely.
6) I don't want to take up any more of your time with this A/N, but I do want to say Valentina, saying you think Daylight is comparable to Isolation nearly made by heart stop beating. Speechless. You're too kind. All of you, dear readers, are so good to me and I only hope I can like up to your expectations with the finale.
