"Draco, listen—"

"Please, Granger. Need you, I need—"

Her hands faltered. He screwed his eyes shut, forehead pressed against hers, drawing in ragged breaths. She felt him shaking, trying to reclaim some semblance of control.

And then he surged forward, overwhelming her senses, hands skimming her and mouth devouring her like water in the desert. She parted her lips to reason with him as he broke away, his tongue and teeth following the path down her neck he'd mapped two days prior, but then he found the place beneath her ear that made her vision spot white and her protests vanished. Her fingers curled into his robes, knees buckling.

Draco's hands snapped to her backside, squeezing her, lifting her up, causing her thighs to wrap around him on instinct. Her mind spun to keep up, screaming at her to slow him down, but then her back slammed against a wall and his hips rolled harshly against her core. Her eyes shot open.

"Draco—"

He mumbled broken desires against her neck, hands roaming her thighs and slipping under her thin dress to cup her arse.

"Wanna taste you…" He breathed heavily on her skin, and when his hips pressed into her again, her hands gripped his hair, thighs tightening around him. "Fuck… Wanna fuck you. Want you to come… Wanna feel it on my cock…"

Hermione shuddered at the images, the need, the rawness of it all — and then reality crashed through her foggy consciousness.

"Stop," she gasped.

His body slowed. His lips paused.

"We have to stop," she panted. "You need the antidote."

His forehead dropped against her shoulder, his entire body trembling. She slowly let her legs drop to the floor. He exhaled shakily, and seemed to breathe her in one last time before pushing away from her and stumbling backward. He pushed his hands into his eyes and hunched over, breathing deeply.

She took a cautious step forward, her pulse racing. "We have to act quickly. Do you have any more of the antidote? Or do we need to brew it?"

He was still, apart from the sharp rise and fall of his ribs. "Need to brew it," he wheezed. "Not sure it works on this version."

She nodded, ignoring the cold fear in her chest. "Let's go."

"I need a minute," he growled.

She bit her lip and dug her fingers into her palms, waiting. He breathed into his hands, his ribs expanding slower and slower as he calmed himself. She was about to prod him again when he shot up tall, staring over her, his eyes dark and empty. His jaw was set and his expression dead.

A chill ran down her shoulders as she took in his vacant eyes. "Are you alright?" When he said nothing, simply gazing into the fireplace, she inched closer. "Do you have it under control?"

His head turned, and when his eyes landed on her, they seemed to flash with a black fire before it vanished — like a reptilian blink.