FIC CHALLENGE FROM heeroduo1x2. Criteria are:

1. Draco & Hermione are the main characters

2. Angst, drama, romance or comedy – any genre fine with me

3. Must be 1000 words or less

4. Can take place at any time during Hogwarts school years, but has to be novel compliant (no AU)

5. Characters can be slightly OCC and you can include anyone – I don't have any restrictions

6. Characters can have sex or not – your choice

Story word count: 1,000 words

Here's the second in the series… PLEASE REVIEW!

DRAMIONE FLASHFIC SERIES: STORY #2 – LUMOS, NOX

By: RZZMG

Saturday night, December 28, 1996

Impish shadows chased across the ancient stone walls and ceiling, flickering zealously as the flames within the magically-lit heating stove in the center of the dorm room played at being living, breathing tongues of fire. The manic dance shaded his platinum-blond hair, highlighting it charcoal, and turned his arsenic-colored eyes a darker slate. Yet, despite the passing tint, there was no mistaking the warmth that shimmering in the wintry depths.

Tenderness had never been one of Draco Malfoy's presupposed character traits, yet as Hermione lay in his arms, pressed deep into his soft mattress, his fingers stroking her cheek with gentle feathering and his lips slowly seducing her, she couldn't help but wonder at his tremendous care. Who was this man who touched her with such reverence, whose golden-fringed lashes brushed against her cheeks like pixie wings, and whose lower lip trembled as he charmed her with soul-shattering kisses? Where was the sneering façade, the scathing cruelties that cut her to the quick every time? They were as absent as the sun just then.

"You sure?" he asked, his sensual whisper tainted with unease. "We can stop here. No foul, no harm."

Such thoughtful consideration was not at all what she had expected, especially given their history. But then, Draco had proven over the last two months that he wasn't at all as she had been led to believe.

"Positive," she affirmed, swallowing her thumping heart. "I've already taken the Contraceptive Potion, as agreed." She assessed him, noting the tight lines about his eyes. "Are you sure?"

He licked his lips. "Yes," he contended, hypnotized by the movement of his fingers lightly tracing her jaw. "I want you."

Hearing his sincere affirmation resolved Hermione's will: there would be no backing out now. Tonight would serve the trifecta purpose of staging a surreptitious rebellion against her reputation, manifesting revenge against Ron and his new sex toy, and assuring her initiation properly into adulthood.

Tonight she was giving her virginity to Draco Malfoy and to hell with the repercussions, just this once.

"I want you, too."

He disrobed her with infinite patience, slipping each piece away to expose tantalizing snippets of her body, kissing and touching and lathing each revelation, encouraging her breathy, moaning pleas for more with sinful enticements of his pale hands and moist lips. When she lay panting, a little sweaty and completely uninhibited upon his dark green duvet, her hair fanned out across his plump, white pillow, he stopped to take in the vision.

"Beautiful."

Slipping out of his clothing quickly, he gave her just enough time to see his silhouette against the canvas of flames, and then he mounted her. Instantly, her breathing sped to catch up with her pounding heart. "Relax," he bid gently, even as he slid his length between her swollen, soaked labia and began entering her. As he breached her hymen, she whimpered and dug her nails into his shoulders in a symbolic, shared blood-letting… and then he was flowing into her, parting her flesh smoothly, until he was fully seated within. They paused to adjust, to consider each other and what they had just done.

Draco smoothed hair from her brow. "Okay?"

Hermione nodded. "Gently, alright?"

That enigmatic smile finally made an appearance.

He set an easy rhythm, but eventually, at her gradual urging, his hips rocked faster and deeper, until finally his expression changed, seeming almost pained. "Come," he begged, clearly fighting off his own release so they could find joy together. "Hurry."

Hermione's body tensed, reaching, but it took dropping her gaze down the length of their flesh to stimulate her orgasm. Graphically defined by the firelight, she watched as Draco's wet penis slid in and out of her vagina, her cherry-colored blood dampening his golden curls and pale thighs.

It occurred to her then, as they sought their own individual fulfillment in this act that they actually merged, becoming one being striving towards an ultimate, shared bliss. Sex, then, was no more than a means to touch another's soul.

It was the most beautiful enlightenment she'd ever experienced… and it was enough to bring her.

Clutching Malfoy's hair, she dragged him down for a kiss as her body tumbled over the black abyss, her way lit by red and orange bursts of flame behind her lids. With a blissful cry, her consciousness soared into the reckless fires of heaven. A moment later, his body tensed, his hands gripped her hair firmly and he slammed into her over and over, gasping into her mouth as he released his seed up into her channel.

They clung to each other in the aftermath, silently shaking and panting for breath. Eventually, he pulled out and flopped to her side. "Good?" he murmured as he pressed a small kiss to her shoulder, wrapping an arm about her waist and pulling her close.

Nodding, her brain fuzzy, Hermione struggled against her rest. "Wonderful. Thank you."

His dark chuckle shivered her bare skin. "You, too."

They fell asleep like that, unconcerned about discovery; Draco was the only Slytherin in the men's dorms over holiday break, after all.

The following morning, as he lay snoozing, Hermione quietly redressed, then turned for one final look at his door, feeling an odd sadness grip her heart.

One night only - that had been the agreement. It had been magnificent – a memory worth keeping forever, but it was over now. And there would be no need to threaten him to keep this secret, as both understood they were not only constrained by social prejudice, but that they were actually threatened by it; she'd spied the sinister, black tattoo under the bandages he'd worn to hide his shame, and instantly comprehended that there could never be a future for them.

Brushing back a tear, she crept out of Malfoy's room and did not look back, the bitter, resentful taste of cold ash coating her tongue, and the chill of winter settling into her bones once again.

~FIN~

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

In the case of this fic, the use of the word "trifecta" is defined as "any achievement involving three successful outcomes," and is a play on words, of sorts, on its other meaning, which is "a form of betting in which the punter selects the first three place-winners in a horse race in the correct order." In this case, Hermione is betting on herself in first, second and third place wins across the board by agreeing to sleep with Malfoy.