CHAPTER 10: ROBES AND SHOES? OH NO! NOT AGAIN!

Always the one to be on top of things, Narcissa had arranged for all the returning students at the Burrow, Manor and Grimmauld Place to go shopping for school supplies that day. So off they went, meeting in front of Gringotts.

"Hey ferret! Your wife sent me a howler on my honeymoon! While she was on hers! Couldn't you find ways to keep her busy?" Ginny threw at Draco in lieu of a greeting as soon as she saw the three Malfoys. Harry, Ron, Penny and Molly walking close beside her. They had all, it seemed, reached there just then.

"You know what you did and you know you deserved it," he drawled. "By the way thank you for the lovely wedding present. I never thought our first fight would be a gift from you," he continued.

Ginny cringed at that. "The missus doesn't take surprises too well, does she?"

"No, she doesn't! And she hates it more when she's spoken about in the third person while she's RIGHT THERE!" Hermione screeched haughtily.

Harry stepped in front of Hermione and hugged her to avoid the bloodshed they knew would follow if Hermione got angry. "I've missed you Mione. How have you been?"

And just like that the tension abated and they all fell into companionable chatters making their way through the crowds and checking things off their student requirements lists. By lunch they had almost all of it underway. All except the dress robes. They were expecting many weddings this year and none except Penny would have the time later for shopping, so they decided to get it done before the start of the new term.

Towards the end of lunch, Draco was stiff with tension. He hadn't forgotten his first shopping trip with his wife, more so what had ensued after it and he could live without a repeat performance. He wanted to buy her the world and yet she refused to let him buy her trivial school supplies. He had offered, she had refused, he had dropped the issue. He was hurt about it but he did not press it this time. Once had been one time too many, thank you very much! But now it was robes. He wasn't sure how much money she had on her and wasn't comfortable about asking. He really wanted to buy the robes and so much more for his beautiful wife but he grit his teeth in and shut his mouth up. He was quietly seething with jealousy when he saw the loved up couples around him. His jealousy making the food on his plate taste like saw dust in his mouth. The women had batted their eyes and their guys had smilingly indulged them with their heart's desires all through the morning. He wanted that with Hermione but she had to, of course, be the most adamant witch of them all! Not that he would change anything about her. He loved her just as she was. But he wanted her to accept things from him, even ask things of him. Salazar knew he really wanted that! But he would have to be patient. They had come a long way in three weeks he reminded himself yet again and with time he would wear her resistance down, he promised himself and went back to eating the saw-dust served to him as lunch.

Hermione noticed Draco's dark looks and the pain and hurt in his eyes every time she made her payments. He offered, she refused and he stood back, a scowl marring his handsome features. That happened in every shop they had visited through the morning. But it warmed her heart to see that he always came back to offer to pay for her at their next destination. She was sure he was thinking similar thoughts when she saw him scowling down at his food and not once making eye contact with anyone except two - a sour one with Ginny and a meaningful look with Narcissa that probably screamed 'back off' to them both. Hermione knew what had brought on his haughty derision and was really trying to go against her independent nature to let him get something for her but at the last minute her courage would ditch her and she would pay for herself. It had happened in every shop and she was not happy about darkening Draco's mood. And it was only going to go downhill from here, she knew, because the next items on the agenda were dresses and shoes. Merlin save them. With any luck, the boys would go down their separate ways just like they had during the wedding dress shopping. She prayed for that to happen. Luck did not shine on her. They all left for the girls' dresses first after which would be shoes and then the boys' robes.

Both Draco and Hermione braced themselves for the ordeal ahead.

!

She was on her fifteenth robe and had chosen four yet. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and knew she would be buying this one too. It was a one shoulder dress in green, the cut flattered her curves and the dress fit her like a glove. It was long, till her ankles with a slit till her thigh and its silk moved sensuously against her skin. She loved it on her. Somehow she was a little scared about going out in this dress. First of all its colour screamed Slytherin and second, she just knew how a certain platinum blond was gonna devour her with his dark silver-grey eyes the minute she stepped out in it. It was that same reaction that had made her choose her previous four dresses and by now she knew how predictably she was going to react to that look.

All the three girls were trying dresses together in the three trial rooms, one beside the other while their husbands and the elder witches were seated outside, just a little corridor beyond the trail rooms, to see them and share their views on the dresses they wore. The girls all waited for each other on the other side and shared their views on their dresses before stepping back for trying on a new one. Here goes nothing! thought Hermione and stepped out.

He felt like he had been punched in the stomach, knocking all the air out of his body when he saw her. Slytherin colours suited her wonderfully, accentuating her mahogany curls, bringing out some caramel highlights in them and the golden hazel in her eyes. He smirked, eyes darkening. Hermione flushed.

The entire exchange not going unnoticed by the others around. "I think we are just going to go look for more dresses for Ginny and Penny," said Narcissa, pulling Molly, Ginny and Penny along with her out to the main aisle of the shop for looking through more dresses. Harry and Ron did not need any bidding and darted out of the room, both having no wish to witness Draco's kisses and Hermione's moans. Finally, they were alone, not for too long, they knew, but long enough.

"Slytherin colours suit you just fine," Draco said, his husky voice rolling like honey over her skin, deepening her blush. He stood rooted to his spot, not trusting himself to keep his hands off her if he got any closer. They both just stared at each other. Hermione finally blinked and looked away.

"Granger are you…"

"Draco if you …."

They both started at the same time and stopped. "Ladies first," Draco said dipping his head.

"Thank you," she dipped her head a little too but she was nibbling on her lower lip and her nose was scrunched. He knew that gesture. He had come to understand long ago that she did that whenever she was about to do something that made her uncomfortable. "Draco, do you want to…. I mean if you'd like, you could buy me this dress."

He froze. Of all the things he had expected her to say, that was not one of them. Finding his voice after that second punch in a gap of five minutes he said, "Are you sure? You…. You won't mind?"

"I'll pay for the others but if you want you can get me this one. I… I won't mind."

His eyes lit with something, changing his entire persona. He walked up to her and kissed her then, way too passionately for a public place where he was sure at least four people were eavesdropping if not more but he didn't care. She was letting him get something for her. Finally a break through. His kiss conveyed his happiness.

"Thank you," he whispered near her lips, touching his forehead to hers, looking down into her eyes, letting her know how much this meant to him. She all but spun and ran out of the room but Draco held her wrist just before she was about to disappear down the corridor leading to the trial rooms. "Will you let me buy you the shoes for this one as well?" No harm in trying his luck further he thought. She just bobbed her head once, he saw the action and let her wrist go; she ran down the corridor.

Smiling like an idiot he turned around and came face to face with four beaming witches. While the girls were changing, Harry, Ron, Mrs. Weasley and his mother had cornered him about his conversation with Ginny near Gringotts in the morning. Not wanting to lie, he had told them the truth, up until the point where he had picked Hermione up and led her to the bedroom. So they all knew what a major feat had just transpired in his relationship with his wife, their smiles showing their care and happiness for them both.

Nonetheless, Draco froze again for the third time in 10 minutes, schooled his features and excused himself from the room. The second he was out, the room behind him erupted with laughter and he flushed. This was just wrong! he thought darkly but made his way happily to the cashier's desk to pay for Hermione's dress before she had a chance to change her mind. Now, he only had to get her to accept some jewellery, after that it would be a matter of time before he'd make it a habit. And he grinned like a fool all over again.