Sour Grapes

Chapter 14 - Tea & Butter Beer

Draco sat at a table in the library at Malfoy Manor surrounded by books, most of them laid open on pages about pureblood marriages. He wasn't getting very far, as he was glancing up at the doorway every time he heard a noise that might signify her arrival. Just as he told himself to stop and concentrate for about the 40th time, the unmistakable voice of his house elf greeting someone rang through the halls.

"Hello Miss! Master has been waiting for you! Wumply will bring you to him!"

Draco rose from his seat and felt his heart begin to race as he crossed to the doorway. Just as he reached it, she came around the corner and they nearly collided, resulting in them standing face to face, only inches apart.

"Oh! Sorry!" they said in unison.

"Wumply is bringing Master his Miss who just arrived in the floo with his owl sir!"

Draco tore his eyes from Hermione to look at his elf. "Yes, thank you very much Wumply, you can go now," he said kindly.

The elf hung his head, clearly wanting to be of more assistance. Hermione picked up on this and added, "that is, after you bring us some tea please." The elf perked up, "Right away Miss!" and disappeared with a pop.

They both stared at the spot where the elf had just disappeared, avoiding eye contact.

"Have they been here this whole time in your absence?" she said to the empty space where the elf had just been.

"No, all of our elves were removed from the manor and sent to work at Hogwarts. We've been paying their fee of course."

She looked up into his eyes now, and he stared back, noticing that she glanced down at his lips for a moment. She was clearly thinking the same thing he was.

"When I was released they were put back in my care and I let them remain at the school. I just called Wumply back to assist me for today."

She had abandoned all pretense and was solely staring at his lips now.

"Right, I think I recall reading that... somewhere..." she said, breathless.

And then she was kissing him, and the room around them seemed to spin and disappear. She wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed on the spot. He responded with equal enthusiasm, wrapping his arms around her waist and swaying with her. He had forgotten the feel of her, the taste of her. Even though he'd been replaying their first kiss in his mind on a constant loop, somehow his memory had failed him.

He didn't know how long they stood there, enveloped in their bliss, unaware of the world continuing to move around them. Stopping and starting and desperately trying to devour one another in a way that couldn't be satisfied by this alone.

When they finally broke apart, he placed a light kiss on her forehead and she let her head lay upon his chest. He held her to him tightly, then began running his hands gently up and down her back. She let out a sigh and her breath shuddered.

"I need to move away from you now or I will never leave this spot, and I really do need to speak with you," he said, painstakingly.

She pulled back and stared up at him. He noticed the detail of her eyes, the deep brown color with subtle flecks of hazel. He'd never looked at her this closely before, and she seemed like a different person to the girl he'd tormented from age eleven.

He had the overwhelming desire to lean forward and kiss each of her eyelids. Her jawline. Her neck. He wanted to kiss every inch of her, but he restrained himself. Truly, he wanted to take her hand and lead her to his wing of the manor where his bedroom lay empty, yet recently cleaned and prepared by his elf, in case he should want to spend the night. Oh how he wanted to lead her there now.