A/N: This story is inspired by and borrows dialogue from an episode of Scandal. The borrowed bits have been provided at the end of the story. This is unbeta'd and just a silly thing for fun.

Trigger Warnings: Infidelity

xXx

Never have the warm winds of early June felt so stifling. Their sweeping gusts don't set me free; they remind me of just how rooted I am.

I laugh at my own absurdity. I don't know why I came. I know now it was a mistake. Naively, I thought I had more gumption than I do, that I might take it all in stride and shake Astoria Malfoy's hand with a bright smile and everything would be fine.

It's not fine.

Theo is still inside. He's one of those inherently good men that every witch ought to seek to steal away forever. Ought to. But like Eve to the apple I am drawn to sin and—while I would never say it in good company—I'm bored with him.

I've already known love that steals your breath away, the kind makes the world go hazy, and in the wake of a love like that, everything fails in comparison.

A particularly unruly gust of wind curls around me, tossing my curls around my face and like a bludger, his scent hits me—surrounds me. I bristle, turning just barely over my shoulder as I see his tall frame approaching through the shrubs that make up the Malfoy Manor gardens.

He's silent as he moves to loom over me, his breath somehow harsher than the wind.

"She's done a good job with the gardens in your mother's stead. They're pretty." I say flatly. The compliment is weak and not really intended as a compliment at all. Still, he remains silent. "And the party is nice, the food in particular. Your wife sure knows how to throw a party."

"Don't call her that."

An ugly snort mars my features and I reel on him. "Is there another term you'd prefer for the Lady of the Manor?"

"Granger…"

"Don't Granger, me. I—" Any futile attempt at words dies in my throat and I mash my jaw together. "Nevermind. It's your birthday and I shouldn't have come. Theo—"

Draco scoffs. "Theo. That sodding prick. I can't believe you came with him. Does he know?"

"Know?"

"Yeah," he deadpans, his lip curling. "Does he know about us?"

"There is no us."

"There was until last month when you decided you'd had enough and refused to answer a fucking owl. What? All your quills broken?"

My gaze narrows and I swear I could punch him. Would love to feel the familiar crunch from all those years ago. "Quills are just fine, thanks. It's the query I had no interest in."

"Merlin'sfuckingtits." Dragging a hand through his perfectly styled hair, he begins pacing. A nervous habit I know well. "Why are you here, Granger? If you didn't want to see me why in the hell would you come to my birthday party? You just want to torture me some more?"

"Torture you?" The words taste like vinegar on my tongue and I wonder if maybe he's right. I sniff and tilt my chin in the air. "I came because I was invited and Theo requested me to come as his date. Clearly it was a mistake. I'm sorry."

He stops pacing. "You were invited?"

"Yes."

"By whom?"

Two blinks. "I assumed by you."

"Well, I didn't invite you. No offence but you fell off the face of the earth and have treated me like absolute shite for over a month so—no—I didn't invite you."

Curiosity curls in my stomach but I'm too exhausted by simply existing in the same space as Draco Malfoy for me to care. "Well, it doesn't matter. I shouldn't have come and I'll tell Theo and we'll—" My jaw trembles and I try to take a step past him but he's fast, always was so bloody fast, and his fingers curl around my elbow.

"I don't' want you with Theo Nott."

Yanking my arm back into my possession, my features wither. "That's not for you to have an opinion on, I'm afraid. Listen," I pause, pressing my fingers to my temple where an angry headache is blooming. Too much champagne. "You and me—it was a fling. A stupid and irresponsible affair that should have never of happened. And I'm so so sorry that it did and if I could take it back I would."

Draco's face turns from passive to steel. "Don't. Don't belittle us. It's insulting and beneath you and a shitty attempt to drive me away. I'm not going away."

There it is. The first traitorous tear that stripes down my cheeks and I hate myself. I hate myself for caring, for crying, for loving this impossible fucking man. Bile inches up my throat and with a hard swallow I banish it back to my belly.

"I don't have to drive you away, Malfoy. You're married. You are away from me. You are away simply by definition. You're unavailable. I don't have time in my life for impossible or unavailable. "

"So this is about Astoria?" His features crumple in disbelief and I can't believe the bloke is considered intelligent because he can't more fucking obtuse when it comes to us—comes to this.

"No! This is—" Rage presses in on my lungs and this ridiculous dress I spent far too many galleons on is suffocating me. Words begin to tumble from my lips before I can make sense of this. "This is so much more fucked up than you being married. I see her, I smile for her. I ask her how her latest charity is and then I take my clothes off for you. It's sick, Malfoy." New tears break free and I'm quick to make them disappear with the tips of my fingers. I try to regain my control but it's brittle and breaks as I cry. "How can't you see that? I wait for you. I watch for you. My whole life is you. I can't breathe because I'm waiting for you. I'm always fucking waiting for you. Even when I'm not. You own me; you control me. I belong to you."

The iciness in his features melts and he's enraged and unraveled. Hands flying into the air then beating into his chest. Angry tears rim his eyes and every tendon in his throat is bulging from his skin. "You. Own. Me! You control me. I'm yours; I belong to you. Anything else? It's not real, Hermione. You are. We are."

His hands are on my cheeks and I try to shake my head to rid myself of his touch but I don't mean it. Not really. He pulls my face back to his and It physically pains me to see the hurt I've caused.

"Don't' you think I want to be a better man? A man who dedicates himself to his marriage? That after all the bullshit in my life I've worked so hard to overcome, I would want to be honourable. To be the man who deserves you?"

"I love you, Hermione. I'm in love with you. You're the love of my life. My every feeling is controlled by the look on your face." He shrugs and a single tear slips free, coursing a hot line down his hard cheek. "I can't sleep without you." His voice cracks and it breaks me. "I wait for you. I watch for you. I exist for you. If I could escape all of this and run away with you, I would. I will. You're not the victim." He swallows once. "I belong to you, too."

A moment stretches on—pulling tight and almost pained—begging for relief. I can't think. Thought suspends itself as his lips crash into mine, his fingers threading in my hair and I gasp against his mouth.

I shouldn't.

We shouldn't.

But he knows me maybe better than I know myself. We are inevitable, him and me, and I scold myself because deep down inside, I think I knew it would lead here. Maybe not in the garden, maybe in a spare room or the den. But I knew that coming here would lead to this. I succumb to my sin, let it wash over me like boiling water until I'm numb to the mistakes I've made.

He's guiding me, though I don't realize it until my back is against a beam of the gazebo. His hands are everywhere, taking routes on my skin he's already memorised. After all this time, he knows the hollow under my jaw and the freckles on my shoulder more intimately than I do.

My vision wanes as his teeth graze jaw and I hear his belt buckle. Then a zip. Gathering the silk of my dress, I moan as he rips my knickers to shreds.

With fumbling hands I find his cheeks and guide him back to me, kissing him with abandon as he slots himself at my entrance. Long fingers cradle the back of my knee hitching it higher as I find balance on the beam behind me.

With a single snap of his hips he fills me and fuck, I missed this. Missed him. A silent cry shudders forward and I cling to him like he's the only thing left tethering me to the earth. Everything is hard and punishing, from the way he drives into me like he's fucking angry to my nails rake across his scalp and neck.

My back arches and he feasts on every inch of me he can get as euphoria floods my system. I shatter and break around him, my mouth falling open while he fucks against this gazebo for a few more thrusts before he, too, is spent.

There is a breath where the world is right. Where we are still joined and he's still mine. But reality doesn't stay gone for long, it crashes over me and I'm scrambling to break free from him.

"Damnit. Fuck!" I'm hissing expletives as I right my dress and lift my knickers from the grass. "We shouldn't have done that, Draco."

After fussing with my curls, I leave him there buttoning his trousers as I make for the entrance of the garden. Theo is still waiting inside and damnit, I shouldn't have done that. My limbs tremble in a mix of post-orgasmic pleasure and frustration.

"Granger, wait!" He's at my side again in a few long paces and I petulantly cover my ears to keep his words away. "Let me see you."

"What?" I halt in my tracks in disbelief.

"Tonight. Let me come over to talk—that's all. Just talk. I'll get away when this is over. Please?"

I push through the entrance of the Malfoy gardens without turning back. With a sweep of my gaze, my heart stops. Draco nearly collides with my back and The pair of us gape at his wife. His beautiful wife.

"Ah, there you are, Draco dear. I was hoping you'd found your birthday gift."

I am speechless. Draco is not. "Astoria, what are you—"

"Your little tart," Astoria sneers, jerking her pointy chin in my direction. "You've been moping around for a month now since she started ignoring you and I'm sick of it. Merlin, you two were less discreet when you were actually fucking. Happy birthday, Draco." With a sniff, she turns and returns to the party.

A knot has coiled angrily in my throat and I swallow in a vain attempt to rid myself of it. I think I might live with it the rest of my days. "Please tell Theo something came up and I needed to leave. I can't—" Merlin, how much of this can I take. "I can't do this."

I make my way to the gates and Draco calls after me. "Tonight! What about tonight?"

I'm physically incapable of answering as I disappear into the darkness.

xXx

It's late and I should be asleep. But I not. I can feel where he's lovingly bruised my skin and I don't think I ever want to forget it. But it's too messy now—and it was pretty bloody messy before. If everyone found out—if anyone found out—they would be the scandal of the century. Malfoy and his Mudblood.

Curled in bed, I can do nothing but count the seconds as they tick towards sunrise.

A sharp knock on my front door rattles my scattere thoughts and I melt with relief. Tossing my covers back, I stumble as I rush to the door. I shouldn't be this way but I am. Wrenching the door open the door, I find him there, peeking up through his lashes at me with the top button of his Oxford undone.

It's stupid and dangerous and inherently wrong. But I belong to him and have for too long. I step aside for him to enter and the door has barely clicked in its latch when I'm in his arms again.

xXx

A/N: So as I said in the beginning author note, this is based off a scene in Scandal (Season 3, Ep 5). I'll include the full quote at the bottom of the A/N.

This is unbeta'd and just something that's been tickling my ear for far too long now, so thought I'd write it! Woohoo! Hope you liked it and thanks for reading!

Mwah!

LK

Quote:

President Fitzgerald Grant : You're playing the race card because I'm in love with you? Come on! Don't belittle us. It's insulting and beneath you and design to drive me away. I'm not going away.

Olivia Pope : I don't have to drive you away. You're married and you have children. You're the leader of the Free World. You are away by definition. You are away. You're unavailable.

President Fitzgerald Grant : So this is about Mellie?

Olivia Pope : No, no, no! This is... I smile at her and take off my clothes for you. I wait for you. I watch for you. My whole life is you. I can't breathe because I'm waiting for you. You own me, you control me, I belong to you.

President Fitzgerald Grant : You own me! You control me. I belong to you. You think I don't want to be a better man? You think that I don't want to dedicate myself to my marriage? You don't think I want to be honorable? To be the man you voted for? I love you. I'm in love with you. You're the love of my life. My every feeling is controlled by the look on your face. I can't breathe without you. I can't sleep without you. I wait for you, I watch for you. I exist for you. If I could escape all of this and run away with you? There's no Sally or Thomas here. You're nobody's victim, Liv. I belong to you. We're in this together.