Chapter 11

The days that followed her visit to both Ginny and Pansy had gone by agonizingly slow. The day after, she had made it known to Draco that she knew were his mother was, he didn't say much, in fact he said nothing at all. It was clear this whole time that he knew where she was, he just hadn't said anything to her.

It did annoy her that he would keep something simple like that from her, she didn't know if there was some protocol on things that were okay to talk about, or things that they needed to mind their own business on. She couldn't worry about this just now, there was too many things to think over.

She had received a letter from Professor McGonagall about the repair of Hogwarts, helping out was definitely something that Hermione was interested in. In some ways, she felt as if it were her responsibility to give back after everything that had happened.

Professor McGonagall did mention that Hermione would be able to complete extra studies if she wished too.

Hermione yearned to go back to school to learn as much as she could before working full time for the rest of her life, but things had changed, she was older and she now had Draco to think about too.

Then there was the Manor.

It was obvious that she was comfortable living in it, especially since Narcissa would eventually return, followed by Lucius at some point in time.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Draco pressed his lips to the top of her head.

She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face, "Many things" she answered vaguely.

Draco raised an eyebrow and sat next to her on the large sofa, pulling her closer to him, but being carful enough not to knock her open book.

"Oh?" He pressed his face into her neck, "Like what things?"

Hermione shrugged, "Like the future"

"Granger, after all we have been through, don't shut me out now" Draco grumbled.

She chuckled softly, "Technically I'm not really a Granger anymore"

He didn't respond, instead tightening his grip on her.

Sighing, she marked her page and closed the book, placing it next to the lounge.

"My head is just a mess right now and for once I don't know where to start, and this scares me" Hermione let out a slow breath.

Draco kissed the top of her shoulder softly, "Tell me what's on your mind and maybe we can figure it out together"

She swiveled around in his hold, leaning her head against his chest, "Well there's the reconstruction on Hogwarts, and then the possibility studying further, I feel as if we have come so far already that I don't need that at this point in my life, but I also don't feel like I am ready just to jump into work, I don't feel prepared. I feel like there is so much for us to do"

He tensed, her words beginning to confuse him.

"I know that there is an undeniable connection between us that is incredible" she spoke up quickly, "but there is still so much that we don't know about each other. I finally understand what your mother said about the bond settling down and feeling more like myself. We skipped everything in a relationship and went straight to being bonded. I would love to experience first real dates, getting to know you without the stigma of our blood status' or Hogwarts houses. I just feel as if there is so many things that is happening back to front and I just need to work through them properly"

"You are getting ahead of yourself" Draco stroked her hair, "You are forgetting that we have just come out of a war. Things like that isn't just going to happen it instantly, be rational. We will have a first date, we will get to know things about each other that now one else knows. As for everything else, why don't we just take it as it comes? I know that before this all happened you probably had a plan of how you wanted everything to happen after Hogwarts. Let's just focus on rebuilding and helping with the school, I'm sure that with a bit of work, things will fall into place and time passes"

Hermione forced out a chuckle, "Right"

He pressed his lips to the top of her head, "I know you like to plan for everything, my little bookworm, but perhaps for the sake of your sanity we just take everything slowly"

Sighing, Hermione closed her eyes. He was right, of course. Trying to prepare for everything right now would only do her head in and result in high stress.

She knew that there was no stopping her mind from trying to process everything that had been happening, but maybe if she could focus on one thing at a time she could make it through.

"Draco" she pulled away from him, "When will you see your mother? Ginny told me she is staying with your aunt"

His face turned stone like instantly, "I have no intentions of visiting her any time soon," he frowned, narrowing his eyebrows.

Hermione shook her head, "I hope that you do realize Malfoy Manor is her home, and while we are staying here now, I was hoping that if she were to return home, we might find somewhere for us to make a home out of"

Draco couldn't help but to smirk at how Slytherin his mate was sounding, two birds with one stone.

"I will think about it" he pressed his lips to hers, silencing her from any further comments.

She moaned as he tightened his grip, and pulled her over onto his lip. His lips pressed against hers more frantically, and she responded by pushing herself down onto his hardening member, trying to create more friction.

Hermione moaned as he moved his lips down her neck and along the hint of cleavage that was showing from her sundress. While one of his hands was tangled in her hair, the other slid along her leg, until it reached the band of panties, where his fingers brushed lightly against her skin.

No matter how many times they did this, it always felt as if he was igniting a fire within her.

"Please" she gasped out, his lips moving back up her neck.

He chucked against her throat, his fingers brushing on the exposed skin of her thigh. Frustrated, she thrust her hips forward.

Pushing her panties aside he slid a finger through her wet folds, he brushed her clit with his thumb and she moaned once again.

Draco slid two fingers into her, loving the way that she reacted to him. It felt as if it had been so long since they had been this intimate.

Hermione rocked herself against his hand, moaning even louder as he curled his fingers inside her.

She gasped as he brushed her clit again. She could feel her release building up already, she never wanted this feeling to end, but she knew there would be more to come yet.

"Draco" she gasped out as he slid his fingers in and out faster, "I'm nearly there," she panted.

He tightened his grip in her hair, bringing her head back down to meet his.

Draco added a third finger into her slick heat, he pumped his fingers into her harder than before, and began to rub his thumb lightly around her sensitive bud until he could feel her walls clamping around his fingers.

She cried out loudly, her boy quaking with her release.

He began to slow his movements.

Resting her head against his, she took a few deep breaths and gave him a light kiss before climbing off of the couch.

"Do you have plans this morning?" she asked, looking down into his hooded eyes.

Wordlessly, he shook his head.

"Good" she smirked, her hands slid down to the hem of her dress, before pulling it over her head.

…

Later that afternoon, Hermione had decided to go and see Ginny, Harry and Ron to talk about the letter that McGonagall had sent out. Draco took this opportunity to go to his aunt's house, where he knew his mother had been staying to avoid him.

His Aunt Andromeda met him at the door, her face scrunched up in confusion and surprise.

"Draco?" she asked hesitantly.

He nodded, "May I see my mother?" he asked politely.

"Of course, of course, come in" She opened the door wider.

Draco smiled tightly and walked in past her, he noticed that his Aunt seemed worn down. Hermione had told him that his cousin Teddy was left in her care after the death of her daughter and her husband.

Andromeda closed the door behind him, "Narcissa wasn't expecting you, and she is in the living room with Teddy"

He nodded, "Is she okay?" he asked her.

"She is getting there" Andromeda responded slowly.

"And," he hesitated, "Are you okay? I'm sorry to hear about your daughter"

His cousin, it felt too foreign to even attempt to say.

"Thank you" his aunt whispered, bowing her head, "I am also sorry about your father"

He didn't respond. Of course his father could be a decent man every now and then, especially when it came to Hermione being his mate, and the bond that he shared with his wife, but his father was usually a cold, bastard. Especially when it had come to Voldemort returning.

Andromeda took his silence as her que to start moving. Draco followed her through what appeared to be a dining room, then a hallway before she stopped at another set of doors.

Her house was quaint, filled with what looked like muggle objects.

Yes, the house was very muggle. No doubt this was something that Hermione would feel right at home in.

His aunt walked through the doors and he followed her slowly.

"Narcissa, Draco is here to see you" She announced.

His mother looked quite surprised to see him. Wordlessly Andromeda picked up the small child that was playing in the center of the room and took him with her.

"Your cousin Teddy" Narcissa spoke softly, "Will you sit, Draco?"

She motioned at a chair across from her.

"I didn't think that I would be seeing you for some time" Narcissa admitted once he had taken his seat.

The photos in the room were distracting him, they didn't move.

"Neither did I," He tore his attention from a photo of his cousin Tonks and looked at his mother, "However, even though Hermione has barely said anything to me, I know that she has been agonizing over you"

Narcissa raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

Draco nodded, "She feels guilty that you are not at the Manor, your rightful home, while we are there every night. I'm only here on her behalf."

"So cold Draco," Narcissa shook her head, "I know you are angry, I'm sorry about everything that happened that day. That was my grandchild too"

A muscle twitched in his face, "That was my child, Hermione's child. You should've stayed with her and Pansy. She was too concerned about finding you and making sure you were okay, and that I was okay to even stay put. Now that child is gone, gone before it could have even had a fighting chance"

He could feel his face flushing with rage. Rage that he had bottled up while Hermione had spent a week weeping over the miscarriage.

"Draconis" His mother whispered, "If I had known that Hermione would've ran straight into the battle, and out in front of that spell, I would have done everything in my power to stop her"

He pursued his lips. He knew that Hermione had spent that first week coming to terms with everything that happened. She no longer held resentment at Ron for casting the spell, or at her friends, or even him. Hermione had tried to tell him that it was her fault, and even after he convinced her otherwise, she decided that it was just a case of something inevitable.

"I've tried" he began, his voice cracking, "to be okay with it now like Hermione is. I'm trying to be strong for her, like father said, 'Malfoys don't show emotion to others'. But that's driving me crazy, it's tearing me up on the inside"

He clenched his fists, his anger quickly rising at how easily he felt he could talk to his mother about these things.

Narcissa walked over from her seat and kneeled down in front of him, "It's okay to feel these things son, and I'm sure that Hermione would rather you talk about them to her than to bottle it up. The war is over, it's time for things to change" she held his hands in her own.

He thought about their family name, of course things had changed now, even in the early stages of everyone moving on, his family had lost off of the respect that it once held.

Narcissa sighed and stood again, "Stop overthinking about everything, Draconis. I know that there is a lot to be done in this coming year, take things one at a time. I have no doubt that Hermione would rather reside anywhere else but the Manor, why don't you show her our other estate? She may want to get settled before you both start work on rebuilding Hogwarts"

"You seem to know a lot for someone who has been away, but of course you are right mother" Draco stood from his chair, readying to leave.

"Portraits talk my son, you gave them quite a fright this morning" His mother shook her head.

Draco smirked, "I'm sure, considering its more action then they will ever get"

Narcissa shook her head, "There are some things a mother does not need to hear"

Draco reached out and grabbed his mother's hands, "I'm sorry about father, will they allow you to see him much?"

His mother swallowed thickly, he could see that she was trying to blink away oncoming tears.

"His visitation rights are heavily restricted," Draco squeezed her hands tight, "due to our bonding, I will be allowed more visitation rights and we will cherish those moments"

Their family was never one for much affection, but Draco couldn't help pulling his mother into a hug.