This Bitter Earth

TWENTY ONE

"Right," Hermione said quickly. "Of course there wasn't."

She looked down at the floor, hoping the heat in her face wasn't too apparent and pulled the neck of her robe closed with her fist so she would have something to do with her hands.

But she couldn't stop her mind from spinning and her feet from taking a very small step forward. "What was it like? When you took your..." She nodded her head at his arm.

Draco was quiet for a moment. "Mine wasn't anything special. Normally we all gather and you swear your undying loyalty and pledge your life to his cause. You know, normal cult shit."

Hermione couldn't tell if he was being serious or making a joke.

"I had mine in the back of Borgin and Burkes." He rolled his eyes. "Just my family was there. My uncle Rodolphus kept sneezing because of the dust and knocked over some weird vase thing that was full of spider eggs. I watched all those baby spiders crawling across the floor while the Dark Lord told me how I was given the coveted task of killing Dumbledore."

"Oh." It was all Hermione could think to say.

Draco stuck his hands in his pockets. "After I made sure I got so drunk they couldn't take me out for what Bellatrix considered a celebration. I didn't want to..." He trailed off and ended his story with a shrug. "Doesn't matter."

But it did. It mattered to her.

Hermione took another step closer. "I saw you that day," she admitted. "We followed you. Harry thought that... that's what had happened, but I didn't believe him."

"You followed me?"

Hermione nodded. "You probably don't remember, but we ran into each other, at Madame Malkin's earlier that day."

"Of course I remember." Draco's voice was... well not soft, but... deep. Hermione looked up into his storm grey eyes, they were closer now. He had moved forward too. "You had your hair up and I remember thinking it would be so easy to grab it and pull you back towards me when you turned to leave."

"Oh," Hermione repeated, feeling her face warm again.

Draco blew out a sharp breath. "I thought I hated you so much." He shook his head, as if he didn't understand.

"You... didn't hate me?"

"Let's just say what I thought I felt for you doubled after you let me fuck you. Then doubled again the next time." Draco was standing in front of her now and Hermione had to tilt her head back to look up at him. "It went on and on, until..."

She could barely breathe, but found enough air to ask, "Until what?"

"Until what I felt wasn't hate at all." He smiled wryly at her. "You're the worst thing that's ever happened to me, Hermione Granger." She held her breath as adrenaline pumped into her blood making her nervous for what he was about to say, but desperate to hear it. "I fucking love it."

Bubbles rose up in her the same time heat sunk down, pooling somewhere deep inside her as the bubbles pressed around her racing heart.

"And I wouldn't trade away a single second of it. Not for anything or anyone. Not even to get this mark off my skin."

She looked down as Draco pulled up his sleeve, bearing the skull and snake branded onto him.

"He might have gotten my soul, but trust me," Draco smirked and blew out a low breath. Hermione felt a cool wave of mint brush over her heated face. "That was the shittiest part of me."

He reached his hand out, letting his fingers trail over the tie of her robe.

"Dont," Hermione whispered and Draco's fingers curled back into a fist. A fist, he slowly lowered to his side.