Screaming pulled him from his unconscious state and instinctively he grabbed his wand off the nightstand, his eyes snapping open and darting about the room, senses on alert.
He felt her thrash next to him and realised she was having a nightmare. Generally, they were less frequent these days however stress was still a trigger for her.

Gently he soothed her, trying to coax her away.

"Shhsh, Hermione, it's me, you're safe" he whispered as he felt her sob in his arms.

"It's ok, you're safe" he repeated, stroking her hair.

"Draco?" she whispered, reaching for him as he brushed his thumb over her cheek, rubbing away the tears that made rivers across them.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked her gently, searching her honey pools that glistened with unspent tears.

She shook her head, reaching up and threading her fingers through his locks, pulling his lips down to hers. She needed this, needed him, to feel grounded, connected again.

He paused, his mouth grazing hers, as he checked her expression, confirming what he already knew. He understood her in a way Ron never had, so much so they had learnt to read each other's expressions. So many times in the past they had fought because of misunderstanding and miscommunication. For two very intellectual individuals, it often seemed like irony on a karmic level that they could both misunderstand the other's words. But in breaking down each other's barriers they had found a way to understand each other without words.

She moaned into his mouth as he parted her lips with his tongue, massaging her own as he deepened the kiss. He allowed her to pull him in, taking the comfort that she sought from him as he reached his hand under her lower back. In one swift motion he tugged them both over, groaning as she straddled him. Eyes glazing over, he watched her as she took control, asserting her dominance over him, knowing what she needed right here and now. Snaking his hands up to her breasts, he gently kneaded them as she rocked against him with her growing arousal. Forgoing foreplay, she reached for him, sliding his length between her slick folds before grinding down onto him, her breath hitching in her throat as he hissed underneath her. Adjusting to the fullness, she stilled for a moment before finding her pace as he gripped her hips. He watched mesmerised as her fingers slipped between her folds, teasing her clitoris as she threw her head back, her keening cries reverberating around the room. Neither of them had bothered to silence the room but she was so caught up in her lust that she didn't care who they woke. She needed this. Letting out a feral moan, she clenched around him as her climax ripped through her, Draco's arms catching her before she came crashing down. Rolling them both over, he felt her writhe under him as he picked up his pace, bringing her left leg up, her ankle resting on his shoulder as they both marvelled at the deepness of the new position. Blinding light flashed behind his lidded eyes as he reached his own completion, sweat matting his hair to his forehead. He sunk down into the bed, his arms still holding her to him, still buried within her, as he delicate fingers wiped his hair from his brow. Neither said a word as they caught their breath back, bodies glistening with the evidence of their coupling. A mess of limbs and tangled sheets, both drifted back to sleep content.

.

Tossing the letters back down on the coffee table, Draco groaned loudly, his hands going to his hair.

"Weasel!" he bellowed, rising from the sofa and stalking to the door as Blaise and Hermione exchanged worried glances.

"WEASEL!" they heard him bellow again, as Blaise made to follow him, his hand to his wand just in case.

Ron came crashing into the lounge from the kitchen, a half eaten sandwich in his hand.

"What?" he hissed, glaring at Draco.

Draco sneered, "Get out of the fucking kitchen and help us"

Ron looked at him, confused.

"Well you might try with giving us a bit more information about where it was you were. We need a fucking starting point. I should think that much was fucking obvious" he turned on his heel, stalking back to the study.

Hermione looked up from her books, eying Blaise as he glanced at her from the doorway. "Can you help me with this text please Blaise?" Hermione asked, indicating to the runes. She was quite adept herself at ancient runes, but being the only fluent Farsi speaker, she had been concentrating on the Persian texts.

Blaise nodded, settling into the seat next to her at the vast desk. He had become quite accustomed to the three of them working alongside each other when the pair had Venetian cases and had missed this while Hermione and Draco had been on their honeymoon, however he would have prefered different circumstances.

Draco grabbed his notebook and quill, watching as Ron padded into the study, taking a seat in the wingback chair next to the fire. He glanced around the room, unsure where to start.

"We were staying in Maârif. The Parkinson's owned an apartment there. It's where we were living before we came here. After the war it had become Pansy's. It's quite an old apartment, the Anfa district of Casablanca is largely a wizarding area but it has a modern muggle touch. I loved it there, but Pansy said it gave her the creeps. Something about the upper floor unnerved her and she never went up there. Warded it so that no one could." He glanced each of them "I am not stupid" Draco coughed and Ron glared at him before continuing "I know what her Father was into, so I never questioned it. I just didn't want to upset her" he sighed.

Blaise stole a look at Draco. They had heard talk about the Parkinson's properties but again, never pressed Pansy for information.

"We need to go there" Draco told Ron firmly, rising from the couch.

.

Entering their suite, Hermione watched quietly as Draco set about packing.

"You're not telling me something" she said quietly, leaning against her dresser.

Draco continued pulling clothes from his dresser, before shutting it with his hip. He dropped the stack of clothes on the bed, looking up at his wife.

"That apartment" he began, something about his tone causing a chill to go down her spine "neither Blaise nor I have been there before, but we have heard stories. Before the war. It was implied that we would need to go there at some point. For a ritual."

Hermione's eyes widened as her mind went into overdrive, mentally flipping through all she new about Persian Dark magic rituals. The possibilities frightened her.

"We might need to include Bill on this" Draco told her.

Hermione nodded. "If it's anything like what I imagine from what I learnt in Baghdad, it will make the stuff in the Zabini vault look like child's play" she agreed.

.