Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

When Draco heard Millicent's name, his stomach plummeted to Middle Earth. He knew her father had been one of the owners of Brothers and Brooms, and Mr. Bulstrode was rotting in Azkaban like Draco's own father. She obviously had to be the one responsible for the explosions, and because of his dream and the photograph, he knew she was also holding his mother hostage at the Death Eaters' Cemetery. Honestly, he didn't know how he had been so stupid as to not recognize her. When he studied the photo, the manic distortion of her features had made her unfamiliar, but now that he knew the truth, the girl definitely resembled a filthy and unkempt Millicent.

It was absolute torture trying not to be obvious. In order to carry out their plan, Harry and Draco had to hang around St. Mungo's long enough to look natural, and they had to leave at different times. They couldn't afford to have anyone suspect that they were going after the criminal unless they wanted to risk offers of help. They knew they had to do this alone or it could never work. Even Pendington could not be told the significance of his news.

First it would be Draco, since it would seem less odd for him to take his leave early. He did have to agree to a few Aurors guarding the outside of his property, since he was connected to both Parkinson and the Freed Death Eaters Club. If Harry had insisted that he come to the Weasleys' and then to St. Mungo's for protection, it would solicit suspicion to suddenly be fine with him going home alone. Besides, the Aurors would never know if he Flooed somewhere.

The only positive about having to wait to go after Millicent was that Hermione would show up at Draco's house about twenty minutes after him. It would be forty-five minutes before they were to meet at the Potters' house, so he had plans.

The moment he heard the crack outside his door, he rushed to throw it open and pulled her roughly into his arms. Slamming the door with his foot, he kissed her with a passion that had nothing to do with lust. Well, maybe a little something.

After a surprised yelp, Hermione gave in and kissed him back, sliding her right leg up his side and around his bum, fisting the front of his shirt to pull herself as close as possible. They both knew this could be the last time they ever touched each other like this, and the intensity was overwhelming.

When Draco pulled his lips away, he smiled just a bit at Hermione's disappointed gasp. Her sparkling brown eyes met his with slight indignation and definite hope, wanting him every bit as much as he wanted her. The unfairness of it nearly broke him. Why had it taken this long to realize whom he would love? What if this really was the last time they would be alone?

He would fucking make the best of it, that's what.

He pulled her other leg up around his waist, finding her lips again, moving out of the entryway. Draco had never really taken this slowly with anyone before, but when he moved them onto the bed, he felt a foreign need to explore every inch of Hermione's body. He needed to know her, even if it was only for a few more hours. He just bent his head down and kissed her, feeling her tongue caressing his, grazing his lips down her jaw line to her neck to softly kiss her there, too. She sighed, and he knew she wanted to savor this like he did.

After tasting every last millimeter of her neck, ears, and face, he slid his hands down her sides and found the bottom of her shirt. Pulling up, he noticed her hardened nipples through the fabric of her bra, and if he hadn't already been rock solid, he certainly was now. He smiled as she lifted her arms above her head, helping him remove her pullover and get started on the bra itself. Before maneuvering his hands around to the hook, however, he bent down to lick and suck her nipples through the lace, eliciting a tiny moan of pleasure. "Draco..." she whispered, sending a surge through him that he knew had something to do with love.

They spent the next few moments slowly removing anything in the way of feeling the warmth of each others' skin. As he embraced her breasts against his chest, peace flooded Draco's heart, and he had to pause to look into Hermione's eyes. Their intensity and depth overwhelmed him, but the feeling wasn't negative. He could look at her like this for centuries, and from what he could tell, she would be looking back. He should never have doubted that her relationship with Ron could only ever be a friendship at this point. Something had permanently shifted this afternoon, and the past could never pull them from each others' grasp.

Hermione caressed Draco's back with her fingers, feeling his muscles flex as they held him above her, and she had to fight a depth of despair that threatened to take this beautiful moment away. She didn't want her fear of losing Draco to interfere with making this perfect memory, the only time in her life when she wanted to feel every cell of someone's being fusing with hers, forming a bond which could never be broken. She loved him so much it hurt, and she couldn't bear the thought of any sort of separation. She needed to feel the rest of his soft skin touching hers.

She slid her fingers around to his waist, and his breath caught when she went to loosen his belt. She wasn't rough, but she wasn't slow in unbuttoning his pants, unzipping the zipper, and sliding them over his perfectly toned arse. He lifted it slightly to help her move his pants and boxers down his legs, she pushing them to the floor with her feet and then pulling her toes along his calves, sending shivers up his spine.

Hermione could feel Draco's glorious erection against her belly, and she let herself smile when he starting working the waist of her pants apart so he could pull them down her legs along with her knickers. He moved his head down with the trousers, skipping over her throbbing center, grazing his lips down the inside of her left leg as he went. She was writhing with crazed desire, but he would make this worth her wait. As the pants fell to the floor, he fell to his knees, ready to kiss her sex.

The light flicking of his tongue made Hermione gasp aloud, and he paused to look at her flushed and lovely face, watching him slide his tongue back to her center for another taste. He swirled his tongue in a spiral around her clit, over and over, causing her legs to tremble with her building need for release. He was unmerciful, continuing the motion until he could hear her begin to pant in between gasps and moans of pleasure.

"Draco, oh... Don't stop... Oh, gods, you are so good at this..."

He loved hearing it. Starting to lap at her nub, he whispered her name, whispered how beautiful she was, whispered how he loved tasting her and kissing her like this. Soon, her leg muscles began to tighten and she was hunching into his mouth, almost whimpering in disoriented bliss.

Within seconds, the explosion of her orgasm crashed her hips up into his face, and he sucked at her, drinking her in and making the waves of pleasure last as long as he could. When he finally lifted his head, she was staring into his eyes and moving her hand under his chin, gently pulling so he would know that she wanted him above her.

Once his face was over hers, she marveled for a few seconds at how beautiful his gray and stormy eyes really were, and she hoped with every fiber of her being that she would be looking into those eyes for a long, long time to come. Moving her fingers lightly up and down his chest and abdominal muscles, she lifted her face to his.

First, she took her time with his mouth, rubbing her lips against his, licking them, sucking them. She could tell she was driving him mad by the increased passion of his kisses, mouths wide, allowing her to suck his tongue into her mouth. He groaned at the erotic friction, hardly able to keep breathing.

His control nearly unraveled when she moved her lips down to his neck and began to kiss and lick him behind his ear. He had no idea how sensitive that area would be since he'd never taken the time to do much more than slam himself hard into whomever he was using at the moment. He started writhing over Hermione's body, absentmindedly hunching his hardness into her stomach, desperate to be inside her.

She wasn't done tormenting him, though. She began to slowly kiss a path to his chest, and he sucked in a breath of excited shock when she started sucking and biting at his nipples. He hadn't realized how much he might like that, either. His experiences had all been merely fucking, but there was something to this lovemaking thing after all.

At long last, she looked back to his face and reached down between their bodies to gently grasp his shaft, holding his eyes, and he dropped his head into her chest with a gasp, moving his hips in time with her hand. She realized he had exercised amazing restraint thus far, and his need was spiraling out of control. She didn't want him to come this way, so she moved her hand down to his balls, barely touching, almost tickling them. His response was to rake his teeth across her chest in an ever-increasing lack of control, and she knew she couldn't drag this out any longer.

Guiding his cock to her opening, she braced her feet against his calves and thrust upward. He screamed, "Hermione! Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck," and she found it made her pussy clench around him with new desire. His hard and fast thrusts were welcome, and they both cried out with every breath, trying to make it last, knowing it wouldn't. In a matter of seconds, they each reached their climax, crashing into each other wildly. Draco bit into Hermione's neck with a moan as she grasped at his hair, feeling a depth of emotion she had never felt in her life.

"I love you, Draco," she whispered into his ear, kissing it and nuzzling into his neck.

He whipped his head up fast, locking his wide eyes with hers, but the fear and vulnerability he saw staring back immediately chased his panic away. He had to reassure her. What was he so afraid of, anyway? Well, he could think of quite a few things, actually, but the idea of losing her scared him more than anything on that list.

"I love you, Hermione," he gasped, letting out a quiet laugh. "I can't believe I just said that. I've never said it before."

"What? Not even to your mum?" Hermione realized too late that she shouldn't have asked such a question. It was sure to stab his heart with guilt. "Oh, fuck, I'm sorry. Of course you didn't. I'm sure none of you felt it was proper."

He just breathed, holding her close, wondering how anyone could love someone like him, so cold and heartless, so lacking in the knowledge of how to show love. He hoped that if they made it through this night, she would be patient with him. He hoped what they felt was real and her love wasn't something manufactured from the emotions one feels in crisis. Her feelings would have to be rock solid if she had any chance of putting up with him long enough for him to be the man she needed him to be.

"Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"Your mother knows you love her, just like you know she loves you."

He just sighed. How could she know what he was thinking? He moved his face above hers again for one last passionate kiss.

It wasn't long before Hermione's charm sent the shimmer above their heads which signaled that it was time to go. Suddenly, Hermione threw her arms around Draco, unable to stifle a sob. "Draco, please be careful tonight. Please. I need us to be okay."

"Me, too. Me, too, love," Draco responded softly. "Don't do anything rash, for Christ's sake. You fucking Gryffindors can really be fucking barking, you know?" He attempted a smirk, but it wasn't very convincing.

Hermione sniffed, still flooded with a worry she knew she would have to shut off quickly. If they were going to make it through this night alive, everyone needed a clear head and absolute resolve. "We should go."

When they arrived at the Potters' flat minutes later, no one said a word. They were in battle mode, and each of them was hardening a shell for war. After checking that they had what they needed, Draco revealed the location of the cemetery, and they each turned on the spot, ready to face Millicent Bulstrode and her Death Faeries.