Blood Magic

Touch Me

The walk down to the dungeon was longer than either one of them expected. Never allowing more than half a foot of distance to grow between themselves, they descended the stairs and wandered through the heavily shadowed tunnels. Neither one of them spoke a word.

After everything that had been revealed back in the library, in front of a stunned audience of their peers no less, Hermione nor Draco had a single working brain cell to break apart the silence. Then again, there wasn't a need for words. Not when their emotions were speaking volumes for them.

Hermione, just as much as Draco, was filled with trembling conflict. The whole evening she'd been tormented with the fear and uneasiness of having to tell everyone what's been happening to her. She watched those same emotions cross Malfoy's face several times over before. But having heard the second bout of information from Blaise, a new wave of emotions came rushing through her person.

A soulmate. And not just anyone's soulmate...According to that ancient text Zabini had pieced together, Hermione was Draco's soulmate. His 'predestined'. His other half. His way of seeing reason. His clarity for escaping the blinding rage that wrecked complete havoc inside and around him.

Mione would have been lying if she claimed that she wasn't a lot doubtful of this revelation. Why her? What made fate choose to place her with him?

Amongst the multiple questions, there was an underlying feeling that weaved through her like a fine piece of silk. Unlike the cold, reptilian feel of her own creature snaking through her whenever it was angry, this feeling was in fact warm and radiated comfort. Indeed, she liked the idea of being paired with him.

She enjoyed their banter and their productive evenings pouring over books and research. She adored the way he made her feel seen for something other than her brains. Hell, she craved the way Draco made her feel whenever he'd touch her. Even if it was something as innocent as a slight brush of his fingers against her arm, her body responded to him and only him.

But then there was Draco's side of the things. He could connect to her mentally in her sleep. His mind was able to locate her like a sixth sense. And if that wasn't enough- he had developed the astounding ability to feel out her emotions.

Looking back on all of that now made Hermione feel totally stupid. These were the signs that were practically blinking in front of her face. Was she seriously that blind? Or was she just choosing not to make the connection because of fear?

They made it to his rooms and Draco ushered them both inside, still not saying a word. The air between them had grown to be too thick to breathe. But Hermione made the mistake of thinking she could lessen the tension by giving them space. Arguably, Malfoy was not having any of that nonsense.

In less than a second, Draco snatched her by the wrists and had her back pressed up against the wooden door. All the air was knocked from her lungs as she tilted her head up to find him glowering down at her.

"Draco," she gasped. Her heart leaped into her throat. "You said we needed to talk."

"And we will," he said gruffly. His chest heaved from his deep intakes of breath. Her scent filled his senses to the point of blindness. "But first..." Another deep inhale. He buried his nose in the crook of her neck and placed his free hand on the curve of her hip. "I just need to feel you."

"But-

"Granger, whether you are aware of this or not, the past twenty-four hours of my life have been nothing short of a complete fucking nightmare," he growled low in his throat. "Astoria attacked you. You were dead in my arms. You came back. You were coming in and out of consciousness all night. Then in the morning I discovered that my closest friend had lied to me for the very first time in our lives, and it nearly resulted in me killing him."