The Fractured Flame | Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter Sixteen: Waking the Dragon

"What is it? Do I look silly?"

"No." He remarked quietly, "I never realized how short you were in my clothes. Are you sure you're not part dwarf?"

"Are you sure you're not part banshee because your voice also gets on my nerves, Malfoy."

He grinned, "There she is. You've had a faraway look in your eyes since you walked in." He paused then, his grin faltering. "If you're uncomfortable staying here because of what my aunt did... I don't want to press-"

"It's not that." She interrupted softly, "I don't want to be a burden. You already rescued Crookshanks for me and now you're saying you won't sleep when you hardly get enough as it is."

Draco frowned, turning in his seat to face her completely, "Granger, you need to stop thinking of yourself as a burden. Is it because you think you're being... What was it you referred to it as? Need? Needy?" Seeing her expression confirmed it, "I told you that you are far from being a needy witch, Granger."

"Aren't you tired, Malfoy?"

Her hard tone took him by surprise which must have made him answer unexpectedly honest. "Yes. Especially after that hearty meal earlier."

Hermione nodded, latching onto the sudden burst of liquid courage the wine had given her. "Then it's settled."

"What's settled?" He asked suspiciously, standing up.

She grabbed his hand, walking backwards and pulling him towards the bed. She looked up at him from underneath her lashes, shyly. "We'll sleep together, then."

Waking the Dragon

Draco stopped dead in his tracks, blinking at her as if she had three heads like a Runespoor. "I think that concussion is more severe than we thought. For a moment there, I thought I heard you saying that we should sleep together."

Hermione nodded, not letting go of his hand. In fact, she squeezed it in confirmation, "That's precisely what I said we should do." Seeing his eyebrows raise, she quickly clarified, "I mean just sleep, Malfoy. No funny ideas."

"You're the one pulling me to my bed in the middle of the night telling me we should sleep together. How am I supposed to take that innocently?" Draco drawled, pulling his hand away to take his glasses off, and rub his jaw tiredly. "Do you know how many witches have slept in my bed?"

Scrunching up her nose, she looked back at the bed, "I don't think I want to-"

"The answer is none, Granger." She looked back at him with mild surprise. He looked incredibly uncomfortable in front of her, "I don't 'just sleep' with people. I don't sleep well. I haven't in a long time. I have nightmares. Not the kind where you wake up and think 'that was bloody terrible' and go back to sleep. I have to cast silencing charms on the room otherwise I'll wake up the whole fucking Manor with my screaming."

It was obvious that this was a big, uncomfortable secret he revealed to her. The only reason why he would have revealed it was because 1. He was thinking about agreeing to sleeping with her or 2. He wanted to let her down gently without having her think that he was refusing because he didn't want to.

Hermione smiled up at him. "I kick in my sleep."

"What?"

"I sometimes kick in my sleep." She said simply, "Harry and Ron made me sleep in my own section of the tent away from them because they'd wake up with a foot to the calf. You scream and I kick. It's okay."