(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Darkness clung to her like a shroud.

She could feel it, even after she released the curse, sliding through her veins like oil, circling her heart.

Her library was dark as night, so dark she could barely make out the shapes of her shelves.

At first, she’d thought the darkness was power but now… now she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t know how to rid herself of this darkness, how to grasp the light she’d so desperately clung to for so long. It horrified her that there was also a part of her that didn’t want to find the light again. That wanted to bask in this inky blackness and be consumed completely.

Somehow she ended up back in her bedchamber, there with Draco stroking her cheeks and murmuring to her softly in words she didn’t quite understand.

“So well…” he’d said.

“… proud of…”

“… had to…”

All she could see was his light . The beautiful lightness that lived inside of him as he shrugged the outer robes from his shoulders and unbuttoned the top most buttons of his shirt. It was as if the light dripped from him with every movement, leaving a blazing trail in its wake.

“What do you need, love?” he asked, his voice finally cutting through the din in her mind.

What did she need? She needed this darkness, didn’t she? No, no she didn’t. She needed the light, she needed something to burn away the dark plumes of smoke inside so she could find herself again.

She didn’t know who she was.

“You…” she whispered.

Draco blinked, not understanding for a moment as he brushed a knuckle beneath her jaw, pulling her face to his.

“You have me,” he said reverently. “I’m yours.”

She shook her head, her hands reaching to grasp his waistcoat. Gripping the fabric so tight she knew it would wrinkle.

“I need you…” she said, her eyes frantically moving over his face.

Hermione saw the moment understanding clicked into place. Draco muttered something unintelligible beneath his breath, flicking his wand before placing it on a small table close by. His grey eyes turned to liquid steel; one hand found her hair while the other grabbed her hip – tugging her forward.

He didn’t respond, not with words at least. His mouth covered hers and it was as if, through the tangle of lips and teeth and tongue, he was breathing daylight into her soul. Her fingers moved over his waistcoat, popping the buttons open and then pushing the fabric from his shoulders before following the same path as his shirt and discarding that on the floor with it.

She needed to feel his warmth, his light, his skin under her fingertips. Needed him in a way she had never needed anyone before in her life. And she knew, deep down, that it was only Draco that could do this.

His light.

His body.

His magic.

Draco’s mouth moved across her jaw and down her throat, lapping at the skin below her ear. Then he twisted, pushing her backwards towards the bed, his fingers pulling the pins from her hair as he did. Her curls came tumbling down around her shoulders and face as he pulled away.

“There you are,” he sighed, before slowly turning her away from him to open the line of buttons at her back.

“ Need you ,” she whimpered, the darkness bleeding in again through the spaces he’d filled with light.

“I know, darling,” he shushed, his deft fingers unfastening the buttons. “I’ll take care of you. I’ll always take care of you.”

Finally she felt the cool breeze of his breath across her bare back and he pushed the heavy fabric from her shoulders, allowing it to pool at her feet. His fingertips skimmed the length of her spine as his lips pressed into the curve of her neck, following the same path as his fingertips.

He turned her before gently lowering her back onto the bed and pushing the heavy robes on the floor aside and dropping to his knees.

“So beautiful,” he said as he gazed up at her, his hands sliding the length of her legs towards her thighs.

“Draco please ,” she cried.

He pressed a kiss to the inside of her knee, then her thigh, moving up to skim his nose along the wet fabric of her knickers – inhaling her scent.

“I know, love, I know,” he soothed, curling his fingertips around the lace and drawing them off her legs.

One long finger parted her, sliding through the wetness there and she moaned, her head falling back against the thick bed linens. The darkness inside her purred in delight and she needed more . She needed him.

“Please, please, Draco. I’m ready,” she begged.

She could feel him shaking his head between her thighs as he eased another finger inside. But he didn’t answer, just leaned forward to slide his tongue across her clit. Her back bowed, pleasure crackling through her, crackling through the darkness. It was too much and somehow not enough as he brought her to a quick release, her fingers scrambling at his hair as she cried out his name.

The sound of his belt and trousers hitting the ground made her push herself to a seat. Draco stood before her, his pale body muscled with years of quidditch and the recent dueling lessons, almost shimmering in the candlelight. He was light personified. He was the beacon guiding her home. He would drive out this darkness that had crawled inside of her and was eating away at her heart.

Reaching for his wand he waved it over them, muttering the contraception charm Lucius must have taught him before placing it back on the table.

His pale, graceful hands reached, closing over her hips to slide her up towards the pillows of her bed. He pressed a kiss to her neck, her collarbones, before lavishing soft, gentle kisses to the jagged purple scar that spread across her sternum and down towards her navel.

Hermione’s hands smoothed his hair, down his neck and over his strong shoulders. She whimpered as his mouth closed over her breast, sucking lightly at the hardened peak between his lips.

Finally, he shifted, climbing onto the bed and between her thighs, one elbow resting beside her face – his thumb brushing tenderly across her temple.

“Are you sure?” he asked in a soft voice.

She had never been more sure about anything in her entire life. And it wasn’t just this darkness, she wanted him . Had wanted him for so long – since before they’d ever spoken in the library two years ago. She needed him the way her lungs needed air; the way magic needed a conduit.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she answered, knowing he needed to hear it. “I love you – I need you. Make me yours.”

“You already are mine,” he said in a low, rumbling tone that made her insides turn molten.

She felt him position herself at her entrance before slowly pushing into her. This was magic – she thought. This was power. This all-consuming love and devotion. Yes, there was pain, but wasn’t that true of so many things in life?

“ Fuck ,” he groaned between clenched teeth.

Once he was fully seated inside of her, he pressed his lips to her cheeks, her eyelids, her temples. His fingers traced the lines of her cheekbones, her jaw, her neck, as if memorizing this moment.

“Okay?” he asked, slightly panting, and she nodded.

“ More ,” she pleaded.

He slid a pale hand down her side, circling the curve of her breast before moving over her thigh and drawing a leg over his hip. With slow, gentle thrusts he began to move, his grey eyes closing in the feeling of her around him.

And with each delicious movement inside her, she felt the darkness wane. She felt his light breaking through the heavy mist inside her, pushing away the cobwebs of evil until all that was left was her and him.

Magic crackled around them as he moved, their moans tangling as their bodies did.

“You take it so good, little lion,” he whispered.

She whimpered, her body clenching around him as his hand slipped between them.

“Being such a good girl for me,” he praised, circling her clit as her back arched into him. Their sweat-tinged bodies sliding against each other in their own delicious dance.

“Draco… Draco ,” she cried, her hands gripping the muscles of his back.

She could feel herself fluttering around him, her body spiraling up towards a high peak.

“That’s it, love,” he said. “Come for me.”

He pressed hard on her clit, angling his hips upwards and she came, sobbing his name, pulling him over the edge with her. Around them sparks crackled in the air, magic dancing through them and over them. Golden and silver light pulsed between them as their bodies stilled.

Hermione blinked in the light before it slowly faded away.

“That was…” she panted.

“ Incredible ,” Draco finished.

Slowly he slid out of her, pressing a kiss to her shoulder as he laid beside her.

“Is it… does that always happen?” she asked, gesturing vaguely to the magic that had sparked around them.

He smoothed a hand over her stomach, pulling her close.

“I’m not sure… but I know you’re going to research it and let me know,” he teased, burying his face in her hair.

She couldn’t help but giggle as she turned towards him, kissing his cheek and corner of his mouth.

“I’m surprised the elves didn’t interrupt.”

He gave her a devilish grin.

“That’s because I found a spell to ward the room from all intruders including elf magic,” he said with only a hint of his usual swagger.

She blinked at him, impressed.

“I love you,” she said, pressing her lips to his.

“I love you too,” he answered, drawing her close.

And though the magic had dissipated, something else lingered in its wake. A bond so strong Hermione could almost still see the golden cord that connected them and it was as if she had never known darkness before.

Thank you so much for reading! Next week she gets her mark! Follow me on tiktok (@gillianeliza_) & instagram (@gillianeliza) for updates, extras, & more! xoxo!