Song: Little Dark Age by MGMT, Can I Sit Next to You by Spoon and Borderline by Tame Impala
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5rY9CTPfz0mEwX3kBtoh7K?si=dc82fb05be734b5e
Draco Malfoy
Tuesday: November 4th, 2010
I rubbed my face aggressively with the palms of my hands as I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked worse than I did when that blood chicken ripped up my arm. The dark purple was painted under my grey eyes, contrasting my pale skin. The translucency made the sleepless nights that I was experiencing more apparent. An unfortunate gene that I had received from both my mother and father.
My mother, after everything that had happened in the last seventy two hours, that was the most shocking. Potter had owled me, requesting that I take a few days to spend with my son and figure out the events of the past days. My mother, forcing Pansy and Armena into an Unbreakable Vow was not only inexcusable but just fucking reckless. I wanted to rip out her fucking throat for her actions against Armena. As much as Pansy got under my skin, more than a parasite, I would never want any sort of harm to come to her. To call her like a sister would just be morally fucked up but she was family. Just as Blaise and Oliver were like my brothers, I would protect her with my life.
Armena, after our many many rounds on my dining room table, gave me the same recommendation as Potter.
"Draco" she breathed, her nails dragging through my hair.
I was still deep inside of her, our sweaty bodies pressed together as her legs squeezed around me. We had just finished not minutes ago, but neither one of us wanted to let go. That bond in between us was fully intertwined and holding on tight.
"I could stay here all day" I breathed into her shoulder, kissing her bare flesh.
I glanced up, making eye contact with the portrait of my younger self and my parents: my mother and father. I could see the disappointment clear in their eyes. The disappointment of the women that I was with and had just ravished for the past few hours. My mother could fuck off for all I cared.
Armena let out a long sigh, her hands stilling against my hair. I pulled back from her, my hands cupping her face as I searched those emerald green eyes.
"I think you should take some time to yourself" she breathed. "You need time to cope and mourn."
"What do I have to mourn?" I furrowed my brow at the raven haired women below me.
"You just found out that your memories were altered, that we had a history way before you met me all those months ago" she looked down at my bare chest. "You just found out about your mothers involvement and you lost a parent."
I pulled away from her, unlinking our bodies from each other. I quickly pulled up my trousers, snapping the button shut.
"I lost you, Armena" I ran my hand through my hair roughly. "That's all that matters so there is nothing that I need to reflect on."
She rolled her eyes and hopped off the table, leaving behind evidence of our previous activities on the dark brown wood. She quickly pulled up her jeans and threw back on her jumper, sans undergarments.
"I am just saying" she huffed, "it's a lot to handle over a short period of time. I've already lost you once, I can't have you wake up in a few days and decide that you can't even look at me."
"You are being bloody ridiculous!" I snapped. "I lost you, why would I wake up and think that."
She looked at me long and hard, her emerald green eyes narrowing at me.
"Stop being so bloody stubborn, you know I am right."
She was right and I hated to admit it. Yet, here we were, two days later and I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I splashed the cold water onto my pale face, watching as the clear droplets fell onto the marble counter.
Narcissa Malfoy, the very woman who so recklessly involved the love of my life in an Unbreakable Vow, was my mother. She was my mother and she raised me. She was the one who read me bedtime stories of the Deathly Hallows, rubbed my back when I was sick with dragon pox at nine years old, she protected me as much as she could from my fathers wrath and took the brunt of it. She sent me treats at school and came to all of my quidditch games. She coddled me, held my hand when things got scary and I didn't want to face the monsters under my bed. She bought my wand for me, named me after the Noble House of Black tradition, which I carried over with naming my son.
She was my mother and my blood.
I took in a deep breath and pressed my face against the fluffy white hand towel sitting in the ornate silver ring on the wall. The very same ones that my mother had picked out with Astoria on the same fucking fixtures, that she most likely purchased with her and my father first got married. Everything in this entire house wreaked of Narcissa Malfoy down to the fucking wooden floors.
But as much as I wanted to burn this place to the ground, this house had been in the Malfoy family for centuries. My father grew up here and his father before. I was raised here and I expected my son to have the same luxuries that I did.
I shuffled out into the dimly lit hall, the night clearly upon us now. I quietly walked to the other end of the hall and peeled open Scorpius' bedroom door. The tiny boy was curled up into a ball, his thumb in his mouth while he squeezed a tiny green dragon with all of his might. His pale blonde hair, identical to my own, laid messily on his sharp and serene features.
I had the overarching fear these past few days, since I forced my mother out of our home, that she was going to hire bandits and have him snatched away in the night. It started to drive me mad to the point where I wasn't sleeping, only standing guard in that front sitting room where I was planning to head after I kissed his cool forehead good night. I gently closed the door and stalked down the hall, my instincts on high alert as I looked deep into the shadows for anyone that would harm us.
Breathe.
I wasn't that scared little boy anymore, the one who used to scream over a mountain troll in the dungeons. I was a man, I was a father and once a husband. I was to be someone's husband again very soon, if I could wrap my head around it all. I had a soulmate and someone who loved me no matter what dark ink stained my very flesh.
I took in a deep breath, as I quickly rushed down the stone steps and pivoted into the sitting room. There was a large crystal decanter, filled to the brim with amber liquid, that had my name written all over it. I quickly poured myself a glass, waving my wand at the giant hearth and threw myself down onto the tufted leather sofa. I let out a deep breath, as I stared into those vibrant orange flames. Their wicked fire tongues lapped at the grey stone, leaving behind a back mark in their wake.
"Oy!" Oliver's voice rang in the quiet room. "Glad to see you're alive, however, you look like shit mate."
I didn't even bother to look at him, I just kept my eyes trained on the roaring flames.
"Darling, we talked about this," Naomi hissed through her teeth, as she strolled over to the bar in the far corner.
Oliver smirked as he sat down on the sofa across from me. He leaned far back into the leather, casually crossing his left leg over his right knee. After everything that had happened, apparently Pansy and Blaise sounded the many alarms that they put into place and the pair, who lived in America now, came running back home. Of course, I offered them comfort in my home since it would be ridiculous to have them stay at the Leaky Cauldron or some other shit hole in Diagon Alley, but also there was the underlying fact that I didn't want to be alone in here— not after everything that had happened.
"Malfoy knows I'm just playing" Oliver shrugged, glancing towards his wife before leaning forward. "She's gotten a lot more strict over the years, can't even joke around with my best mate!"
"I heard that" the blonde headed witch sang, as she strolled back over to where we were, taking a seat next to her husband.
"So when are you going to take that down?" Oliver jerked his head over to a portrait on the far wall.
I followed his line of vision, landing my eyes on the portrait of my late wife, Astoria. I had completely forgotten about that and had been meaning to take it down for months now. I should just ask the house elves to do it. In all honesty, I couldn't bring myself to do it. That was Scorpius's mother, I couldn't just toss it in the cellar like we did with the rest of our unwanted things. It wouldn't be right.
"She was his wife!" Naomi smacked her husband across the chest. "Learn some respect!"
"Wife by default" he shrugged, taking a sip of firewhiskey. "We all know that he would have married Armena the second they graduated. I'm sure he had the ring all picked out."
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the leather of the sofa. After we got back from Paris all those years ago, when Oliver dragged us home, I had thought about which family ring I would give to Armena once this was all done. I would have done it at Hogwarts, probably in the library or outside in the courtyard. Somewhere that had true meaning for the both of us. The ring that I had in mind for her back then was everything a witch could even imagine. It was a beautiful princess cut diamond ring, passed down from Druella Rosier, with a small halo of diamonds.
Unfortunately, I had given that very ring to my late wife.
I rubbed my hands over my face at that thought and reached for my crystal glass of firewhiskey.
"I still cannot understand why you and Armena kept your relationship so secret when we were in school" Naomi shook her head as she gazed into the roaring fire. "I mean, I think it was the best kept secret that we had but still, we wouldn't have judged."
It wasn't the matter of our friends judging our relationship but the fact that she was a Riddle and a Lestrange and I was a Malfoy. All of those families sitting around for a Holiday meal made my head spin. Oh, Tom would you be so kind to pass me the gravy? Bella, don't you look so lovely, here hold our infant child.
Bile rose in my throat at the thought.
Oliver cleared his throat, breaking me from my innermost thoughts. I glanced up at him, seeing a wild grin plastered to his face. I raised my brows and took a sip of my firewhiskey.
"Nay, I think the fact that Draco made a Horcrux with Armena and wore it every day on his finger, while Blaise and I knew—" he chuckled, "that was the best kept secret."
Naomi swatted his chest, narrowing her chocolate eyes at her husband.
"Well Pansy and I didn't know that!"
"Precisely" he wiggled his bushy brows at the petite witch. "Best fucking kept secret there ever was!"
He clinked his crystal tumbler with mine, but I made no move to return the smile he was offering me. The blonde haired witch rolled her eyes and took a long sip from her goblet of wine.
"I meant when we were in school, you idiot!" she snapped at her husband before turning to face me. "So, why did you two keep it a secret?"
She batted her eyelashes at me, taking a sip of her crimson wine. I stared at her for a bit, studying her features. She was older than when we were adolescents, which was to be expected considering that was nearly eleven years ago. She looked more maternal and warm, motherhood suited her well.
"Please humor your dear friend" she smirked, tilting her head to one side slightly.
"Oh, let me think Naomi" I tapped my temple, "my father was a pureblood supremacist, my mother is actually psychotic and if you two don't remember, I didn't want to deal with anything Death Eater related."
Which was a lie and we all knew it. I had proclaimed to them on many occasions that I would go to the darkest and most depraved depths of the earth for her. I would do her bidding if she asked and I would stand by her side no matter what. I would have been happy to put back on that Death Eater mask if it meant being with her. My adolescent rage towards her when I first laid eyes on her was just merely my innermost demons trying to find something for me to abhor. Yet, my soul knew otherwise and it brought me right into her arms time and time again.
"I think Armena is about as close to a perfect match as it gets" Oliver shrugged, grabbing the glass decanter off the smooth wooden table in front of us. "I mean, let's put that whole bullshit Dark Lord's daughter aside, she's a Lestrange and a pureblood if we want to get into the nitty gritty of it."
He glanced towards his wife, offering her a lopsided smile that clearly meant to say sorry. She just smiled back at him, placing her small hand on his shoulder before drinking from her goblet.
"Honestly she's more of Lestrange than she is a Riddle. I spent quite some time with those Lestrange brothers when we were at her home ten years ago, and—" he let out a long breath of air and set down the glass container of amber liquid back on the table. "She was an exact replica of them. You could tell they raised her and even my father was shocked at how much more she was like them than her own mother. Don't get me wrong she's definitely Bellatrix's daughter, but she has the cunning of Rodolphus and Rabastan. So if you were worried about what your parents would have thought about your relationship, then—"
"I don't know why you bothered" Naomi sighed, "you always rebelled against your parents, especially your father and in those last years, so what difference would it have made?"
"My wife has a point," Oliver smirked.
"And may I ask why we are discussing this? Clearly, it wouldn't have made a difference considering my fucking memories were erased" I hissed.
I leaned forward on my knees, my forearms digging into my thighs as I glared at my two friends. Oliver just shrugged, throwing an arm around the back of the leather sofa as he sipped from his crystal glass.
"Sorry mate, we just never got a chance to talk about her since everything happened so fast" he looked down into his glass, pondering something. "Look, we are all fuckin' sorry about what we did but we made a decision and it wasnt an easy one. Why do you think Naomi and I moved to the States. It most certainly wasn't for the greasy fast food."
I leaned back into my chair, as I let out a long breath of air. Forty eight hours was all it took for my world to be flipped upside down. I never thought about why they had moved across the pond, I had always assumed it was because they were both moving up the career ladder and wanted to start a family. After all, they were blessed with three beautiful children.
"How did you do it?" I breathed, glancing up to Naomi. "How did you handle everything after what happened?"
I jerked slightly as if a rush of unwanted memories flooded into her brain. I felt bad for asking but if they were going to pry into my innermost thoughts, then I was going to reciprocate the favor. Naomi took a long sip of the wine, only to flick her wand towards the green bottle and summon it over to her.
"Oliver and I took it the hardest out of everyone" she breathed, pouring the crystal clear liquid into her goblet. "For a while, after Armena was released, I couldn't be in the same room as her alone. Not because she was evil or I thought of her to be bad, but because it hurt to see my once bright and shiny friend ashen and bruised from her torment in Azkaban. It hurt to see the ink staining her skin and the purple under her eyes. It hurt to see the light fade from her green eyes because you weren't around. We all thought about it at one point, obviating her memories of you so she wouldn't be in pain, but we couldn't do that nor would Blaise let us. He was the most protective over her. It hurt me that I couldn't help my friend, that I wasn't there to hold her when she cried herself to sleep—"
She took another long sip from her wine, sniffling a bit. I couldn't dare bring myself up to meet those chocolate eyes. So instead, I gazed down into the amber liquid of my drink, clasping the cool heavy crystal glass in my hands.
"I couldn't be there for her and neither could Ollie because it just hurt. Then Pansy started to get ideas and schemes and brought her to that bar. We literally thought the would was going to end and you couldn't fucking stop talking about the witch. So, Oliver and I pushed you towards Astoria, which we are sorry about but we didn't know what was going to happen. It wasn't until a few years ago, when I was doing some research for MACUSA that I discovered some interesting information. I reached out to Harry and he helped me jumpstart" she sighed, sipping from her goblet once more.
I looked up at her and then to the dark haired wizard beside her.
"So you thought pushing me into Astoria's arms would make this all—" I ran a hand roughly through my hair, "better?"
"Not better, but we couldn't watch you fuck your way through London and—" Oliver sighed, leaning forward. "You had a wonderful marriage with Astoria and she gave you a beautiful son, you shouldn't feel guilty about that. Armena knew, she coped and tried to move on."
"I left her Oliver, I left Armena against my own fucking will! I should have stayed, I should have fought harder when she told me to go, but I didn't" I let out a long sigh, throwing my head back to stare at the ornate ceiling of the sitting room. "I keep replaying those last few days over and over in my head, trying to pinpoint what went wrong and I can't. I honestly wonder if things would have been different if my mother had died instead of my father. At least he would have been supportive of Armena and I, probably hiring some Sacred twenty eight officiant and have us wed the next day."
"I think if your father was still alive, Armena would be dead. I don't think they intended to keep her around for much longer once she completed her task for them. She did the best she could in that moment—we all did" Naomi breathed, taking a large sip from her wine glass.
"I just—" I rolled my head down, meeting their gaze, "I just don't get why I was kept so in the dark. She kept me in the dark, do you know how that feels?"
I looked towards the roaring flames, watching as they licked their way over the stone. After these past few days, I thought about it long and hard. In all honesty, I wasn't mad at her by any means. I knew why she did it, but it fucking hurt knowing that someone who I shared everything with at one point in my life, just decided that I wasn't privy in knowing certain information.
"We didn't mean to keep this from you and it wasn't only her decision, we all played an equal role so if you are pissed at her then don't be" Naomi sighed.
"I know she wasn't alone in the decision!" I snapped harshly, refusing to meet their gaze.
"Mate—" Oliver warned, his protective instinct kicking in for his wife.
I let out a deep breath, closing my eyes. I breathed in and out before I finally looked up at my friends.
"I know what you two did— what Armena, Blaise and Pansy did was not easy by any means. I know that it took a lot out of you two to deal with all that shit so thank you." I stared down into my crystal tumbler, finding the melting ice far more interesting than my friends intense gaze. "I guess that I am just trying to find a way to mourn the decade that I lost with her."
******
Wednesday: November 5th, 2010
I sat at the dining room table the next morning, my fingers tracing the scratch marks that Armena carved into the wood as I devoured her body. Our communication had been sparse, save for a few letters, but she was holding true to her word and giving me time to cope. I continued to trace the marks as I looked up at Oliver, who was talking about his son to Scorpius.
"Good morning" Naomi sang as she strolled into the formal dining room.
I raised my brows at her, surprised by her chipper mood considering she drank her weight in wine last night. I was certainly feeling the effects of my glasses of firewhiskey this morning. I wouldn't have gotten out of bed if it wasn't for Scorp jumping on my bed at nine this morning.
"Morning love" Oliver smiled up at his wife, who leaned down and kissed him ever so gently.
Scorpius, who didn't say a word just gawked at the blonde witch. Oliver and I smirked at each other, silently agreeing that my son had an innocent crush on the pretty blonde witch. I guess some things never changed, however I personally preferred the dark haired ones.
"Master Malfoy?" the small house-elf, named Eagrey, blinked at me.
"Yes?" I raised my brows at the creature.
"Master Potter has sent you this from the Ministry," Eagrey handed me a thick envelope.
I grabbed it out of his trembling hands, and popped open the wax seal before pulling out the thick parchment.
Draco,
Sorry to be so formal, but protocol insists. There is an important matter in the Highlands of Scotland near Hogwarts that they need Aurors. I figured you would want to get out of your home and away for a few days. Right now, the task seems like it will only take a week's time but there is no telling what we are about to walk into. No need to reply if you plan on attending, just meet me at the apparating post around noon.
Best,
Harry Potter
Head of Auror Office
Department of Magical Law Enforcement
I set the parchment down on the table and leaned back into the large wooden chair. Oliver raised his brows at me, curious as to what I just read. I shook my head and stared down at the table before me. My fingers, once more, traced the claw marks.
"Where are you going?" Naomi raised a brow, scooping some eggs onto her plate.
"You can stay here as long as you need but I have some Ministry business to take care of" I breathed, leaning back further into the chair. "Eagrey, tell the Nurse that she will need to watch Scorp for a few days. Also, when I get back, I want our personal belongings packed up and moved to my townhouse on Mulberry. As for this table, I want you to wrap a pretty little bow around it and give it to my mother for her birthday."
******
Potter and I apparated into the deep woods. Apparently, there was a rift between the Centaurs and the Werewolves. According to Potter, they didn't agree with the Magical Creatures Act that his dear friend, Hermione Granger, put into place. As head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, she had been on a mission to pass some sort of magical creature reform. It caused a lot of tension within the Ministry but eventually she got her way and now we were dealing with the aftermath.
"Hope you are alright with sleeping in the woods, Malfoy" Potter smirked, waving his wand to set up a tent.
I raised my brow at him and leaned back against the rough bark of a tree. I was going to say something witty, but thought better of it. I took in a deep breath through my nose, filling my lungs with the fresh scent of pine and fall.
It reminded me of her.
If I closed my eyes, I could feel her phantom touch against my very flesh, like she was right in front of me. But yet, when I opened my eyes she wasn't there. I pushed myself off of the pine bark and moved to help Potter with anything that he needed. The tent was decent, well I mean, as decent as a tent in the middle of the cold woods could be. There were two rooms, a grand living space and a kitchen with a large dining table. Potter was already starting on the fire in the small fireplace set in the middle of the tent, I moved towards the kitchen and rummaged through the various meals that were stocked within the fridge. I guess the Ministry really did take care of their own on tasks.
"She's been asking about you," Potter sighed.
I took a seat at one of the chairs at the worn down table and picked at an invisible piece of lint on my black pants. I knew who "she" was and I knew very well that whatever I said in this room would get right back to her. Pansy had her claws deep into Potter by now and there was no doubt that she would beg to hear all of the details of our trip once we were done.
So we sat in silence for about an hour.
"This is going to be a long fuckin' week if you don't talk, Malfoy."
"I'm going to talk to you, I just know a certain dark haired witch that will share what I will tell you with another certain raven haired witch" I smirked.
Potter plopped down onto the sofa and placed his hands behind his head.
"I am so glad you think me to be so fuckin' whipped" he smirked, winking at me.
"I think you are more than whipped" I huffed, leaning back into the chair.
"Well, you have been held up in your home for the past three days" he cocked his brow waiting for my response but it never came. "Naomi told Pansy you have cleaned out your liquor cabinet. Which Pansy told Armena and she has been sick to her stomach. Just thought you would want to know."
I felt my own stomach twist into a tight knot at the thought of Armena heaving into a toilet. My nails dug into the soft wood on the arms of the chair. She didn't mention she was sick in the few letters we corresponded to each other, but I guess that really isn't something you include.
"Is she okay?" I hissed through my teeth.
"She's fine, I think she just is scared that you are going to run" Potter sighed.
"I would never" I snapped, feeling my lip curl up in defense.
"Don't tell me that'' he raised a brow, his lips curling up into a smirk at my reaction. "Tell her, tell Armena."
The days turned into weeks and things started to become mundane with our task. We made it through the forest, speaking with each registered pack and community of magical creatures. The ones who put up the worst fight were the Werewolves, but there wouldn't be a full moon for a few weeks. Each night, I would stare up at the stars outside of our warded tent and think about her. I stared at the constellation above, the very one that reminded me of the freckles against her skin. I would think about that first moment I laid my eyes on her in the great hall, how she stared at me so confidently in the common room, and how her lips felt against my own at that first time in woods similar to this. I thought about how she was now, how her mature body felt under my own, how she still made those same beautiful noises when she climaxed, how fucking strong she was after everything she went through.
I brought my glass to my lips, numbing the emotions that were ripping through my body. I didn't know when I would be back home or how long this would take. Potter let me know that there was also urgent business at Hogwarts and we would be making our way there tomorrow. I hoped that would be the last of the task because I couldn't spend another day away from her.
*******
November 25th, 2010
"I have let you act like the arse you are for the past three weeks" Potter muttered, "it's time to talk."
I rolled my eyes, kicking a stone down the path that we were walking on, as we made our way through the forbidden forest.
"I'm fucking fine! I just want to get the fuck home" I snapped. "I'm sick of being in these fucking woods with you, Potter!"
"Sure" he hissed. "So you drinking your liver to no end is what you call fine?"
"What do you want me to say? That I'm right pissed that Pansy drugged me, held me down while my memories were pulled from my head?" I growled, "your fucking wife is lucky I didn't rip out her throat for what she did."
Potter grabbed me by the shoulder and held up his fist at me, his green eyes blazing with fury over what I just said about his wife. I only raised my top lip, snarling at him. We had officially gotten on each other's nerves and living in the woods has turned us both into animals.
"Go on" I smirked, "fucking punch me, Potter."
He ran his hands through his dark wild hair and dropped his fist, pacing across the path. I started walking again, leaving him to deal with his own emotions because I needed to deal with my fucking own. The pain that I was feeling over the loss of a decade was now turning into red blooded rage. Potter jogged up to catch up with me as we rounded the bend on the dirt path.
"What do you want me to do, Malfoy?" Potter snapped. "Do you want me to show you my memories of that day? I get it you missed ten years of her but get the fuck over it and just live in the moment instead of dwelling in the past."
"That not—" I sighed, running my hand through my hair.
I kicked a small rock, watching as it rolled down the dirt path of the woods. The snow was starting to fall, it was clear that it would be winter soon.
"You're pissed," he sighed, "I get that more than you know but there is nothing you can do to change the past. She's here, she's alive and she fucking loves you."
I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off abruptly.
"So stop your pussy shit and be the better man!" he pushed up his glasses as we made our way up the hill. "Look, I can give you all the advice in the world. I can tell you the pros and cons of everything but the decision is up to you and by wasting precious minutes stewing over the what if is not going to change anything."
He was right, as much as I hated to admit it. I rolled my eyes and stared straight ahead at the grand castle. The very castle where we both spent our adolescent, where we terrorized and hexed each other, where we both witnessed loss and experienced love.
"It still takes my breath away every time I look at it" Potter sighed, leaning against a tall pine tree.
"Yeah" I let my shoulders relax, "it really fucking does."
In just a few years, Scorp would be entering those massive doors for the first time. He would sit on top of that wooden stool and be sorted into his house. I prayed to Merlin that he would follow in my footsteps and become a Slytherin, but the sorting hat always had a mind of its own.
"Pansy and I are trying you know" I could hear the proud smirk in his voice. "You know, to have a little one of our own."
"Congratulations mate" I smirked, glancing towards the dark haired wizard.
There was a moment of silence in the air, the only sounds was of birds chirping in the distance. I could have sworn that I heard some Thestrals behind us, but I couldn't dare to bring myself to meet their milky dead eyes.
"Do you think that you will have children with Armena?" he asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, letting out a long puff of air which formed into white mist.
"I want to mate" I breathed, leaning my back against the rough bark of the tree. "I want to have a child with her so bad."
"Then what's stopping you?"
I felt the corners of my lips tug up into a half smirk. I had made my decision about all of this and Potter was right, there was no point in dwelling on what could have been, I had to focus on the here and now.
"Oh, I will" I smirked, "but there is something I have to do first with her."
And right now, that was Armena Riddle-Lestrange.
******
I apparated into her bedroom, watching as the shadows danced on her features. She didn't even stirr when I sat down on the edge of her bed. Her chest slowly rose and fell with every breath that she made. She looked so peaceful, so at ease in the moment. I brushed my knuckle against her cheek, feeling her soft skin beneath my finger.
She was so beautiful and she was mine.
It was around midnight, after our conversation outside of Hogwarts. We make quick work within the wards of the school, where we checked in with Headmistress McGongall, who couldn't be bothered with me but seemed to dote on the lovely Mr. Harry Potter. I came here as soon as I was free and our task with the Ministry was complete.
I bent down to her forehead, planting my lips against her soft skin. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, basking in the scent of fresh parchment, fall and roses.
She always would be my Amortentia.
I pulled away from her flesh and stood up, carefully undressing and tried not to make a sound that would wake her from her dream state. Once I was down to my briefs, I slid into bed, wrapping my arms protectively around her and held her against my chest. She let out the lowest purr, nuzzling into my bare skin. I ran my hand through her hair, feeling the silky strands as they fell from my fingertips.
"Draco" she breathed, curling herself closer to my body.
"Go back to sleep love" I breathed, planting a kiss into her hair. "I'll be right here when you wake."
I am not going anywhere.