The Dragon's Child Bride

A/N Hey, this is the second writing of this chapter due to some....unfortunate circumstances, we'll say. I tried my best to remember everything that was in the original, but feel free to email me (princess_tygris@hotmail.com) if you notice I've forgotten anything, which is highly possible. This version is unbeta'd so bear with me.



As predicted, Laylani was well enough to leave the infirmary by Friday. She’d been up since the early hours of the morning, giddy with excitement. Well, no, that wasn’t technically true. She’d been woken up by another one of those disturbing nightmares. In fact, she’d had them all throughout the week. It was hardly cause for concern though. Her nightmares often came in clusters; this would soon pass as it always did.

She rushed through her usual morning activities impatiently and was waiting restlessly for Madame Pomfrey in her curtained room for her approval to go outside. She heard the infirmary doors open and jumped off the bed and rushed out of the curtains. It would be perhaps the only time she felt anything akin to disappointment on seeing Draco.

“Oh.” she said flatly. “It’s just you.” He frowned.

“What do you mean, ‘ just me’?”

“I’m sorry Dragon. I’m waiting for Madame Pomfrey. It’s very nice to see you.”

“I should say so. Just me, really…” Laylani rolled her eyes. She may have been the one who’d been ill, but that wasn’t to say it hadn’t taken it’s toll on Draco as well.

The two waited quietly for the mediwitch to arrive. At first Laylani tried to practice her Malfoy patience, but as the minutes went by she became increasingly more agitated. It started with just shifting her weight slightly from side to side, then lifting from one leg to the other. By the time Madame Pomfrey arrived, Laylani was hopping up and down, jumping from one foot to the other while Draco looked on with wordless fondness.

“My goodness,” said Madame Pomfrey as she strode towards them. “Never in all my years have I seen a student so eager to return to classes. Alright, behind the screen.”

Laylani quickly rushed behind the screen and divested herself of her coat and sweater, eager to get this done and over with. Frankly, she was ready to wrestle a manticore if it meant she could get a breath of fresh air.

Madame Pomfrey first went over her with a series of spells that would identify if there was still any traces of infection left. When they showed nothing, Madame Pomfrey gave her several potions to identify if she was still sick, be it pneumonia or anything else. When that still showed nothing, Madame Pomfrey resorted to muggle methods, such as checking Laylani’s breathing with a stethoscope. Finally Madame Pomfrey looked her over with her eyes, as if that might show something that all her other methods had somehow missed.

“I still don’t like this.” she huffed, putting her hands to her hips. “It’s still far too soon for you to go outside. I’m sure if you would just ask Professor Sprout she’d be more than happy to-”

“I’m sure she would to, but I want to go outside. I want to.”

“Stubborn girl.” chided Madame Pomfrey, not without fondness. Madame Pomfrey and Laylani had become friendly over her stay there. “Alright. You may go outside, but you are to come in directly if you fell even a hint of chill. It’s completely possible for the infection to come back if you aren’t careful.”

“I know. Don’t worry. Between you and Draco, I don’t think any germ will be able to get within a mile of me without being hexed to death.” She cast a glance to the shadow pacing on the other side of the screen.

Draco muttered something to the affirmative. As far as he was concerned, she was never getting ill again. It was just too taxing on him, what with the constant worrying, the need to be near her, to take care of her at all times. Not to mention the sexual frustration.

A smirk came to his lips. That part would be alleviated in the near future.

After Madame Pomfrey cast numerous extra warming charms on her, as well as adding an extra outer later, Laylani finally waddled out from behind the screen, her skin positively pink.

“You look…warm.” commented Draco as he offered her his arm.

“Sweltering, actually.” she replied. She took his arm, her elbow unable to bend properly because of the extra layers. “Shall we?”

The two turned to leave but were stopped by Madame Pomfrey carrying two smoking vials of Pepper-Up Potion. “Wait a moment, you two. I can’t in good conscience allow you to leave before you take this.” Laylani took hers without protest and downed the potion as quickly as possible. Draco, on the other hand, was not so compliant.

“I don’t think so. She’s the one who’s sick; why should I have to take that vile concoction?”

“Mister Malfoy, I don’t know how naïve you think I am, but I am well aware of the relations that take place between teenage couples, particularly those that are to be married. Taking the Pepper-Up potion will keep you from getting ill from, ahem, contact with Ms. Stanners here.” Laylani blushed five shades of crimson.

“Draco,” she hissed, “Just take the damn potion!” He scowl deepened but he complied. With a final wave to Madame Pomfrey, that also served to clear away the smoke she was emitting, Laylani finally left the infirmary. She was so happy she was practically skipping.

Once the doors to the infirmary closed however, Draco came to a stop so abrupt it caused her to jerk back. She looked to him, startled. “Draco, what-?” He smirked and pulled her in for a fiercely passionate kiss. When the kiss finally broke, he spoke.

“We had a deal, remember? The minute you’re well, you’re all mine. And now that we‘re both immunized…”

Laylani was certain that Draco Edmund Malfoy was the only man on earth who could make the word ‘immunized‘ sound sexy. “But Draco,” she said desperately, “Class, outside?” He smiled.

“Of course pet. But don’t make any plans for this evening, or tomorrow morning for that matter.” Now it was her turn to smirk.

“Do you really think I have that much energy? Better yet, do you really think you do?”

He arched a brow. “Is that a challenge? Consider it accepted.” She smiled.

“Alright Draco, the moment dinner is over. But now - outside?” He nodded and Laylani dropped his arm and began to sprint leaving Draco to chase after her. He called at her to slow down, to wait for him. She laughed.

“What’s the matter? Can’t keep up?” He smirked. That was definitely a challenge; the race had begun. They ran down the halls and several staircases, with Laylani always in the lead. Only when they reached the floor on which the doors leading outside were located did Draco begin to pass her; it was all well and good to let her think she was winning, but he was a Malfoy, and Malfoys did not lose. He passed her and beat her to the door, turning and blocking the exit and she ran right into him. They laughed.

“I win.” He stated, making her roll her eyes.

“Yes, yes. You win. Now let me out.” He smiled and turned to open the door for her. His hand held on tightly to the handle but he hesitated to open the door.

“Are you sure you want to go outside? I mean-” She rolled her eyes with an irritated sigh.

“Honestly, you’re as bad as Madame Pomfrey.” She looked into his eyes that tried to disguise the worry he felt. She softened a bit. “I promise I’ll be fine. It’s only one class, and we’ll be in the greenhouses. “ Finally she said firmly. “Draco, I’m going outside.”

He sighed and opened the door. “Then go, Princess. I‘ll see you in Arithmancy.” She smiled at him and took her first hesitant step outside. She took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled. She ran out into the sunlight and spun around, giggling. She waved to Draco, and with a small smile, he waved back. He let go of the door handle and watched it close as she went off with her classmates down to the greenhouses.

Laylani luxuriated in the sunlight and fresh air as she slowly walked towards the greenhouses. Despite what Madame Pomfrey and Draco thought, she knew going outside would be good for her, if only for her soul. She was hesitant to leave the sunlight to go into Green house seven where the class would be held.

She stepped inside the greenhouse at the last minute possible without being late. She stood by the doorway looking over the room. Hermione saw her before she saw them and waved. She waved back and smiled, quickly making her way over to stand with her, Ron and Harry. Ron gave her a pleasant hello and, of course, Harry pointedly ignored her. Before she could react, Professor Sprout stepped into the room.

“Good morning, class! Today I have a special assignment for you. For the past few weeks, the third years have been growing magical blooms, several have been done improperly I’m sorry to say. You will each be assigned one plant. Your task will be to identify the plant and it’s proper care. If it has been grown improperly, you will identify where the student went wrong and it’s results.” The students laughed amongst themselves. This ‘assignment’ simply screamed of doing Sprout’s work for her, thus giving her time to work on her own personal herbology projects. But an easy class was an easy class, so no one complained.

Each student was handed a number as they filed out of the greenhouse that coordinated with the number given to one of the third years plants. Laylani walked alongside Hermione and Ron; Harry walked ahead of them. They stepped inside greenhouse three, and Laylani was overwhelmed by the powerful scents of the magical blossoms. She took a step to the side so as not to block the doorway and deeply inhaled the floral fragrances. All of a sudden, memories began to play in her mind.

Gardens. She and her father had tended gardens together. Her mother hadn’t liked digging in the dirt, so it had been special daddy-daughter time. They had both always awaited the spring, eager to get elbow deep in soil to plant their gardens. They’d kept three. One in front of her house with the regal muggle plants like roses and lilacs. The second had been practically hidden in the backyard near the woods that they kept their magical plants for potions. The third was kept at their cottage by the sea, it had been her favorite. It was composed of wild flowers, both muggle and magical, intertwined at the will of nature.

Suddenly another memory began to play in her mind, one she couldn’t stop nor force back.

She’d been in a tent with the little boy and she had to go to the bathroom. He’d been to tired to go with her so she’d braved the dark alone. She’d been halfway to the house when she heard a stick breaking somewhere in the brush, making her feel more nervous than she already was and she’d begun to walk faster. Suddenly, something grabbed her: a man. A man had come out of nowhere and roughly yanked her up with an arm encircling her ribs. He’d covered her mouth with his free hand and she’d bitten him hard as she could; hard enough to draw blood. The man had pulled his hand a way muttering a string of bad words and she’d begun to scream for all she was worth. A light had come on in the cottage and the door had opened. It was her daddy . She felt relief, safe even though she technically hadn’t been out of danger yet. He was her daddy, he would save her; that’s what daddies did for their daughters. The man had dropped her, and she’d fallen hard into the garden, knocking the wind out of her. She’d watched from where she lay on her stomach, fighting for breath and unable to move as the pungent aroma of the crushed flowers beneath her seemed to envelop her. The two men wrestled, fighting for some type of dominance in the situation when all of a sudden the man drew a knife. Her daddy, unarmed, had been powerless to what came next. The man cut him, cut his throat. Her daddy had dropped to his knees, collapsing in front of her. “Daddy..” she’d whispered, watching the blood well up in a thick line across his throat, bleeding onto the grass and had begun to pool around her. He’d struggled to speak, he said something, just one word. Her name. He’d said her name and the effort made a bubble in the blood seeping at an alarming rate from his wound. He gave one last sigh as he died, and the bubble burst, splattering blood across her face. She wept quietly, no longer protesting as the man picked her up again and carried her away.

“Laylani!” The voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she found herself face to face with a concerned looking Hermione and Ron. “Are you alright?” It took her a moment to reorient herself.

“Um, Yeah. Yes, I’m fine.” Obviously neither one of them believed her. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Hermione finally spoke.

“Laylani, you’re crying.” Quickly, she brought a hand up to her face, surprised when her fingers came back wet. She hastily began to wipe them away.

“Oh, I um…” She fumbled for an excuse. “It’s just - I’m just getting chills. I guess Madame Pomfrey was right; it is too early for me to be outside.” Without another word she turned and left the greenhouse and headed towards the doors. The sun did nothing to brighten her spirits now.

She walked quietly down the halls, seeing no one she knew, but then again not seeing anything at all. She past the infirmary without hesitation. She wasn’t physically ill, why bother? Blindly, her feet took her to her rooms. She entered, undoing her robe and hanging it up before unlacing each one of her shoes and setting them neatly aside. She walked across the room and lit the fire, then sat back on the couch. Not knowing what else to do, Laylani began to cry.

She’d witnessed her own father’s murder and she hadn’t said a word and hadn’t done a thing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He had been nervous when she hadn’t arrived at the Arithmancy classroom before him as she almost always did. He became worried when Granger, whom he knew to have the class previous with Laylani, arrived without her. He was downright terrified when class had begun and she still hadn’t arrived. Where could she be.

Draco tried to reason with himself as Professor Vector began the lesson. Maybe she’d forgotten something, a book or and extra quill? Yes, that could be it. But that scenario seemed less and less likely as five minutes passed, then ten, twenty, half an hour. He tried hard not to panic, but it seemed he was fighting a losing battle.

His eyes flitted nervously to her empty seat and by pure chance alone met with Granger’s, who sat at the other side of the empty chair. He shot a nervous look to Professor Vector, who was busy helping a Ravenclaw with a particularly trying scenario, before he silently mouthed ‘Where is she?’ to Granger.

“Infirmary.” she whispered. He felt a wave of relief rush through him. He nodded once to the Head girl and turned back. Alright, that wasn’t so bad. At the very most, her being back in the infirmary put a kink in his plans for this evening, but he could deal with that. He put it out of his mind for the time being and began to copy down the notes he hadn’t taken earlier.

The class ended and as he packed away his things, Granger stopped in front of his desk. She looked conflicted but determined. “Look, Malfoy,” she said shortly, “Before she left, Laylani was crying.” She pursed her lips. “She said it was chills but, well, I doubt it.” Without another word she walked away. Draco frowned. He finished gathering his things and left the classroom, deciding to pay a visit to her in the infirmary before going to his next class.

‘Crying indeed,’ he thought as he walked. While emotional pain may be the crack in her armor, physical pain was no stranger to her. She’d been remarkably strong during her illness. And while Draco didn’t like the way she’d come to be so unaffected by physical pain, it did make him proud.

He pushed open the infirmary doors. There was no one there, save for Madame Pomfrey going over some paperwork at her desk.

Madame Pomfrey looked up at him. “Can I help you, Mister Malfoy?”

He looked around the room; all the cots were empty, all the privacy curtains pulled back. Laylani wasn’t there. “Uh, no. No, I’m fine.” He left.

He walked quickly, his heart beating a frantic rhythm in his chest. Oh Gods, oh Gods what could have happened to her? Where could she be? His heartbeat quickened and his palms began to sweat. He knew exactly where she could be, en route to Voldemort’s clutches.

No, no, no. He pushed those thoughts away. Alright, logically, rationally where could she be? Now, Granger must have seen her enter the school. They wouldn’t take her in broad daylight with so many people milling about, at least he hoped. Crossing his fingers, he crossed that off the list of possibilities.

Alright, think. She wouldn’t be in the Astronomy tower, there were no stars out. She wasn’t in the kitchens, it was too early for her to be hungry again. She couldn’t be in the library; any student caught in the library without permission during class hours would be returned with a detention by Madame Pince. She wasn’t in his rooms, he’d stopped there before Arithmancy for his text books. So logically, rationally there was only one other place she could be, her rooms. He hurried in that direction, praying he wasn’t wrong.

He whispered the password and the portrait swung open. The fire was lit, that was a good sign. Then he heard soft weeping and that was most definitely bad. He saw her sitting on the sofa, crying into her crossed arms that rested on the armrest. He approached her silently, any words he could think of stuck half-formed in his throat; anything he could think to say seemed to trivialize the situation though he didn’t understand. Finally, he cleared his throat to announce his presence.

She lifted her head to look at him with red eyes and a tearstained face. She stood up and tried to wipe her tears away.

“Oh.” she said in a wavering voice. “Dragon, what are you doing here?” He took another step closer.

“You missed class.” he answered softly. She checked the clock by the mantle; she’d missed the rest of Herbology as well as all of Arithmancy and was now on her way to missing Potions.

“Oh. I- I didn’t…” Draco caught her before she collapsed as she burst into fresh tears. He held her close to him and maneuvered them to a sitting position onto the couch. He let her cry into his shoulder as he tried to soothe her by stroking her hair. When her sobs finally slowed to a stop, he pulled her back slightly to look into her eyes.

“Tell me.” He said, using a voice that neither of them had heard before. It wasn’t the commanding voice of Draco Malfoy, pureblood and aristocrat. It wasn’t the voice of forced calm he used when trying to pry information from her. It was something totally different in a voice so soothing and seemed so understanding that it made her want to tell him.

“I-I can’t.” she answered. She couldn’t. She couldn’t let him know what she’d done.

“Tell me.” he said again, using that same voice that seemed to weave a spell around her, drawing out words she shouldn’t say.

“I can’t - I couldn’t…daddy…all the flowers...” She stopped herself where she could before she said anything more damning. Her shoulders slumped and her head dropped.

Draco on the other hand, his mind was reeling. She’d said something about ‘daddy,’ a term she‘d most recently used to refer to Lucius. He needed to know what had happened. He hauled her up to face him.

“Tell me what happened.” All traces of his earlier gentleness were gone and he sounded…angry. Fresh tears began to fall; he knew, didn’t he? He knew what she had done. Why else would he be so callous?

“I can’t,” she hiccupped. “I can’t tell.”

“You can and you will. What happened?” She’d reached her breaking point and the words spilled forth, she was unable to hold back.

“He’s dead.” she whispered. “I let him die!”

“I- I don’t understand.” Rather, he did understand but couldn’t imagine it to be true. Lucius could not be dead. His father had always had the air of a man who intended to live forever, it hardly seemed possible he was dead now.

“Daddy, my daddy,” she started.

‘Oh.’ he thought. ‘Oh! Her father.’ Draco felt a small sense of relief. Lucius may be a bastard, but he was still his father. He listened as she continued.

“It was that night, that night they took me. I had to go to the bathroom and you were too tired to go with me.” Draco felt a pang of guilt; he’d always regretted that. He should have gone with her. Perhaps he may not have been able to change things but still, he was supposed to have been her protector. “I was out alone,” she went on, “ And a man, a man he grabbed me. He covered my mouth and I bit him. He took his hand away and I screamed, I screamed so loud. My daddy came out and the man dropped me in the garden. Daddy, he was going to rescue me; that’s what daddies do. But the man, the man he had a knife and my daddy didn’t even have his wand, and they fought and, a-and the man he cut my daddy’s throat. And he died! My daddy died trying to save me and I didn’t do anything. I should have helped him, I should have ran, I should’ve done something but I just lay there and let my daddy die.” She finished on a small sob.

Draco stayed silent for a moment as she sobbed. “Princess, I-”

“You knew.” she said quietly. It wasn’t a voice of accusation, just stating the fact. Draco balked.

“What? How on earth could I know anything like that?” He was shocked that she could even suggest something like that. Jonathan’s death had been as much a mystery to him as anyone else.

“You knew.” she repeated. “That’s why you yelled at me.”

“What? I did not yell at you!”

“You did! You just did! You said I had to tell you, you just had to hear the words!” With surprising clarity, Draco could see how that might look to her.

“No. Oh, no pet.”

“You knew.” she said quietly. He frowned.

“Laylani? Laylani look at me please.” With a deep breath, her bloodshot eyes looked up to him. “I promise you that I had no idea about any of this. I swear to you on my life and my honor that I did not know.”

She lifted her head entirely and looked to him, searching for any hint of deceit and for that reason, Draco tried to keep his face as open and honest as possible. He felt naked. After several minutes, she let off a defeated sigh.

“I believe you.” He took this a sign that it was alright for him to touch her again, and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder.

“But if I had known,” he stated, “ I would have told you it wasn’t your fault.” She sighed.

“But it was. I should have done something. Maybe I couldn’t have changed it, but I should have done something.”

“Tell me about it.” She looked to him questioningly.

“What?’ he asked. “Did you think you were the only one with regrets about that night?” He decided so long as they were confessing their if-onlys, he might as well get his sins off his chest too. “You asked me to go out with you that night and I refused, knowing full well you were afraid of the dark. I didn’t even wait up the five minutes it would have took for you to go and come back and just went right to sleep.” He sighed. “The next morning, my mum woke me up screaming, relieved I wasn’t dead and convinced you were. She picked me up, pressing my face against her chest so I wouldn’t see the blood, but I did. It was everywhere. And then there were all these Aurors asking me questions I couldn’t answer. Where did you go? Who took you? Man or woman? Wizard or Muggle? And all I could tell them is that you’d gone to the loo and I had been too tired to go with you.” He scowled at the memory.

“How is that bad? You were tired so you slept.”

“That’s not the point. You were my princess, I was your knight; it was my job to protect you. The least I could have done was wait up for you to come back. Maybe then I could have heard something and then they might have been able to find you before they…and then you wouldn’t have had to…” He trailed off, unwilling to say the unspeakable things they had done to her, nor the things she’d had to do since then.

“Draco,” she said softly, “All of that, none of it was your fault.”

“It was as much my fault as it was yours.” he said pointedly.

His words struck her. It was true; they were both children, barely six years old and hardly able to dress themselves. How could they have been expected to prevent something so horrendous as a murder and kidnapping?

They sat holding each other in silence for a few moments, until Laylani began to giggle, softly. The giggling continued until it became all-out laughing. Draco looked to her.

“I always thought things would be easier once I got older.” she explained. He looked at her as if she were positively mad, then began to laugh as well. He’d thought the same thing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Flitwick finally began to wrap up his lecture in their last class of the day, Charms. They could hear the rumble of students in the hall who’d already been dismissed for the day. Laylani felt Draco’s hand slide onto her knee. She put her hand over his and squeezed it softly. The day was finally coming to an end.

They’d thought about skiving off classes for the rest of the day and hiding out in her rooms, but in the end decided that skipping would cause too many unwanted problems. They’d returned to classes for their second period of Potions with Snape.

Professor Snape had entered the room, shocked and annoyed to see the two sitting at their desks with their books out, chatting casually as if nothing were amiss. He frowned deeply; as much as he would hate to do it, he needed to make an example out of these two, even if it meant taking points from his own House. No one skipped Professor Snape’s class without consequence.

“Mister Malfoy.” His silky voice had cut through the class with a razor’s sharpness. Both Draco and Laylani had stood up, holding each others hands for support. They had already talked about this. “Is there a reason that you and your fiancée missed my class, unexcused?”

“Yes sir.” Snape’s scowl had deepened.

“Would you care to enlighten myself and the rest of the class to your reasons for your unexcused absences?” Despite how much trouble it could’ve gotten him into, Draco couldn’t help but smirk.

“No sir.” Snape’s eyes had widened, but he’d quickly regained his composure. For a moment he’d been quite unsure what to do. Any members of the classroom that had not been listening now sat in rapt attention. No one refused Snape an answer, even if one were to just make something up. You simply did not just deny him an excuse. And to hear such refusal coming from Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Bad-Ass Extraordinaire, Head Boy, and Snape’s most prized student? That surely required all focus.

Snape had drawn himself to his full and impressive height., his eyes dark with bit-back fury. “And why, pray tell, is that?” Laylani answered this.

“Because it’s none of your business or theirs…sir.” His eyes bulged. Snape’s immediate reaction had been to take twenty points for cheek, but what would be the point? It wasn’t as if Morphose was even in the running for the House Cup; house points would be meaningless to her. He could take the points from Draco, but that would cause a bit of an outcry amongst the Slytherins as it would be technically unwarranted, as would a detention, because Draco had not said anything disrespectful. He could give her a detention but that would involve recognizing that she did exist in his world, and he wasn’t prepared to do that just yet.

Finally he replied “I see.” through tight lips and turned to write the day’s instructions on the blackboard. Aside from Snape having been particularly cruel to poor Neville, the rest of the class had past like any other.

Flitwick finally dismissed them, calling out a reminder of the practical test on Monday. Laylani carefully gathered her things together, taking an extra few moments to speak with the professor about what chapters she should go over for Monday.

When she finally came out of the classroom, it appeared Draco had already left. Not surprising really; he did have Quidditch practice shortly. Still, it would have been nice if he’d walked her back to her rooms. She stepped out into the hall and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist. Her startled yelp turned into a low moan as she felt a familiar kiss press against her neck. She lifted her hand and twined her fingers in Draco’s platinum hair.

“Don’t scare me like that.”

“But it’s so fun. Is there anything else you need to do Princess?”

“Nothing I can think of. Wh-” Draco had grabbed her hand and began to tug her down the halls. She ran as fast as she could, unable to keep up. “Draco! Draco? What are you doing?”

“We have plans, remember?” he called back to her.

“But don’t you have Quidditch practice this afternoon?”

“Cancelled it on Tuesday.”

“What about dinner?”

“I’ve made arrangements with Dobby.” He already had to attend a meeting with Snape tomorrow; seeing him before that time was not something he was interested in doing if it could be avoided.

“But they’ll know if we’re not there.” He looked back at her with a wicked grin.

“I don’t care.”

“Madman." She laughed. "Will you at least tell me where you’re taking me?”

“My rooms.” She stopped short.

“No.”

“No?!?!?!” She smirked.

“My rooms. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

Draco’s rooms would have been preferable to him; he did, after all, have the bigger bathtub and bed. However, after a week of no action that wasn’t self-supplied, he would have agreed to take her on the Head Table during assembly if that’s what she wanted.

“Whatever the lady wants. Don’t scare me like that.” She giggled.

“But it’s so fun.”

They came to a stop at the two stairwells that each lead to one’s quarters, respectively. “You go ahead love. I have to get a few things, change a few plans. I’ll be up soon, okay?” She nodded and gave him a quick kiss.

“Be fast.” He grinned and took off down the stairs to his rooms. She watched him until he was out of sight and headed upstairs.

She hopped off the top stair onto her floor, humming to herself in a tuneless sort of way. She walked towards her portrait, when she heard something, some small sound from somewhere behind her. She turned around, but there was no one there. Odd.

She continued down the hall and she heard it again. That sound, something like a rustle. She turned around again, but again there was nothing there. She turned back with a frown and walked faster towards her quarters. It came again, louder. A distinct rustling; paper, fabric perhaps? She looked over her shoulder, not even stopping. There was nothing there.

She walked as quickly as she could without running towards her rooms. It was probably just her mind playing tricks on her but she was in no mood for bad jokes. It took her a few tries to stutter out the proper password, ‘sugar and spice and everything nice,’ and she quickly entered her rooms without looking back. She watched the door close behind her, and she could have sworn she heard the soft rustle one last time.

She stared at the back of the portrait for countless moments. It swung open suddenly and she started. It was Draco. She breathed a sigh of relief, and gave a small, nervous giggle. She was being ridiculous. Still, it didn’t stop her from looking out the portrait, checking the empty hall.

“Is something wrong, love?”

“No, it’s nothing.” She shut the portrait quietly. “It’s just - did you here anything, while you were in the hall?” He pursed his lips thoughtfully.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Why do you ask?”

“I - When I was walking here, I kept hearing something, behind me. It sounded like some sort of rustling.” She shrugged. “It was just…unsettling, that’s all.”

“I have just the cure for that.” he answered. After a moment of fishing through his bag he pulled out the bottle of blue potion. “After all, it’s been one hell of a day.” He set down his bag and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“It really has.” she softly replied. “Are you sure that stuff won’t put me to sleep again?” He smirked.

“I’m sure we’ll find something to keep you awake.” They kissed softly, slowly beginning to divest each other of the clothes that now only served as a barrier between them. Their kisses were slow and soft, speaking volumes of the heat that simmered just below the surface, threatening to consume them the moment they let it. But for now they were just content with slow, soft touches. Suddenly, a sharp knock at the portrait startled them apart.

Draco put a finger to her lips, indicating they should be silent and let whoever was at the door think she wasn’t there. With a wicked grin, she opened her mouth and took his finger in, sucking on it lightly. He smirked.

The knock came again. “Laylani?” It was Hermione, followed by some muffled noises that could only be Lavender and Ginny.

“Crap.” she muttered. “I totally forgot about that. Damn, damn, damn.”

“I told you not to make any plans!”

“I didn’t! Not really. It’s just - I thought you had Quidditch practice and that’s when we normally get together, so I didn’t tell them any different. I thought, you know Quidditch, dinner, then hours and hours of sex.” Draco frowned and the knocking at the portrait became more insistent.

“Laylani, open up! I know you’re in there.” There was a brief pause before Hermione hesitantly added “Are you alright in there?” Draco started for the door with every intention of telling that nosy cow where to go and how to get there when Laylani stopped him.

“Don’t.” she said. “I’ll deal with them. Go run the bath. Please?” He scowled and she shoved the discarded bottle of blue potion in his hands. “Please?” she repeated.

“Alright, but get rid of them.” She nodded. Laylani waited until he disappeared into the bathroom before answering the portrait.

“Hi girls. There’s been a bit of a change of plans. I-”

“Are you alright?” Ginny interrupted. “You look horrendous.” Laylani frowned, looking down at her appearance. Ginny was right; her tie was loose and the top three buttons of her blouse was undone. Her skirt was twisted on her hips and her knee socks were pushed down unevenly. She only wore one shoe. She looked back to the girls in her doorway.

“Thanks, Gin.” she said dryly. “I try. Look girls, I’m sorry to break plans but something has come up…”

Draco came back into the room while the tub was still filling, displeased to see her still standing with her head stuck out the portrait, still talking to those…girls. Why did women have to drag everything out? He came up behind her and pulled the portrait open wide, revealing his presence to the three Gryffindors on the other side of the portrait. He smiled, but it was more like a dog baring it’s fangs than a friendly gesture.

“Hello girls. Laylani is otherwise engaged for the evening, and most of tomorrow as well. If you wouldn’t mind sharing that bit of information with anyone else who might plan on dropping by, it would be greatly appreciated. Goodbye.” He closed the portrait to a chorus of girlish giggle, then cast a silencing charm.

“There.” he said, dusting off his hands as if he’d performed a difficult task. She stared at him. “What?”

She gave him a small smile. “You were polite - more or less.” She turned and headed for the bathroom. He stood there for a moment and thought. She was right, he’d been quite polite considering he’d been dealing with a gaggle of giggling Gryffindors. The water was turned off and he heard what could only be her climbing into the bathtub, and any thought that did not include getting naked and into the tub with her abruptly left his mind. He quickly pulled off his clothes and walked into the bathroom.

Laylani moved forward in the tub so he could take his place behind her. He slid in slowly to the hot water and pulled her back to sit between his thighs. She leaned back against his chest and sighed.

After long moments contenting in just being together, Draco uncorked the bottle of blue potion. He ran it in a thin line across her collar bone and once again the smell of vanilla and that intangible love filled the air. He began to work the viscous potion across her chest, moving down to her breasts and kneading them firmly, making her moan quietly and arch into his hands.

“Please..” she breathed softly.

One hand moved lower, sliding the elixir slowly over her stomach. While the hand still at her breast toyed roughly with her nipple, his other hand moved even lower still, bringing the last remnants of the potion to her sex. Laylani unconsciously held her breath as he began to circle her outer lips with the lightest touch of his finger tips. His hands moved maddeningly slowly, teasing the already sensitive flesh.

His fingers didn’t penetrate her, despite her urging him to do so, raising her hips in attempts to impale herself on him. After he circled the outer lips entirely, he pulled his hand away.

“Draco…” she whimpered softly. She could practically feel him smirking.

“Patience, pet. We have all night.” Laylani frowned, emitting small grumblings that clearly said she did not like this state of affairs but otherwise made no attempts to change it.

Draco tipped more of the bottle’s contents into his hand and gently urged Laylani forward. He slid his hands across her shoulders and began to massage the potion into her back. Laylani bit back a groan.

“Oh Jesus, Draco! Where did you learn to do this?” Draco smirked. There was no denying he had talented hands, in more ways than one. This was something he’d picked up during a fling with a seventh year Ravenclaw in fifth year. However, Laylani had early on in their relationship informed him that while it didn’t bother that he’d had innumerable flings in the past, it was nothing she wanted to hear about, particularly at times like these.

“Oh, you know, here and there.”

“Hmm.” she purred in pleasure, silently thanking whichever witch had taught him this. His hands massaged down her back, trailing gently along her sides and finally rubbing along her upper thighs. She smiled.

“My turn.” She managed to turn herself around to face him without the awkward tangling of limbs or worse yet, hurting him. She kissed him lightly as she took the potion out of his hands. She started by working the potion into the defined muscles of his chest, tweaking a nipple playfully. She slowly moved her touch lower, rubbing along his abdomen down to his hips. She came to his firm cock and he smiled to her expectantly, but instead she continued down, sliding back to continue rubbing the potion into his legs, only brushing his shaft occasionally with her forearms.

After long moments of torturous teasing, she pulled herself close to him again. Taking more of the blue potion into her hands she wrapped her arms around her his neck and began to massage the salve into the tight muscles of his back. She pressed herself tightly against him and as she massaged she began to press slow, arbitrary kisses along his neck and shoulders.

“Laylani…” he grit out. He didn’t think he’d be able to control himself if she didn’t do something soon.

Without preamble or even a smile to give him warning, she lifted and slid herself down onto his shaft. “You were saying?” she asked, resuming her kissing along his neck.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

She lifted and lowered herself on him in small motions, her movements slow and languid. She delighted in just feeling, and ignored his hands on her hips encouraging her to go faster. The only sound that permeated the room was the gentle rippling of the water around them.

While this lacked the frenzied heat of their usual couplings, it did allow Draco to watch the expressions on her face as they made love. Draco watched the expressions of pleasure play across her face and smiled. She looked beautifully wanton, a fallen angel come to play. Laylani smiled back.

It was amazing the things he’d brought out in her. Before him, she’d never really been fond of another’s touch but during the last week alone she’d been practically out of her mind to have him touch her where only his hands could. To have him now was almost paradise; her only complaint would be that his talented, capable hands remained firmly planted on her hips.

“Draco,” she cooed, “Touch me, touch me please….” His hands slid across her body, one going behind to cup her bottom while the other moved up to squeeze her breast, making her moan in delight. “Yessssss.”

He smiled devilishly and lifted her breast to his mouth, sucking hard on her nipple, making her gasp. His grin widened and he bit down on her flesh lightly, causing her to squeal. Her hands clutched desperately to the back of his head and she could feel herself fast approaching that delicate precipice she could only find with Draco.

He pulled away from her and she moaned her disappointment. “Princess,” he moaned, his voice thick with desire, “Let me lead.” She stilled her movements with a slow smile.

“Okay.” His hands found their way back to her waist and he began to pound into her at a fast clip. It amazed him how much she trusted him, to simply hand over control without a second thought. Any other person would be wary of bad hex or a swift kick in the ass, but it seemed as if those things had never crossed her mind. She trusted him like no one else. He silently vowed never to break that trust.

She braced her hands on his shoulders, and from the look on her face, he could tell she was close. “That’s right.” he whispered, more to himself than to her. “Come for me love.” She threw her head back and he could feel her inner walls begin to pulse all around him, her orgasm drawing out his own.

He felt Laylani collapse against his shoulder, panting hard like himself. He held her close, clumsily brushing the damp hair off her back as he tried to keep them from sinking below the water line.

When he’d finally recaptured that elusive breathing process, he noticed that the bath water had begun to cool. Draco frowned. That wouldn’t do at all.

“The water’s getting a little cool for my liking, love. Especially when you could still get sick.” She didn’t answer.

“Lani?” he asked again. He splashed her back with a wave of the lukewarm water. Still nothing. He listened to her slow, even breathing from where she lay with her face nestled in the crook of his neck.

‘Oh, bugger.’ he thought. She’d fallen asleep.