Life was good.
Scratch that, life was more than good. Life was fucking fantastic.
Other than the fact that he could only wank once or twice after seeing Granger, it felt like everything was finally going right. The soft hum in his chest, right where that pesky little ball of light flew through all those weeks ago, was comforting and kept his mind more relaxed than it would otherwise be with this much pent up sexual frustration.
He'd again spent most of his time in Granger's room, waiting for new items to appear each day and reading through the actual physical copy of the Restaurant at the End of the Galaxy at the same time. It was odd, at first. He couldn't compare this book to the first book in the series anymore, as Granger had taken it out of her room and placed it back in her larger collection in the living room. But the weight of the sequel in his hands and the colour of the cover was distinctly different from any of the other books in the room.
It was subtle; it's not as if the other items were ghostly or ethereal. But they were just not quite as heavy as they should be, and the colour slightly washed out, like they'd been sitting for too long in the sun.
The other new items were interesting. His brief glimpse in Granger's room didn't give him enough time to compare the details of the items and inventory what might be coming, so he unfortunately didn't recognize anything that appeared.
The first was a small device, somewhat circular shaped, with a long thread stretching from it, attached to another pair of foam discs held together with a bent metal bar. There were several buttons along the front of the device, and after some experimenting he found one that caused the device to break in half.
Upon closer inspection, the device wasn't broken - it was still attached to itself, and pushing it together caused it to close up again, and the process of button pushing, opening, and closing could be repeated again. Inside the device was another disc, shiny and reflective on one side, and with the image of a band silhouette and the letters "Franz Ferdinand" written across the middle on the other.
It took him until the next day to figure out that by hitting the correct combination of buttons sound would come out of the foam discs, and another several more minutes to determine that the shape of the attachment would fit nicely over one's head. He'd spent the rest of the evening listening to the various songs on the disc, sitting on the edge of Granger's bed and sipping on a tumbler of whiskey with the sounds of guitars and drums washing over him, stoking the warmth that was glowing in his chest.
The other strange item appeared just this morning. It was another device, medium-sized with a lot of buttons, most of which had only a single letter on them. Half of the device appeared to be covered in these buttons, while the other half appeared to be a brightly illuminated screen covered with photos and text.
Draco didn't know anything about how to work this device, and there were too many buttons for him to attempt to play around with them like he did the music disc, considering that only had seven buttons and it took him the better part of two days to figure out how it worked. He could however read what was already on the screen without having to touch any buttons.
The largest part seemed to be a box filled with lines of text. There were some odd symbols and text at the top that he didn't really understand (what was a font, and why would you want to break a page?), but his eyes were quickly drawn to the bulk of the text that was far more familiar.
Dear Mum and Dad,
I keep trying to write these letters, and they come out awful every time. I've even resorted to drafting them on the computer instead as my wrists have been getting sore with the number of revisions and rewrites. Even though I know they'll never get to you, I still want them to be perfect.
My therapist says that it would be good for me to write to you both as if you could hear me. They of course think you're both dead, not that you're living on the other side of the world and have completely forgotten about me. I suppose it amounts to the same thing as far as the therapy is concerned.
I want to say I'm sorry, but I also want to say I'm not. I'm sorry you got caught up in this. I'm sorry that the magical world was such a dangerous place for me, and therefore you, for all those years. I wish I knew what would happen when I made the decision to erase your memories. I wish I could tell you that I did it because I love you and I couldn't imagine living in a world without you in it.
Draco stopped reading and turned away from the device. His stomach hurt, that imagined glowing orb in his chest contracting painfully and imploding in on itself. Did she… did Granger obliviate her parents and send them away during the war?
He thought back to her pendant, how she seemed solemn whenever she twirled it between her fingers and would sadly tuck it back beneath her shirt.
He wanted to make the words go away. He didn't feel comfortable reading words that weren't meant for him, and the feelings in his chest were like he was experiencing them first hand, rather than feeling empathy for Granger. He'd never experienced anything like it before, and he assumed this connection to your partner was another lovely feature of the ritual.
"Great, now not only do I get to feel upset whenever I'm upset, I also get to feel upset whenever she's upset." He rubbed at the sore spot in his chest for a moment, as if an external massage would help alleviate the ache he felt.
Deciding that a break from the room was needed if the words weren't going to go away, Draco prepared to head downstairs to grab a bite and maybe pen a letter to Granger telling her how he'd finished her second book, seeing if he could twist it into an excuse to see her privately again soon.
His parents were both in the sitting room enjoying some tea and sandwiches. There were three place settings and more than enough food for him to join, and he was surprised to see his parents still set their tea as if he would be attending.
"So nice to see you, dear," Narcissa greeted, sounding warm and genuine. It caused another uncomfortable twinge in his chest, seeing his mother's adoring face while thinking about Granger's letter to her parents that would never be delivered.
Lucius peered at him from over the top of his book, holding it in one hand and his teacup in the other. "Dare I assume you're staying to join us for tea this afternoon?" His voice was not upset, but sounded resigned, as if he already knew the answer.
"Actually yes, I think I might. I'm famished." Draco sat down roughly in the upholstered chair next to his mother, wincing at the similarities in etiquette between himself and Granger, and reached for a sandwich before even making his tea.
Narcissa gave Lucius a look that Draco didn't quite understand before she turned her whole body to face him, setting her teacup and saucer down onto the small table and folding her hands in her lap.
"I don't mean to rush into things before you've even had a chance to have a drink," Narcissa began, and Draco thought he might have heard the disdain in her voice related to his decision to jump into the sandwiches before the tea. "But your father has found something."
Draco looked at his father questioningly. "About the room?" he asked. Lucius nodded and placed his things on the table next to Narcissa's.
"I've been doing a lot of reading while you've been holed up there in that room of yours, and I've come across a few interesting points I thought you might like to know."
Draco glanced at the book his father held and saw it to be one of the many diaries that were housed within the Malfoy library. He wondered who it might belong to.
"It seems you are definitely the first in the Malfoy line to have been given an empty room that slowly populates with paraphernalia. After doing a little more digging into the ritual itself, I've learned that it draws on the ancestral magic not just from our family, but also from the family of the witch or wizard you are paired with. This adds to our suspicion that this witch is likely not pureblood, as having fewer generations of purely magical blood would decrease the potency of their line, causing a delayed reaction between the initial creation of the room and the appearance of its items."
"Alright, so, I'm paired with a m- a non-pureblood witch. Sounds like that's solved the problem, doesn't it?"
"It solves part of the problem, yes," Narcissa continued. "You see, in all other accounts the room provides items that are intended to lead you to your partner. Photos of them, pieces of clothing they would be wearing when you meet, perhaps a hand written letter for you to recognize their writing. This room seems to have given you the contents of their personal bedroom, items that you would not be able to easily see in public and that are not directly helpful to locating your partner."
"Lucky me," Draco confirmed. "Couldn't possibly have been easy, could it?"
"It's more than that." Apparently his parents were trading off verses, as now his father was speaking again. "The ritual is written in such a way that showing clues to the partner is the primary function, and that part should be maintained throughout any iteration of it. Since it's evidently not doing that, I'm concerned that the ritual didn't take properly, and that it didn't successfully identify a partner for you. That perhaps these items showing up in the room are appearing at random, trying to piece together a person that might not really exist."
Recalling the heaviness in his heart and the reactions of his body around Granger, he didn't believe for a minute that this might be the case.
"If you like" - his mother's turn, of course - "your father has found a way we might be able to redo it; perhaps undo this version and try again. I keep thinking maybe there was something a little off with one of the potions. I'm sure your father brewed them correctly, it's just you can never be sure of those ingredients and if they're sourced properly, and I-"
"No," Draco interrupted. "I'm not redoing it. Just because it's a little different than your version doesn't mean it didn't work."
Lucius again. "Based on my research there is far more evidence to support that this was a failed ritual than a successful one, so I don't see why you'd choose to deal with these side-effects while waiting for a witch who you aren't even sure exists."
The constant switching back and forth was starting to get to him. How long had they planned this ambush? Was the idea of a non-pureblood match so insane to them that they had to spend their time thinking up reasons why the ritual didn't work and trying to convince him to undo it? The pressure in his chest began pulsating in time with his increasing heart rate, his whole body undergoing a visceral reaction to the idea of severing the connection between himself and Granger, no matter how faint.
"I know she exists because I've met her!" he exclaimed. "I've met her and I've been in her bedroom and I can tell you with certainty that she is the one the room is leading me to - she is my partner."
The shocked look on both his parents' faces would almost have been worth it, if not for the ringing in his ears and tension in his chest that followed his outburst.
"What do you mean, you've met her? Draco, how long have you known? Have you told her about.." His mother's words fell short, failing to come up with a generalisation of the ritual and the room and all it entailed.
Lucius gave Draco a questioning look, but stayed silent.
"No, I haven't spoken to her about any of this. We're just fr-"
Draco cut himself off. He was about to say that they were just friends, but were they? Acquaintances, maybe? Two people whos friends just happened to be fucking each other? Perhaps a change in approach was best.
"We haven't gotten to speaking about it yet, but I'm working on it."
Finally, Lucius spoke up. "How do you know it's her?"
His father didn't indicate anything directly, but somehow Draco sensed that Lucius' question wasn't related to how the items in the ritual room maybe matched up with those in Granger's room. No, he felt his father's question was leading him to the connection he felt around Granger, that pulsing warm presence in his chest, that connection between the potions and the person and the room all rolled into one.
Not sure how to have this type of conversation around his parents, and not wanting to reveal too much of his hand in the event this wasn't what his father was hinting at, Draco decided on an "I just know" while subtly moving a fist towards the centre of his chest, in exactly the spot he could feel the warmth. He saw Lucius' eyes follow his hand knowingly before turning his attention back to his tea.
"Then see to it that you fill her in on her…. Status sooner rather than later. You do not want to drag the process out more than necessary."
Draco verbally agreed, but had no intention of changing his current plans of wanting to enjoy Granger for as long as he could, knowing that she'd run as far away as possible as soon as she learned about any of this.
Draco left his parents shortly after that conversation, not willing to share any more information than he already had. He skipped out on writing a letter to Granger - the conversation with his parents had him no longer in the mood for flirty banter with the witch, and he instead ruminated on the undoubtedly shortlived time he'd get to spend with her before things started going downhill.
He only started perking up again on Thursday afternoon as he was preparing to once again head out to Hemlock to meet the now usual gang. He arrived first again, like always, but was surprised to see that Potter and Theo were the first ones to join him several minutes later.
After a few quips about how it was nice of them to leave the bedroom for long enough to come out, Draco asked about whether Granger was still intending on joining them this evening, as she normally came at the same time as Potter.
"She said she had to pop back home to grab something first," Potter said, his arm casually slung around Theo's shoulders. "No idea what it was, but she should be here any minute."
True to form, Granger showed up precisely on time and took her usual seat across from Draco. "Sorry for being late, everyone. What'd I miss?"
Theo jumped in to answer. "Oh, just Malfoy keeping tabs on where you are, Granger. If you don't already I might make a habit of walking with my wand out after dark if I were you."
Potter's eyes waggled suggestively at Theo as he said "I'm ok if you want to make a habit of walking with your wand out."
Draco and Granger both made gagging noises into their drinks. Merlin, those two were really meant for each other, weren't they?
Not long after Blaise and Weasley also showed up and took their seats. From the outside you would never be able to tell there was anything between them. They weren't hanging off each other or giving each other eyes like Potter and Theo always were. But the fact that they arrived together said more about their connection than Draco would have expected.
It was a very normal evening for the first hour. Everyone was catching up after missing each other the previous week, though he and Granger were careful not to share too much about what they'd gotten up to last week.
"Did you know Malfoy reads muggle fiction?" she asked the group.
"Does he really?" Theo asked, intrigued. Blaise's glance was sceptical and calculating.
"Well, he says he's just getting started," she mimicked his favourite line from last week. "But-"
Potter interrupted her. "But you've already got his next year's reading planned out, along with a set of discussion questions for after each book, yes?" He was speaking as if from personal experience, though the affection he had for her was still very strong in his voice.
Granger bit her lip - Merlin, what a sight - and was unable to contradict Potter's statement.
Weasley stood up and stepped away from the table, citing a need to use the ladies room. She invited Granger to come with her, and the two women started making their way towards the back corner of the room where the toilets were.
As Granger passed by him, he overheard her saying to Weasley "Of course us girls are heading to the loo together - how predictable."
The word sent a pavlovian response racing through his body. He didn't dare turn to look at her to see if she meant it for him. He attempted to control his breathing and slow his heartbeat, concentrating on counting to thirty in his head before also excusing himself from the table for the same reason.
He managed only two steps around the corner separating the hallway from the main room when he felt warm arms wrap around his shoulders and soft lips crash against his.
Draco wasted no time, pushing Granger up against the wall and further into the shadows. She moaned into his mouth and opened her legs slightly, allowing his thigh to slip between them. The intense warmth of her core spread from his thigh up through his whole body, and he instinctively grabbed her hips to hold her in place, keeping that damp warmth as close to him as possible.
She gasped, tilting her head back and pushing her body weight down onto his thigh, gently rubbing back and forth and pushing her breasts out in an effort to get more friction. Draco moved seamlessly to Granger's neck, trailing his lips over the right side slowly until he found a spot that made her gasp, and then covering it and sucking hard enough to leave a mark. Her hands twisted and tightened around his shoulders and her movements on his thigh quickened.
"Malfoy," she moaned, seeking his lips again and reclaiming them. He moved his left arm from her hip up her side and rested it on the underside of her breast, caressing firmly with his thumb until the digit slipped between their bodies and flicked against her nipple.
She moaned again, and Draco couldn't help the growl of "Granger" that escaped his lips as his hips pushed into her, pressing his cock into her stomach and mimicking her rocking movements. He felt her hike her leg up further, allowing his cock to press more directly against her core and causing them both to moan again. Lips still locked, Draco gave an experimental thrust, knowing that this was all too fast and they were in a fucking hallway for Merlin's sake, but fuck this felt better than anything he'd ever felt before and he wasn't sure what would have to happen to make him stop. Granger pushed back against him with equal fervor, her hands now splayed across his chest while fucking his mouth with her tongue.
"Well don't mind me," a voice behind them announced, piercing through their lust-filled brains and grounding them in their surroundings. Weasley. Of course, Granger was supposed to be in the loo with her, not out here practically fucking him in the hallway.
"Ginny," Granger spluttered, jumping away from him. She also seemed somewhat surprised to see the redhead standing there. "It's, um, I was just-"
Weasley waved a hand at her, dismissing her excuses. "I don't need the details of what you were doing, it was quite obvious, thank you. But if you're not prepared for everyone else at the table to tell you about how not surprising this all is to them, I suggest I wait here while you" here she looked at Granger "compose yourself and come back out with me. And you" now she was looking at Draco "should probably take a minute to figure yourself out before heading back, and spend some of that time thinking of an excuse to get you and Hermione out of here for the rest of the evening before you decide to do something really spectacularly stupid like actually have sex on the dancefloor."
It seemed Weasley wasn't in the mood for mincing words, though now that some of the lust fog had cleared he could see sense in what she was saying. They had just been spectacularly stupid already.
Weasley was already tugging at Granger's hair and adjusting her clothing with a "tsk tsk" when Draco announced he'd just "pop into the loo until enough time had passed", though Granger's blush and Weasley's eerily Blaise-like look told him that they both knew what they thought he really needed the time for.
He headed into the loo and splashed some cold water on his face, again trying to even out his breathing and force his body back under control. Each deep inhale caused his cock to shift in his trousers and the light change in pressure with every breath was so distracting it rendered the exercise completely unhelpful. He stepped into a stall and shut the door, reaching into his trousers to adjust himself in such a way that there would be less pressure and friction.
He didn't expect the low hum of pleasure that fell from between his lips as he grasped his cock in his hand. His body was still riding the high of having Granger's body literally pinned beneath his own, and the images of her heated body and sounds of her breathy moans were sweeping over him, drowning him.
He didn't even realise he was moving his hand until he'd already developed a steady rhythm and was leaning back against the locked stall door. He barely managed to mutter a quick silencing charm to make sure his activities weren't noticed by anyone else who might enter the room before a much louder groan erupted from him. His trousers were now sitting at the top of his thighs and his fist tightened on his cock, continuing the same rhythm. Each pump of his fist matched the grind of imaginary-Granger's wet centre on his thigh.
Merlin, was he actually going to cum in the bathroom stall because he couldn't get his body under control enough to make it back home? Imaginary-Granger's lips were travelling down his neck, skipping quickly over his midsection before purposefully stretching over the head of his cock and slipping him all the way inside.
Draco managed two more pumps with that visual in mind before he roared, arching his hips away from the stall door and feeling hot spurts of his own release soak his shirt and drip down over the hand grasping his cock. It wasn't until he felt the chill of dampness on his skin that his mind began functioning again, and he cleaned himself and his clothing up with a quick charm before tucking himself away and straightening his hair and clothing.
After applying some finishing touches in the mirror and casting a temporary glamour to remove the redness from his cheeks, he felt like he was ready to head back to the group to hopefully get Granger somewhere a little more private to see if they could continue what they started.
By the time he joined the rest of the group he realised he hadn't actually thought of an excuse to get Granger away from Hemlock. Weasley eyed him knowingly - fuck her and Blaise for their bloody looks - but didn't offer any help. Granger hadn't made eye contact with him since he last saw her in the hallway.
He was still standing at the table awkwardly, refusing to sit down lest he forfeit whatever opportunity he'd imagined for himself in his head. Theo and Potter had noticed now as well, which was a sign that Draco was really losing whatever subtlety he thought he had.
"Gonna take a seat, mate?" Theo asked.
Before Draco had a chance to think of a response, Granger said "Actually, Malfoy, I was thinking a little more on which book might be best for you to read next, and I couldn't help but think it might be beneficial for you to stop by to take a look at several different options. I stopped by to grab a few titles on my way here but the more I think on it you may really enjoy a more whimsical read like Narnia, or maybe something a little more chaotic like Kafka, or even poetic like-"
"Merlin, Hermione, you are the worst liar I have ever known." This came from Potter who was hanging his head, as if ashamed of her performance. "Please, both of you, floo is that way, and don't come back until you've … talked." Potter's emphasis on the word implied he knew exactly what they were getting up to.
Unsure whether to proceed now that they'd basically shared with the table that they were heading off to snog and/or shag, Draco sat and waited for Granger's Gryffindor bravery to make the decision.
"Um, well, I suppose we'll be off then?" Granger's voice was more of a question, and when he looked down at her he saw her making eye contact with him.
"Yes," he answered, perhaps more forcefully than was required. "Yes, let's be off." He held his hand out for Granger to take as she stood up.
"Everyone," he said, dismissing the table's occupants all at once.
"We won't wait up," Blaise commented, smirking.
"Have fun!" From Theo.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Potter.
"I'll look forward to catching up with you tomorrow, Hermione." Weasley.
Their words went in one ear and out the other as soon as Granger took his hand; that warmth buzzing through his whole body, thrumming loudly.
They made their way to the floo together and made sure to grab their outerwear before realising they hadn't actually decided where to go.
"Should we, erm, go to my place? It's a little messy; constantly, it seems, even though it feels like I'm always casting cleaning spells. Not that I'm averse to going to your place, as long as we avoid certain areas. I mean, maybe I'm being presumptuous; I am also fine to head back to my place and you to yours and we can pick this up again another day?"
Apparently Granger had a habit of biting her bottom lip when she was nervous and rambling. The sight of her teeth biting down on her lips caused heat to surge through him, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head. Immediately images of her in his bedroom entered his mind, and he couldn't shake the primal, possessive urge to get her in his quarters.
"Come to my place," he said suddenly, reaching for her hand. "The floo is connected directly to my personal sitting room. The idea of seeing you - hearing you - in my room, surrounded by all my things, Merlin Granger."
He thought he could see her eyes darken to match his own. She nodded, and he announced "Malfoy Manor, East Wing" before they both stepped through.
When they came through on the other side, Draco couldn't help but reach out for her immediately, running his hands up her arms until they reached either side of her face. He cradled her head in his hands as his own slowly lowered, trying to give her time to back away if she wanted, if things were moving too fast.
But she didn't. Their lips met, and it was immediately just as heated as it was in the hallway at Hemlock. Draco's hands moved from Granger's face back to her hips, once again pulling her towards him. His cock had softened after his earlier relief in the bathroom, but he already felt himself hardening again, pressed against her soft body.
She moaned, this time deeply. "Fuck, I love it when you moan like that," he whispered against her lips. He picked her up and walked her over to his wingchair, sitting down and settling her on top of him.
She wriggled on his lap for a moment until she found a position that pushed his cock right up against the warmth of her core. They both groaned, Draco putting his hands behind her back and up onto her shoulders and pushing her down even more firmly as he rocked up into her.
"I don't-" Granger began, pausing to catch her breath when his hands slipped under her shirt and kneaded the flesh of her back. "I don't normally move this quickly with anyone." Draco paused his movements, not sure if this was going to be her telling him she wanted to stop.
Granger shifted her hips against him again, whimpering as she did. Draco didn't move against her. "Do you want to stop?" he asked, needing to be sure that she was ok with things progressing this quickly. He didn't know what she felt, but he knew the connection between them made it so that he couldn't think straight; he needed to be sure that he wasn't pushing too hard.
She started kissing his neck, sucking and scraping and causing him to shudder under her touch. Moving towards his ear, she whispered "No. I want more. I want to make you fall apart for me."
His hands, which had been still on her back while waiting for her answer, shifted deeper under her shirt and started kneading her breasts over her bra. "I already am, Granger. Falling apart for you."
She leaned back and pulled her shirt up over her head, leaving her black lace bra covering her breasts. Draco immediately moved his mouth to the uncovered top of her mounds, feeling the flesh move and undulate beneath his lips as he kept kneading and flicking with hands and fingers. Granger rewarded him with a chorus of exquisite moans and increasingly rough rocking of her hips. His eyes looked up to see her biting her lip again, and he growled.
"I love it when you do that," he said, pausing his kneading to uncover one breast and take a nipple into his mouth.
"Nnngh, do what?" was her response. Her head tilted back.
"When you bite your lip like that," he answered. As if to demonstrate, he pulled back from her nipple, replacing his mouth with his thumb, flicking gently. He then took her bottom lip between his teeth and bit down firmly, moaning into her mouth as she deepened the kiss and let her hands begin roaming beneath his shirt.
"Can I-" Draco moved one hand to the front of her trousers, tugging at the button and zip.
She dropped her head to his shoulder and nodded frantically against him. "What about you? Can I-"
Draco had already undone the fastenings on her trousers and was starting to tug them down around her hips. "Yes, Anything. You can do anything." Granger lifted her hips up and helped him slide the garment down her legs. He felt her fingers at his buckle, loosening the fabric enough to allow her hand to slip inside.
He immediately surged up into her hands, trying to maximise the friction and pressure against his cock. Gods, but this felt better than any dream he'd ever had. Her hand was soft and warm against him, gripping him with perfect firmness. His head was swimming and he knew if he wasn't already sitting down he would have collapsed at the feel of her hand wrapped around him.
"Merlin, Granger, that's-"
"Hermione," she interrupted, shifting her hand so she could start pumping him earnestly. "I've got my hand on your cock, I think you can call me Hermione now."
"Hermione" he growled, sliding his hand down the front of her underwear and pushing his thumb against her folds. Draco could feel the intense pressure building in his cock already, and knew he had to work quickly if he wanted to make Hermione come before he did; he wasn't sure how much of his brain would be functional after his orgasm.
He moved his hand to the top of her underwear and slid inside, spreading her folds apart and feeling the dampness surrounding him. He traced around her entrance with his fingers, spreading her wetness over the digits and circling around her clit with his thumb. He felt her hands speed up on his cock and he clenched his thighs, trying hopelessly to draw blood away from his cock to delay the inevitable as long as possible.
He slowly slipped one finger inside her and felt the stuttering of her hand against him as she adjusted to the sensation. Once that finger was fully coated he slipped a second. She clenched around him tightly, moaning and starting to thrust against his fingers.
Her reaction ignited something within him, and he could feel pleasure from the centre of his chest at the same time as he felt the pressure continuing to build in his groin. It was too intense too soon, like his body didn't remember that he'd just gotten himself off less than an hour ago, and he could feel the beginnings of his orgasm stirring. He groaned loudly, desperate to hold off as long as possible.
"I'm not gonna last," he admitted, too desperate to even be ashamed of his lack of stamina. "I want you to come with me."
"I don't normally" - she gasped as his mouth moved back to her breasts, suckling each nipple, one exposed and one still clothed in a thin layer of lace - "It takes longer for me to-"
She buried one hand in his hair, pressing him against her chest, while her other hand continued to diligently pump him, steady pressure and rhythm testing his limits.
He curled his fingers inside of her and started using his thumb to rub against the side of her clit. His tongue and lips were still moving over her breasts.
"So fucking close," he breathed against her. She tightened around him again and gave another sexy whimper. He could feel the increase of friction as he pumped his fingers inside her; her tight cunt continuing to clench and refusing to release the pressure.
"Faster," she instructed, moving her hips up and down over his fingers, helping him to increase his pace. Frustrated with the fabric forcing the angle of his hand, Draco wandlessly vanished the clothing and fucked her properly with his fingers.
He drove them in aggressively, revelling in the cries she made when he pounded inside her. His palm pressed up against her clit with each thrust, causing wet slapping sounds to fill the room between moans and grunts.
Her hand on his cock lost rhythm, giving him a second of reprieve before she caught on again. Her moans got louder, closer and closer together. He wasn't going to make it. He could feel his himself tighten, feel the beginning of his release starting,
"Fuck, I'm going to - Hermione, please"
He felt her cunt clench more tightly than ever before. Her voice changed pitch, her words coming out as breathy moans. "I'm - I'm - oh gods, Draco, I'm -"
Draco had the briefest second to appreciate the look of rapture on her face and the whimpering moan echoing through the room before his body finally found the release it had been craving.
A deep groan erupted from his mouth, he could feel it start deep within him at the same place the pressure was finally ready to burst. He wasn't even sure if her hand was still pumping him, all he knew was that whatever she was doing was fucking perfect and he was so fucking close to bursting it almost hurt. By the time he recognized it was the sound of his first name on her voice as she came, he was gripping her hip so hard it must be bruising and pushing his erupting cock into the space between them, releasing his groan as he felt his warm sticky cum spurting onto his chest and flowing from his cock over Granger's hands. His fingers were still moving inside her through intuition alone, helping her ride out her orgasm.
He had to rouse himself out of the fog of his orgasm. His whole body felt exhausted, every muscle twitching and spasming, his heart beating in his chest so strongly he could hear it in his ears. Granger's comforting warmth surrounded him, and he barely recognized the feeling of her curling into him as she was coming down from her own pleasure. He slowed his movements inside her to a stop, keeping the warmth of his hand pressed up against her core.
He had never felt anything like this before. It was like every other orgasm he'd ever had in his life was nothing; a pale comparison to the feelings he just felt here with Granger, from just her hands no less. It was as if all other witches were like the phantom books and items in the ritual room, but this - this was the real thing. The swirling in his chest began cooling from a searing heat to a gentle warmth, humming contentedly in a way it hadn't since this whole thing began.
Granger - Hermione? - began rousing on top of him and begrudgingly pulled his hands away from her core, relishing in the gentle sigh she made as his fingers slipped out.
"I'm glad we talked."
Her voice rang fuzzy in his head, his brain trying to parse the words together. His brows furrowed in question and she must have seen as she elaborated.
"You know, like Harry suggested. To not come back until we've… talked." Her eyes were twinkling and he took it as an excellent sign that she was interested in joking with him right after this mind-blowing experience rather than deciding to change her grip on his cock to something far less pleasant and substantially more aggressive.
"You know, I think that might just be the first good idea Potter's ever had. Remind me to thank him the next time I see him."
Draco felt the coolness as Hermione removed her hand from him. He cast a quick Evanesco on them both to clean them up.
He could feel his heart still slamming against his rib cage. He was eager to actually talk to her now, to figure out what she was thinking and whether this was a one off or something she'd be interested in doing again.
"So tell me, Draco," - he was pleased to hear she was still using his first name, and even more pleased at the delicious shivers it sent down his spine - "Do you still think I'm predictable after that?"
"If us repeating this performance again in the future would make you predictable, I have never before been so excited to describe someone that way." His heart stuttered, realising that he'd given her a perfect opportunity to shut this down, to tell him that she's not interested, that this was just a one-off to prove to him and to her that she wasn't what everyone thought she was.
But her gentle smile immediately calmed his nerves. "And if us repeating this performance again in the future makes me predictable, well, I guess I can swallow that truth." He wasn't sure if he imagined her emphasis on swallow or not, but his cock didn't care and gave a strong twitch anyway.
"As long as my legs aren't jelly I'm going to stand up, locate my missing clothing, and figure out how to get to your loo." Before standing, she leaned forward slightly and gave him a gentle but sensual kiss on the lips. "I'll be back."
Draco laid back on the chair with his eyes barely open, feeling lethargic but wanting to continue to appreciate Hermione's form as she moved about the room. When she was again fully clothed (well, almost fully - he did vanish her underwear, after all) he gestured to a door at the opposite end of the room and said "Loo is the first door on the right."
He let his eyes close when she left, no longer feeling an urge to keep them open now that she wasn't there to look at anymore. His whole body felt fulfilled in a way he didn't know possible, the comforting hum of light still floating in his chest. He eventually shimmied his trousers back up over his legs and adjusted his shirt. They hadn't even got far enough to properly disrobe. He hoped next time he'd be able to lay her out on his bed and thoroughly appreciate all parts of her body.
Just as he was about to wonder what was taking Hermione so long, the light in his chest flared and clenched painfully. His hand shot to his heart, clutching at the fabric of his shirt. A feeling of dread, of wrongness, shot through him like an arrow and had him gasping for air.
Something was wrong. Something was wrong with the connection between him and the light inside him. He burst out of his bedroom door, his heart sinking when he saw the door to the Ritual Room open. He looked inside to see Hermione standing in the middle of the room, eyes burning holes through the items in the room.
She turned to him, a look of hurt and anger and resentment on her face.
"What the fuck is this, Malfoy?"