"DO YOU REMEMBER THAT NIGHT BY THE GREAT LAKE?"
Elara raised her head from where it had been resting in the crook of Draco's neck, her heart still racing from his words earlier.
He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
"The night you got me out of detention?" she inquired as she traced her fingers over the dragon ring on his finger. He was radiating heat into her and she adored it, delving further into him from where she was lying on the sofa, wedged between the back of it and him.
His arm tightened around her, his hands drifting up and down her back, comforting and safe. "No. When I told you about the Vanishing Cabinet."
Elara nodded, remembering the chilly, moonlit night when he'd asked her if she wanted to get out of Hogwarts. "Mmm. I do."
He was silent for a minute longer and Elara buried her face in his neck again, inhaling the scent of mint and green apples - her favourite.
She felt his lips graze her forehead and her heart swelled. She was never going to let him go.
"Let's get out of here," he murmured, squeezing her tight and she glanced up at him, catching his silver eyes. There was an emotion in him she couldn't place - something like regret.
"Now?" she asked, incredulously. "It's your birthday."
"So?" he answered, softly, combing his fingers through her hair, gently undoing the tangles.
Elara shifted, slightly, so she could look at him better. "I was planning on some birthday sex," she said, cheekily, raising her eyebrows at him
Draco hummed, his eyes darkening. "Oh?" He caught her chin in his large hand, dropped his mouth to hers and she smiled against his lips, letting him roll over her so he was on top of her.
Elara immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to pull him closer so she could roll her hips against his, already feeling the familiar hunger kindle in her core.
He pulled back, slightly, left a kiss on her cheekbone. "I'd love to end the night like that," he said, softly, looking at her like she was everything he'd ever wanted. It made her tremble. "But I really want to leave here with you first."
Elara stared up at him as he caressed her cheek, loving how gentle he was tonight. She'd never seen him so soft and subdued - as if he was savouring every single moment he got with her.
"It's your birthday," she told him with a smile, reaching up to trace his lips with her thumb. "We can do whatever you want."
"I'll definitely be doing you tonight," Draco replied with a sly smirk and her heartbeat picked up when he kissed her again, long and hard. "Come on."
"Are you sure it works?" Elara asked as he slid off her and got to his feet, stretching his arms above his head, his shirt riding up to expose creamy skin and Elara shivered.
Was she ever going to not want him?
Forcing herself to calm her hormones, she let Draco help her up as he answered. "Positive. I tested it out when we went to Hogsmeade two weeks ago."
Elara remembered the recent trip. She and Draco had not been on good terms but she'd spent the day with the Weasley twins, Ginny, Luna and her sisters, browsing in Honeydukes and drinking Butterbeer with Madam Rosmerta.
"Can we stop by the Ravenclaw Tower?" Elara inquired, fixing her hair. "I need to change into something else."
June brought warm days and sunny skies but at night, the temperature would drop and Elara could not risk catching a cold right before her final exams.
So she opted for a midnight blue sweater her mother had gifted her along with jeans and threw on a jacket just in case.
By the time they reached the Room of Requirement, Elara could hear the chime of the clock tower as it struck midnight.
"We'll be back before dawn," Draco assured her, reading her mind as she followed him through the cramped aisles, heading for the tall Vanishing Cabinet.
"If we're caught, you can guarantee they'll expel us," Elara told him and he rolled his eyes.
"No one is expelling us." He exhaled, loudly. "Salazar, has anyone ever told you you worry too much?"
"I do not," Elara shot back but she couldn't dampen the feeling of unease within her at the thought of someone realising they were missing.
Draco pulled the door of the cabinet open and gestured for her to get inside.
"You sure you're not going to shut me in and transport me to the bottom of the Great Lake?" she teased, looking up at him, one hand on the edge of the cabinet, preparing to haul herself in.
"How ever did you guess?" Draco responded in kind, his eyes glittering. "I thought I'd watch you drown from my room - sort of like Muggle television, right?"
She rolled her eyes and pinched his arm before she moved to get in. He followed close behind, climbing in behind her, still holding the door open so it didn't shut on them.
"Ready?" he asked, tilting his head down to look at her, squished against his chest.
Elara nodded, wondering how in the world she'd gotten here - about to sneak out of Hogwarts with Draco Malfoy in the dead of the night. But her thoughts faded when she felt him wrap one strong arm around her shoulders, pressing a light kiss to her head.
Then he let the door fall shut, retracting his hand and bringing it to rest on the back of her head - there wasn't any other place to put it, seeing as the space was so tight.
Nothing happened. No pull in the stomach like in Apparition or jerk of the body like when using a Portkey. Elara couldn't even detect a change in surroundings.
Elara twisted her arms around his torso, letting her head rest against his chest, and mumbled, "You know, it would be really funny if this isn't a magical cabinet after all and we're just standing in a good, old regular -"
Draco pushed open the door and a cool breeze wafted in from an open window in the shack they had suddenly appeared in.
"One thing that you should've learned about me already," Draco mused, looking down at her, his eyes finally visible due to the dim light filtering in through the open door, "is that I'm always right."
"You sure you're a Slytherin?" Elara retorted, dryly, as he stepped out of the cabinet, landing on the floor beneath him without a sound. "'Cause that's a very Ravenclaw thing to say."
"The Sorting Hat was a bit conflicted," he said, easily, turning to hold his hand out to her. She took it and he tugged her to the edge before securing his hands on her waist and lifting her. "But I think it knew green was my favourite colour." He set her down, leaving a chaste kiss on her mouth.
"Well, blue isn't mine," she grumbled, thinking it was probably silver grey as she met Draco's eyes before he offered her his hand. She hesitated, her heart thumping wildly. She'd barely gotten the chance to hold hands with him before - they'd never been able to be so open in Hogwarts. And in his room, they tended to get a little - distracted.
It seemed a lot more intimate than she'd realised.
Elara slid her hand into his much larger one, relished in the feeling of it enveloping hers as they walked to the door of the empty shack. "How did you even find out the counterpart was here?"
Draco raised a casual shoulder, yanking open the door to reveal a twisting, leaf-littered path through the forest. She could see the smoke from chimneys at the end of it and realised they must be just outside Hogsmeade. "Stroke of luck in third year."
"Third?" she asked a while later as leaves crunched under their shoes, an owl hooting somewhere in the distance. She shivered and pressed further into Draco's side, his hand warm in hers. "And you never thought to use it till now?"
"I didn't know the other half was at Hogwarts." His eyes were almost glowing silver in the moonlight, the breeze coasting through his hair. "Until the end of last year."
They emerged into the small, cramped back streets of Hogsmeade and Draco immediately began tugging her in the direction of the Three Broomsticks.
She tugged back, causing him to come to a halt.
"What?" His eyebrows furrowed as he turned to her, so tall she had to tilt her head back to look at him.
"You think Madam Rosmerta isn't going to snitch if she sees us?" Elara raised her eyebrow at him, watched in satisfaction as realisation dawned on his face. For once, she'd been one step ahead of him. "She'd probably send a Patronus to McGonagall as soon as we walk in."
Draco looked at her for a moment longer, the streets quiet except for an owl shuffling along the roof of a nearby building. "Ah. We finally see why she was placed in Ravenclaw."
Elara narrowed her eyes at his teasing smirk. "Oh? Aren't Slytherins supposed to be hard-working and ambitious? I see neither of those qualities in you."
She watched as the smile slipped off his face and gave him a proud grin.
"Wait till we get back to my room," Draco finally said, his voice so low it fizzled straight to her core. "I'll show you just how hard-working and ambitious I can be when I make you come for the seventh time."
Elara's lips parted, the grin vanishing, and she clenched her thighs together, despite the fact that they were out in the open, in a deserted street in Hogsmeade.
"Liked that, didn't you?" he taunted, reaching out to grab her jaw in one hand and bring her mouth to his, hard. "Such a dirty, little girl." His breath was warm against her lips.
"I'm not little," Elara shot back with a raised eyebrow. "Although I can't say the same for you." She glanced down at his belt as the words slipped past her lips and Draco's hold on her face tightened, forcing her eyes back up.
"Funny," he rasped, quietly, eyes liquid silver and burning with desire. "That's not what you were saying when I took you in the shower yesterday."
Elara's cheeks flushed at the memory of Draco pressing her up against the wall, water sliding down both their bodies, as he wrapped her legs around his waist and forced her to take all of him.
"Mmm," Draco hummed, seeing the blush that rose to her face. "That's what I thought."
Elara pushed up onto her tiptoes to kiss him, winding her fingers into his soft hair at the base of his neck and he dropped his hand from her face to rest on her waist. "So where are we going?" she breathed even as she considered suggesting that they just find a nice, quiet alley to shag in. But he'd wanted this with her - to be out of Hogwarts - and she wanted it too.
"How about London?" he asked her, intertwining their fingers again, dragging his thumb across the back of her hand.
She glanced up at him. "You sure you can Apparate the both of us without passing out?"
Draco's eyes dimmed and she smiled at how offended he looked. But it was wiped off her face when she felt the sharp, tugging sensation in her stomach and nausea rose in her like a wave, the pressure almost unbearable.
She squeezed her eyes shut and then it was over and she could breathe again. They were standing in a dark alleyway, the street it opened up into bustling with people despite the late hour.
"Keep doubting me and I'll make sure you can't walk tomorrow," he told her, casually, obviously glad she looked so put off by the Apparition.
"Bastard," she muttered under her breath and he raised his eyebrow at her, lips turned up in a smile.
He gave her one last kiss, seeming reluctant to pull away and then began to lead her towards the street. "Come on, I know a place."
By the time they reached the Ritz, Elara was cold to the bone.
Draco side-eyed her with a small smile, pressing her into his side to try and give her some warmth. "You have ice on your eyelashes and it's summer."
"Har-har," Elara said, sarcastically, at his joke. She knew she had the tendency to feel cold even when the temperature wasn't that low. "Can I ask what the fuck we're doing at the most expensive hotel in London? Did you bring me here so we could stare it and mourn over how broke we are?"
"You are," Draco corrected, casually, staring up at the tall building, gleaming cars sliding up to the entrance. Elara stared at him, wondering if he'd actually just said what he had. He sent her a glance, the corner of his lips quirked up. "What? Do you expect me to be humble?"
"How could I?" she shot back, sarcastically. "I don't think the word is even in your dictionary."
Draco gave her a fleeting smile - one that reached his eyes - and Elara's heart spluttered to what seemed like a stop.
"So what are we doing here?" she asked, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, acting as if he hadn't just brought her world to a complete standstill with just a smile.
Draco took her hand again and she wondered how he was still so warm - even without a jacket. "Getting a room."
Ten minutes later, Draco was pressed against the room door, his mouth fumbling for Elara's as she kissed him in the hallway, feverishly.
"Elara - wait - "
Elara huffed, pulling back. "Sorry - sorry."
He chuckled and left one last kiss on her forehead before turning back to the door, swiping the keycard across the sensor.
"I didn't expect you to even like Muggle London - let alone frequent a hotel," Elara teased, leaning her weight on his arm, her hand still in his.
He scoffed as the sensor beeped and pushed the door open with his shoulder. "I don't. But it's a welcome escape from Malfoy Manor."
Elara sobered almost immediately, her heart aching for him. He let her pass first into the suite and then followed, shutting the door behind them. She began to shrug off her jacket, turning to face him. "You can always come stay with us, you know."
Draco's hands slowed from where he'd been flicking on the lights. He was silent for a long time as he moved past her into the suite, kicking off his shoes and undoing the first button of his shirt.
"I'm serious," Elara told him, looking around the massive suite - with a kitchenette and a spacious bathroom. "And I still think it's unnecessary to bring me here just for a few hours. Do you have any idea how much money you're spending?"
Draco looked up at her from where he'd picked up the room service menu. "Well-aware, considering that I've been here about every other night during the summer." He glanced back down, his eyes skimming over the list. "What do you want to eat?"
Elara blinked at him, placing her jacket over the back of the chair in front of the table. "We're eating?"
Draco hummed, flipping the page. "Mmm. I reckon anybody unlucky enough to be within a fifty metre vicinity of us could hear your stomach on the way here." He raised his eyes to hers, his lips quirked upwards, to gauge her reaction.
Elara glared at him, resting one hand over her abdomen - which decided right now was the best time to grumble. Draco let out a breathless laugh.
Deciding she couldn't win this one, she kicked off her shoes and padded over to him, ducking under the arm he raised and then lowered over her shoulders so she could nestle against his side and read the menu with him.
His hand grazing up and down her arm, generating some more warmth in her, Draco nodded at the menu. "They have apple pie for dessert by the way."
Elara turned her head to look up at him, surprise etched on her features, and his eyes left the menu a moment later to meet hers. "How in the world did you know apple pie is my favourite dessert?"
Draco blinked at her and then turned back to the menu. "You mentioned it - during one of our dueling sessions. I'd won for the third time in a row and you were lying on the floor, complaining about how you wanted nothing more than apple pie right then."
The memory flashed in her mind - it had been ages ago, soon after Fletcher had assaulted her. She'd been cold and exhausted and Draco had been especially merciless with her that night, barely giving her a chance to breathe before he came at her with consecutive hexes.
He'd remembered. Her heartbeat picked up at just the thought.
"Stop staring at me and pick something to eat, Jacobs."
Elara moved towards the sliding glass door as Draco picked up the phone to order room service. Stepping out onto the balcony, she inhaled a deep breath of fresh air and looked around at the quiet streets of London, leaning her forearms on the railing.
She thought of Hogwarts, miles and miles away now, her home for the past seven years. She had grown up there, had met her friends there - friends who had become family. She had laughed and cried within those walls, played Quidditch and stressed over exams, kissed boys and gossiped with the girls in her dorm late into the night. She had played pranks on Professor Flitwick and Trelawney, had disturbed every class with at least one kind of witty remark and had gotten detention with practically all the teachers. She had stuffed her face with food in the Great Hall, lost her appetite during exam season, had spent countless nights studying in the library, had messed about in the snow with her friends, had sprawled out in the grass on warm days for picnics, and had eaten so many Chocolate Frogs she'd been sick the whole day.
It had become her only safe place, her only escape from her turbulent family life.
And then everything had changed and somehow, she'd suddenly found home in a tall, sarcastic Slytherin boy with sharp silver eyes and a wicked grin who was currently sat on the bed inside their hotel suite, ordering food for her.
The thought brought a smile to her face.
"Are you trying to get sick?"
She turned her head to see Draco leaning against the edge of the sliding door, crossing his arms over his chest. "You were freezing on the way here and couldn't wait to get inside. Now you're out here?"
Elara rotated to face him, leaning back on her elbows on the railing and he lifted a warning eyebrow. "Careful."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Who would've guessed you were so protective?" She gave him a teasing grin and he looked away, the corner of his lips turned up.
"Only over you." His voice was low and sent tingles through her body. She leaned further back on her arms and he pushed off the door, reaching for her with a scowl. "Stop that."
Elara giggled, softly, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He relaxed as she did so, hands resting on her hips, tracing circles with his thumb. His eyes met hers and she loved how at peace he looked - the strain that was usually on his face at school replaced with relaxed features and glittering eyes.
"How are you mine?" she asked him, her heart swelling with the sensations he made her feel just with a glance or a brush of his thumb against her hip. She slid her hands away from his neck, down his chest.
Draco's eyes flicked between hers at the question - as if trying to decide if she was serious. Then, he dipped his head and kissed her, long and sweet. Her lips melted against his, his hands sliding up to rest against her lowest rib and she smiled against him, twisting her fingers into the front of his shirt.
He pulled back, looking down at her. "I don't know how this happened," he said, softly, thinking over the words before he said them. "But I'm really fucking glad it did."
Elara smiled up at him and he inhaled, sharply, lifting a hand to rest on the side of her neck, thumb pressing against her pulse point. "I wish I could - " He hesitated and she tugged him closer so he could drop his forehead against hers. "I wish I could tell you - everything."
"You can tell me anything," she murmured, letting her eyes fall shut as his thumb grazed over her cheekbone. "Merlin knows I still have a billion questions about you."
She sensed his hesitation as he drew back, moving to lean beside her on the railing, resting his forearms over it while she faced the opposite direction, looking back into the hotel room. "You're a Ravenclaw through and through," he drawled, "but I can't promise I'll answer everything."
She nodded, slowly. Despite the fact that she wanted to extract every single bit of information that she could from Draco Malfoy, she knew he would only retreat further into himself if she prodded too much.
"Did you finally leave Fletcher alone after...after my friends found out about us?" she inquired. The question had been on her mind ever since she'd ended things with him in the library. She'd been worried sick he'd get himself expelled.
Draco hummed low in his throat, twisted the dragon ring she'd given him around his finger. "As much as I hated to - I had to. McGonagall gave me three weeks worth of detention after she found out I'd beaten Blaise to a pulp for telling on us."
Her mouth dropped open. "Draco!"
He shrugged in response, giving her a wry smile. "He knew it was coming. And it's not like he snitched on me to McGonagall. One of the blasted Gryffindor first-years did. McGonagall said she couldn't keep protecting me if I did it again and she'd be forced to expel me and I..." The breeze mussed up his hair. "I really couldn't bring myself to leave you on your own in that pathetic school - even if you said you didn't want me."
"You can't - You can't beat up your best friend - " Elara spluttered, glaring at him although her heart warmed at his words.
"He took away the one thing that made it easier for me to breathe," Draco replied, smoothly. "And he knew it. I wasn't going to let him get off the hook."
Elara's mouth snapped shut from where she'd been about to retort. He gave her a smirk at her silence and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Any more questions you have for me, Ravenclaw?"
"He wasn't - mad?" Elara questioned, softly, thinking of the way Blaise looked at her with disdain everytime she passed by.
Draco shook his head. "He was, at first. But I think he realised he deserved it once I stopped coming out of my room."
Elara looked at him. "I'm sorry - "
He cut her off with a kiss. "Stop apologising. I already said I forgave you."
"But - "
"Elara."
"Okay, okay." She admitted defeat, pressed her shoulder to his. "I have another queston."
Draco propped his arm up on the railing, rested his chin in his palm. "Mmm."
"You said..." Elara hesitated, chewing on her lip and Draco's eyes were drawn to the movement.
He raised an eyebrow. "Don't do that."
She immediately released her lip from between her teeth. "You said -"
He nodded, indicating for her to go on, raising his other hand that his chin wasn't resting on and brushing a strand of her hair from her face.
Elara resisted the urge to chew on her lip again as she debated whether or not she should ask. She didn't want him to shy away and slip on his mask on - didn't want to lose how gentle and soft he was being with her tonight.
"Elara," Draco coaxed, quietly. "Ask."
She met his eyes then, steeling herself, and let the breeze cool her cheeks. "You said - that you didn't want to see another woman get raped." There, it was out now. "When you were saving me from Fletcher - do you remember?"
In a flash, Draco's eyes had darkened and he was straightening, his shoulders stiff, his hands wrapping around the railing, tapping his index on it, his ring clinking against it. Elara held her breath, her heart suddenly pounding, waiting to see how he'd react. If he'd hiss at her and demand they go back to Hogwarts - or if he'd give in and expose a little more of himself to her.
She so badly wanted it to be the second one but knew the chances were low. He would always be so closed off and reserved - broken inside but putting on a facade of sharp ice and indifference.
"I'm sorry," Elara said as his jaw clenched, his eyes somewhere along the London horizon, slightly paler than he'd been a few moments before. She hated herself for ruining the moment but she was a Ravenclaw and by definiton, she needed answers.
Especially when she was so in love with him.
"I shouldn't have asked." Her voice was gentle, not wanting him to lash out at her. He wasn't ready yet - she'd wait for as long as he needed.
She turned, swallowing hard, preparing to head back inside to give him some space but stopped short when he spoke, his voice rough and quiet.
"My mother."
[my baby draco :( long chapter bc im so sorry i haven't had time to update! exam szn and all. gonna be going on for the next 2 weeks but i'll try my best to update whenever i can.
some bonding time for these 2 - will be continued in the next chap with some spicy, spicy scenes ;)
also guys! we're almost at 20k! i love u all so much fr. ur comments make my day ugh i wish u guys knew.
also im well aware that the counterpart of the vanishing cabinet is in borgin&burkes but i do be switching it up for some romantic scenes
remember the plot of this book diverges from the actual hp series - it'll be especially useful when we get to the drama.... soon ;)
kisses,
nyx]