The Shattered Dragon

Chapter 34: Ash

They talked the whole way on the train back to Munich, Hermione scribbling notes in a little journal that he'd given her a few months earlier, leather bound with beautiful thick paper pages edged in gold. He'd known that as soon as he showed her the school she'd run with it, making plans and sharing ideas, offering opinions and criticisms and comparisons of how things were run at Hogwarts, not that it wasn't perfect, she uttered after every observation. Seeing her work, watching her figure and research and question was like flicking a switch, lighting her from within. Over the past year Draco had learned to love the dark and damaged Hermione, the shadow of her former self who, while still smart and funny and beautiful and sexy was a dull pebble compared to who she was when he'd given her the wand and set her magic free.

The portkey home to the mansion wasn't ready until the next morning and so they walked through Oktoberfest on its opening day and bought sausages and sugar roasted almonds. They watched the carts of beer barrels pulled through the crowd with giant black horses decorated with silver tack and blue flowers and Hermione stopped to pet their noses and scratch their manes.

The list of things he wanted to give her grew with every moment. Of course he wanted to give her freedom and choice and the respect of her people. He wanted to give her jewels and gowns, rare books and art. Now he wanted to take her riding, to see her flying free on the back of a stallion. He wanted to show her every country she'd ever read about, let her touch the statues she'd studied, sleep in the architecture she marveled at. Of course she would tell him she didn't need any of it, didn't want any of it, but he knew he'd happily work to please her for the rest of his life.

As the sun went down Draco was nearly dumbfounded at the bright, flickering neon of the midway and the giant terrifying rides with loud, pulsing music accompanying the screams of the riders. Hermione cajoled him into riding one, promising never to reveal to the rest of the world how he wailed like a child the entire time, fingers digging into her arms as the car spun and flipped, tossing them into the air. He derided electricity as a scourge against humanity, they made toasts under the stars and sang songs from their school days. They kissed each other in the open air, Hermione smiling against his lips as crowds of unknowing muggles swirled around them.

And on their final night in Germany they tumbled into bed together and made up for lost time; breathless, speechless, bodies sliding together with sweat and heat. Even while holding her down, his hands strong around her wrists, Draco worshipped her body, soothing her scars and painful memories with wet kisses and whispers of love. They twisted and rolled and Hermione went on all fours, Draco bent over her, his lips on her neck as he slid inside her from behind, his whole body pressed to hers.

"I love you," he said, thrusting at a steady pace, his hand wrapped around her waist as he teased her clit with his fingers, stroking her until she trembled. "I'm sorry," he whispered, nuzzling into the hair at the nape of her neck, holding her, covering her body as if he could shield her from the world. "I promise you'll never hurt again, Sparrow. I promise."

"Draco..." was all she could say, his name like a stuttered, breathy prayer as he kissed the bone at the top of her spine, pulling her back harder, deeper onto his cock. "Draco..."

"Never...hurt...again," he groaned, grinding against her, their bodies made one as if it was exactly what the universe had intended. "I love you."

Hermione cried out, her body clenching around him as her orgasm hit, a rippling white wave of pleasure that coaxed out Draco's own release, the two of them coming together for the first of countless times before falling asleep just as the sun was rising, Hermione stretched out across his chest with a contented sigh. She was spent, sore, but it was a comforting sort of exhaustion, the sort of let down that comes after finally letting go. It was a weight lifted from her mind and her shoulders, relief in the knowledge that she'd never be separated from him again, that she wouldn't be fighting for her life on her own, that she wouldn't have to run.