Monday, 10 August 1998
Malfoy arrived to escort Hermione to the airport several hours early and with quite a few more bags than she had. He had had an elf help it set it all in Lestrange's foyer. When Hermione saw it, she raised both eyebrows. "Really? They'll charge extra for more bags."
He stuck his nose up in the air. "It takes time to look this good."
She laughed. He frowned as she set her single trunk next to his four much larger, matching pieces.
"Is it a magic trunk?" he asked. "Larger on the inside?"
"No, I just didn't bring more than a few changes of clothes."
"But we're going for three weeks," he said with incredulity.
"And we'll wash things and wear them again. And not just a Scouring Charm; a hotel this nice will have laundry service or I can find a laundry mat."
Lestrange sounded amused. "If you need to try and repack down to fewer trunks, I can ask Krob to take them to the suite downstairs of mine."
Malfoy's brows came together in thought for a moment before he nodded. While Krob popped in and then back out with Malfoy's luggage, Lestrange offered to show Malfoy which room it was. They passed Hermione but before she could find somewhere else to be Malfoy reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her with him.
He was secretive with one bag and refused to let it be unpacked, stating that he definitely needed everything in that one. By deduction, Hermione figured it must have his pants in it though it clinked slightly when he set it back down. Hair care potions too, perhaps? A well-placed Confundus Charm on the airport security would directly them away from the bag if they decided to check it. The other three were opened on the large bed. The clothing inside was neatly folded but packed loosely.
After surveying it quickly Hermione spoke. "All of this could fit into one really; you might need to leave the third set of shoes."
"I couldn't! They go with the dress slacks."
Hermione wrinkled her nose. "What do you picture happening when we get to Australia? We aren't going to have time for fine dining or sightseeing until after we find them and then we'll probably be needed to pack up the house and get everything shipped short notice back to Britain."
Malfoy frowned and pulled his dressier items out and set them on the dressing table. He picked up a pile of other clothes and moved to set them in the first suitcase as he spoke. "Where did you and your parents live originally?" As he pulled back from the suitcase, his sleeves had pushed up revealing what was left of his Dark Mark.
Hermione's eyes seemed stuck as she stared, not answering his question. He realised what had caught her eye and righted his sleeves. He shared a look with Lestrange before deliberately pulling the left one up again. "What, Granger? You knew I had it. You don't stare like that when you see his, do you?" He looked back over to Lestrange, "Or did mine scar worse for some reason?"
Lestrange shook his head. "No, if anything yours just looks like a bad burn scar. Mine still retains its colour. I don't think she's seen mine but once."
Hermione closed her eyes and shuddered. She took a moment to breathe calmly before she opened her eyes. "Sorry. You had asked a question?"
"Where did your parents originally live? But I don't really care about that answer now, now I want to know why you've only seen his Dark Mark once."
Hermione forced a half smile on her face, "I'm sure Lestrange can answer that for you. I'm going to freshen up. When you're done, it'll be time to leave." She walked out of the room just as Malfoy's voice asked a crude question about sex. She didn't hear Lestrange's answer.
Two hours later, she and Malfoy were walking down the aisle of the aeroplane about to take their seats. The Apparition to Leaky Cauldron's courtyard was normal, and Krob had delivered their bags within moments of regaining their equilibrium. Then Hermione had hired a cab and they rode to the airport with their three bags. Security didn't stop them at all which made Hermione suspicious of Malfoy, but he'd raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't do anything. Seems we look like a normal couple doing, you know, normal things. I'm not calling it that silly word the travel agent called it."
"Taking a babymoon?" she had teased, running her hand over her baby bump.
Hermione asked for the window seat and Malfoy nodded. Once settled, Malfoy decided it was private enough to talk. "I'm glad you didn't stop me from coming with you on this trip. Considering what I did when we were out."
"It was horribly Slytherin of you and I still haven't truly forgiven you. Don't think I've forgiven Lestrange's part in it either."
"He didn't—"
"You and I both know he was in on it from the beginning. When you showed up for lunch he mentioned I was showing and yet didn't say a word when we left while I was still wearing my normal clothes."
Malfoy nodded, acquiescing. "Did you know triads are more powerful than regular couples? Though it matters which hand-fasting ritual is done."
A low pitched feminine voice drifted to them from Malfoy's other side. "Oh, are you talking about hand-fasting rituals? I've seen a few done but they had more elements of a Christian wedding than I thought they would."
Malfoy blinked in surprise before leaning back so both he and Hermione could see the stranger who was settling into her seat on Malfoy's other side. She wore large gold hoop earrings and colourful clothes. A peasant top blouse—without a bra, Hermione noticed-and a long billowy skirt in earthy green tones. She wore golden bangles on one wrist but she'd wrapped a gauzy scarf in and around them to dampen the noise they made. She had a shawl wrapped around her shoulders and a small bag she dropped in her lap once she was still.
"Hi, my name's Stormy Dragonsong and you guys?"
Whether it was an automatic reaction to being asked his name, Hermione didn't know, but Draco introduced both of them. "Draco Malfoy and this is Hermione Lestrange, how do you do?"
Hermione wanted to hex him but they'd all talked and it was decided that there would be no magic on the plane, especially in Hermione's case, since she still wasn't used to her new spell strength.
Stormy smiled and shifted and Hermione got a whiff of hempseed oil. "Oh, you've found your Wiccan names already too?" she asked with an abundance of enthusiasm. "I quite like Draco, it's a bit different."
"He picked it because it's a constellation and he really enjoys star-gazing," Hermione said before Malfoy could answer.
"Oh, what's your zodiac? Mine is Leo because I was born at the beginning of August. Our high priestess says it suits me well."
"Gemini," Malfoy answered without missing a beat. Hermione tipped her head to look at him and he raised an eyebrow at her, challenging her.
"I'm a Virgo," she said.
"What sorts of rituals were you talking about earlier?" Stormy asked, oblivious to any tension between Hermione and Malfoy.
"Hand-fasting and sex rites," he answered despite the warning look Hermione discreetly gave him.
"Oh, that sounds interesting. I've not heard anything about sex magic. Are you part of a coven? I don't want to ask for any esoteric knowledge or anything."
Malfoy glanced back at Hermione, seeming to realize he was out of his depth, so she answered for them. "We're part of a large coven, though the high priestess lives in Scotland. We'll travel if we have need of her expertise and for major holidays. Otherwise, we have small family covens."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful." She lowered her voice, "Do you have a place to go sky-clad for hand-fastings? I've heard about it, but like I said, most hand-fasting I've been too are heavily influenced by Christianity. Probably because most of us are converts."
Hermione wanted to stomp on his foot when he answered with a simple. "Yes, we have places we could go sky-clad, but it's not the norm."
"Really? I'd also heard about, you know, rumours about sex magic and orgies, but our high priestess doesn't believe in that sort of thing."
"Sorry, just a minute," Hermione said to Stormy and tugged on Malfoy's shoulder to bring him closer to her. He smirked and brought his ear to her mouth. "She's Wiccan. Don't tell her too much or you risk breaking the Statue of Secrecy."
He turned and his mouth came close to hers. Instead of moving to her ear, he just whispered so quietly even she hardly heard him. She could feel his lips almost touching hers. "I know. But if she believes in her own brand of magic, telling her about ours won't be a problem. She's obviously delusional anyway." He leaned back and looked her in the eyes, amusement on his features.
The flight attendant picked that moment to call everyone's attention.
"I'll talk to you after we get in the air," Malfoy said to Stormy.
They listened to the flight attendant go through all the emergency procedures. Then they taxied into position and went through take-off. Hermione gripped the seat's armrest tightly until Malfoy grabbed her hand and held it with his. He didn't even grimace when she squeezed and pressed her short nails into the thin skin on the back of his hand so hard that she left marks. Once they'd levelled out Hermione released his hand meaning to pull away, but he kept it in a loose hold. It made Hermione feel weird and slightly uncomfortable to realise that she was holding hands with Malfoy.
He turned back to Stormy. "Sorry, what was it you had asked about?"
"Oh umm," she glanced at where he was still holding Hermione's hand and blushed slightly. "Rumors about sex magic and orgies," she said sounding slightly nervous. Hermione realised that when Malfoy had introduced them with different last names, the girl had thought him single and might have even been flirting by asking about sex magic. Now that he'd taken the initiative to hold Hermione's hand, he was showing her that he wasn't single. It seemed strange to Hermione to flirt by asking about information, but maybe she didn't really know how to flirt properly. Her situation had been far from normal.
"Well, I'm not sure about orgies, but I know about virgin rites and triadic relations that can get quite kinky."
"What are 'virgin rites'?" Stormy asked.
Hermione didn't particularly want to know about either, but it was technical knowledge, as long as Malfoy wasn't making it up as he went along, so she listened in spite of herself.
"Well," he began, "Virgin rites are a type of blood magic, really, and if done properly can open up more power for a wizard or a witch, or both. Most often, the wizard would take the power without thought."
"How does that work? I mean, I'm not a virgin any more but it's still interesting to learn."
"If the wizard is in control of penetration, he gets the power boost. His spells will be stronger, especially if they are used to protect his family. If a witch is in control of penetration, she gets the extra strength, but instead of defence, like for the wizard, her strength will be in offence. Protecting her family from threats and preventing harm by attacking first. I think the Mug-ah, umm, layman's way of describing it is 'mama bear syndrome."
"That's really interesting. But, you mentioned a third option, didn't you? How does that work? If the guy's a virgin too?"
He shook his head, "No, it's still about who's in control of penetration. A wizard losing his virginity doesn't shed blood, there's no blood magic there."
Stormy's brown eyebrows bunched together and she reached up and fluffed her brown wavy hair. "I, uh, still don't understand, how can both be in control of penetration?"
But Hermione knew and understood. Thoughts of that first time with Lestrange flittered through her mind. You're in charge of how you lose your maidenhead. He'd said. You are in control. But she hadn't done it completely, he'd encouraged her, tried to get her to go all the way but she didn't. He had taken over. That was how both could be in control. One partner giving up control halfway through. Lestrange had meant for her to gain power, not take it for himself.
Before she realised she was speaking, Hermione answered Stormy's question. "It's sensual. Lovemaking. Halfway into the motion, one partner gives up control to the other."
"But I still..."
Hermione specifically didn't mention that it was a different man than Malfoy. "He was sitting and I was over his lap. I moved downward and stopped before being..." she canted her head as she thought about the proper word choice, "Before being fully seated and he brought his hips up to meet mine. I gave up control halfway through." She could see out of the corner of her eye as Malfoy seemed to take in that information—both said and unsaid.
"Yes. That's one of the best positions for it," he agreed. "It's an equal give and take and it shares the power. That sort of rite portends the best marriages. It's said that if a couple conceives a child during a virgin rite, that it will be a powerful child, but that might be speculation. Unless the rite is the only time a couple has sex during a witch's fertile time, it's almost impossible to know if conception occurred during the rite."
"Oh," Stormy said, looking back and forth between them, obviously assuming Hermione was talking about Malfoy. There seemed to be an awkward silence between the three of them and Hermione turned to look out the window. Stormy, however, still seemed to either be clinging to flirting or curiosity. "You mentioned something about triadic relations getting kinky. Do they require a virgin?"
Malfoy went on to talk about how though there wasn't a power increase, there was something like a power exchange when three people gave themselves fully to each other. He didn't specify if he meant just bodily or if he meant emotionally as well. Hermione had a better time of blocking him out as he was talking about that.
She closed her eyes and listened to the tones of Malfoy's voice. It wasn't unpleasant but she was sure he would be an absolute pain in the bum to live with for three weeks. She'd just have to focus all of her intellect on finding her parents quickly and efficiently. Lifting the Memory-Modifying Charm was going to be the hard part. When his voice stopped and a clicking sound started, Hermione opened her eyes.
Stormy had started knitting with hot pink, plastic needles and Malfoy had leaned back and closed his eyes. When he felt her move, he glanced at her and leaned closer. "How long is this flight?"
"Twelve hours."
"This is going to be a long twelve hours."
"I know. Our sleep schedules going to be really wonky for a while too. We'll have jet lag."
"I didn't sleep well last night, so I might try to nap during. So long as she doesn't start asking more questions."
"You encouraged her," she said back, grinning. He grinned in reply. "Nightmares?" she asked.
He nodded. "Lestrange mentioned yours were coming back. Did the potions help?" His voice was low, but Hermione still glanced at Stormy. She moved slightly and Hermione noticed wires coming from her ears. She was wearing headphones.
"Which potions?"
"The anti-nausea ones are made with similar ingredients to Dreamless Sleep."
"Oh. Well, that explains why they had tapered off for a while. When I finally started taking that one regularly."
"I brought a few things. All charmed in non-breakables, of course. Mother made sure everything I packed was safe for a pregnant witch, so anything I have is yours." He squeezed her hand again.
She swallowed, uncomfortable with the phrasing. She nodded and leaned her head back against her seat. She closed her eyes, not expecting to sleep. She slept anyway.
* . * . *
Tuesday, 11 August 1998
Hermione was grateful when they finally landed. There had been turbulence sometime during the flight and it had made her anxious and she didn't feel calm until she had her feet planted firmly on solid ground again. Malfoy's behaviour had made her feel topsy-turvy as well. He was polite, considerate, and almost sweet. She didn't know what to make of him. Was this an act? Had he changed so dramatically since she'd last shared a class with him? Was this someone else and she just hadn't noticed him drink from a flask of Polyjuice yet?
The sky was lit with early morning sun when they were finally out of the airport and even though she'd slept on the plane, she felt exhausted.
"We need to get that car rental and find the hotel," she told Malfoy. He grunted an agreement and she wondered if he'd slept any on the plane. He was probably feeling the effects of sitting in an enclosed space for so long as well.
"I obviously don't know how to drive an automobile. Do you think we can charm it to work?"
"I can drive, though now that I think about it, I don't know if my British license will be enough to please the authorities," she said.
"Confound them if necessary and let's go. I want to sleep."
"You're not supposed to sleep until the locals in your destination are going to bed, it's to help with the jet lag."
"I don't care. I'm grouchy and snappish when I'm sleep-deprived and I don't want you to suffer that. Not that you would. I don't want the hexing that would come from that." Then he muttered, "Moving entire bookshelves."
"It wasn't just bookshelves," she said as they gathered their baggage and headed to the car hire window. "At the Burrow, I tried to scour the dinner plates and broke them."
"Broke them?" he asked, squinting at her.
"Turned them bright white and broke them. The whole stack. Mrs Weasley just laughed and said that's what colour they were when they'd received them. She repaired them just fine, though."
"I didn't know you could clean something so hard it could break. Is any of your other magic wonky?"
"Not that I know of. I don't cast very often in my day-to-day."
"Really?" he asked, shocked.
They paused their magic talk while Hermione talked with the clerk and got the automobile situation under control. She also got directions to the hotel. They made one more stop at a currency exchange window and then headed out into the car park. Once outside, they realised that it was quite cold out.
"Try now," Malfoy said, "Cast one of the Warm Air Charms to warm us up while we find this blasted iron thing."
"It's not an iron thing, not really, I don't think," she mumbled. "I'd be worried about setting us on fire with the way my last few spells have gone. Let's just get in the car and get the heater running."
Malfoy grumbled and cast a Warm Air Charm over the both of them himself. "No use walking in the cold if you can help it. How can you not cast in your day-to-day, as you put it? I cast that Warm Air Charm to dry myself after a shower and dry my hair."
"That spell makes my hair frizz even worse than normal."
"Is there a worse than normal when it comes to your hair?" he asked, and although it was like one of his normal quips about her hair, he was grinning at her when he said it which made the whole thing sound like a tease instead of a taunt.
She located the car and settled in. After adjusting the seat and mirrors she took a deep, calming breath and started the car. Malfoy jerked in his seat and grabbed at the door like he wanted to jump out. She turned to look at him, noticing he hadn't fastened his seatbelt. That wasn't the most pressing thing, though, he had pushed himself up against the door and against the seat as far as he could get away from the noise of the engine rumbling. She wanted to laugh but decided mocking him because he was scared wouldn't do anyone any good.
"It's okay Malfoy, really," she tried to calm him. "Sit back down in the seat and I'll show you how to fasten your seatbelt."
"It's growling at us." He pointed towards the front of the car.
"It's a machine, it's not growling." She frowned trying to think of how to explain contained combustion. "You know how when you first cast the Fire-Making Charm, there's that flash and pop as the fire starts?"
He looked at her with wide eyes, his gaze asking if she'd gone barmy when he wasn't looking. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Hidden inside the pretty blue painted parts is a contraption that is continuously starting a fire, over and over. The rumbling sound is from that. There are a lot of moving parts that add to the sounds, but it's all perfectly safe. It's not going to harm you." She didn't think it prudent to include the caveat unless we get into an accident. "Relax, let's fasten your seatbelt so I can get us to the hotel."
He settled into the seat and she tried to explain what the seatbelt was and how to use it. He floundered with it and couldn't get it to snap into place. Hermione sighed, unfastened hers and got out of the car. She walked around to his door, opened it, and leaned over to fasten his seatbelt for him. It wasn't until she felt his breath puff against her neck that she even thought he might have been pretending. She stood back up slowly and looked at him.
"Was that what you were hoping for?" she asked.
She watched him swallow and lick his lips. "Better."
"You're ridiculous," she said, shaking her head as she closed his door and went back to her side. The drive to the hotel was without incident.
Malfoy took charge after she parked the car. Pulling their luggage from the back. "Don't they have a bellhop to carry it for us?"
"I don't know, probably once we get into the lobby." They carried their luggage into the lobby were a bellhop immediately started setting it on a trolley for them. Malfoy seemed in his element as he strode through the lobby towards the front desk, and Hermione was, again, reminded of his father in the way he spoke to the clerk. They were shown upstairs by the bellhop and Malfoy even knew to tip the boy. Hermione cringed, expecting him to either under or over-tip, but the fiver that transferred hands seemed appropriate.
"I'm going to take a bath before I sleep," she announced.
"Let me shower first?" he asked, sounding genuine. "I know we didn't actually do anything to get dirty, but being in that aeroplane for so long made me feel filthy, especially the loo. I promise I won't take long."
She conceded and sat down on the sofa and turned on the telly. She kept the volume low, even as she checked the local weather. She didn't realise Malfoy had finished his shower until she felt hot, moist air drift her way from the open bathroom door.
"Umm, Granger?" he called from the bedroom.
"Hmm?" she asked from where she'd curled up under a throw blanket on the sofa.
"Bath's free. Did you want to try casting a Duplication Charm on the bed?" She grunted as she stood, flinging her arms wide as she felt suddenly off balance. He poked his head out the doorway. "You all right?"
"Lost my balance. I'm fine now," she said, covering her mouth as she yawned. She walked into the bedroom and realised the problem in their plan. The bed was huge and there wasn't enough space in the room to house two of them. "Two beds that size wouldn't fit in here," she mumbled.
"I realised that."
"I'll sleep on the sofa, it was comfortable enough."
"Don't be foolish. I'm not letting a pregnant witch sleep on the living room furniture when there's enough room in the bed for both of us."
She noticed how he didn't offer to sleep on the sofa himself. Slytherin prat. She walked closer to the bed to look at the items placed in a basket on the corner. "Romantic gifts for expecting parents, compliments of the hotel," she read.
"What sort of romantic gifts?" Malfoy walked up beside her. Hermione could feel the damp heat of his skin. He smelled clean, with just a hint of cologne. His hair was still wet, she noticed.
"No Warm Air Charm?" she asked.
He grinned as he looked back at her. "The towels are extra fluffy." He was wearing different clothes, silken shirt and matching pyjama bottoms, patterned with blue stripes. "What's in the basket?"
"Scented body lotion for stretch marks, a book about keeping passion alive," she snorted in amusement, poking through the things as she identified them, "sparkling grape juice, sweets, massage oil, personal lubricant, and a box of fake rose petals."
Malfoy hummed. "Do you think the personal lubricant—that's a Muggle euphemism, right?—do you think it feels like a Lubrication Charm?"
"I don't know how a Lubrication Charm feels nor do I know how the Muggle variant feels. If you want to keep it and test it out yourself, by all means," she offered. "I reserve the rights to the lotion, some of the sweets and grape juice."
"You don't want the book? I could use the oil on you," he said.
"No thank you. I'm going to take a bath now."
"We didn't decide on the bed. I won't make a move on you, I really just want to sleep."
Hermione looked at the monstrous bed and nodded. "I prefer the right side," she said before she gathered a few things from her trunk and went to take a long, warm bath.
* . * . *
Hermione might have dozed in the bathtub. She didn't really care. She got out, dried, and dressed and returned to the bedroom. Malfoy was already asleep, sprawled out on his back like a starfish but mainly on his side. She crawled under the duvet on her side and fell asleep.
When she woke, the sunlight coming into the room announced that it was mid-afternoon. Hermione stretched and started to roll over when she realised someone was touching her. He hadn't moved or made a noise when she'd stretched, so she didn't know if he was awake or not, but she could feel him breathing behind her. He'd curled up around her back and laid his hand over her baby bump.
She sighed, unsure of how she felt about this development. Was Malfoy a cuddler? Why was he so intent to touch her stomach? Had he never seen a pregnant woman before? That might be the case. He was an only child and if most witches never left their homes during pregnancy, he might just be fascinated by it. The fact that he took liberties with her body was a little annoying, despite the fact that he had asked the first time.
"Malfoy," she whispered, not sure if he was awake or not. She assumed not, since she had to say his name two more times before he jerked and half snorted in her ear. He didn't remove his hand or roll away from her, however. Instead, he seemed to burrow down under the covers to spoon with her more closely. "Malfoy, we need to get up. Sleeping the day away won't help with the jet lag."
He made an incoherent grumbling noise and pressed his body against hers. That's when she noticed something a bit hard pressing against her bum. When she'd read about sex and pregnancy, she'd stumbled across information about morning erections as well as nocturnal emissions but she never thought she'd have to deal with them. Especially not from Malfoy.
"Malfoy," she said more sternly, "stop pressing your erection into my bum. I need to get up and wee and we need to get out of bed. We've got things to accomplish today."
He pressed against her again, almost rocking into her a few times before he stopped abruptly. He must not have actually been awake before. He rolled away from her immediately when he was. "Sorry," he murmured. He stifled a yawn. "Did you say you needed to use the loo?"
"Yeah," she answered and got up. She padded into the bathroom to do her business and washed her hands. When she came back out, he'd dressed. They traded spaces, with her dressing in the bedroom and him in the bathroom.
When he emerged, looking more his normal self, she pulled the notepad and pen next to the suite telephone over to the table and sat down, poised to write her thoughts. "I suppose we could look in directory assistance and a telephone book to find my parents' phone number, address, and business address." She jotted those things down as she worked through her thoughts out loud. After we've located them, I'll need to go and speak with them. Maybe introduce you as a doctor's assistant, to get them to trust you to, I don't know, hypnotise them while you look at the memory block."
He nodded. "Can we order food, first? I'm starving. And while we're eating I need you to tell me everything you remember about the spell or spells you cast."
She realised that was the best line of thought when her stomach rumbled in agreement.
