Title: Unconditional Love
Author: scarletladyy
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Word Count: 3,671
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: BDSM
Summary: The Love Chamber holds many mysterious artefacts, but it's the love quartzes left in an old box that pique Hermione's interest. They all have the inscription of an ancient rune on them. With no luck decoding it herself, she turns to Ancient Runes Professor Draco Malfoy for a helping hand, with unexpected consequences.
Author's Note(s): Written for starduchess for dramione_duet 2016. Thank you so much to my wonderful beta songquake. You were a fantastic help!

There was nothing Hermione loved more than her job, but it was a frustrating one nonetheless. She spent most of her time working on one particular thing or another, only to move on to a different, usually more complex problem. That was the nature of being an Unspeakable. It was a position Hermione hadn't taken lightly, however. She'd been wary of it since the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, but she'd always been curious and had been personally recruited by the Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He'd needed someone to work in the Love Chamber.

Now that, that definitely intrigued Hermione. Her own love life had been a little be tricky—things with Ron hadn't exactly worked out after the war—so she relished the chance to study something so unknown, so confusing.

At the moment, she was struggling on one particular item. She'd been investigating the rose quartz, a stone of unconditional love. She wanted to find out it's meaning, whether it truly did hold love or was just a fake the Muggles used. In the back of the Love Chamber, she'd come across a box of the things, just dumped there because nobody else had wanted to investigate 'something so Muggle', as she'd heard her colleague say when she'd mentioned it was her next project.

All the rose quartzes in the box were of different shapes and sizes, but they all had one thing in common: they were inscribed with an ancient rune. Now, Hermione had taken Ancient Runes in Hogwarts, but even her knowledge couldn't figure out what it meant. Though she'd researched them for weeks on end, going into three months, all that while she'd had another plan in the back of her mind.

A plan she didn't really want to use, because it involved Draco Malfoy, who would probably say no out of spite anyway. After Hogwarts, Draco had gone on a round the world trip, studying runes in various countries. Upon his return, he'd taken up the post as Ancient Runes Professor at Hogwarts. It was said he had the most knowledge in this area, but as much as Hermione knew that to be true, she was still reluctant to involve him.

Even so, she now found herself wandering the bustling hallways of Hogwarts once more, reliving old memories as she made her way towards Draco's classroom. She'd arrived at the perfect time, as Draco's pupils were just filing out as she made her way through them. Draco was wiping the blackboard clean when she entered, so he had his back to her. She didn't really know how to introduce herself; he knew she was coming, because she'd had to clear it with Headmistress McGonagall, but it was still a little awkward.

“Er, Malfoy? Hi.” Hermione placed her briefcase down on the table in front of her.

Draco turned and gave her a curt nod. “Granger. I heard you were coming to see me. Not sure what about, though, McGonagall wouldn't reveal that.”

“No,” Hermione answered, “because she doesn't know. I'm an Unspeakable, nobody's supposed to know. Although I've managed to get special permission to involve you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow and seated himself on one of the tables. “Special permission, eh? It must be important for you to have to resort to me.”

Hermione forced a weak smile, when all she really wanted to do was roll her eyes. She told herself she could get through this despite Draco's dry humour. “You're free now?” Draco nodded. “Right, well...” Before anything else, she turned and locked the door, using magic the average Hogwarts pupil wouldn't know, and then for good measure added several enchantments and silencing charms so she wouldn't be overheard. Her work was very important, after all. “I have these crystals—rose quartz—and they each have an ancient rune on them. All of them have the same rune, but I just don't know what it is.”

“Aren't rose quartz just Muggle nonsense?”

“That's what everyone seems to think, but I reckon there's something more to them. Why else would a Muggle artefact have ancient runes on them?” Hermione took a quartz out of her briefcase and fingered the rune there.

“Let me see,” said Draco, getting up off his table and walking towards her. She held her hand out and he took the quartz and studied it carefully. After a few moments, he shook his head. “Well, it's nothing I immediately recognise, and I thought I'd studied all the ancient runes there were.”

“So did I.”

“No need to be sarcastic, Granger.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled, not really meaning it. Draco was a last resort, and if he couldn't help her, she may as well just abandon the project. “So you can't help then.” She went to take the quartz off Draco, but he snatched his hand away.

“I didn't say that.” He placed the quartz in his pocket. “Give me a few days and I'll do some research, see if there's something I've missed.”

Hermione nodded. “Right. But don't you dare lose that quartz, we don't know what it contains or how powerful it is.”

“It's only a quartz, Granger, but yes, I'll look after it.”

*

A few days turned into two weeks, and Hermione still hadn't heard back from Draco. She'd thought about Owling him several times, but she hadn't wanted to harass him. She felt like just giving up, when she received a memo stating that there was one Draco Malfoy at the reception just waiting for her. Intrigued, Hermione went to fetch him and bring him through to the underbelly of the Ministry, where few ever got to go. Kingsley had given her express permission for this after she'd pleaded her case about needing Draco's help. If he couldn't help her, she'd look like a fool in front of her boss.

“So this is the infamous Love Chamber,” Draco remarked when she walked him through the door. “I'd always wondered what it looked like. Heard rumours and such. Hey, is that Amortentia?”

“Yes. I don't even notice it anymore, I'm so used to the smell.”

“And what do you smell, Granger?”

Hermione scowled at Draco. “None of your business.” The smell had changed over the years for her, but since Draco had walked in the room, it had altered slightly. It now seemed to have the aroma of a men's aftershave. That unnerved Hermione, so she tried to put it to the back of her mind and focus on the task ahead. “The quartz, how did you get on?”

“No luck.” Draco sighed. “I've been through every text book, every case file, all my travel notes—nothing. It's probably some made up Muggle rubbish.”

Hermione frowned. Maybe it was, but she didn't want to admit that she'd been wasting her time on it. “I've had a thought, maybe we should melt several of them down? See if anything happens when they turn into a liquid form?”

“It's an idea, I suppose.” He didn't seem fond of the idea, but he didn't seem to be suggesting he leave, either. Hermione knew from their time at Hogwarts that Draco was just as curious as she. Now that she'd got him interested, he was probably hooked on knowing just what was going on with them.

“You set up a fire, I'll grab some out of the box. I've literally got hundreds, probably even thousands of them, all exactly the same. It shouldn't be a problem to melt some of them. It can't do any harm and we may just learn something.”

When Draco's fire was burning hot enough, Hermione placed a cauldron above it and poured a few hundred rose quartz into it. They sizzled a little, then settled down until they were boiling. They took their time melting; Hermione spent it staring into the pink pool, while Draco, hands in his robe pockets, walked round the cauldron in circles, eyes on the floor.

It wasn't long before only a few solid ones remained, but the more they melted, the more Hermione seemed to feel a little... confused. There were fumes coming off the concoction now and she was starting to think melting them down wasn't a very good idea after all. She tried to reach for her wand to stop it, but her hands weren't working properly. Her mind was fuzzy, her surroundings were blurry, and then all of a sudden she was in a completely different room and everything was clear again.

Hermione found herself looking up at the ceiling. She heard footsteps to her left and tried to move, but she found she couldn't. A quick look around told her she was tied to a bed frame and the footsteps belonged to those of one Draco Malfoy. She smiled at him; he was her husband, after all. He had an evil glint in his eye, but she knew that to be a playful one. He walked towards her, wearing only a pair of black suit trousers. His hair-free chest was on show and she admired the six pack she knew he'd worked so long for. He knew very well that she loved him partially dressed like that, that it turned her on.

“Evening, precious.” Draco bent down and stroked the side of her face. She keened into his touch and smiled. Even though she was tied up, she felt the most relaxed she'd ever been; she trusted him. “I bought you a present.” Out of his pocket he lifted a little white bag, and out of it he pulled a set of silver nipple clamps. They'd talked about using them before, but it seemed like Draco had decided she was ready now. He sat down on the edge of the bed and unscrewed one of the nipple clamps enough to place it over her hardened left nipple. He tightened it, but only a little. Just so she could feel the pressure, but not actually feel any pain. Then he did the same with her right nipple. It felt strange, and she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not. The thought of wearing them for him turned her on, though. “They look beautiful on you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now,” Draco said, standing up. “I'm going to gently turn you over and then give you a little spanking. Don't worry, you've not been a bad girl, I just fancy some fun.”

Hermione grinned and wiggled her bum; she loved to be spanked. Sometimes she got spanked when she was bad, but that was usually hard and punishing, whereas Draco's playful spanks were light and fun. She looked forward to them. He brought out his wand and she closed her eyes as he turned her over so her arse was showing. In this position, her breasts were pressed against the bed, and she felt a little pain on her nipples. A tingle went through her, and she tried to arch her back a little to decrease the pressure, though it only seemed to serve to weight her nipples down instead.

“What a lovely arse that is, but let's see if we can get it a nice shade of pink.” Draco sat down on the edge of the bed again and rubbed his hand over her arse. It tingled and she wiggled it some more, groaning as the clamps shook and pulled on her tender nipples.

The first few spanks were so light that Hermione couldn't really feel a thing; she felt like she was being tickled! Then Draco quickened his pace and the spanks became harder. Not hard as such, but not as gentle as they had been previously. She squirmed a little as he hit the same place twice and let out a little 'ow' now and again when he got a particularly hard hit in. The clamps jiggled with each spank too, sending shockwaves of pleasure down through her body.

“Your bum's a lovely shade of pale pink now,” Draco said. He loved her like this, and she loved being on display for him. She turned her head to the side and looked deep into his eyes; the connection they had was incredible. “You've made me so hard. Would you like to please me now, pet?”

Hermione looked down at the bulge in Draco's trousers. Yes, she'd like to please him very much. She wanted him to use her cunt, but she would happily take him in her mouth if he required it. “Yes, sir. I'd love to.”

“Good girl.” Draco unbuttoned his trousers and let them fall to the floor along with his underpants, stepping out of both of them. She felt the bed dip as he climbed onto it behind her. He straddled her legs and ran his fingers softly across her shaded pink arse. She heard him suck his finger, then felt said wet finger make its way inside her. She pushed back against it, wanting more, and blushed as he laughed at her. “Such an eager little thing.”

Hermione was not ashamed though; one of the first things Draco had taught her was not to be ashamed of her sexuality. He told her to never be embarrassed of her fantasies, to embrace them on her journey with him. That had taken her a little while to learn, but eventually she had, and she now threw everything she was worth into any fantasy they undertook together.

The digit left her cunt, and she felt the head of Draco's cock against her. She wiggled herself, and out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw him smile as he pushed straight inside her. She was so wet they had no need to lube, and she was no longer as tight as she had been when they'd first got together. She had been a virgin then, after all, but they'd done a lot since then.

Draco leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of her, and started to fuck her slowly. It was too slow for Hermione's liking and she wiggled again, trying to urge him on. It worked and he steadily increased his pace. Hermione knew Draco could last a long time if he wanted to; he'd teased her with that often enough. She got the feeling that he didn't want to wait tonight, though. He seemed to be after a quick fuck to satiate himself.

Soon he was fucking her hard and heavy, the clamps shaking with each thrust. They panted together as she felt her orgasm building inside her. It had been a whole week since she'd last been allowed to orgasm, so she desperately hoped he'd give her permission tonight.

“Sir?” Hermione's voice was tiny and breathless. “May I please come tonight?”

“No, pet. Not tonight.” She must have made her annoyance show, for he then added, “Take pleasure in the fact that you're pleasing me instead.”

“Yes sir,” she said quietly, and held onto her orgasm as she felt him thrust into her one final time and groan loudly as he did so. She loved having his seed inside her and she did love pleasing him, she just wished she'd been allowed an orgasm herself. This was one of Draco's games, though, he did like to deny her from time to time. Something about keeping her humble, if she remembered correctly. At first it had been awfully hard and she'd failed several times, accidentally orgasming instead of holding onto it, but now it had happened so frequently she was nearly an expert at subduing her own pleasure.

Draco pulled out and lay down on the bed next to her. He moved onto his side and wrapped an arm around her waist, and she turned to face him. He kissed her, bringing the pad of his thumb up to stroke her cheek. She felt like she could kiss his soft lips forever, she certainly wanted to stay as much, but as Draco pulled away from her, she was jolted back to the present. The room was spinning, but Hermione could make it out as the Love Chamber she'd been in what felt like only moments ago. Her head was fuzzy, though she still retained all the memories of what had just happened. She moved her arms just to check that she could; she wasn't bound anymore. A look to her right to see Draco saw him getting up off the floor, however he was giving her a dirty look.

“What the fuck was that, Granger? What did you do?”

“I didn't do anything!” Hermione protested, holding her hands up. “I don't know what that was, it must have been the quartzes, the fumes coming off them...”

Draco's face was flushed, and Hermione was feeling particularly hot so she reckoned hers was too. He made his way towards the door, almost pushing passed her, and left in a hurry. She tried calling his name after him, but to no response. Now she just felt foolish. What was that that she'd just been... dreaming or maybe fantasising about?

Hermione could definitely tell that the rose quartz had some magical properties, so she'd been right about that at least. She still didn't know what the rune on the quartzes themselves meant, but she had a good idea that they really were about unconditional love. After all, the one thing that really stuck out from her daydream/fantasy was that she really, really loved Draco. She trusted him; she'd put everything into him and he into her.

Is that what it does in fume form, it shows true love? If she hadn't felt it so strongly, she could never imagine loving Draco like that. The look they shared would stay with her for a long time, even though it wasn't real. She reckoned Draco must have felt it too, hence his flushed face and decision to exit quickly without really saying anything to her.

Hermione had a feeling she wouldn't be seeing him again in a hurry.

*

True to Hermione's thoughts, she didn't see Draco for several weeks. She didn't go seeking him out, embarrassed over what had happened and worried he would think she'd done it on purpose, and he hadn't sought her out either.

After their encounter, Hermione had written up what she'd found out about the Love Quartz and handed it to Kingsley, then moved on to something else. She'd decided she'd never find out what that rune meant and she didn't envision Draco coming back to help her further.

Only one day, after about two months, Hermione was called down to reception because she had a visitor. She was extremely surprised when she realised that that visitor was indeed Draco Malfoy. He half smiled at her when she approached, and she couldn't help but look at him sceptically. Why, after all this time, had he come back?

“I found out what that rune means,” Draco said once they'd entered the Love Chamber.

So we're not going to talk about what happened between us, then, Hermione thought. “And?”

“It simply means 'unconditional love'. It's a very, very old form of rune, which is why I couldn't find anything on it at first. I had to go through some really ancient textbooks that I missed the first time round, but it was there.”

“So when we melted it down,” Hermione started, tentatively glancing at Draco and hoping he wouldn't run a mile again, “we both felt unconditional love with each other.”

Draco nodded and placed his hands in his pockets. “I guess so. It was a... ah. Weird feeling. I've never felt like that before.”

“Me, neither.”

“Not even with Weasley?” Draco looked shocked, perhaps as shocked as she felt that he apparently hadn't felt it with Pansy Parkinson all those years ago.

“Not as strong as I felt with... with you.”

“The Amortentia,” said Draco, grinning at her. “Mine smells of books, since that first time in here.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Mine smelt differently too, the first time you walked in.”

“Really, Miss 'I don't notice it anymore'? Think this room is trying to tell us something?” Draco laughed, and Hermione joined in. She felt a little awkward, so it was rather a nervous laugh. “That daydream... I would never have guessed you're into that.”

“I, er.” Hermione couldn't believe he was bringing this up. Perhaps all the time he'd been away he'd come to terms with it. “It's just a fantasy, I've never really practised it.”

“Maybe...” Draco stopped as quickly as he started, apparently thinking better of it. Hermione hated people doing that, though, she was far too curious for her own good.

“Maybe what? Go on...”

Draco shrugged. “Maybe we should try it sometime.”

“Oh.” Hermione blushed and looked towards the ground. Then, rather timidly, she replied, “I might like that.”

“Right.” Draco took his hands out of his pocket and held out a hand for her to shake. It was so formal Hermione couldn't stifle her laughter. “Yeah, sorry. A bit... not quite reading the situation.”

Hermione leaned forward then and kissed Draco squarely on the lips. She wanted to see if it felt the same as when she'd kissed him in the dream; over the past two months, she'd had many fantasies about how they could spend their time and kissing him over and over again was one of them. His lips were soft and the kiss was nice, but it didn't stir up the same feeling as in the dream. If they wanted that, they'd probably have to work to get it.

“I, er, I better go,” Draco said after they pulled apart. She felt hurt, as though she'd done something wrong, but then Draco stroked her arm. “I have a class to teach, that's all. I meant what I said about us trying that sometime.”

“Yeah?” Hermione's face lit up.

“Yeah,” replied Draco, smiling at her.

As she watched him leave, Hermione couldn't help but think of the many things they could do together. She found she really wanted to try them, and most of all, she really wanted to see if she could experience the same unconditional love with Draco that she'd felt in the dream. That, of course, would obviously take a long time to materialise, but Hermione couldn't help but look forward to that journey.