I'm back! Soooooooo sorry I've been gone for so long. Many of you might know that I'm a few chapters into another WIP ("The Year Neville Broke Bad") and am about to begin another one ("The Last Dream"), but I swear I won't forget about this story! I've merely had a bout of writer's block and working on several projects at once tends to help me focus on everything better. I wrote "Hot for Teacher" at the same time I wrote "High" and I'm convinced I finished both as quickly as I did because of this fact. But my muse is back!
Thanks a million to my beta, Maloreiy for making sure I don't use too many italics (I really like italics) and helping me find the right words.
And with that, please enjoy!
"Goddammit, Blaise, I will slit your throat if you don't pull your shirt down. This is a nice fucking place," Draco drawled.
Blaise, who had been showing off his newest scratch marks, courtesy of Luna Lovegood, snickered. "But I didn't even get to the best part yet."
"Don't. Bloody don't. Didn't I tell you I don't want details? For fuck's sake, Blaise, have a little respect for the woman you're shagging."
"Fine." Blaise sat demurely back in his seat and sipped his coffee. "Two words."
"Don't," Draco warned, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
Blaise narrowed his own eyes in response. Neither blinked. Anyone looking on would have seen a showdown between two inscrutable cobras, each daring the other to strike first.
Something in Blaise's eyes shifted and the slightest whisper of a muscle in his lips quirked into the subtlest smirk ever to grace the face of a Slytherin. "Sex swing."
Draco growled at his friend, who was cackling in amusement over Draco's discomfort. "Eat a dick, Zabini."
"Merlin, you're in a mood. What's the matter? Penhaligon's warehouse blow up or something, you poncy fucker?"
Draco scowled. "Eat a bag of dicks, Zabini."
Blaise amusedly ignored his friend's quip. "Granger got a sore throat this week?"
"Charming. Fuck off, eat a mountain of dicks, and by all means, continue to talk about my fiancée like that. It's been far too long since I've kicked an arse."
"Tetchy," Blaise murmured, tucking into his cappuccino. He grimaced at the not-quite-dense-enough consistency of the foam, "Why is it so bloody difficult to get a decent coffee in this country?"
"Next time, you pick the place, then," Draco said, making quite a show of snapping open his copy of The Daily Prophet.
"Are you on the damn rag, mate? What is your problem?"
Draco sighed. "Sorry. It's just that I had hoped Hermione would have set a date for the wedding by now, but every time I bring it up she jumps down my throat."
"A match made in heaven, I see. Do you think she's stalling?"
Draco glowered at his friend. "Why would she do that?"
Blaise shrugged. "Granger doesn't really strike me as the stars-in-her-eyes, been-planning-this-since-she-was-in-nappies kind of girl."
"She's not. That's why we have a wedding planner, which she finally settled on, by the way. I took care of the vetting process for her, narrowed it down to three. All she had to do was pick one, and it took her bloody ages. These things have to be taken care of quickly. Otherwise, beggars can't be choosers, you know."
"I have no idea. Never been married myself. Wouldn't have the slightest insight into this world."
"You sound just like her."
Blaise sneered, "I'm going to decide to take that as a compliment, coming from you. And seriously, mate, you know the woman has a fucking job, right? A bloody stressful one that takes up a great deal of her time? She's got other things on her mind, so this process will probably take longer than you remember. Why are you in such a rush, anyway?"
Draco sighed. "I wouldn't say I'm in a rush, per se. I just get the feeling lately like this isn't a priority for her. I want her to enjoy it. I've tried to make things easy."
"So why don't you pick a date, then?"
"Because I'd pick the closest date possible, and Hermione seems to be on a slightly different time frame than I am."
"Oh yeah? Has she said she wants a long engagement?"
Draco shrugged. "She hasn't said it in so many words, but I get the idea it's what she'd prefer."
"And you wouldn't?"
"I just want to be bloody married to her, Blaise. It is, after all, the entire point of getting engaged."
Blaise snickered. "It's a testament to how good a friend I am that I'm not going to take the piss out of you for being such a besotted little bellend."
"Ta, ever so, arsehole."
"If she's stressed out at work, have you tried sex? Always helps me unwind."
Draco feigned a look of disbelief. "Color me fucking surprised. And notthat it's any of your business, but if that woman needs to get laid more often than she already does, my cock would fall off from exhaustion."
Blaise smirked. "Granger, you filthy girl."
Draco clenched his jaw. "You're up for a good hexing."
"Whatever, mate. She's your girl. Obviously, you know her better than I do. From my experience with women and relationships—"
"At which you have always sucked," Draco murmured.
"—there's no sense in talking to them about anything when they're already in a snit. If you want her to set a date, you'd better make sure she's nice and relaxed when you bring it up."
Draco drew nonsense patterns on the table, his eyes fluttering in contemplation. "Honestly, I think she's more nervous about the stepmother thing."
"Fancy that. Something Granger sucks at. To be fair, that woman is hardly a maternal dispenser of boo-boo kisses."
Draco scowled. "You are aware that my son is fourteen, right?"
"Yeah, but can you honestly picture her having little sprogs of her own?"
"Actually, yes, I can. I think she will be a brilliant mother."
"Will be, or would be?"
Draco's mounting frustration snapped slightly. "Mate, what are you doing?"
Blaise brought his hands to his chest in surrender. "It just sounds like you two have a lot to talk about, that's all."
Draco bit his lip. "Yeah. I guess so."
"Now can we stop with the fucking girl talk and order already? I'm starving."
Draco rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to point out that Blaise started it by spouting off about what a hellcat Lovegood was in the sack before he even sat in his bleeding seat.
He clenched his jaw as he stared at his menu, not even registering the words on the page. He did so hate it when Blaise was right.
Hermione moaned as Draco's talented hands worked at melting a knot in her neck. "Sweet Morgana, you're a magic man."
He chuckled as he placed a kiss on her shoulder. "We prefer to be called wizards, love."
"I'll call you anything you want if you keep doing that." She had been feeling out of sorts for days now. Hogwarts seemed like one giant trigger lately. Children's brattiness triggered migraines, piles of rich, fatty, house-elf prepared food triggered nausea, and accidental parenting triggered neurosis. Her weekends with Draco were her reprieve.
"Have you given any thought to setting a date?" Draco murmured.
Her eyes snapped open in surprise. Just like that, her reprieve was gone.
From everything she'd ever read or heard about being a bride, right about now she was supposed to be glowing from a constant state of euphoria. She was supposed to be radiant and giggly. That's what every woman in every movie, book, and bridal magazine said it was like to be a bride.
The bitches had lied. She wasn't teetering on the edge of heaven. She wasn't blushing. She was a stressed out, high-strung, twisted mess who couldn't even get through a damn back massage without seizing up because she hadn't set a bloody date yet.
Plus, she kind of wanted to throw up. Her back hurt. Her head throbbed. And her fiancé reminding her about all the things she had been procrastinating on, really irritated her. "Not yet," she answered shortly.
He kissed her neck. "I don't want to push. But our wedding planner can't really do anything until we give her a date." He deposited another sweet kiss to her neck. "And you know I can't wait to marry you."
Any other woman in the world would have been charmed by him right now. But Hermione was in a mood, and she was determined to be mad, no matter how ridiculous a goal it was. "Well, whether we set a date today or next month, you still have to wait."
He chuckled. "Personally, I'd marry you now if your mother wouldn't have me executed for denying her the opportunity to fuss over you."
Goddamn it, he was cute. It was problematic because it assailed Hermione's resolve to be bitchy towards him for dashing her zen with wedding nonsense. "Right. But don't you think that we should talk about what happens after, rather than spend so much time agonizing over the wedding?"
Draco's hands stilled. "What do you mean? Afterwards we'll be married."
She turned around to face him. "But we haven't even discussed how married life is going to be."
Draco grinned. "Well, obviously, you'll move in here, and we'll—"
"Wait, hold on a minute," Hermione said, twisting her body so she could fully face him. "I'm a Hogwarts professor, Draco. I have duties other than just teaching that I need to be present for."
Draco did not like where this was going, but it wasn't yet time to allow his face to betray his frustration. "So, you'll just come home after you've completed those duties. Hogwarts is connected to the Floo Network, you know."
Her eyes flashed. "I'm aware of that, Draco. But it wouldn't be fair on the other professors if I left at the end of every day and they were forced to pick up my slack by being on-call 24/7."
Draco sighed and crossed his arms. "Funny how that doesn't seem to be a problem when you come here every weekend, does it?"
"The only reason it's not a problem, Draco, is because I make up that time during the week so I can spend my weekends with you." And it's fucking stressful, she did not add.
"Minerva surely doesn't expect the professors to live like monks, Hermione. How else are you all supposed to have personal lives? Spouses? Children? It's not fair to expect this of yourself, and I seriouslydoubt Minerva expects it either."
"Has it escaped your notice that none of the Hogwarts professors are married?"
"I don't care about the other professors, Hermione. All I care about is that you will be married. To me. And, silly me, I rather hoped to live with my wife because it's what husbands and wives do. If Minerva has a problem with that, she can lump it."
She rolled her eyes. "We'll talk about this later, Draco."
Draco had been holding back, but he was genuinely pissed off now. "You were the one who wanted to discuss it to begin with."
"That was before you triggered my migraine with this inane conversation."
"Inane?"
"We-can-talk-about-living-arrangements-later, Draco," she said in a hurried tone, obviously anxious to end the conversation as quickly as possible.
Draco's eyes hardened. "Fine. I'll have a talk with Minerva first thing Monday morning."
"No. I'll have a talk with Minerva. At a time when she is free to discuss it."
"Fine." Draco clenched his jaw and looked away from Hermione. He had noticed that she'd been a bit tense lately, but this was the first time he felt his patience with her slip. As far as he was concerned, husbands lived with their wives. That was non-negotiable. It baffled him that she didn't understand that.
More than that, it fucking hurt his feelings. When she wasn't around he missed her all the time. He counted down the minutes until he could see her again. One of the things he was looking forward to most about married life was that they would live together. If their roles had been reversed, he would have fought tooth and nail to move in with her, Hogwarts's policy be damned. And it wasn't even a bloody policy to begin with! As a Hogwarts governor, he had seen the damned bylaws. It was purely by accident that Hogwarts professors were a load of shut-ins.
Hermione folded her arms. "When did this turn into an argument?"
Draco shook his head. "I'm not sure but it seems to be happening a lot lately."
"Well, I'm sorry if I've been so insufferable, but I'm stressed out."
"Then talk to me about it. I'm supposed to be your partner, Hermione. You don't need to turn everything into a fight."
She scoffed. "I don't do that."
"Yes, you do. And I never say anything about it because I try to be understanding."
"I try, too! Did you not just hear about how I rearrange my schedule so I can—"
"I knowthat, Hermione, but relationships aren't just about sex and flirting. They're work. And I wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I didn't think you're worth it, but I don't always get the impression you feel the same."
Demon Hermione: No big deal, hon. Just remove yourself from the bed, walk over to the door and down the stairs, and leave him with his cock in his hands tonight. After all, relationships aren't just about sex and flirting. Tosser can wank himself raw for all you care.
Angel Hermione: You know that's not what he meant. Don't listen to her. This is what is known as an honest discussion. It's the hallmark of a healthy relationship, so give the man some credit! And pardon my French, but you're being awfully witchy to a man who's this eager to spend the rest of his life with you.
She sighed.
Okay.
There was a slight possibility that she had been a right little brute lately. She knew it wasn't his fault that she was perpetually a Peeves prank away from being committed to St. Mungo's. But somehow that didn't stop her from taking it out on him anyway. And he had been nothing short of wonderful with his back massages and his patience and his gorgeous man-face. She bit her lip in shame. "I suppose." She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for being a bitch."
Draco chuckled. "Nonsense. You're ever delightful." He kissed her gently.
Hermione melted against him, grateful that her fiancé could lie so prettily.
"I just want you to know that I'm here to make your life better, not worse. If you're stressed out, then talk to me. Maybe I can help."
God, if she wasn't so bloody tired she'd throw him on his back and fellate him stupid for saying that. She smiled, leaning over to kiss him. "I'll talk to Minerva first thing Monday morning."
"Good." He leaned in for another kiss. "You know I'm arse-over-tit for you, right?"
She laughed. "Are you now?"
"Mhmm." He gathered her in his lap and kissed her lazily. "So much so that the idea of not living with you once we're married makes me ill. Call me greedy, but I want to wake up to you…" he kissed alongside her neck, "…every morning." Another kiss. "And go to bed with you." Kiss. "Every night." Kiss. "For the rest of our lives. And I don't want to share you more than I have to with a bunch of snot-nosed little sprogs who aren't even ours."
She giggled. "On that we agree." She closed her eyes and basked in the sensation of being seduced. She couldn't remember why she'd been so nervous about getting married lately. Draco was divine.
He kissed behind her ear. "That said, I can't wait to have swotty babies with you."
Her eyes flew open.
"Babies? As in…plural?"
Yeah. Major lady-boner killer, that.
He hummed against her skin. "As many as you want."
She bit her lip, choosing her next words carefully. Don't you dare fight with him again. You love this man. He is wonderful, and loving, and beautiful.
And apparently eager to put a bun in your oven.
"And what if that's zero?"
He stopped with his ministrations. "You mean…you don't want children," he said flatly.
She swallowed loudly. "I mean…not particularly."
He leaned back and looked at her. "Oh. Well, okay. Um…I suppose I'd be alright with it." He chuckled nervously. "I mean, it's not like I can force you."
She forced a grin, trying to reassure him, and cupped his cheek. "I'm not saying 'never.' I'm just saying children have never been on my radar. I never really saw myself as a mother."
He narrowed his eyes. "Well, you do realize that you're about to be a stepmother, right?"
"Believe me, Draco. I am well aware. Quite frankly, I'm terrified."
He looked past her, biting his lip. "You don't think I was terrified when Scorpius was born? Merlin, I was twenty. I had no idea what I was doing." He licked his lips. "I thought we talked about this, already."
"We did, but that doesn't mean my apprehension about it just dissolved, Draco. I'm not a maternal type and I never have been."
He laughed humorlessly. "You're a teacher, Hermione. You're excellent with your students. I think you're already better at it than you realize."
"That's completely different. As long as they don't die on my watch, I'm not responsible for them. At the end of the term, I get to send them back to their parents, and then they're someone else's problem."
"Problem? Hermione, do you hear the words coming out of your mouth? Do you have any idea how selfish you sound?"
"Well, I'm sorry, Draco, but I'm used to not having to worry about anyone but myself. That's the way it's been for years, and that's the way I like it."
Draco was seething. "Too bad you're about to acquire a husband and a child, then, isn't it? You're not allowed to think like that when you have a family."
Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. She couldn't remember the last time she had so thoroughly cocked up a conversation. "I understand that, Draco. All I'm saying is that it's going to be a bit of an adjustment for me."
"Well." He shuffled to put some distance between himself and Hermione on the bed. "How kind of you to fit us in. Hopefully we won't be too much of a 'problem' for you."
She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Stop making me feel like an arsehole, Draco. Of course, you won't be a problem, you bloody, insufferable prat. You might be a git, and right now I kind of want to slug you in your obnoxiously symmetrical face, but you're not a problem. So, you can stop pretending to misunderstand me anytime now, Princess."
Draco's eyes widened at the insinuation. "Oh, so now I'm 'pretending' to misunderstand you? And you're the princess, you barmy swot."
"You know that I love you and Scorpius, you fussy wanker!"
"I know that, Hermione. But I don't appreciate your suggestion that my son and I are liabilities to your glorious autonomy."
Hermione fumed. "I told you I was scared of being a mother and you're throwing it in my face! And that's even with Scorpius being one of the easy ones! Plus, he's already mostly raised."
"That doesn't mean you won't be involved."
Hermione jumped off the bed and resumed her fight stance. With hands on her hips she bristled at her fiancé. "You see, this is why we needed to talk about what happens after the wedding. We need to be on the same page."
"Well, obviously, you're going to try to live away from home and refuse to have a family with me. And I don't get a say in any of it."
Hermione huffed. "I told you I'd talk to Minerva on Monday about my living arrangements for after the wedding. Why are you being such a prat?"
"Why are you acting so spoiled? Marriage is a partnership, Hermione. You don't get to live in a separate world from me."
"For the last time, you twat, I told you I would live with you."
"Only after I forced the issue. If I hadn't said anything, you would have happily treated being married to me like an ancillary inconvenience."
"How dare you say that to me! I love you, you arsehole, and I want to marry you."
"Then make some bloody sacrifices for me. Actually want to have a home with me. Consider the possibility of a family. Be involved in decisions involving Scorpius. I want us to be a fucking family, Hermione. I put up with your friends, your parents, your temper, your insurmountable swottiness, and lately, your moods. I shouldn't have to beg my wife to want to live with me."
Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "How did we do this? We justmade up from a fight and now we're fighting again."
Draco nodded. "I suppose it's good for us to do this now, rather than after we're married."
Hermione nodded. "I guess so."
A pained shadow crossed Draco's face. "Look, Hermione, if you're having second thoughts—"
"Draco, how can you say that? You should know I want to marry you."
"Yes, but do you want to be married to me? Do you know what that means? Because I do. And I want that with you. And I would hope that you want that with me."
Hermione sighed. "I've never been married before, so maybe I don't know what it means. This is the only serious relationship I've ever had."
Draco's eyes softened slightly. "I know. I know it's your first. But it's also your last. This is it, Hermione. It's going to be you and me until the end."
She took a step towards him. "And I'm learning, Draco."
His eyes hardened with resolve. "You're Hermione Granger. Learn faster." With no warning, he grabbed her hand and yanked her back to the bed, basking in the sound of her surprised squeal. He leaned forward and crushed his lips to hers in a bruising kiss and fell into her until she was on her back.
Okay, now this she understood. This part had always been brilliant between them.
Draco bit the neck he had kissed so tenderly minutes before. "You're going to be my wife." He undid the fastenings on her trousers and hooked his fingers over the hem before roughly pulling them down. "And I'm going to be your husband." He whispered raggedly into her ear, "And don't think that just means I'm going to fuck you whenever you want."
She moaned. Jesus H. Christ he was so fucking hot right then.
He dug his fingers into her hips and pulled her knickers down with the other hand, never taking his eyes off hers. "You have to earn it." She tried to roll her hips up to meet his, but he held her down. "Nice try, but you haven't earned it yet, sweetheart."
She bit her lip and whimpered. "Please."
"Please what?" he asked, his pewter eyes dark with lust and resolve. "You want me to shag you into this mattress?"
"Yes." Her voice came out breathy and faint. "Please, Draco. I need you."
He smirked. "Yeah? Well, I need you, too. And I'm not just talking about your pretty cunt wrapped around my cock," he said, inserting a finger into her heat. She keened as he pumped slowly, not nearly enough to make her come, but more than enough to drive her crazy. "I want to have a fucking life with you, Hermione."
His words combined with his fingers buried in her tight heat…she would have given him anything in the world at that moment. "I want that too, Draco. I love you so much."
His breath grew ragged as he watched her fall apart. "I believe you. And not just because you'd say just about anything right now to get me to let you come." He inserted another finger and picked up the pace. "You're mine. And I'm yours. And this is not something either of us will take lightly."
"Draco, please. I want everything with you. Please." Although her mind had basically been reduced to a demented lust-filled haze, she meant every word.
He bit his lip and pumped faster. "I think you've earned it now, love." He bent his face down so his mouth was level with her ear. "So, why don't you tell me how badly you want me to fuck you right now."
Hermione bucked her hips and moaned. "I…I've never been so turned on in my life. I need you so bad," she said, reaching for his belt buckle.
He groaned, wanting nothing more than to give her everything she wanted. Still, he needed to maintain control of the situation, so he stilled her hand by wrapping his fingers around her wrist. He relished the surprise in her eyes and shot her a saucy smirk. "I shouldn't, you know. I should leave you here teetering. That way you'll know how it feels to miss something." His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed, watching her writhe beneath him, begging for his touch. "Merlin, Hermione, I need more of you." She knew he wasn't talking about her body right now. And he had never been sexier than in this moment. He was so honest, so raw, so possessive- in the best way.
"You can have all of me, Draco. I'm yours. Please."
He released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in. "Of course, I won't be that cruel." He whispered harshly in her ear. "Because that's not the kind of husband I'm going to be." He smiled wickedly at her helpless, needy body."But first I'll need you to come for me, love. Hard. Will you do that for me?"
Hermione was seeing stars. She'd never been this wet, this ready, this tightly wound. She was fast approaching what would quite possibly be the most explosive orgasm of her life. "D-D-Draco…please don't stop…"
"Sweet Circe, I love hearing you beg for me. And you do it so prettily, too. I think that deserves a reward." His thumb flickered over her clit and something tight in Hermione's core exploded.
Wave after wave of sweet release hit her. Every inch of her body screamed in release. Even her teeth tingled. She felt like her essence was being drawn from her. When it was finally over she felt wrung out and there was a faint humming in her ears, like she shorted a circuit in her brain. Death by orgasm. She chuckled, thinking this was exactly how she wanted to die.
Draco smirked proudly at his pliant, rag-doll-like wife-to-be. "Don't give up on me now, love. We're just getting started."
Hermione's body rejoiced at the gravelly, promise-filled voice assuring her he would give her that glorious release again. When he entered her, she felt complete and just…happy.
She always knew she was a lucky person. The sheer fact that she was alive today was proof enough of that. But this was beyond what she thought possible. That this snarky, bull-headed man wanted to commit himself to her and put up with her own litany of faults forever?
Forever. She'd never tried to fathom what 'forever' meant. But she was beginning to.
Forever means never again without you.
He thrust deep inside her and whispered against her collarbone. "You're the one, Hermione. I couldn't let you go now if I tried."
A single tear escaped the corner of her eye as she clutched him. She remembered Blaise Zabini's words to her nearly a year ago: You'll never be loved by anyone the way you'll be loved by Draco Malfoy.
"Thank God for that," she whispered.
