"Remind me," Draco looked tired and wary, unlike every other excited face in the room. "What am I doing here, Potter?" On tow was his wife, Astoria; she had a sheen of curiosity about her, eyes wandering as she took in her surroundings.
The air was thick with salt and brine, white noise of the ocean and wind harmonised with the fireplace to lull Hermione into a sense of cosiness. Hermione's eyes lingered on where Astoria's hand was delicately around Draco's bent elbow and she felt a pang of jealousy.
Not because Astoria was with him, no. But because her husband, Ron, was sitting three feet away from her, his own attention on Pansy Parkinson who had come alone, but with Theo Nott who had also come alone. She couldn't remember the last time Ron had touched her like that, like he was always aware of her presence and needed to be around her.
She sighed.
"Don't give me that, Malfoy." Harry clasped his shoulder and rocked him a little. "You know we all needed a night away from the kids." A murmur around the room rose in agreement. Harry flashed a grateful smile. Draco grunted before he pulled away from his wife and settled himself against the countertop.
Shell Cottage was less of a secret now. The threat on anyone's lives long gone, the little cottage was used for vacationing, limited to those who had been let in by the Secret Keeper. Hermione sank into the comfort of the well used sofa and let the warm flames in the fireplace throw heat at her fingertips and toes. Wind was whistling its way through cricks and cracks in the old structure and it made the room a little draughty.
"Right then, is that everyone?" Harry began a headcount, his green eyes were brown in the warm light of the fire. Hermione looked around with him. Draco, Astoria, herself, Ron, Pansy, Theo, Ginny, Harry, Luna, Neville. If anyone asked Hermione if she would be with this mix of people in her lifetime, she'd have laughed, and walked away laughing.
But it was Harry's idea of unwinding because they were all raising toddlers, or multiple toddlers of varying ages. The aromas of something baking was filling the space and Hermione's stomach grumbled. Ginny slid bottles of dark liquid onto the counter before magicking them all with accompanying glasses onto the coffee table. They had cleared a space and laid the ground with sheets like some sort of indoor picnic.
Harry opened her arms in a wide, dramatic swoop. "We are gathered here today- ouch !" Ginny hit Harry to shut his solemn proclamation down. He laughed and ducked away. "We're going to play some muggle games-" There was a collective groan but Hermione perked up.
"Listen! It'll even the playing field okay. We can play Monopoly, or Pictionary or Cards Against Humanity. Or Uno." Harry gestured to the corner stack of various sized boxes. "No magic, no cheating, you know?"
"If you indulge my husband, everyone gets alcohol!" Ginny shook the bottles of liquor and they sloshed noisily in agreement. A chorus of voices clambered over each other as everyone jostled for what was offered.
"Fine."
"Yea, sure, Potter."
"Can I have one of those now?"
Hermione got off the couch and settled beside Luna, with Theo on her other side. She tried not to pay attention to the way everyone was touching, whether accidentally or happily in want of human connection. She had grown used to it, if she was honest, and she hadn't been brave enough to bring it up to her husband. Needing a physical connection.
She sipped her glass of what had to be the worst whiskey she had ever tasted, then downed the whole thing. The room took on a hazy look, all rounded edges and soft light. That was better.
The following game of Monopoly was a disaster. And quickly dissolved into a game of 'if you say rent, you drink'. They were approaching drunk at an alarming rate, and Harry was wrong. No magic did not mean no cheating, it meant more creative ways of cheating.
Theo won, to no one's surprise, and Luna kept giving away her money or refusing rent. It was all laughter at the end of it. And for once, Hermione felt light, the weight of her life no longer a pit inside her.
"I know a fun game." Ginny gathered the Monopoly pieces, money, and board with a flick of her wand and it packed itself neatly away. She wore a smirk so like her brothers', Hermione thought she was looking at George for a second in the flickering firelight. "Truth or dare."
"That sounds ridiculously juvenile." Draco drawled, his voice slurring ever so slightly. Hermione admired his attempt to retain control. She thought his skin looked like it was glowing, his neck was somehow longer than she remembered it being and she was transfixed by the bob of his throat as he swallowed. His voice also shot straight through her and she had to shake her head because she had no idea what that was about.
"I've heard of this!" Theo piped up. "Oh, the muggle girls love playing that with me."
"I'm sure they do." Pansy lifted an eyebrow. "Do you ever choose truth, Theo?" He laughed and the sound filled the room, warm as the fire. "We know what truth or dare is, Potter." Pansy shot him a smile and Harry looked encouraged.
"That sounds like fun." Luna said in her airy way that made it sound like she wasn't listening at all. Neville looked a little nervous and he reached for a refill of whiskey.
"Well, what are the rules?" Hermione had to admire Astoria. She was among peers she had barely been acquainted with, and she was sipping elegantly, laughing in good sport, and all around looked so in love with her husband, Hermione wished for a flash of a second that she were in Astoria's shoes.
"We go around the circle. You choose truth or dare. Truth, you tell us the truth to anything we ask, dare, you have to do it. Or you drink if you do neither." Harry explained kindly, albeit a little sluggishly. Astoria nodded, her head bobbing in slow movements as she contemplated the game; Hermione thought she looked just about wasted if she didn't know any better.
"Is that a yes, before we all go to bed then?" Ginny asked as she sat forward to place an empty whiskey bottle on the carpet between them all. "This is just for choosing the first person." She explained to no one. There was a murmur of agreement and Ginny spun the bottle.
The bottle's mouth pointed at Hermione. Well, to her left slightly, but it definitely pointed at her toes. She rolled her eyes to the ceiling preparing for the stupid question. "Truth or dare, Hermione." Harry sounded entirely too happy.
"Truth." She said without looking around. She thought she heard Draco chuckling but she couldn't be sure; and she wasn't going to look. Ron was sniggering, she would recognise it anywhere.
"Who was your first kiss-" Harry's muffled yelp told Hermione that Ginny elbowed his ribs. "Let me finish the question!" Harry grumbled while making little noises that indicated his pain.
"You're being terribly boring already, Potter." Theo smirked. Hermione looked down from the ceiling now, refusing to blush not that anyone would notice. Draco's silver eyes were trained on her and she felt a little flutter behind her sternum. She held his eyes for a second too long before she blinked away to Harry. She found it thrilling, his attention.
"Well?" Hermione flicked her hand lazily at him, so he could continue. "Aren't you going to finish your not so boring question, Harry?"
Harry cleared his throat. "Who was your first kiss after Viktor." Harry smirked, satisfied. Hermione had a feeling he already knew the answer, and judging from the elbow to the ribs he was collecting right this second, she could deduce she was right. Hermione looked at Ginny whose brown eyes met hers and she nodded.
"Ginny." Hermione shrugged.
"What?" Ron blurted as he looked between his sister and his wife. "You kissed my sister?"
"She wanted to practise snogging!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's not like we went around at random, and kept a secret relationship. And I had experience with Viktor, and boys were noticing her-"
"You taught my sister how to kiss boys?" Ron looked gobsmacked, the red on his cheeks turning ruddier the longer he was left in his own head. Hermione cracked a huge grin, because she was having fun .
"You boys have no idea the kind of mischief we girls get into." Pansy winked at Hermione as they both smiled, full on teeth and cheeks hurting.
"Go on then." Theo nudged his shoulder to Pansy's. "Tell us what other trouble you girls got into-" Pansy silenced him with a withering stare.
"Not a boring question at all, Potter." Draco said after everyone's giggles quietened down. Hermione met his eyes and felt like hands were beneath her clothes, against her skin and she squirmed. "Theo, truth or dare?" Draco abruptly broke eye contact in lieu of his friends.
"Dare." Theo opened his arms wide. "Obviously." Draco looked absolutely devilish at the sound of his choice.
"Potter." Draco turned to Harry now, a smirk that was reminiscent of his Hogwarts days lit his face. "Nothing leaves this room, yea?"
"I-" Harry narrowed his eyes. "What are you gonna make him do?" Draco turned to everyone, ignoring Harry's question.
"Whatever we do does not leave this room. Anything goes." Draco looked at Astoria who hadn't shown any change in expression. She was quite unbothered.
"Why the hell not. Hermione snogged my sister. I think that's the worst it could get." Ron quipped as he sipped on his whiskey.
Yea s and okay s echoed in a chorus. Draco nodded, satisfied. He returned his attention to Theo.
"Kiss anyone in this room that isn't Pansy." Hermione opened her eyes wide. Everyone else in the room was married. To each other . Their spouses are quite literally sitting beside each other, except her and Ron. Theo laughed so hard, Hermione had managed to convince herself that he would not choose her. Nope.
He stood theatrically in the centre of them all and spun, his finger out like a dial as he spun in a careful, slow circle. And he landed on…Harry. Hermione couldn't stop the laugh that burst from her lips and everyone followed. But Theo, with a serious expression upon his face, got onto his knees and crawled rather sexily toward Harry, leaving Hermione with a full view of his rump. And he actually snogged him. Not a proper snog, but it lasted a second, there was no tongue, and dammit, Theo committed to giving a show.
Pansy applauded and fell over in laughter with Ginny gasping for breath and swiping away tears at Harry's absolutely stunned expression. Hermione simply stared and she met Draco's eyes over Theo's surprisingly arched back and she giggled until she was out of breath.
"Alright Panse." Theo settled back beside her. "I dare you to-"
"I never chose dare." Pansy swatted him. "I will choose truth, thank you."
"Is it true you slept with that prince?" Luna asked dreamily, almost stunning everyone into silence. Almost . Theo gasped exaggeratedly and all eyes bounced back from him to Pansy. She blushed faintly but her face remained stoic.
"Yes." The room erupted into giggles and laughter. She waved her hand in a regal kind of way, Hermione couldn't tell if it was on purpose or not. "He wasn't very good." The laughter grew and Hermione was surprised to find her cheeks hurting. Ron's eyes were transfixed on Pansy's elegant way of sitting on the floor, dainty but comfortable; her legs extended forward and crossed at the ankles, knees slightly bent so she looked long . Not vulgar, as Hermione was sure he would find her with her legs crossed, splayed wide with knees pointing outward.
She had stopped caring about his wandering eyes months ago. She found it exhausting, and Ron's attention had started losing its worth. She let her eyes wander too and, tonight was full of surprises because it was like he was a magnet. Her eyes kept darting to him, all grey and sleek, his hair falling into his eyes as he became looser with alcohol. And his eyes met hers more often as the night went on, but she reminded herself that it was mindless. And if they flirted, it was harmless.
"Astoria!" Theo leaned forward to peek around Pansy. "Truth or dare?"
The room was quiet. Hermione was sure it was because of everyone's unfamiliarity with the brunette. No one knew how she would react; she was a year younger than they were, and Hermione honestly couldn't remember her sister from their year, let alone her.
"Dare." Astoria said, chin high and a delicate smirk on her lips. Draco's attention snapped to focus, but the movement was so miniscule, Hermione was sure she wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been staring at him. His eyes sharpened and locked onto his wife. Ginny cleared her throat.
"I dare you to kiss anyone in this room that isn't your husband." Ginny grinned. She raised a hand in the air before any protestations could erupt. "It doesn't have to be on the mouth!" Theo made a disappointed groaning sound, obviously exaggerated. "But it has to be anyone."
Astoria let her gaze linger on Ginny and for a wild moment, it seemed like she was about to choose the fiery redhead. Then her eyes slid from one person over to the next like she was playing eenie meenie minie mo. Her eyes met Hermione's which caused Hermione's pulse to quicken, she could feel her skin throbbing on her wrist and fingertips. And then Astoria set her eyes on Ron. She smirked, peered at her husband who had gone still as he watched what happened unfurl before everyone.
Astoria crawled her way toward Ron and Hermione found her body had become taught the closer she was to her husband. Then she looked up and met Draco's eyes for the briefest of moments, so fast she thought she imagined it. Astoria's breath was brushing Ron's cheeks now. She could see his hair flutter where it curled around his ear. She looked at his mouth, then his eyes.
She did not look at Hermione. Or Draco.
Everyone was still and quiet, the wind and the fire like white noise to the show they were watching. And she kissed him. A simple kiss, pressing her mouth to his, closed mouthed, and chaste.
It hurt less than Hermione thought it would. In fact, it didn't hurt at all. Astoria broke away and crawled back to her husband in a fit of girlish giggles like she couldn't believe she had just done something like that with an audience. Ron looked at Hermione and Hermione smiled. She expected it to feel tight on her face, instead, she was laughing with Astoria at the sheer dumbstruck look on Ron's face.
Draco's eyes had darkened a little, and Hermione thought he looked less wound up than she may have imagined him to be. All of it meant nothing. They were clearly drunk, and everyone was hysterical.
"Alright, dear husband." Astoria set her gaze on Draco as she smoothed her clothes on her lap as she resettled. "Truth of dare?"
Draco kept his eyes on his wife's, unblinking and unreadable. "Truth." He said smoothly. Theo gave a low whistle.
"Oooh," Pansy said into the quiet. "There's nothing we can ask a Slytherin that's any fun."
"He's right." Neville spoke for the first time. "I can't think of anything to ask him that isn't about being a Death Eater." He held a hand up and waved it furiously. "I mean, I'm very curious and I know it was a long time ago-"
"Relax, Longbottom." Draco laughed softly, his eyes studied his hands. "I knew you'd all be a lousy lot."
"I have one." Hermione blurted and her throat tightened. All pairs of eyes shot to her and she cleared her throat. "To keep on theme with-" Hermione gestured to Theo, Pansy, and Astoria, "the theme," She groaned internally at how lame she was sounding, "I have a question along those lines."
There was silence and the air was heavy with expectation.
"Well go on then, Granger." Ginny would've shoved her if she had access to her shoulder.
"What's your body count?" Hermione expected two, because Pansy, and Astoria. How strange it must be to sit in a room with two people you've slept with. It wasn't quite the same as kissing Ginny and Ron, though they being siblings only just occurred to her and a blush warmed her cheeks but it looked related to her convenient question which caused her to blush further.
And of course he was bloody looking at her because everyone was. Theo was clapping tiny claps in glee as they all awaited an answer.
He made a sound from the pit of his stomach. It reminded Hermione of Crookshank's purr and she imagined his chest would vibrate if she splayed her palm across his sternum.
He quirked an eyebrow. "Like how many people I've killed?" He feigned a frown, fake thinking. Hermione fought the urge to toss her shoe at him.
"You know what we mean." She scoffed. "How many people you've slept with!"
"Oh, right." He said slowly; he looked properly amused.
"You've killed people?" Luna asked in that way that made you feel like the most interesting person in the world and like she was asking you about your very fluffy dog and not murder.
There was an eruption of laughter and snorting, alcohol coaxing from them all a heightened sense of giggles.
Then Draco brought his glass of whiskey to his lips and gulped it back, smacking his lips and curling the corners of his mouth at everyone once it had sunk in what he had decided to do. He opted out.
"You tosser." Theo grumbled. Hermione followed Draco's tongue as it caught the wandering drip on his lip. It seemed obscene, the way he did it and she blinked the thought away. "You were never going to do the dare or tell the truth no matter what you chose!" He threw a cushion at Draco's head but he easily caught it.
"I am dreadfully sober, as it were." Draco tilted his head back to the chair behind him, his elbow on his bent knee with his now empty glass delicate in his fingertips. "Now I am all caught up with you lot." His middle and forefinger left the glass to gesture and Hermione realised she was cataloguing him now. When had she begun to do that?
"Your turn, Gin." Hermione was eager to move onto someone else. The quicker this was over with, the less she would have to be in his presence. The less her mind would wander. Ginny practically bounced in place.
"Dare." Ginny said without hesitation. Harry shook his head and looked properly abashed because he knew his wife.
"I dare you to take off an article of clothing." Harry interjected before anyone else could get a word in. Ginny pulled her sweater over her head and her hair fell wild onto her shoulders as she sat in a thin undershirt, her bra clearly showing against the sheer material.
"Malfoy isn't the only killjoy." Ginny touched Harry's chin before pecking his mouth lightly. "Truth or dare, dear?" Harry shook his head.
"I am sober, so I shall drink." He was not sober, but he drank anyway and his grin grew more lopsided with green eyes full of hazy mischief. And then it was Ron's turn. Hermione felt inexplicably nervous.
"Truth I think." He said after an audible swallow. She could see he wanted to choose dare, but she knew him. He was afraid of embarrassing himself in front of their friends, and strangers who could be friends. And one attractive acquaintance he was eager to make like him very much.
"Do you know," Draco's voice drawled in a pace that was reminiscent of Snape when he was about to ridicule a student. Everyone's eyes whipped to him and Ron's even bulged a little. "That you are far outmatched by your wife?"
The question rang out into the silence, Hermione's heart thundered in her ears. Why would he say that? Was he looking for a fight? Then Ginny sniggered, followed by Harry, and Ron's confused expression warped into merriment. That's right, they were all drunk. And Ron was a happy drunk.
"Do I know?" Ron's laugh burst from his pursed lips and he sprayed spittle everywhere. "She outmatches all of us!"
A roar of agreement resounded around the room. It was only ten of them but they sounded like one hundred. The wind and waves might be adding to it. Hermione gave a relieved sigh and relaxed her tense body. She shot Draco a glare and found him smirking at her with pink cheeks. She sharpened her glare and he flashed teeth so innocent, she almost threw another cushion at him.
"Neville," Ginny leaned forward with ruby red cheeks and wild hair. "Truth or dare?" She waggled her eyebrows and Neville swallowed audibly.
"Truth, please." Hermione felt a rush of affection for Neville, definitely the most innocent of the group. Luna's mind was so otherworldly, innocent wasn't a fair descriptor for her. Ginny softened slightly at the look of him too and Hermione knew the night was winding down.
"Is it true," Ginny didn't break eye contact with her next victim. "That you had a crush on me, when you were in fourth and I in third year?"
A collective aww went around the room. It was so innocent and Neville went bright pink. He glanced at Luna who seemed to be nowhere in this room with them.
"Well, yea." Neville shrugged a little. "I mean, you were nice and kind, and you danced with me when no one else would." Ginny smiled, all white teeth and happiness. "I know you just wanted an in, but had fun that night."
"We did!" Ginny threw her hands in the air and laughed. "And it wasn't an in. You're my friend."
"Is it my turn?" Luna said after there was a second of silence. She seemed to have snapped back to attention, if attention was what she would call it.
"Yes, Luna." Hermione knocked her kneecap to Luna's. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare, please." No hesitation.
"I dare you to go for a swim." Draco sounded a little slurred. He pointed lazily toward the sound of the ocean. "Out there."
"Are you nuts?" Pansy gawked. "It's freezing ."
"Are we not all capable witches and wizards?" Theo was already on his feet tugging at her as though she were the one dared. Luna got to her feet rather steadily and began to pull her jumper off so she was left in an undershirt.
"We should all do it." Harry grimaced as Ginny pulled unnecessarily hard to his feet. He stripped to his boxers and suddenly, everyone was in a state of undress. Ginny led the vanguard and pale bodies ran screaming into the wind.
"Come on, Granger." Draco said as he tossed his discarded pants in his now vacated sitting space. "Don't chicken out on us now." And his long, angular limbs disappeared after his wife who had run, silent, but with an air of excitement buzzing around her. Hermione felt a twang of jealousy, how cool and collected she could be even when thrown into situations no one had any business doing.
She followed them, her wand prepared to do some drying and warming as she tugged her pyjamas off her legs and clasped her top close to her body as she broke into the wind and seaspray. Their wallops of shock and laughter were flung into the breeze so they sounded further away than they were.
All of them were frolicking and dodging each other's splashes in frigid water like it wasn't freezing their toes and fingertips off. She placed her jumper on the dry sand out of reach of the waves' undulations then nestled her wand.
Cold water touched her toes and sucked her feet into the shifting sand. She gasped as the cold wind now felt warm in comparison and without thinking, hardly registering that silver eyes in the twilit night were arrested on her, she strode purposefully into thigh deep water and dove into the shallow, touched the sand and arose gasping, laughing in shock before she made her way back to her wand.
The party followed her onto the sand and stood huddled and shivering as Hermione cast a warming spell between them. Her jaw rattled but they were all grinning and rubbing their arms until they were simply dry and cold.
They made their way back to the cottage and everyone settled by the fire, Neville placing more logs into the pile. The women of the group began occupying the two bathrooms, one with a bath and the other a shower. Hermione was never more grateful for the warmth of water as she sank into the floral scented water. She made it quick and satisfied her need for more warmth with a cup of tea as the bodies made motions to bury themselves into sheets and sweet sweet sleep.
Sleep didn't come to her.
She had just begun chapter three on a romance novel Molly had left behind when she heard feet shuffling. The cottage was silent, creaking in the dark to the bellows of wind, but otherwise empty of the sounds that would have told the listener it was occupied. No one even snored.
"Granger." It was Draco and his robe was tied neatly over his pyjamas, hands in pockets and head cocked ever so slightly. "What are you doing up?" She was sober now, though the edges of her thoughts were slightly rounded and her tongue felt loose either from sleep or the remnants of whiskey.
"Reading." She held the book up and her hand touched the now cold cup of tea. She slid off her stool and put the kettle back on. "Why are you up?"
"I can't sleep." Draco came up beside her, the warmth of his proximity brushing her forearm where he reached for a mug and pulled the tea bags toward him to select. "Sleeping with that much alcohol in my system makes me feel like I'm in a boat."
"I know what you mean." Hermione retreated to the safety of her book. She didn't like that her mind had latched on to the imaginary sliver of skin that would certainly have been on display were it not for the robe as he reached for that mug.
"Is there enough water for me?" He asked, his hand waving vaguely at the kettle. Hermione nodded and tried to return to her book. She couldn't focus.
"Why'd you come tonight?" She asked after rereading the same sentence for the third time. She felt as though he was watching her but when she looked up at him, he was gazing out of the window at the stormy night where the waves' white water seemed to catch every iota of starlight it could as the moon had long set.
She was disappointed he wasn't looking at her.
"Potter's been good to us." Draco murmured. "You all have." He turned now because the kettle began to whistle but not so shrilly that it would wake the sleeping. He turned the stove off and poured hot water into his cup then turned to look for Hermione's. She extended her hand to push her empty mug forward and he filled it. "Luna asked me." He said finally in the silence she had let stretch as she looked for a response to his vulnerability.
"Luna?" Hermione was surprised.
"She reminded me that I was human." Draco smiled, his spoon making gentle tinkling noises against the inside of his cup. He settled beside her now, the ice broken and both sleepless but now with company.
"Did you enjoy tonight?" Hermione asked conversationally but also genuinely curious.
"Very much." Draco sipped his tea before placing it on the counter, hiding that he burnt his tongue but was unwilling to show as much. "Is that how muggles have fun?" Draco drawled, his humour hidden in the dark.
"It seems as though it's not just muggles, Malfoy." Hermione smiled. They fell into silence, the roar of crashing waves and howling wind filling their easy quiet with welcome harmonies of nature.
"I have a question, Granger." Draco cupped his mug, testing the heat through the surface. He brought it to his lips and Hermione hummed her compliance. "Truth or dare?"
She thought she heard wrong and she almost burst out laughing. "You're serious?"
"We only played one round and you were so interesting." Draco swallowed some tea and turned to look at her, a safe two feet away but somehow too close.
" Me ?" Hermione laughed, almost spilling her tea. "You kept asking these questions like you truly wanted to ask 'would you like to fight?' . You're infuriating." She snorted into her cup.
"So truth or dare, Granger?" Draco's knee pressed against hers now. "Or would you like to fight?" Hermione let a burst of laughter ripple out before she clasped her hand over her mouth and sniggered. Maybe she wasn't as sober as she thought.
"Fine." Hermione settled and her eyes met his and locked. She fought a shiver from the intimacy of it. "Truth."
"Did you have fun?" Draco asked. Hermione felt relief unravel inside her at such an easy question.
"Yes, it's nice to see everyone getting along." She thought it was all in her head, but no, his knee was pressing more firmly to hers now. She quite liked it; she didn't retreat. "Truth or dare, Malfoy?"
"Truth." He said, mirroring her answer.
What she thought was, 'How's it working under Harry in the Auror's office? ' but what came out instead was, "Are you tired of your life?"
Draco placed a hand to his heart and made and made an oof sound. "Straight to the deep end, Granger." He fixed her with a stare and thought, emotions flickering over his face in the faint light of one candle. "I'm learning to. As it were, life is composed of many things and not all of them are enjoyable." He laughed a little. "But that doesn't mean the enjoyable things need to be less enjoyable." He shrugged a little and Hermione was struck by how intelligent he was. He exhaled a small laugh, easily mistaken for a sigh if she hadn't spent the evening learning him. "Truth or dare."
"Truth." She was afraid of dares. She wasn't that adventurous, adventure was what occupied most of her childhood. She had had enough adventure, thank you very much.
"What parts of your life make you ask questions such as your last?" Draco nudged her knee playfully and it sent a jolt through her.
"My marriage." She said hushed and fast, then she clasped her hand over her mouth.
"See, you're interesting." Draco chuckled, unfazed by her admission.
"Truth or dare, Malfoy?" She asked, a little venom seeping in but in response to her own slip and not toward him.
"Truth." His cup was half empty and he fiddled absentmindedly with the handle now, the bottom of the mug dragging in lazy sounds against the wood.
"Are you happy in your marriage then?" She was sure he would say yes. The way Astoria hung onto him, it was obvious.
"No." Draco's eyes dropped away briefly at his admission.
"Oh." Hermione felt embarrassment feeling as though she had forced him to admit something that was a secret.
"Your turn, Granger." His knee nudged hers again. She had thought she was doing a good job at ignoring their contact. She was not.
"Truth." Was her automatic response.
"Would you cheat on your husband?" Draco asked. She went silent. She had thought about it so often lately, because it had been years since he touched her with any kind of heat and when they did have sex, it was passionless and driven only by the end.
"I don't know." She settled on instead. "Would you, on your wife?"
"If there was someone I could call my equal." Draco said softly. Their conversation suddenly felt as forbidden as their contact. "Truth again, Granger?" She nodded, aware how thick the air had become and wondered if he was swallowing it like it was tangible like she was. "Would you kiss me?"
Her response was a whisper. "Yes." His knee slid past hers as he came closer, the pressure of his thigh edging higher up the inside of her own. She was sure he could feel the heat coming off her. "Truth or dare, Malfoy."
She could count his eyelashes, all pale and ghostlike in the darkness.
"Truth." She could taste the air from his words and it filled her with a sense of longing so powerful, she had to freeze herself in place.
"Do you want to kiss me?" Hermione barely said the words, the white noise of existence at the cottage was the same volume.
"Yes." Draco's eyes dipped to her lips. He was closer now, her skin tingling from his proximity, their bodies crying for each other to make contact that wasn't just a bloody thigh. "Choose dare, Granger." He commanded her and her eyelids fluttered at her sense of control dripping away.
"Dare." Just short of the word being lost in his mouth, their noses brushed and her eyes closed now, waiting.
"I dare you to kiss me." She felt him say the words more than she heard it. Her lips were hypersensitive.
It wasn't much of a dare. She closed the millimetres between them and the feel of his hot lips against hers was enough to get her sliding off the stool so they stood, thighs interlocked. He opened his mouth and she followed his lead, her hands coming up to his hair and combing through it for more purchase. More of him, more of this .
Draco's hands explored, unasked, but very wanted. His fingers were delicate in their first steps, teasing the hem of her well loved t-shirt, the tied tight pyjama bottoms. They weren't pressed together yet, some semblance of logical thought kept them as they were. Locked in this space of crossing the line but afraid to step completely over.
Putting space between their faces, she inhaled deeply to calm her erratic lungs and heartbeat. It did nothing. Draco's breath huffed against her cheek and the pressure of his thigh weakened her knees. She wanted to cling to him and embrace being wanted.
"Should we stop?" Draco pressed his forehead to hers, his hand now on her cheek after tucking her wild hair away. Hermione shook her head in a no, then a yes, finally stopping and staring up at him, his face too close to focus on, but wanting to look at him anyway. She wondered what his body felt like. She had gone soft in her middle, her breasts had swollen after having children. Men were lucky, not having to carry the child altered nothing about their physical bodies.
"Truth or dare," She stated when her brain fog cleared to remind her it was his turn. She splayed a hand bravely over his sternum and went down, feeling the soft, but firm midsection, ghosting her palm back to his chest and feeling more muscle there. He had sucked in a sharp breath at her directness and she was suddenly craving the knowledge of his cock.
"Dare." Draco's voice was strained and throaty, Hermione quite liked the sound of it.
"I dare you to fuck me." Hermione said with confidence she had no knowledge of having. She was rewarded.
His hungry mouth took hers again, and finally he pressed the full length of his body to hers and her mind immediately narrowed in on the feel of him hard on her hip. She was desperate to free him. Dropping to her knees, her fingers shaking, she undid the knot of string and she pulled his pyjamas down. Then his boxers.
His cock sprang forward, pink and head glistening. He was warm and smooth in her palm as she guided him to her mouth and she felt his body jerk as she took him in. His precome was bitter and sharp, but it pulsed into her mouth with eagerness. She sucked, pressed her tongue to the underside of his head before coming away again for a breath. And to look at him.
His mouth hung open as he struggled for breath. His hand braced him against the counter as he looked down at her, saucer black eyes with no sign of silver in the darkness, hair falling over his eyes in a cage, his face dazed, his free hand now combing her hair and cupping her head.
She smirked up at him and took him again, this time deeper, attempting to find her limit with how far he would fit. She gagged a little and almost retreated but instead was compelled to continue by the furious swearing coming from Draco's mouth. She caused that. She wanted to keep causing it. His fingers tightened on her scalp and she gripped his base, braced herself with her other hand on his thigh, and she let him fuck her throat for as long as her streaming eyes and reflexively gagging throat could endure.
She came away coughing and gasping for breath and Draco pulled her to her feet like she weighed nothing. "You're unbelievable." He whispered against her face before he kissed her when she was recomposed. As his tongue explored her mouth, undoubtedly the taste of himself being shared between them, he lifted her by her hips and onto the countertop. His hands worked on her bottoms and knickers with practised deftness before he broke the kiss.
"Fair's fair." He kissed her neck, trailed his lips across his collar bone, breathed through her t-shirt and sent shivers up her spine. He pressed her back and she let herself fall against the security of the countertop. The only solid thing she could feel. And his breath against her wet slit made her jump. He chuckled and she spared a glance.
When her eyes locked onto hers, he took her clit into his mouth and sucked gently. Hermione had never felt anything like it. His tongue, muscular and solid, pressed against her and he pulled away so that she was wet and sensitive, craving more. Needing more.
"You're fucking gorgeous." He said, his mouth forming the words practically against her. And he laced her fingers into his hair when his mouth met her clit again, and his fingers, two of them, curled into her so that the pleasure was electric bolts shooting through her system.
Nothing in the world existed beside them. The countertop, his mouth, his fingers. Her hips rocked to meet the rhythm of his tongue that pressed against her clit repeatedly and she was mindful to whimper instead of moan to the ceiling like she wanted to.
A third finger teased its way in and it didn't feel like enough , but her climax peaked then. Her toes curled, her thighs clamped around his head, he sucked harder and coaxed her come onto his tongue until she had nothing left to give. When she opened her eyes, she saw white stars bloom across her vision; they had been shut so tightly. She released him when the last of her orgasm melted away into the air around them and she was suddenly aware of how quiet the house had become. The familiar white noise was silence. She had been too loud, surely.
Draco stood up and dragged the heel of his palm across the corner of his mouth where she could see it was a moment ago, glistening. Her eyes fell to his cock which had a trail of come, a string, tethered now to her inner thigh as he pulled her back upright. Her body was languid and liquid and she was mindless. She pressed her cheek to his chest, his chin nestled against her temple as they panted, fighting for breath spent.
"Do you think I woke anyone?" Draco held his breath for two, three seconds and the silence grew loud. He kissed her and she could taste the unmistakable flavour of herself on his tongue. She would be embarrassed if she didn't have a mission.
"I haven't made good on my dare yet, Granger." Draco slid her hips to the edge of the counter and she felt him press against her entrance and slide, landing on her clit in a throbbing motion of pleasure. She moaned, low and breathy into his ear as he looked down to guide himself.
He sank into her with no hesitation and they stilled. His groan was repressed, the clench of his jaw working overtime to dampen his sounds as his cock throbbed inside her, and she welcomed him. She could tell how wet she was, she still felt the cool of her last orgasm between her thighs.
He was perfect. He fit her perfectly. The slight angle of his cock, the curve she learned of it when it was slamming into her throat reached pleasure centres inside her that his fingers could not. She was hungry for more and didn't wait for him to begin again. She rocked her hips eagerly, the movement enough to snap Draco from the stupor he had momentarily been lost to.
He pulled her even more to the edge of the counter so she was practically off of it. She linked her arms around his shoulders so that it only served to prop her up. He pressed a hand to the underside of her thigh so that her leg bent at an angle she would never do on her own. He thrust into her while looking into her eyes and she held eye contact, unwilling to let any of this experience slip through her fingertips.
His eyes were losing focus. Where the countertop cut into her flesh had begun to hurt. But the pain was nothing compared to the motions of him filling her time and again, the feeling of her walls being pressed from the inside so completely it was driving her into delirium. She hadn't even been aware she was moaning until he clasped a hand to her mouth and his fingers slipped against her tongue. She bit onto them, and he didn't move them. His hips never faltered.
His thumb found her clit and the rough pad of his skin coaxed from her an orgasm she would have never achieved by herself.
Her vision went blank. Her toes curled as her body stiffened and grabbed onto his cock as he pounded her. Even if her moans were muffled, the smacking of their skin on skin would surely be enough to wake everyone.
Draco dropped his hand, Hermione glimpsed her teeth impression on his knuckles, and he grasped the countertop. She held herself at the perfect angle, her arms hugging him to her, her hands wringing his shirt. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he hissed at the motion.
Her cunt was a thrum of pleasure and it webbed through her indefinitely. No end and only beginning, waves, and waves of pleasure unravelled. She came again, her last orgasm never truly tapering off. And as she creamed onto his cock, where she saw a ring of white at his base, his hips stuttered.
His grunt was loud, one heavy, impactful sound as he buried himself inside her and she pulled him closer with the clamp of her legs. Warmth flooded her, hotter than the surface of their skin where they touched.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck ." Draco swore in a string of whispers as his cock pulsed. Hermione could see the base shifting at every throb and he turned her on to no end. She wriggled against him and his body seemed to give out for a split second as he gripped the countertop with double the effort.
She combed his hair back from his face and he looked up at her, eyes blown black and dazed to match her own. His skin had a sheen of sweat much like hers and her legs suddenly began to ache from holding on so tightly. She let her legs fall away from him, and with hesitation, Draco slid from her. A wet slap on the ground told them they had made a mess.
"Do we-" Draco looked at her and she swallowed. He turned away, looking for something. Hermione found her feet and steadied herself, unable to stand yet as blood flowed back to her once elevated legs. "Should we talk about this?"
Draco found his wand and he flicked it. The puddle of liquid on the floor disappeared leaving a dark circle in its stead. He stared at it for a second before he found his bottoms and boxers. He threw Hermione's to her and she caught it, slipping into them to warm herself from the cool room.
And when she thought he had finally come to his senses, that he actually regretted their deed, he strode up to her, took her face in his palms, and kissed her as hungrily as if it were the first time. She kissed him back, feeling the sharpness of his teeth on her lips before he pulled away again.
"I dare us never to speak of this again." Draco said as he kissed her again. Her stomach did a swoop. She could do that. They had to.
When they next saw each other, they didn't speak. Speaking wasn't necessary for their chosen activity.
That was the truth of it.