Summary: In the middle of a War, somehow Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger found each other and became friends. Now, despite being on opposite sides of it, the two are determined to meet regularly and continue what they've ironically called a forbidden love. A surprise visit by King Lucius, however, is not something Hermione had accounted for.
She shouldn't be here. There was ice everywhere and while she'd made sure to grab two cloaks this time instead of one, she was still shivering. It was just like him to make her wait in such a cold place, but at least this time she knew why he was late. Standing in a dark, icy cave and worrying where he was at had not been particularly enjoyable. Even now, knowing as she did, she hated waiting.
As she adjusted her cloak tighter around herself, she heard very quiet footsteps heading her way. She glanced up to where she knew the only entry and exit was and could barely make out a tall dark figure. From the ground where she'd set it, her lantern lit up barely any of the cave. However, it provided enough light for Hermione to notice something about him was off. Perhaps he'd just injured his leg and was walking differently, but Hermione's hand drifted towards the dagger on her hip regardless. In these days, it was better safe than sorry.
He always wore his cloak over his head and tonight was no different. Rather than look up at her as he approached, however, he kept his head down and hidden from her. The closer he walked, the tenser Hermione became. As he stopped an arm's length away from her, Hermione tightened her hold on her dagger and waited for him to pull off his hood. When he didn't move, Hermione held her breath.
"Draco?" she whispered quietly. Her voice seemed to echo around the cave and when the man in front of her pulled off his hood, her gasp echoed just as loud. She took a quick step back followed by another and then one more just to be safe.
"You don't belong here," King Lucius hissed. His long silver hair would have given him away in an instant if he hadn't covered it with his cloak. He stood tall and regal in front of her and Hermione was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was standing between her and the only exit.
"I can leave," she said so quietly she wasn't entirely sure she'd actually spoken. Given the sneer King Lucius gave her, she knew she had.
"If you leave this cave alive, it will be with me," he told her. He took a step towards her and Hermione gripped her dagger tighter under her two cloaks. "You're either incredibly brave or utterly stupid to come here," he said, taking two large steps towards her. She hurried back, pulling her dagger from its sheath but not taking it out.
"Why are you here?" Hermione asked, bracing herself as he took another step in her direction. It was a fair question considering they were in the middle of a war and a King should not be wandering around at night. She supposed it was safer when the wandering was being done in his own territory, but the concept of it remained: she was his enemy and he was the King, alone in a dark cave.
He moved in the time it took her to blink. One moment, he was standing in front of her with a sneer, and the next, he was standing behind her with her arms pinned down tightly. Hermione fumed, listening to her dagger hit the ground as one of King Lucius's arms pinned both of hers to her chest and the other wrapped around her shoulders. He was much taller than her and when he leaned back just enough to throw off her balance, his arm slipped from her shoulders to her neck. He clearly wasn't trying to strangle her, but the steady pressure against her throat was enough to make her worry the thought wasn't far from his mind.
"What are you doing here?" King Lucius asked calmly.
Hermione felt her boot kick her dagger further away from her and she tried to balance better on her toes than she currently was.
She didn't have to answer him and she sure didn't want to, but as the arm around her throat tightened slowly, she knew he wouldn't let it—or her, for that matter—go.
"I came for Draco," she gasped, trying to wrench one of her arms free so she could claw at the arm around her throat.
King Lucius tightened his hold on her, making her unable to wriggle free. Thankfully, his arm around her throat didn't tighten.
"What do you want from him?" King Lucius demanded. His arms tightened around her suddenly and she gasped for air. "What are you planning on doing to him?"
If she hadn't been struggling to breathe or trying to escape the arms of a madman, she would have wondered why King Lucius cared. As far as she knew, Draco was just a kind soldier she'd had the fortune of meeting a year ago. Perhaps he was high ranking, but that was no reason for the King to care so deeply about what she could have been plotting against him.
"Stop," she gasped, straining on her toes in an attempt to breathe. If she could just get his arm from around her neck, she could think straight enough to come up with an escape plan. Unfortunately for her, King Lucius didn't care that her lungs were screaming and her eyes watering.
"What are you planning?" King Lucius yelled, shaking her violently. The jolt provided a second of release and she took a deep breath before his arm was around her neck once more. "Tell me what—"
"Father, stop!"
Hermione opened her eyes to see a familiar figure standing almost within reach. The light from his and her lantern combined lit the icy cave and revealed Draco hurrying towards them. His cloak was pulled down and his worried face was unmistakable even from a couple of metres away with her blurry vision.
"What is she doing here, Draco?" King Lucius demanded, lessening the pressure on her neck just enough she could breathe again. She gasped, taking in a deep breath before coughing violently. King Lucius must have mistaken her leaning forward as an attempt to escape because he promptly tightened his arm around her neck.
"Let her go!" Draco yelled, dropping his lantern beside hers and continuing towards them.
Hermione could feel her head getting lighter as the cave fell silent. In front of her, Draco glared at King Lucius so fiercely, Hermione worried the King would have his head for such disrespect. Before she could worry about that too much, however, King Lucius let her go.
She stumbled forward, coughing once more as the cold air of the cave hit her lungs. She blindly reached out for Draco and as she fell forward lightheaded, she felt someone grab hold of her. As her coughing slowly died down and she tried to breathe more evenly, she became aware of the fact that the cave was not silent.
"—hurt you, Draco," King Lucius hissed. He stepped forward and Draco shot out a hand to stop him. King Lucius immediately stopped but Draco continued to glare.
"She's not a threat," Draco replied coldly. He held Hermione tightly and pulled her away from the King. When Hermione looked up at him, she paused, realising for the first time just how similar King Lucius and Draco looked.
"She's not one of us, Draco," King Lucius said, scowling at Hermione as he spoke. Draco shifted and she was soon standing behind him. "You can't trust her like you can—"
"She's not a threat," Draco repeated.
The cave fell into silence as King Lucius and Draco stared at each other. After a minute or three, King Lucius nodded once and glanced behind them further down the cave.
"If anything goes wrong," he warned. Draco nodded as King Lucius left the rest to the imagination. With a less than friendly look, the King walked past Draco and Hermione towards the cave exit. They waited until they could no longer hear his footsteps to breathe and then waited even longer before speaking.
"Merlin, Hermione," Draco whispered, turning to look at her for the first time that night. Hermione sucked in a breath when his hands reached up to gently grab her neck, but she quickly relaxed at his apologetic look. "I didn't know he knew, I swear," he said. He brushed his thumbs over the sorest part of her neck and Hermione reached up to stop him.
"Will you have trouble?" Hermione asked. Draco frowned for a moment, confused before he realised what she meant.
"No," he assured her. One of his hands slipped under her two cloaks to wrap around her waist while the other cupped the back of her neck, pulling her close to his chest. "No, he won't hurt me. He'll be cross, but my father has much on his plate so finding me meeting up with King Dumbledore's granddaughter probably does not sit well with him."
"Your father—" Hermione cut herself off as the realisation hit her.
Draco was King Lucius's son; he was the Prince of Slytherin. Here she'd thought she was falling in love with a lonely soldier boy when really she'd been with the Prince this whole time.
At the strange look Draco gave her, Hermione shook her head and said, "Nevermind it. Will this mean we'll have to stop this?"
Draco hesitated and even though he said that didn't have to be the case, Hermione knew it would be. He rushed to clarify though, as he said, "Perhaps we should not meet here. Somewhere else, though."
"Won't your father know where you go now?" Hermione asked.
Draco sighed but didn't comment. Instead, he pulled Hermione closer and brushed his lips softly against her forehead.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he murmured. His thumb brushed against a mark on her neck as Hermione nodded, promising him she was fine.
"The marks will be gone in the morning," Hermione told him. She looked up at him and smiled as she said, "If you'll meet me by the river, I have a place we can meet that your father can't find."
"It sounds perfect," Draco hummed, kissing the top of her head as she leaned closer to him just to listen to his heartbeat. In the quiet of the cave, it sounded much louder but that made it all the better. Despite seeing Draco at least once a week in private and spotting him occasionally on the battlefield, Hermione could never truly stop worrying about him until she was listening to his heartbeat.
"One day, this will be over," she whispered. Draco just pressed a kiss to her head in response and Hermione smiled to herself. "Then we'll be able to meet during the day."
"We'll meet here, of course," Draco said, making Hermione frown. "That godforsaken warm land you call home is much too horrid to visit in the day."
"If we come here one more night, I'm going to freeze to death!" Hermione told him. As if the cave wanted her gone, a cold breeze blew past and ruffled her two cloaks, making her shiver against Draco's chest.
"Perhaps we'll meet in the middle," Draco ceded, rubbing her shoulders to help warm her despite the fact that she was plenty warm curled up next to him.
"When the war is over," Hermione murmured, closing her eyes briefly and trying to forget the battles she'd seen that day and the hatred King Lucius had had for her.
"When the war is over," Draco agreed.