Contradictions | Chapter Sixteen
Seconds melted into minutes, but instead of growing more nervous during the wait, she settled. Her body grew more relaxed, a sense of calm falling over her, and she leaned back against the tufted leather.
She couldn’t be sure how much time had passed while she sat, waiting. Long enough that her senses became heightened with her lack of vision–every element around her distilled into something clearer than it was before. With the focus, she found her feelings falling into place alongside it.
The cool touch of air against her arms and legs. The warmth of the leather against her back. The light scent of her own perfume blending in with her surroundings.
Her ears prickled with awareness when she heard it-the metallic click of the door handle and the soft swing of the hinges-but she followed her instincts to stay relaxed, to keep her breathing steady, to not jump up and rip off her blindfold and plead for his forgiveness.
Patience, she soothed herself. There was no question that he had set up their meeting like this for a reason. The lack of communication. The detached request for a meeting “date.” The blindfold, and the extended wait. He was recreating their first night, and they were still equally as determined to prove themselves.
When it clicked shut, she stiffened. She held her breath as he stood behind her, but she didn’t turn. With her eyes closed beneath the blindfold, she continued to wait.
“A pleasant surprise,” a deep voice finally drawled.
I can't believe it's finally over! This has been an absolutely wild ride. This was the first Dramione fic I started writing last year and even though it looks nothing like it did when I started, I wouldn't change a thing. I have learned so much from this fic and it's brought me so many amazing new friendships that I could cry just thinking about it. I could never have anticipated how much would change from this one idea I had, and I'm so thankful for my lack of self control.
To everyone who has left me kudos and comments, thank you. To everyone who has flailed with/at me on Discord (looking at you, RoR/pwp-chat crew) on update days, I'm going to miss you so much. To everyone who has recommended this fic or shared it online, I am indebted to you. I love you all endlessly and I cannot say thank you enough for helping to make it what it is.
Finally, thank you to my beloved trash gang for supporting this in the very early days before I even knew what I was doing, and even more so for all the help when I realized just how fucked I was and had to reverse engineer the entire plot at chapter four. For listening to my ramblings and for embracing my rolodex of kinks. For spiraling with me about Draco's characterization and all the meta on his love languages. For the unwavering faith and (horny) support, time and time again. I love you most of all.
But this, at the end of the day, is dedicated to my amazing beta @bgonemydear. This fic would have been a mess if not for you. From cleaning up all my editing messes to spending hours helping me map out the final plot (and maybe even talking me off the ledge once or twice), you truly are the school teacher to my pirate. I couldn't have done this without you, and I wouldn't want to imagine a timeline in which we didn't.
Banner by the brilliant @dreamsofdramione.
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