Draco rustled himself awake hours later before the sun had come up. His bedroom was bathed in darkness, but he could still make out the shape of Hermione laying beside him and could feel her warmth pushing up against him.

Her breaths seemed even; he supposed she was still asleep, likely still fatigued by their earlier activities. He wasn't sure what that was with the warmth exploding over his entire body, but it certainly knocked him out pretty well. He couldn't remember anything after his fantastic release.

His memories from earlier in the night came back to him vividly, and he felt his cock twitch in reaction. He could feel his blood rushing down, causing him to harden with every clench. He was laying on his side with Hermione's backside pressed up against him, and his growing cock was happy to nestle between her cheeks as it awoke.

She groaned and pushed her arse back against him. Merlin if she wouldn't be the death of him. He stilled himself, feeling uneasy about the potential to take advantage of her sleeping state, but she pushed back again (this time more firmly) and softly sighed his name.

"Draco," she breathed. He felt her shift beside him slightly and bit back a moan when he realised what she was doing. She snuck her hand down between her legs and had parted herself, starting to rub slowly and gently at her clit.

He leaned over to get a better look and groaned into her ear when he saw her delicate fingers disappearing into her folds. "Fuck, that's fantastic," he whispered hotly into her ear. He pushed himself up against her more firmly, adding a hand to her hip to keep her flush against him while his cock pressed into the folds of her arse and thigh.

That warmth in his chest was burning again, but this time it felt like the warmth of glowing embers rather than the white hot glow of blue fire. His whole body wanted to fuck her again.

He moved one hand down her body, tracing between her breasts and over her hip to land gently on her backside. He used his thumb to part her cheeks and the rest of his hand raised her thigh, which gave him an exquisite view of her slick channel from the back while her fingers were still busily strumming in front. He inched his thumb closer to her cunt as he breathed "Can I?"

"Yes!", was her breathy response. He inched down the bed slightly and lined himself up with her entrance, gently pushing forward and feeling that sweet wet heat surround him again. She was still facing away from him, laying sideways on the bed and never stopping those soft breathy moans she was eliciting with her fingers.

Draco pumped her slowly. Unlike a few hours ago, his libido was satiated enough that he felt able to slide in and out at a leisurely pace. He was eager to draw out her release as much as possible. While his hips were still moving slowly, in and out, his free hand found its way under her rib cage to locate her naked breast. He began massaging softly but made sure to keep his touches away from her nipple.

He kept this pattern up for several minutes; a firm but controlled repetitive in and out, enough to keep building her up but never enough to get her close to the edge. Her other hand, not busy with her clit, found its way up to her chest and she pinched the nipple of the breast just out of Draco's reach. She gave a strong moan that turned into a whine when he still didn't pick up the pace.

"Faster, Draco," she instructed, whining again when he didn't obey. She moved her fingers faster on her clit and he could feel the accompanying clench around his cock. He wasn't ready for her to come yet, he wanted to see how far he could push her, so he lowered her thigh and snaked his newly free hand over her vulva and pushed her hand aside, taking up the torturous pace she'd previously used.

When her thigh fell back down it increased the friction, making her channel feel even tighter. Draco groaned at the new sensations, and Hermione followed. Not only could he feel his cock slipping in and out of her cunt, but he could also feel the firm grip of her thighs and arse embracing him as he pulled out. He had to fight to push himself back in again.

He could feel himself building more and more, which was a little strange; normally he needed to be fucking at a much faster pace to get off. But that steady pressure kept building and building every moment, and he was eager to see where it might stop.

His mouth moved to her neck where he scraped his teeth along the taut muscles there. His hips were unrelenting, pushing and pulling at the same pace, consistent and perfect. When his teeth scraped across a spot that made her breath hitch, Draco lightly licked the area before sucking firmly, drawing the muscle into his mouth and laving it with his tongue before releasing the pressure, hands still working steadily on her breast.

"I could come like this," he panted. His hips continued to piston in and out. "Feeling your cunt wrap around me each time I slowly push in" - he enunciated his words with a thrust - "and slowly pull out."

Obviously she was building more than he thought she was because she answered "me too. Oh gods, I feel it, it's coming."

Her words hit an erogenous zone in his brain that he never knew he had. The stuttering warmth in his chest glowed brighter, and he adjusted the pace of his thrusts and finger flicks to match it. Hermione's groan rang in his ears; her back started to arch, but he used his forearm to hold her in place while he continued to pound into her, her backside slapping against his hips with every movement.

"I'm coming, I'm coming Draco!"

His body reacted to her words. His balls tightened almost painfully as he thrust as deeply as he could, anchoring himself inside her as his cock emptied. It felt like an eternity before the spurts stopped and he finally felt like he was done.

When they both recovered some of their senses, Draco pulled out of Hermione and she rolled over to rest her head on his chest. It was the first time they'd been face to face this morning, and he was sure that thought would have been a little amusing if he had enough brain cells left to piece it together. They whispered 'good morning' to each other almost giddily.

He was in such a good mood he couldn't help but ask "No 'I can't' this morning, then?" He was referring to her previous chants of not being able to come, always followed by a surprise reaction that she was.

She blushed, which was particularly endearing while she was laying naked in his bed. "I suppose I've collected enough evidence to the contrary now."

He smirked. If that didn't inflate a man's ego, he wasn't sure what would. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud gurgling sound coming from Hermione's torso, which caused her blush to darken even more.

"Hungry?"

A few minutes later they were set up in two plush dressing gowns with a morning tea service from Tilley. Hermione was surprisingly pleasant with the elf; perhaps because she saw the strange dress and stocking combination the elf was wearing which showed her status as a freed elf. Draco thanked the little house caretaker and proceeded to pile a croissant and some fruits onto Hermione's plate while their tea steeped.

"I suppose we should talk about what happens next, now that we've…. Talked." She was referencing Potter's earlier insinuation weeks ago, and he cursed her Gryffindor courage to bring up topics like this so directly.

They'd discussed the ritual at length, of course. She'd read damn near every book he'd found in the library related to the subject. Draco had even told her about how the door had sealed itself off (which she found fascinating, though he wasn't sure why). So she was already very aware of what sorts of side effects he'd likely suffer from should it fail.

But they'd never spoken about what that meant for them. Could they casually hook up with the idea of this ritual looming above them? Was this a one time event that was supposed to test the limits of the ritual, after which she'd leave with her research (both academic and practical) and use the basis to develop a cure for Dragon Pox?

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs before speaking. "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to think right now, but all I know is that after last night - and this morning - I have absolutely no desire to pursue any other witch now or possible ever. And I would be honoured for you to accompany me through even part of that journey, if you feel comfortable."

Hermione's face lit up; obviously he'd touched on some good answers, and he was relieved. He poured the tea for them, both because he was thirsty and because it seemed like a good distraction from her beaming affectionate gaze.

"I'm happy to hear that," she began, twirling a lock of chocolate coloured hair in her fingers as she spoke. "I'm partial to monogamy, myself." Her eyes twinkled, and Draco was mesmerised.

Now that the tension was broken, Draco realised how hungry he was and heartily dove into his pastry and fruits. It was only a few minutes before both of their plates were empty and their teacups held only dregs.

Draco stood up and stretched, causing him to catch the scent of himself in the air and encouraging him to declare that he was in desperate need of a shower lest Hermione smell him and decide she should get out while she still could.

"I have to go clean up," he announced. He gave Hermione a heady look and followed up with "There's more than enough room for two in the bath."

He could almost see the haze in her eyes as she contemplated the idea of showering together. He was concerned for a moment when she still didn't move and he was awkwardly standing there, unsure whether to sit back down or keep moving towards the shower. But suddenly her eyes cleared and he could feel the corresponding warmth flooding in his chest before she even announced her answer.

"How convenient, as I seem to have worked up a sweat over the past few hours and couldn't possibly wait for even the few scant moments more it would take for yours." She gave him a wink and stood up beside him. She offered her arm, and he chuckled before holding her wrist and placing it over his arm in the traditional way. Trust Hermione Granger to take something as simple as linking arms as an opportunity to reverse gender roles.

They walked the short distance to the bathroom, and Draco wandlessly set the temperature and light bergamot scent of the bath to fill as they disrobed. Draco tugged on the tie of Hermione's robe and licked his lips as it fell apart. He ran a finger down the side of her neck before pushing the robe off her shoulders. His eyes stayed locked on her face as the garment fell to the floor. He heard her breath catch, but he moved his hand away and turned to tend to the bath before she could reach out to touch him back.

Testing the water to make sure it was perfect, he took Hermione's hand in his own and encouraged her to gently lower herself into the water. He relished in her soft sighs and moans as she soaked her muscles in the warm water. He mimicked her enjoyment as he slid in beside her and felt the tension and fatigue leave his body.

After a few moments of soaking in the warmth and relaxing sore muscles, Draco reached for the soap and two fresh washcloths. He took one for himself and offered one to Hermione as well. He had just begun soaping his shoulders when he felt her small hands take the cloth from him and take over.

His skin flared to life under her ministrations. She seemed to second guess herself once she started because she stuttered "Is this - is this ok?"

He took her empty hand in his and lifted it to his chest, pressing against the spot where that ever-present glow was thrumming. "You said you feel this, right?" She nodded in response. "Hermione, to me this means that everything is ok."

She ducked her head and her curls fell in front of her face, but not before he caught the smile and blush combination.

"Everything," she repeated.

He bent his head down to meet hers and gently caressed her lips with his own. She hummed and he felt the vibration against his lips. She sucked on his lower lip and tugged on it with her teeth, and he felt all of the relaxation disappear to be replaced with that delicious tension Hermione seemed to inspire in him.

Her hand with the washcloth continued its journey over his shoulders and down his arms. She alternated between staying still and massaging gently, rubbing small circles, and scratching with her fingernails through the cloth. He bit his lip to hold in a groan as she made her way lower and moved the cloth across his abs.

Shortly after the cloth was left abandoned, floating in the water as Hermione's hands traced directly over his skin, skirting lower and lower with each pass. He sucked in a breath when she reached his hip bone and dipped lower to grasp his cock firmly.

She pumped him beneath the water and trailed kisses down his freshly cleaned neck. He reached out to run his hands over her narrow waist before palming one heavy breast in his hand. He captured her lips again and groaned harshly into her mouth.

He tried to pull her towards his lap and encourage her to straddle him in the tub, but she resisted. "No," she breathed into his ear, "I want to do this for you." She emphasised her statement with another firm tug, causing him to groan once more.

If he couldn't use his hands on her to bring her pleasure like he wanted, then he was going to try to drive her crazy with that he was allowed to touch. He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and pulled gently and pushed his hips up into her hand.

Her pace increased, so slowly that he didn't even realise she was speeding up until it was almost too late. She was unrelenting, keeping the near exact tempo the entire time, applying perfect pressure, adding swirls and flourishes at the right moments to keep him in suspense. The water in the tub around them started sloshing with the force of her movements.

"Fuck, Hermione, I'm so close."

"Yes Draco," she purred. "I want you to come for me. I want to see you come just for me."

He gripped the sides of the tub to steady himself as his hips thrust rapidly up into her hand and his release started forming deep inside.

"I'm coming," he breathed out raggedly, just seconds before the first wave of his orgasm rushed over him and spilled from the tip of his cock. "I'm coming just for you." He tilted his head back and groaned his release.

She continued to hold him as he came down and softened in her hands. He tried again to collect her onto his lap, and this time she obliged. He nuzzled her neck and was happy to feel her rest the weight of her head on his own.

"Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

"For everything," she finished.

It took much longer than either of them expected to finish their bath, but eventually both Draco and Hermione were fully cleaned and in their dressing gowns. Draco's arm was around her waist as they exited his ensuite bathroom into his main bedroom.

As soon as they crossed the threshold they were nearly accosted by Tilley.

"Merlin, Tilley! Give us a moment, would you?" Draco readjusted his gown and looked to make sure Hermione was still decent in hers.

"Apologies, Master Draco, but Master Lucius and Mistress Narcissa request the presence of Master Draco and his lady friend in the parlour for tea."

Draco stood outside the door to the parlour, holding Hermione's hand.

"You don't have to do this, you know," he reiterated. He'd told her his several times already while they were getting dressed and preparing to meet his parents as requested.

She squared her shoulders and set her eyes on the door. He couldn't tell what thoughts were running through her mind, but she looked resolved and assured. She touched a hand to her chest and he felt the reciprocal thrum in his own.

"Based on everything I've read, I think this will have to happen sooner or later. Better just to get it over with now, right?" She turned to him and gave a half smile, and he reached for the hand on her chest and squeezed it in solidarity.

He pushed open the door while their hands were still clasped between them, and saw his parents both sitting on the plush sofa facing the window. They both turned their heads as the door opened, and he focused on the expression on his parents' faces as they saw Hermione for the first time.

Narcissa's lips gave the faintest upward twitch and Draco noticed her eyes sparkled slightly, both telling signs of her feeling happy. Lucius raised an eyebrow in question before setting both his palms over the top of his cane and standing up from the sofa.

Lucius' voice broke the silence in the room. "Welcome, Draco." A slight, almost unnoticeable pause before he continued "... Miss Granger."

Now that his parents' reactions were noted (and they weren't as bad as he thought they might be), Draco turned back to Hermione. She had the same expression of determination on her face as she did before.

"Hello Lucius, Narcissa."

Draco knew that he should feel negatively that Hermione used his parents first names rather than addressing them as Mr and Mrs Malfoy, but he only felt a sense of pride and amusement, especially as he thought about some of his previous imaginings of Hermione plopping down on his antique furniture with no sense of propriety. He wondered if he would get to see this scenario play out in reality as well.

He didn't, it seems. Hermione sat down boringly properly onto the sofa across from his parents. She took her tea with the exact correct amount of propriety, and responded to any of his parents questions with decorum.

"Has Draco shared any of our library's books with you, Ms. Granger?" Narcissa asked. There had been some back and forth banter while everyone got set up with their beverages and pastries, and this was the first question that broached the topic of the ritual.

"Yes he has. They have been very … enlightening, though I think there is probably some opportunity to make the process a little more contemporary."

Draco flinched. Of course one of her first comments would be how to improve a centuries-old family ritual.

"Contemporary?" Lucius repeated, a slight note of interest in his voice. "How do you mean?"

Hermione cleared her throat, but there was no pause to consider her words before she began. She repeated some of the parts of the ritual that manifested the partner's essence and brought it into the manor (and here Draco noted his father's questioning look at exactly how much of the family's secrets Draco had already shared) and noted that swapping some of the ingredients or changing one or two runes in the ritual slightly might improve the results and intrude a little less on the partner's personal privacy.

"Indeed."

His father's one-word response seemed aloof, but Draco was certain Lucius was now contemplating Hermione's words and filing them away for future analysis.

Narcissa continued with her original questioning. "And having read these books, do you have any doubts about the ritual's veracity or success rate?"

Draco baulked at his mother's straightforwardness. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen his mother be so forthright with a guest. He almost said something to interrupt, to let Hermione know that she wasn't required to answer anything she wasn't comfortable with, but he was also interested to hear her answer.

She clenched her hand into a fist and brought it to the middle of her chest, over the warm light and the locket that held the images of her parents.

"Not at the moment, Narcissa."

This time Narcissa's smile was outright, and Draco felt a glowing relief course through his body at the fact that things seemed to be going so well.

The conversation turned lighter after that, keeping to safe and common topics like asking about Hermione's work at the Ministry (boring, but fine), whether she'd travelled anywhere recently for holiday (Spain for a week last summer), and how she and Draco reconnected (at Hemlock). After half an hour Draco decided it might be time to call things off while they were still good, and announced he and Hermione were going to retire to his quarters.

She was still giggling about his phrasing as they entered the hallway leading to his room ("retire to my quarters" she repeated facetiously, flicking her hair over her shoulder in mocking haughtiness) when he stopped suddenly.

"Draco? What's wrong?"

He looked at the door to the ritual room, fully glowing with the handle back in place, looking fully like a door again rather than a faint etched glow in the wall. "It's back. It was gone for a while, but now it's back."

Hermione approached the door and tentatively held her hand out towards the handle. The faint blue glow of the door increased cyclically, and Draco felt the resonating pulse in his chest as she got closer.

When she touched the handle the door fully reappeared and the glow fully disappeared, sinking into Hermione's arm through the point of contact. She slowly opened the door and walked into the room.

Draco's jaw dropped. The room was now fully furnished, exactly how he remembered Granger's room in her flat from earlier. The locket, which normally sat on her dresser which he assumed was where Hermione placed it while she was sleeping, was missing. All of the objects no longer had their ethereal glow they previously had, and when Draco picked up a book it felt exactly like a real book would feel.

"It's different," Hermione breathed, caught up in observing the room just as he was. "It feels warm… accepting. Like this is a place I'd like to spend more time in."

Their thoughts were interrupted by a dinging sound coming from the box and letter contraption - computer, he corrected - on her desk. Seemingly out of habit, she moved over to it and shook the little device attached by a thick string, which appeared to make the screen turn from black to colourful.

It only took a few seconds before he noticed the glistening of tears in her eyes. He immediately approached her and wrapped his arms around her, not knowing what was wrong and not entirely sure how to handle it. He only knew that seeing her cry caused the glow in his chest to clench and pull uncomfortably, and holding her seemed to calm it a little.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

She looked up at him through teary eyes and said "It's my parents."

Draco immediately thought of the locket, of the photos of her parents inside and how she always wore them close to her heart. He assumed that meant her parents might have passed away, though he'd obviously been hesitant to ask her about it directly, and she'd always deflected whenever conversation came close to it whenever they spoke at Hemlock.

"They're in Australia, but… they don't remember me."

Draco listened attentively as she told the story of how she needed to Obliviate her parents and send them away during the war to protect them, and how in the years since both she and many specialty healers had tried to restore their memories again but were not successful. He rubbed her back patiently and wiped her tears as she spoke, careful not to interrupt her as she shared her story with him.

When she was done and they were both sitting on her bed, her in his lap curled around him, Draco tried his best to offer whatever comfort he could.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I know you've tried everything, but I want you to know that if there's anything I can do or offer - money, influence, throwing the ancient Malfoy power around to intimidate the right people - well, you're my partner. Just let me know, and it's yours."

Something about what he said must have sparked something in her mind because suddenly she jumped up and aggressively brushed any remaining tears from her eyes before hooting in celebration.

"That's it! Draco, that's it!" She reached for a piece of parchment (she knew exactly where it was as this was essentially her bedroom, after all) and started scribbling notes on runes and potion ingredients that looked vaguely like those he saw in some of the books he'd sent her in the weeks prior.

She held the parchment in front of his face when she was done, and while Draco understood parts of what she'd written it wasn't enough to draw any conclusions. "What is this?" he asked.

"The ancient Malfoy power - the ritual. How it connects mind and body and spirit together, and amplifies it with the ancient ancestral magic."

Her smile up at him would be eternally burned into his mind as she said "Draco, I think there might be a way to restore my parents' memories."