Hidden Feelings - A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter Sixty-Seven

A/N As an apology for disappearing for three years I grant you the Elizabeth/Draco content you love and hope for <3

"You don't know anything about horcruxes? You're sure?" 

Draco leans forward in his chair—a cheap, practically rotting one we stole from that abandoned cabin before we settled in our current spot—elbows propped on his knees. "For the thousandth time, I'm certain. They haven't told me a thing. All I know is that your friends know something, and You-Know-Who doesn't like that." 

I almost laugh a bit at the word friends. Despite the announcement of my death assuming some level of innocence, I doubt I can still call any of my old friends that. They didn't trust me before my supposed betrayal, and likely won't even if we get in contact anytime soon—that is, unless I can figure something out and help them discover whatever it is Voldemort is so anxious about. 

"There's got to be a place we can go to find out. A library or something." 

"A library for wizards that won't recognize us?" He sighs a bit. "We have to be realistic. We're not going to find anything, Elizabeth."  

I look up at Draco from my spot on the floor where the book my dad had slipped me in the manor laid uselessly open before me. I reach down to snap it shut quickly, standing up and walking out of the tent without another word. 

I hear a small utterance from the tent as I break out into the open air, taking a deep breath to collect myself before I snap at Draco again. I've grown more and more aggravated the longer we stay out here, occasionally moving, never going far, never doing anything. I've never been one to sit idly, and while I was kept from doing anything in the manor other than trying to get a damn patronus message out, I felt far more stuck being "free" now with nothing to do about it. 

Draco gives me a moment, but it isn't long before he follows me out. He stops somewhere behind me, and I tighten my crossed arms, staring intently out into the bare trees, the chill of winter settling against my skin beneath my jacket. Another moment passes and Draco snakes his arms around my waist, chin resting on my shoulder from behind. 

"What do you want?" I ask, an unnecessary rudeness lacing my tone. 

"I want you to relax for a moment. Just a moment." His voice is soft and sweet in my ear, the warmth of his breath spreading across my neck. 

I shift, almost as if to brush him away a little, but I can't bring myself to actually get him to leave out of a strange lust for his mere proximity. "I'm not very good at that. Not right now." 

"I could help," he whispers, arms tightening around me. A chill runs down my spine, but it's not from the cold anymore. "I happen to be very, very good at relaxing." 

A smile tugs at my lips, a little thrill spreading through my chest. "Are you?" 

His fingers lower a bit to trail beneath my jacket, the cold of his skin against my waist causing me to flinch slightly, but I don't want to disrupt the moment. My posture straightens against his chest as he slips his hand further up, the gentle stroke sending little strikes of energy all throughout my body. 

"I think you're doing just the opposite, Draco," I murmur, his hand coming to a rest just over my heart, barely brushing against my bra along the way. 

"Your heart is racing, Elizabeth," he says. 

"Exactly my point," I whisper. 

He lightly presses his lips against my neck, just below my ear. "Is this okay?" he asks. His fingertips lower slightly, a continuation of his question.