Lifelines (Draco X Hermione)

Chapter 24 PREFECTS ROOM

His hands felt cold against the small of her back. She shuddered at the thought that she had always been dreaming what this moment might feel like. His fingers felt delicate, almost as if he thought her to be delicate or that she mightn't even have been there. Hermione leaned forward and pressed a kiss on his forehead. Before tilting his head up to look at hers. She smiled. "Hey" was all she could come up with. Leaning forward he kissed her again on the bridge of her lips. Draco noticed the flush of her cheeks and the twinkle in her eye. She seemed happy again.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled her sweater off and began unfastening her shirt buttons. "Hey, we don't have to do anything now. That's not why I brought you here" Draco's voice whispered quickly as he stopped her hands with his own.

"I know. But I want to. Do you want to?" She asked finally. Her voice came up shy and she looked back to meet his eyes.

"Fuck, I do. But we aren't in any rush. It looks like we are stuck with each other" he smirked bringing her hands to his lips to press a kiss.

"Don't use that as an excuse to be an idiot" she smiled happily watching as he placed another kiss on each of her knuckles. If this was his way of apologising, she prayed that he would mess up more often.

Finally, he released her hands and she continued to unbutton her shirt. With a quick tug she watched him loosen his tie and do the same. She was scared for him to see her scare. And by the lengthy time it took him to fully remove his own shirt, so was he. Draco's eyes focused on her arm once she shirt was lost. There in her warm skin, it read the horrible word that tortured his mind for so long. "Shit. Shit. Shit, Hermione" he mumbled.

She didn't say anything as his eyes followed her arms movements, she pushed his own shirt off his shoulders. Revealing his own mark. Panic flooded his eyes as she did. There was nothing to hide them anymore. No barriers, no flowery lifelines. His calm dementor had disappeared the same time their clothes had come off. Hermione leaned forward and kissed his lips. Her hands resting at the name of his neck. "I like your eyes" her heart was racing. She felt nervous being this vulnerable and open with anyone.

Draco had been the first person to really see her scar. She had done well to hide it from everyone else. She kept contemplating on getting it removed or not. Somehow, she wanted to remember how weak she felt, as a silent promise to never feel that way again. "I like your lips" she added again.

"I know what you are doing, and it's not going to work."

"I cannot believe this. I am half-dressed on your lap. Here I thought you had your reputation to uphold Malfoy." She was teasing him, trying to take his mind off it again.

"You are concerned with my reputation? At a time like this. You realise that no one has seen this scar since the war. Except for you. Right now," he rambled.

"Same! But we have them. Because those things happened to us. And we are sitting here choosing each other despite all of that. I want to choose to be happy. To be loved by someone. To not think about the world ending for a single moment of my life" She had a point and Draco sighed leaning back.

"What was your favourite timeline?" He asked with his hands on her hips. Hermione slipped off his lap and snuggled into his side instead. His arm wrapped around her shoulder as they started at the fire. She stared into the fire for a long moment caught in a world away.

"This one" she said straight. "Because for the first time I am not watching. I am living in it." She added. Draco laughed softy; she felt his chest shuffle as he did. She was persistent he could give her that.

"Fifty lifetimes worth of this" Draco mused "And yet, this one is your favourite" he smiled at that thought. It was a beautiful thought. "I quite liked the royal one myself. I looked very dashing in those golden suits." He joked.

She laughed softly; she couldn't even disagree with his arrogant self; "You know what I think?" She sat up suddenly. "We are overcomplicating this thing" she stated firmly.

With her arms tucked to her sides, her grey cotton bra and her hair tucked into a tight bun. She appeared very adorable. "Mmm" Draco hummed wanting her to continue. He knew better than to interrupt Madam Granger in the middle of her rants.

"We are soulmates Draco. Who else can say that with full-complete confidence?" She asked.

Draco nodded in silence before leaning forward to kiss her again before she could continue talking. His lips were a magnet and Hermione hadn't even realised her skirt become unfastened before the fabric slipped off her hips. "It makes me want to understand the functions of these timelines, don't you?" she whispered as she took a breath, getting serious again.

"Hermione Granger." He paused for a moment finding his words "stop analysing the situation. In fact, stop bloody talking and get your cute butt over here" Draco mumbled quickly. She shut her lips in an instant and allowed him to guide her body. She had never gone this far with anyone, but she trusted him. Hermione always spoke too much when she was nervous. She was definitely nervous.

Draco stood up and unbuckled his trousers. She couldn't help but think that he was more confident to rid himself from this article of clothing than his shirt. Hermione stood up and quickly unfastened her own bra.

Hermione's face flushed in full. Draco took note and smiled that even now she was trying to be courageous. "You are beautiful" he whispered. Her breath caught, she could hear him say that over and over again. Kissing appeared like a good method to clearing her mind and making sure she didn't over complicate things in her fast- moving mind. Kisses travelled down her chin to her collar bone. As Draco explored her back with the pads of his fingers