4.1 | Draconian ✓

17 | quietus

A/N

Isn't April such a hyped month? Endgame, a Blackpink and BTS album, Game of Thrones, a possible Taylor Swift album, and Draconian... It's a great time to be alive.

x Noelle

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q u i e t u s

Quietens sound.

IT WAS ONE of those rare evenings with an empty house when Hermione decided she was ready to leave the room. Draco had been dozing off in his chair. She noticed that he never did sleep properly, and his wand was always beside him.

Hermione couldn't help but watch him; the way his shoulders rose and fell steadily, and even while unconscious he seemed to exude this essence of confidence that she knew she could never pull off. Well, at least not now anyway. Pansy had told her that she used to be one of the brightest students during their Hogwarts days, and Hermione supposed that she had been a lot more confident back then.

"Confident, and aggravating," Theo hadn't minced his words one bit. "Merlin, Granger, you were fucking annoying."

Funny how they'd never gotten along in the past, because she now got along with him like a house on fire. Draco, too. She glanced over at Draco and smiled. Maybe the war had changed them and their perspectives.

So maybe good things did come out of a war.

"Do you always watch people sleep, Granger?" Draco's voice abruptly broke the silence and he slowly opened his eyes, watching her with thinly veiled amusement. Damn him and his heightened senses.

Hermione blushed rapidly. "Well, I wasn't – it wasn't like..."

"It's fine, Granger," he quickly cut in, when she began to flounder for a proper reply. He got up, his jumper rising over his lean hips to reveal a pale strip of skin as he stretched.

And he had to stifle a smirk when he noticed Hermione's eyes flitting over to him, her cheeks darkening further before hastily glancing away. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one affected by her presence because, Merlin, he swore her scent and her lips and all of her just did his head in sometimes.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Actually, I was wondering if...you'd show me the rest of the house?"

"You want to leave the room?"

"Just to look around."

She looked so afraid that he felt something in his chest pull. "Sure, Granger."

He waited for her to climb out of bed and straighten her (well, his, actually) jumper. She took slow, unsteady steps towards the door and her hands were shaking, actually shaking, as she waited for him to undo the locks on the door.

She paused hesitantly by the doorway; her eyes fixed on him rather than on what was outside. And so Draco held out his hand for her to take. "Come on."

She slipped her hand in his and automatically interlaced their fingers. And then she shifted slightly behind him, gripping onto the sleeve of his jumper. "Okay. I'm ready."

It was just a simple act of leaving the room, but Draco knew it meant more than that. It was like showing the world to a snail that had lived in its shell for so long. And the rest of the world was daunting – and at a time like this, frightening. So nothing about this process could be rushed.