Author's Note: I actually don't have much to say, for once. Hmm, how strange.

:)

Chapter 78

"You're beautiful."

I resist the urge to laugh out loud at that. "I believe you just stole my line."

She smiles, and the sight takes my breath away. She looks divine, utterly relaxed, with her long, brown hair fanning out behind her on the bed. I lean down and press my lips to hers, hardly able to believe that she wants me.

I start to lift my head away from hers, but she reaches up to grip the back of my neck and hold me in place. Then she's deepening the kiss, and I groan as our tongues come into contact. I crawl over her, prop myself up on my elbows, and kiss her like there's no tomorrow.

She arches her back, pressing her breasts against my chest, and I love the feeling of her skin directly against mine. I wonder if my scar is a turn-off for her—it's worked both ways for the girls I've slept with.

Then I become aware of some background noise that is as annoying as it is amusing.

I finally break our kiss, and Granger—Hermione, I can call her Hermione, now—fixes her round, brown eyes on me.

She smiles. "Draco—"

"Shh. Listen."

An adorable crease appears between her eyebrows as she frowns at me, but then she hears what I hear, and a small smile plays across her lips.

Muffled shouts are floating into the room. "Hermione! Hermione, come back! Don't do it!"

I grin. "Good job, Hermione. He heard you from the kitchen."

She blushes. "I think you're the one who did a good job," she mumbles shyly.

I lean down to brush my lips against hers briefly. "You're welcome," I whisper.

"What could I ever do to repay you?" she asks teasingly.

"Never leave this bed," I reply, smirking.

She smiles and pulls me down into another long, mind-numbing kiss. When I finally turn my head away to get some air, I'm extremely aware of the part of my anatomy that I've been trying hard to ignore. I start to lift my hips so that it won't be so obvious to her, but she wraps her legs around my waist and grinds her hips against mine a few times.

"Fuck, Hermione," I groan.

"I said I wanted you to take me," she says. "You still haven't done that."

"What, one orgasm isn't enough for you?" I tease her. "You're a greedy little minx, aren't you?"

"Who said you could make me come again?"

I raise an eyebrow at her—I'm sure she doesn't need to hear me say what I'm thinking.

"Arrogant bastard," she says, attempting to frown and failing.

I start to roll off her, but her legs tighten around my waist, trapping me. It doesn't help that gravity is on her side.

"You still haven't done what I asked you to," she reminds me again.

Fuck. Can't she just be satisfied and leave it at that?

You did decide to go through with this as long as she was sure of it, the beast in my chest points out.

I stare into her eyes, willing her to understand why I can't do it.

Why can't you? Bloody hell, just shag her already.

Talking to myself… I'm officially a nut.

She sighs. "Draco, look at me."

"I am looking at you."

"Yes, but you're not thinking about me."

Fucking hell, I'm always thinking about you, Hermione.

"Why can't you just let go?" she asks.

Because I don't want you to see the other side of me.

"I know that there's a part of you that… that wants me," she says.

All of me wants you.

"Why can't you just give in to that part of you?" she finishes.

I don't have a response that I'm willing to tell her. I won't admit that I'm afraid of what it'll do to me. I'm afraid that I'll lose even more of myself to her than I already have.

Then her lips are gently pressing against mine, coaxing me to respond. Unable to help myself, I deepen the kiss, needing more of that sensation. Again I feel her pressing up against me, increasing the contact between us.

Fuck.

I lift my face away from hers and open my eyes to see that she's looking at me with an almost angry expression.

"Draco, I can feel how much you want me," she says, grinding against me again.

I groan involuntarily. I have to come up with something better if I'm going to stop this.

Why the fuck do I have to stop this so badly? I'm mental.

"The Love Potion Antidote—"

I interrupt myself and shift my weight onto my left elbow so that I can reach a hand down between us—her hands have gotten to work on my belt, and I can't let that happen.

She looks up at me with exaggeratedly innocent eyes.

"It was really old," I say. "It could have had some effects that are impairing your judgment."

"That's bullshit," she says, still working on my belt. I'm able to pull one of her hands away, but the other one is now tugging the belt through the loops, and I feel my resistance wearing down.

"Potions can spoil," I say.

She lifts her head and catches my lower lip between her teeth, tugging downward. As she begins to suck on it, I moan and release the hand that I'd captured. Fuck, I've clearly made it too obvious to her that this is a weak spot for me.

Oh, bugger it. I can regret this all I want in the future.

I push myself up off her and unbutton my pants. Her heated gaze glides over my chest and arms before shifting toward the area that my hands are currently covering. I never thought that a look from a girl could be this fucking hot.

I rid myself of my pants and pause before removing my briefs.

"Yes, Draco, I'm sure I want you to fuck me," she says impatiently.

Bloody…

Instead of removing my last article of clothing, I lean back down over her and kiss her lips. She immediately opens her mouth, and I dip my tongue inside. I'll never have enough of her.

Her hips start gyrating beneath me, and her kiss quickly becomes more desperate.

I deepen the kiss and pinch her nipples once. Her yelp of surprise is muffled by my mouth, and she arches her back again. I slide my hands down the contour of her body, loving the feel of her soft skin.

Then I become aware of her hands, pushing down at my briefs. I start grinning, but she seems annoyed by my amusement and gives me a sharp nip on my bottom lip.

I break the kiss and smirk at her. "Eager, are we?"

"Don't torture me," she says, a very serious expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" I ask, frowning. I don't like how serious she seems right now.

She sighs. "I don't know how you can do this, Draco. How can you hold a conversation when… when…"

A grin starts sliding back into place across my lips. She's never lusted so strongly before, and she doesn't know how to handle it.

"When what?" I ask, feigning ignorance.

She lets out an adorable growl and thrusts her hips upward a few times, rubbing herself against my still-covered dick.

Fuuuuuck. I want to pound into her so hard that she won't be able to move in the morning.

"When… that," she says.

"Eloquent," I manage to reply.

Another frustrated whimper from the bushy-haired girl.

She's still too shy to take what she wants. Somehow that innocence makes her all the more desirable to me.

I kiss her again to distract her while I lose my last piece of clothing. Her hands run down my lower back and softly brush my bare hips. I feel like I've gone up in flames, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to plow into her immediately.

I reach down between us and gently rub at her clit. She breaks our kiss to let out a satisfied moan, and I let my lips trail back toward her ear. I press two digits into her, stretching her out so that my entry might be a little less painful for her.

Fuck, I want her right now.

I add a third finger, and she gasps. I pump them in and out of her slowly—just fast enough to keep her unbearably aroused but not fast enough for her to get any real satisfaction out of it. She squirms against my fingers, trying to increase friction, but I alter my pace with the thrusting of her hips to maintain the same maddening rhythm—I've learned from past experience that driving girls mad with desire seems to lessen the pain.

She digs her fingernails into my shoulders and becomes vocal very quickly.

"Oh god, Draco please—fuck!—please do it already! Ahh—ahh —I can't take this anymore!"

Just as she finishes speaking, I pull my fingers out of her, line myself up with her opening, and plunge in.

Fucking hell, she's tight.

Warm, unbelievably slick, and bloody tight. I feel like I'm about to explode already, like a bloody virgin.

I lift my head to look at her and see that her eyes are screwed shut. Her body has gone rigid beneath me, and I clench my jaw, reminding myself that I shouldn't move yet.

I kiss her forehead, then her nose.

Then I whisper against her lips, "If you want me to stop, say so."

Instead of replying, she presses her lips against mine, and I let my eyes flutter shut. My hips jerk forward a little, and I have to remind myself firmly not to move.

Not yet.

I lift my head to look at her and watch as she opens her eyes. They're dark, hazy with desire.

Deep inside me, that beast is roaring in triumph.

I want to pull out and then sink back into her, but I have to make sure she's all right first. Before I can ask the question, she shifts a bit beneath me, inadvertently drawing me farther inside her. I groan and stiffen to keep my lower body still.

"Move," she tells me.

I take a deep breath and focus on keeping control over my motions so that I don't hurt her any more than I have to. I pull out slightly and then thrust forward, going a bit deeper this time. She lets out a light moan and pulls my face toward hers to kiss me. Taking that as a cue to continue, I repeat the motion.

Fuck!

I hope she's close, because I don't know how long I can hold on.

My next thrust brings me even farther inside her, and I groan.

This is torture. It's ecstasy.

A voice in my head keeps telling me that this is wrong, that I shouldn't be doing this. Not now, not with her. I'll hurt her. It's wrong.

But nothing has ever felt so right.

She starts lifting her hips to meet mine, wrapping her long legs around me to pull me closer. Her moans get louder, and I make out my name among the almost unintelligible sounds coming out of her mouth.

Hearing my name slip from her lips at this moment nearly unmakes me, and I clench my jaw, attempting to control myself. Maintaining the rhythm of our hips, I cover her mouth with mine, swallowing her cries.

Her hands grip my shoulders tightly as I start moving faster—I have to bring her soon if it's going to happen at all.

She breaks our kiss to gasp for air.

"Draco—so close—fuck—"

I can only grunt in response. I reach down between us and press the pad of my thumb against her clit, rubbing it in small, quick circles.

She calls my name again, and that does me in. I explode inside her just as her walls begin to convulse around me, greedily trying to hold me inside her.

This is heaven.

I continue to thrust through my release, pumping into her a few more times before collapsing on top of her, spent. I kiss her neck a few times as I try to catch my breath, and she runs her hands up and down my back.

Then I realize that my weight is crushing her and start to lift myself up. But her arms tighten around me, pulling me down against her.

"Don't move," she mutters hoarsely.

"Lost your voice, there?" I tease her.

Her fingers lightly trace circles on my back. "Maybe a little."

She sounds sleepy.

I kiss my way up to her ear and then prop myself up on my elbows.

She smiles up at me, but it's clear from the way her eyelids are drooping that she's worn out. I lower my head to kiss her, and she lets out a contented sigh.

"Thank you, Draco," she whispers against my lips.

I bite back the first response that comes to mind and kiss her lips again instead.

Then I pull out and shift to lie beside her. She turns toward me and burrows into my chest, and once again I can't believe how fucking lucky I am. I summon the blanket from the other bed and cover us with it before wrapping my arms around her.

I kiss the top of her head, and she mumbles something unintelligible against my chest.

If I can't say the words aloud, I can at least think them.

I love you, Hermione Granger.