Chapter 20: Draco

Chapter 20:

Draco:

When they had returned to the Shrieking Shack—he could still hardly believed he’d made that choice, but… as much as he didn’t want to admit it, everything he wanted, needed, was there—he’d been more than exhausted. He’d fallen asleep within moments, only waking up to the sounds of whispered voices later. The impact of what he’d done was just starting to sink in—Slytherin’s snake, I killed my own father—and he needed some time to think about that. What surprised him, given his past loyalty to his family, was that instead of remorse, he felt only relief: relief to never have to endure another Cruciatus curse that his father “really didn’t want to do,” relief to never again be taunted or trapped, relief that it was all finally over—no more pretending he didn’t care for Severus or Hermione, no more having to live up to his father’s unreasonable expectations… no more torture, no more abuse.

With that, he started listening more intently to the conversation that was no longer just a conversation between her and him… Are they kissing? Memories of the last time he’d seen them kissing flickered through his mind, but the wave of nausea and possessive jealousy failed to appear. Instead, he felt a familiar warmth in his groin, remembered how eagerly she’d kissed him—Okay, okay, how eagerly I kissed her—and wanted more of that. And Severus! He had quite the debt to pay off, and Draco knew just what form of “payment” he’d ask for.

His ears perked as he heard his name several times. Curious, he stayed silent, pretending still to be sound asleep. But soon, the growing discomfort in his groin and his desire to have some fun with his would-be lovers made him speak up.

“What about me?” He asked, overly innocently.

The startled looks on both Hermione’s and Severus’s made him swell with amusement.

“How long have you been awake?” Hermione asked, the barest squeak of alarm tingeing her voice.

He snickered in amusement as he replied, “Since you got back.”

Annoyance crossed her eyebrows, but Severus merely raised his. “Did you like what you heard?” Leave it to Severus to notice…

“Oh, most of it I found rather boring… It’s just that I figured I should join the… conversation if you were going to be talking about me.”

“I see. And that’s the only reason?” Severus asked, smugly glancing at the obvious mound in his groin.

“Of course. What other reason could there be?”

Hermione was looking back and forth between him and Severus. Following Severus’s gaze, the faintest blush colored her cheeks.

“What did you have to add to the conversation, Draco?” she asked, attraction obvious in her hungry eyes. How could she resist me, now that she… I can’t take this anymore!

“Only this,” he said as he pulled her close for a kiss. Her mouth opened to his eagerly, and their kiss deepened. Pulling her down to the bed with him, he let his hands roam over her back, gently caressing the curve of her spine as it slid down to her buttocks.

“Ahem! 20 points from both Slytherin and Gryffindor!”

He felt the laughter spill up out of her mouth into his as he playfully pulled away from her.

“Jealous, Severus?” he teased.

Taking the question as an invitation—which it was—he leaned over Hermione to smother Draco’s mouth, but Draco pulled back at the last instant, leaving Severus hanging with his mouth partially puckered.

“Just a moment, Severus. I accepted your apology from before, but I’m afraid you need to make it up to me. After all, I endured tremendous pain to save your life today.”

Pensive, Severus asked, “That reminds me… How did you manage to break the curse?”

Squeezing her tenderly, Draco replied, “Hermione figured it out.”

“I should have known… How was it done, then?”

She piped up, “It was simple, actually, once I realized the pain caused by the curse only happened during the action of stretching its bounds. He suffered no aftereffects, physical or emotional, from the pain. So… I realized the curse could be broken, if the pain could just be endured.”

Respect reflected in Severus’s eyes as he looked at Draco.

“You walked through that?”

“Yes… Enduring that pain also gave me the strength to break through the Cruciatus curse earlier.” Severus nodded his understanding in reply. “But, Severus, back to the original subject at hand… Your repayment of a debt…”

“Of course, Draco… What did you have in mind?”

In reply, he merely pointed to his obvious erection.

“Ah. I think I might be able to help with that.”

Severus pointed his wand at Draco’s clothes, which flew off him, and lowered his mouth to his erection… Hermione leaned forward to continue the kiss that had been interrupted earlier…

And then, POP! from downstairs, and Treedy’s frantic voice, “Master!”

Another POP!, and there was Treedy, interrupting his pre-climatic pleasure.

“Master! Master's plan worked!”