Decadent Dramione

Problems In Prefection - Part 11

Hermione awoke the next morning to a blanket draped over her and her parchment collected neatly on the table beside her chair. A glass of water stood next to it, holding down a small square of paper.

The room was cold, a particularly chilly morning, and her neck and back hurt from sleeping at a wonky angle all night. Stretching, she drank the water and rubbed her bleary eyes before picking up the note. 

Gone for breakfast.

P.S. It's Saturday. 

She smiled at the postscript. He knew her a little too well. That said, she should probably brush her teeth and go down to breakfast too. Just as she thought it, the tapestry door opened and Draco stepped in, robes swishing around his ankles. He was carrying a covered dish.

Upon spotting her awake, he smiled and walked over to put down the dish on the table, next to the empty glass. "Good morning." He shrugged off his robe, and she saw that he was still dressed in his uniform from last night - trousers crinkled and his formal white shirt, with the collar loose and sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Hermione snuggled deeper into her blanket, suddenly feeling the need to be as covered as possible. She smiled back, "Good morning."

"I brought you breakfast." He stretched, his eyes twinkling as his mouth formed the half-smirk the defined him. Her eyes covertly followed the ripples of lean muscle as his torso moved under the thin white cotton. His voice brought her back to reality as he teased, "Good thing I left you that note or you'd have gone rushing off to class the moment you woke up." 

Hermione gave herself a mental shake. "Thank you." She twinkled at him. "You're getting soft, Malfoy."

"Not a chance, Granger." But he was grinning too. He moved away, and Hermione got off the armchair and padded to the bathroom, a silly little grin still on her face. When she came back, she found him sitting in her chair, wrapped up in the blanket and reading a parchment she had dropped the night before. Something about the sight made her feel warm inside.

Draco blinked, and the breach of contact brought her back to reality. She had been staring. He grinned again, and reached up to run his fingers through his shaggy hair, moving it out of his eyes.

Making a split-second decision, Hermione surprised both him and herself by crossing the distance between them and connecting their lips. It was brief - the angle was awkward, Draco had been caught by surprise and Hermione overbalanced and fell with an oof into his lap. His arms went to catch her out of pure reflex and they sat there, frozen.

Only for a moment. 

One minute she was staring at him, too shocked at what she had done, the next he was kissing her. Her arms went around his neck, and this time he reacted with alacrity to the shocked response of her mouth.

Draco could hardly believe it. He had known from the beginning that he was playing a dangerous and delicate game from the moment he had decided to seduce Hermione Granger - one that was as likely to get him hexed as kissed, if not more. He had accepted defeat when she had rejected him, considering himself lucky to have escaped, overall, unscathed. He had built up his pride to be a fortress around his aching heart. And when she had offered him another  chance, he had found that the fortress had a door, and she alone knew the way in. He had never meant to tell her - their friendship was enough and he knew he had no right to ask for more. He had adored her quietly.

And now, here she was, in his arms and with her lips on his, and he found that the door was a little bit bigger. 

The power she held over him was astounding.

Her hands reached around his neck to tangle in his hair as she tried to get closer, to kiss him deeper - and all coherent thought fled his mind. His body responded to her, moving with her to get ever closer as he buried his hands in her hair.

Hermione felt like she was drowning. Draco was all around her, invading her every sense - his expensive cologne, now faint and mixed with the clean sweat from walking endless stairs and corridors. He tasted like mint, with the bitter aftertaste of coffee. The breakfast lay on the table, cold and forgotten, and the blanket had fallen to the ground. 

Neither noticed. They didn't need it to be warm.

A/N

:)

This is the penultimate chapter of Problems in Prefection. There is another chapter with smut, since the way I want this story to go will require more chapters of slow burn and relationship development and nobody needs that XD

Smut was promised and I intend to keep my word. I'll publish that within a few days.

This may be the last bit of smut I write in a while, and I may or may not get back to it, I don't know yet. I've discovered recently that it's getting increasingly difficult for me to write smut, mainly because now I'm older and am beginning to understand sex a little better than I did at thirteen. Back then I'd just model my style based on the numerous fanfics I used to read, which I'm now coming to realize reflects in my earlier work and isn't exactly ideal. I want to educate myself better before carrying on.

I'll still be writing fluff, because adorable scenarios seem to suggest themselves more easily to me, and I'm probably going to branch out into other fandoms (Destiel needs so many rewrites, and ever since I got my hands on a copy of TSOA, Patrochilles has also been on my list).  Hopefully the smut will continue.

I may even eventually start writing for commissions and things like that. The stories that are already on here won't be taken down, it wouldn't be fair. I will still write more stories on Wattpad, branch out to AO3 and Tumblr, and probably put bonus scenes and things like that behind a small paywall. I draw fanart as well (check out whomovedthenachos on Instagram if you like haha) and that will also mostly follow the same pattern.

This set of stories was my beginning, and I'm so glad to be able to share it with all of you. You've been amazing. Thank you for sticking with me on this journey, and the love and support you've shown this book. I love you guys.

Just to be clear, this book isn't over, there will be more stories, just maybe at a slower pace lol

Enjoy your smut, ya nasties <3