When the Stars Fall

FIVE: Standing in the Pouring Rain

The rain began slowly at first, but soon become a steady downpour. When the large drops began to fall Draco knew that he would be soaked to the bone by the time he found her. He was also in the muggle world, in unfamiliar territory. As much as he hated to admit it, he was lost. He eventually found himself in a park. He followed all of the paths and stopped suddenly when he heard the sobbing. Trusting his instinct and sense of hearing he followed the sobbing and found Hermione standing beneath a rowan tree, leaning against it for support as she cried her heart out.

Draco tried to put his arms around her, hoping to calm her, but instead she shrank away from his touch and told him to leave her alone. Anger flared in his eyes. He grasped her shoulders firmly and then spun her around to face him. Her eyes were red from crying, although the tears had been washed away in the rain. The anger faded from his eyes as he looked down at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked toward the ground and then back up to him. "Why did you kiss me? Why did you have to kiss me?"

He looked at her incredulously. "The moment seemed right and you're mine Hermione, lest you forget our ceremony. Why shouldn't I kiss you?"

"Because, it's not real to you!" He could detect the anger in her voice.

"What?!" The word fell out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"It's not real. You couldn't... Wouldn't feel anything for someone like me. You have no right to kiss me, because..." she was unable to finish.

"Go on, finish what you have to say," he growled.

"You don't love me, but I love you," she whispered in a voice barely audible above the wind and rain.

His eyes widened. Had she just said that she loved him? He looked down at her, seeing the fresh tears building behind her eyes and then he bent down capturing her lips with his in a moment of warmth and passion. She was caught by surprise, and then pushed him away. He looked at her with a smile, a genuine smile, and shook his head in disbelief.

"Stop trying to seduce me. Isn't it enough to know that I'm bound to you, and that I've gone against my better judgment and fallen in love with you?" she snapped.

"I told you that passion can often be misguided, so can love. Why do you think this isn't real to me? Why do you think you're not real to me?" he asked desperation on the edge of his voice.

Her eyebrows rose in shock. "What are you saying Malfoy?"

"I thought I told you to call me Draco!" he answered and then turned away from her as he finally answered her question, "I could love you, Granger...Hermione. You've been an obsession I've had since we were first years. I don't really know it if is love. I never understood that emotion. I wanted to hate you then, because my father hated you, but I couldn't. You made me weak in my father's eyes long before I even realized it."

She put a hand on his shoulder, he turned to face her, and then he went on. "You're the only person who I've ever really talked to. The only one who has listened to what I have to say. Not my insults or accomplishments or the praise that I am expected to give my father. You hear what I think and feel and you don't pass judgment. You're the first person I ever had a decent conversation with, for the Gods' sake. And quite honestly, I wish I could take away all of the pain I caused you. Do you have any idea of the nightmares I used to have? One night with you chased them all away."

Hermione looked at him in wonder and brought her hand up to his face, gently tracing his cheekbones and jaw with her fingertips. He closed his eyes and felt warmth course through his body at her touch. She leaned up and caught his lips with hers. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned toward her as the kiss deepened.

When they parted they had to catch their breath. It was then that they came back to reality and realized that they were standing out in the pouring rain. Hermione looked down at her appearance and then looked to Draco. His wet clothing clung to his lithely muscled body, and her dress clung to every curve and crevice of hers.

"Let's go home before we drown in this flood," he said and then he followed as she led the way out of the park and headed toward the house with the powder blue door.

It was late. The front light was still on, but the house was dark inside. Hermione turned the knob, thankful that her parents had left the door unlocked. When they were inside she closed the door, locked it, turned out the light, and then the pair crept up the stairs and into her room. Once in her room Draco closed the door and pressed Hermione against it. He turned the lock on the knob as he kissed her and removed his jacket. She was responding to the kiss and was already undoing the buttons of his black dress shirt. He reached around her, his fingers finding the zipper of her gown and unzipping it. Once the zipper was undone he slid the shoulder sleeves down her arms and the dress slipped to the floor leaving her in a white lace bra and panties. His eyes drank in the sight of her so exposed. She'd unbuttoned his shirt and he pulled it off so quickly that it almost ripped.

Once the shirt was off he gathered her into his arms. He noticed how slick her skin was from the rain. He knew he was just as slick. He managed to pull the sheets back and then laid her down on the bed. She looked up at him, fear and trust battling in her eyes.

He crawled like a cat, onto the bed, and over her body. He dipped his head down and his lips caressed her throat and then he worked his way up her jaw line and to her lips. He grabbed her wrists and held them above her head, as he kissed her. She squirmed against him, but as the kissed deepened she found herself giving in. He had her straddled, and she felt him, knew that he wanted her. His lips began traveling downward, her chin, the hollow of her throat, and down her chest to the skin exposed just about her bra. She moaned and arched her body, and felt him even more. He used his left hand to hold both of her wrists, and used his newly freed hand to reach behind her back and clumsily unclasp her bra. Once the snaps were undone he let go of her hands and used his hands to remove the bra, sliding the straps and his palms down her arms. He took in a deep breath as her flesh was exposed. He leaned down, his tongue flicked across her breasts and her body trembled in response as she gasped.

Her hands found their way to his pants. She undid the button and then unzipped them, but before she could go any farther he'd taken her left breast into his mouth and she lost all sense of reason as warmth built in her stomach and spread throughout her body. He cupped her other breast gently in his hand and his eyes remained on her face watching her expression change as he touched her.

He wondered if she realized that he was going based on instinct. This was new to him, as new to him as it was to her. He only hoped that his instincts were right, they always had been before. He moved one hand lower down her body, lightly caressing her stomach as it traveled downward and slipped beneath her panties, stroking and exploring. She arched her back and a shudder ran through his body. He couldn't stand it anymore. He got up off of the bed and quickly removed his pants followed by his boxers, then he removed her panties and settled back over her.

He began to lower his body down on hers, slowly entering her. She moaned as he moved deeper and deeper inside of her, and she gasped at the sharp moment of pain, but that was forgotten as he completely filled her. Their lips met in a fit of passion as he began to pull back and then thrust into her again. At first he moved agonizingly slow, but soon passion raged through them both and he set a faster rhythm. She arched her body to meet his every thrust and moaned his name when he let her up from the kisses long enough to catch a breath. They reached a point where neither could turn back. Her muscles began to convulse around him as his body finally gave into release. She called out his name and her nails dug into his back as her body arched in her moment of ecstasy and he soon followed as he erupted inside of her.

He collapsed on top of her, exhausted and fulfilled. Then a thought occurred to him. He rolled off of her and to his side of the bed, and asked if he'd hurt her. She turned to face him; she seemed to glow and shook her head. He wrapped his arm around her and drew her close to him. She rested her head against his shoulder and within minutes she was asleep. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead.

He gazed down at her lovingly, and wondered how he could have been so blind and stupid. She was amazing, beautiful, and he loved her. He wished he'd realized it sooner. All those years when he thought he'd hated her. He'd adored her, and yet he'd been so cruel to her. He sighed at the thought of all of those years wasted. That could have been time spent getting to know her.

He pulled the sheet over them both. Thinking of what had just happened. He'd made love to her. A smile crept across his lips. She was no longer a mudblood to him; she was his lover, his wife. He sighed at that thought and thanked whatever had led him to her door that day only a week ago. Had so much time passed in a week? It seemed like a lifetime ago. He'd never been happier in all of his life. He grew drowsy and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before sleep took him.

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Sunlight filtered in from the blinds. Hermione groaned as she began to wake up. She felt a pair of arms, familiar arms, around her and smiled. Then she realized that she was nude. She panicked and jumped out of bed and that in turn startled a very naked Draco awake. He sat up and looked at her standing by the bed. She snatched the sheet from the bed to cover herself and that left him fully exposed.

He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow and then got out of bed to face her. He leaned down; his hand caressed the right side of her face as he kissed her. She gave in and then memories of the night before flooded back to her. She remembered how he touched her, how it felt, and she pulled back from the kiss. She looked into his eyes and saw them darken with his longing for her. She then looked down and saw him fully exposed. Heat rose to her cheeks. Then she looked at her bed and her eyes widened. There were stains on the sheet.

Why had she allowed passion to take her over? She'd lost all rational thought, but at least she'd been prepared. She'd used a spell to keep from getting pregnant since the moment he'd first woken up in her room. She'd feared that he might force himself upon her. She'd never expected to be a willing participant; still she was relieved to know that she'd taken the precaution.

She never thought that making love would feel so good. Although her body ached now, it had been wonderful. She headed toward the bathroom, shut the door, and then locked it. She then brushed her teeth, and turned on the shower. She got in and the warm water helped to sooth some of the aches in her body. She was in the middle of lathering up her body when she felt someone taking the soap from her hand. She turned around to see that Draco had joined her in the shower.

"Allow me," he said as he looked her over from head to toe and then took the washcloth from her other hand and began to lather it up for her.

"Please Draco, don't..."

He looked down at her in astonishment. "Why?"

"I...j-just f-f-feel so exposed," she stammered and tried to cover herself with her arms.

He smirked. "That didn't stop you last night."

Her face flamed. "I'm not really sure how that happened last night. Maybe it was hormones or something."

"Is that all?" he asked indignantly, and then he continued, "I practically told you I loved you, and then we were kissing, and touching. I made love to you last night. Stop being technical and just feel for once in your life, Granger! Feel me, tell me that I'm real, that I'm here and I'm real."

She swallowed thickly and looked into his blue eyes. "Of course you're real. Why would you think otherwise?"

"I never existed before. I was only there when my father wanted me there, when he wanted his son to praise him and follow in his footsteps. I had no friends. All I had was money, and what good is that compared to what I have now?" he spoke gently.

Her eyes were filled with shock. She'd never seen him like this before. He'd always been cold and cruel Malfoy to her, and then a week ago he came to her weak and desperate, and she'd saved him. Taken responsibility of his life. Now she was seeing who he really was. He was human, like anyone else. He could bleed and he knew pain.

She pushed a wet lock of his hair back and ran her fingertips down his jaw as she whispered, "How could anyone ignore you?"

She leaned up and kissed him. They showered together. He washed her back and she washed his. He swore when he got shampoo in his eyes and she had to suppress the laughter bubbling up within her. Once they were clean they got out of the shower and she noticed that he'd brought their clothes into the bathroom. She got a couple of towels from the cabinet that was beneath the sink. They dried off and then dressed. She looked from him to the door and then asked how he'd gotten in.

He smirked, "You're not the only one that knows the Alohomora charm."