A/N: A slight AU one-shot in which Draco and Hermione are married. My summary makes Draco sound a bit sexist, but he's not, and I don't mean to make it seem that way. Sorry if this causes any confusion or upset. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.
Draco sat at the dining room table, lazily sipping a glass of red wine, staring through the doorway of the kitchen at his wife. Hermione stood at the sink with a sponge in her hand, perplexed by the sight before her. A mountain of dishes towered on the counter, looming over her, dishes she had yet to clean. Hermione sighed and resigned herself to begin attacking the enormous pile piece by piece. One of these such pieces, a large ceramic pot, had an incredibly thick layer of grime on the inside of it, and she wondered what had caused the unnatural coating.
Oh, right, she thought, this must be from Draco's little adventure in the kitchen the other day. He always makes such a terrible mess when he tries to cook…
While attempting to coax off this bit of particularly stubborn food residue with stern, pleading words, she heard a soft chuckle from the direction of the dining room. Hermione lifted her head and glanced over, instantly spotting Draco, her husband, sitting, as always, and staring at her. This time with an amused smile on his face.
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, "Don't you have anything better to do than watch me while I wash dishes?" she asked.
Draco smirked and stood up. "Nope," he replied. He slowly walked into the kitchen and to the sink, keeping his eyes on Hermione the entire time.
"One more for the queue," he said slyly, eyes sparkling, while depositing his now empty wine glass on the counter along with the multitude of other dishes and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Hermione snorted, "Cheeky bugger," she reprimanded. Draco simply smiled.
"Soo…" Hermione approached, biting her lip, "I don't know what you could have possibly cooked in this pot to make it so extremely disgusting and terrifying, but please remind me never to let you cook it again!"
Yes, of course…Your Majesty," Draco agreed with an exaggerated bow.
Hermione let out an exasperated sigh, though she was smiling, and resumed her vigorous scrubbing. She watched Draco move out of her area of vision, then immediately felt a pair of strong arms circle her waist from behind.
"I still don't get why you never just use magic to do this," came the low voice from just behind her ear.
"I told you, this is the way my family does things, and the way I grew up doing things; without magic. I don't want to lose sight of that, it's much too easy to just wave a wand and use magic, but I have morals."
"But you're a witch! You're supposed to use magic, silly girl!" Draco playfully nipped at her ear.
"That may be, yes, but I'm also a muggle-born, as you very well know. My parents are muggles, and I was raised as one, so I intend to stick by at least of few of the muggle ways," Hermione reasoned. "Besides, magic isn't perfect; it doesn't do everything, and some things are simply better when done the 'muggle way'."
"Hmm," was all Draco said.
He proceeded to place light kisses along her neck, ear, and jaw line, leaving a tingly trail in his lips' wake on Hermione's skin. His hands slowly moved down her arms and gently lifted the sponge and the pot she was currently cleaning out of her hands.
"Go take a break," he murmured into her neck, "I'll finish up here."
Hermione swatted his hands, trying to get him to drop the pot and sponge. "Absolutely not!" she cried, turning to face him, the last few times you've tried to clean the dishes, with or without magic, you broke them all! I still don't know how you managed it."
Draco grinned, but then said sheepishly, "I didn't break all of them…"
"You might as well have!" Hermione scolded.
"But I didn't," Draco smirked and pulled Hermione closer, planting a kiss on her lips.
Hermione accepted the kiss, but after a few moments, pulled away and started shooing Draco out of the kitchen. "Now, please get out, I really have to finish these dishes!"
"Aww, so soon?"
This remark earned him a reproving look from Hermione and Draco chortled, "As you wish, my love," he said while backing out of the kitchen.
Hermione turned back to the sink, "Six years we've been married, now, and still all you can think of to do is watch me clean," she noted, smiling and lightly shaking her head, as Draco sat down once again at the dining room table. His chair facing the kitchen, a soft smile played on Draco's features as he watched his wife resume washing dishes.
I hope you enjoyed it! Please make sure to review on your way out, I greatly appreciate it!