✧ hollow ✧

She had never heard of a noise like the one that escaped Sean. It was completely raw and vulnerable – something she had never expected from the Malfoy boy, nonetheless in her presence, as well. Daphne didn’t know what to make of the admission or of the crumbling walls that shone behind his bright gaze. Gently, his fingers caressed her cheek and he said her name like a prayer. Like she was something to worship. To fear.

What happened next felt like a blur and yet one of the most exhilarating moments of her life.

Sean’s lips crashed against hers like a crestfallen wave. While his touch was not soft, it wasn’t threatening either. He held her with strength, knowing that she was capable. That she wouldn’t crumble. Daphne had forgotten that part of herself after the war, and yet somehow, kissing Sean Malfoy, had reawakened everything.

Drinking the whiskey that she tasted on his tongue, hoping to get even drunker off of him, Daphne moved her mouth vigorously against his. Every inch of her body pressed against him, which only elicited a soft moan to flow past her lips, especially after she felt his hands across her thigh, wrapping her against him even more. Heat coiled within her belly and traveled lower, urging her to press her hips against his and the hard ridges that sat there.

He released her mouth only to speak intoxicating words that filled the air, causing Daphne’s euphoria to heighten. They sounded rich, as if they were dripping gold and filled with honey. His mouth moved across her in a wicked tandem, igniting her skin wherever his lips touched. However, when she felt the graze of his teeth behind her ear, the noise that escaped her was unlike the timid, soft girl she had become. “Fuck,” she hissed, savoring the warmth of his breath and heated words as rolled her hips into his, feeling his hardened length across her warm center through the thin layers of fabric. His kisses turned more savage, ravaging her.

Daphne fully let him.

Kissing him back with the same amount of fury, the hand woven between his pale hair tightened into a fist, tugging at the locks and pulling his face closer to her own. “You can do them to me,” she whispered against his mouth, letting her tongue flick against his. “All of them. Please.”

In a flash, they had traveled from the floor of Sean’s bedroom to the comfortable mattress of her own. Apparating had shifted their position so that she now sat on top of Sean. Seeing him look at her, as if she had every right to have the high ground, made her skin feel on fucking fire. Her eyes darkened and she gazed at the sculpted ridges and valleys of the muscles across his bare chest. Allowed her fingers to roam and explore with one hand while she shifted out of her top with the other. Tossing the shirt over her shoulder and into the shadows behind them, she gazed down at him, panting ever so lightly.

She felt exposed – more than she ever had. And yet, she didn’t cower. After spending months running from herself, she finally felt grounded enough to stay.

Sean’s gaze was intense, but she didn’t shy from him. Letting him drink his fill, Daphne only shivered as he brought his knuckles up to the underside of her breast. Her nipples peaked at the sensation and her eyelids fluttered shut while her lips parted with a sigh. Without any hesitation, she rocked herself against him again, needed to quell the urgent need for friction.

And then he spoke – words soft enough to not startle her, but with enough conviction to make her movements cease.

With his steady hand across her lower back, Daphne decided to place her own palms against his chest to keep herself upright while she stared down at him. Her hair was tousled and her lips bee-stung. A flash of worry darted across her face, fearing that he was rejecting her. However, after his soft mouth caressed hers, a promise and a future laced within it, she let herself sink into his chest. After a moment, letting him stare into the caverns of her brown eyes, she nodded. Agreeing with him.

They should stop – at least for now. She was thankful that he had the decency to bring her back down to earth for a moment, to face the reality that weighed upon them.

“Yes,” she started, eyes closing but still putting all her weight against him. “Yes, you’re right.” She sounded out of breath, as if she had just faced another battle. Still, even as she felt herself sober up, there wasn’t a hint of regret. Fear? Yes, but not of Sean, of the risk of being vulnerable again. Of letting someone in, someone that could very easily be taken away.

She gently rolled off of him and claimed the other side of the bed, facing him. His hands still refused to let go of her, though Daphne was thankful for the weight. She tangled one of her legs through his and rested her head against his chest, letting his truth sink in.

“... You make me feel like I am not alone."

Her grip on him tightened, fearing that he would somehow slip away into the shadows if she weren’t careful. “Please don’t go,” she said, lips brushing against his firm, warm chest. “Promise me.”

Daphne fell asleep with Sean’s arms shielding her – an impenetrable force that made the girl feel safer than she had in years. For once, her sleep wasn’t plagued with nightmares or the ghosts of the deaths she had witnessed. There was no war, no prejudice – nothing but the steady beat of Sean’s heart and the rise and fall of his chest. Though, eventually, morning came. The sheath of sunlight through the curtains highlighted their sleeping forms, rousing Daphne from her deep slumber.

Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she gently maneuvered her position into a mirror of last night. She straddled Sean’s hips lazily, letting the comforter hang over her shoulders. Softly, her fingers traced small designs against his smooth skin, mostly in the valley of his hip bone. As he started to rouse from sleep, she whispered a quiet, “Good morning, Malfoy.”