Sour Grapes

Chapter 32 - Oh What a Night

Draco had forgotten the sinful sensation of her lips against his. She was intoxicating and it had been so long since he'd had a drink.

A drink. He remembered the bottle on the table. He'd told himself he'd take this evening slowly. Start there, not rush into the bedroom.

He hated that they had always been in such a hurry to get their clothes off; they'd been so mostly in order to avoid thinking about the future, but this night needed to be different. Blaise couldn't remain a convincing polyjuiced version of him forever... though he dearly wished that that wasn't the case.

He reached down and took her hand in his, leading her over to the couch.

"Champagne?"

"Um... yes please."

There was still a slight quaver to her voice, and he began to worry that slowing down would also mean thinking... and talking...

Quickly popping the cork on the bottle and pouring them each a glass, he handed one to her and held his up. They locked eyes as their glasses clinked together, neither mentioning anything in particular to "cheers" to, and yet there was an unspoken, tortured, "to us" implied in the way they drank each other in.

She pulled her lips away after taking a sip and her brow furrowed for a moment before a small smile crossed her face.

"So," she said, turning to him, "am I to understand that there is currently a polyjuiced Blaise Zabini in the form of Draco Malfoy, hosting an engagement party at Malfoy Manor?"

Draco nodded and smirked.

"And don't you... well, isn't that some sort of recipe for disaster?"

Draco shrugged nonchalantly. "Seems to be the predominant state of my life as a whole lately, I figured it was a risk worth taking," he said, and then reached over to graze her cheek with his hand before adding, "to get to be alone with you again."

She shuddered and closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. He bent down and placed his lips against hers. With very little encouragement, she invited him in and their tongues reveled in the shared taste of champagne and desire.

Slowly... slowly... he tried to remind himself, but it had been so long since he'd been with her and he'd thought of her longingly every night, and most of his days. Fairly constantly, now that he thought of it.

Suddenly she pulled out of the kiss, which he was grateful for because he was about to abandon all thought of taking it slow.

"Draco I... I don't know if I can wait. Why was seeing me such a risk to take? I mean, I know the obvious reasons, but it seems like there's something different at play?"

She studied his face perplexedly as he nodded and took a deep breath, meaning to choose his words carefully. He'd been able to tell Blaise as much as he'd needed to know, and then asked his friend to drop the issue, since he couldn't share the truth about Lucius. It was a mark of the solidity of their friendship that Blaise had not argued much, seeming to divine much more than he even let on about the situation.

"I really didn't want to talk about this first, it may be a bit of a mood killer."

She let out a low laugh. "Draco, I've been able to put aside my obsessive thinking many times now, but after a week of nonstop worry, I don't think it can reasonably be expected for me to let it go now."

Draco grimaced. "I'm sorry I've caused you worry, it's the last thing-"

"Well then perhaps you can tell me what's going on?" she said, a gentle interruption. He was grateful that she wasn't cross with him, though a bit confused as to why and how that could be the case. There was something different in her eyes when she looked at him, but he couldn't quite place what it was.