Hey everyone! So terribly sorry it took so long to update! I went on a spur-of-the-moment trip out of the state and then I had loads of summer work due (who gives 12 pages of essays over the summer?) and I just started school again. It's going to be harder for me to update, but there will be AT LEAST one chapter a week. I'm so sorry it too so long! Hope you enjoy it :) Also, there are pictures of Hermione, Ginny, and Luna's engagement rings on my profile so be sure to check them out! Thanks and Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of the wonderful world of Harry Potter.
Chapter 8: A Fancy Dress and an Stress-Induced Breakdown
Half an hour later, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna walked into the only bridal store at Hogsmeade followed by a very regal looking Mrs. Malfoy. The little tinkle of the bell alerted the sales woman that new customers had arrived. She swept out of the backroom to greet the new shoppers and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Narcissa Malfoy.
"H-Hello Mrs. Malfoy. H-How may I help you today?" the sales woman sputtered.
"This is my future daughter-in-law," Mrs. Malfoy said, pushing Hermione forward, "and she is looking for her bridal gown. The wedding is coming up quite fast so we need to find her dress quickly."
"O-Of course, Mrs. Malfoy. You can just sit on those couches while I take Hermione to look at the dresses," the sales woman stated nervously.
With that said, she rushed out of the room, tugging Hermione behind her.
"Relax. She's not going to hex you if you don't please her," Hermione said.
"Of course. Sorry about that. I'm Annabel by the way." She said, taking a deep breath and attempting to calm herself.
"Hey Annabel, I'm Hermione," she said, reaching out her hand.
Shaking her hand, Annabel smiled at her. "Anything in particular you would like to have in your ideal bridal gown? Any specific styles?"
"To be honest with you, I absolutely despise shopping and I have no idea what I want for my wedding dress," Hermione stated.
"Alright then, I'll go pull a few options. You can wait in dressing room number two," Annabel said before rushing off.
Hermione slowly walked over to the dressing room, a million thoughts running through her mind. 'This is actually happening. I'm trying on wedding dresses, the wedding is actually going to happen. The wedding is actually going to happen. The wedding is going to happen soon!'
Hermione closed the door to dressing room two and sank down until she was sitting on the floor. Her breath was rapid and shallow from the stressful thinking and she knew that she had to calm it down. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself on the beach, basking in the sun.
A sharp knock startled her out of her day dream and Hermione started to freak out again. "Annabel?" she called through the door.
"No," a familiar voice answered. "I know you well enough to know that you're freaking out. Let me in."
Hermione smiled slightly and opened the door. Ginny enveloped Hermione into a hug and sat down in the silver chair along the wall.
"Now, why are you freaking out?" Ginny asked, eyeing her best friend.
"I don't know, Gin. It just didn't seem real before. It was hard enough getting used to living with him. But this? This just makes it real. I actually have to marry him! Marriage! I can't do this! I'm way to young. We don't love each other! I want to get married for love, not because of some bollocks law!"
With that, Hermione sat down again and started to cry. Ginny knelt down next to her and hugged her tightly. "Hermione," Ginny tried. "Hermione, look at me." Two chocolate brown eyes looked up at her, glistening with tears. "It will all be alright. Marriage isn't that much different from what you're doing now. You will still live with him. You will still go to class. You still have friends. The only thing that changes is that now you have a permanent flat-mate. Well, that and your physical relationship."
Hermione calmed down incrementally with Ginny's speech, just to start crying again when she heard the last bit. "Gin! I forgot about that part! How am I supposed to have sex with him! It's Malfoy! I don't want to have sex with him!"
Ginny sighed wearily. "Hermione, geez. Calm down. It's not like it's your first time. You will be completely fine. Just focus right now on finding a really pretty dress to wow Mrs. Malfoy with.
Hermione stood up, calmed by Ginny's words and wiped her eyes. "You're right Gin. Sorry about that. It just takes some getting used to," Hermione said.
Right on cue, Annabel opened the door and brought in a few dresses with various shapes and styles.
Hermione scanned the dresses and felt her heart tug. She always imagined her wedding as a little girl in a huge white church with a huge poufy gown. Over the years, the venue and dress have changed countless times but one thing always remained the same: she would be completely, madly in love with her groom.
A weight settled in her heart but she knew she had to marry Malfoy, and today was the first step. 'Better to get it over with,' Hermione thought with a grimace.
Ginny, as usual, was perfectly in tune with her best friend's emotions. She wrapped an arm around Hermione's slender shoulders and pointed to one dress.
Annabel took the A-line lace gown out of the plastic wrap and put it on Hermione's petite frame. With another hug from Ginny, Hermione stepped out of the dressing room and walked over to where Narcissa was waiting. The full-length mirror stood there dauntingly as Hermione walked closer. Soon, a gasp emitted from Mrs. Malfoy's throat and Hermione could see herself in the mirror. She looked beautiful, and from the tears in Mrs. Malfoy's eyes, she thought so too. Ginny patted her arm encouragingly and Luna nodded at her.
With their support wrapped around her like a blanket, Hermione straightened her spine, ready to find her dress. She glanced in the mirror again, but shook her head. This was not the right dress…not yet.
A few more trips to the mirror and a few more rejections later, Mrs. Malfoy finally decided to intervene.
Head held high, Mrs. Malfoy walked to the main storage room in the back. Heels clicking, she browsed a few rows of dresses before one caught the corner of her eye. After two hours of dresses that were two low-cut, too conservative, too sexy, too gaudy, too plain, too poufy, and not poufy enough, Mrs. Malfoy found a dress that would not fall in any of those categories. It was perfect. The feeling of victory was settling deep in her bones as she levitated the dress to Hermione's dressing room.
"Hermione, dear," Mrs. Malfoy called, rapping her knuckles on the door.
"Come in, Narcissa. I'm drowning here!" Hermione answered.
Sure enough, Hermione was in the middle of the dressing room with Ginny, surrounded by white dresses on all sides. With a flick of Narcissa's wand, all of the dresses were removed and the one she selected was on the rack.
"I think I found a dress you will like, Hermione," Narcissa said, a smile forming on her face.
Ginny's face split into a wide grin and she started jumping up and down excitedly. "Oh Hermione! It's perfect! Fabulous job, Narcissa," Ginny complimented.
Narcissa's grin grew smug and she helped Ginny slide the soft material over Hermione's head. In no time at all, the zipper was zipped, the straps tied, and Hermione's hair was pulled into a loose bun.
Ginny covered Hermione's eyes as she led her out to the full-length mirror. "Now Hermione, it's absolutely breathtaking. If you don't get this dress, I will take you to St. Mungo's straight away." Ginny removed her fingers as Luna gasped in delight.
Hermione was a vision. Even she had to admit she looked beautiful. The dress was absolutely perfect for her. It had just the right amount of poof. The thin straps tied at the top of Hermione's slender shoulders, showing off her elegant neck. The 'V' cut showed off her cleavage modestly, and the fitted waist and gorgeous flower detail at the waist, showed off how tiny Hermione's waist actually was. From there, the dress flowed out to the ground, the epitome of beautiful.
Hermione smiled at her reflection and looked towards her friends. Luna was smiling with a far-off look in her eye, Ginny was grinning from ear to ear, and Mrs. Malfoy looked at her with tear-filled eyes, nodding her approval.
To everyone's delight, Hermione smiled a huge smile that lit up her chocolate eyes. "This is the dress guys!" she shouted.
Cheers met her ears as she twirled in a circle. A few swishes of Annabel's wand, and the dress was fitted to her perfectly. Hermione really did love the dress, but the only thing she could think was 'Thank Merlin it's over!'
Mrs. Malfoy insisted on paying for the dress, and in no time at all, the dress was bought, packed up, and on its way to being delivered to the castle.
The women walked back to the apparation point arm-in-arm, smiling the whole way. After goodbyes were said, the girls apparated back to the castle and walked up to their individual suites.
"Thanks again for coming guys," Hermione said, smiling.
"Sure thing. See you later Hermione!" Ginny said, hugging Hermione and running off to her suite.
"No problem at all," Luna said, "You really did look quite beautiful. Draco Malfoy is a lucky boy. See you around." With a dreamy smile, she too walked to her suite.
Unlocking the door, Hermione went over to the bed and immediately plopped down in the center. Hearing Draco turn the shower off, Hermione sighed and pulled herself up. A shower would relax her muscles, and then right to bed she would go.
What she saw next, both frightened and excited her.
DDDDDD
Draco let out a giant sigh. He had been with Blaise all day and he was bloody tired. With nothing left to do but go to bed, Draco hopped in the shower.
Fully relaxed, Draco turned the water off and toweled himself off. 'Hermione's not going to be back until later, so I get the room all to myself.' He thought. For this reason, he walked into the room, toweling his hair, and stark naked.
He was greeted with a squeak and a pair of impossibly wide brown eyes. Then, realization dawned. "Bloody hell! What in Merlin's name are you doing home? And stop staring!" Draco shouted, fumbling to cover himself with the towel.
"I-I'm sorry," Hermione squeaked. "I just got back. Why weren't you wearing a towel?"
"Well I didn't think you would be back until later! Stop gaping at me and go take a shower. Honestly, you're going to have to get used to seeing me naked, Granger." Draco said, his smirk returning. "We will be newly weds soon, and the last newly weds I met didn't leave the bedroom for the first three days of the honeymoon. I bet we could beat their record," Draco's smirk grew even wider.
Closing her mouth with an audible snap, Hermione wanted to slap that stupid smirk off of his face. "Not likely, Malfoy. I'm not letting you touch me more than I absolutely have to in order to fulfill the bloody law. Besides, I don't think you would have enough stamina," Hermione shot back with a smirk of her own.
In less than two seconds, Hermione was on the bed, her wrists pinned by her ears and Draco's lean body lying on top of hers. "Don't insult me, Granger. Besides, how would you know? They don't call me the Slytherin Sex God for nothing, Granger." Draco whispered in her ear, eliciting an involuntary shiver from Hermione.
Draco let her up, still smirking.
'That good for nothing bastard. Well, two can play at that game,' Hermione thought, trying to ignore the heat between her legs.
She stripped off her shirt and skirt, standing there in only her black bra and panties, trimmed with white lace. Turning around, she saw Draco staring at her open mouthed.
"What are you doing, Granger?" he said, his voice already a little rougher.
"What does it look like? Taking a shower," she answered. Turning her back on Malfoy, she unhooked her bra, threw it over her shoulder and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and chuckling under her breath.
When the water turned on, Draco let out a groan. 'That witch! She's such a tease,' he thought. Thanks to her, he was now sporting a full erection from the glimpse of the sides of her bare breasts. He could only imagine what she looked like from the front, and how those breasts would bounce when they made love after the wedding.
'Ughhh,' Draco groaned again. 'Annoying witch.'
Making his way to the chair in the living room, Draco pulled down his towel and took his length into his palm. Stroking it slowly and squeezing at the right times, Draco was close to the edge. Pumping harder, he imagined himself sheathed inside Hermione, and that was enough to send him over the edge. With a strangled groan, waves of pleasure rippled through his body.
A quick scorgify later, Draco headed back to the bedroom to dress for bed. Sliding beneath the warm covers, Draco closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.
Feeling Hermione slide into bed next to him, Draco finally was able to fall asleep, knowing she was there, and only good thoughts penetrated his dreams.
A/N: I am putting a picture of Hermione's wedding dress on my profile. In case you didn't read the thing at the top, there are also pictures of Hermione, Ginny, and Luna's engagement rings on my profile. Thanks everyone for reading! Hope you enjoyed it, and please REVIEW. It makes my day to hear everyone's opinion. Thanks! :)
