(trigger warning: violence)
"I heard about Elinor. I'm sorry, love." Draco murmured as we stirred our potions side by side.
I swallowed the lump that threatened to rise in my throat and grabbed his free hand in mine, giving him a small smile. "Thank you, Draco. No one has heard anything, but everyone that was taken from the train is presumed...presumed dead." I said, the words possessing a sort of heavy finality that hung over me like a cloud. Draco squeezed my hand and I sighed. For now, this was the best physical contact we could have safely. No one notices students holding hands under the desks, but they do notice student sneaking off in the middle of the night to have a little menage a trois.
"Excellent work, Miss Potter, as usual. Just like your mother in every way." Professor Slughorn said affectionately, walking past our desk. I smiled shyly up at him, the compliment a rare change of pace these days. "Thank you, sir."
After a few more moments of silent work, the bell pierced the air, and everyone began to pack up their things reluctantly. Slughorn's class was something akin to heaven nowadays. He had always taken a liking to Harry and me and he obviously disagreed with the new policies set in place by the "teachers", as they liked to call themselves, but we knew who they were. Death Eater spies placed in the school by Pius Thicknesse who had been made Minister of Magic after Scrimgeour's death, under the direction of Voldemort to make sure no one rebelled.
"Meet me in the library after dinner. I miss you." Draco said covertly as we exited the classroom, following the crowds of students. I nodded and squeezed his hand quickly before hurrying ahead to join Neville and Shay for our Dark Arts lesson. No more Defense, just lessons on the Dark Arts and how glorious they are.
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The day dragged on for what seemed like forever. By the time I had finished dinner, I could feel my necklace begin to warm my skin and it was all I could do to walk calmly to the library. I slipped inside, surprised to see it so empty. Only a few students sat at the candlelit tables, poring over dusty old books. I walked casually through the shelves, smiling when I caught sight of Draco leaning against one, perusing a textbook with a bored expression on his handsome face. "Hey, mister," I said, smiling as I sauntered up. Draco looked up, grinning and pulling me into the shadows of the shelves, hugging me. "Hi, beautiful." He murmured, kissing my forehead. "Come on, I found a table for us."
We sat in a back corner of the library, pretending to be reading and taking notes, but kissing and nuzzling every chance we got. "Isabelle, I've got to ask you something," Draco said quietly as we broke apart for a moment. I nodded, smiling at him. "Alright, shoot," I said, biting my lip. Draco swallowed audibly and I started to become nervous. "Draco, please, just ask me," I said, trying to sound light-hearted. Draco grabbed my hand on the table and held it firmly, rubbing soothing circles into it with his thumb.
"I fell in love with you when I was 13 years old. You told me my pretty face couldn't make up for my horrid personality, and you called me a slimeball." I giggled and blushed slightly at the memory. We liked to joke that that was our first fight. "I'd never had a girl tell me off like that before. I liked it. I liked your spunk and attitude and fire. I wanted that. And I've had it for four years now, the best four years of my life so far. With this war and the battles, and the fact that everything is so uncertain, I want one certain thing." Draco said, smiling at me.
He got out of his chair and knelt down before me, holding out a small box. "Isabelle Alice Potter, will you give me the honor of being your husband, and marry me?" Draco asked, his voice brimming with pride and love as he opened the box to reveal a gorgeous ring - a ruby as the center stone, flanked by two smaller, sparkling diamonds.
Tears filled my eyes and I nodded, smiling ecstatically. "Yes! Yes, Draco, yes!" I said, throwing myself onto Draco and hugging him tightly, crying a little. Draco held me firmly, kissing my neck and whispering I love you over and over. When we broke apart, I kissed him slowly, pouring into it all of the love I had for this beautiful, wonderful man. Draco let his hands slide up my back, before cupping my face in them.
"I love you, Mrs. Malfoy." He said, grinning. I laughed and kissed him lightly, smiling. "I love you more, Mr. Malfoy," I said, shaking with happiness. Draco took my hand gently in his, sliding the ring onto my finger and looking up at me. "I can't believe we're getting married," Draco said quietly, running his fingers through my hair. "After this bloody war is over, we can live." I murmured, kissing Draco tenderly.
Draco started to deepen the kiss and I felt a small nagging in the back of my head, very aware that we were not only in the library but we were in a library in a castle controlled by murderous fascists. "Draco, baby, we can't," I whispered, barely containing my squeak when Draco sat back against one of the shelves and pulled me into his lap so I was straddling him. "Yes, we can, if you stay quiet." He whispered, attaching his lips to my neck as his hands began rubbing up and down my exposed thighs. I bit my lip to hold back my moans as a familiar warmth spread over my body at Draco's touch.
One of the many changes that had been put in place at Hogwarts was the reinstation of the dress code. Generally, students were allowed to wear casual clothes outside of class, but now we were only permitted to wear the official school uniforms at all times. Draco snapped the hem of my thigh high socks against my skin and I whimpered against his lips, grinding down involuntarily on his crotch. He let out a guttural moan and I raised my eyebrows. We had never really tried dry humping before, but in a school that had practically become a prison, actually having sex didn't seem all that possible.
"You like that?" I said teasingly, grinding my core down onto him a little harder and biting my lip when his eyebrows scrunched together in pleasure. "Fuuuuck, yes..." Draco moaned, grabbing my hips and pressing me down against his growing bulge. I choked back a moan when he pressed against my clit, and he smirked at my reaction. "You like that?" He said, mocking me, and I glared at him and kissed him forcefully, gyrating against him. "Come on Draco, I can feel how hard you are. You're practically throbbing." I whined in his ear, clutching onto his shoulders as we moved against each other furiously.
Draco bit down on my neck, soothing the burning mark with his tongue. "You're gonna soak through my pants, pretty girl. You gonna come for me?" Draco rasped in my ear and I nodded, kissing him deeply to try and mask the moans that were bubbling up in my throat. Draco began thrusting up against me and slipped his hands under my skirt to grab my ass, pulling me tighter against him as our hips collided forcefully. "I'm gonna-oh, Draco!" I moaned, feeling my climax come over me in burning waves. Draco grunted and his hips stilled as his pants became very warm, and I knew he had reached his peak as well.
We sat there for a second, catching our breath in the silence of the library. I pressed my lips to his softly, sighing when he threaded his fingers through my hair. "We have to go, it's almost curfew," Draco said quietly and I sighed, leaning my forehead against his. Our relationship hadn't been easy to maintain when the castle was unoccupied by dark forces, so now it was damn near impossible to have any kind of alone time - extended especially.
"I know. Let's go before they find us." I said, getting off of Draco and performing a Cleaning Spell on us both to hide our late night activities. We quickly gathered up our things and as soon as I had my bag hitched over my shoulder, Draco pulled me close and kissed me deeply, leaving me breathless. "I love you so much, Draco Malfoy," I whispered, smiling lazily at him. "I love you too, Isabelle Malfoy." He murmured, making me blush. I kissed him once more before hurrying towards the library entrance, nodding at the sour-faced Madame Pince as I passed by.
I walked quickly through the halls, practically holding my breath until I was through the Portrait Hole and safely inside Gryffindor Tower. "There you are, we missed you after dinner!" I heard from the fireplace, and I turned to see Seamus, Rosie, and Ginny sitting beside the fire. I quirked an eyebrow at the arm that Seamus had wrapped around Rosie's shoulders, but didn't say anything to embarrass her. "Just had some last minute things to finish up in the library, nothing too major. I'm going to bed, night all!" I said in what I hoped wasn't an overly cheerful voice as I made my way up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
As I got ready for bed, I tucked my engagement ring into a sock and hid it in my bedside drawer, being extremely careful to keep it out of sight of my housemates. I didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands or spark the wrong questions, but I couldn't help but take it out every so often to watch it sparkle in the moonlight filtering through the windows. Tonight had been a dream, an absolute dream - one that I hoped I would never wake up from.
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I was engaged. I was really engaged to the man of my dreams. Of course, when my friends saw the ring, I just explained that it was my mother's and I had inherited it on my 17th birthday, which was a reasonable enough explanation. Only Draco and I knew the real reason behind why I smiled every time I glanced down at my ring. Just thinking about building a future with Draco filled me with an indescribable sense of joy that no one could take away from me.
Or so I thought.
Normally, physical punishment was forbidden at Hogwarts. But, this wasn't the Hogwarts I knew. We had walked straight into Hell on September 1st and there was no turning back once we passed through those doors. I knew that for sure only a month into the school year when I walked by a classroom and saw Alecto Carrow, one of the new "teachers", scolding a tiny Ravenclaw - she couldn't have been older than a first or second year. The student was looking down at the floor, tears in her eyes, when Alecto grabbed her face and forced her to look up, slapping her in the face slightly. That's what made me snap.
I rushed into the classroom, pulling the student away from her. "You can't touch her like that! You have no right!" I said angrily, pushing the girl back to her seat. Alecto looked absolutely livid but composed herself quickly. "You are in no position to tell me what rights I have. My privileges are handed to me by Minister Thicknesse." She said, and I glared at her. "I think you meant to say Voldemort." There was an audible gasp from some of the students behind me - I honestly couldn't believe that people still called him You-Know-Who.
Alecto eyed me carefully, looking like she was grinding her teeth. "You would do well to show respect to the Ministry, Miss Potter. Everyone would." I laughed sarcastically at her empty threats. "Oh please, what are you going to do? Kill my parents? Oh wait, you already did that! Your spineless lizard of a Dark Lord is nothing-" But I didn't finish my sentence. A loud "SILENCE!" erupted from Alecto's mouth as she slapped me hard enough to send me tumbling to the ground. My mouth hanging open in shock as my face burned from the impact of her hand.
"You will keep your mouth shut Potter, or I will find a way to shut it for good. And that goes for the rest of you as well. Things are going to be very different from now on at Hogwarts, and those who can't follow our rules will suffer the consequences." She said, her voice deadly as the class of young students trembled in fear.
From my place on the floor, I watched as they all nodded, and I knew that Hogwarts was gone. The warm, magical home I had lived in for the past four years no longer existed. This was hell.
(A/n: Well, it was cute for a minute! But yayay, they're getting married!! Thank you so much for reading my lovelies, I hope you liked this chapter and if you did, feel free to leave a vote/feedback! Also, if you want to get notified every time I update this story, make sure to subscribe to me/add this story to your library or reading list! I update Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday! Love y'all!! - H xx)