A/N: Thank you all so much for the love and praise you gave last chapter! I am thrilled that most of you seemed to genuinely enjoy it and craving more. I will be 100% honest with you guys, the characters have just taken a mind of their own, I had no intentions introducing the cliffhanger I left you all with last chapter so soon, and yet here we are. I am looking forward to your comments on the much sought about response from Antonin. And as always I want to thank my beta reader Not Romeo's Juliette. Here is Chapter 11.


Antonin froze, as he held Hermione in a close embrace, her back snuggled into him. His casual pattern drawing on her shoulder that he had been mindlessly etching moments before ceased. Had he just heard his little witch right? Or was he dreaming.

He pinched himself to make sure he was awake and feeling the pain knew that he was.

"Pchelka, what did you just say?" He asked finally after agonizing minutes had passed. Hermione smiled sadly, she hadn't expected Antonin to reciprocate the feelings, nor had she planned on telling him just yet. Her words just kind of slipped out, but it didn't change that in the growing weeks she had grown attached to him. She had seen the good and the bad with him in their past and present. He was known to have a temper and act upon it, but he was protective and caring and she found herself caring deeply about him and forgiving the past.

She didn't doubt that there would be times that the wizard would infuriate her beyond belief, but she did love him. She knew it was almost too soon, but then affairs of the heart didn't take time into consideration and when you fell, you fell.

"I said that I love you. And I do, but its okay if you don't." She murmured softly, sorrow crossing her features. She was glad he couldn't see.

Antonin had heard her correctly then, and he smiled. He kissed his wife's shoulder. He had to think about his own feelings. "I'm happy to hear that moya dorogaya." He said, and didn't return the declaration. It was a fact that Hermione did not miss, but was unable to analyze further when she felt Antonin's erect member poking her in the back.

It seemed round two was about to begin.


The next morning Hermione sent her husband back through the floo and ventured down to the Great hall for breakfast. Her body was deliciously sore, the couple had been intimate over 5 times the night before, and she could feel the afterglow on every surface of her skin. The shower she had taken did nothing to alleviate the slight pain, and with the dawn came the flood of emotional pain that she had set aside the night before.

She loved a man she assumed did not love her back. It was okay, she had known it was a possibility and she knew that love might grow in time. It was all fine when she kept the knowledge of her feelings to herself. She had only known herself for a matter of weeks, and only became certain in the week that they had spent apart. She had decided not to say anything, to wait until the right moment, but then her carefully laid plan failed in the aftereffects of lovemaking. Being that close to the man she loved and not saying so was just not an option. But now he knew, and he hadn't reciprocate, which made things more awkward and uncomfortable.

She heaped a plate full of pancakes and drowned them in the sweet maple syrup and butter. Digging into the food, and nabbing bacon and sausage from her friends plates, she joked half-heartedly with her friends.

"'Mione, you look like you had a very good night." Teased Harry in a very un-Harry-like manner and she blushed.

"We married women often do," She quipped back grinning.

The playful banter and company as the group eagerly awaited there N.E.W.T Scores that night, was just what she needed to lift her spirits. It was Saturday and as they older students had officially completed the end of year testing, were permitted to go to Hogsmede. Ginny and Hermione went off together, to the shops to acquire last minute things for her wedding the following weekend.

The fiery witch had been able to postpone the required match until immediately after graduation, by pulling some strings she had at the ministry and an irate howler to the department head from molly. Hermione still laughed when she heard Ginny repeat the words her mother had used.

"No daughter of mine will be married before she has graduated from Hogwarts! You should be ashamed of yourselves cradle robbing the young students and marrying them off to reap the benefits."

Hermione had agreed to stand in the wedding ceremony for the girl, strength in numbers as it was. Ginny had actually grown a little more amenable to the idea of marrying Rabastan. They had found some things they had in common through their exchange of letters, but Hermione knew that it was the heart to heart she had with Harry that allowed her to accept her arrangement. The former couple had resolved any of the initial hurt and anger by being honest with one another. Harry did love Ginny, but in a platonic way more than anything, but was too afraid of hurting her to tell her. Ginny cared about Harry and thought of him as her first love, but had been finding it difficult to be involved with the boy-who-lived. She wanted to be successful and make a profession Quiddach team because of her own merit, not because of the name of the boy she was involved with. The two had parted as friends and Ginny had begun a correspondence with her affianced. If nothing else, the pair could at least be friends.

Harry had received a Ministry sealed letter announcing that he had been matched with Elaina Yaxley, a younger witch by a year who had attended Beaubaxtons's. She had never taken the mark but was the daughter of a known deatheater, and therefore eligible for the marriage law.

Harry would be married in three weeks himself, Ron and Lavender were planning a wedding for the end of august. The season for nuptials was plenty and Hermione feared that she would be sick of ceremonies by the end of the year, but was glad to see that her friends were making the most out of their circumstances. Harry didn't seem unpleased with his match, they hadn't met yet, but he was planning on doing so soon. Ron loved lavender that much was evident, he loved her in a way that he had never loved Hermione, and she was happy that he was happy.

Ginny may not love her affianced, however, Hermione was certain that her friend did have a fondness for him already. She was dedicating a lot of thought into planning the wedding and so that said something about how she felt. If Ginny was this dedicated to something it meant she cared, which was a good sign.

"The last thing to do is find your dress robes for the ceremony," the bride to be mumbled. Hermione groaned in response. Dress shopping with the only Weasley daughter was never something she had found enjoyable, and when it came to the girl's wedding Hermione thought it was going to be even more of a hassle than it normally was.

But she was surprised. Ginny saw the dress she wanted right away and was delighted with how it looked on Hermione. The gown was a jade color, made of chiffon and fell just past the knees. It had a scoop neckline and back and was tied together with a simple matching ribbon. It was simple, yet elegant.

Hermione was overjoyed to have the ordeal over with quickly. The two friends met up with the rest of their group at the Three Broomsticks before they all headed back up to the castle for dinner.

As the evening was drawing to a close, Hermione couldn't help but feel a loneliness overcome her. She awaited her test results and had plans to soak in a hot tub after receiving them. She needed to consider how she would interact with her husband from here on out. If he didn't love her yet, she still didn't want things to be awkward.


Antonin had been shocked by his young wives revelation. He simply didn't know how to react to such a declaration and at first wasn't sure that she meant it. He sensed that she was hurt when he asked her to repeat the statement. He was horrified because she had made it known to him that she thought he didn't love her, and that it was okay to her.

Antonin did not know how he felt about the witch. She was a dream. Ever since he first saw her, he felt an attraction to her he had never felt in his entire life. He obsessed after her while he was in Azkaban, wondering at first if he had killed her, then sincerely hoping not realizing it would be a damn shame. He got through those dark days in prison thinking only of her, lusting after her body, focusing on his fantasies of what he wanted to do to her, with her.

He had never imaged the possibility that he would ever come close enough to do so. When he found out he was engaged to her, something shifted. He still held the obsession and lust but he found he desired more than that.

The months since their wedding, brought the realization that he cared for this witch more than he had ever cared for anyone in his life. More than his mother, and he had always been close with Anya Dolohov.

He would do anything for her, to protect her, to see her smile, to watch her come undone beneath him. But was it love?

He had never considered that he was a man capable of such an emotion, even less so after the darkness that spread through his soul. He craved happiness and comfort with his wife, and he desired her above anyone else, but he couldn't be sure it was love.

These concerns had been a constant stress for him ever since his revenge on the Weasley girl. He wouldn't have been so malicious and relentless in vengeance for anybody else, frankly he wouldn't have cared. But holding his dove on his lap as horrible sobs heaved through her entire body made him angrier and more possessive than he had ever been. And he felt scared, vulnerable and hated seeing her cry, knowing that he couldn't prevent the things people would say.

Ever since then he pondered the extent of his feelings and argued with himself, thinking he couldn't be lucky enough to feel such a powerful emotion, a fearful that if he allowed himself to that such strong emotions would never be returned.

Not after trying to kill his witch more than once, and being very close to successful on the first attempt on her life. Not being twenty years older than her preventing her from the young love she deserved, not having a symbol permanently etched on his arm as a representation of hating her very existence. She wouldn't love him, couldn't, shouldn't even, and yet she told him he did.

The wizard stared into his glass of vodka, he had been drinking most of the day. Vodka was a beverage he only pulled out on the direst of occasions, and for a Russian, he hardly ever touched the stuff. Today was an exception. Today was a pattern of thinking overwhelming thoughts, drinking them away, once again thinking, back to drinking. He had left his wife that morning and opened the bottle in his desk. 9 hours later and he was hallway through his second bottle. And no closer to feeling better. He felt worse if anything.

"Fuck it all" he commented dryly to himself, he had made of mess of things. He did love his little witch, there was no other way to explain his reactions around her, and he had mucked it all up.

How on earth would he fix this? And whys should she ever forgive him, again?

He needed to talk to her, but he was in no state to appear before her this way. He went to his cabinet where he stored a variety of potions, and retrieved a sober-up and pepper-up potion and downed them both quickly, before showering off the stench of alcohol.

Once he felt appropriately presentable he made quick work of flooring to his wife's dorm and entering her washroom to find her in a bath.

She didn't look at him when he came in and he could see she was crying. He wanted to displace the tears to someone else causing them but he knew he was the root cause. He didn't ask who made her cry, because even though he knew it was the truth, he couldn't bear to hear her say that it was him.

"I'm sorry Dorogaya." He said sincerely, his voice cracking with his own emotion.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Antonin. You can't help how you feel."

"Hermione the thing is that I don't deserve your love. I've been in love with you for a long time, before we were married even I think, but the affection only grew. I haven't told you of my feelings because I didn't dare to dream that you would ever feel the same way. I am a coward, I have been afraid of opening my heart and being scared."

"Don't Antonin. Please, I can' hear you say something if you don't mean it." She choked out.

"I love you, dorogaya. I do love you. And I'm appalled that my cowardice has hurt you." He said and sank to his knees by the tub.

"I was so worried." His witch confessed. "I was afraid that saying how I felt for you would change our relationship. It seems so sudden to feel so deeply for you, but love is a strange thing."

"That it is. And I am a man who has done nothing to earn such affection from you yet. I want you to know that I endeavor to do so from this moment until my dying breath." Antonin Promised.

His witch leaned up and kissed him. "Antonin. Shut up and take me to bed. I don't want to fight with you."

"I couldn't agree more." He lifted his wife from the water and muttered a drying charm before carrying her naked body to the bedroom and allowing them both to show each other the depths of their feelings for one another.

The fell asleep still connected to one another with no desire to ever let the other go.