Everything the Light Touches

“I really shouldn’t. I don’t want to hear about it.” Hermione stated, stepping back toward her bedroom door.

“Honestly Hermione, it’s..” Romilda began but was cut off by Hermione’s loud groan as she shut the bedroom door behind herself, leaving her to drift away from the door alone.

Hermione sat on the bed, far less annoyed than she had been before, and mostly just disappointed with herself for caring so much. They’d danced around the situation for long enough, maybe he’d gotten bored of it. She couldn’t blame him, and they’d still be friends regardless, but she sighed as she wondered whether that was all they could be now. There was a soft knocking on the door, and she requested to be left alone. They ignored her and walked in anyway.

“I could have been naked!” She snapped, throwing a pillow at Draco as he stepped through the door.

“I can give you a minute if you’d prefer that?” He quipped, earning him a swift ‘piss off’ for his efforts. He threw the pillow back at her. “Can I please talk to you?”

“I really don’t want to talk right now..” She sighed.

“Good, because I just want to talk at you, if I’m being honest.” He stated as he leaned against the closed door.

“Respectfully, I don’t want to hear about it..” She insisted rising from the bed.

“About what?” He had the gall to look genuinely perplexed. She rolled her eyes and stepped towards the door.

“Your lovely little night with Romilda. That’s what.” She stated as she took hold of the door handle, he stayed in front of it. “Move.”

“No.”

“Move!” She yanked the door behind him.

“No.” His eyes narrowed. “Do you think I had sex with her?” Hermione groaned as she pulled the door again. “You do, don’t you? Are you jealous?” He gasped.

She moved away from the door and over to the window, she unlatched it and looked down at the drop. Would that be less painful and embarrassing than this conversation? Maybe. Draco moved away from the door slightly, almost in a daze.

“Why would you be jealous?” He breathed, almost to the room as a whole and not her directly. She stepped onto the window ledge, and he crossed the room swiftly to pull her back down, she stumbled back into him. He wrapped an arm around her waist as they both glared out of the window. “Hermione, why would you be jealous?”

“I’m not!” She practically growled as she tried to hook her foot around the window frame. “I don’t care.”

“You don’t care so much that you’d rather drop twenty feet out of a window than speak to me?” He shook his head in disbelief.

“I just – You should – Argh, I don’t know. You should be having fun, but I just..” She sighed loudly as she went limp in his arms. “I’ve seen the way you look at me, so why would you take her to bed? I just thought.. I don’t know what I thought.”

“Do you want me to take you to bed?” He all but whispered into her ear, audibly shocked at the idea of it.

“No, that’s not what I said.. I – I don’t know.” She leaned her head back onto him, he held her tighter.

“Hermione, I don’t know how to do this dance.. I went to Azkaban when I was seventeen. The subtleties and intricacies of flirting, acting coy, casual sex, none of this is in my repertoire. I didn’t know what to do after we almost kissed, so I waited, but now I have to know.. Are you jealous of the idea of me with another woman?”

“Yes.” She sighed in defeat as he rested his cheek on her head.

“Are you jealous because you feel the same way as I do, or are you jealous because you enjoy the idea of having my affections?” His voice was low, she could hear the longing in his tone, he wasn’t even trying to conceal it.

“Yes.” She huffed.

“Yes, what?” He released her slightly.

“Both.” She said quickly, not wanting him to let her go. “Both. Unlike you, I do know the subtleties. I look at you too, all the time. How could I not? You’re so visually perfect it’s actually enraging.” He huffed a laugh against her hair, glad that she couldn’t see him since he felt like he might cry with relief at any moment.

“I didn’t lay a hand on her.” He whispered. “I think about you, my every waking moment is consumed by you. And when I fall to sleep, I find you in my dreams too.” He stepped them both back toward the bed as he spoke, leaning on the edge of it. A mirror sat opposite them, he stared at her through it. “There isn’t a minute where my mind isn’t occupied by you, and not thoughts of taking you to bed. My heart beats to the sound of your laughter, the way you hum whilst you snuggle Edgar has become my lullaby. Every time your skin grazes mine, I wish you would teach me how to love every single inch of it.” He closed his eyes and breathed her in for a moment as she watched him. “I haven’t been kissed for so long.. But I’ll wait forever if you’re there at the end of it.”

She turned slowly in his arms until they were face to face, his hands remained on the small of her back as she guided her own over his chest and into his hair. His heartrate soared at the feeling of her hands on him, wishing he’d said all of this weeks ago. She kissed him softly, but he kissed her back with the hunger of a starved man. He groaned deliciously which coursed through her veins like fire as she responded in kind. A single hand slid firmly up her body and into her hair as he pulled her in closer with both. The moment came to a natural end, and he rested his forehead on hers before moving to kiss her quickly there instead.

“Don’t give me forehead kisses already.” She groaned. “Do you want me to fall madly in love with you?” She giggled slightly as he took her face in his hands.

“Yes.” His eyes were ablaze, in a way she’d never seen before. “How many times do I have to do it for that to happen?” He joked before kissing her repeatedly in that same spot as she laughed.

“You’re an idiot.” She pushed him away and he moved his hands to her back to keep her close. He hummed at her.

“Only for you.” He kissed her again softly before a knock rang out at the door. “Go away.”

“Manners!” Pansy objected through the door.

“Go away… Please.” He said again, glaring at the door.

“Can I come in?” She asked, unperturbed.

“That’s literally the opposite of what I said..” He sighed as the door opened anyway.

“Must be a Slytherin thing.” Hermione whispered under her breath as they broke apart.

“We could have been naked.” Draco tried to sound indignant as Hermione sniggered.

“Ha, you fucking wish.” Pansy barked flippantly. “Breakfasts ready. We’re all going to the beach today so if you want to come, get a move on.” She walked out swiftly.

With space now between them they made awkward eye contact and giggled as he reached out his hand to her. He pulled her in, and she draped an arm over his shoulder.

“Stay here with me today..” He mumbled, leaning in to kiss her neck just below her ear.

“The others will suspect..” She breathed as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“Hmm, let them.” He traced her jawline with soft kisses as her eyes fluttered closed.

“It’s very tempting but.. I’d rather take things slow.” She sighed. “I should get changed.”

“I’m not stopping you..” He joked before he slipped towards the door.

Everyone hastily applied suncream before leaving on the short walk to the beach, dragging inflatables from the pool and coolers full of drinks along with them. The majority of them peeled off immediately to dive into the sea, leaving the Slytherin’s of the group to set up camp for the day. Someone had packed three large picnic blankets that they weighed down with the coolers before lounging in the hot sun together. The conversation began lightly, questions of Blaise’s exploits across Europe, Pansy’s ideas for Theo’s wedding and the like. Until Pansy grew tired of it.

“What were you and Hermione doing earlier then?” She raised a single eyebrow as she took a sip of her drink.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Draco replied, trying to seem casual whilst knowing his cheeks were burning – and not from the sun.

“Did you finally tell her?” Theo joined in with Pansy, Draco groaned.

“I had to.” He sighed. “She saw Romilda leaving my room this morning.”

“WHAT?!” Pansy yelled, catching the attention of the others in the water.

“It wasn’t like that.” All three of them gave him the same look. “It wasn’t! She confronted me about Hermione last night, when we were drunk. Besides, it isn’t me that she wants.” He looked over at Blaise who laughed heartily.

“All the ladies want me, Draco. That shouldn’t surprise you at this point.” He looked over at Romilda, as if assessing the possibility. “There’s no way you spent all night talking about me and Hermione.”

“No. It was maybe an hour before we fell asleep.” Draco ran his hands through his hair as they waited for him to continue. “I asked her what I would have to do to prove myself, not just to Hermione but to everyone else. She reckons the fact that Hermione likes me is enough but.. I don’t know.”

“You were speaking to the wrong person. We absolutely do have to prove ourselves. Why do you think I’ve never settled down?” Blaise offered.

“I still feel like I have to prove myself every day, but he’s worth it.” Pansy added.

“You’ve met Luna, she so sweet and kind and so funny.” Theo smiled wistfully. “No matter what happens, she’ll forever hold a spot inside my soul. We’ll spend the rest of our lives atoning for the crimes of our families, relationship or not, but I’d carve out the darkness in my heart by hand if it meant she’d stay with me.”

“And that is how I know I’ve never been in love.” Blaise chuckled.

“We have a complicated history.” Draco looked over the sand to where she stood, calf deep in the sea making exaggerated hand movements at him. He smiled softly as he stood up. “I’ll just have to figure out what makes her tick and do that forever.”  

“Yeah, she can’t be mad at you when she’s moaning your name!”  Blaise laughed as Pansy lightly tapped his arm and called him a pig.

“I didn’t mean it like that you filthy bastard!” Draco scalded with a grin on his lips. “But I’ll keep it in mind.”

He took off on a mild jog down to her, which turned into a sprint as he took hold of her outstretched arm and pulled her deeper into the water as she screamed his name in protest. He considered what Blaise had just said and decided that her name on his lips would be a perfect way to live.

When she finally yanked her hand free she attempted – and failed – to push him over into the water. She reassessed and tried to pull him down into it with a chokehold. He simply laughed again as he barely moved whilst she promised to get him back for that day in the pool. He took hold of one of her thighs tightly with both hands and lifted her before throwing her into the water. He barely managed to grab her arm and restabilise her before she went under. He chuckled as she gasped loudly, vowing to herself that she’d get the last laugh eventually.

“Stop being so mean to me!” She pouted playfully.

“Would I ever be mean to you?” He chided before he had time to consider it.

“That’s a bit of a loaded question..” She shivered in response to the cold water.

“Okay, sure I did at one point..” He conceded.

“But now that version of you only exists around water.” She teased, as she noticed he was holding all of his weight on one leg, his left. She stepped to that side of him to look out at the expanse of ocean that spread out before them and sighed.

“It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” He didn’t look at her, his eyes stayed on the horizon.

“It sure is.” She said as she watched him before pushing her knee into the back of his and watched him drop, completely unsuspectingly. She laughed heartily, almost cackling, as she ran away from his vengeful hands.

He eventually gave chase and caught up with her, claiming them to be equal now, she did not agree. Without thinking about it, they settled into a close embrace and forgot about the world around them as he kissed her.

They were promptly reminded of the presence of others when three of them wolf whistled and both Neville and Pansy shouted ‘finally’ in unison. Draco released her and bowed for the crowd.