Malfoy's Moon

kisses and sleep

She can't sleep. 

She had laid there in her dormitory, trying to let exhaustion take her mind while listening to Pansy's cat purr nearby. Eventually, she leaves the dorm room, creeps down the stairs, and crosses the common room. 

As she hurries across the darkening corridors, past the snores of the sleeping occupants in various portraits, she turns the corner until she's outside. 

She's vaguely reminded of the last time she had snuck out of the castle at night in her fourth year. 

It had been her and Pansy, back when they had been close friends. They'd headed for the Quidditch Pitch, swung their legs over two broomsticks, and ridden in the night sky, headed for the moon. 

They'd nearly been caught by Filch upon returning. She remembers Pansy shoving her in a storage room while they stifled giggles. She smiles as she reminisces, although it's a sad smile, tinged with regret and longing.

But now, she's not headed for the Quidditch Pitch. She moves towards the Black Lake, settling down on the dewy grass, a mark of last night's rain shower. The air here is frigidly cold but she relishes in it, raptured in the coolness, so unlike the hot, suffocating warmth of her dorm room. 

She closes her eyes, listening to the lyrical ripples of the water, lit by moonlight. She's slightly startled; how curious it was that such light was the result of such darkness. 

"Couldn't sleep, too?" 

She turns quickly and lets out an exhaling breath at the sight of the shadowy figure a mere foot away. He walks forward and sits beside her. 

"I wasn't asking for company," she mutters, pulling her sweater closer around her. 

"Obviously," he says, tilting his head slightly. 

"How did you know I was here?" She says, frowning. 

"I saw you leave the common room."

"And you decided to follow me?"

"I couldn't sleep either."

She looks up at him, for the first time since they've started talking. She's unsettled by how tired he looks; his eyes have lost that sarcastic glint, his tousled, blonde hair is no longer sleek, and pale, lilac shadows settle under his eyes. 

She's tempted to reach out, to touch his skin that looks so cold, icy as the air around them.

But she realizes she probably has no warmth to offer him, her touch being just as cold. 

"You look... awful," she says without thinking. 

He lets out a quick laugh, the corners of his mouth turning into a familiar smirk. "Haven't been able to sleep lately." He pauses. "I have trouble falling asleep."

"You fell asleep pretty quickly that one day... in the library," she says. 

He stiffens. "Yeah, but that was because..." He draws his eyebrows together, thinking. 

"Because..." she says slowly. 

Because she was there. 

He shrugs. "It doesn't matter."

She sighs. "Aren't you cold?" She's not sure why she's asking, why she cares. 

"I'm used to it."

They fall into silence and he finally stands after several quiet moments. She looks up, seeing him standing there with his hands in his pockets, leaning against a nearby birch tree. 

Her heart gives a minuscule flutter at the sight of him, a slight ripple within her ribcage. 

"Wait," she says suddenly. "You're leaving?"

He raises his eyebrows. "You want me to stay?"

"No..." she mutters, but he looks at her closely. 

And he sits back down, right next to her. 

She's stunned at how warm he feels against her. 

"I'm only doing this because I can't sleep," he mutters in a low rasp. 

She smiles a little. "Right." She finds herself softening at his touch, leaning her head on his shoulder. She's surprised when he doesn't push her away, how instantly he let her lean on him with no regards to their history or hatred. 

His hand folds over hers, and she slides his ring down and up his finger while he watches. 

They sit there in the moonlight, making quiet conversation. 

He turns his head, taking a hold of her chin and forcing her to look up into his eyes. And before she can protest, he tilts his mouth to match hers, pressing himself into her. 

"Draco..." she mutters against him as she lays down with him leaning over her. 

It's not desperate, not quick and fiery like the others. This one is slow and sweet and soft, sending warm tingles to her stomach. 

He moves his thumbs across her cheekbones as he kisses her, her hands resting in his platinum-blonde hair, pulling him closer. 

"We shouldn't - "

He releases her, gazing at her underneath him. "Astra - "

She suddenly tugs at his collar, pulling him towards her and pressing her lips onto his once again. 

They split apart suddenly at the sound of an owl's hoot. He dips down for another kiss but she speaks before he can do anything. 

"Why are you here?" She says, breath shaking.

He stares down at her, his cerulean eyes all hers. "You know why." He leans down, pressing his forehead onto hers.  

He rolls over beside her, his arm still tightly wrapped around hers. 

And they fall asleep in the moon's light. 

a/n: i love this chapter ahh :') what do you think?