Draco's entire body hurt. He only had vague memories of the night and following day he'd spent as a werewolf, but he could clearly remember both transformations. If the cracking of his bones hadn't been off-putting enough, the feeling of his muscles tearing and realigning was.

He hadn't actually been as out of control as he'd expected. From what his father had told him about werewolves and watching Greyback's pack attack others, he'd expected to rage through the forest slaughtering anything that moved. Instead, the Wolfsbane potion had kept him from turning so feral and he'd kept his mind while his body had changed. He'd spent most of his time in the Shrieking Shack, but after he got bored, he'd roamed the forest and tried not to think about how he'd face this every month.

It was an hour after his transformation back that he felt like he'd be able to move. He groaned as he pushed himself off of the floor and crawled over to the tunnel that would take him back to Hogwarts. He stopped several times along the way and when he finally crawled out from under the Whomping Willow, it was well past dark.

He could hear chatter in the Great Hall as dinner finished up and even though he was starving, he wasn't in the mood to join. Instead, he left the Whomping Willow and headed back to the head's dormitory as quickly as his exhausted body would let him. It wasn't until he was at the bottom of the staircase leading up to his dorm that he caught a drift of Hermione's scent mingled with another. His wolf went crazy after not being around her for a full 24 hours and seeing as Draco had caged himself away the days leading up, he really should have expected it.

Still, part of him was amazed that he made it up the stairs as fast as he did. He'd hardly done more than blink before he was throwing open their dormitory door and his wolf was snarling at the scent of another man.

At his abrupt intrusion, Hermione and Blaise jumped and turned to look at him. Blaise seemed to have the decency to be standing by the fireplace across from Hermione who was sat on the couch, but Draco's wolf hardly cared. He could smell Blaise clearly and knew he'd been in the dorm for at least a day. As far as Draco knew, he could have stayed the night while he was gone.

"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She snatched something off of a nearby study desk and hurried over to him. "I made you a pain relief potion. Remus was always sore after the full moon, so I thought perhaps you could use it."

Draco tried really hard to keep from snarling at Blaise, he did. Logically, he knew Blaise would never touch or hurt Hermione, but his wolf didn't seem to care. The only thing he could really seem to think about was how Blaise had taken over his space in the short time he'd been gone.

"What's he doing here?" Draco demanded, glaring at Blaise. Blaise raised an eyebrow at him but didn't seem otherwise concerned.

"He helped me with the Wolfsbane potion last night," Hermione answered. She grabbed his hand and forced the pain relief potion into his clenched fist. At her touch, his wolf subsided a little as the urge to fight Blaise was replaced with the urge to hold Hermione tightly. "Oh good," she said, smiling up at him and he took the potion, "Your eyes are back to normal."

He looked at her curiously, wondering what she meant. Did his eyes change? Why did that happen?

"Blaise has been worried about you," Hermione said. Draco looked from Hermione to Blaise who was very pointedly avoiding his gaze. "He's offered up his mother's store of bezoars so I can make the Wolfsbane potion for the foreseeable future."

"Blaise was worried?" Draco asked, smirking as his best friend glared at him.

"I won't be during the next full moon," he announced, glaring at Hermione for revealing his poorly hidden secret. "Now that I know you're still a right arse, I'll keep my worry reserved for those who deserve it."

Draco's smirk morphed into a glare at that but Blaise just grinned. He pushed himself away from the fireplace and walked over to where Draco and Hermione were standing.

"Now that I've bullied Draco for the day, I'll take my leave," he said. He grabbed his book bag from the floor and walked towards the door, turning to wave at them before he disappeared. As he pushed open the door, he looked at them both and said, "Don't be dumb, kids."

The door closed after him before either Hermione or Draco could scold him.

Even though Blaise's scent still lingered, Draco's wolf couldn't help but remind him he was now alone with Hermione, something he hadn't allowed for several days. The smell of her had his wolf going crazy and his thoughts narrowing down to nothing but her. He wasn't really thinking when he reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, but as he pulled her even closer, he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I missed you," he said, leaning forward until his face was buried in the crook of her neck. He inhaled deeply and relished in her scent. His wolf was happy until she hesitantly hugged him back and he realised he wanted more.

"Are we back on good terms now?" she asked.

Draco just hummed and lightly kissed her neck. Hermione tensed but didn't pull away as he continued kissing down her neck. He pulled her closer, and she melted against his chest when he kissed a particularly sensitive spot.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but perhaps we should talk about what happened last time?" she asked. Her voice was breathy and it made Draco smirk against her neck.

"No," he replied. He could see Hermione frowning in his mind but he ignored the image of it in favour of others that his wolf wanted to think of. "You smell good," he told her, kissing back up her neck until he reached her jaw.

"Draco," she argued. She brought her hands up between them and pushed him off of her.

He growled at being forced away and pulled her even tighter against his chest. She glared up at him and shoved his face away when he tried to smell her again. His wolf snarled and Draco struggled not to lash out in frustration. He grabbed her arm before she could pull it back, preventing her from moving further away. He was almost certain that if she left now, he would go crazy.

"You can't do that," he said, gritting out the words as he focused hard on shoving his wolf back. "I can't—The wolf won't stand for it, Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened before she tilted her head to look at him curiously. Draco found himself admiring her even as he struggled against his wolf.

"The wolf?" she asked. Draco nodded tightly, releasing her arm when she tugged on it. She didn't step away, though. "What's he like? Your wolf?" she clarified.

His wolf surged forward at the mention and when Draco blinked, he had his hands tangled in her hair. Hermione didn't look concerned. Instead, she smiled softly up at him and Draco stayed very tense as he refrained from giving his wolf more control.

"I don't think now is a good time," he said tersely. He let go of Hermione and tried to take a large step back. His feet barely moved and his wolf snarled at him from leaving Hermione's side. "You should probably go. Stay the night in the Gryffindor Tower."

Hermione frowned at him.

"No," she argued. His wolf begged him to snatch her back up in his arms and take her up to his room, but Draco refrained.

"Hermione, just go," Draco said. Hermione shook her head which was unfortunate because it meant Draco could now smell her even better and his control was wavering. Even now, he took a step back toward Hermione and reached one arm up to cup the back of her neck.

"Is this what he's like? Is this the wolf?" she asked quietly, staring up at him as he looked down at her. His wolf shoved forward and Draco felt his self control waver significantly.

"Not yet," Draco murmured. His face was so close to hers now he could feel her breathe.

It was too much and not enough all at once and Draco was getting tired of fighting it. She hadn't left when she clearly knew what he fighting; maybe she wanted him as badly as he wanted her right now.

Without another thought, Draco surged forward and pressed his lips on hers. She didn't gasp this time like she had the first time, so Draco had to press his tongue against her lips before she opened her mouth. Her arms wrapped around his torso as she wobbled slightly and Draco wrapped his free hand around her waist.

One of her hands reached up to pull his head closer and she gently tugged on the hairs at the nape of his neck. Draco purred at the feeling and Hermione smiled against his lips.

He hadn't even realised he was walking her backward until they hit the sofa. Hermione let out a surprised gasp and started to fall back, but Draco grabbed her tightly before she could. Her hands flew to his shoulders and Draco took the opportunity to kiss down her neck once again.

When he hit her sensitive spot, he hovered over it for a moment. Rather than just kiss it and move on, he lowered his lips and suckled the spot just below her jawline. Hermione jumped slightly when he nipped at her but relaxed when he licked over the mark soothingly. One day he'd mark her for real, but now was not the time.

She moaned when he sucked hard on her skin and Draco's self-control slipped even further.

Continuing to kiss and nip at her neck, he said, "Don't make—" He nipped her, "—those sounds—" He licked over the spot, "—or I'll lose more—" He paused for suck on her neck for several seconds, making sure there would be a mark in the morning. As he moved further down her neck, he said, "—of my control."

Hermione moaned again when he kissed her collar and his hold on her tightened even more.

"Maybe I want you to lose control," she breathed. Draco growled at the implication and moved his lips back up to hers.

He kissed her hard, certain her lips would be bruised and swollen the next morning. Hermione didn't pull away though.

"Hermione," he warned, pulling away just enough to look at her. He knew already that if he tried to stop, his wolf would give him hell. If she told him to though, he would force himself away. "I won't be able to stop," he told her, cupping her face and holding himself away from her. She frowned up at him as he said, "The wolf won't let me; not if we keep this up."

There was a pause as Hermione considered what he was warning her of. Even now, Draco struggled to keep from continuing to kiss her, but he waited for her to make the decision on her own. He refused to let his wolf force her to choose.

"I don't think—" she paused, taking a deep breath as she looked up at him. "I'm not ready for that, Draco, but I like it when you kiss me and I like this." She gestured between them, hitting his chest as they were so close. "Just don't shut me out again!" she said quickly, grabbing his arm.

Draco brushed his thumb against her cheek and nodded. His wolf still wanted to pick her up and take her to his room, but the thought of curling around her and kissing her late into the night appealed to his wolf as well. He wouldn't be able to pull himself away from her side now, his wolf would make sure of it, but both his wolf and his own mind seemed to agree on simply holding her.

"Alright," Draco agreed. He reached down and scooped her up into his arms. She yelped in surprise and wrapped her arms around him to stabilise herself, something his wolf found very pleasing.

As he settled down on the sofa, Hermione shifted into a more comfortable position that allowed him to happily nuzzle her neck and hold her close. His wolf very happily took advantage of Draco's moment of weakness while Draco wondered if he'd ever have control again. His thoughts were very quickly interrupted by Hermione pulling his lips back down to hers and kissing him sweetly.