Hermione rubbed her eyes, sagging against the counter. She tried again, dropping the first mouse back into the barrier alone, and watching it successfully leave with no ink on its leg or shocks to its system.

She tried it with the second mouse, and had the same results — the mouse was free.

At five a.m., she was on her fourth mouse when there was a knock on the potions laboratory door.

She held her breath as the door pushed open, and when Draco poked his head inside, she threw herself into his arms. He lifted her off the floor as she pressed their lips together and cupped his face. He set her down slowly, looking exhausted but bright-eyed. Then one of the mice caught his attention, scurrying over his shoes and out the door.

He jumped. "What—?"

She pressed her lips to his again, smiling and winding her arms around his shoulders.

"You're back. Are you alright?"

"Granger, there are mice everywhere—"

"It works," she said breathlessly. "Draco, it works. I've broken the tattoos."

He blinked at her, his eyes wide in astonishment. There was a flicker of something else, but it vanished quickly. His expression was soft as he pushed her curls out of her face and tucked them behind her ear.

"Of course you did."

He kissed her deeply and she grinned against his lips.

Pulling away, she closed the door and ran to the tabletop.

"I'll show you. It's incredible. I tried so many things, but you'll see. This time it worked—"

"I'm sure it does. You don't need to prove it." He flipped to the most recent page of her notebook, skimming at her list of ingredients. "So, now we get this to Charlotte."

"Almost," she said, resting her head on his shoulder as she stared down at her notes. "First, we need to test the antidote on a Lot."

His fingers froze on the pages, and he slowly brought his eyes to hers.

She bit her lip. "We need to test it on me."

Chapter End Notes

Updates every other Sunday.

Pinterest board for The Auction here .

Find me on Tumblr , Instagram , and Twitter .

Facebook group for Auction followers and the Rights and Wrongs series called Rights & Wrongs . Come yell about socks with us.

Chapter 31

Chapter Notes

Thank you for allowing me an extra week while I moved! I hope every one is safe and healthy.

Much love and many orgasms to raven_maiden and SaintDionysus for their work on this chapter.

Speaking of those bitches, we've started a podcast for chapter recaps! Austen, Bronte, and Hugo Walk into a Bar... You can find us on other podcast platforms by checking out the Ao3 link . You can hear us talk about the writing/editing process and give little details that couldn't make it into final drafts.

Content warning for this chapter: mild violence

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco blinked at her, his jaw tightening.