This Subdued Fire

Dear readers: I know some of you had questions about why Draco\'s wounds didn\'t heal in the last chapter. I\'m going to answer those. And as for Lucius beating Draco\'s ass, there\'s another reason for that, too. No, I\'m not going to kill Draco off in this fic. And no, they don\'t live happily ever after, people DO die. :) But...all that is going to have to wait until the sequel. ;) As always: to my lovely beta-ladies, Gin, Blisso, Mon and Paril. You guys rock my world. Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything except my OC\'s and the little tune that I\'m making my marionnettes dance to.
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Pearl

When Hermione walked back into the dungeon room Draco was awake and looking at her with wide, deep pewter eyes. She said nothing but glided over to the bed and sat next to him. His bruises had faded now. Hermione was relieved. She knew that it sometimes takes more time for magical wounds to heal than for non-magical, especially if the victim is in a high emotional state at the time and the wounds are inflicted over and over again.

He smiled faintly when she took up his hand and stroked it softly. \"I can smell the smoke clinging to you. What did you do

Hermione sighed and got up, shoving her hands in her pockets. \"You\'ll hear it eventually, so I might as well tell you.\"

Draco cocked an inquisitive eyebrow. \"Now I *am* intrigued. Pray tell.\"

\"I burned the manor down. And possibly trapped your parents inside.\"

All of Draco\'s jaded veneer dropped at that moment. \"What?\"

\"I burned the manor down.\"

\"You burned my house down. My fucking ancestral home.\"

\"I know, I know. I don\'t know what I was thinking. I *wasn\'t* thinking. I just...when I walked in and I saw you all...well, the way you were, I couldn\'t help myself. The only think on my mind was revenge and wanting to get a little of my own back for you and me. I hate myself for being like this. I\'m usually the logical one, the one filled to the gills with books and cleverness. Not this...rash, emotional thing. I feel sick for what I\'ve done. All I could think of when I saw the house engulfed in that inferno was \'Finally. The house of evil, destroyed.\'\" Hermione paused in her recitation and looked at the wall. \"I know you\'re terribly angry with me for it. If there\'s anything I can do to make it up to you...\" She snorted ruefully. \"I know there\'s nothing I can do to make it up to you. Forget it. I\'m going to leave now.\" Hermione began walking towards the door.

\"Lucius is going to kill you, you know,\" Draco called a her her.

Hermione stopped, her hand on the knob. \"Not if I kill him first.\" She turned to face Draco, who oddly enough, had an amused expression on his face. \"You don\'t seem too put out by the fact that I want to murder your father.\"

Draco rose from the bed silkily. \"Well, Granger, it wouldn\'t be murder, it\'d be self-defence. And as for you burning the manor down...You had the guts to do what I\'ve wanted to for years. I thank you.\"

It was Hermione\'s turn to look shocked. \"You...what?\"

\"I\'m thanking you. That house has always represented the worst that life has to offer. It\'s seen nothing but my pain, my fear, my anger. I\'ve never really been happy there. And it\'s a simple matter to repair it. We\'re wizards, you know.\" Draco gave Hermione a lopsided grin. \"If it\'s any consolation to you, there\'s a castle in the Cheviots that\'s our real ancestral home. The Malfoys only took up residence in the England because the summers are milder.\"

\"Why did your father do *that* to you?\"

\"Ah. As to that, I gave him some news that made him very upset.\"

\"Which was?\"

\"That I\'m still in love with you, more fool I.\"

\"Excuse me...I don\'t think that I heard you. Repeat that, please.\"

\"Yes, yes, you silly bint. I\'m in love with you, I don\'t think I ever stopped, once I realized what was going on.\"

\"Oh.\"

Draco turned away angrily. \"Is that all you have to say? \'oh\'?\"

\"Well, damn it Draco. Now I do feel awful. I burned your house down and you tell me you love me.\"

He turned back to her, grinning faintly. \"Why *did* you do it?\"

\"I did it because I couldn\'t stand the thought of Lucius putting his hands on you. I did it because I wanted to hurt him as much as he\'d hurt you. I thought we already covered this?\" She raised a feathery brown brow at him.

\"We did. But surely there\'s some other reason, Granger. You\'re the one with the superior brain power, think about it.\"

\"You want me to say it, don\'t you?\"

\"If I swallowed my enormous sense of pride down, then you can, too.\"

\"Draco, you know *why* I did it. You know why I didn\'t kill you. Isn\'t it enough that you know?\"

He grabbed her by her upper arms. \"No, it bloody well isn\'t enough that I know. I need to hear you say it. Say it!\"

\"Because I love you, damn it all. I do. Happy now?\" she asked archly.

Draco\'s smile was like angels descending from on high. \"Very much so, Hermione. Very happy, indeed.\" His grip eased from around her arms to encircle her lightly.

\"Did I just say that?\"

\"Mm-hm.\" He began nibbling her ear.

\"Can I take it back?\"

\"Nope.\"

\"Damn.\" Hermione turned her head and kissed him with a mixture of love, hate, longing and frustration.

Draco\'s head whirled under a myriad of sensations. The world had become a vacuum and all he could hear was the beating of his heart and the pulse in his ears. The universe was shrunk to include only them and her divine lips working their magic on his.

He felt her little tongue roaming his flesh, seeking entrance to his mouth. He allowed her in and they began a dance that spun them around the stars and back again. Somehow, they found their way to the bed. Hermione was laid out beneath him on the golden coverlet. A fitting backdrop for a auric goddess, Draco\'s mind prosed.

Her nimble fingers undid the buttons of his shirt and pushed it off. She hummed with silent approval at Draco\'s sinewy leanness. She\'d always been enamored of his shoulders. They were broad and flowed into the most elegant arms Hermione had ever seen. She levered herself into a sitting position, forcing Draco to sit back on his heels. Hermione ran her hands and lips over his shoulders and chest, capturing a nipple. A sigh escaped. Whether it was from him or her, he could not have said.

Draco\'s hand tangled in her hair and she eased him down onto his back, becoming aggressive. Herm utt uttered a swift *\"Divestio\"* and they were both disrobed. She was thinner than he remembered, a vestige of his betrayal. He thanked the gods above that she\'d seen fit to forgive him. But as her lovely cool hand slipped around his penis, all coherent thought fled.

With the first stroke of her thumb across the head, he sucked in a breath. The second, third and fourth brought near feline purrs and serpentine hisses. Draco pulled her down to him, rolling her onto her back once more. The pounded in his brain as he looked her over. Her breasts were just as perfect as they ever were. The coral nipples darkened and strained, begging to be touched. Draco obliged. A lazy smile curved her mouth as he palmed her.

His thumbs ran over and around the nubs of flesh. He pinched, soft enough to tease and hard enough to hurt. A moan from her sizzled over his nerves. The sensation multiplied tenfold when Draco slipped his mouth over a nipple and tugged. Her hands fisted in the velvet, plucking at the pile. Draco sucked and pulled, sending bolts of sensation racing from nipples to brain to clit. He treated the other nipple to the same as its twin. He moved his hand from where it had been tracing incoherent patterns from her belly down between her thighs.

Draco\'s fingers parted the flesh that lay under the curls. He stroked his fingers through the slick folds, revelling in the scent that accompanied her arousal. Of a sudden, he slipped down to the space between. Before Hermione knew what was happening, he\'d parted her thighs widely and began licking delicately at her core.

Draco tongued her with an exquisite lightness that was pure torture. He ran the flat of his tongue around the stiff little nub. Hermione\'s hands left the duvet and clenched at the strands of his fine hair. Sensation upon sensation poured through her and she felt a golden sparkle begin along the edges of her skin. When his tongue slipped inside of her, she fell over the edge and died a little.

Hermione pulled her lover up and kissed him. Tasting herself on his lips, she wrapped her legs around his narrow waist. He couldn\'t resist teasing her a bit. Draco rubbed his shaft against her pouting lower lips. She bit his muscled shoulder in irritation. \"Little vixen,\" he whispered.

\"You like it.\" Her eyeswed wed like doubloons in the low light from the torches.

\"Indeed I do.\" Draco slid inside her, making those fine eyes widen and then droop in satisfied pleasure.

\"Mmm,\" was her only reply and they began the age-old dance.

Draco pulled out of her again and eased back in. Her hands raked down his back, leaving livid red weals. The Slytherin was in his element. He didn\'t let become used to any one rhythm, letting his strokes vary with each movement. When he felt her become close, he reached down and tweaked her clit; once, twice, deft and sure. Her eyes flew open and she grasped the arm he\'d braced himself on, her hand curled over the Dark Mark. In an instinctual motion, the hand of the arm she clutched grasped her arm in the same place. Her muscles tightened around his erection almost painfully and the contractions pulled him over at the same time. A strike of warm lightning flowed from her to him and he felt something burn his flesh. It wasn\'t the cold agony of when Voldemort had marked him as his own. It was near to scalding, but just as invasive and oddly sinuous, as if it were twining itself about his soul.

Hermione let out a small scream and plunged into the rainbow. Draco followed, collapsing on top of her.