Warning: There are some explicit details in this chapter. They don't go deep into detail, but there is sexual content.
-.-
Hermione gave him a questioning look.
Draco closed his eyes for a moment, obviously trying to concentrate. "Sorry," he said. "It's just that I forgot that you came back here."
"It's ok. I forgot that I'd come back here as well." she gave him a half smile.
Draco nodded, but kept his eyes shut.
Hermione conjured up another mug of coffee and put it in Draco's hand. He gave her a nod to thank her for the coffee and took a sip. His face instantly relaxed a bit and he opened his eyes to look at Hermione. They looked at each other for a moment before Hermione looked away. The eyes, the intensity of them. They were bringing back memories. Slowly, the events from the previous evening replayed themselves in her mind.
She remembered kissing him in front of everyone, she remembered grabbing her new clothes and putting them on in the restaurant's toilets. She had emerged and he'd taken her into a dark corner. They were making out feverishly, as if there was no tomorrow. So much energy and emotion went into their kisses. Within no time, Hermione was grinding up against Draco. She had wanted him so bad, and from the rock hard cock in his pants, it was obvious that he had wanted her too.
Hermione took another sip of coffee as she recalled more events. She'd done a sexy dance for everyone, then her and Draco had retreated to their corner once more. This time she had unzipped his trousers and given him a blow job. He'd come in her mouth, she'd swallowed it and then took another shot of tequila.
Draco had then led her into the disabled loo and went down on her. He'd licked, suckled and nipped until she was screaming his name. Hermione went bright red and moaned a little. God, she hoped they'd charmed the room or that the music was loud enough to drown her out.
Draco watched as she turned bright red and smiled slightly to himself. It was clearly obvious that Hermione was trying to recall every detail of the night before. Draco closed his eyes again and lay flat on his back. He didn't know what time it was and he didn't care. Remembering that he and his witch has spent the night together had sent him into a complete state of bliss. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this content, he only knew that it had been at least four years.
Draco took another sip of his coffee and smiled lazily. He propped himself up a little bit more and looked over to the girl beside him. He watched as she concentrated on thinking through last nights events. His smile grew a little bit as he recalled what happened as well.
After their trip to the disabled loo, they spent a few more minutes snogging heavily. They only tore apart when one of Hermione's muggle friends screamed for her to do more shots. He reluctantly followed her out of their dark corner as she made her way across the dance floor to take part in more shots. She had long taken off her shoes and was walking around barefoot. She had reached the group doing shots and got two of the small glasses. Hermione had turned to give him one, which he'd accepted. They did three more shots in that round before she had clung onto him once again.
"I'm a bit pissed," she giggled in his ear.
He had smiled at her and given her a sneaky kiss on the cheek before she left to dance with some more of the girls.
"Ugh. I am never drinking again." Hermione muttered, rubbing her temples and waking Draco from his reverie.
"I concur. That shit is liquid death." Draco mumbled, looking her in the eye.
"Tequila ta kill ya," she groaned.
"Huh?"
Hermione shook her head at him to signify that it wasn't worth explaining.
"I should go," Hermione stated, beginning to get up.
Draco reached out for her hand to stop her. "Why?"
"I shouldn't be here."
He gave her a questioning look. "Why the hell not?"
"Draco, doesn't it feel a bit weird for you?"
"On the contrary, I feel absolutely fine. Being here with you makes me happy. I know it's cheesy and cliché to say, but it's the truth."
Hermione looked at him in silence for a moment. He tried to look for some sort of emotion in her face, but it was difficult for him to read. Whether it was because of his hangover, her hangover or simply because she didn't know how to react he wasn't sure. She took a deep breath before replying to him.
"Thanks. I'm happy here too, but I don't want to ruin any of the plans that you may have for today."
Draco shook his head, "Not a chance. My plans are laying around my house and I'd enjoy having you around for company. If you want to leave, I won't make you stay, but you are more than welcome to stay. So long as we can sleep a bit more and you get me a glass of water."
Hermione considered it for a moment. Instead of giving him a direct answer, she lay back down, pulled the cover over her and closed her eyes.
"You have to get your own beverage."
-.-
Draco woke sometime later with Hermione's hair sprawled across his face. He smiled to himself and placed a small kiss in the mess of hair. He pulled his head back and began to lift the arm that held her close to him. He stopped as Hermione stirred in her slumber. Making sure she was still sound asleep, Draco lifted his head and watched her face as he pulled his arm away again. He got up and found a pair of boxers. Pulling them on, he went to the toilet.
He thought of how so much had changed in the last week. He paused for a moment on the last part. It had only been a mere week since she'd come back into his life. It was almost as if nothing had changed, apart from maturing a bit more on both parties half. The thing that he was most proud of was that he had learned to stand up to his father a bit more, although he was still a bit terrified of the man. He would never admit it to anyone, but the only reason he hadn't told his father to get lost was because he didn't want a load of his extended family coming after him. It was easier to put up with his father's weekly visits and deal with the constant insults and degrading than it was to have everyone from Aunt Bella to the late Regulus Black on his case.
Shaking the thought from his head, he made his way to the kitchen. He was about to get a glass of orange juice when there was a whooshing sound from the living room. He paused for a moment and didn't hear any one's foot steps, so he made his way slowly to the living room, wand at the ready.
As he peered around the corner, he let out a sigh of relief. He went over to pick up the rather large manila envelope. He ripped it open and pulled out the first small piece of paper.
Draco,
Here are the papers that I promised to you. I apologize for them being late. The ladies showed up earlier than planned. Just to warn you that you are wasting your time if you are trying to find a way out of this contract.
Love always,
Mother
Draco pulled out the other papers and quickly read the top.
Marriage Contract
This contract is between Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Both individuals involved are under the age of consent, thus the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) will be signing the end on the aforementioned individuals behalf.
The terms of this agreement are as follows:
a. if both the individuals are unattached and available when they reach they age of twenty-one, they will wed in holy matrimony before the first one reaches the age of twenty-two.
Draco stopped reading there. Before he turned twenty-two? That was only a few months from now. This was ridiculous. Is there not some kind of law against this? His parents signed him up for this against his own free will. He was only one when it had happened and in his entire life, not once had this been mentioned to him. This would have been something he would have remembered.
He sighed and dropped the heavy envelope onto the coffee table, not wanting to think about it at the moment. Right now, he wanted to go and lay with the only girl he would even think about marrying. With that thought, he headed back to the bedroom.
-.-
Hermione stirred and rolled onto her other side to look at Draco. She was a bit surprised when she opened her eyes to find the other side of the bed empty. She got out of the bed and stretched. She then headed into the corridor and stopped at one of the portraits hanging on the wall. It was a photograph of a young woman she'd never seen before holding a small child, looking down on the infant with a sad smile playing at her lips. If you looked closely, you could see a small tear running down the woman's face.
Hermione didn't know what it was about the portrait but it brought a tear to her eye. She looked for an indication of the artist. At the very bottom right corner of the matting you could distinctly make out the name 'B. Zabini'. Hermione was taken aback. Who knew that Zabini had it in him to create such art.
"Do you like it?"
Hermione jumped in shock. She hadn't heard him approaching. Unable to speak, she nodded her head.
"Did you see who it was by?"
Hermione nodded again before continuing aloud, "I never pegged Zabini for an artist."
"No one did really, not even myself, and he's been my best mate for as long as I can remember. He was a stereotypical Slytherin to the bone. Hated muggleborns or anyone beneath his own status. Imagine my surprise when he told me he'd fallen in love."
"Blaise Zabini? Love?" Hermione's eyebrows shot up.
Draco nodded. "Yep. With a muggle, no less."
Hermione's jaw dropped this time. "You're kidding me?"
Draco shook his head no and took a deep breath before continuing once more. "Not at all. I had the opportunity to meet here a year after graduation. She was a real knockout. It was no wonder Blaise fell in love with her. I was in shock when I saw them together. Alissa was six months pregnant and it was incredible to think that it was Blaise's. I was still in shock, he just dropped it on me one day and the next I was headed to Spain to see them."
"She's Spanish?"
"No, actually, she's English but she was working in Spain at an orphanage."
"So, let me get this straight," Hermione said, looking at the picture for a moment before turning her attention back to the silver eyes that were drilling into her amber ones. "Blaise Zabini fell in love with a muggle named Alissa, who worked at a presumably muggle orphanage, got her pregnant and became the father of her child?"
Draco nodded. "They also got married last fall," he added, as if it was an after thought.
Hermione looked back at the image, trying to take it all in. "Well, what does any of that have to do with Zabini becoming artistic?"
"The woman in that portrait is Blaise's wife, holding their child. She was born a stillborn. Nothing could be done to save her, muggle or magic. Alissa had wanted Blaise to take muggle pictures of the birth and afterbirth for her to send to her family members, so he learned to use a muggle camera. When he showed it too me, it brought a tear to my eye. It was the first time Blaise had even seen me cry, so he insisted that I have a copy."
Hermione simply nodded to tell him that she had heard him and smiled sadly at the portrait. She felt for this Alissa. Happy that she had been able to give birth, but yet so heartbroken that she would no longer have this little miracle to tend and love.
Draco watched as silent tears rolled down Hermione's cheeks. He reached out to hold her from behind to comfort her. After a moment he started to lead her away from the portrait and towards the kitchen. He sat her down and got her a glass of juice.
Hermione smiled at him and wiped her cheeks dry. "Sorry."
"Don't be stupid, you don't need to apologize."
Hermione smiled at him and took a sip of her orange juice. Draco watched her and smiled, her honey toned eyes looking into his.
"What?" she questioned.
"Nothing. Do you want something to eat?"
Hermione considered it for a moment. "Are you cooking?"
"If you want."
"Then yes, I'd love something to eat."
-.-
Later that day, they were laying on Draco's bed, naked under the duvet. Breakfast had led to a thank you, which led to a kiss, which led to more kissing, which led to a very long and feverish repeat of the night before.
Hermione was snuggled up against Draco, eyes closed and a small smile playing at her lips. It had been a while since she'd felt this happy. It was then she realized she hadn't heard from any of her other friends yet today. It was already almost six in the evening. She reluctantly rolled out of Draco's lazy grasp around her and reached into her handbag for her mobile.
Looking at the screen, she saw she had six missed calls and four new text messages. Looking at the missed calls list, she noted that they were all Harry. Hermione sighed and looked at her texts.
Babe, how U feeling this AM? U had loads to drink. Call me l8r. Xx Ana.
'Mione, hope you're well. Great night! Must do it again soon! Xx Ing
Tony and I had a great nite! Let me know how it went with the hottie! Xx
Hermione replied to the first three messages before opening last one, which was from Harry.
Where u ? ring me. Need 2 tell u big news! Don't put this off, plzz! Xx
Hermione didn't know what Harry wanted but she figured it would be best to get it over with now than later.
"I just need to call Harry. I'll try to keep it quick. Would you like anything while I'm up?" she whispered to Draco, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Draco shook his head no, "I'm okay, but don't take too long." he winked at her.
Hermione shook her head and smiled as she got up and walked into the corridor. She walked down the long hall towards the kitchen as she dialled Harry's number.
It hadn't even made it through the first ring when Harry answered. "It's about time!"
"Calm down! I don't know what is so important, but I don't have much time," Hermione told him as she poured herself a glass of water.
"I think you're going to want to hear this," he said to her.
Hermione took a sip of her water as she wandered through to the living room and sat on the sofa. "Spit it out then!" she exclaimed, becoming mildly impatient and a tad chilly. She wanted to return to the warmth and safety of Draco's embrace.
"Remember how I told you Pansy Parkinson was going around saying that her and Malfoy were getting married?"
"Yes…"
"Well, it's true. Ginny heard from Parvati, who heard from Padma, who heard from that Daphne Greengrass girl that it was true! Apparently, there is some kind of contract."
"Harry, that's absurd!" Hermione laughed out loud as she leaned forward to examine the contents of the coffee table in front of her. "Draco informed me earlier this week that they weren't getting married! And under a contract - who does that? That is the most ludicrous -" Hermione's voice trailed off as she picked up a thick stack of papers and read the first line.
Hermione's jaw dropped. "No." she breathed.
"Hermione? What's going on? Are you still there?"
"I will call you back." Hermione answered and clicked the phone the end the call.
She continued to read the papers in her hands.
Marriage Contract
This contract is between Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Both individuals involved are under the age of consent, thus the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) will be signing the end on the aforementioned individuals behalf.
The terms of this agreement are as follows:
a. if both the individuals are unattached and available when they reach they age of twenty-one, they will wed in holy matrimony before the first one reaches the age of twenty-two.
b. the couple will reproduce at least two children before the age of twenty-seven.
Failure to comply with the above terms will result in the breaking of an Unbreakable Vow. The vow swears that the two will be married before the age of twenty-two.
Hermione was in shock. Why had he been acting like this if he was sworn to marry some other girl. The girl that had been the reason for their first big argument. Hermione placed the papers back on the table after looking through the other pieces of parchment which seemed to be lists of laws and rules from the Ministry.
For the first time in a long time, she didn't know what to do. She took a deep breath to collect herself and stood up. She attempted another deep breath to calm herself but it did not work. In a fury, she grabbed the contract from the table and stormed back to Draco's room.
"Care to explain this?" Hermione yelled as she began to look around the room for her discarded clothes.
Draco was shocked at the sudden outburst and sat up when she threw the papers at him. He looked down at the piece of parchment she'd been speaking of.
"Shit," he muttered to himself. "Hermione, this isn't what you think it is! Please give me a minute to explain."
Hermione had already pulled on her bra, knickers, skirt and was doing the buttons up on her top while looking around for her shoes. "Explain what? That you are BOUND to marry that pug-faced slut? You told me not even four days ago that you weren't getting married! You lied to my face! This is low, Malfoy! Even for you!" Hermione knew that she was acting childish and immature, but she just couldn't stop herself. She was fuming.
Draco was taken aback at the way she'd hissed his name. "No! I didn't even know about this contract until yesterday morning! Honestly, it's never been mentioned to me in my life before then!"
Hermione took another breath and held a steady look at him. "I don't think that I believe that."
"Honestly! If I had known about this, don't you think I'd have gotten out of it by now? I do not want to be marrying Pansy."
"Well, looks like you don't exactly have a choice now, do you?" Hermione grabbed her bag and shoved her cell phone and wand into it. Before Draco could argue anymore, Hermione disapparated.
Draco looked around for a moment. "FUCK!"
-.-
Hermione appeared in the familiar surroundings of Harry's living room. She looked around to the sofa to see him sitting there, as if he was waiting for her.
Harry took one look at her face before saying, "I'll be right back with the bottle."
Hermione smiled and sat down on the couch, waiting for Harry to return. He walked back a moment later with two wine glasses and a bottle of Shiraz.
"Spill," he demanded as he handed her a freshly poured glass.
Hermione took a deep breath and began to explain to him what had happened last night, sparing the intimate details and led all the way up to when she'd appeared in his living room.
"That little conniving, self-absorbed, conceited prat! How dare he? I'm going to go and hex him into next week…" He trailed off when Hermione put her hand on his arm.
"Don't. I shouldn't have let it happen. I just need a good bottle of wine, which we've already started on, and a good night with my best mate. So, tell me, how was your night?"
"Night?" Harry answered. "Great. This morning? Almost as good as yesterdays."
Hermione smiled sympathetically at him. "Well, thank you. I don't know if I said it last night, but it was truly wonderful. You really outdid yourself. I honestly didn't know you had it in you."
Harry feigned a hurt expression, "Moi? Impossible. I pay attention to every little detail."
"By the way, you don't happen to know how many shots I did, do you?"
Harry shook his head, "Nope, sorry mate. I do know that there were four empty bottle this morning at about five."
Hermione groaned. "And, do you happen to know what time I left with Draco?"
Another negative response came over Harry's face. "'Mione, I could barely remember everyone's names and I couldn't read a thing, let alone keep track of what time you left. It was before I did."
Hermione smiled. "Has everyone gone home then?"
Harry nodded before proceeding to inform her that they had been invited for a weekend away at the Burrow for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's anniversary next weekend. Hermione pondered for a moment and realized it had been over four years now since she'd last been to the Burrow. Things had been in such chaos after graduation that she and Harry hadn't gone to visit them in ages. This would also be a good time for them to catch up with other mutual friends.
Hermione agreed to go as she finished her first glass of wine. Harry didn't need any prompting as he picked up the bottle of wine and topped up her glass.
-.-
A/N - well? What did you think? I'm getting e-mails about people putting me on their alert lists, but I'd really appreciate some feedback. So, please review! Thanks! xxxx