Hi Everyone!
Firstly, thanks for your patience with this one!
Secondly, a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm sure you can all appreciate that this is late because of the rat race we call the Holiday Season.
Thirdly, I am sorry to tell you that this will be the last chapter for a little while. My January is about 20x more hectic than my December was, so putting aside time to write just will not be possible. This chapter goes out on a bang as consolation for it being the last for at least a month.
I hope you enjoy!
It had been just over a month since Draco had taken Hermione on their first date and time was flying by. Things were going really well with Draco but they still hadn't taken the next step into intimate relations, which was starting to become a frustration for Hermione - in more ways than one. Having said that, Hermione was still managing to fall for him, hard and fast. Hermione was also in the process of packing up her desk and finishing up her assignments in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures while fielding flying memos from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
When the clock chimed five, Hermione heaved a sigh of relief and retrieved her shiny new bag from the bottom drawer of her desk. She smiled at the memory of when she returned home after her whole day date with Draco and discovered that every single item that she had touched or even glanced at during those hours of shopping, was placed in a box or a bag in her bedroom. Even the things that she had looked at simply because she thought they were hideous. She had turned tail and marched herself straight up the stairs to Draco's apartment. Hermione pounded on his door incessantly with one fist while she balanced a slew of new apparel on her other arm. He opened the door with a look of deep concern on his face which turned into utter bewilderment as Hermione brandished his purchases at him, speechless.
"Is something wrong?" He asked her.
"Well, yes. Something is wrong, actually. You had half of your shopping delivered to my apartment instead of yours."
"Well, that is because they're the things that I bought for you. I asked the sales clerks to take note of everything you liked and to add it to my account," he shrugged. "It's all for you," he smiled.
"Draco, I really appreciate the thought and I know it comes from a good place, but I can't accept all of this."
"Why not?"
"Well, for one thing, it's far too much. I didn't go out with you today because of your money or because I want you to buy me things," she told him.
"I like buying you things, it's the only way I know how to show you my affection," he confessed.
Hermione sighed, anger deflating, realising that it was probably true that in his family, money was the biggest talker. She walked over to the sofa and deposited her armload there before walking back over to Draco and taking his hands in her own. "Draco, I can show you plenty of other ways in which you can show me your affection," she smiled at him and drew him in for a lingering kiss. "And that's not the only way you can show me," she winked at him. "Honestly, Draco. Just spending time together, talking and laughing, an evening in front of the fire, both absorbed in our own books, sounds perfect to me. Picnics in the park, cinema dates, simple things like that will show me that you care." She kissed him lightly again. "I can't keep the things you bought me, Mr Malfoy."
"Please keep them," he almost pleaded.
"Draco, I actually really don't even like most of it. I was just entertaining myself while you took care of the things you needed to," she confessed.
"Well, keep the things you like and we'll send back the things you don't. It's a compromise," he said, eyes twinkling.
Hermione sighed, it was a compromise, after all, so she found herself agreeing to keep the some things. Which is how she came to have the shiny new handbag.
Hermione arrived home to an empty apartment, yet again. Andy had been gone for a month on a business trip to France without an end date and Hermione was beginning to really miss her bubbly companionship. While Hermione would like to fill her free time with Draco, he was busy with networking and buying businesses. He was planning to transition from Oliver Nott to Draco Malfoy in the muggle world in the New Year and there was a lot more preparation involved in that than what you would think. So instead, she had invited Harry and Ginny over for dinner this evening. She had set the table, opened the wine to let it breathe and ordered takeaway from a great local Italian restaurant. Tonight was the night she was planning to tell them that she had been seeing Draco pretty consistently and that she thought that the relationship had the potential to get pretty serious. Hermione was nervous. Very nervous. Harry was still very, very close with Ron and of course, Hermione was still very conscious of Ginny's reaction when she first mentioned being attracted to Draco.
When the doorbell rang, Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin. Inhale and exhale, she told herself. Just breathe. These people are your best friends in the entire world. If you're happy, they'll be happy. With that thought in her head, she answered the door with a smile on her face.
After greeting Harry and Ginny, Hermione moved them to the couch while she went to the kitchen where she prepared three Gin and Tonics for them to sip on while they waited for the food to be delivered.
"So how is everything with work?" Hermione asked Ginny.
"Oh, it's a nightmare!" Ginny said. "It's getting so cold now, that when we're so high in the air, the air is practically frozen and we're all getting smacked in the face with hail and snowflakes stuck in our eyelashes. I can't wait for the winter season to be over," Ginny whined while managing to keep a grin plastered on her face.
"Oh, you love it," said Harry, nudging her with his elbow, also grinning.
"Sounds like a lot of fun," Hermione teased, standing to buzz the delivery person into the building and sticking her head out of the front door, waiting for the food. Hermione exchanged cash for the bags of food and gestured for Harry and Ginny to join her at the dining table, where she laid out the cannelloni, salads and garlic bread and put the dessert in the fridge.
The three of them sat down at the table and Ginny started dolling out the cannelloni and Harry started with the salad. Hermione, feeling outdone in her own home, decided to divvy up the garlic bread on to each of their plates and to pour the wine.
"So," Harry cleared his throat, picking up his knife and fork. "What's new with you Hermione?"
Hermione took a large gulp of the heavy red wine, "Well, I told you guys about the department transfer, right? That it's going ahead? Well, it is and things are just absolutely mental at the office at the moment, it's like I'm working for both departments at the same time. It's hard to separate work from work from home at the moment."
Harry and Ginny both nodded along while Hermione talked, inhaling the delicious food. When she finished describing her last assignment in the Beast department, she finally had an opportunity to pick up her knife and fork and cut into her pasta. Harry and Ginny took the reigns of the conversation, discussing Harry's latest case at the Ministry and how his team of Aurors finally managed to corner the small group of dark wizards in a small town of Prague last week and how the duelling was short lived but loud, violent and witnessed by many muggles, some of which were still being tracked down to have their memories wiped of the event. Hermione put her cutlery down, picked up her wine glass again and cleared her throat.
"Harry, Ginny," Hermione looked at each of them and they both turned their attention to her, expectant. "I have something to tell you," she said. Ginny gently placed her cutlery down on her plate while Harry continued eating, face turned to her. Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled. "I've been seeing someone and I want to tell you about it," she said.
"Oh yeah?" Harry asked around a mouthful of salad.
"Who is it?" Ginny asked with a gleam in her eye that made Hermione hesitate before answering.
Hermione debated the pros and cons of breaking it to them gently but decided that the best policy was probably to just rip the band-aid off. "Draco Malfoy," she said with just a hint too much force. Harry dropped his cutlery on to his plate with a loud clang and Ginny reached for her wine glass.
"Draco?" Harry swallowed. "Malfoy?"
"Yes," Hermione confirmed with a nod and a sip of her own glass.
"Harry, Hermione saw him at a muggle dance club several weeks ago and she didn't exactly hate it," Ginny said and picked up her fork again to stab at her lettuce. Hermione swallowed. While she had expected a similar response to this, she had hoped for a little more optimism.
"Okay, so I know this is strange and unexpected and definitely not who you would have pictured me with, but you guys, he is not the same person he was at Hogwarts. Not at all the same person he was, in fact. He has matured, become an incredibly sweet and thoughtful man, he is so smart, he challenges me, encourages me and I know, trust me I know, that he was an absolute troll to us at Hogwarts, but at some point, we have to leave the past in the past."
"Hermione, he plotted to kill Dumbledore and nearly killed Katie Bell and Ron in the process," Harry said.
"Yes, and he was sixteen at the time, under an extreme amount of pressure with the threat of death hovering over him from the darkest wizard this world has ever known. May I remind you, Harry, that while you're one of the good guys," here Hermione inserted air quotes, "You also hexed Draco with a curse that nearly took his life?"
"I didn't know what Sectumsempra did when I cast it," Harry protested.
"Well, you knew it wasn't good," Hermione retorted.
"Enough!" Ginny dropped both of her hands on the table in emphasis.
"Ginny, I-" Hermione started.
"Hermione," she interrupted. "Is he making you happy?"
Hermione let the tension drop from her shoulders and sighed. "Yes, Gin. He is making me very happy."
Ginny turned to Harry with a look on her face that said something like 'deal with it'. Harry absorbed the look his wife was giving him and swallowed once, turning back to Hermione. "So you think that this relationship is going somewhere?" Harry asked, picking up his knife and fork again.
Hermione smiled at him. "Yes, Harry, I do think this relationship is going somewhere and I wanted to share how happy I am with my best friends," she looked from Harry to Ginny and back again, feeling some strong emotions taking up residence somewhere behind her tear ducts.
"Then I'm good with it," said Harry.
"As am I," Ginny agreed.
"Who is going to break it to Ron?" Harry asked.
Hermione took a deep breath to clear her sinuses and said, "Who wants some Tiramisu?"
Hermione and Draco were cuddled up in front of the fire in his apartment, sipping red wine and each enjoying their own books when Draco suddenly shifted position.
"What are your plans for New Year's Eve?" He asked her.
"Well, the Ministry has their annual party. I am expected to be in attendance," she told him.
Draco pondered that for a moment. "Are you allowed to bring a date?"
"Er, yes. I believe I am," Hermione said, suddenly feeling very anxious. "The thing is, Draco, that I am expected to be in attendance as part of the 'Golden Trio'," here Hermione hesitated. "Ron will be there," she explained, biting her lip.
"And you don't want him to know about us?"
"Er no, that's not it. I expect that he does already know. I told Harry and Ginny about us the other night and I believe that Harry has taken up the responsibility to break the news to Ron."
"So if Weasley already knows that we're together, then what is the problem?"
"It's not a problem perse, but the rest of the Wizarding World doesn't know that we're together."
"And you don't want them to know because you're ashamed of me?" Draco's voice was suddenly harsh.
"No," Hermione huffed, responding to his indignant tone. "Draco, I am not ashamed of you. I am very proud of you and very happy that we're together. The problem is that I was engaged to Ronald less than four months ago and while that relationship has been over for much more than four months in my eyes, I'm not entirely sure that he feels the same way, nor the rest of the general population. My concern is that witches and wizards everywhere may blame you for what happened between Ron and me, and-" she raised her voice so that Draco would stop trying to interrupt her, "that they would see my new relationship in such a negative manner that it would bring nothing bad press for you and just ruin all of the hard work you have been doing."
"What if I don't care about any of that? What if all that mattered to me was that we were together and the world knew about it?" Draco swung his legs over the side of the sofa and stood up to pace.
"What if I just want to keep us in this perfect little bubble?" Hermione retorted.
"I want to keep the perfect and burst the bubble," Draco stared down at her, eyes ablaze.
Hermione stared back at him, running her hands through her curls while she thought about the situation, the circumstance and the consequences. "I'm not ready for that," she told him, voice quiet.
Draco landed in the one-seater, facing Hermione and put his head in his hands. Hermione wasn't really sure how their quiet little evening had turned into their first genuine conflict as a couple and as a result, wasn't sure what she should do with herself. Should she wish him a good night and return to her own apartment? Should she wait for him to make a move or say something? Should she say something? Move over to him and take his hands from his head to hold in her own? Just as she had decided to disentangle herself from the blanket and say goodnight, he lifted his head and put his hands in his lap.
"I have waited for you for years, Hermione. I have waited for you without even knowing I was waiting for you. I never even considered that you could ever want me and now I finally feel like you do, I just want other people to know it, too." He smoothed his hair back over his head then changed his mind and ran his hand back the other way, mussing it up again. "I've waited so long, I'm scared I'm going to burst with the joy of having you near. I've waited so long that I think I can probably wait a little while longer before we take things public, just as long as I know that this isn't something casual for you." Every part of Draco Malfoy was screaming vulnerability, from his dishevelled hair to his trembling voice, from his posture to his eyes. Hermione had only the briefest moments to wonder if he had ever been this vulnerable with anyone else before she had crossed the room and taken his lips with hers, kissing him ferociously, trying to make him feel the way he made her feel. Attempting to convey with her lips what she couldn't with her voice.
When they broke apart moments later, she managed to get some words out. "Draco, I've never felt less casual with anyone in my life." She searched his eyes, holding his face in her hands and watched as her words translated in his mind. "Hermione," he rasped, tucking her curls back behind her ears and claiming her lips as his once more.
Immediately, Hermione felt a difference to his kiss. It was like he had unlocked the door and let her in. Sparks raced through her veins as their tongues clashed back and forth, her hands made their way to his hair and he groaned. He pulled her closer to him, cupped her bum with his hands and used it as leverage to hoist her up, Hermione responded by wrapping her legs around his hips, immediately feeling his hardened length against her right thigh. A breath hitched in her throat as he began to make his way from the living room back through to his bedroom. They managed to bump into several walls on the trip through the apartment, but neither of them seemed to notice anything other than each other. Draco carefully deposited Hermione on the bed and broke the kiss, positioning his hands on either side of her on the bed, he hovered over her. "This isn't how I planned this," he panted. "Do you want to stop?"
In response, Hermione pulled his face back down to hers and kissed him deeply. "No," she breathed. "I most certainly do not want to stop!" She sat up and began working the buttons on his shirt loose, slipping it off of his shoulders, before pulling her jumper over her head. She sat, mesmerised by his chest, porcelain white with thin silver scars crisscrossing in random places. Draco watched her closely for a clue as to what she was thinking at the sight of the permanent marks he had acquired in his sixth year at Hogwarts. The ones that Harry Potter had gifted him with. When she lifted a finger and traced one that led to his collarbone, he held his breath until she littered kisses in the same path that her finger just took. Relieved that she wasn't repulsed by the sight of them, he released his breath and was able to let himself drink in the sight of her. Dark curls gone wild, glazed eyes, bruised lips and a heaving chest covered in pink lace. She was a goddess. A goddess in his bed. He slipped off the bed and removed her socks, shoes already long forgotten in the living room. He placed his fingertips on the button of her jeans, looking back at her face for permission before removing them, too. When their eyes met, Hermione smiled and nodded at him to continue. Her underwear was a lacy match for her bra and he had to take a moment to catch his breath.
While he stood memorising how she looked at this moment, Hermione took the opportunity to stand and rid him of his remaining clothes in much the same fashion as he had done with her. As she was already on her knees, she took him into her mouth, licking up and down the sides before closing her mouth around the head and gently sucking, her hands placed on his hips for support. The moment she had touched him, Draco had groaned and his whole body had tensed. This was definitely not how he had planned for this moment to go, it was supposed to be all about her pleasure, not his, but damned if she wasn't good at what she was doing. His fingers were getting tangled in her curls and he was going to cum much too soon if he didn't break away from her now. She detached from him with a small popping sound and he drew her up to a standing position, he kissed her thoroughly, tasting himself on her tongue as he gently pushed her back so that she landed on the bed and then got down on his own knees. He grasped her legs and pulled her forward on the bed until his face was full of soft pink lace. Hermione released a small squeal as she slid forward on the bed, but as soon as she felt his warm breath against her inner thighs, she relaxed with a small moan of consent. He surprised her by licking and sucking at her clit through the lace, the material causing pleasant friction, before his face disappeared from between her legs and he was sliding the thong off her hips and down her legs, throwing them across the room before resuming his squirm-inducing task. One of his fingers replaced his tongue on her clitoris, rubbing small, gentle circles while he redirected his tongue to her warm, wet insides, pushing and pulsing in and around her. Hermione's hands took turns fisting the sheets before moving back to her chest to pull her bra cups aside, exposing her taut nipples and massaging them. When she came, she did so inside his mouth with what felt like a cosmic explosion.
She was somehow aware of the smile on his face as he kissed the inside of her thighs and made his way back up on to the bed. Draco took one look at her bra askew, nipples hard and exposed and eyes staring up at him, full of lust and added this to his growing list of mental pictures of her that he never wanted to forget. His penis was throbbing with need, he had never been so turned on in his life. Suddenly Hermione sat up, reached around and unclasped her bra. She took his hands and pulled him down on to the bed, using the momentum to turn him on to his back. "That was the most intense orgasm I have ever had," she told him before kissing him soundly on the mouth and kissing a trail back down to his pulsing cock. She took him all the way into her mouth once before positioning herself over him and sinking down, filling herself with his length. They both groaned at the same time, taking a moment to feel each other fitting together perfectly, before Hermione started to move, setting a slow pace and using her hands to cup at pull at her breasts, feeling Draco all around her inside. Once Draco had slightly recovered from the feel of how tight and warm she was, he moved so that they were both sitting and latched his mouth on to hers as she picked up the pace that her hips were making. He replaced her hands on her perfect breasts with his own, with only a slight concern that he was being too rough as she mewled into his mouth. He wasn't sure that he could hold on too much longer, all of his senses were being overwhelmed by her, yet he wanted to make sure that she came again before he did, so he moved his mouth from her lips to her chest, sucking her lift nipple into his mouth before moving on to the right and spending some time there. He wedged his hand between their hips and found her clit again, he set a quick and steady pace there, rubbing her in figure eights until she was bucking wildly against him, biting her lip. He could feel her walls tightening and hoped to the gods that she was almost there because he knew he was.
"Oh," she squeaked. "Oh, oh, yes, Draco."
He pushed firmly against her clit and felt her come undone around him, a second later he was pouring himself into her as she collapsed on top of him. Draco wasn't sure if they lay there, him soft inside her and mingled juices running down his legs for five minutes or five hours before she moved and covered his face with small kisses. "That was wonderful," she said, curling up next to him.
"You're perfect," he told her, kissing her forehead. "I had this all planned out, rose petals, hotel room, champagne, you get the gist," he said. "But for me, I don't think that could have gone better." He kissed her lightly on the lips when she turned her face up to look at him.
"I never needed all of that," she said. "I just needed you."
Energy spent, they kissed slowly for a minute or two. "I could just fall asleep here," Hermione said. "But as soon as my legs no longer feel like jelly, I'd really like a shower."
"Whatever you want, whenever you want, I'm yours," he smiled at her.
