Ch. 38

Hermione woke up with a groan the next morning, her head throbbing. She put a hand over her eyes and with a wave of her other hand, the curtains on her windows shut and the room darkened. With a sigh she rolled over and buried her head into the pillow.

A knock on her door caused her to groan again. She pointed her wand at the door and it clicked open. She didn't open her eyes as whoever it was entered her room with a chuckle.

"Rough morning?"

Her answer was another groan followed by a pillow over her face to block out the light flooding in from her door. Someone sat down on the bed next to her and she heard liquid sloshing in a glass.

"Here, I brought you a Pepper Up."

She reached out a hand and felt him gently push a bottle into her open palm. She sat up slowly and uncorked the bottle, downing the potion. Her headache immediately disappeared and any fuzziness she felt faded away.

After a few moments of the hangover dissipating, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Thank you, Draco."

He smiled in return. She moved the pillow that had dropped in front of her and he immediately looked away. "Um, Hermione..."

She felt a rush of cold air and her eyes went wide as she covered her top half quickly with the sheet, realizing that she was completely naked from the waist up. She pulled her legs up and felt her face heat up with embarrassment. Before she could say anything, Draco pulled his shirt off and held it out to her as he continued to look in the other direction. She took the shirt and quickly pulled it on, still blushing furiously.

"Thank you," She said quietly.

He turned back and smiled at her. "Did you fall asleep as soon as you came back to your room?"

"To be honest, I hardly remember anything after that last confrontation with Harry and Ron," She admitted. "I barely remember walking with Ginny back to the portrait."

"You were more stumbling than anything," He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck before saying, "So...you don't remember anything that happened in my room?"

She stared at him, and he immediately sensed fear and worry. He put a hand up and quickly said, "Nothing bad happened, I promise!"

"Well you better tell me what did happen, Draco!" She stuttered nervously.

He sighed and turned more to face her, bringing his legs up onto the bed and crossing them. "After Blaise carried Ginny to bed, I helped you to your room and said goodnight. A few minutes later you came to my room and asked for help with your zipper since you apparently couldn't reach it."

"And?" She asked quietly.

"Well I unzipped your dress and started to kiss your neck because you just smelled amazing and you basically asked me to mark you right then. I told you no, because you were very inebriated and I didn't want to do anything while you were in that state," He explained. "After a few minutes of going back and forth, and with much restraint on my part because I wanted to just throw you onto the bed and do everything I could to you, you finally agreed that we should wait until we are both sober and of sound mind, and you left my room and went to bed."

She sat there quietly, looking at him and trying to remember the previous night. His retelling helped and she was able to remember more bits and pieces, but they were still bits and pieces. But one thing really stood out to her about it all. She knew deep down that she really was ready for the next step. And she knew she didn't need alcohol to get through it.

"Draco," She started quietly, looking up at him. "I know that last night wasn't the right time, but...what about right now?"

"What do you mean?" He asked with a confused look. And then his eyes widened with understanding. "You want..."

She nodded. "I want you to mark me. I don't know why, I really don't. I've been trying to figure out why I'm so alright with it, but it just feels right. I don't know about the claiming part yet, but I know I'm ready for you to mark me, and I don't want to let my uncertainty get in the way of anything anymore. I'm ready for this to happen, so I don't want to put it off."

He stared at her. "Are...are you sure? This is kind of a big step, and I'm worried I might not be able to control myself from going further."

She smiled. "I'll be sure to stop you."

They sat there quietly, just watching each other and waiting for the other to move first. Hermione finally huffed and pushed herself up towards him, firmly planting her lips on his. He smiled into the kiss and put a hand on the side of her face, tilting her head slightly so he could deepen the kiss.

She felt herself leaning back into the bed with Draco falling on top of her, resting between her legs. She didn't want to give away the feeling that Draco being on top gave her, but based on the grin on his face, he already knew how it affected her.

He pressed his lips to hers again before trailing down her jaw and neck, finding the crook that he had become attached to the night before. It didn't feel quite right though, and he frowned as he pulled himself up and held himself up over her, trying to figure out why it didn't feel right.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

He shook his head and said, "Don't freak out, okay?"

She gave him a confused look but nodded her head. He slowly rolled her over on to her stomach and began to pull up the shirt he had given her to wear off of her. He was surprised when she didn't really fight him, but he noticed that she had both of her arms pressed on either side after the shirt came off to hide anything.

He chuckled and found his spot again, pressing kisses into it and feeling much better about it. It was the left side of her neck that felt the best, and he felt goosebumps on her arms when he brought his hands up to hold her.

The all-too-familiar intoxicating scent from her hit him and his felt his eyes roll into the back of his head as he pressed a very long kiss into her neck. She had tilted her head again away from him, which gave him more room to work with and he was very grateful for that. He gently lowered himself down so that he was laying on top of her, and she didn't fight him again.

Instead, she was letting out small moans and hums of satisfaction, which drove him wild. He loved hearing those noises from her, and wanting to hear more of them. He didn't have to wait long as he gently bit her and she opened her mouth finally and let out a long, low moan. His canines grew almost instantly and he nipped her neck with them, trying to prepare her for what was going to happen.