.

~ This is for you all. Because you loved Something Beautiful in Return so much and asked for more xx

**** DRACO ****

I reached behind my head, adjusting the pillows, and then stretched out on the bed. The giant bed I was sleeping alone in.

It was late, our wedding was a little more than fourteen hours away, and my wife-to-be was sleeping down the hall. She had gotten the ridiculous idea in her head that we should at least have one traditional aspect in our relationship, and the night before our wedding was it.

I was not to see her, not to talk to her, not to even think about her - that last one was the most ridiculous – and she wouldn't budge. I was even told that I was not to leave the room to get up to our daughter if, on the odd chance, she woke.

I was under house – or room – arrest, and I was none too pleased about it.

Nothing about our relationship had been traditional. We were from two different worlds, and we were never meant to be together. We had been living, and sleeping, together for five years and we had a daughter who was just a year old. No, tradition wasn't a word that fitted into our world.

But I knew her. And I knew that she would be doing exactly what I was; staring at the ceiling, pent-up and frustrated. And it was only a matter of time until she snuck in here, and we could celebrate properly the fact that we were finally getting married.

Ten minutes later, I pulled my hand from my pants, and I grinned at the soft knock on the door. I crossed the room and attempted to pull it open, but there was resistance.

"Draco?" Hermione's voice was just above a whisper.

"Yeah," I said, "Is everything okay?"

"Can I come in?"

I chuckled, "It's your room too. You don't have to ask." I tugged on the door again, but it still didn't budge.

"You're supposed to say no, you jerk." She said, "You're supposed to tell me to go back to my room and to dream about all the things you plan on doing to me tomorrow night."

My chuckle turned into a laugh, "Hermione. This was your idea, not mine. I don't care if I see you now, or in the morning or two minutes before you walk down that stupid aisle. If you want to come in here, just come in."

I let go of the door handle, and waited.

"Draco?"

"Hermione."

I heard the inhale of breath, the shaky exhale, "I'm nervous."

"You should be. You're promising to marry me. You already know what I expect of you when you're officially tied to me."

The door flew open and she was scowling at me, "Ferret."

"Mudblood."

She growled at me and stepped forward, poking her finger into my chest, "Listen to me, Malfoy. You're marrying me. You will be tied to me. I may even make you change your name to Granger."

I gripped her finger and her attempt to pull from my grasp made my mouth curve into a smile, "You're pretty when you're angry."

She moved to kick the door closed, but I stopped her, stepping around her and closing the door gently. "Sleeping baby." I reminded her.

She smiled, "Am I being stupid?"

I cupped her face, "Hey, it's usually me, so this is a nice change."

"I don't like not sleeping with you," She said, "I need you near me."

I pulled her to my bare chest, "And I feel the same. I understand what you were wanting to do, but does it really matter?"

"I guess not. I just thought..." She shrugged, "I just thought it might make our day, and our night, more special."

Laughing, I kissed her forehead, "Baby, listen. Special or boring, I don't care. We have a beautiful baby girl, we have our lives here on our beach, and I get to see you everyday either here or at work. Nothing is more special than that. So stop being stupid and stay here with me."

With a quiet laugh, she stood up on her toes and kissed me. "So, if I was to stay here with you, would you..."

I pulled back to look at her, "Would I..?"

She turned me around and led me to the bed, "Would you actually let me sleep?" She pushed me down to the bed until I was lying flat on my back and then climbed over me, straddling my hips.

"Of course, if that's what you want." I told her, "But would you do the same for me?"

She ran her hand across my chest, her fingers warm as she traced patterns across my skin. She leaned forward, placing her hands either side of my head, "No."

Her mouth covered mine, her lips wet and soft, her hands frantically shoving at my boxers. She licked my neck, bit gently on my ear lobe, and whispered, "I'm not tired anymore."

She pulled her tank over her head and then shimmed out of her sleep shorts, laughing as they tangled in her feet, before she managed to kick them away. She reached for me, but I grabbed her wrist.

"Hermione, are you sure about this?" I wasn't going to stop her, but I wanted to know that she wouldn't regret this tomorrow.

"I'm sure." She smirked down at me, rubbing her wet skin over my cock as it hardened against my stomach, and then paused. "You can't bite my shoulders. Or my tits."

I raised an eyebrow in question.

"I don't want to have to explain teeth marks or bruises."

I reached up and squeezed the tits in question, "I'm sure everyone will understand."

She slapped my hand away, "Draco, I'm serious. I do not want to see pictures of us, for the remainder of my life, with your bite marks and hand prints all over me."

I laughed, "Fine. No biting, no bruising." I winked at her, "Boring sex tonight."

She shot me an incredulous look, and I laughed even more. "You're an arse, Malfoy."

"I know." I said and gripped her hips, "Now, put my cock inside you."

She shifted, gripping me and guiding me to her, teasing the tip of me at her entrance. She placed her other hand on my chest and leaned forward, "Is this what you want? Do you want me to put this in here?" She rocked slightly, letting me feel the wet heat of her and I bit back a groan.

The quiet, reserved Hermione that I had first made love to was long gone. I had always laughed when I told her that she did actually find her inner goddess on the beach, and I wasn't ever sorry that she had. Those first few months we were together, it was mostly me who started things, who lead, who took control. But as her confidence grew, as she slowly realised that she was, in fact, the goddess she found, she became bold, she became forceful, and she knew what she wanted.

She would tease and taunt. She would touch my knee under the table in meetings. She would bite her lip and smile sweetly at me as we had dinner with our friends. She would walk naked down the stairs, and look at me as if it was the most natural thing on the planet to do.

I locked my eyes onto hers, "Hermione. Stop teasing me and put my fucking cock inside you."

She laughed, "You'd like that, huh?"

I gripped her hips tighter, "If you keep teasing me, tomorrow night might not be what you expect."

Her brows furrowed and she sat back on my thighs. Her hands ran across my stomach, up over my chest, her finger circling over my heart.

"Hey," I said carefully, "What did I say?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. I just..."

I sat up and took her face in my hands, "Talk to me."

"We'll be married." She said after a few beats, "Tomorrow. We'll be married."

"We will. Are you having second thoughts?'

She shook her head, "No, of course not. But, it's just...Draco, we'll be married."

My chest twisted and I slid my hand down to cover her heart. I understood what she meant. "Hermione, yes. We will be married. But in reality, we have been for some time now. Just not officially." I brushed her hair behind her ear, "It's a piece of paper, that's all. You and me and Charlotte, we're stuck with each other, piece of paper or not."

She didn't say anything, just looked at me.

I took her hand and placed it over my heart, "Right here, right now, you have my heart. You are the mother of my child, you are the love of my life. You are the first person I want to see when I wake up and the last person I want to see when I close my eyes at night. I promise to never leave you, and I promise that I will love you until I take my final breath."

A single tear spilled down her cheek, and she hiccupped. "I love you too."

I smiled, "Now that's out of the way, I do believe you were going to ride my cock?"

She stared at me for a few seconds before laughing, "I take it back. I actually hate you."

I kissed her, long and slow, lingering until I felt her relax. I slid my tongue past her lips, tasting, and losing myself to the pleasure of simply kissing her. My mouth against hers, the warmth of her tongue, the way her fingernails scraped against my scalp, the tiny sounds she made. I could spend the rest of my life just kissing her.

She shifted her hips and I reached between us, positioning myself against the slippery skin between her thighs. She sank down over me, her mouth never leaving mine.

"Slowly," I whispered into her open mouth, "Take me slowly."

She nodded, pressing her forehead to mine and lowering herself gradually down, taking me into her body as she had done countless times before.

"Husband," She whispered, "How does that sound?"

The air caught in my chest, and the intensity of her question seemed to hit me in a rush. I stared up at her as her hips met mine. Husband. I'd never wanted anything more in my entire life.

She began to move, siding up and down. "Husband," She whispered again, "Hermione Granger's husband."

I smiled at the thought. I would officially belong to the person I most admired in the whole world. The person I had admired most for as long as I could remember.

"Hermione Malfoy's husband," I corrected and wrapped myself around her, instantly losing myself in the softness that was my almost-wife.

"Draco." She said in a shaky voice.

"I know," I breathed, "I fucking know."

And I did know. This was different. The air around us seemed heavier, as if this was our last time, as if tomorrow would change everything and what we would have would be new all over again. But nothing would change. We would wake up together, go to sleep together, play with our daughter, work, eat, run on the sand. Nothing would change.

Well, almost nothing.

Her name. Her name would change. She would be Hermione Malfoy.

I was still astounded that she wanted to change her name. I had assured her she didn't have to, that I truly didn't care. And I didn't. But she had assured me that it was exactly what she wanted. It was the name our daughter had, it was my name, and she wanted it to be hers as well.

Hermione moved over me, bringing me back to her with the gentle rocking of her hips. Her eyes closed, and she sighed, pushing aside the ridiculous idea that this would make our day less special. She was slippery, wet as hell, and riding me so slowly I was sure that neither of us would get there.

But my need took over and I dug my fingers into her hips, growling, faster.

Relief washed over her face and she began to move with abandon. Sliding up and slamming back down, roughly, over and over, quick and urgent, her muscles tensing. A groan of pleasure burst from my chest, each slide of her pussy over me left me slick and covered in her.

I tilted my head back to look at her; her eyes were fixed on my face, her lips parted, breathless and panting. And unable to help myself, I cupped one of her breasts, rolling her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, squeezing and tugging. She gasped, her fingers digging into my shoulders, and she let out a quiet moan of more.

I took her nipple into my mouth, circling my tongue, resisting the urge to use my teeth. She might have been begging for more now, but tomorrow she'd have my balls if I left a mark.

She grasped at my hair, pulling me back to her mouth, kissing me hard, and then she was gone again. She threw her head back, and moved harder, faster, her spine arching and a cry spilling from her. I watched as she screwed her eyes shut, watched as she rode out the wave of pleasure that washed over her, caught her as she collapsed against me.

I fell back to the mattress, gripping her hips and pounding up into her, firm, sharp thrusts that had her thighs splaying wider and had her orgasming again. She clutched at my hair, her mouth clamped against my collar, groaning as I buried myself deep inside her. My entire body trembled, and I clung to her, exploding repeatedly into her drenched pussy.

We were both breathless, panting, our skin damp with sweat.

"Fuck," she whispered, "I'm not sure we can do any better than that."

"Oh, I guarantee I'll give it my best shot."

She grinned and rolled off me, tucking herself into my side. "I don't think my legs work anymore. I'll just have to stay here."

I laughed, "It was a ridiculous idea."

She placed her hand over my heart and closed her eyes, relaxing completely into me. Her breathing slowed and she was asleep within minutes.

I kissed her forehead, and breathed deeply. I closed my own eyes, my own nerves settling now that she was beside me, right where she belonged.

"Morning," I said as she blinked awake.

"G'morning," She mumbled and snuggled deeper into me, her arms hugging me tighter. "Time is it?"

"Hmm," I hummed into her hair, "It's still early."

"So why are you awake?"

"Because we have a big day ahead of us, and I wanted to spend the first few minutes with just you." I ran my hand over her bare hip, down her thigh, pulling her leg over mine, letting her feel how ready I was to spend more than a few minutes with her.

Her hand snaked between us, drawing along my already alert cock, slowly, lazily drawing up and then down. My stomach clenched at the instant rush of pleasure when she slipped my foreskin back and swiped her thumb across the head. I groaned, flipping her to her back and crashing my mouth to hers. If we were going to do this, we had to be quick. The insanity of this day was about to start, but I wanted it to start with my aching cock buried in her.

I hauled myself over her, stroking her tongue with mine and dragging my heavy cock between her thighs. She gasped, and I ran my tongue along her neck, reaching back to wrap her legs around my waist.

"You feel good." I thrust against her. "Too fucking good."

"Draco," she groaned, "We don't have time."

"Yes we do," I dragged myself over her again, "There's always—"

"Oh, for fucks sake!"

The bedroom slammed shut, and we both whipped our heads in the direction of the sound. The door creaked open, just a crack, and Ginny's voice was disgusted.

"You have ten seconds to get the fuck off her. She has a wedding to get ready for."

I groaned and buried my face in Hermione's neck. She shook with laughter and shoved at my shoulders. I rolled off her just in time for Ginny to open the door and cross the room. She stood by the bed, her hands on her hips.

"Seriously, Draco? One night? You couldn't wait one night?"

I bent my knee, hiding the tented sheet, and lifted my head to look at her, "She came in here. I simply did what she asked."

Her gaze shifted to Hermione. "What happened to your 'keeping at least one tradition' rule?"

Hermione's cheeks went pink, "I went to check on Charlotte, and, ah, I got distracted."

"Yeah," Ginny said, "A likely story."

"What the hell!?" Pansy strode into our room, and I threw my arms in the air.

"Hey, why don't we just invite everyone in," I said.

Pansy rounded the bed and stood beside Ginny. She glared at me, "She wasn't supposed to be in here."

I glared back at her and repeated what I'd told Ginny. "She came in here!"

Pansy looked at Hermione, disgusted, "You couldn't stay away from his giant penis for one night?"

I looked at my wife-to-be, "They know about my giant penis?" Her pink cheeks flushed red and I laughed, "Nice."

Ginny rolled her eyes and handed Hermione her bathrobe. She slipped it over her shoulders and stood, tying the sash around the middle. She turned and placed her hand on my chest, leaning down to kiss me.

"No—" Ginny began, but Hermione held her hand up and glared, silencing her.

"I love you." She smiled at me, "I love you and I'm going to marry you today." She kissed me again, "See you soon."

I leaned up on my elbows, watching as she walked out of the room, Pansy and Ginny in tow. Pansy paused in the doorway and turned back to me.

"Don't forget to breathe today, Draco." She said winking at me and then closed the door.

I leaned back on the pillow, and reached my arm out, feeling the still warm sheets beside me. My chest constricted, and Pansy's words struck me.

Breathe.

I wasn't sure how I could. She was marrying me. The woman I loved and adored, hell, the woman I worshipped was marrying me.

Today.

The knock on the bathroom door startled me out of my reverie.

I'd taken a long, hot shower - after the blast of cold water I'd stood under trying to calm my body from the shock of my fiancée being stolen before I had the chance to ravage her.

And I had needed to calm myself. It wouldn't do at all to have the groom's cock standing to attention while a crowd of guests looked on.

My hand had felt pathetic - a pity fuck if there ever was one - but coming with her name on my lips had been the calming release that I had needed.

Another knock sounded, but I ignored it. I was deciding whether I should shave or not. I knew she would want me clean cut for the photos, but I also knew she would appreciate the roughness on her thighs as I feasted on her pussy late into the night.

"Fucking shave, you wanker!" Blaise's voice yelled from behind the door.

I glared at the door and scowled, how the fuck did he know?

I pulled the door open when I was as done, and found him sitting in one of the leather arm chairs by the window, one leg casually thrown over the other, his fingers steepled in front of him. And a smug grin on his face.

"I had the exact same thought a year ago." He said.

I shrugged into my shirt and waistcoat, buttoning it and then rolled up my shirt sleeves. Hermione had insisted that I do so, she had some weird fetish with my forearms, and if simply rolling up my sleeves kept her on edge all day, then who was I to argue?

"And how is it that you know what I was thinking?"

"Clean shaven for photos, or rough stubble for the wedding night?" Blaise chuckled, at the look of stunned surprise on my face. "As I said, I've already done this."

Blaise's wedding to Katie a year before had been an epic affair. His family had insisted on every person that they had ever met be invited, despite the protests of both bride and groom. Blaise had made the mistake of telling his parents if that was what they wanted, they had to pay.

And they did.

Almost five hundred guests from across the globe, a cathedral in Paris and a ballroom in a private castle on the outskirts of the city. It was mental.

But unknown to both his and her families, they'd married secretly a week before the show. Hermione and me, Hannah and Theo, and Alicia and Graham, were the only witnesses to it. And I had to admit, it had been perfect.

So the minor heart attack I had had when Hermione had taken up my mother's offer to arrange our wedding had me envisioning a circus of the same epic proportions.

But mother had surprised me. Hermione had discussed what she wanted - small, intimate, preferably at our house or at least overlooking the cliffs - and mother had come through. Less than forty people had been invited, the ceremony would be out on the deck overlooking the cliff, and we would simply mingle on the same deck and in our living area afterwards.

"Did you ever imagine this day would ever arrive?" Blaise asked, "I mean really, Hermione Granger?"

I turned to the mirror and straightened my waistcoat. I fastened the top button on my shirt, then decided it looked better undone and slipped the button free. She was going to marry me. She was going to be my wife. My wife. It felt good, but the word felt heavy, like I'd been given a gift that I truly didn't deserve. I stared at myself in the mirror, telling myself that I wasn't worthy of her, that everything she had given me – her love, her body, our daughter; no, I didn't deserve any of it.

Blaise stood and gripped my shoulder, "Breathe, mate."

I looked at him, "Hermione Granger."

"I know." He said with a nod. "And don't doubt for a second that you don't deserve her."

I arched an eyebrow at him and he laughed.

"We've been friends since we were born; I know what you're thinking." He reached out and straightened my collar, "She loves you, the two of you produced the most adorable child that ever existed, you have the most perfect, blissful life together; you have nothing to worry about."

And my friend was right. I was doubting myself for no reason. She wasn't running, she wasn't having second thoughts, she was marrying me.

I smoothed my hands down my front and straightened the creases on my rolled up sleeves.

"How do I look?"

"Like a complete twat."

I laughed, "That'd be the luckiest twat on the planet."

"That you are," He gripped my shoulder again, his smile serious, "And don't ever doubt yourself again."

A/N:

Such was the response from you all to Something Beautiful in Return, I felt I couldn't leave it how I did. The ending was my plan all along, but because of the completely overwhelming response from you all – reviews, follows, favourites and the amazing messages I have received – I couldn't let it go either.

So, four days off work means three more chapters for you all. I hope you enjoy them xx