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He tightened his grip on the witch asleep in his arms when she began to stir. Hermione had barely been asleep a few hours when the first signs of her waking began to show. When she opened her eyes, he placed a kiss on her brow. The smile that crossed her face made the move more than worth it.
“Morning.” Her voice sounded like gravel from sleep, and she could barely hold her eyes open. But they were out of time. Soon the sun would be rising and the hollowed halls of Hogwart's would be overrun with students trying to locate their morning cup of caffeine and get a jump start on their day. Soon enough, Hermione would have to join the masses and trek to the Great Hall to eat breakfast with her house. To pretend that her whole world wasn't falling apart at the seams all around her. They would have to separate and pretend they didn't know each other. Love each other. And that was a pain she could hardly bear. But bear it she must if they were to survive what was to come. If they were to beat the wolf howling at their door.
“Well, good morning, sleeping beauty.” Marcus leaned in for another kiss, which she returned with abandon. Forgetting about the war banging at the door and the clock ticking on the wall, Hermione allowed herself to get lost in the kiss.
When they finally pulled back, they were both breathless and flushed. Not a bad way to start a day, if she did say so herself.
“You sleep well?” The lack of roughness in his voice told Hermione that Marcus had been up for a while.
“Well enough.” She gave him a pointed look and he sighed. Neither had been sleeping well in weeks. There was too much to do and not enough time to do it in. When she caught the look on Marcus's face, Hermione sighed. “It will be okay. We'll make it through this one way or another.”
“I know we will.” Marcus replied, but his tone said otherwise. Then suddenly, he swapped topics. “What do you want to do after the war?” Hermione raised an eyebrow at him at the topic. They normally avoided talking about anything to do with the war when they were together. “No. Seriously, what do you want to do after the war?” Hermione sighed, before she thought about it. There were about one hundred and one different things she wanted to do. But she knew that wasn't what he was asking.
“I want to get a cottage by the sea and lock ourselves inside. Just you and me.” The smile he gave her at her answer made the nonsensical reply be worth it. “No worries, but us. We could sleep in all day and stay up all night making love. Forget the outside world exists for a while.”
“You sure you wouldn't find a way to work while we were there?” Marcus asked, laughing at the idea of Hermione being able to truly sit still. They both knew it would never happen. Hermione leaned in and gave Marcus a slow, lingering kiss before she replied.
“I'm sure I could manage.” The wicked gleam in her eyes had him reaching for her and pulling her flush against him. “What about you? What do you want to do after the war?” They had avoided the topic of the war for so long that it felt weird to be talking about it now. Marcus was silent for a few moments before the seriousness of the look on his face sank in for Hermione.
“I want to buy a small property and build a life for us. One where we can see and be seen together without having to worry about a bounty being put on your head. Where we don't have to watch over our shoulder's every second of every day.” The heaviness of his answer sank in for Hermione as she sighed before reaching up and running a hand through his hair. “Where we can be ourselves without having to give a damn what anyone else thinks. Without having to worry about the fact loving each other could get you killed on a mad man's whim.”
“We'll survive this, you know?” Hermione murmured, barely louder than a whisper. “We don't have a choice. If it's the only way I can be with you openly, then we're both going to survive this damn war.”
Marcus nodded but didn't answer her verbally, simply pulled her in for another kiss.
A cottage by the sea where they had no worries. Could focus only on each other? That sounded like heaven. Marcus wasn't sure if he had enough karma to get that version of the future. It was more likely he'd wind up six feet under, and Hermione would be left to mourn him in private. Not that he'd ever say that out loud to her.
“You know we'll have to stop meeting up eventually?” Marcus asked, and immediately wished he hadn't brought it up at the broken look on her face. “Not now, but soon. There are rumors that they're going to go after the Ministry of Magic.” Hermione bit her lip before she sighed.
“I know. I've heard the same. Can we forget about that for now? Can we just enjoy the time we have? Here? Right now? Without worrying about the future?” Hermione asked as she reached for his hand and interlaced their fingers. Marcus gave her a tight smile as he pulled their interlaced fingers up to his mouth to press a kiss to her hand.
“Aye. I think we can manage that.” The twinkle in his eyes that she loved so much had returned, and when he began to kiss her like a man on a mission, she returned the kiss with fervor.
They'd have their cottage by the sea one day. But for now, it was best to focus on what they had in front of their eyes.