The Shattered Dragon

Chapter 27: White Wrapping, Silver Ribbon

It was late August when the girls were told that the wards around the mansion had been amended. They could go outside again, walk the manicured gardens, even swim in the pond behind the house, something they'd never been allowed before. In the past his fear had been keeping the girls from getting out, but now he knew how critical it was to keep them safe inside. So Draco had an enchanted iron fence installed around the grounds with nearly impenetrable wards and Hermione had convinced him that his birds would be safe if allowed to wander. She spent most of her afternoons on the grassy banks of the pond, staring up through the willows, squinting in the dappled sunlight. The water itself was warm, only ten feet deep, and she and Sarah would swim until the sky turned purple with twilight, relishing the cool, late summer breezes. Sometimes Draco would come out and sit on the grass, forearms on his knees as he watched the girls in the water, calling them in for dinner when the sun started to set. Once or twice, in the dark, when the mansion was shut up for the night, he would bring Hermione to the pond and they would swim naked in the moonlight, Draco's pale hair and skin making him appear like a ghost sliding beneath the surface.

"Thank you for this," she said, swimming up to wrap her legs around his hips as they floated together. "They're all much happier."

"Are you much happier?" He asked, smoothing her hair back from her face.

She smiled but he could see that it was forced, not reaching her eyes.

"You know, I never knew how much I loved the outdoors until it was taken from me," she said, swimming away from him on her back. "It's like my magic. I had a taste of it when I took your wand and cursed Trevor and it was like...a drug coursing through me. I'd nearly forgotten what it was like to cast a spell, to apparate, transfigure...brew potions...I never could really learn how to cook but I can brew any potion you put in front of me...well...I used to be able to."

She stopped kicking her feet and floated in the center of the pond, staring at the moon, the clusters of stars in the black sky.

"I want it to be as simple as you think it is," he said, his heart aching as he watched her frowning into the dark. "I want to just go back inside and give you your wand back, reinstate your magic. I want to give you everything you want, but I can't."

She was quiet, waving her hands beneath the surface of the water creating little ripples.

"If I give you your wand back I have to give it back to everyone. Some girls don't have wands at all...they were taken from them, broken, their magic revoked by the council. There would be a power imbalance that some would take advantage of. And," he said, sighing, "there are some girls I still don't trust. The last thing I need are witches stupefying each other all over the mansion."

But most of all, and the reason he couldn't give her was that he was afraid of letting her go. It was selfish and cruel of him but he knew that if he took Hermione's tattoo away, if he returned her wand and her full magical power she'd be gone in the blink of an eye. He'd never see her again. He couldn't lose her...not yet. Not after all this work.

Hermione let out a snort of a laugh and flipped back onto her stomach, gliding over to stand beside him.

"I know. I just felt like telling you," she said. "I just wanted you to know."

A breeze kicked up and chilled them both. Draco reached out to pull her into his arms and she kissed his wet lips, both of their bodies covered in goosebumps as their mouths slipped together.

"Let's go inside, Sparrow," he said, his fingers trailing down the length of her spine. "I can't afford to catch a cold."

At the beginning of September Draco left for over a week. Just boring business, he told her, nothing you need to worry about. He came to her room the night before his trip and they had sex in her bed and for the first time ever with him she faked her climax, whining and panting and clenching her muscles around him, crying out as he came deep inside her. She couldn't take the disappointment on his face any longer, the defeat he felt at trying to put her broken pieces back together again and so she gave him what he needed, convincing herself that his happiness was enough for her; because she didn't want him to stop coming to her. Whatever it was that they shared, she couldn't bear to lose it, to lose him; especially if she was destined to be a prisoner in his house for the rest of her life.