Chapter 4

In which we break the ice.

When Draco had gotten up at precisely 5:23 that morning, he was sure that it was going to be a stellar Tuesday. He had woken up to the sound of Franny's light snoring somewhere around his middle, a thin cotton sheet tangled around her frame, the edge of which was dangling on his left hipbone. The sun was barely starting its crest into the summer sky, sending soft oranges and iridescent blues through the stained glass windows of their bedroom.

He took a moment to drink in the sight of his girlfriend's tanned skin soaking up the dawn's light, the bright lines of the tattoos that ran up her back almost glowing. His fingers traced the lines of her curvy hips, arm and shoulder, and not for the first time, he thanked his lucky stars that she was his. Ever since the day he met her in that alley in New York, he had known that he was in trouble—barely six months into his self-imposed exile into the muggle world, he hadn't realized then just how much the unassuming brunette now sharing his bed would change his life.

He smiled down at her tangled mess of hair before nudging her in the shoulder. "Cesca. Love. Time to get up."

Forever a light sleeper, Franny moaned and twisted so that she could look at him, her face resting on the back of her hand, her green eyes still bleary from sleep. "So what. It's Saturday. We can sleep in."

He chuckled, and he knew that she had enjoyed the reverb of the sound through his body by the way she closed her eyes again and smiled. "It's Tuesday, you crazy bint."

"I don't know what that means, mister Englishman, so I'm going to ignore it and pretend you were professing your undying devotion instead," she murmured, burying her face into his toned stomach.

Draco smiled and reached down to push her hair off her face. "I could worship at your altar in other ways instead," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively as he cupped her tiny face in his hand, tracing his thumb over her cheekbone.

"Mmmm," she purred, adjusting her position on the bed and taking the blanket with her. She swung her leg over him and straddled his stomach, making her face level with his six foot frame. She dipped down and nestled into the back of his ear with her nose. "I love it when you talk dirty to me in the morning."

He traced the tips of his fingers up her calves and thighs before resting on her hips, tracing absent-minded circles into them before moving onto her naked bum. "There's nothing like your morning breath, love. It's such a turn on."

She laughed and sat up, swatting him playfully on the chest. "Such romance, D. Catch me before I swoon!" She took a deep breath and blew it into his face.

Digging his fingers into her arse, he growled and sat up to try to bite her nose. "Seductress! Don't start things you can't finish!"

She laughed again, the sound music to his ears. Not that she would ever hear him say it on any occasion other than her birthday, but he was over the moon for her. If it were possible, he loved her even more as she gracefully moved down his body so her sex was rubbing against his provocatively. She looked up at him with half-lidded eyes and smirked. "Now, who said I was ever one to leave you wanting?" She punctuated each word by grinding into his hips.

Draco moaned and moved his hands up her back, burrowing his face into her and cupping the curve of her neck with his lips. "What's that Oasis song you were singing in the shower yesterday?"

"What's the story, morning glory?" She mumbled, nibbling on his earlobe.

"That's the one," he whispered, moving to her lips and kissing her slowly. The heat was coming off of them in waves. "Care to wake me up properly?"

Franny laughed and playfully bit at the pulse point on his neck, dragging her nails down his sculpted chest, making him draw his breath in with a hiss. His member was now pushing against her cunt, well past the point of morning wood. His hands moved to her bare chest, cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples into submission. She leaned back and he dipped his head down to take one into his mouth, pulling and teasing the way he knew would drive her mad. She groaned, reaching behind her and taking him into her hand, stroking as she lifted her bum so that her lower lips teased the tip of him.

He pushed his face further into his chest, taking most of her breast into his mouth while his other hand continued its ministrations on the other. "Ces," he breathed, his voice gruff and heavy with desire.

Her other hand still working its magic on him, she reached up with the other to run a hand through his brown locks. Grabbing a fistful at the back, she pulled his head back so that it was tilted up at her. She kissed him slowly, teasing his lips with her tongue.

He dipped his hand into the space between them, rubbing his palm against her lips. He smirked against her kiss upon realizing how wet she already was before digging two fingers into her, using the base of his hand to rub against her clit.

"Mother of f—" She moaned, tossing her head back.

"Thata girl, come undone for me." he whispered, his fingers unrelenting.

She looked down at him, looking for all the world like a Seelie Queen granting her favor upon a favored subject. In the barely-there dawn light, her lover's skin looked luminescent, the planes of his regal face lit up with desire and the molten silver of his gaze enough to make her cum on the spot. Done with foreplay, she used her hand to guide him into her, lowering herself slowly onto his member inch by inch. She bit her lip, her pussy stretching to allow his girth into her, still sore from their rounds the night prior.

As a reward, he groaned low in his throat, losing himself in the sensation of filling her up and completing himself in return. Pressed down to the hilt of him, something Draco could swear no other woman had ever accomplished, he had to force himself to think of football scores and plays to keep from unraveling. She used her now-free hands to gently push his shoulders back so that he was lying on their pillows, and she balanced herself on her knees and she rode him slowly at first, picking up speed as the pressure in her muscles began to build. He gripped her hips, guiding her and helping her keep rhythm, watching her every movement hungrily. He clenched his muscles so that he moved while inside her, and she whimpered as he hit the back of her.

"Come, Ces. I want to feel you come on me."

Her fingertips rested on his chest as if to steady herself, and she reached the other hand up to her breast as she fondled it. "Oh, Jesus Christ, D. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and every other deity that's listening." He could feel her tightening around him, knew that she was close. "Oh, God. I love you. I love you. Fuck!"

She crumpled, nails digging into his chest as she spasmed on top of him, her orgasm leaving her undone. Draco growled and flipped her over without pulling out, and in one smooth motion had her leg hooked over an arm to give him better leverage. He pulled out almost to the tip before crashing into her again, sending her into another wave of pleasure. She bit her lip and looked up at him from behind her lashes.

He took her bottom lip between his teeth and bit down hard, making her gasp. He ground his hips into hers as he buried himself in her. Her muscles clenched around him, and he knew that he didn't have much longer. He pulled out quickly, scooping an arm behind her and flipping her over. He grabbed a fistful of her hair as she arched her back so that her bum met his member, biting at her neck as he pushed his way between her legs to enter her again. She moaned, the sound seeming to reverberate off the walls and into his bones, driving all thought from his brain. "Fuck, D. You're going to—ahh! You're going to make me c-come again," she stammered, barely holding up against the onslaught of pleasure that this position afforded her.

He chuckled, his grip on her hair tightening. "I want you to scream my name when you come again."

She shifted her weight to her knees and stretched her body so that her head was resting on his shoulder. His hands moved to her breasts as he shivered in pleasure. "I'm yours," she whispered, knowing it was exactly what wound send him over the edge. "I'm yours, now and always. I'm not going anywhere. It's just you and me, D. You, me, and the fucking magic that your cock works on this body. Now come for me. Come inside me and ruin me for all other men."

He pushed her back down on the pillows, onto which she collapsed with a graceless flop, groaning again as he dug his fingers into her hips to keep her steady as he thrust into her. A few strokes later he shuddered and expelled his seed into her womb, riding the explosion of pleasure with a few more thrusts until her pussy had taken every last drop. Done, he pulled out gently and lowered himself onto the bed next to her, panting.

Franny turned to her side, letting the sticky mess drip down her thigh. She nuzzled into his open arm and left a trail of feather-light kisses on his jawline as she traced her fingertips over his stomach and chest, wiping the thin sheen of sweat on his brow.

"How was that for morning glory?" She smirked.

"Merlin, woman. The things you do to me," he sighed, tightening the arm around her so that her naked form was pressed flush against his side. Draco closed his eyes, reveling in the post-coital bliss. He felt her sigh contentedly against his chest, her warm breath teasing his own highly sensitive nipple, and she hooked a leg over his.

"D?"

"Ces?"

She propped herself up on an elbow and smiled at him sweetly.

"Uh-oh. I know that look."

Her face broke into a grin. "Does this mean you're cooking breakfast?"

He laughed and grabbed the pillow behind his head to slam into her face before disentangling himself from her body and slipping into a pair of track pants that hung dangerously sexy on his hips. "You're incorrigible. Most days I feel like your slave instead of your boyfriend. You're only using me for my body and my cooking, aren't you, woman?"

Franny took the pillow and put it under her head as she folded both arms behind her, stretching like a cat. She was looking at the ceiling but side-eyed his half-naked form appreciatively as he crossed their small apartment to the kitchen. "And I'm supposed to believe that you're with me for my incredible conversation and home making skills?"

Unhooking a pan from the overhead rack and taking a few eggs from the fridge, he looked up at her from behind the counter with an eyebrow raised. "Was there ever any doubt in your mind?" he joked.

She rolled her eyes at him, a smile dancing on her lips, before climbing out of their bed and making for the shower. By the time she was done, he had cheese omelets and toast waiting on their wooden coffee table, along with two glasses of Vietnamese coffee steeping. Angus and Julia Stone was softly playing from their restored record player. He was indian-seated on the rug, his glasses perched on his nose and the morning paper laid out in front of him.

Franny paused on her short walk over to him, her hand to her chest to finger her crystal necklace. The morning light was soft on his handsome features, making him look far younger than his twenty-three years, and in the afterglow of their morning romp, he looked relaxed and disheveled. A young man without a care in the world and she, the woman of his affections. If they weren't the very picture of domestic bliss, she didn't know what was. Her brow furrowed, suddenly catching herself wondering how they had gone from the darkness of the last three years to this little piece of paradise, and what this quiet and peace would cost them in the long run.

As if reading her thoughts, which he might have been, her boyfriend looked up at her, his eyes searching. "Francesca?"

She shuddered involuntarily, suddenly panicked. She crossed quickly over to him, sitting on a floor cushion and giving him a bruising kiss. She took his hand in hers and held on tightly. He looked at her tentatively, returning the pressure she was putting into his hand. She knew she was making him worry, so she shook her head and gave him a small smile.

"Will you give Abby and Ryu a gift for me when you head over to the orphanage today?"

He tilted his head to the side, trying to read her. "Is that what's got your knickers in a bunch all of a sudden? Worrying about the kids?"

She rolled her eyes and released his hand to tuck into her breakfast. "Gods, I swear, that mouth of yours is worse than mine. I'd hate to find out what you sound like to people you aren't having sex with."

He cleared his throat and fixed her with an icy stare despite himself. "I'll have you know I consider it making love. But if you want to degrade our actions, then consider it filed away for future reference."

She ignored him, pouring condensed milk into her coffee.

A few seconds later, his hand was rubbing her thigh. "Ces?"

She grunted, staring blankly as the contents lightened.

"Francesca." He said more sternly. "Did you see somethi—?"

She cut him off by placing her hand over his. His fingers were starting to dig into her knee in worry, and she gave him a reassuring smile that everything was okay. "No, I didn't. Just got a feeling about today." She chewed on her lower lip at the confession. "But I'm sure it's just because I got a good night's sleep. No nightmares. You know how I am."

He leaned over and rested his forehead on hers. "The other shoe isn't going to drop, love."

She exhaled a shaky breath, every fiber of her being willing her heart into believing him. "I love you, D."

He murmured something unintelligible and squeezed her hand. "Finish up, you'll be late."

Half an hour later, they were in the garage of their apartment complex and Draco was giving her a kiss goodbye as she clasped her helmet on and mounted her Vespa, a Christmas present from him that she had yet to wonder how he had been able to afford. He watched her melt into the busy traffic and ran a hand through his hair, mentally reassuring himself that she was just being overly anxious. Shrugging off his worries, he went back to their apartment to get ready for a day of classes and work at the orphanage.

That morning had seemed like a lifetime ago, and the last thing Draco had expected when he went to meet Franny at the café was running into bloody Hermione Know-it-All Granger, subject of his nightmares, the personification of his wartime guilt. He swore that time had stopped for a full minute as he took her in, the woman before him a complete 180 from the girl he'd last seen at the Battle of Hogwarts.

It had been tense, to say the least, and Draco thanked his Slytherin upbringing for having gotten out of it smoothly enough.

"You…you're Draco Malfoy."

Insufferable sodding bint. He shook the anger from his face before adopting a carefully crafted one of confusion and concern. "I'm sorry, who?" he had replied. He absently wondered why his own voice sounded so far away.

Granger had shaken her head, and he was secretly glad to see that she had cut her hair to shoulder-length to minimize the ridiculous bushy nightmare that it had been at Hogwarts. "I… I'm sorry. You just really look like someone I went to school with."

Hiding his rising panic, he had wiped his sweaty palm on his jeans and tried to give her a smile. "Ah, well, I get that a lot. Got one of those faces, I guess."

Two sets of eyebrows raised. Franny shot him a quizzical look. "No, you don't." She laughed at the ridiculousness of the statement. "You've literally never gotten that before."

He shrugged, trying to keep from shooting her a glare to keep her quiet.

Franny shook her head and shot him another dubious look. "Okay, well, you go and be shady. I have to duck back home because someone forgot to leave Chuck his dinner." She looked at him pointedly before turning a bright smile on Hermione. "Dan can take you to Ben Thanh. We live really nearby, so I'll only be about fifteen minutes behind you guys. D, do you mind letting Hermione ride with you?"

Before Draco could open his mouth to retort that the witch was Franny's responsibility, the girl had turned around, her helmet tucked under her arm and waving at them behind her.

Mortified and promising himself that he would come up with an adequate punishment for her later (ideally one that involved numerous orgasm denials), Draco slowly turned to his girlfriend's newest pet project.

Granger was still looking at him suspiciously.

He scratched the back of his head, hoping he conveyed nervousness rather than plotting. Before he could say anything, Granger had grabbed his left arm and ran her hand over it, whispering "Finite Incantatem." It didn't matter that he had gotten a full sleeve of muggle tattoos done over it, the instant she whispered it, the glamour that he had put over his mark dissipated and revealed it, condemning him. He jerked it back as if electrocuted.

Granger gaped at him.

"Merlin's beard, Granger." He couldn't help it—he sneered at her from down his nose, reverting back to the person he had worked so hard to abolish over the last few years. "Shut your trap, you look une poisson rouge out of water." His worst fears realized, he hadn't realized that he was switching from one language to another—something he only did when nervous and scared. He ran a hand through his hair, glancing around the busy café to see if anyone had caught the act.

Granger seemed to have found her voice at last. "I… I knew it! It is you!"

He slammed his and over her mouth and pulled her almost bodily towards the door. Once out in the busy street, she shoved his hand off her and placed her hands on her hips. "Don't you dare touch me, Malfoy!" she screeched, her face flushed.

Draco didn't miss the movement towards the wand he was sure she had concealed. He had to swallow the urge to be nasty as it bubbled up his throat as he tried to grab her arm and lead her to the alley next to the café, having decided for the path of least bloody trouble with Franny. "Look, Granger, just calm down. I can explain."

She jerked her arm away from his, looking at him like she was a piece of filth that had gotten stuck and ruined her shoes. "Don't touch me, Malfoy! Aren't you scared you'll get tainted by my Mudblood self?"

The words were cruel, and Draco winced. He had been dreading this moment for years, but he wasn't in the least prepared for it, especially coming from the Gryffindor Princess. It figured that the second he let his guard down, something like this would happen and threaten to destroy everything he had worked to build.

He raised both hands as if in surrender, his mind working fast to decide what he was going to do or say next. He looked around him, checking to see if someone would hear, so he leaned in close and tried to grab her arm again with the intention of pulling towards somewhere more secluded. "I don't give a flying fig about your blood, Granger. I'm over that." He hissed, hoping against hope that she would believe him. "I left the wizarding world for a reason, and I would appreciate it if you didn't breathe a word of it to Francesca."

The other woman's hazel eyes narrowed. "You left for a girl?" she said incredulously.

"No!" He almost yelled at her. A few pedestrians paused and threw curious glances their way.

Granger, looking like she was finally aware of their surroundings, threw him a panicked look.

Draco ran a hand over his face, willing himself to stay calm. Bloody, fucken hell. And it had started off as such a good day. "No," he repeated, his tone modulated. "She has nothing to do with it. I left because there was nothing for me there."

She tilted her head at him, calculating.

"Oh come off it. I can practically see the steam coming out of your ears." He pinched his thigh through his jeans. Cruel, Draco, reign it in. He tried to switch tact, imploring to her softer side. "Look, I snapped my wand in half, left everything where it lay and I would appreciate it-"

Grangers eyebrows practically disappeared into her hairline.

"-if you didn't tell anyone where I am or that you even saw me." He continued, his fists clenched at his side.

Granger's hands fell off her hips but her shoulders remained tense. "I have no reason to believe you, Malfoy."

"Don't call me that," he all but snapped at her. "I know you don't, and I'm not asking you to. Just…just don't breathe a word of it to Francesca and we can get through tonight without you hexing an unarmed wizard." As if not having a wand matters, Draco thought wryly. But she doesn't need to know that.

Hermione let out a long breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stem the immense headache she felt was coming on. "So I'm just supposed to believe that Draco Malfoy, pureblood prat and reformed Death Eater, left the wizarding world, snapped his own wand in half, and disappeared into the Muggle world?" Her own statement sounded incredulous even to her own ears.

Draco grimaced, but he decided not to react to her insults. "You try working through decades of conditioning and see where that leaves you." He said, venom in his tone.

"If you had really disappeared, people would have heard about it. I-"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you really think it outside of my power to keep myself out of the papers? Every reporter worth their weight in galleons knows better than to pursue any story regarding me…or my family." The last bit escaped as though it pained him.

Hermione sighed again, the doubt still evident on her face. "This is impossible." She mumbled to herself.

Draco couldn't fight the sneer that took over his face. "You should know better than anyone what the war did to us. We were children, Granger. I did horrible things that no person should go through before the age of seventeen. Both sides lost that battle. So if I decided to shrug off an existence that would have left me ostracized from society and miserable til the end of my days, is it really so far-fetched to imagine that I would try to start a new one with the comfort of anonymity and have a shot at leading my own life instead of it leading me?"

He knew he had her there when her brown eyes softened and her frustrated expression turned into one of confusion. But he didn't want her pity.

"So if you could just be a good little Gryff and pretend to be as clueless as your idiot friends, we might actually have a decent evening. Francesca seems to have taken a liking to you, Merlin only knows why, and I would hate to disappoint her."

In a blink, Hermione's distaste was once again evident. "You're such a sodding prat, Malfoy. Shove off."

"Glad to see how much you've matured over the years."

She shot him a condescending glare. "And you haven't changed at all," she spat.

Draco took a deep breath and counted to three, trying to keep his mind off all the horrible things he wanted to do to her. "Look, Granger. What's dinner and a few drinks? No one knows who we are, and we can pretend we don't either." He seemed to study her for a bit, his jaw locked, before adding, "Please," through gritted teeth.

And that was how Hermione Granger found herself on the back of Draco Malfoy's cafe racer, wearing his spare helmet with her hands on his shoulders as they sped through the glittering lights of Ho Chi Minh.