The Sweetest Downfall

Of Love and Light

She wanted to live in his arms forever and survive off of nothing but the sweet taste of his mouth. She wanted the world to fade away and leave her alone with him until the ends of time. She wanted the sun to go out and the only light in her life be the glowing silver of his gaze. She wanted all sound to vanish so that all the music she could know was the sound of his voice. She wanted all the heat to disappear so that his body could warm every centimeter of her exposed flesh. She wanted all sensations to be overridden with only the kind that he could produce.

He was all that she needed. He was the air in her lungs, the blood in her veins, and the rhythm of her heart. He was everything.

"I love you," she murmured to him in the darkness of her bedroom.

Draco was pressing kisses up her legs, paying homage to every inch of her body with his mouth, when he heard her say it. It made him stop, freeze, but it no longer scared Hermione to think she might hear a rejection. Because she wouldn't, she knew that. Just like she knew he was getting adjusted to hearing her say it and she was adjusting to saying it aloud.

He kissed her left thigh twice before propping himself up on his forearms to stare at her. The grey in his eyes melted and shone like silver liquid in the faint light of the moon coming in through her bedroom window.

"As I do you," he replied. She smiled tenderly at him, but his gaze was now on her uncovered and protruding four-month belly. "And you."

His lips touched her stomach and she felt like she was seeing moments of unbelievable magic. Draco Malfoy was not the type of man that showed affection, that gave warmth, or that spoke gently. The world saw him as cold and distant, just as he wanted. And he was. Hermione was well aware that ice still inhabited a part of him. It didn't make him cruel, it made him a consequence. He was a consequence of war and bad choices and ignorant upbringings. She knew he struggled to leave it all behind, she lived it beside him since their partnership as Aurors started, and she knew how far he'd gotten. But that progress had not destroyed his walls; it only created cracks that she hoped one day led to his freedom behind all those barriers so he could enjoy the rays of sun.

He loved her and she was blessed that he did. Never in her life did she imagine she'd count his feelings for her as the best thing that could have happened to her, but it was. And she was lucky for it. He opened his heart and soul to allow only her in. That didn't change his attitude in regards to the world, though. So to have his silver eyes melt and glow with adoration when looking at her pregnant belly...It was fascinating.

"Do you know the gender yet?" he asked her as he traced a finger over her stomach.

She shook her head when his gaze found hers again. "No. I never went to the appointment. I thought I might allow myself a surprise."

"You don't like surprises," he knowingly inquired.

"This is different. I didn't want to know because...I didn't want to go alone. I was going to take Theo with me, but he was right when he said that sort of thing should be shared with someone more important."

Draco frowned at the mention of their old classmate.

"Do you want to know?" Hermione questioned. "We can go to Angelina and know tomorrow morning."

He glanced down for a moment to trace another line over her stomach. When he finally looked back up, Hermione saw that he put on the cold, unfeeling mask he wore on an everyday basis when he interacted with others.

"She'll know I'm the father and she'll tell the Weasleys. Are you ready for that?"

Hermione sighed. "Draco," she began quietly, "I've lied to them for two years about you, and I've kept my pregnancy hidden for four months. Trust me, no one is going to care about who the father is. Well, not in the beginning, that is."