“Did you know?” Hermione blurted out.

She and Draco had been reading quietly in the library, her feet tucked under his legs as they sat in her favorite alcove. Ever since Fimsy had told her of the soul bond a few days previous, it was all she could think of.

They were rarely alone, with Theo, Daphne, Blaise, and Pansy around. Usually at night they fell into bed so exhausted – Hermione especially, given that she was still healing from the battle at the ministry – that she hadn’t had a chance to ask.

She watched the sunset cast pinks and purples across Draco’s surprised face as he looked at her.

“Know what?” he asked, looking up from his book.

Shifting uncomfortably, Hermione closed her book and leaned to place it on the side table. Then she twisted her hands together and pressed them between her knees.

“About our soul bond…” she answered quietly, her gaze on her hands.

She didn’t see Draco’s soft smile, or the blush that stole over his cheeks. But she did feel his knuckle as it grazed beneath her chin, pulling her gaze back to his.

“Not until that night when I got back to my room and really thought about it… I thought… I thought you would have known,” he said just as softly.

Hermione shook her head as his fingertips brushed the line of her jaw.

“I always felt as though my magic responded to you… But I had never heard of a soul bond until Fimsy called me Young Mistress .”

Draco hummed in understanding, his thumb running across her bottom lip.

“I’m sorry, I should have said something but it didn’t feel like the right time,” Draco said. “I sometimes forget how little muggle born witches and wizards are taught about old magic.”

Hermione smiled, leaning her face into his hand to press a kiss to his palm.

“It’s all right,” she reassured him. “Just tell me what it means.”

Draco’s hand dropped to her knee, his thumb rubbing a small, reassuring circle against her skin.

“At this stage it means that our magic is compatible, mostly. The bond was set by our…” Draco’s pale face flushed. “Intimate act the other night, but if we were to go through a ceremony – similar to a traditional wizard’s marriage bond – our power would merge. We would be able to use each other’s magic in times of need and our souls would be bonded from this life to the next.”

Hermione blinked at him.

“Is… is that something you want?” she asked in an insecure tone.

She had to admit that it sounded – funnily enough – magical . Like a fairy tale almost. Though at sixteen she had a difficult time seeing herself married, she had to admit something about it felt right. As loath as she was to give in to wants or needs without thinking them through fully, she felt sure in this moment if he was to ask her that question, she would say yes.

But she struggled to imagine that Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince and sole heir of House Malfoy would ever want something so permanent with her. Regardless of the fact that he had begun to court her, she always held on to that little insecurity in the back of her mind that reminded her that the world saw her as unworthy of him. That little voice that sometimes echoed the taunts he’d thrown at her in first and second year.

Sometimes it was difficult for her to understand why he wanted her the way she desperately wanted him.

Draco’s grey eyes turned dark, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips as if he could hear her anxious thoughts. Shifting, he pressed Hermione’s legs apart to allow him to slide between her thighs.

“You’re asking if I want to be bonded to you for life?” he asked. One of his hands slid up her leg, the metal of his signet ring cool against her skin, which was bare from the pajama shorts she wore. His fingertips dipped beneath the soft fabric, sliding under her knickers that were growing more damp by the second. Then he pushed the fabric aside, circling the tip of his index finger against her clit. Hermione gasped, leaning back against the wall of the alcove as his mouth found her neck.

“You’re asking if I want you to someday be my wife?” he purred against the delicate skin of her throat. He slid two fingers inside her, curling them back until her legs began to shake and she bit her lip to stifle a loud moan.

Emboldened by his desire, she let her hands roam over his wide shoulders – wider than she felt like they’d been at the beginning of the school year – then down over his chest until they skimmed the front of his trousers. Her hand closed over him. It was a heady feeling – his need for her. She stroked him once, then twice, before he groaned into her hair and sat up slightly.

With a wave of his wand, he murmured the same warding spell he’d used the other night, a contraceptive charm, and then suddenly their clothes were vanished to a nearby chair. Draco pulled her down until her back hit the soft cushion of the bench.

“You’re asking if I want our magic…” In one, slow thrust he entered her to the hilt. “To merge?”

Hermione moaned, her fingernails scratching the skin of his back as he slowly began to move. Just as before, she felt the same fluttering of magic around them as his mouth covered hers, their tongues tangling as he took his time thrusting into her.

One hand snaked between them as he began to circle her clit, twisting his signet ring until it pressed against the spot she most desperately needed.

“ Yes… yes Draco, ” she moaned. “That – oh gods – that’s what I’m asking.”

His thrusts became harder, one hand cupped the back of her head to stop her from hitting the stone wall as he rested his weight against his forearm, while the other continued to work her towards a frenzy.

“Of course , that’s what I want,” Draco moaned, his grey eyes blazing. “I want to bond with you.” His hips canted against her, drawing her orgasm closer. “I want to be your husband.” Hermione moaned, her walls fluttering around him. “I want our magic to merge until I don’t know where I fucking end and you begin.”

She came with a cry, pulling his release with her. As their bodies stilled, Draco pressed kisses across her wet cheeks and temples. Her fingers smoothed back his blonde hair, damp from the sweat of his brow.

“I’m yours, until the end of time,” he vowed.