A Forbidden Birthright

Season Three: Chapter Twenty Five

He tasted like maple and fresh snow, bringing to mind the first days of winter. 

She found his hand cupping her cheek, his rings cold against her skin. His other slid into her hair. Her skin prickled and she shuddered against him, unable to stop herself. His breath was hot against her lips, and his kisses were so soft and yet consuming. Their mouths moved together in unison like a pair of swans on water. 

Her heart thumping heavily in her chest, she suddenly found it hard to breathe. And that's when it registered. 

She was kissing Draco Malfoy. 

She was being kissed by Draco Malfoy. 

This was absurd. It couldn't really be happening. 

But a gentle, gravelly noise rolled in the back of his throat like the purring of a cat and pulled her back into the reality of his touch. His hands were so warm, his heart unsteady, thrumming wildly against her chest and fingertips that rested along his neck and throat. Knowing that she had elicited such a noise from him had electricity singeing her blood. 

"Somebody-" She breathed helplessly. "Somebody will see." 

"Why shouldn't they?" He muttered into her mouth. Despite his response, however, she found herself suddenly apparating into her home. 

The few seconds in between were like nothing she had every experienced. Never before had she kissed somebody while apparating. It felt more intimate than sex. Their bodies pulled and twisted together, lips and skin fused into single atoms until her feet were on solid ground again and her back was being slammed into her wall. 

She cried out at the contact, but it wasn't from pain. She wasn't sure she could feel pain, even if she'd been bleeding. The only thing she felt now was a hunger rear low in her stomach, and the heady intensity of their snogging. At the sound of her, Draco groaned and lifted her deftly up the wall, twining her legs around him. He pushed her hair to the side, nipping at her ear and down her neck, his hands clutching her so tightly, she forgot about air. 

Somewhere next to them, a picture fell from the wall. 

Her hands tangled in his white-blond strands, only able to register the sound of him. It drove her mind in directions she'd never allowed herself to think of with him, not fully. The memory of her fantasy about him before the start of the term rose unbidden in her mind and she felt Draco smile against her neck, his teeth wet and sharp against the softness of her throat. 

A knocking fist rapped against her wooden door. 

"Ms. Granger?" A student's voice called. 

Instantly, Hermione slid down the wall and shoved him away, eyes wide. His own were heavy lidded, eyeing her with an unquenched thirst that made her want to fling herself at him. Trying to regain her breathing, she smoothed out her clothing. Thoughts jumbled, it didn't occur to her to use a charm to make her appear presentable. 

"Stay here," she said breathlessly, and rushed to the door. 

The moment before she opened it, he appeared at her side. Determined not to be caught, she thrust him against the wall and pressed her hand over his mouth. He made a muffled sound of protest. "Don't you say a word," she hissed. 

"Professor?" 

Feigning composure, Hermione flung the door open perhaps a bit too quickly, startling the student in front of her. She leaned out the doorway, one hand resting on the door handle, the other clamped tightly over Malfoy's mouth. 

"Madeline! What can I help you with?" She said brightly. 

The girl eyed her a moment before saying, "I haven't interrupted anything, have I?"