c h a p t e r n i n e t e e n

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Draco awoke to the sound of keys jingling. "Im trying to sleep." he groaned, shifting positions on the couch.

"Sorry Draco." Hermione sighed. "I'm needed at the ministry according to Luna." Draco sat up and shielded his eyes as they adjusted to the light. "Looney Lovegood?" he asked.

Hermione gave a small hum as a response as she slipped into her shoes. "When will you be back?" "A few hours probably." she paused as she put her coat on, "There's some food in the fridge. Knock yourself out."

"Alright, have fun." he said.Hermione gave him a smile and apparated out of her home.

Draco had only just stood up when he heard a pop. "Did you forget someth- what do you want Weasley?" he asked when he looked up and saw that it wasn't Hermione.

"I need to talk." Ron said, crossing his arms. "You're out of luck Weasley, Hermione just left."

"Actually," he began as he took his shoes off, "I came to talk to you, Malfoy."

"Put those back on. Talk to me about what?" he asked."I've been an arse." "No shit."

Ron didn't say anything but he looked impatient. "I just came here to apologise to you for being a prat. My ex girlfriend is doing you a favour and i should be happy about the fact that it's just that and nothing more."

Draco stifled a laugh at his last sentence but he coughed to cover it up. "All is forgiven Weasley."

Draco didn't really care that much about his old rivals in the first place but he figured that if Ron was fine with him in general, then the Soulmate concept would be easier for Ron to understand.

The two boys stood in a silence that turned slightly awkward when suddenly Harry appeared with a pop. "Ronald! How many times do i have to tell you not to come here without Hermione's permission!"

Draco crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Harry. He was wearing what seemed to be his pyjamas and his hair was sticking out all over the place.

"Where Hermione?" Harry asked, finally realising that the only people in the room were him, Ron and Draco. "Out in the ministry with Looney."Harry furrowed his eyebrows but said 'oh' when he realised Draco was talking about Luna.

"Well alright, i'll just collect my Weasley and go." he said."Really, Mate?" groaned Ron."Yes. Now come along Ronald."

Ron gave Draco a weak wave before Harry apparated them both out of Hermione's apartment. "What a pair." the boy muttered before sitting down on the couch.

-

Draco abruptly sat up on the couch and started gasping for air. The TV was playing some old movie in the background even though he couldn't remember turning it on.

He stared at the TV for a few moments before he was interrupted by another wave of pain pounding in his chest. "What the fuck." he groaned, falling back on the couch.

"Draco, i'm h- oh sweet Merlin." Draco moaned as he felt a pair of hands grip his shoulders.

"Draco calm down, what happened?"Suddenly the pain stopped. He sat up and saw Hermione who was kneeling on the floor, still in her coat.

"Where's the soulmate book?" he asked, looking around the room."The library room probably, why?""What time is it?" he said, ignoring Hermione's question.

She sighed as she stood up and took her coat off. "Nine pm." Draco stopped looking around the room and cast his gaze upon her. "You were at the ministry for ten hours?"

Hermione gave a sheepish smile as she threw her shoes off. "They offered me a job in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

Draco grinned as he got up from the couch. "That's great, but you're soulmates with a Malfoy. We literally don't need to work at all."

Hermione looked down and fumbled with her fingers. "This is something i've wanted since fourth year." "Do it. I'm not stopping you.""I know."

"Can i ask you something?" Draco asked. Hermione raised an eyebrow but nodded nevertheless. "Did you do anything intimate at the ministry?"

She furrowed her eyebrows in thought and shrugged. "I ran into Harry and Ron on my way out and i gave them both hugs, if that counts."

Draco nodded and started heading towards the library. "Where are you going?" Hermione questioned. "I'm getting the book. Get into bed, Granger. We're gonna read a bedtime story."

-

"I feel ridiculous." Hermione sighed as she sat in her bed next to Draco who ignored her. He flipped through the pages until he said "Aha!" and pointed to chapter 16.

"Soulmate bonds. I think that's what happened to me when you hugged Potter and Weasley." he explained. Hermione raised her eyebrow, "What the hell are soulmate bonds?"

"Well it says here..." he began, tracing his finger along the page, "that the more and more time that you spend with your Soulmate, the stronger the bond becomes. Any positive emotion that you feel when around your soulmate contributes to building up the strength of the bond."

Hermione stared at the pages before looking up at him. "But why are you only just experiencing this? And why isn't it affecting me?

Draco smirked. "Who says i haven't experienced this before?" Hermione gave him a confused look and he sighed. "When you hugged Potter after he gave you my potions, i felt a pain in my chest. It was ignorable at the time but i guess our bond became stronger after the birthday date."

The girl nodded along to his words and glanced up. Draco was staring at her and she found herself not being able to look away from his cold eyes. "Why haven't i experienced this though?" she asked, averting her stare. Draco blinked and focused his gaze back upon the book.

"It's not like i have anyone to contradict the bond with." he said. Hermione nodded but she wasn't really paying attention. She couldn't get the image of his lonely eyes out of her mind.

"Alright," he said, closing the book, "I'll let you get some sleep." Hermione grabbed his arm and when he turned to raise his eyebrow at her, she shook her head and said, "Stay."

-

The two ended up sleeping in the same bed. Hermione fell asleep before Draco and he made sure to slip her some of the dreamless sleep potion. He would usually give her a few drops in her tea but he didn't have a chance since she was at the ministry for most of the day.

"Goodnight Hermione." he whispered as he awkwardly wrapped his arm around her waist, resting his head in the crook of her neck. However, just as he had closed his eyes, she turned her body around to face him.

"Goodnight Draco." she muttered, completely ignoring how suddenly rigid Draco's body had become. Their faces were a mere few centimetres apart from each other and he could feel her slow and steady breaths.

He noticed how she smelt like vanilla which reminded him an awful lot of his amortentia potion, but he tried not to think about that. Instead, he focused his mind on the arm that she had carelessly slung across his waist.

Draco smiled slightly and eventually relaxed under her touch, falling asleep to the sound of her even heartbeat.

-

am i moving too fast?gAh idk

Soulmates has 1k reads(/views??) and i honestly can't thank you guys enough :')

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