Author's Note: This story can be read standalone or as a sort of sequel or prequel to my story "On Trial." For those of you who haven't read "On Trial" here's the tagline for that story: It's been several years since Harry Potter defeated Voldemort but there is someone still attacking Muggleborns. When Draco Malfoy is charged with the crime it is up to Hermione to save him from a lifetime in Azkaban even though it means she has to reveal a long kept secret. (That secret was a relationship. "On Trial" only showcased Hermione's memories of a lunchtime tryst while this story expands on how the relationship started in the first place.)
Hermione was busy putting plates of food on the kitchen counter but she still heard his wet feet slap against the tile floor. "Did you take another shower?" she called out.
When she turned around her mouth went dry. Draco Malfoy was standing in the middle of her kitchen wearing nothing more than a low slung towel. "Why aren't you dressed yet? They'll be here anytime now and Ron already warned us that he won't put up with any more nudity. If you're not careful he'll hex your bits off!"
"That would be disappointing for you, wouldn't it? I think you like my bits exactly where they are," Draco teased as he languidly conjured himself a cup of tea. "And you can't yell at me for showering too often anyways. It's not my fault it took two showers to wash the stench of the Azkaban holding cells out of my hair last night. The shower this morning was necessary after your enthusiastic welcome home last night."
Hermione blushed as she remembered exactly how she'd welcomed him home. Her elation at having him back from near life imprisonment combined with her happiness at not needing to hide their relationship from her friends had been a volatile combination. The second they had stumbled through the fire and into the flat she had both of their clothes charmed off. Draco may have been hoping for a long night of peaceful sleep but that wasn't exactly what he had gotten.
"You could have turned me down if you really wanted to," she finally responded.
Draco placed his cup of tea on the kitchen island and slid up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist. "You're a little minx when you want to be." He trailed kisses up and down her neck and she arched her back against him. "Not that I'm complaining."
Hermione twisted her head around so she could capture Draco's lips in her own. His tongue battled hers for dominance as his right hand snaked up her blouse to cup her breast.
Hermione could barely forcer herself to pull away. "Remember what I said about Ron and the hexing?"
"Fine, fine," Draco backed off and raised his hands in mock surrender. "But do I have to wear Gryffindor colors since you're clearly supporting Slytherin today?" he called out as he disappeared down the hallway to the bedroom.
Hermione frowned as she looked down at her outfit only to find that she had, without thinking about it, dressed in the colors of the Slytherin house. Along with her blue jeans she had on an emerald green short sleeved sweater, a silver pair of flats, and the necklace Draco had given her which had a chain of silver and gold twisted together with tear dropped shaped ruby and emerald pendants. "I'm not dressed all Slytherin! My knickers are very Gryffindor!" she called out just as her Floo network chimed to ask if she was receiving visitors.
Thankful that her safety measures meant her friends didn't hear her embarrassing outburst she spoke the password which allowed them through.
She gasped when they all filed in and she realized exactly how many people were gathered in her small living room. She had been expecting Harry, Ron and Ginny and they were there, but they'd brought Neville, Luna, Fred and George along with them.
"I don't know why we always have to Floo places. I'd rather Apparate," George grumbled.
Hermione sighed but didn't bother to try and explain again. All of her friends had heard her reasoning at least a hundred times since she'd moved into her flat. After graduation she had managed to find a well priced second story apartment with a front entrance facing the street in Muggle London and a back entrance on a side street in Diagon Alley. Apparation was not allowed in her building in case any of the tenants had Muggle company and the person overshot their landing. The only way to avoid the crowds around the Apparation Point in Diagon Alley was to use the Floo Network.
Plus I had Draco to hide she couldn't help but think as she stared down the hall where he'd disappeared. The added security had definitely seemed like a good idea when she'd rented out the apartment.
After the war the Malfoys had been interrogated for hours. When Lucius and Narcissa had turned over their house and agreed to be questioned while under Veritaserum they had been granted clemency. The two elder Malfoys had chosen to move to the family home in France while Draco finished his final year at Hogwarts, mostly because a previously looked over portion of Dumbledore's will had requested the young Slytherin to be made Head Boy no matter the circumstances.
After graduation Draco had bought his own apartment in a wizarding community outside of London though he spent most of his time at Hermione's. The only way to keep their relationship secret was to have an incredible amount of security on her flat.
"These snacks look delicious!" Luna's praise knocked Hermione back to the present. "The colors are very aesthetically pleasing."
"Aesthetically pleasing? Are you talking about me?" Draco emerged from the hall in dark jeans and a black button up. He was also wearing his patented smug look which didn't falter even when Ron gagged in disgust.
"Luna's actually talking about the food. I thought we could start with some appetizers. We can snack in the living room while we begin chat." With a few quick flicks of her wand Hermione conjured enough extra seating to accommodate everyone. It was a tight fit in her small flat but it would be comfortable enough.
Once everyone was settled Hermione looked around, her brow furrowed a bit. "Well now that you're all here I don't really know what it is you want to know about us."
"Everything!" Ginny called out. "I want to hear each and every dirty little detail."
Ron sputtered and nearly spat out the Butterbeer he was drinking. "No! I don't want to hear anything dirty and neither should you Ginny. You're too young to hear stuff of that nature."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Fine. You can just tell me about the sex when we're alone. I deserve to know some of the juicy details after all the ones I've told you over the past year," she added with a wink.
Hermione couldn't help but giggle when Harry turned bright red and the three Weasley brothers turned to glare at him. Ginny quickly fended off any fights by pulling out her wand and throwing herself across Harry's lap.
Ginny pointed her wand at each brother in turn. "Don't even try it. It would be silly for you to yell at us anyways. We'll be married before you know it." She waved her left hand around so that the light in the room glinted off her sparkly engagement ring.
Harry and Ginny had been engaged for nearly a month but the red head had only been able to show off her ring for a week. It wasn't that Harry had proposed without one, it had just taken them quite a bit of time to bring up the courage to tell Mrs. Weasley. Hermione had been the only one to know before the Weasley matriarch.
"Well anyways," Hermione interrupted. "We should probably get started if you really want to know everything."
"And I should probably be the one to start. I honestly think this whole relationship started because of my father," Draco admitted. "First off you have to understand how I was raised. Father especially went off on me after First Year."
Draco smiled as he slowly lowered the heavy China vase back onto the floor. Under the instruction of his father he'd been practicing magic all day, all summer really. Though the law had expressly forbidden the use of underage magic outside of school his father felt otherwise.
"I did it Father!" he proudly announced. The vase, which was both larger and heavier than he was, had just taken a journey through Malfoy Manor. Draco had levitated it to each and every room, never once letting it touch down even though it had taken him hours. Lucius had even tried to distract him with loud noises and hexes shot his way but Draco hadn't lost his focus for a second.
When the Stinging Hex suddenly him on the shoulder he shrieked. He hadn't expected it at all.
Lucius's chuckle was dark. "Stop crying this instant and face me."
Draco wiped away the few tears of surprise and anger that had managed to slip out. Then he turned around to face his father who was sitting tall in his leather desk chair, his wand still pointing at his son.
"Do you know why I'm not as proud of you as you think I should be?"
The young Malfoy wracked his brain but couldn't figure it out. Answering incorrectly would be bad but not answering at all would be even worse. "No I don't know Father," he finally whispered.
Lucius slowly stood up and stepped towards Draco who was relieved to see his father sheath his wand. "I am not proud of you, I cannot be proud of you. It took you far too long to master something that should have been easy. You were only second best last year and it looks as though you'll only be second best this year. You don't deserve the Malfoy name if you're just going to let a Mudblood girl beat you at everything."
"I have told you time and time again. Mudblood's aren't even deserving of magic, let alone the chance to be number one at your school. They are inferior to you and you should be trying everything in your power to put that girl in her place."
Lucius pushed past his son and held the door to his study open. "Go up to your room and practice your magic until we leave for Hogwarts tomorrow. Do not come down for dinner and do not ask any of the house elves for food."
Draco slipped out the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he passed his father without incident. Then the Stinging Hex hit his behind and he barely managed to keep from crying out. It was hard enough to hide his reaction when he was expecting the hex and he hadn't been.
When he reached his room he flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Although his room was large he didn't like spending time in it. It had an open sort of design with his bed in one corner on a pedestal and his own sitting room. He also had his own bathroom with a large marble tub. But nothing in the rooms was really his.
His broomstick was under lock and key unless his father let him use it which was rarely. The only books he was allowed to read were schoolbooks or supplementary works about the Dark Arts. Not for the first time he wished he had the technology that his Muggleborn classmates were always talking about.
He sighed and picked up his wand and started lazily flicking it towards the couch cushions. They'd do less damage if his emotions got the better of him and his spells went haywire.
Hours later he was gently shaken awake. His room was dark and it took him several minutes for his eyes to adjust. When they did he sat up in surprise.
"Mother! What are you doing here?" Draco whispered.
Narcissa smiled and reached out to smooth Draco's hair away from his face. "I brought you something to eat darling," she whispered back as she pulled several wrapped items out of her robes.
Draco looked at the packages, his stomach roiling with hunger but he didn't pick anything up. "You shouldn't have brought me food. If Father finds out…"
"But he won't," Narcissa interrupted. "He's asleep now and I didn't conjure the food inside your room wards and there were no house elves involved so Lucius will never know."
Draco snatched up the buttered bread drizzled with honey, just the way he liked it. After several minutes of stuffing his face he finally looked up at his mother. "I thought Father would be nicer to me since I'm leaving tomorrow."
Narcissa sighed and toyed with the wrapper from Draco's bread. "Your Father is under quite a bit of stress right now. He recently did something that he fears was a mistake."
The younger Malfoy scoffed. "Father never makes mistakes. At least that's what he tells me."
"He didn't use the word 'mistake' or tell me that he's frightened of course. But I can just tell that he is. He gave something away, something dangerous. Just be careful this school year okay?" Narcissa kissed her son's forehead and then picked up all the wrappings from what he had eaten. "You should try and get some sleep tonight sweetheart," she murmured as she slipped out the door.
Draco sprawled back out on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. If it weren't for his mother he'd be content to go to Hogwarts and never return again.