Sometimes...work trumps writing fanfiction. Which sucks, right? Right. Either way, I hope this 8000+ word chapter makes up for the time you've all been patiently waiting, and I hope you're all enjoying some ridiculously fabulous weather like I am right now. It's going to be 64 degrees (Fahrenheit) in my state today, which is freakishly warm for this time of year. Of course, I'm fully anticipating February or March bitch slapping us with some snow and ice, but for now I'm going to enjoy the fact that my heat bill for January will be low :D
For the fifth night in a row, Hermione found Draco asleep in his study, paperwork scattered about regarding his work at the Ministry. While she could applaud him for actually making it to the chaise this time, she couldn't help but be somewhat irritated. She wasn't a meddling wife, but she knew what was on his plate at the office and knew it wasn't anything worth working into the late hours of the night over. Nevertheless, this had been Draco's routine for the past few weeks. He'd come home, play with Harper, enjoy dinner, and retreat to his office to do some 'work.' She was only slightly annoyed at the fact she felt like she spent more time asleep with her husband than she did awake, but now that he wasn't even attempting to make it to bed, her annoyance was turning into pure irritation.
"Draco, Draco wake up," Hermione said, giving his leg a thorough smack with her hand. "Draco!"
Startled, his eyes snapped open and found his wife, cinching the belt of her robe with a good yank as she glared at him. "Shit," he mumbled, realizing he'd fallen asleep again in his study. "Sorry, dear," Draco said, yawning as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I was -"
"Working, yes," Hermione interjected. "Not that any of this looks important enough to push anyone to the brink of exhaustion, but clearly you seem to believe otherwise." Turning on her heel, she marched out of the room, not even waiting for him to make another excuse. Upon entering their bedroom, she promptly discarded her robe, draping it over the armchair near her nightstand and crawled into bed, making sure she was entirely on her side as he walked in several minutes later. "Don't even think about dropping your clothes on the floor," she warned.
Hearing her tone, Draco sighed as he looked at his shirt and pants already in a wad at his feet. He bent over, balling up the clothes with his hands and chucked it in the general direction of the hamper, though in the dark. If the clothes didn't make it in, he was going to blame it on the fact that it was nearly midnight, and their bedroom was dark. Pulling the bedding back, he climbed into bed, reaching for Hermione as she swatted his hands away.
"Come on," he groaned, overpowering her as he used both arms, wrapping them around her waist as he pulled her to the middle of the bed. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear, his arms now trapping hers as he held them against her body. "Really, Hermione, I'm sorry."
"It's the fifth night this week," Hermione muttered. "You've been practically nonexistent lately."
He sighed, pressing his forehead into her back. "I know, and I'm sorry."
She wriggled her arms free of his grasp and sighed, slightly relaxing in his embrace. "I don't like it when you don't come to bed, Draco."
"I know," he whispered, kissing the exposed skin at her neck. "I'm sorry."
"You said that already," she flatly replied, hugging her arms to her chest. "I don't know where your head has been these past few weeks but feel free to relocate it."
Rubbing a soothing and up and down her bare arm, Draco placed a kiss on her shoulder through the thin white t-shirt of his she was wearing. He didn't want to tell her that their son had been on his mind, how he wanted to have a name officially added to the record of birth. Draco had made sure to shelter his emotions regarding his son from Hermione considering she was a mess - rightfully so, of course - and there were many moments where someone needed to be the voice of reason. Since Hermione had abandoned her post of being that voice for the time being, Draco stepped up, not because he wanted to but because he had to. One the few moments where he couldn't keep it in, he apparated to Blaise's apartment, who usually took care of him with a bottle of fire whiskey and a sobering charm before he returned home.
However, he'd been slowly concluding that if he was going to pull himself out of his funk, he was going to have to talk to his wife. Avoidance clearly wasn't the answer, especially if it was going to get him in trouble with his wife. Swallowing a groan, Draco drew a sharp breath, letting the overwhelming jasmine scent he'd come to associate with his wife ease the nerves before slowly exhaling. "I miss our son."
The moment she felt the arm still around her slack, she rolled over and stared at him, eyes wide as she bit her lips inward. She pressed a hand to his cheek before letting her fingers slide up past his ear, threading through his hair. "I miss him too," she whispered.
"It's bigger than that," he confessed. "It physically hurts, worse now than it ever did and I have this nagging need…because I can't stand…"
"What?" Hermione gently asked. "What can't you stand?"
Draco sniffed. "Nothing," he mumbled, not brave enough to broach the issue of a name. "I just can't stand that he's here. But if he was here, then we wouldn't have that gorgeous daughter of ours…or maybe we would have, a few years later or so. Not that we'll ever know. I hate that I cannot imagine my life without Harper Grace but I have to live my life without…"
"Shh," Hermione whispered. "Sweetheart why didn't you tell me? You should have told me."
"Because I have you back," he replied. "Harper fixed you and I just didn't want to take you back there."
"Just because she's here doesn't mean I don't miss him every day," Hermione said, blinking her own tears away. "I guess I found a better perspective of sorts…but you can talk about it to me. Honest. I won't…I won't be the way that I was."
Nodding, Draco snuggled up closer to Hermione as she rolled over; laying on her back as he buried his face into her neck. It didn't take long for Hermione to realize as she laid there, trying her best to sooth him that it was the first time their roles had been reversed when it came to the grief over their son. He was always comforting her, telling her it would be ok, that they'd find a way to get through it. He was always the understanding one, especially on her days where everything was wrong and nothing was right. Pulling the blankets up over them with a little bit of assistance of wandless magic, Hermione closed her eyes and let her husband cling to her, for as often as she'd done it to him, it was time for her to return the favor.
"Just tell her."
"Can't do it."
"That'll be 6 galleons."
Blaise looked over at the concession patron as Draco dug out his wallet. "Six galleons for this?" This of course was a large bucket of popcorn for the kids, drinks for Harry, Draco, Blaise, and Hermione, and a package of licorice wands for Blaise, but they were at a Hollyhead Harpies match, and concessions didn't come cheap. "Are the licorice wands laced with unicorn blood?"
Draco handed over the galleons to the unamused concession patron and thrust the licorice wands into Blaise's hands. "Ignore him," Draco said apologetically as he picked up the drink tray with one hand and the popcorn in the other.
"It's a valid question!" Blaise cried as they walked back towards their box seats. "I swear its robbery, some of the prices at these events."
"Yes, but when you have insurmountable wealth, it's a bit tacky to complain, eh?" Draco noted.
"Whatever. No one should have to pay an entire galleon for a package of licorice wands…even if they do have the Hollyhead Harpies emblem all over the box," Blaise groused as he ripped open the package. "And I still think you should tell her. Give Hermione a bit of credit - she's in a completely different place than she was."
Draco sighed as they weaved through the crowds of excited fans. "Exactly - she's in a different place - which is where I'd like to keep her."
"So it's ok for you to begin retreating to her former grounds of misery? That doesn't make much sense, mate."
"I just don't want it to upset her."
"But it's ok for you to be upset."
"Blaise -"
Stopping short of the entrance to their box, Blaise cut his friend off, standing in front of him as he took a vigorous bite of the licorice wand in hand. "You have two options, Draco. You can either be a man and just tell her that filing a piece of paper will bring you peace of mind, or you can be a pussy - wallowing in your own self-pity because you aren't man enough to ask for help because you think you'll find a way out on your own. My vote is the first option, because you've been attempting the later for the past few weeks now and you suck at it."
Flaring his nostrils slightly, he looked at Blaise, taking another chomp at the licorice wand in hand. "Why are we friends again?"
"Because you used to be a bigger asshole than I was, and I was the only one that could tolerate you."
"Right."
Jogging up the long flight of wooden stairs, the two of them found Teddy, James, and Albus running around, each with green Hollyhead Harpies shirts with POTTER printed on the back in bright yellow, with a number 6 underneath. Arthur and Molly sat up front of the box, Arthur holding Harper as he pointed out things behind her comprehension. Draco couldn't help but smile at the mesmerized look Harper had on her face as she tried to watch everything at once.
"Up up!" Albus shouted, running and colliding into Hermione as she sat next to Harry. Draco watched as Hermione scooped up the child, giving him a big hug as he took a break from the older brothers. Ignoring the ache in his heart as he watched Hermione play patty-cake with Albus, watching her grin as he 'rolled' his hands with gusto. "Yay!" he exclaimed as Hermione finished singing the song, clapping his hands together.
"Popcorn!" James shouted, stopping in his tracks as everyone turned back to look. "Did you ask for extra butter?"
"Yes," Draco replied. "Watched the man do it myself."
"And he shook it all around so it's just not on the top?"
"Yes," Draco promised, handing the bucket over to James, who took a seat next to Teddy as the two began to chow down on the overly buttered treat. Joining his wife, he took a seat next to her and reached a hand to the back of her neck, scratching it lightly. "Look at how excited she looks," he said, motioning with his head at Harper who was still perfectly content in Arthur's arms.
Hermione laughed, leaning into his touch. "I don't know if that's a look of excitement or over stimulation."
"Excitement," Draco said with a smirk. "You never know - Mister Weasley may be holding the next great quidditch star."
Hermione set Albus down on the ground as he spotted the large bucket of popcorn sitting between James and Teddy and laughed. "Let's not encourage quidditch just yet, please? I'm perfectly content with having a girly-girl that doesn't…you know…find any sort of pleasure in dangerously flying around a quidditch pitch."
"Well, look at it this way, Hermione," Blaise said, taking a seat in front of them as he handed her a licorice wand. "Seeing how you and Draco are complete opposites, you have a 50-50 chance that Harper will be a quidditch star -"
"Or unable to fly a broom at all," Harry added with a smirk.
"My vote, of course, is quidditch star," Draco teased.
"Well, my vote is dresses and bows," Hermione stated, crossing her arms against her chest as the men around her laughed.
"I'm sure she could play quidditch wearing a bow," Draco replied with a cheeky grin.
"Daddy! Mummy's team! They're coming!" James shrieked pointing as the Hollyhead Harpies team flew out into the stadium, whipping around the pitch to the thunderous cheers from the home team crowd. "I see her!" he screeched, pointing as Harry was now up on his feet, picking up Albus as they spotted Ginny's long red ponytail flipping in the wind.
The boys shouted for their mum - all three of them - as it was the first home game of the season for the Harpies. The quidditch stadium wasn't nearly as deep as the one at the world cup, but it was certainly wasn't the same as playing at the pitch on the grounds of Hogwarts, either. Catching Ginny's eye with the obscene amount of screaming and waiving from their box, she gave them a laugh and a wink before the officials blew their whistles, signaling the players to get ready for the quaffle toss.
The first twenty minutes of the game proved that the Harpies opponent, Puddlemore United, was in the midst of a rebuilding year as the score was already 70 − 10, but it didn't take away the excitement of the first game of the season, or watching Ginny's professional debut. Blaise, who had been watching Hermione watch Draco every so often as he now had a hold of their daughter while they watched the game, leaned over and gave Hermione's arm a light flick in order to catch her attention. Motioning with his head, he made his way towards the box exit, Hermione followed, doing her best to be as discrete as possible, successfully slow as she met Blaise outside of the box and down the concourse a bit, the crowds of fans cleared out a bit as the game was currently underway.
"What's up?" she asked, tugging at the bottom of her shirt a bit.
Blaise pulled the last of his licorice from the bag and popped it in his mouth, the candy hanging out of his lips like a snake tongue as he tossed the wrapper in the trash. "Ok, so you know I don't meddle. In fact, I make it a point not to meddle."
Hermione furrowed her brow, placing her hands on her hips. "I knew there was something more to this."
"More to what."
"My husband and his…general demeanor," Hermione clarified. "That's what you're talking about, correct?"
Blaise nodded. "How did you guess?"
"Because you don't meddle, remember?"
He laughed. "Right. But I know he's never going to tell you and I think you need to know. This is more than just him missing his…his and your son." Chomping on the licorice wand, he held the remainder in his hand. "Look - I don't know how to be anything but a blunt asshole."
"It is a part of your charm," Hermione quipped.
"Exactly. So I'm just going to say it. Draco misses his son. When he sees James and Albus - especially Albus - all he can think about is what his son would be doing. What words he would know, if he would look like you more than him because he's convinced he would have looked like you…but what he really wants is to tell you that he wants to draw up paperwork with the Ministry to give your son an official name. However, he won't tell you that's what he wants because he thinks if he tells you that you'll go straight off your rocker again. I'd like to state for the record that I said to give you more credit, but he's scared. And I get that - he was the one that lived through the aftermath, but he's never going to tell you what he wants."
Her jaw dropped slightly as she clapped a hand over her heart. All this time she just assumed that they didn't give their son a proper name because they didn't really have a name to give him. Hermione liked the name Hugo and while Draco understood the sentiment, she didn't think he'd been convinced of the name. She figured she could get him there, but the opportunity was gone in an instant.
"You can't just tell him you want to name your son, either," Blaise added. "Because then he's going to know I said something and I'm the only one who knows."
"Well then how do you suggest I get it out of him? With violence?"
"As long as it doesn't start with, 'Blaise said,' I don't care what you do."
Hermione nodded, scratching the bridge of her nose as she sighed. She could have strangled her husband in that moment, but in the same breath knew that she wasn't herself, even after she got pregnant with Harper. It was hard not to blame him, though her own guilt from the other night when she realized the amount of grief he held back from her, with this on top, was starting to eat her soul. "Don't worry," she finally spoke. "I'll…figure something out."
The two of them retreated up to the box, where they found everyone watch as Ginny whizzed through the Puddlemore squad before hurling the quaffle through a poorly tended goal. Ginny Potter with ANOTHER GOAL FOR THE HARRRRRRPIES the voice of the announcer boomed as the crowd went wild.
Blaise let out a loud whistle as Arthur somehow found Harper back in his arms, clapping her hands as she laughed. "Someone seems to be fan of Grandpa Arthur today," Hermione mused, sliding an arm around Draco's waist as he gave her a squeeze.
"They offered to keep her overnight on Saturday," Draco whispered in her ear. "So we can properly celebrate our anniversary."
"Did they now?" Hermione replied with a smirk. "Well, turning them down would most certainly be rude, wouldn't it?"
"Most certainly," he replied, pressing a kiss to her temple as they resumed watching the game.
Their first anniversary, Hermione was four months pregnant and paranoid about everything. Draco was convinced she found every piece of literature that talked about what not to do during a pregnancy, and it didn't matter where she read it - if one person advised against it - she tended to follow suit. Her morning sickness had been particularly bad with her second pregnancy, carrying over into her second trimester, so instead of dining out like Draco had planned, the two of them ordered in, opened gifts, and spent a leisurely evening together in the bath.
The bath, of course, worked out perfectly, as it was a traditional custom in England - both Wizard and Muggle alike - to give a 'cotton' gift as the first anniversary gift. True to tradition, Draco purchased Hermione brand new, Turkish cotton bath towels along with a Turkish cotton bathrobe. When Hermione found herself stressed out and worried about her newest pregnancy, the most productive thing she managed to do some days was take a long soak in the bath. Afterwards, she'd wrap herself up in her robe and take an equally long nap. In return for their first anniversary, Hermione replaced all of his work shirts with brand new ones specifically tailored to his measurements, each shirt with their initials monogramed along the cuffs.
"And what should I do with the other shirts?" Draco asked as he tried one on, impressed with its impeccable fit.
"I guess we could donate some to charity," Hermione replied, happy that he seemed to enjoy his gift. "I've already gone through the ones I plan to keep."
Draco approached her, a hand resting on her slightly round belly as he gave her a kiss. "Keep, eh?"
"Yes," she replied, kissing him back. "They smell like you, and it makes me feel better on days when I'm home and you're away."
This year would be a different sort of anniversary, however. Hermione was making sure of it. Part of her always felt somewhat guilty that their first anniversary was somewhat demure, but then again, it wasn't as if either faulted the other. Their first year of marriage was nothing like they thought it would be, and while their second year was a bit less stressful, they spent most of it recovering from the first, all the while celebrating their beautiful addition to the family. Hermione was hoping that with her brilliant gift for Draco, they would start out their third year fresh and new, hopefully being able to put some of the demons haunting their first two years to rest once and for all.
"Daddy's going to be home soon," Hermione said, holding two baby jars of food in her hand as Harper sat in her highchair, happily eating her peas and bananas. "He is, and when he comes home you can show him what we've been practicing all day."
Harper babbled, smiling and laughing, only stopping when her mum had another spoonful of food in front of her petite mouth.
Hermione had an apron over her dress she picked out special for the evening, protecting it from her daughter's dinner as she made a silly face before spooning a mouthful of bananas into Harper's mouth. "And you're going to have lots of fun with Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur tonight, and Uncle George might even pay you a visit which means you're going to have three people fighting over who gets to snuggle with you!"
Babbling some more, Harper raised a hand up to feel the soft, pink bow clipped in her hair. Blond like Draco, it was finally long enough to clip back off of her face slightly with a small bow, as the back of her hair was beginning to curl. Hermione was certain that she'd try to rip it out, but instead, she would touch it every now and then and laugh like she was now.
With the sound of the front door opening, Hermione's eyes grew wide as did Harper's, knowing exactly who it was. "Hermione!"
"In the kitchen!" she shouted, putting down the empty baby food jars and reaching for the rag on the counter top to wipe Harper's face, a task her daughter detested as she scrunched up her face and whined, jerking her head away. "Oh stop it," Hermione dramatically shushed as Harper's hands tried to push hers away. "You're alright."
"Torturing our child, I see," Draco said with a laugh, setting down a large gift-wrapped box on the kitchen table.
Hermione rolled her eyes as she tossed the rag into the sink and scooped her daughter from the high chair, perching her on her hip. Harper immediately reached for the diamond pendant around Hermione's neck, to which she gently pulled her daughter's hand away. "No no," she said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "But look over there," she whispered, pointing at Draco who had a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Who is that?" she asked Harper. "Who is that over there?"
"Da!" Harper squealed, waving her little hands in the air. "Da!"
Draco's eyes grew wide as he quickly walked over to her. "Did she just -"
"All day," Hermione said with a laugh. "When you left she looked at me and said it, and then started to cry because you were gone. "I told you Daddy would be back," she said to Harper as she handed her to Draco.
"Da!" she squealed, clapping her hands on his cheeks.
"We won't even discuss how distraught I was that she didn't say Mum first," Hermione mocked. "Considering I'm the one with her every single day."
Showering Harper with kisses, Draco hugged Harper close and looked over at Hermione. "Well, I guess we don't need to question who her favorite is now do we."
She gave his butt a playful swat with the back of her hand before removing her apron, revealing her dress for the evening. She found it at a vintage shop a few weeks back, and fell in love with the sleeveless black laced, scoop neck overlay on top of the black, knee length skirt that had a flirty flare from the waist down to the tops of her knees with a thick ribbon sash tied in a bow in back. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure her grandfather is her favorite."
"What makes you say that?" Draco asked, slightly appalled.
"I don't know - I think it's the sound of his voice," Hermione replied. "She is just content to listen to whatever he says. It's quite sweet, really."
Draco made a face, looking at his daughter as she continued to press her fingers into his cheeks. "I'm your favorite," he whispered. "We don't have to tell anyone though. It can be our secret."
"Da!" she squealed.
"Da needs to get ready," Hermione said, walking past them again as she fastened her earrings in her ears. Taking Harper, she watched as Harper immediately reached for her necklace again. "No no," she repeated. "We don't play with Mummy's pretties."
"Daddy will get you your own pretties Harper Grace, since your mummy doesn't want to share," Draco said with a grin, giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek before stealing a kiss from his wife. "It shouldn't take me too long to get ready."
"It's fine," Hermione replied. "I've got to get her things ready anyway." Walking up the stairs, she knew Draco was right behind her as she swayed her hips ever so slightly. Hearing Draco chuckle, she felt his arms wrap around her waist as they both reached the second floor. "I'm still holding your daughter," she warned as she felt a kiss through her lace covered shoulder.
"You look beautiful," he whispered in her ear, letting go as he ventured to their bedroom.
"Thanks," she replied, her hand catching his briefly before walking into Harper's room.
Placing Harper in her crib, she gave her daughter her beloved stuffed unicorn to occupy her while she went through and packed a bag, making sure all of the essentials were in the bag with a few extras just in case. Harper babbled to her unicorn in between chewing on its horn, and Hermione couldn't help but laugh at how cute she looked, her daughter looking back at Hermione as if it was completely normal to gnaw on a stuffed unicorn horn. In fact, her look almost resembled that of her husband when he looked at people, wondering what on earth their problem was, which only made Hermione giggle more.
"Does the unicorn taste good?" Draco asked, walking into the room wearing a pair of fresh pressed black trousers and a crisp white shirt with an emerald green tie around his neck.
"Da!" Harper shouted, holding her arms up as Draco reached into the crib to collect Harper.
Grinning, Draco looked over at Hermione as she packed a few more extra nappies into a side pocket. "Daddy could listen to you say that all day. Yes he could."
Hermione summoned Harper's unicorn from her crib with a slight of her hand and picked up the diaper bag. "Alright you two - let's go to the Burrow."
"Molly! Arthur!" Hermione called out as she flooed over to the Burrow, Draco and Harper quickly following. Looking up the stairwell, she saw Molly and Arthur pop their head out of Ginny's old room.
"Oh they're here!" Molly exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "We'll be down in a minute, dears. Just getting the nursery ready for the baby. Just…stay right there. Don't move."
"Don't move?" Draco asked quietly. "Did she sound…odd to you?"
Hermione nodded, placing the baby bag on the couch. "Just a bit."
Suddenly, the front door opened with a thud and two familiar voices began to echo through the bottom floor of the Burrow. Draco, handing Harper to Hermione, walked into the kitchen and froze. A very pregnant Pansy was standing in the middle of the kitchen, tearing the mickey out of Ron who appeared unfazed at the sound of Pansy's voice.
"Draco what is it?" Hermione asked, walking into the kitchen as she froze in her footsteps. "Ronald?"
Ron and Pansy looked over at Draco, Hermione, and Harper. "Hey," he managed to say with a timid wave.
"For the love of Merlin I hate it when you say that," Hermione snapped. "We haven't seen either of you since our wedding - literally two years - and all you have to say is hey? Where in the hell have you been?"
The two of them dropped their shoulders, Pansy's hands resting on the top of her stomach. "We uh…we've been doing a bit of traveling…" Pansy began to speak.
"And then some," Draco added, nodding to her stomach. "You look like you're ready to pop."
"Draco!" Hermione and Pansy both shrieked, Hermione swatting his arm. "That's an awful phrase to say to a woman!"
Draco looked at his wife and made a face. "I said it to Pansy. She doesn't count."
"Hey!" Ron exclaimed. "She counts. And what are you two doing here anyway?"
"Ah, I see you've found our guests," Arthur said as he and Molly entered the kitchen. Harper immediately lunged for Molly, who took her surrogate granddaughter and kissed her cheek. "Pansy, dear, we've prepared a room upstairs for you if you'd like to lie down."
Ron made a face. "Prepare a room? Why not just use mine? It's not like we're sleeping separately."
"Your room is the one we prepared, and good thing considering it hadn't had a proper cleaning in years," Molly said, giving him a glare in regards to his messy habits before her face softened, glancing at Pansy. "Please let me know if you need anything, dear."
Nodding, Pansy kept her hands on top of her stomach though she kept her gaze down. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."
"Please, call me Molly. Now you two," Molly said, turning to face Draco and Hermione. "Don't you have an anniversary date to be getting to?"
Hermione nodded as Draco slipped an arm around her waist. "We do, but if you two have your hands full…"
"Nonsense," Arthur replied. "Molly and I have been looking forward to this all week. You two have a wonderful evening, and don't be in a rush to come back tomorrow."
"Arthur's right," Molly insisted. "We will be just fine."
"Ok…well, there's formula in the diaper bag, her food…and I don't even know why I'm explaining any of this to you," Hermione said with a laugh.
"Because you're a mum - and a good one too," Molly replied. "Now off you go - you dears have a wonderful evening."
She gave them both a kiss on the cheek, which they each returned before saying goodbye to Harper. Hand in hand, Draco looked at Hermione and she gave him a quick nod before he side-apparated her to their dinner destination.
Their night out didn't last long, only because when the two of them arrived at the bistro expecting a dinner reservation for two, the restaurant had them booked for their dinner on the following Saturday evening. Furious, Draco demanded to speak to the manager, but unfortunately, their restaurant of choice was a popular one and reservations were required weeks in advance, so despite their apologies for the mistake, they could not fit them in for the evening.
"Incompetent fools," Draco muttered as they left the restaurant hand in hand. Hermione squeezed his hand, grabbing his attention as he looked back at her. "Hermione I'm so -"
"Hey," Hermione replied, giving his tie a tug. "It's a stuffy restaurant, anyway. Let's not let it ruin the night, please?"
Sighing, Draco vigorously scratched the back of his head as Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him, her chin pressed into his chest. "I'm sorry, I just…I've been planning this for weeks and I should have called and confirmed and -"
"Hey," Hermione repeated. "I have a few surprises in store for you tonight, Mister Malfoy, so I need you to shake this attitude of yours because this little hiccup isn't going to ruin it. How about we pop over to Mister Wong's, grab some food, bring it home…"
"Maybe watch a movie?" Draco suggested, grabbing her cheeks lightly in his hands.
"Whatever you want," Hermione replied. "So…Mister Wong's?"
Draco nodded. "Let's go."
A stop at Mister Wong's and the little bakery around the corner from their house, the two of them managed to bring dinner and dessert back to the house, depositing their goods on the kitchen island. Out of the glass case hutch in the dining room, Draco pulled out the silver candleholders with two tall white candles already perched in the settings and brought them into the kitchen. Setting them in the middle of the kitchen table, he pulled his wand from his pocket and lit the candles as Hermione pulled dishes from the cabinet.
"Really? Candles?"
"It's our anniversary," Draco replied. "Besides, remember when we opened these and wondered when we'd ever use them? Well - wonder no more, my dear."
Laughing, Hermione set the table, placing the settings close to each other. She grabbed a bottle of wine from the rack and two goblets, handing the bottle to Draco for him to open as she unpacked the food from the bags and placed the open cartons on the table. As Draco poured wine into their glasses, Hermione handed Draco a plastic fork from the bag, opened one of the sets of chopsticks for her, and took a seat. Dimming the lights a bit, Draco drew the curtains in the kitchen to block out what was left of the sun for the day and sat next to Hermione, picking up his plastic fork as he laughed. "How elegant."
"It's one less thing to wash," Hermione replied, stabbing her chopsticks into the box of chicken lo mein as she poured some onto her plate, then adding some beef and broccoli to the mix. "Besides - I think the silver candlestick holders jazz the place up a bit, wouldn't you agree?"
"Absolutely," Draco replied, grabbing Hermione's chair and pulling it closer. Picking her legs up, she draped them into his lap as he dumped some fried rice and General Tso's Chicken onto his plate. "I'm sorry you got all dressed up with nowhere to go."
Hermione picked up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks and fed it to Draco with a smirk. "I only get dressed up for you - I don't care who else sees it. "
Grinning, Draco chewed the chicken in his mouth and swallowed, watching as Hermione dug some white rice from the box and took a bite. "I've never seen anyone eat rice with those blasted things successfully. Really, Granger, what can't you do?"
"Other than fly? Nothing," Hermione replied with a laugh as they continued to eat dinner. "I'm brilliant, remember?"
"Of course you are," Draco said, leaning in for a kiss that Hermione readily accepted. "You look beautiful this evening. Really."
Hermione pulled on his tie, putting her chopsticks down and soon found herself in his lap, straddling his waist. "You look quite exquisite yourself," she mumbled, kissing him once more as he felt her hands slide up her dress, caressing her thighs. "We aren't finished with dinner," she whispered, leaning her head back as Draco began to press his lips against her jaw.
"We could be," he whispered. "Or we could take a break. The beauty of dining at home."
She laughed, pressing her forehead against his as his fingers massaged her thighs. "Well, I guess if we did that, you could get two of your presents early."
He pulled back and looked at her inquisitively. "Two?"
"Please, you know there are some wickedly naughty knickers under this outfit," Hermione said with a laugh.
"And the second gift?" he asked.
Smirking, Hermione leaned back just a bit so that she wouldn't miss the look on his face. "Well, Harper is officially weaned."
"Weaned?"
"She only drinks formula now," Hermione remarked. "And since I've been weaning these past few weeks, well, let's just say you can have my breasts back."
"You better not be messing with me, Granger."
"I swear to you - they're all yours."
"And nothing's going to…"
"Do with them as you wish," Hermione said. "But may I remind you that this dress is vintage, and one cannot mend vintage with magic. Therefore you are forbidden go all caveman in your quest to regain what you believe to be rightfully yours."
Draco barked out a laugh as his wife mocked him, finding her absolutely sexy when she was feeling sassy. "As long as you show me where the zipper is I promise the dress will remain intact."
Hermione smirked, twisting slightly to steal back her chopsticks to steal a bite of her food. Draco may have wanted to skip dinner and head straight to the bedroom, but she was starving. Stealing Draco's wand out of his pocket, she cast a quick warming spell over the rest of the food and hopped off of his lap. Enticing him with his own wand still in her hand, Draco stood up and followed her, watching as she used his wand to unzip her dress from the middle back where her scoop neck began all the way down to the bottom of her back. Revealing nothing but the beginnings of a lace thong underneath.
By the time they reached the bedroom, Draco had his necktie undone and his dress shirt untucked and unbuttoned. Tossing his wand onto the dresser, Hermione seductively shrugged her shoulders from the lace overlay, sliding out of the dress and tossing it to the chair so that it wasn't completely crumpled on the floor. With only a view of her backside, Draco shed his dress shirt and his undershirt, not caring where they fell as he approached, her, his arms wrapping around her from behind, his hands finding her breasts as he began to suck lightly where her neck met her shoulder.
Reaching behind her, Hermione began to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his pants - a feat not as difficult as she thought despite the fact she was feeling weak at the knees with every kiss she felt from his lips. Draco kicked off his shoes as his pants slid down to his feet. Spinning Hermione around, he stared at her for a moment before crashing his mouth to hers, Hermione eagerly responding as Draco picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he stepped out of his pants and carried her to the bed. With the heels of her cherry red stilettos, Hermione pulled his boxers down, Draco ignoring the twinge as the heels scraped against his skin as it only turned him on even further.
He left a trail of kisses down her stomach, palming her breasts as she moaned loudly with every knead and grasp. She kicked her shoes off of her feet, digging her bare feet as she lifted her hips slightly, pulling her knickers down her legs. He reached for them, practically tearing them the rest of the way down and promptly buried his face between her legs. Hermione screamed, her back arching as she felt his tongue flick her clit as he slid two fingers inside of her. If he kept this up, it wouldn't take more than a few seconds before she felt herself come. "Draco…Draco…oh my…" She moved to press a foot into his shoulder to back him off as she felt herself quickly coming to the brink, but he grabbed her waist and held her still, his tongue propelling faster as she screamed, feeling herself come as Draco sucked and lapped it up with his lips.
Hermione's leg slacked, falling over his shoulder as he looked up at her, smirking with satisfaction as she clapped a hand over her heart. Craning her head upright, she shook her head slightly before dropping her head back on the pillow. "I want to yell at you for that smug look on your face…but I can't. Just know that I want to."
Keeping her leg over his shoulder, Draco crawled up towards Hermione, her leg bending as he moved, and rubbed his full erection in between her wet folds, eliciting a slight moan from her lips. "You gave me two presents early; the least I could do was return the favor by giving you a spectacular orgasm."
Draco thrust himself into her, catching the gasp from her lips with his. She could taste herself on his tongue, igniting her arousal once more as he rocked back and forth against her, his kisses matching the rhythm of her hips. "You feel…so good," he panted.
"Harder," she moaned, digging her hands into his shoulders as she held onto him. "You…missed you…this…"
His hips bucked at a faster pace, his mouth colliding with hers once again, letting go of her hands as he braced his against the bed. He knew he'd been distant with everything these past few weeks. Tearing his lips from her mouth, he moved them to a breast, his tongue swirling around her nipple as her moans grew louder. "I'm sorry," he grunted, thrusting harder as he felt himself nearing the edge.
"Turn…over…" she gasped, grabbing on as he rolled them over swiftly, still connected but only for a moment. Pulling herself off of him, she turned herself around, grabbing his erection and sliding it between her legs before tilting her hips as he filled her up once more. "Merlin," she gasped, her nerves appreciating the different position, as did her husband by the guttural grunt coming from his mouth. Riding him, she felt his hands grip her hips as he thrust into her, their rhythm increasing as their moans echoed around the room. "Draco…Draco I'm going to…"
Speeding his thrusts up, he shouted her name as if his life depended on it, coming the moment he felt her clench tightly around him. Pumping through his orgasm, he kept a hold of her hips as he felt her upper body go limp, dropping her head as she caught her breath once more. Hermione stayed still for a moment, moving off of him as her breathing slowed down to a more suitable rhythm. Collapsing next to him, Draco hugged her close, pressing a sound kiss to her forehead.
"Fucking brilliant," he muttered.
She couldn't help but laugh. "You can't set the bar so high with anniversary sex. You'll only be disappointed next year."
"I had to make up for the lack of sex from last year," he replied, kissing her lips with his. "Besides - I don't mind rising to the occasion of high expectations."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Maybe the sex was so brilliant because we haven't had it in two weeks."
"What? No. It hasn't been two weeks."
"Two weeks and three days to be exact," Hermione retorted. Rolling away from him, she opened the drawer on her nightstand and pulled out his gift enclosed a large, legal sized envelope. "Here," she said, handing him the envelope. "Here's the third part of your gift - the last one you won't get until tomorrow on our actual anniversary."
Draco looked at the peculiar envelope, then to Hermione. "I'm assuming it has to do with paper, right? That's what the list said?"
"Yes - the second anniversary is traditionally a paper gift of some kind," Hermione replied, giving him a kiss before crawling out of bed. Snagging his discarding shirt from the floor, she buttoned enough buttons to keep her decent as she retreated to the bathroom for a moment to clean herself up with her wand.
His boxers at the edge of the bed, Draco used a quick scourgify with his wand before pulling them back on, sitting upright on the bed as he held the envelope in his hand. Opening the unsealed edge, he pulled out the contents, his eyes scanning through them until he realized what he was holding - Ministry of Magic parchment with the words OFFICIAL NAME OF RECORD embossed at the top. He saw the document was already filled out, Hermione's distinctive penmanship littered throughout the form fields except for one. He saw the worst date of his life written below the large blank field in the middle of the page, along with a smaller empty line at the bottom, next to his wife's name as it was elegantly written out as Hermione Malfoy, one of the rare times he didn't see her maiden name present on paper.
Hermione watched as he stared at the document, reading it through before returning to the bedroom. Retrieving her ink well and quill from her nightstand, always keeping a pen and loose parchment around her regular areas of habitat in case she should come up with a brilliant idea to jot down, she walked them over to her husband. "I…I don't know what to say," she heard him speak quietly.
"Well, I'd like for you to start with something along the lines of, 'Sorry I didn't bring this up sooner as I was content in letting this eat at me until I lost my mind,' but being our anniversary and the fact that you were nothing short of wonderful during a day I don't care to think about and the months that followed…I'm giving you a pass."
Draco let out a small, wry laugh. "Blaise told you."
"Yes, but you certainly didn't hear it from me. He was worried about you, as was I," she replied. Dipping the quill in the ink well, she made sure it wasn't too drippy before handing it over. "I think you know what to do."
Hesitantly, he took the quill from Hermione's hands and stared at her. "But we never…"
"I trust you," Hermione whispered. "I trust you to give him a proper name, something we both should have done sooner."
Nodding, he swallowed the lump in his throat as he stood up, walking over to the waist high dresser across the room. Placing the document on the solid surface, he took in a deep breath before jotting down his son's name in capital letters, making sure that each word was unmistakable to anyone who would read it. "There," he said, feeling the weight he'd been carrying on his shoulders slowly relieve itself as he handed Hermione the document.
"Hugo Granger Malfoy," Hermione mumbled, smiling as she set the inkwell down on the dresser. "A very proper name indeed." Setting the document on the dresser, she took the quill from Draco and dropped it in the ink well so she could wrap her arms around him, caressing the back of his head as he buried his face into her neck. "You are a wonderful husband," she whispered in his ear. "Wonderful, kind, handsome…and if you ever find yourself in this sort of funk again and you decide to not confide in me, I promise I will bury you alive. Are you hearing me?"
He snorted out a laugh, hugging his wife tight as he kissed her shoulder. "Loud and clear, love. Loud and clear."
"Good," she said. "Now - it's not even eight, and there is still food downstairs to be eaten and movies to be watched…and I believe a box downstairs with a particularly familiar wrapping from a particular parchment shop one would find in a magical alley of shops with my name on it."
Draco looked at her, shaking his head as he gave her a sweet kiss. "Chinese…cake…a little Audrey Hepburn…"
"Speculating as to how much longer Pansy has before she begins to add to the Weasley family tree…"
"I don't want to lose my appetite," Draco said with a laugh, retreating to find an old t-shirt to throw on as the two made their way back downstairs to the kitchen. "Though I must say - you two are relatively the same in terms of height and figure…and you were never that…well, round, I guess, with Harper. I still can't believe he knocked her up."
"I still can't believe they're together," Hermione added, walking in front of him as they both trotted down the stairs. "I mean, they're together, right?"
"Who knows," Draco replied as they took their seats back at the table, Hermione swinging her bare legs back into his lap as they dug into their dinner, still warm thanks to the heating charm. "I don't pretend to try and understand things that are beyond my ability to process."
Hermione nodded, chewing a mouthful of beef and broccoli. "Maybe that's the secret to their relationship - neither one of them tries to understand it."
"Does the Weasel really understand anything though?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"Nice," Hermione snarked, shoving a piece of broccoli into his mouth with her chopsticks. "He's smarter than you give him credit for."
"He let you get away – I don't consider that smart at all."
"Yes, but if he hadn't, we wouldn't be here…half naked on our anniversary eating Chinese."
"Second anniversary," Draco corrected her as he took a sip of his wine.
Smirking, Hermione leaned in and lightly pecked her lips with his. "I'm glad you're my husband," she whispered, kissing him again.
He grinned, rubbing a soothing hand along the length of her thigh. "Me too," he replied.
Her jaw dropped slightly as she feigned a pout. "You're supposed to say that you're glad I'm your wife."
Laughing, he popped a piece of chicken into her mouth with his plastic fork and kissed the tip of her nose. "Every day, Granger. Every day."
