Chapter One: Stop While You're Ahead
Draco's hand fisted around his cock and his other hand traced circles over Hermione's sweat slicked skin. They had just finished a particularly vigorous lovemaking session and dinner was fast approaching. Hermione moaned and moved restlessly as his long fingers tweaked her nipple.
"Draco, we need to stop and get cleaned up. Dinner is soon."
He looked thoughtful for a second or two and quickly replied, "Do you think the day will come when we don't have to sneak around to be together? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have you anyway I can, but I'm getting sick of sneaking off to meet you."
Hermione looked thoughtful. "Draco…. I want those things too, but we have to be realistic. Harry and Ron… your friends, no one is going to believe that we are together, that you could have feelings for me. Everyone is going to think the worst. Maybe baby steps. Let's start by saying "hi" in the hallways. Work up to us actually spending time together-"
"No. I want to be able to walk into dinner with you tonight holding your hand and asking about your day. I don't want to waste weeks letting everyone get used to the idea. It's been months since we've started dating. Let's go to dinner tonight. Together. Like every other couple."
Hermione looked thoughtful. She knew that he had a point and she really didn't want waste weeks warming people up to the idea that they were together. With a flick of her wand, they were both clean and freshly dressed. "Come on then, let's go!"
They walked into the Great Hall hand in hand as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Silence quickly fell. It wasn't everyday two people who supposedly hated each other joined hands and went to supper together. It wasn't long before Ron was storming towards them.
" 'Mione! What the hell are you thinking? Does the Ferret have you under some kind of spell?! I thought you were better than this!" Ron's face was red and he was practically foaming at the mouth. It wasn't pleasant.
Draco clutched at Hermione's hand as if she was going to bolt away from him. But she was committed. This was the man that she loved and no matter what had happened in the past, he was a completely different person. War had a way of making people see the error of their ways. If other people couldn't see that then they weren't her issue anymore. "Back off Weasley. Hermione is more than capable of hexing me if she doesn't want to be with me. And you're off your rocker or clearly think you know her better than you do if you think otherwise!"
"Ronald, I don't appreciate you yelling in my face, or your attitude towards my boyfriend-"
"BOYFRIEND!? 'Mione, this creep is obviously using you. You have two choices, either you stop being stupid and come back to being a proper Gryff or you're with him and you're no longer welcome to be around us."
Hermione stared into Ron's eyes, she could see the anger and determination swirling in his eyes. It wasn't reassuring. And it made what she was about to say so much more difficult. "Ron, if that's the way you feel there's only one thing that I can do. I choose Draco. He's doesn't force me to choose between the man I love and my friends. He would never do that because HE ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT ME!"
The Great Hall got even quieter. No one moved. The professors sitting at the head table, watched in silence. Snape sneered at Ron. McGonagall smiled at Hermione with pride. Harry stared in disbelief as one of his best friends destroyed any chance of remaining friends with his other best friend. Ginny gasped in horror as she realized what her brother had done. Ron had effectively killed his friendship with both Hermione and Harry. As anyone with half a brain knew that Harry considered her his sister, his only true family; especially after everything she had suffered in order to remain at his side.
Hermione and Draco moved past a gaping Ron and sat at the bottom of the Slytherin table. Though the table was sparsely populated with students, most of them smiled at the couple and greeted them quietly. Blaise and Theo slid down towards the couple and started a discussion about the end of term that was only a few short weeks away.
Ron turned and stomped back to the Gryffindor table and threw himself down beside Harry. "Can you believe that? Mione has turned into a real bitch! How dare she choose the Ferret over us, eh Harry?" Silence met him. Ron turned to see Harry glaring at him. "What's your issue, Harry? Let's just forget about her. She'll realize how much she's fucked up when Draco drops her for something hotter when school is over."
The only answer Ron received was an angry glare from Harry.
It was several days after that, that Ron finally realised what he had done. Harry wasn't speaking to him and was going out of his way to avoid him, Hermione was pretending that he didn't exist and Ginny was almost as bad. How he was going to fix this, he didn't know. But he was going to fix this. There was no way he was losing the great Harry Potter as his best friend.
"Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ron approached Harry cautiously, he really wasn't looking to get hexed anytime soon.
"What is it Ron? I really don't want to hear you badmouthing 'Mione. She's done nothing to deserve it."
Ron turned slightly red at the reminder of him blowing up at Hermione and giving her the ultimatum that led to his non-friendships. "I just want to apologize. It was wrong of me to try to get you to pick sides, especially when there is no reason to have you pick one in the first place. I'm trying to change my thinking, but it's hard. Fer- I mean, Malfoy was a massive prat for the entire time we were here and now, he's suddenly changed. It's hard to accept so quickly, I haven't seen him be kind to anyone."
"You've never given him a chance. When have you spoken to him? When have you tried to get to know him? The war ended a year ago and you're still holding on to the prejudices that we fought it over. When are you going to let go?!" Harry angrily said.
Ron paused and actually thought about it. There was silence. Harry started to shuffle in impatience. Ron ignored him and continued to think. Harry was right. He had never given the Ferret a chance, but he didn't really want to give him one. The history between the Weasley and Malfoy families was too deep and violent for him to even really want to overcome it. But if Hermione was going to be with Malfoy and if Ron wanted to keep her as a friend something was going to have to change and he highly doubted that Hermione was going to break up with Draco.
Ron sighed a massive sigh that seemed filled with all the tension and woes he had built up over the whole situation. "Harry, you have to understand that there is more between my family and his then any recent happenings. This hate goes back hundreds of years. It's hard for me to even contemplate forgiving all that." He shook his head, "I don't think that I can."
"And you don't think that Draco had an equally hard time overcoming his history and upbringing to let Hermione in? To even think of her as an equal? It had to be just as hard for him. You don't get to say you're not going to try without at least trying first. It's not fair."
Ron's cheeks turned red as his anger grew. Why couldn't Harry understand why his family was more important than making nice with a Malfoy?
While Harry and Ron were arguing, Draco and Hermione were busy finalizing plans for the end of school. Hermione's parents had been killed in the war. Leaving her everything they had. She had sold their dental practice for a tidy sum of money and was renting her parents' house. She was currently looking over all the papers from her parents' estate. There was so much more to it than she had originally thought- a house in France, another in Canada; a storage unit in London; several vehicles; and much much more. Her brow wrinkled in concentration as she tried to make sense of everything before her. Short of calling her parents' lawyer, she didn't think that there was anyone else that would be able to help to make things clear.
"Love, are you still trying to understand all that? Leave it, let's just get a good's night sleep, we'll apparate into London tomorrow and go see the lawyer. We've gotten a lot done so far, that can wait."
Hermione looked up at Draco, a small smile on her face at him calling her "Love". It was so wonderful to be able to be open about their love. No more hiding, or looking away so that she wouldn't get caught staring at him. She held her hand out to him. "Help me up and let's go."
He needed no further prompting from her and quickly swung her up and into his arms and he carried to bed. Her laugh melded with his smoky one as he took the stairs two at a time. Her lips nibbled on his ear lobe and her arms wrapped around his neck. Her breath against his neck was hot and his mind was racing towards the ultimate outcome of the evening: him rock hard and hot, thrusting into Hermione's slickness.
Hermione sighed as Draco's hands tightened on her. Her thoughts running out of her head as she became more and more aroused. There was nothing in the world that felt as wonderful as his hands on her skin. It soothed something within her. Brought out a wildness that her soul exalted in. Her sighs graduated to moans as Draco's tongue licked from her collarbone down to her belly button. Moments later his lips were sealed around her clit and his tongue was giving her a thorough lashing. Her hips were lifting of the bed in an effort to force his tongue deeper inside of her. Her walls tightened around him and Draco could feel that she was close to climaxing. He licked his way up her body and took her lips in a passionate kiss, his tongue thrusting into her mouth mimicking the way his cock thrust into her at the same moment.
Hermione was filled with Draco. And it was glorious. His hips snapped forward and he sank into her depths, resting for a moment before he pulled out and sank into her again and again and again. They were lost to the passion that consumed them. Time had no meaning. Sighs and moans and exclamations of passion and love filled the room.
Hermione was awakened the next morning by a quiet knocking on the door to the Head's dorm. Looking over at Draco and seeing that he was still sleeping soundly, she quietly got out of bed and pulled on a robe. She shut the bedroom door behind her and padded across the living area to the portrait hole. Pulling it open, she was mildly surprised to see Harry.
