Perfectly Matched | ᴅʀᴀᴍɪᴏɴᴇ ✓

03 | Meet Your Wolf

«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ・☽ ༓ ☾・  ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶  ̶̶̶̶

-- ST. MUNGO'S

"Malfoy," Hermione repeated, keeping her voice calm. "I need you to release Healer Bell."

She saw the slight shift of the fingers he had wrapped around Katie's neck as if he subconsciously wanted to listen to Hermione. She took the opportunity to step closer, and he watched her with the eyes of a predator.

"You don't want to hurt her," she whispered soothingly. "You help people for a living, you'll regret this."

One step... two... she was practically within arm's reach of him now...

"Let her go," she asked, her eyes flickering to her friend, who was turning a shade of purple from the pressure on her throat.

But that was her mistake. The second Hermione's eyes left Malfoy's, his nostrils flared in anger. His hand left Katie's throat, and the sight of it made Hermione relax in relief, but a mere second later, she was snatched right out of the air as she felt herself crashing into a solid and impossibly warm chest. There was a flurry of movement as Katie fell forward, still very unbalanced from the restricted airflow. Theodore rushed forward to catch her as he was closest, but his approaching steps had Malfoy growling deep in his chest as he dragged Hermione back into the corner of the room. When Hermione finally managed to turn her head away from Malfoy's chest, she saw Katie cradled in Theo's arms, taking gasping breaths. Harry now had his wand trained on her and Malfoy, and his eyes were drifting between the two in panic. Malfoy's grip on her was like steel, and while it didn't hurt, she certainly wasn't going to escape him anytime soon.

"Maybe I should just stun him," Harry muttered, uneasily eyeing the way Malfoy held onto his best friend.

Hermione felt his arms tighten fractionally as he resumed the low growling he seemed to emit whenever he felt angry or threatened. But regardless of his own anger, his grip on her was surprisingly gentle, as if he meant to protect her from her own friends.

"I need you all to leave the room," Hermione asked.

"But Hermione-" Harry shouted in disbelief.

His exclamation was drowned out by the loud growl from Malfoy, which even gave Hermione a pause.

"Look, Harry, he's not hurting me, I promise. And your presence is only aggravating him, so please, leave."

Harry shot her a frustrated glare, letting her know how uncomfortable he was leaving her with him. "Fine, but we'll be right outside if you need us."

When the three left the room closing the door behind them, Malfoy relaxed against her, his hold on her becoming noticeably less tense. She still had very little personal space, and when she turned to him, her face was muffled against his chest.

"Malfoy-" her plea to be let go ended with a small squeak as she felt him sweep her up in his arms. He walked them both to the couch she'd conjured herself last night, sitting down with her on his lap.

She leaned back, and while he let her, he still kept an iron grip on her waist.

"Right, you're not really Malfoy," she spoke aloud as she noticed his eyes still shining silver.

The man holding her made a low, content rumble in his chest as he leaned into her. If she didn't know any better, she'd say Draco Malfoy was sniffing her hair. When he felt his nose brush along the crown of her head, she couldn't help but stiffen in his arms, alarmed by his uncharacteristic behavior even though the rational part of her knew that this wasn't really Draco Malfoy- it was his wolf. It was when his subtle sniffing reached the shell of her ear that she had to force herself from flinching, simply because she was just that ticklish. Not that she ever thought Malfoy would ever find out first hand. His curious nature led him down the column of her neck, and it was when he gently brushed his face against her clavicle that she could no longer contain her reactive laughter.