THIRTY-FIVE
Saturday, 25 October 1944
On Thursday, Riddle had come to the library after Draco left for class, dropped off a few more books for her to read, and then took his leave. She had poured over them by the time they met Friday night for their observation. That night, Riddle only discussed their project for Astronomy and left the tower shortly after arriving, leaving Hermione alone to read a bit more. The only thing he had told her was to be patient and that they would be meeting for Observation on Wednesday for the New Moon.
Which worked, since Friday was Halloween.
Saturday morning, Dumbledore had invited them for tea in his office directly after breakfast and they spent a good portion of their morning there. After that, they did their usual lap around the grounds, soaking up the fresh air. Although, this time around, there was a lot more pausing to snog than anything else. Not that either of them seemed to mind.
After dinner, Draco had declined Riddle's invite to their meeting, choosing to ignore the flare of anger of rejection that came from the young Dark Lord. Instead, he had taken Hermione's hand and led her towards the seventh floor for the Room of Requirement. When they stepped inside, he was surprised to find that he had been the one to conjure the Gryffindor common room.
It was well after curfew when they found themselves curled up in front of the fire together. He had some cushions propped up between his back and the coffee table and Hermione's back was pressed against his front, his legs caging hers as they stretched towards the fireplace. He had his arms around her waist and his chin resting on the top of her head. Her hands were resting on top of his arms, lightly tracing obscure patterns along his skin.
They had read for a bit, worked on some assignments, snogged, and then moved to the fire to talk when she got tired of the couch. "If you could have any job, what would it be?" she asked.
"I can have any job," he chuckled.
He was pretty sure she rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see it from behind her. "A job that you actually worked for, Draco. Humor me."
"Potions," he replied after a moment of consideration. "Every year, Mum would buy me the latest brewing kit for my birthday. It was the only thing I ever asked for. Snape used to supply the ingredients and teach me what he could. No matter how many times he called me insolent and unteachable, he always came back to try anyway."
He smiled into her hair at the memories of his godfather. Devout follower of the Dark Lord or not, he was good to Draco.
"Would you work for the Ministry or open your own apothecary?" she asked, her voice a little off at the candid way he spoke. He was sure it was as strange for her as it was for him that the people they knew held very different roles in each of their lives.
"I think I would want to create potions. Or even expand upon ancient ones." She hummed in approval and shifted a little, her bum brushing against the seat of his pants. "What about you?" he asked.
"When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian," she admitted. "A healer for animals in the Muggle world," she added, sensing that he might not be familiar with the term.
"Of course."
"But then I realized I was afraid of reptiles, particularly snakes."
He chuckled. "Seems like you got over that one."
She laughed along with him and drew her knees up. His eyes followed the way her skirt crept up her thighs, exposing most of her body. If she had only shifted a fraction more… "But when I learned I was a witch, I didn't know what I wanted to be. There were so many options; too many to learn about. Then it seemed like there might not even be a future to plan so I-"
"Hey," he interrupted, squeezing his arms around her tighter, placing a kiss into her temple. "That's not playing along," he teased, trying to keep the mood light.
She sighed and shifted again. "I want to teach. I want to make sure that future generations have all the information and learn the things that matter. I never want anyone to forget what happened and everyone should know it was worth fighting for."
"I know what's worth fighting for, Hermione. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize it."
"Draco-"
He held her tight as she tried to break free of his hold and turn to face him. He needed to finish what he had to say and he couldn't do it if she looked at him. "And when we get out of here, no matter what happens, I will keep fighting. For you. You can forget if you want to, but I can't. I won't."
She had gone still in his arms at his confession. Any other time he would have wished he could immediately take it back, but not this time. If he didn't think it would scare her away, he would say it over and over again until he had no air left in his lungs.
But he wished she would say something.
"I can't forget either," she whispered, her voice so quiet he thought he imagined it.
She twisted in his arms enough so that when she tilted her head back, he could brush his lips over hers. As he did, he detached one of his arms from around her and slid it down her body. She gasped into his mouth when his fingers grazed over core and he groaned right back at how soaked she was already. He waved his hand and her knickers disappeared into thin air. She spread her hips wider and he ran the length of his middle finger through her folds.
Her hips arched off the ground as he coated his fingers in her arousal, teasing her pulsing clit with the barest of touches. She pulled her lips from his to keep from craning her neck too much and let her head fall back on his shoulder. He reached up with his other hand to draw her hair over one shoulder and then slid it under her jumper to knead her breast; his middle finger plunging inside her body at the same time his lips dipped to her neck.
Her breathy moans filled the air as her body came alive under his touch. Her breasts felt fuller with her arousal and he rolled her nipples between his fingers, loving the way they pebbled at his touch. She made him rock hard when her hand stole down to join his at her core. Her index finger joined his middle and after a few pumps, he withdrew, leaving her behind to pleasure herself.
Out of curiosity, he brought his hand up and nearly came as her mouth opened readily to lap up the slick she had coated him with. He growled and nipped at her neck before moving his hand back down. He reinserted his finger alongside hers and they fell into sync as they worked her body into a frenzy. "Touch your clit," he demanded against her neck. She nodded and moved her finger to her bundle of nerves, keeping the same pace she had inside her body. He added his index finger and she began bucking her hips erratically. "Come for me."
"Draco, I… I want…"
"What do you want, Hermione?"
"I…" she trailed off as she moaned again, her rear coming off the floor forcing his fingers in deeper. "I want you."
"I'm right here."
She shook her head as her hips landed back on the floor, grinding against his length. "No. Inside me. I'm ready."
He paused and she whined in frustration, not stopping her assault on her clit. "Are you sure?"
"Yes! Gods, Draco, please! Don't stop."
He picked up the pace and crooked his fingers as much as he could at that angle, his tongue flicking at her earlobe to mimic what she was doing to her clit. It wasn't long before she was crying out and calling his name like a mantra, her thighs clamping together to stop any further movement.
Slowly, she removed her hand from her body and parted her legs so he could do the same. He vanished the rest of their clothes and carefully turned her to face him and then pulled her over his lap so that her knees were on either side of his hips. She leaned forward, one hand on the back of his head, the other cupping his face, and captured his lips with hers.
Careful not to hurt her, he reached between them for his cock and brushed it through her slick folds. When he was thoroughly coated, he positioned himself at her entrance and pulled his lips from hers, their foreheads resting against the others. "I'm ready," she assured him again.
He nodded and moved to kiss her again. As their mouths moved as one, he tried to put the rest of what he had meant to say into their kiss. That he was truly sorry for everything over the past seven years; every slur he had hurled her way, every action. Everything. She braced herself by tightening her hold on him when she felt him push up and when she pulled away to inhale sharply, he pressed into her.
There was a strangled cry that escaped her lips as he eased himself inside of her. He felt the barrier of her maidenhood and knew once he pushed past it, the worst would be over. Her body jerked when he did and she sank the rest of the way down on him. He stilled for a moment, letting her adjust to him, not wanting to hurt her. He ran his hands up and down her back, hoping that it helped her in any way.
When she began to relax around him, she brushed her lips over his again and nodded. He kissed her back and then reached down to grab her hips and pull her up slightly, holding her up just enough so that he could begin to move in and out of her at an agonizingly slow pace. Her body began to tremble around his and before long, she was the one moving her hips, lifting and settling herself down on him instead.
She pulled back slightly, both of her hands falling to his shoulders for purchase as she rode him like they had been doing this all along. He kept one hand on her hip to steady her while the other paid attention to her breasts in turn. He stared up at her, marveling at the way she looked while she rode him.
Her hair was wild like the day they had ridden the broom around the Quidditch pitch. With the light of the fire behind her, it shimmered like a mane of wildfire. He stared at her; all sense of time and space lost to him. In that moment, she truly was the Golden Girl. She was made of pure flames and she was burning him alive.
He watched as her face transformed from the girl he had known into the woman she had grown to be. One that was experiencing distant realms of oblivion and reaching new heights among the stars. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
She collapsed forward in her aftermath and with his head cradled between her breasts, he buried himself deep within the inferno that was Hermione Granger and came so hard he thought he lost himself in the void and would never come back. Afraid that if he did, he would wake to find that this had all been a dream. He vowed right then and there that he would do anything to atone for every bad thing he had done in the past; that he would never repeat any of it so long as it wasn't a dream.
And when he opened his eyes, the universe granted his wish. He could see it in Hermione's eyes as she looked down at him with an array of emotions. This was definitely not a dream. She was here. She was real. And he wasn't ever letting her go.
Wednesday, 29 October 1944
When Hermione woke Sunday morning, it took her a moment to remember where she was. The first thing she saw when her eyes opened was the fire still going strong in the hearth. It was a few more heartbeats before she realized she was in the Room of Requirement and not in the actual Gryffindor common room. Which was good considering she and Draco weren't wearing anything and their bodies were wrapped intimately around one another.
Her body ached with a soreness she had never encountered before, but it wasn't unbearable. Images of the night before came to surface and she shuddered. When she shifted to try and break free of his hold to relieve the sting in her bladder, Draco muttered his grievances into her hair and tightened his hold on her.
Eventually he had let her go and she returned to him before getting dressed just like she promised, spending most of Sunday wrapped up in one another as if they didn't have anywhere else to be. They only emerged when their stomachs refused to do anything but growl and made way to the Great Hall as it was close to dinner time anyway.
The rest of Sunday and the two days that followed practically flew by. And she had been so wrapped up in the newfound closeness of her relationship with Draco, that she had nearly forgotten Wednesday was the night of the New Moon and she was meeting Riddle then instead of Friday.
When Wednesday came around, she had asked Riddle to meet at nine again and he had agreed. Instead of going to the Room of Requirement with Draco first, she told him she would go there afterwards. And when the day came, he walked her to the base of the Astronomy Tower and kissed her goodbye before taking his leave towards the secret room.
Riddle was there before her again. This time, he had his notes out and was writing something down when she stepped off the landing. He looked up at her and she nodded in greeting. She set up her stuff next to him and they spent the first ten minutes of their meeting jotting down notes of their Astronomy project. Then they had repacked their stuff so they could begin their other project.
"Have you finished reading the books?" he asked.
She nodded. "I've made notes of the things that seem interesting enough to pursue further."
"What have you picked?" he asked.
She shoved a cluster of curls behind her ear and sighed. "I, uh…I couldn't pick three."
His brow quirked slightly and she saw his eyes lighten a bit with amusement. "How many did you pick?"
The prospect of her being so readily agreeable to picking more than his designated number of topics to discuss changed his mood. Gone was the Riddle who had threatened to make her kill Malfoy if she disobeyed him. In his stead was the Riddle that met her in the secret passage by Potion's class; ready to finish her off.
"One," she replied, watching an array of thoughts dance in his eyes before his lips turned down with disappointment.
There was a very long pause between them before he pushed off the wall and took a step towards her. "I had really hoped you had learned not to-"
"I want to learn about Horcruxes," she interrupted, taking the risk in doing so.
The way he sneered at her made her shiver. "So that when you manage to return home, you will have even more information on how to destroy them?"
"No," she replied, shaking her head. She worried at her bottom lip for a minute. She held his gaze, took a deep breath, and said, "I want to make one."
When Hermione joined Draco at the Room of Requirement that night, the door was still there, but this time, when Hermione turned the handle, it was unlocked.