Knots In Our Heartstrings [Dramione]

Sleeves

They just knelt before each other, as time and space seemed to slip away, stepping to the side until nothing stood between them. The world was polite like that, permitting them a moment where everything else could be pushed aside, even however briefly that was. Life could be cast to the backburners, simmering away, whilst they hurtled full force into a burning fire, lips pressed to the flame, as it lapped at the breath that slipped between them.

He felt the weight of her hands barely lifting off of his shoulders before settling behind his neck, the pad of her thumb brushing against his ear delicately deafening him for that gentle moment before her fingers slipped into his hair, and he let himself fall against the pressure, his head falling back as she pulled him forwards, and he pressed his hands into the sofa, either side of her knees, as she drew him up off of the floor. He let himself follow those hands, crumbling gently under her touch as the magic in her home pieced him back together so carefully until he questioned if he was even breaking at all. It felt so nice to fall apart, to crumble and let the world seep through the cracks in his skin for those precious moments, a gentle cleansing stream that flowed beneath his skin before pooling and washing away at the surface. A mirage in the desert.

He decided, that he would drown himself in it. If he could.

But in that moment, they were burning, breathing nothing but fire as the flames lapped at their lips and charred their lungs, and either way, he was struggling to breathe.

"Are you alright?" She mumbled so sweetly, thumbs dragging over his ears once more and the hum of her voice barely broke through the thrum of his own pulse, and the blood beneath her fingertips deafened him.

He breathed. "Yeah," he said, "Yeah, I'm alright. Are you?"

Draco watched her through a smattering of eyelashes, almost knitting together where they waited, pressed forehead to forehead as they just breathed.

"Yeah." Her thumb brushed the tip of his ear again. "Yeah, I'm alright."

He nodded gently within her grasp, let his tongue dip out and wet his lip as he said, "Alright... then."

Hermione laughed gently, pressing her forehead into his own. "Alright then."

And they were kissing again. Slow and firm and the air stilled between them. Quiet and closed-mouthed.

Her hands traced down his neck and over his shoulders, gently rolling over his collar before pressing against his chest. They slipped back up, pulled at him just gently guiding him closer, and his own hands pressed further into the sofa as he pushed himself forward.

She slid them gently over his arms, past the hem of his t-shirt sleeves, squeezing gently at his flesh as she mapped out the careful path, and her thumb dipped into the crook of his elbow, pressing gently into the veins that nestled there as she hummed against him, resting there for just a moment in the delicate cradle of flesh, before slipping down further and pulling. Pulling. Her hands ghosted over his forearms as she held and pulled and guided him to hold her, her thumb dipping and grazing and–

Draco snatched himself back so quickly he slammed full force into the first pile of boxes that stood in his wake and sent them flying as he propelled himself away from the sofa.

"Draco?"

Her voice reached him in a barely audible whisper as the wards in her house hailed down on him. They fought against the plummeting hammer of his heart, too weak to keep him lucid but still frantically slamming against the walls of his empty chest as he sat there frozen, curled in on himself as he struggled to breathe.

"Draco? Are you alright?"

He crawled, feeling so heavy as he crossed the floor the brief distance enough to reach his jumper. His hands were numb as he reached for it, mouth dry as his lungs failed him and fought against the guiding push and pull of life coaxing in and out of them, and as the knit finally fell over his bared skin once more, he felt himself give, allowing the house to take control and keep him alive whilst he was living within its walls.