Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Closer	By : Nocturne Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 29793 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowling. I do not own the Harry Potter fandom, nor do I make any money from this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 1-Closer
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 19
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- 21
It felt like the world was closing in on him. He was told the rivers would run dry and the mountains would flatten before any shred of hope came his way. And, yet, there he was…clutching the reigns of optimism with little to no strength left in him. It was no easy battle, but a battle nonetheless, a battle in which he saw no other opportunity but to succeed. Too much had happened for him to admit defeat now, at the threshold of victory.

The only question left was how? How had this opportunity come about? Better yet, to whom did he owe thanks?

It was a question that wouldn’t go unanswered for long. As he curved his trembling fingers around the door to immortality, a surge of realization ran through him. He stumbled backwards, falling on his left side and reaching out into the air as a collection of images flooded his mind.

First there was a girl. Her hair was as bright as the fire that had once burned within him, and her eyes as blue as the sky. She smelled of flowers and spoke with a voice that made his heart ache for more.

Then there was another, a young man, her kin. He wore a goofy grin and had tiny bits of food stuck on his knitted jumper. Something told him this young man was close by.

After that he saw another girl, older than the last, but not by much – mostly in maturity. She had a protective presence about her, an air of knowledge and loyalty that told him she was an ally. Her surroundings were dark compared to the others, and at first he hadn’t thought much of it, but before long something emerged from the shadows, beside the girl.

It was another person, a person who, for some inexplicable reason, made his insides churn with discomfort. He was tall, fair-haired and hovered over the girl with a sense of longing, as though she was or had been unattainable for some period of time. In a way it was tragic, but before long the young man disappeared into his spot behind the shadows.

Only then did the images cease. It felt as though he had seen a life long gone, memories once lived, with and without these four people. And before the first gust of air filled his lungs, he knew this life these people.

Harry, a voice called out to him. Harry Potter.

That is my name, he thought to himself, feeling a sense of familiarity. Who are you? Where am I?

The voice traveled in the wind of this parallel universe. He saw earth and trees and sky and grass, but in front of him stood that same door – tall and made of the darkest wood he had ever laid eyes on. Sunlight reflected off the brass doorknob, blinding him momentarily.

Open it, urged the voice, neither male nor female. Open it and see.

Before he could respond, an invisible force nudged him to the door, which swung wide, bidding him entrance into the unknown.

He closed his eyes.

~

Astoria awoke in a cold sweat, feeling a blinding pain in her lower abdomen. “Fuck,” she cursed, kicking the sheets off her trembling body. First it was too hot and then it was too cold.

“Are you all right?”

She turned around, spotting a familiar face by the door to her tent. “Sasuke,” she said, relieved. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Sorry if I startled you,” he apologized, bowing his head.

Astoria smiled, finding his propriety endlessly entertaining. “Don’t be such a shinshi,” she said, ending with a wink. “You know you don’t have to keep up the act around me. I’m no lady.”

“Picking up on the native tongue,” he said, grinning for half a second. “Being a gentleman is no act, I’m afraid. If you wanted a regular twenty-four-year-old as your partner in this, you should have asked someone else to fill the role.”

“All right, all right,” she said, holding up her hands in surrender. “I give up…for now. Just hand me the medication in my bag and we’ll trade posts. You’ve barely slept.”

“It’s fine,” he assured her, handing her the medicated balm. “Pull up your shirt.”

Astoria arched an eyebrow, flashing him a naughty look. “Saucy.”

“You know that’s not my intention,” Sasuke said, a tad annoyed yet amused all the same. “I’m a trained Healer. It’s my duty to assist you with your recovery.”

“I would like to think of myself as capable of rubbing some balm on my burn.”

“It is no regular burn,” he said matter-of-factly. “A dragon burn is no product of whimsy. You could have died.”

“Could have,” she repeated. “But I’m still here, unfortunately for you.”

Sasuke eyed her knowingly. “It’s not that I dislike you…”

“You just can’t stand me. I get it.”

“It is not so.”

“Then how is it? You’re the only partner I’ve had who hasn’t so much as snuck a peek. I’m starting to think you might prefer –”

“ – I’m not gay,” he interjected, maintaining his composure. “I’m just…”

“You.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, then, heal away,” said Astoria, resigned as she laid back on her elbows with her shirt rolled up to the spot just below her bosom. She watched as Sasuke, her undercover partner and informant on this mission, gently rubbed the balm on her burn. She could barely feel his fingers, but in the rare moment she did, a surge of electricity ran through her. She felt hot again, but in a different way.

In a rather unprecedented move, Astoria grabbed his hand by the wrist and stared him in the eye.

“What are you doing?” he asked, the calmness in his eyes disappearing bit by bit.

“Prove it to me,” she said. “Just this once. I promise I’ll never speak of it again. Just prove it to me.”

“Prove what?”

“Prove it’s not an act.”

As if on cue, a wisp of dark hair fell just over his eyes, giving him a different look, a look of someone much less mature, with much less control. She found it terribly sexy.

“I’m a gentleman, yes, but even gentlemen fall victim to…needs,” he explained, inching away slightly. “Like I said, there is no act, and proving that would make me less than a scoundrel.”

Astoria couldn’t help but pout. “You know all this talk of needs and scoundrels is more foreplay than I’ve had in two years, right?”

Sasuke frowned; only then realizing his hand was still on her lower abdomen. He carefully lifted it, twisting the lid on the balm and making motion to move away before she yanked him back into place. This time he landed on her torso to torso. The impact on her burn should have driven her into a state of agony, but she felt nothing of the sort.

“I swore an oath,” he explained. “I swore an oath to never touch a woman the way you want.”

“Oaths can be broken,” Astoria argued. “Both of us are breaking one right now, plotting against the Dark Lord in his own hideout.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “The Dark Lord is a tyrant who deserves to be defeated once and for all, whereas my attraction towards you is nothing but the product of my age and…lack of self-control.”

“Really? You’re showing some insane self-control right now. Most men would have jumped my bones by now.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to say things like that all the time.”

Astoria cracked a smile. “Is that jealousy I hear?”

“No,” he said hastily.

“Yes, I believe it was. You’re jealous…” she laughed. “You think I’ve slept with all my partners, don’t you?”

“No.”

Astoria giggled. “Oh, Sasuke. Just because they make advances at me doesn’t mean I take them.” She laughed to herself some more as he rolled away, both their bodies positioned upright, facing the ceiling of the tent.

“Then why do you find it absolutely necessary to…entice me?”

She gave a half-shrug. “You’re different. You’re kind, compassionate, proper, and a breath of fresh air compared to some of the blokes I’ve been assigned with over the past few years. I’d be a complete moron not to give you a go.”

“That’s another thing,” he said, glancing away. “What if that image fades away if I give in? Won’t that make me the same as the others?”

Astoria had given this a fair bit of thought, but came to the same conclusion. “No,” she said confidently. “Because it’s not just some image or some act. This is who you are and who you always will be, oath or no oath. You haven’t given in because not only do you respect the oath and yourself, but you respect me as a woman,” she explained, his expression telling her she took the words right out of his mouth. “And when a woman can see that in a man, well…it doesn’t take much else after that.”

"Watashi wa josei ga totemo utsukushiku mita koto ga nai,” he muttered under his breath, darting his gaze in her direction. “Mata watashi wa son'nani doryoku de jibun no kimochi o kyohi shite iru.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

Sasuke turned away, closing his eyes, in complete and utter denial. “Nothing. Sleep well, Miss Greengrass.”

tried something different. please rate and review! tell me what you think :)

xo.
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Closer