Gravel crunched under her feet as their body weight suddenly appeared on the pathway.
"Are you okay?" Draco leaned into her ear as his arm gripped her waist, firm but not painful to steady her on her feet. Wind whipped her hair back like a veil behind her and Draco's hair fell wonderfully onto his brow as the sun pierced his silver eyes and washed them almost white. The scent of his gardens engulfed her and a sense of peace filled all her senses while she released her tight fist of his shirt and looked up at him, smiling.
"I'm okay." She tilted her chin so that her lips met his and if it surprised him, he didn't show it; instead he returned the kiss in kind and only when the wind drowned the sound of leaves rattling in the wind did she pull away to look at him and grinned dopily at him.
"Shall we?" Draco looked torn between pulling away and bringing her indoors, but Hermione complied and they entered through the front door and over the threshold; Hermione was not just a person touring, but a guest of Draco himself and feeling giddy with excitement and equal full body torture. His fingertips skirting her skin below her jumper was ridiculously agonising.
"Did you want to go to my-?" Draco's face fell into darkness as the door shut, but his hair still shone in the dark.
"Yes." Hermione said quickly, not caring what the rest of his sentence was because she assumed he meant his room. He chuckled and held her hand, grasping it to pull her along. She adored his firmness, and the way his fingers held onto her hand so that it didn't hurt her, or pinch her, but felt reassuring and warm like a hug
Draco stopped abruptly as they approached the steps and when Hermione looked at him, she found him staring and followed his gaze. For a heartstopping moment, she thought it might have been Astoria; she knew Astoria was here for her appointments, and maybe visits, Hermione wasn't too concerned about her being here, but she would rather not see her if it could be helped.
It was Narcissa. And she bore the warmest smile Hermione had ever seen her wear, which effectively pooled blood into a full blush on Hermione's face. Going from being told off at her own home, to being caught full on by Draco's mother and not knowing how to behave was a whiplash she had not accounted for.
"Hello, Draco, dear." She approached her son and pecked him on the cheek, Draco never let go of Hermione's hand and Hermione knew Narcissa noticed it. She simply looked so pleased, Hermione was having a hard time understanding what was happening. "Good morning, Hermione." She turned her gaze to Hermione, and to Hermione's utmost surprise, Narcissa leaned in and gave her the shadow of a kiss with the same bemusement and happiness she wore for her son.
"Good morning, Mrs Black." The words almost made her tongue roll.
"Please, dear. Call me Narcissa." Narcissa's eyes twinkled and she looked at her son and Hermione recognised a knowing smile when she saw it.
"Mother." Draco said in an even tone, as though chastising her, asking or begging her to behave.
"I'm heading out! I have brunch with Mr Zabini and his mother who are visiting from Italy. I'll be sure to pass along your greetings." Narcissa tugged her coat around her shoulders as though to emphasise her departure. She stepped past them and didn't look back. Hermione almost heard the front door shut like Narcissa was purposefully announcing her exit and Hermione almost blurt out in laughter but instead stifled it behind her palm. Now Draco looked at her, amused at her reaction.
"Sorry." Hermione's laughter were huffing breaths before she calmed herself. Draco didn't move, so she looked up at him, her cheeks hurting, while she tried to get the words out. "It's just that, my mom told me not to…you know, do anything, and your mom just left us the Manor, just like that!"
It was Draco's turn to turn pink and he glanced up the staircase. "We don't have to." he said quickly, "I mean, we can just go to the library-"
"No, I want to see your room." Hermione tugged him up the staircase with no idea of where she was going because nothing felt familiar since all she had paid attention to the last time she was here were the finishes and the style choices, books, and paintings, and maybe that one corridor they stayed in that last night but that was in another wing.
Draco chuckled and it danced around the corridor like music. Hermione giggled and pulled him along, directionless. "Which way?" she asked, looking ahead and seeing that the corridor split in three parts along the sides, going either left or right, or left again, then one large, heavy door at the very end. Draco pulled her to the right and the corridor opened like magic, probably was magic, and everything seemed brighter than she ever remembered it.
An unadorned, heavy looking, dark purple stained door, wafted magic around her and Draco slid his palm gently along one end before tapping it with his wand and it clicked open.
"That's fancy." Hermione thought it reminded her of how Goblins opened the vaults at Gringotts.
"Extra security, since sometimes we have prying guests." Draco pushed the door open and stood aside, Hermione who had been observing him and the way his lips moved when he talked finally looked into his room and found herself frozen in place.
It was about three times the size of her bedroom, nearly the size of a small apartment. There was a writing desk to one end of the room, like the corner was made to be like an office, his wardrobe lined the entire width of his room with that same stained dark purple finished wood, and his bed occupied the centre of the room, reminding Hermione absurdly of a throne with the intricate wooden spiral bedposts and the silver drapes. There were two doors, Hermione assumed it was a bathroom and had no idea what the second could be.
"Wow." Hermione blinked and inhaled, it was everything Draco smelled like, with the addition of an earthy, pleasant, like green grass in the dew, or freshly falling rain smell. Draco was observing her, his cheeks very slightly pink in the low light of the torches along his walls, flickering happily and offering slight warmth but not overbearing heat; the room had the feel of fresh air, not stagnant or hot. Hermione noticed an unlit fireplace behind the bedhead side of the room, blackened slightly from use.
"I've never had anyone in here before." Draco smiled slightly as Hermione looked up at him and then back to the details of the room; with every glance there was something new. The walls were a dark wood, and intricately inlaid in pinstripes were silver slivers that reflected the light like sparks in the mild dark areas where the torch light hardly hit. Hermione saw the ceiling had silver constellations plotted, like a galaxy just above their heads.
"Thank you for trusting me." Hermione said in a hushed tone. She was in Draco Malfoy's room, in Malfoy Manor, without parents at home to make her feel guilty, and all she wanted to do was go to the different doors just to see where they led, and go through his clothes because all his clothes were either white or black and that intrigued her. She also wanted to maybe steal a shirt, just because.
Crossing the room in ten long strides, she flung herself into his bed, spread her arms wide and giggled at the ceiling as the soft material swallowed her in a cloud of happiness. She was firstly curious what the ceiling looked like from Draco's nightly perspective and recognised the constellation, Draco, directly above her. She grinned.
"That's a little narcissistic, huh?" Hermione giggled. She looked for Draco in his bedroom and he was leaning against his bedpost, smiling at her.
"It was like that when I was given the room." Draco glanced up before his eyes returned to Hermione, laying on the bed and feeling exposed. Her body was on fire suddenly and she wanted him there, with her, atop these sheets.
His pupils in the dark were blown wide as he gazed at her and Hermione hoped he could read her; he could, because he slowly climbed onto the bed, his knee parted her legs, and she allowed him, her eyes never leaving his, connected more intimately than kissing had been.
"Can I kiss you?" Draco said when his face hovered over hers, his torso propped by his elbows, but his hips pressed against hers. Hermione thought there was no air left; she nodded and his face came down to hers. It was like breathing.
Draco's mouth was gentle and hungry at the same time, like he was eating a delicate dessert and wanted to savour all of it as slowly as possible. His entire body's weight sunk against her now and she felt him grow hard against her hip, suddenly aware it was there and she shifted underneath him to allow him more of herself, to show she wanted what he did.
He groaned against her mouth and nipped at her tongue before she found his lip and sucked slightly, arching her back into him; her heart was hammering in a similar rhythm to his own which she felt thudding against her breast. Draco's long fingers combed through her curls and pulled, and she dug her nails into his back which he responded by grinding his hips against her and he gasped open mouthed into her own where they stilled, panting.
She laughed, breathless, the feel of Draco's skin under her palms but separated by his shirt left her frustrated and turned on all at once because he pulsed against her where he would otherwise be slipping into her to lose themselves in the pleasure.
She wanted him more than anything, except the smell of the morning dew on his skin, the taste of the earl grey on his tongue reminded her that they had only been together since this morning. She shimmied under him, almost grinding into him to earn herself another gasp but she stopped.
"We-"
"Should stop. I agree." Draco panted against her lips, but he didn't kiss her. Hermione felt relief flood through her, because he agreed.
"It's not that I don't want to." Hermione tilted her head up to kiss him softly. He smiled against her mouth and opened his mouth to hers a little before he turned his head away, and buried his face into the nape of her neck and poofiness of her hair.
"I know. Should we maybe go on a date first?" Draco's voice was muffled and he sounded as amused and frustrated as Hermione felt.
"Take me on a date, Draco Malfoy, and treat me like a lady." Hermione said into his ear as she wrapped her legs around his hips tightly and licked his ear. Draco laughed and groaned in the same breath before he writhed away from her and they fell into a fit of giggles from their half hearted wrestling match.
"Where would the lady like to go for a date?" Draco asked the ceiling. Hermione thought he had given up on looking at her because they were one touch away from stripping and getting lost in each other. She found his hand instead and linked her fingers, joining him in staring at the stars.
"Take me to your favourite place." Hermione said quietly. She wanted to know more about him, more about who he had become beyond the things she already knew. She would take whatever she can about him and wrap it in her mind like little presents to herself to open later and smile at when she remembered she had fallen in love with this man who knew how not to rush, who wanted her but was patient and kind, who valued her enough to show her respect when she didn't want it because she was blinded by her loneliness and relief at having found him.
"I can do that." Draco looked at her, smiling, then brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.