Thank you for all of your lovely reviews! This one has been fun to write so far and I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Please read and review. :)
Four
It was early the next morning when Hermione began to wake. As always, it was in stages. She heard his calm breathing before she felt his chest rising and falling at her back. She sensed the warmth of his arm around her before she felt his fingertips curling around her hip. A low groan deep in his throat pushed her further into consciousness as well as the way he ground himself against her lower back.
She inhaled a deep breath as she cracked her eyes open finally. The morning light was dull coming in through the crack in her drapes. If she had to guess, it was likely snowing again. She flipped over onto her other side, nudging his arm in the process. Draco grumbled something under his breath before his eyelids lifted and she was met with his grey eyes.
He wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her closer. "We need to come clean so I don't have to wake up alone anymore," he sighed. "I want this every day now."
Hermione pressed a soft kiss just over his heart and his warm skin seared her lips. "I know," she whispered. It was too early to speak loudly. "Your mother is the real problem."
"Don't remind me," he grumbled to himself.
Draco suddenly rolled them until she was on her back and tucked neatly under him. His searching lips founds hers and quickly set to work in stoking the flame to build her fire back into the burning mass that had made her beg him last night. It had been like that between them from the start. He should have known she'd be full of fire considering her personality.
Though both had been with at least one other person before they found each other again, they didn't consummate the relationship until their wedding night. Everything happened so fast between them and she'd been so uncertain still until he'd convinced her to make the commitment.
"She's going to push me to begin looking for a wife at the Christmas ball," he told her when he visited the week of his birthday. "I just know it."
Hermione sat silently across from him at their favorite brunch spot. Her gaze fell to the tabletop and she felt her heart lurch to her gut. The last six months had been wondrous and often she felt she might be dreaming whenever he visited. Never before had she been pursued so relentlessly and the romance in his gestures was intoxicating. He knew better than to try and ply her with too many material things and instead focused his attention in engaging her curiosities. They spent afternoons getting lost in museums and evenings cooking together.
She wasn't ready to give him up yet…if ever.
When she finally looked up again, her breath caught in her throat and her heart jumped back in place. He was kneeling in front of her with a ring perched between his fingers and offered up. She was vaguely aware of the few other patrons watching the scene play out but too engrossed to really care about the extra attention.
"I know it hasn't been long and you'd probably be a fool to say yes but I don't want anyone else. Marry me, Hermione Granger."
Hermione didn't even realize she'd started crying until after she nodded her head and he slipped the ring on her finger. His thumbs cleared away the twin trails down her cheeks before he pressed his mouth to hers.
That had been six months ago and against all of her normal reservations, they'd married that night. His visits increased as they determined how to get her back to England and exactly how to tell the world just what they'd done. Impulse wasn't something she generally indulged but thus far she'd not regretted her decision.
Hermione lay panting on his chest, still unable to catch her breath after he'd sent her body over the edge with him. He had a knack for that. He worked so hard to please her and she selfishly loved it.
She pulled a deep breath past her lips and nestled her head under his chin. She could feel him playing with the ends of her hair, curling the strands around a finger and giving them a gentle tug before he released them to begin again. It was his regular habit now. He loved to toy with the curls he'd once mocked.
"How is it that you've kept her from seeing my name appear on your family's tapestry?"
Draco shifted until they were sitting up and she had to sit back on her legs to see him properly. He didn't dare take his hands off her though, intent to keep his wife just where she was for as long as she'd allow.
"Pippin cleans the grand library where it's hung. Mother isn't much for recreational reading these days and rarely goes in there."
Hermione nodded in understanding, her fingers preoccupied with tracing the scars along his chest where he'd taken the Sectumsempra curse their sixth year.
"Pippin is your elf, right?"
Draco smiled softly as he nodded. "Yes, and I should have been nicer to her growing up but I've done everything I could to make up for it in recent years. For whatever reason, she hasn't held a grudge. She keeps my secrets though. And she's dying to meet you. She wants to know when there will be children for her to look after."
Hermione's cheeks flushed at the mention of children and she sighed. "Well, I'd love to meet her as well." She rolled her eyes at his lifted a brow, "And I promise not to insult her by trying to free her. From everything you've said that would do more damage than good."
"As the sole heir, I'm the head of the house now. I've changed a number of things in regards to how we treat them."
"Head of house," she muttered as she rolled her eyes again, "so archaic."
Draco took her hands that were now resting on his chest and threaded their fingers together between them. He squeezed gently.
"I know you still aren't keen on having married into one of the oldest wizarding families in Britain." He squeezed her hands when she opened her mouth to protest. "You have my word that if we have a daughter first, she'll be the heir. None of that first son nonsense."
"Thank you," she sniffed primly.
Draco chuckled at her haughty response and pulled her closer to kiss.
"Hermione!"
Hermione jerked back from him when the sound of someone pounding on her door and yelling her name perked her ears.
Draco growled at the interruption and scowled when she left his lap to search for her robe. "I told you this flat is too small. If you can hear someone shouting from down the hall…"
He did enjoy the show of his wife's naked backside before she found her robe and slipped her arms into it. She turned to him as she tied the belt tightly around her waist and lifted a stern finger.
"You stay there and keep your snarky comments to yourself. I don't know who that would be so early on a Sunday morning but you can bet your arse they'll be getting a piece of my mind."
She didn't wait for a sarcastic retort and marched out of the bedroom, intent to do just as she'd said. The hardwood floor was cold under her bare feet as she rushed to the door. She lifted on her toes to have a look through the peephole and groaned as she fell back on her heels.
Harry, Ginny, and Ron were standing on the other side when she opened the door, all holding dishes of some sort. Harry mouthed an apology behind Ron's back and shrugged.
"Morning, Hermione," Ron greeted tiredly, though he didn't appear too happy to be up so early himself.
"Ron…Harry…it's barely…" She glanced at the time on her microwave, "it's hardly eight o'clock. What are you doing here?"
"Mum was worried that you wouldn't have much food in your flat yet and sent Harry and I to deliver some things she cooked for you. Ginny thought it was ridiculous to come so early and honestly so did we but mum insisted. I'm sorry."
Ron shuffled past her without another word and Harry and Ginny followed behind him.
"It really wasn't necessary," she assured him, though she did appreciate that Mrs. Weasley still worried over her. "I do appreciate the gesture though."
"Bloody hell," Ron muttered. Half of him was bent with his head inside her refrigerator. "There really is nothing in here, Hermione. I'd starve!"
She snorted at that. Typical Ron. Her nerves started to settle as she watched her best friends load dish after dish into her refrigerator. The peace wasn't meant to last though when she heard the bathroom door shut.
Ron stood up straight, brows furrowed as he shut the door and turned to face her. "Did you hear that? Is someone here?"
Hermione swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as her eyes darted between them. Harry was staring at her with wide eyes and Ginny was biting her lip to fight a grin. Ron looked as if he was about to storm off with his wand drawn to hex whoever he thought had stolen away into her flat.
She wrapped her right hand around her left to hide her rings, "Well, I…"
"Hermione, did you bring my toiletries I kept at your place back with you? I had to use your toothbrush."
She watched in horror as Ron's face slowly began to redden until he looked as if his face might truly match his hair. She didn't bother checking Ginny or Harry's face before she glanced over her shoulder.
Draco stood in the doorway with nothing but a towel around his waist looking like a pale, marble Adonis. His hair was messy from bed still and were she not standing between what could potentially be a rather ugly argument, she would have scolded him for using her toothbrush again. He never understood why that bothered her. He thought reminding her that his tongue was often in her mouth would prove there was really no difference but she never bought the argument. Tell that to her dentist parents!
She bit her lip at the surprised expression on his face and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Your things are in the bag under the sink. I haven't had the chance to take them out yet. Go take your shower while I sort this." She turned back quickly, "And stop using my bloody toothbrush!"
Draco gave a rather exaggerated roll of his eyes and nodded but not before glaring directly at Ron. He shuffled back down the hall and everyone jumped when the door slammed loudly.
Ginny pointed her thumb towards the hall and nodded. "Okay, I get it now."
"Hey," Harry protested, eyes narrowed.
She shrugged innocently and folded her arms over her chest. "Just because I can see why Hermione found him attractive doesn't mean I love you any less."
Ron made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and threw his hands up in the air. "Hermione, what the bloody hell is going on," he snapped.
She turned a fierce look on him and poked a stern finger in the center of his chest. "First of all, I'm a grown woman and can do as I please, Ronald. I owe you no explanations. However, because we're friends, I'll explain. Go sit on the sofa while I go change."
He looked like he was going to protest but when she lifted her chin in challenge, his eyes widened and he scurried off to do as she'd said. Harry snorted and leaned down to press a friendly kiss to her forehead as he passed.
"Good morning then," Ginny wagged her eyebrows suggestively as she passed, too.
She huffed and stamped her foot for good measure before stomping down the hall to change. When she reemerged, she found them seated side-by-side and waiting for her. Ron looked like he was about to shit pixies but did the smart thing and kept his mouth closed.
"Well," she sighed as she fell into her armchair, "I suppose the proverbial cat is out of the bag now."
"Cat," Ron questioned, "that's more like a bloody python!"
Hermione was thankful that she could hear the water running and that Draco didn't hear that. Knowing him, he'd have likely made some quip about his house and his endowment. He wasn't generally crude but she just knew he wouldn't have passed on such an easy opportunity.
"Fine, yes, I realize it's a shock and I was going to tell you but…well things have just happened so fast and then we were trying to arrange my transfer here…" she closed her eyes and just breathed for a second. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
Ron just shook his head as he digested the news. He glanced at Harry and shoved him slightly.
"Why aren't you more upset about this, Harry? I know you get on with the git better than I do but aren't you upset she kept this from us?"
Harry reached up to adjust his glasses and shrugged. "Well, I mean…Ginny and I kind of knew. We found out right after they were married six months ago."
"Wha—married," Ron squawked.
Sure enough, his eyes landed on her left hand and for a second Hermione worried he might faint. Or worse—set her books on fire. She made a mental note to watch for his wand.
"Oh, it's too early for this," she moaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"H-how did this happen," Ron stuttered.
Hermione sighed heavily as she slumped into the armchair and frowned at Harry and Ginny who were sitting silently across from her. No help from either of them it seemed.
"It happened just as any relationship happens, Ronald. We met again a year ago in Paris." She huffed before a nostalgic grin graced her mouth. "He bumped into me, quite literally, in a coffee shop. I was getting my morning coffee on the way to work and he was getting his on the way to a business meeting. He spilled coffee all down the front of my dress."
"Smooth," Harry snickered.
Hermione rested her head on a fisted hand as she regarded him with a slight smile. "I can promise you that Draco Malfoy is not the least bit smooth, particularly when he's truly nervous but don't tell him I said that. It was like meeting him all over again without all of the nasty history." She shook her head at the memory, "He hadn't even realized who I was yet when he turned and began falling all over himself apologizing to me in French. Broken French, might I add. Mine is far better."
Ron snorted at that but his grin quickly fell again when he recalled why he was irritated. "Get on with the story, Hermione."
"Right," she sighed. "Anyway, he looked up and saw my face and I swear I thought he was going to wet himself from the surprise. I don't know why but I could tell he wasn't the same boy we'd gone to school with. I'd read the papers about his business of course but it was different seeing him in person. He apologized again and asked me to dinner to make up for it."
"I bet you were the one who nearly wet yourself from shock then," Ginny grinned. She'd heard the story of course but it never seemed to get old.
"Nearly," she agreed. "I debated not going. I mean, it was just a coffee spill. By no means did it mean he needed to make some grand gesture of an apology but I went anyway. We had dinner at a small bistro and took a walk on the Champs de Mars because we couldn't stop talking and then…" her cheeks flushed at the memory but she smiled, "he kissed me goodnight in front of the Eiffel Tower."
She was unaware that Draco had been listening from the doorway to her retelling until he balanced himself on the arm of her chair. Hermione jumped in surprise and swatted his knee when she found him grinning at her.
"It was cheesy," she accused half-heartedly. "And quite predictable."
Draco bumped shoulders with her, smirking. "It was charming and you loved it."
Eyes locked firmly on his, she tugged her lower lip between her teeth. "I did," she admitted quietly.
"Oh, I'm going to vomit," Ron interrupted their tender moment with a groan. "How come Harry and Ginny know but you kept it from everyone else?"
Hermione frowned at his hurt expression. She knew this was going to be a problem eventually but hadn't really known what to do. She certainly never intended to hurt any of her friends.
"Because we uh…" Harry flushed nearly to the roots of his hair, "we kind of walked in on them when we visited last."
"Walked in on…" Ron's face heated another degree of red and he made a gagging sound.
"Not that," Hermione corrected when she gathered what he assumed and shot a perturbed look at Harry.
"Snogging," Ginny corrected with a chuckle. "We flooed into Hermione's apartment a little early for our weekend visit a few months ago and caught them snogging on her sofa. I've never seen two people separate so fast. You'd have thought they were two blast-ended skrewts with the way they shot to opposite sides of the sofa. The rings gave it all away though. Nice taste by the way, Malfoy."
Draco smirked and nodded. He was giving off the pride of a belligerent peacock who'd just managed to escape a zoo.
"So let me get this straight," Ron interrupted. "You met again a year ago, Malfoy proposed six months after and you eloped, and no one besides Harry and Ginny knew about any of it until just a few months ago?"
"My parents know, too," Hermione admitted. "They've known from the beginning really."
"But not your mother," Ron asked, directing his attention to Draco.
Draco groaned low in his throat. "No, not yet."
Ron's eyes narrowed dangerously and he shifted forward in his seat. "Why, Malfoy? She's good enough for you now but not your mother?"
"I'm the one who didn't want to tell her, Ron," Hermione spoke up, a warning in her tone. "Draco feels certain she'll accept me, even if not immediately. She's still pressing him to agree to an arranged marriage. I'm the one who really didn't want to deal with it. Not with any of it." She glanced up at her husband, "You don't understand. There's no way we could have dated or done anything normal couples do here in England. Honestly, it wasn't especially easy in Paris either considering that people know about the war there as well. I have more anonymity there though. People recognized me but they let me be."
"Trust me, Weasley," Draco added, "I'd shout it from the rooftops if she'd let me. I'm not ashamed of her. If anything, now that she's come home again, it's her who should be ashamed. Can you imagine the things they'll write about her…us…in the Prophet when they get wind of things?"
"We just wanted a normal start, Ron," she pled with him. "I'm so sorry for keeping it from you…it's just that I wasn't sure how well you would take it. I knew he and Harry got on well enough these days but you were just always so distrustful of him. Even when we spoke up for him at his trial."
Hermione watched as her friend and ex sat in silence for a moment. He kept looking between all of them seated in the small living room and his expression changed quickly each time.
After what felt like an eternity, Ron sighed. "I just wished you'd have told me. I would have trusted your judgement, Hermione." He shrugged, "After I'd interrogated the git in the aurors' office though." He sighed and sunk into the couch further. "So he's why you finally decided to come back to England then?"
"Yes and no," Hermione admitted, already feeling some of her tension melting away. She shared a look with Draco and relaxed a tiny bit more when his hand came up to rub gentle lines down her spine. "We never intended to hide our relationship forever. Getting married…it just happened so fast and without a plan."
"I can only imagine what you did to convince Hermione Granger to do anything without a plan," Ginny snickered.
Draco waggled his eyebrows teasingly, entirely unfazed when Hermione slapped his knee. "I don't believe she regrets it."
"Anyway," Hermione continued with a huff, "I couldn't very well stay in Paris and Draco stay in London. And he has a business to run here. I'm the one with the more flexible job. When I contacted Kingsley about a transfer and open positions, he told me Johnson was transferring departments and there was an opening that would be right for me in International Magical Cooperation."
"Can you imagine the field day the Prophet is going to have with this once word gets out," Ginny asked. "A secret love affair and then marriage between two people who once professed to hate each other…Merlin, people are going to eat this up!"
Draco grumbled something to himself and Hermione sighed. Neither was looking forward to the public getting into their business.
"So what are you going to do now," Ron asked, interrupting their little pity party.
Hermione blinked at him. "You mean you're not going to make a bigger deal out of this?"
He shrugged and glanced between them. "What's the point? I feel like a bloody arse that you didn't feel comfortable telling any of us and Ginny and Harry had to find out by accident. That doesn't make us look very good as your friends, does it?"
Hermione truly hadn't known what to expect from Ron. Over the years, his reactions could be expected to fall on a large spectrum so she could always count on him to be a wildcard. It was the fact that she'd married Draco Malfoy that made her count on him to react badly. They may have warmed up to one another to be social but neither were really fans of the other.
"Oh Ron," she gave him a sappy smile and then stood to embrace him in a hug.
Draco rolled his eyes when the Potters stood and they all embraced in a group hug. Had he been feeling more childish, he might have started making gagging noises himself. Instead, he sighed and kept his mouth shut. He knew she'd been working herself into a fit over the last month worrying about how the ginger rodent and the rest of the wizarding commuity would take the news. If there was one thing in life he was selfless about, it was her, so he was relieved that she'd have the support she needed to endure whatever happened next.
After he'd taken as much of their sappiness as he thought he could stomach, he cleared his throat and waited for them to break apart. He shook his head when all four broke apart wiping at their eyes. He pulled Hermione back to him though and waited while the others retook their seats.
"Alright, enough of that. I can only stomach so much," he quipped lightly.
Hermione backhanded his chest and sighed when he caught her arm and used it to pull her closer.
"I'm glad that's out in the open now," she remarked. "Draco can tell you how badly it was weighing on me."
Harry glanced around the flat, "Do you need help unpacking? Mrs. Weasley won't have lunch ready for a bit still. We could stay and help."
"No need," Draco told him. "I don't plan for her to be here long."
"Where are you two going to live once word gets out," Ginny asked.
Hermione glared at her husband before turning to answer her. "That's a bit of a conundrum right now."
Draco growled at the look she gave him. "You won't even try living at the manor? I've told you that room has been remodeled. It looks nothing like it did. And my mother even ordered the removal of all dark artifacts."
She huffed and looked at him like he'd just told her he planned to start a business in training the giants to play quidditch.
"It's the principle of it, Draco. Why would I want to live in a house that its very existence was centered on celebrating hatred of people like me?"
"To prove that we were all idiots and you're very much deserving of the best the wizarding world has to offer," he countered without pause.
"Ooh, good points on both sides," Ginny commented.
"Like hell," Ron countered and gave his sister an incredulous look. "If she steps foot in that house, there's no telling what dark magic is still lingering to get her."
Draco sneered openly. "Now who's the prejudiced arse, Weasley?"
"Enough," Hermione interrupted. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Draco. For now, we still have to handle telling your mother."
And that wasn't something she was looking forward to at all.
