She woke up when Draco tapped her shoulder. How long had she been asleep?
"Wh- what time is it?" she said, barely stifling a yawn.
"The plane is going to land in about half an hour." Draco said, adjusting his seat back to its original position, "look out the window."
She looked and gasped. India was absolutely gorgeous. She saw the Gange spread out under them. The sun was just about to rise, and she could see pink, green and yellow rays flashing in their direction, illuminating the river and sending sparks of light on their faces. Draco put his arm around her shoulders and whispered "beautiful" into her ear, sending goose bumps all over her body. She shivered and he pulled her closer yet.
She looked into his eyes and realized they were surrounded by people. Crap! All I can think about is how many people are watching us? Well, actually it was perfectly normal. Hermione, obviously unlike Draco, was pretty shy about herself in public. He must have realized this as he cleared his throat saying "what lovely weather India has".
She nodded and smiled gratefully at his understanding.
She sat back in her seat, thinking. O.K. Relax. His eyes are gorgeous. Yes, everyone says that. His smile makes my heart want to pop out and bow down to him, but that's totally normal. I mean, all the other girls back at Hogwarts were totally in love with him too. Right? This isn't love, anyway. It's been too short a time. We're too young anyway.
You're too young? A voice whispered in her head.
Of course I am! I'm turning 17 the 19th, of course I'm too young.
Draco watched in amazement as she muttered to herself, frowning and shaking her head every so often. He grabbed a lock of her hair and she looked up, surprised. He let go quickly, remembering her fear of public intimacy. She smiled one more time, sending butterflies to his stomach. He looked away suddenly when he remembered his father and what he would be sure to say if he found out. Get a grip. It's your life, not his. You can do whatever you want. She's so pretty…He saw a ribbon around her hand, and he gently tugged it off.
She jumped as he did this, wondering what on Earth he was doing.
He tied it around his hand.
She didn't laugh, but Draco could see the amusement in her face. Her eyes shined with tears of laughter and eyebrows wrinkled and unwrinkled as she tried to muster her amusement.
He started laughing, making Hermione's efforts crumble as she burst out laughing as well. He couldn't take it anymore, her eyes shone with tears of mirth, her beautiful laugh rang out, her chest heaved up and down, and her hair swished back and forth as she rocked in her seat.
Her laughter made him laugh harder, and by the time the plane landed, many of the people on the plane glared and swore under their breath as they exited the plane. Draco grabbed Hermione and seated her on his lap. She let him and smiled when he put his arms around her waist.
"You are ridiculous" she told him, grinning.
"You started it" he said, picking her up as one of the flight attendants told them they had to leave.
Draco handed the woman a Galleon and turned to take their bags when Hermione let out a small shriek.
"What?" Draco asked agitatedly.
"She's a Muggle!" she said.
Draco almost dropped her as he shouted for the woman to give it back.
"So sorry Madame" he said as he summoned it with his wand and quickly performed a memory charm on her.
Hermione hadn't realized she was holding her breath until they got off the plane with all they're luggage.
Draco clutched a stitch in his chest as he clambered out of the plane running.
"Well that was close." He gasped.
She slammed her fist on his chest and grabbed his wand.
"You're not supposed to have a wand here! We're Muggles remember?" she seethed.
Draco massaged his chest and tried to take his wand back. She stuffed it in her jacket pocket, grabbed her robes and set off towards their new temporary home.
Draco chased after her and her trunk. She let him take the extra weight and laughed as he almost dropped it amazement at the unexpected heaviness of the luggage.
"What do you carry in this, exactly?" he asked as he struggled to carry it along with his own baggage.
"Oh you know, the usual feminine products, the clothes and the books." She said simply.
"I should have known you would have more books than anything in this."
She smirked and started walking again. They walked a few more blocks until Hermione stopped in front of a stand selling saris. He smiled. Hermione was not immune to the beautiful traditional dress for women in India.
Draco bought her a few bangles (the decorative jewelry that was used for dancing), a burgundy red sari for formal occasions and another plain pretty green that matched her eyes and hair.
He also bought the men's traditional baggy pants and shirt. Hermione looked beautiful even in the everyday weir sari and she twirled and danced happily for Draco to tell her what he thought.
He pulled her close and whispered "beautiful" in her ear. She looked up into his eyes and sighed longingly until she remembered the public place.
He took her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers. He paid for the saris and they finally reached they're house.