FORTY-THREE
Wednesday, 19 November 1944
Breakfast was nearly over by the time Hermione appeared in the common room. Draco had been contemplating heading back to her dorm to see what was keeping her so long. His sigh of relief upon seeing her was short lived when he saw the pallor of her skin and the way her eyes appeared to sink into her face. "You look like shit."
Her eyes went wide at him and then she scowled. "Good morning to you too," she snapped.
Heat flared along his neck for a moment and he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't… Are you okay?" he asked, coming to step towards her. "And tell me the truth."
"I overdid it last night."
"Overdid what?" he asked, trying to remember what they did. There hadn't been anything outside the norm. She had gone to bed at her usual time. "Did you occlude in your room?"
She shook her head and cast her eyes down to the floor. "I snuck out to the library last night. I found a book with some interesting spells and I tried them out. I thought I had researched enough, but I was wrong."
"Come on," he said, threading his fingers through hers. "You're going to the infirmary. Even if I have to drag you."
"You don't," she said, following him without resistance. "Have to drag me," she added. "I would have gone anyway. I feel nauseous."
He nodded. "We can stop at the kitchens after if you're up for it."
"You're just hoping to ditch Transfiguration."
He grinned as he pulled her through the corridor that led away from the dungeons. "I don't know what you're on about, Granger. I love going to class."
She smiled and shook her head at him, squeezing his hand as though she were afraid to let go. Once inside the infirmary, he took a seat in the chair next to the bed Madam Perth sat her on and zoned out as she ran some diagnostics. He studied Hermione's face, watching as she recounted her story to the Healer and then again when she was listening to the lecture about sneaking out that it resulted in. There was something off about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Why didn't you have me come with you?" he asked her as Perth went to get her some potions to help.
"It was late. I wasn't sure that you'd be up," she said, looking out the window, watching the snow fall outside.
"Still, I don't like the idea of you being alone in the castle, Hermione. Especially with Riddle always lurking about. He was on patrol last night too." He didn't miss the way she tensed at the mention of the Head Boy. It left a sour taste in his mouth. "And what if you had seriously injured yourself?" His heart hammered against his chest at the thought of finding her too late. "Just don't… Don't go out alone anymore, okay? Even if you have to come to the dorm, just…"
"I'll send my Patronus next time."
He stared at her for a moment. "You can cast one?"
"It was one of the first things Harry taught us in the DA."
He rolled his eyes. "There we go with that stupid club again."
"Maybe if you weren't such an Umbridge supporter, you could have joined us."
He snorted. "As if I would ever be caught dead learning something from St. Potter."
Her retort was lost as Perth returned, but they both smirked at each other and Draco felt better. For a moment, everything was normal. Their exchange had let him know that she was okay. He just hoped that she would wake him the next time she wanted to do something reckless. Even if it was for something as mundane as a midnight trip to the library. Merlin knew he would never say no to her.
Perth administered a few different potions and then instructed her to eat something before she returned to class for the day. Then he grabbed her hand again and led her to the kitchens. "I can teach you the Patronus charm if you'd like."
"You can't."
She stopped and looked up at him with a frown. Slowly, she followed the movement of him tapping at his left forearm with his right hand. "It means nothing," she said, laying her hand over the Mark beneath his sleeve. "It doesn't define you, Draco. It'll be harder, but if you give it your all and believe in yourself, then I have faith that I'll be seeing your silver dragon in no time."
"Is that a euphemism?" he teased.
She shoved at him and turned towards the kitchens.
"How do you know it'll be a dragon?" he asked, catching up to her with a few long strides.
"Call it intuition," she said.
"What's yours?"
"An otter."
He paused and gave her a once-over with his eyes. "I don't see it."
She gave a shrug. "It makes sense if you think about it. Muggles believe that everyone has a spirit animal that represents something inside themselves they either need or have forgotten. Otters are said to symbolize playfulness and fun and are known to appear when that person's life gets too serious, they over-think, or they forgot how to have fun."
Draco maintained the slight smirk on his face. "Did you research your Patronus using Muggle texts?"
She huffed and continued moving, leaving him behind again. "Well it wasn't because I love spending time in the water. Do you know how long it takes to get this under control after a shower?" she asked, lifting up her hair.
He chuckled and held the door open for her. The elves asked them what they wanted and then they took their seat at the little table they often sat at when they skipped the Great Hall for meals. "I get it though," he said, making her pause mid bite. "It's hard enough to have fun and not take everything so serious when you've got the Dark Lord in your house. I can only imagine how much worse it is for you trying to wipe him off the face of the earth."
She smiled lightly, but didn't comment on it. "So will you try with me?"
He hesitated a moment, his eyes flickering down to where the necklace he had given her was resting in the hollow of her throat. "I think I have plenty of happy memories now."
His gaze rose up to meet hers and for the briefest moment, he saw her eyes turn to glass before she looked down, giving him a tight smile. "Even Neville produced one." She cleared her throat and pushed her plates away, leaving most of her food untouched. "So there's hope for you."
He got to his feet and reached for her hands, pulling her to hers. "Come on, let's get going."
She nodded and let him lead her back into the main hall. They were quiet as they started towards Transfiguration. It had started about the time they sat down to eat which meant they would have nearly missed a third of it when they reached the classroom. He would have just written it off and not bothered going, but if that's where she wanted to go, he would follow her anywhere.
But it wasn't until she had pulled him inside a classroom that he realized they were not going to Transfiguration. He watched as she walked to the nearest desk and hopped up onto it, wiping her palms along her thighs, smoothing her skirt. He stared at her with his back to the door and quirked a brow at her. "You sure this is a good idea?" he asked as he moved towards her.
She parted her thighs wider so he could stand between them, her hands sliding up his chest until one wrapped itself in his tie to pull him closer. "Please, Draco. I need you."
He stared down at her, his fingers curling around the edge of the desk on either side of her. "We just-" he started, his words cutting off with a hiss as her free hand cupped him over his trousers. He hardened as she massaged him the way she had learned he responded to best.
"Please," she whimpered, angling her face up towards his.
He lowered his lips to hers and groaned into her mouth as she sank her teeth into his bottom lip. Her hips rolled against the desk and her hand tightened on his cock. When she released his lip, he kissed her hard enough to bruise their mouths, his hands moving to her hips, pulling her close. She moved her hand so she could press herself against him as she rolled her hips again. His right hand moved until it was sliding up her skirt. He felt a wave of heat the closer he got to her core and he moaned at the discovery that her arousal had wept through her knickers. He sank his fingers into her, closing his eyes and dropping his head to her neck as she cried out and bucked her hips.
"Merlin, Hermione, how long have you been wet for me?" he asked.
She answered with another whine and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck as the other one tightened its hold of his tie again. When she tipped her head back slightly he could see that her eyes were glassy again and she wore a pained expression on her face. Not wanting to hurt her, he paused. Her hand came away from his neck and held his forearm in a vice as she looked at him with panic. "Don't!" she begged. "Don't stop. Please, Draco. Don't stop."
"Hermione-"
Her inner walls clutched fiercely at his fingers and she shoved her hips forward, tightening her hold on his arm. "Draco, I need to come. I need… I can't-"
Not wanting to hear the panic in her voice anymore, he shoved his arm forward, sinking his fingers as deep as possible within her. Her lids fluttered and she sighed with satisfaction as he picked up the pace, driving his fingers in and out of her in record time. When she came, he resisted the urge to turn and look at the door. There was no way someone hadn't heard her cries of pleasure. He stared down at her with awe, watching as pure euphoria settled her features and erased her panic. It was as if she had been in misery before and making her come was the only way to set her free.
He was so enthralled by the look on her face that he barely registered that she had freed him from his trousers. It was the touch of her hand against his bare cock that broke him out of his stupor and made his own need for release take precedence. He pushed her hands away and reached up her skirt to yank her knickers down her legs, dropping them on the floor. She pulled her skirt high and he wasted no time in joining their bodies together, both releasing a collective sigh.
Draco caught on quickly that she wasn't in the mood for taking it slow or easy. Every time he tried to slow the pace, she would whine or grab at him. The harder he slammed his hips into hers, the deeper he made their connection, the more primal her moans became. At one point, the cry that escaped her made him think he had gone too deep and actually hurt her, but she came harder than she had a moment ago on his fingers and it spurred him on. With how wet she was and how hard he was pounding away at her, he knew he wasn't going to last long, but he continued giving her every last bit of his stamina just to see that look on her face again. When he came, he immediately felt all his energy seeping into her core with his release.
Her hand went slack around the tie and she slumped forward against him. They both used the other to hold themselves up as they panted for air. He softened quickly and was pushed out by the mixture of their release. He could feel it spilling down her thighs and onto the desk, but she would have to deal with that for a moment until one of them was able to clean up.
As it was, before the fog had even cleared from his mind, the sound of the door slamming shut brought him out of his daze. He quickly tucked himself back into his trousers and spun around as he zipped them up. He stood protectively in front of Hermione at the sight of Riddle standing between them and the door. His eyes were dark with rage, but he wasn't look at him; he was looking behind him. At Hermione.
"Get out of here, Riddle."
"I am Head Boy, Draco. It is my job to catch students engaging in illicit behavior and report them."
"Report us, I don't care, just get out and leave us alone."
Riddle took a step forward and he felt Hermione grasp the back of her shirt, her fingers trembling slightly. Riddle shook his head, his lips curling dangerously. "You really are a whore."
Draco felt something in him snap and he surged forward, wand in hand. Hermione called his name, but he barely heard it as he shouted the first spell that came to mind. "Sectumsempra!"
The white light hit Riddle square in the chest and laid him out flat on his back. He stared down at the Head Boy, keeping his wand trained on him even as blood began to pool through his robes and onto the floor around him. He could see the pain in Riddle's gaze and his own chest ached at the memory of the same pain when Potter had used the Dark spell on him the year before.
Hermione gave a shriek and knocked his wand out of his hand as she ran to kneel by Riddle's side. She looked back at him with tears in her eyes and glossed cheeks. "Draco! Go get help! Now!"
He wanted to fight her. To tell her that he had just saved them all one hell of a headache by getting rid of him now, but the panic in her voice had him running out into the hall to seek help, the memory of his own attack playing in the front of his mind as he ran through the castle shouting at the top of his lungs.
Hermione pulled at Riddle's robes and shirt beneath until his chest was exposed. The deep gash upon his flesh was still oozing blood and when she tried to reach for her wand, he grabbed her wrist. "We-We're getting help," she said shakily. "He didn't… He didn't mean it."
His lips parted to say something, but his eyelids fluttered and his hold on her arm loosened before his body went slack. She stilled for a moment, wondering if he would actually die if help didn't arrive in time. From what Harry had told her of the time he had used the spell on Draco, Snape had been there almost immediately to heal the damage done to Draco. And since it was Snape's spell, it made sense that he knew how to counteract it. If Riddle died…
But just before she could contemplate the risk of using her own magic to make sure help never reached him, Madam Perth and a few others crossed the threshold. It was when she was being pushed out of the way did she feel his presence slip from her mind.
She stared after the procession in shock and fear as they rushed him to the infirmary. Draco had attacked him in a way that had actually hurt him despite all his precautions and the last thing he had seen was her contemplating whether or not to let him die. Wondering if she could finish the job herself.
Panic bubbled up in her chest until it forced the contents of her stomach up her throat and onto the floor. She had to fix this and soon. Before it was too late for either of them.
Once the excitement of the day had dissipated, Hermione felt the exhaustion settle in. Dippet and Perth had spent a long time questioning her and Draco on what had happened. They ended up telling the truth. That Riddle had caught them in an unused classroom. Draco confessed to firing the spell, saying that he was caught up in the moment and that Riddle had made a comment. Dumbledore had asked her if that was the truth when they were alone and she had only been able to nod.
Not caring about the looks and whispers from the others of House Slytherin, she marched down the boy's corridor and let herself into Draco's dorm. He was pacing in the middle of the room, looking frazzled. He only noticed her when the door shut, jumping slightly at her presence. "What the hell were you thinking?" she snapped, casting silencing charms around them.
It was clear from the expression on his face that that was not what he had expected upon seeing her. Surprise turned to anger and he took a menacing step towards her. "Me? What the hell were you thinking?" he fired back. "He called you a whore and you rushed to his side as if he were Weasley or Potter!"
"He can't be killed, Malfoy!" She took her own step forward, her anger mingling with the fear in her gut. "You just pissed him off and now there's no telling what he's going to do to us!"
"Would you rather I just sat back and listen to him degrade you?" he asked, his lips curling in disgust. "Merlin, did you yell at Potter this much when he had me bleeding out last year? Or is this rage just for me trying to defend you?"
"I threatened to burn the damn book he found the spell in!" she shouted, her hands balling into fists at her side. "I wanted him to get rid of that blasted thing since the moment he found it. It was nothing but bad news." She gestured at his chest. "Case in point. I was furious when I found out that he could have killed you."
He was surprised at that; it as written all over his face and his body relaxed a bit. But when her anger didn't subside, he bristled and sneered at her again. "Well, lucky for you, I survived. No black spot on Potter's saintly reputation."
"Did you not stop to think that if I thought for one second he would have actually died, I would have told you to get help? He's already going to try something, I just know it, but it would be twice as bad if we had just stood there, hoping he died." She swallowed hard over the perpetual lump in her throat. "Draco, he-" her throat closed, cutting off her words.
Draco was there, wrapping his arms around her, holding her up as her legs threatened to buckle beneath her. "I'm right here, Hermione. Nothing's going to happen to either of us. I won't let it. I can protect myself. I can protect you."
There was only one thing that could protect them from Riddle's wrath and she sobbed against Draco's chest as she realized what it was. She clutched him tighter, her tears soaking right through his shirt. It wasn't until he was pulling back to cup her face in his hands and wipe tears away with his thumbs that she realized she had been asking for forgiveness and whispering she was sorry over and over again.
"Hermione, you didn't do anything. There's nothing to apologize for. If he retaliates, it will be my fault. But I swear to you, I won't-"
"I love you."
The words were out of her mouth faster than she could even register the thought having crossed her mind. Draco had gone completely still for a moment, his eyes blown wide with surprise, and his lips still parted mid-sentence. For a second, she panicked, thinking it had been the wrong move, but he surged forward and captured her lips with his own.
She loved him. She had known that for awhile now. As his lips tugged at hers while he drew her towards his bed, she recalled all of their moments together in a whirlwind of imagines across her mind. From the moment they stumbled through the door in the Room of Requirement to now and all the moments in between, she knew that she loved him with every fiber of her being.
She only wished the reason for declaring it now wasn't what it was. She loved Draco Malfoy. And knew telling him was inevitable. But it was because she loved him that the price Riddle would surely demand in exchange for their lives was still too high. But as Draco declared his love for her in return, she knew she would pay whatever he asked of her so long as she could keep Draco safe.
"I love you," she repeated as she pulled him over her, cradling his body between her thighs.
"I love you too," he said, sinking into her for the second time that day. But unlike the raw need she felt for him in the classroom as she sought the release she had been twice denied the night before, this was slow and sweet. Something just for them as they continued to declare their love throughout the night.
And when he fell asleep beside her, she buried her head into his chest and begged for forgiveness because of her love for him, unaware that he was awake to hear every word that tumbled past her lips.