Professor Lupin smiled encouragingly at Hermione, blowing the steam of his coffee. Malfoy refused to sit down, crossing his arms and frowning from the fireplace. Snape rested his head on his forefinger, as if waiting for the whole ordeal to be over.
"Perhaps we could start with what we know?" Hermione broke the silence.
"Please." Remus gestured for her to continue.
She chanced a look at Malfoy, who grimaced. She took a deep breath. "You already know what we found about Salazar's experiments. We haven't discovered much since then, but in terms of the theory… it seems that we've mixed our magic under what was intended to be an alchemical ritual." She coughed. "So, our bond is substantial…it feels mostly like energy and seems to grow or be sustained by um, contact."
Snape sneered.
Hermione ignored him and continued, "we've cast spells together and generally what happens is that we can cast something more powerful than just one witch or wizard. There are some things that are, um, unique to us."
"Go on." Remus sat forwards, interested.
She looked over at Malfoy who nodded reluctantly.
"Well, when we cast spells together, you can see the channeling of the magic. It's sort of lights up in our veins. And we… we can cast a unique patronus."
"Impossible." Snape hissed.
"Perfectly possible." Bristled Hermione.
"What shape does it take?" Remus whispered, fascinated.
"A dragon." Malfoy filled in, clearly proud.
They were silent for a moment. Hermione started to run her fingers through her hair nervously.
"This is quite unprecedented." Remus added, looking at Snape for confirmation who simply twitched one corner of his mouth.
"What can you tell us that we don't already know?" Malfoy asked, coming to sit next to Hermione.
She blushed at his proximity.
Snape pulled his sleeve, "Salazar wrote several diaries before his death…and the little we have of his writing suggests his sanity declined somewhat. The ritual you were subjected to is likely part of this…oeuvre of madness." He paused. "We had a collection of these at Hogwarts, but when I checked, there was one diary missing."
"The one he took." Hermione interrupted.
"Ten points to Gryffindor." Snape retorted.
"What Severus is implying is that he recorded his spell there and without the diary, we aren't likely to learn anymore about the magic itself." Remus responded quietly.
"Does he know?" Malfoy interjected, directing the question to Snape.
"He knows it went wrong and is furious. He hates you both almost as much as he hates Potter, naturally."
Hermione took a shaky breath, "what do we do now?"
"We haven't heard anything from Harry and Ron, but no news is good news."
She nodded, feeling guilty for forgetting they were out there searching and putting their lives at risk while she and Malfoy were absorbed in their own…whatever it was.
"So it makes sense for you both to stay here for now" Remus added, watching their reactions, "but a battle will be coming. You can't duel yourselves, so we will send some aurors in the next couple of days to assist with training."
Hermione nodded dutifully and Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"There is one other thing." Remus coughed, clearly uncomfortable. "We suspect that your connection is unique to your relationship with one another. I think it mattered before you were bound and it matters now."
"Forgive me, professor, but I feel like you're being deliberately cryptic." She noted.
"Yes." Remus smiled guiltily. "I suppose it is unexpected how strong your connection is, given your history."
Malfoy looked nervous. Hermione was uncharacteristically slow to grasp what he was saying.
"How close you are may also…how do I put this...", he sipped his coffee, "Severus?"
Snape looked like he might be sick, "if you grow closer, your connection will become more powerful. Any contact will accelerate that."
Hermione's mouth dropped open and Malfoy looked like he might punch someone.
"And while we, um, would find that advantageous to battling You Know Who-" Remus added, "-we urge you to be careful and to not pursue anything you might not want to if you were un-bound." He looked at Hermione in particular.
Malfoy started to simmer with indignation.
"I think we understand your meaning." Hermione mumbled, sensing his rising anger.
"Good." Remus stood up, placing his coffee down on the mantlepiece. "Then we shall leave you. Expect Ginny in the next couple of days too."
Hermione's stomach lurched and she avoided looking at Malfoy, who's head snapped towards her.
"Thank you for your help yesterday and for trying to search for answers."
Remus gave Hermione a hug goodbye and patted Malfoy on the shoulder. Snape swung his cloak after him. They disappeared and it was just the two of them again.
"Merlin, this is all giving me a headache." Hermione groaned.
"Agreed."
"Want to focus on something else for a bit?"
Draco raised an eyebrow, "what are you suggesting Granger?"
"A game?"
"A game." He mirrored, deadpan.
"We could-" she looked around, there were hardly any shelves and they were mostly filled with ornaments, or old books. "Ok, so boardgames are out."
He collapsed on the sofa, placing his arms behind his head to stare at the ceiling.
"Ask me a question." She demanded, tucking her legs underneath her on a chair opposite him.
He rolled to face her, "not that infernal business again."
She smirked, "scared, Malfoy?"
"No." He snorted.
"I'll go first. Who was your favourite teacher at Hogwarts?"
"Are you serious."
"That's my question Malfoy, answer it."
He sighed, knowing full well she was brimming with other thoughts. "Probably Snape, although he's a sour bastard of late."
"Of course."
"He bullied you all and that was fun to watch." He grinned. "Let me guess, you were McGonagall's fangirl?"
"I consider her to be a very good teacher." She sniffed, making him laugh. He had two dimples that appeared when he did.
"Alright my turn. What's on your mind?" He zeroed in on her, his eyes unforgivingly focused.
Hermione laughed, "what do you mean?"
"There's something you're not saying and it's all over your face. So, what is it?" He sat up, titling his head like a predator considering how best to attack.
She swallowed, thinking about what the professors had said, the word contact ringing in her ears. "I'm just processing what they were saying."
"Mmhm." He motioned for her to continue.
"You must've seen their expressions. They think we're crazy."
"I know." He sighed. "And I think I know what you're trying to say without saying it."
She looked down, fiddling with the ends of her hair.
"For the record, what I got from the conversation was that no-one really has a clue about what to do with us, or really what it's like to be us."
"Exactly." She snapped her head up. "And to suggest or imply that we're being careless."
Malfoy understood now. "Look Granger, we're not imperiused, and I don't think you are acting in ways that you wouldn't want to."
"You don't?"
"No. The way I see it…the binding has intensified things, made it pretty fucking awkward at times, but it doesn't feel wrong."
"No, it doesn't." She smiled a little.
"Your turn." He rolled back over, hiding the fact that he was terrified after all but confessing that he liked being close to her.
"What happened yesterday?" She chewed the bottom of her lip.
"When the spell rebounded?"
"Yeah. I don't remember everything."
"I tried to use a shield and you used something else, I want to say a binding curse? Thanks, by the way." He joked and she looked slightly bashful. "Then our magic joined up, boom, we go flying." He sat up. "You were knocked out and bleeding pretty badly, but Remus and Snape arrived soon after that. I used one of your blood replenishing potions by the way."
Hermione stilled, realising how much he'd helped her. She caught that he closed his eyes for a moment, as if the memory were painful for him.
"My turn?" He rallied.
She nodded.
"If you could choose would you go off and find horcruxes, or would you stay here with me?" He asked provocatively, knowing he was pushing it.
"Malfoy that's not fair." She crossed her arms.
"I am a Slytherin."
"You know that's not an easy question."
"What makes it difficult though, I'm curious." He hummed.
"You're asking me to choose between you or my best friends!"
"What makes me important?" He asked softly, his gaze penetrating her mind.
Hermione's chest rose and fell as she stumbled for words.
"The binding, I suppose, right Granger?" He looked at her with an odd expression.
"Right." She shrugged, scratching the base of her head, suddenly irritated. "This is stupid, we've just ended talking about it all again. I'm- I'm going to go have a bath."
She darted up the stairs, her breathing erratic and her mind a mess of thoughts. Why was he being so, so…Malfoy.
She stopped, as she saw herself in the mirror. It had been a minute since she'd actually thought of herself as someone separate from another person. Her hair was a mess of curls and her eyes were wide and bright, her lips pink and slightly ajar and her cheeks were flushed. This was how she'd looked all through that conversation? Merlin, no wonder he'd started asking those kinds of questions. She might as well just undress for him right there and then. Was she utterly mad?
The bathroom in her bedroom had a habit of changing to the whims of the person in it. Sometimes it proffered a shower, other times a bath and this time apparently, it had anticipated her desire for complete distraction from the real world by producing a heated pool, already filled with bubbles. It reminded her of the prefect's bathroom, except she was definitely still in an alpine cabin, with a window that stretched across one wall, providing a view of the mountains.
She shrugged off her clothes, tied her hair up in a bun and slipped in. The water was up to her shoulders and she practically purred as her muscles relaxed.
The sunlight shone through, a deep amber hue to it. She breathed in the scent of sandalwood mixed with lavender oil.
She thought about Malfoy's question, tracing patterns in the bubbles. It would be a difficult choice.
Remus and Snape's visit had rattled her - it brought her other reality into the room and freshly reminded her of the war. She'd forgotten about Ginny and the other aurors, even the smell of Mrs Weasley's cooking. All she could think of here was Malfoy.
She reached for the window, pushing the side of it open so she could lean over the edge, feeling the cold air on her pink skin.
Draco went to stretch his legs outside. He couldn't fly, but he couldn't very well sit still either. He practiced his duelling stances, slashing the air at his imaginary opponent.
Above him, he heard the creak of a window. A plume of steam and two pink arms reached forwards.
He turned away quickly. He wouldn't be caught ogling Granger's naked body.
She leant forwards and looked down. Malfoy. She froze, but he hadn't seen her, or was intent on not seeing her as he turned the other way. He stared out into the trees and she wondered what it was he was looking at.
He counted to ten, breathing in and out. Everything in him screamed to turn around and look up at her, not least his Slytherin curiosity. Would she be totally exposed?
Hermione admired his back, feeling like a greedy princess, observing from her high tower. She slipped her hand beneath the bubbles, rubbing experimentally.
She moaned and his finger twitched.
Slowly, he turned around to look up at her. She gasped. How much had he heard?
She retreated back into the bath, her heart pounding through her chest. Her clothes were strewn across the floor. It wouldn't take her long to hop out and dry, but she hesitated, listening.
Malfoy wasn't thinking as he removed his shirt walking up the stairs, nor were any coherent thoughts entering his brain as he unbuttoned his jeans.
"Granger." He panted outside the bathroom door. "Can I come in?"
"Yes." She heard herself say breathlessly.
Draco's chest was bare and his eyes were black with desire. He shrugged off his trousers and strode towards the pool.
Hermione bit her lip, gathering the bubbles.
"Turn around." He ordered and she did.
He removed his boxers and slipped in, gasping at the heat of the water that reached up to his chest.
She was practically hyperventilating, listening for movement, wondering if he was staring at the back of her.
"What were you doing?" He asked lowly, his voice practically rippling across the water.
"Nothing." She gasped.
He floated towards her, standing about a foot away from her. He reached forwards, tracing a bead of sweat down her neck. "Liar."
Hermione contracted with desire, the burning below her becoming almost unbearable.
He kissed her neck, drawing both hands down her shoulders, to the tips of her fingers. She tipped her head back in pleasure and he snaked an arm around her waist.
"Is this ok?" He whispered, biting her ear.
"Y-yes." She inhaled. "More."
Draco steadied himself, desire pumping through him. He felt her breasts, making her almost collapse into him. He rubbed her nipples and she moaned. Merlin he could've finished just from that.
He moved one hand down, pressing her stomach, hovering over her bellybutton. She backed into him and he froze.
She felt him, warm and erect behind her. She opened her legs, letting him slide through and up against her.
"Fuck, Granger." He hissed, holding her hips under the water.
She ground herself back and forth along the length of him. Her legs shivered with pleasure as he began to thrust against her.
Hermione wanted to kiss him, turning around, she wrapped her arms over his shoulders and finding his mouth, hot, insistent against hers.
He lifted her onto the side, water and bubbles dripped down her body. He stood back to admire her, his chest rising and falling. She was so beautiful.
She looked all over him too, blushing as his hand dipped below the water, feeling himself.
He crept towards her, nudging open her legs.
He kissed her to reassure her and then trailed kisses all the way from her breasts, down to her hips and lower.
He looked up, pausing there and she nodded, letting her legs fall open.
Draco's tongue flicked and she gasped, grabbing his head. She felt him smile against her and then forgot all reason as he kissed and sucked her.
"Don't hold back." He breathed.
She started to buck up against him, creating more friction, grinding back and forth. She grabbed the side of the bath, guttural sounds bursting from her.
"Malfoy, I'm going to-"
And pleasure erupted between her legs. He held her as she quivered, ecstasy vibrating and flowing down her.
Malfoy carefully retreated, kissing her inner thighs, making her shake.
He pulled her into the bath and held her, feeling the rapid thumping of her heart against his chest.
She looked up at him, her eyes wide, "that was…incredible."
"I should hope so." He chuckled, kissing the tip of her nose.
"You- you didn't mind?" She murmured.
"I would spend every minute of every day doing that if I could."
She laughed, completely undone and flushed and gorgeous.
Malfoy brought her to him and she felt him hard against her still. She tentatively reached her hand down, wrapping her fingers and palm around him.
He moaned, "fuck."
She paused. "Do you want me to?"
"Merlin, yes." He grunted his eyes closed. "But" he looked down at her, "only if you want to. There's no-" he gasped as she stroked him, "-pressure."
She kissed him to shut him up, pumping him slowly at first, then faster and harder. He bit down on her shoulder and she could feel he was close.
"Granger-"
Hot liquid pooled around her hand and she slowed down, kissing wherever she could reach on his chest.
She broke away, letting him recover. He smoothed his hair away from his face, leaning back, sated and completely relaxed.
Hermione chuckled, climbing out of the bath. She wrapped a warm, soft towel around herself.
Malfoy followed her, pulling his boxers back on. She squeaked as he picked her up.
"I can walk you know."
He grinned and took her downstairs, laying her beside him on the sofa opposite the fire.
"Is it weird that Snape was just there?" Hermione muttered.
"Please don't ruin my mood."
"Sorry." She laughed against his chest, burrowing herself in, feeling the heat build between them.
They lay like that for a while, drifting in and out of sleep, Hermione's towel draped across them both.
Malfoy stirred, forgetting for a moment that Granger was naked and on top of him. He slipped out from under her, stretching.
The fire rumbled and he crouched down, inspecting it. A letter spat from the embers. It was addressed to them both.
"Things moving. Coming tomorrow."
Perfect.