He pulled back to stare down at her, his hair falling across his face, his skin pale with the morning light. She gasped as her walls contracted around him one last time, her eyelids fluttering as her cunt pulsed. His mouth opened, and he licked his lips.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered.

Her eyes closed again as she clutched his arms, focusing on her breathing.

He slipped out of her slowly, and she moaned at the ache and the mess. He kissed every bruise he'd left behind, apologizing for being too rough, and she shook her head and said, "You weren't."

~*~

The next few days were much of the same: she and Draco would research in his room throughout the day, and at night, fall into bed together. Theo was scheduled to visit at the end of the week, so they refocused on the tattoos, dissecting Nott Sr.'s journal line by line. Draco soon found that the quickest way to distract her from the books was by kissing the spot under her ear, and she soon found that there was little she could do to keep him focused when he was wanting her. She woke up with his arms and sheets tangled around her, and if Narcissa suspected anything, she didn't say so.

The Prophet now listed Viktor Krum as Undesirable No. 1, printing his face on the front page daily and calling for his immediate capture should he be found in the U.K. On Wednesday, another small article caught her eye:

Minister Grubov of Bulgaria has been thoroughly vetted by the Dark Lord's interrogators, and was found innocent of all collusion. When asked for a statement, Minister Grubov told the Prophet, "I am deeply saddened by the betrayal of one of our brightest. Bulgaria remains loyal to the Great Order."

She frowned down at the paper, wondering how Viktor had accomplished such a deep undercover task without allies. The only other Bulgarian Hermione knew to be at Edinburgh was Draco's friend Katya.

Her breath caught. She'd been so wrapped up in the tattoos that she'd forgotten that critical detail. Katya had been the one to ensure that Draco would bring her to Edinburgh on the night of the attack. She'd promised to be there, but hadn't showed up.

Hermione mumbled an apology to Narcissa as she bolted from the breakfast table and ran up the stairs. Draco was poring over a book on blood magic when she burst through the door.

"Katya."

He stared at her. "Sorry?"

"She was the one who made sure we were there that night, even though she didn't show up herself. It's highly likely that she's working with the Order. And perhaps Viktor as well."

His throat bobbed. "It's possible, yes."

Hermione's lungs dragged in air. "Can you write to her and ask her to visit? If she has ties to the True Order, we might be able to pass a message through her. We could tell them what happened with Charlotte."

Draco closed his book and stood, his eyes fixed over her shoulder. "Alright."