wildflowers // dramione

Chapter 20

"Fleur sauvage."

"What?"

"It's French."

"For what?"

"Wildflower."

Draco let a smile grow on his lips and he watched Hermione close her eyes and fall back asleep. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and he was thankful for the sleep he'd be getting in the coming minutes. Hermione shifted her body and her hand fell into the space in between her and Draco's bodies. Draco would blame it on his being half asleep, but he lightly grabbed her hand and pulled her into his body. He wrapped an arm around her torso and moved her hair away from his face so he could lay his head in the crook of her neck. Hermione's eyes were still closed but she grinned and let her body lean into Draco's.

When Hermione awoke in the early afternoon, she found herself alone again. Seeing the empty space beside her made her remember her dream. She had dreamt that Draco had woken up and brought her the beautiful, violet wildflower. The corners of her mouth turned upwards a bit as she remembered whispering French to the boy beside her and resting against his chest. Hermione sighed as she recalled the sweet moments of this morning to only be a dream. Hermione began to get out of bed, wrapping herself in a blanket as she stood. She was about to start getting dressed when a hint of purple atop her nightstand caught her attention. Hermione turned her head and saw her deep purple wildflower lying exactly where Draco had placed it in her dream. Hermione grinned. It hadn't been a dream after all.

Hermione stepped off the last stair and her bare foot hit the cool dining room floor. Her hair, damp from her recent shower, swung around her shoulders. She scanned the room for Draco and saw him sitting in a chair in the living room. He was lost in thought and gazing out the window at the light rainfall. A faint scent in the air attracted Hermione towards the kitchen. When she reached the kitchen she found the smell to be coming from a kettle of tea Draco had prepared. A white mug with black speckles sat next to the stove where the kettle rested, still warm. Hermione glanced back at Draco, who hadn't taken his eyes away from the glass of the window. She poured the liquid into the mug Draco had left out for her. Hermione lifted the steaming cup to her mouth and inhaled its comforting aroma one last time before drinking it. Draco had prepared a pot of Earl grey tea, same as when he made a batch in the Bristol house. Hermione sipped her tea and stayed in the kitchen. She wasn't sure if she should approach Draco. She was disappointed in herself for last night but she didn't regret it. Hermione knew that when the second wizarding war was over, she'd have to figure out a way to deal with her and Draco's actions. But, that was far into the future and she didn't need to waste her time worrying over something she knew would positively result only in a negative situation. Hermione's only priority now was moving past last night with Draco. She had wanted to escape so badly yesterday but now, she almost liked the idea of being here with Draco. When Hermione focused on Draco, whether it be good or bad, her constant anxiety about what was going on with her friends faded to a small, distant thought in the back of her mind. He distracted her from her need to know the unknown.

Draco knew Hermione was downstairs and that it was likely that she was watching him stare out the window. Draco had been alone with his thoughts far too much today. It was barely past 1 pm when Hermione joined him downstairs and he had already had many debates with himself about what to do about their new...relationship. The idea of being in a relationship with Hermione absolutely terrified him. It wasn't being with her that scared him, but what would happen when they had to return to the rest of the world. When they had to return to the judgement of their family and friends. When they had to return to their normal lives, or new normal. Draco didn't like himself for creating the proposition but he wondered if he and Hermione could just stay here forever, hidden away from everyone else. He knew she would never agree to it. Foolish Gryffindor loyalty, he thought.