7/N: Thank you sooo much for keeping reading and reviewing my story! Biggest THANK YOU as usual goes to MrBenzedrine, the bestest beta in the world! *Damn, he's struggling! I can't get the ribbon fastened...*wink*. Further thanks go to: KnowInsight (totally right! classic villain!), Guest (wondered with MrBenzedrine if anyone got the irony in Sweet Baby Dragons in Sex Ed... it was the ultimate Easter Egg for me!), Vanessa85 (soon enough?), Sam Wallflower (didn't like Jackie either ;) and such a FANTASTIC fanart you created!), Hanable-13 (hope some things clear up for you with this one), zoesheppard (totally eye roll!), Green Eyed Lana Lee (staking her claim, brilliant!), mega700201 (I honestly appreciate every single review, a simple thank you sometimes is more meaninful than anything else, so THANKS!), EvenNotOdd (wishing you luck with the beta!), LorindolTinuviel (going to answer your PM later, I totally enjoy the communication), IWasn'tTalkingToYou (you'll get another glimpse of the dragon here...), echiprwth (you gotta tell me one day what your penname means), I was BOTW (glad you still like the snark!).
"Have you got everything you need?" Draco asked as he and Hermione prepared for Harry's treatment after lunch. "Antidote, scrubs, stethoscope…, wait, the papers!" She rushed over to the desk, where the papers still lay in chaos. She rummaged through them in an attempt to filter all the important ones, when her eyes fell on a letter. "Oh… I almost forgot!"
"Forgot what? I guess your mind is filled with so many important things…" Draco teased, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind; then he spotted the name at the end of the letter. "Krum!" Anger bubbled inside him. Hadn't he told off the other wizard?
Hermione half-turned around, explaining, "Yes, he sent me this letter yesterday. Asking if I wanted to meet him for tea." Her voice was neutral, but inside, a not-so-little part of her cheered at the barely controlled jealousy in Draco's posture. Of course, she didn't want to meet the Bulgarian; she realised that the blond wizard next to her had taken residency not only in her body, but also in her heart, and she thoroughly wanted to explore all aspects of their relationship with him. 'And every available surface in the giant manor!' the inner slut voiced her opinion.
Draco didn't react directly. Moreover, he tightened the grip on her, his fingers ghosting over the spot he wanted her to be marked with a new tattoo. And boy, did he enjoy the shiver the touch caused in her body, and they were both fully clothed! "Did you know that one of my ancestors killed a Queen's cousin because he dared to look at his intended for too long?"
Hermione didn't feel intimidated by his dark growling in her ear, but quite the opposite. However, the doctor/healer in her urged her to help Harry and not to drop her knickers on the spot. So, she gave Draco a chaste kiss on the lips and walked to the door. "I always knew it: You come from a long line of spoiled and possessive brats!" she smiled and winked, leaving the Auror behind.
Draco gave an irritated sigh and muttered to his half-awake dragon between his legs, "We're so going to show her how possessive I am. Not only her, but also all the poor gits out there who think they've got a chance with her!"
-DHDHDHDHDHDH-
"Ginny, you should be aware that this is basically unknown territory in wizarding and muggle medicine. It could potentially work, but it could also do more damage to Harry's brain." Hermione needed Ginny to understand that her husband's cure wasn't guaranteed.
The redhead's expression filled with concern, again holding Harry's hand. "I know, Hermione. But if I understand you correctly, what you're going to give him is basically the same substance that caused his coma? Won't that make him an addict or something?"
The brunette was in full professional mode now, which was essential for her. She needed to compartmentalize her actions from the emotions that coursed through her in anxiety for her former friend. There was always a risk in medicine, especially when it came to sensible body parts, and the brain was the most delicate, but also the most surprising one of all.
"It won't make him an addict. I measured the dosage of the Beltane-fluxweed quite low, even lower in relation to what Draco and I were exposed to." She ignored the other woman's shocked gasp upon learning about her and Draco's drug experience. No wasn't the time for storytelling. "Our theory is that Harry's brain needs a magical kick-start, and the most efficient way we could come up with was using the counterpart of the growth that is responsible for his current state." She gave Ginny an encouraging nod. "Shall we start now? Don't be afraid when his body starts convulsing; that can happen if the nervous system runs a check-up. Okay? I'm observing his vital signs all the time." With a last glance at a professionally calm and serious Draco, who stood slightly behind Ginny in case she needed to be removed from the scene, Hermione applied the fluxweed-solution to Harry's bloodstream over a venous access she had installed before. For some moments, nothing happened.
Then, suddenly, Harry's body started to convulse heavily, his limbs shaking. They knew that this could happen, though Ginny gave a pained whimper and turned around to hide her face in Draco's shoulder. For half a minute, all that could be heard in the room was the rattling of the bed that shook with Harry's movements. When it stopped, a relieved sigh sounded from Ginny's lips. She leaned towards her pale and unmoving husband again, awaiting him to finally wake up, when Hermione cursed, her eyes on the now erratic beeping magical heart monitor over the bed.
"Shit! He has ventricular fibrillation." She pushed the red button next to the monitor to alert help- she needed professional assistance. "Draco, get Ginny out of here!" she commanded, and the blond did exactly that and guided the now crying witch out of the room as a Healer rushed in.
Focusing on her patient and pulling her wand, she addressed the scrubs-clad Healer, immediately, "I'm doing a defibrillator-spell, you monitor his heart." After eying the monitor for a second, the man agreed with a barked, "Yes!" and Hermione flicked her wand in a short and vigorous move over Harry's chest. The vinewood sent something like an electric jolt towards his heart.
No reaction.
"Come on, Harry, I still have to settle old scores with you! Dying would be the coward's way out!" she called out, wielding her wand a second time.
It worked. Hermione and the Healer concentrated on the monitor that showed Harry's heart falling into a regular rhythm again. She gripped the bed's railing, her own heartbeat slowed down, and when Ginny and Draco stormed into the room again as the Healer stepped aside, she gave them a relieved smile. "This sorry excuse of a world-saviour has a flare of the dramatic." Hermione observed the vital signs again, while Ginny stroked her husband's cheeks, which were slowly turning rosy again. "The parameters indicate that he's stirring."
As soon as the words left her lips, Harry's eyes fluttered open.
"Harry, can you hear me?" Ginny's voice was filled with tears, even more so when the wizard in questions croaked a hoarse, "Y-yes."
As happy as Hermione was to bring Harry back from coma, she knew her presence would irritate him a lot, and he didn't need that now. After some quietly spoken words to her colleague, who would check Harry further, she gently grabbed Draco's hand and left. Just as she closed the door behind them, Draco pulled her in for a heart-soaring kiss. Multiple kisses, in fact. Nuzzling her nose with his, he said, "You're amazing, little witch!" Draco was honestly impressed. This was the first time he had seen Hermione act in a life-or-death-situation, and the way she controlled it made her even sexier to him. Though, his alpha-male rolled his eyes at that and muttered, 'Yeah, but she looks even better with her legs over my shoulders and sprawled on my bed.'
Hermione chuckled between kisses. "Oh, I know. I'm pretty talented." Draco smirked at her confidence. Malfoys only settled for the best. "You earned yourself a tour through the arboretum and a dinner tonight, don't you think? Floo over at seven. Have things to do now." Without waiting for an answer, he released her from his embrace and left the pleasantly ruffled witch standing in the hospital hallway. She smiled at the way he walked away, a slight happy bounce in his steps.
-DHDHDHDHDHDH-
The arboretum was a world of its own. Magically expanded, it contained vast space for all sorts of plants, magical and muggle. Flutterby bush, Sycamore, and many others grew here, along with more dangerous or exotic ones like Deadly Nightshade or Angel's Trumpet stretched their blossoms and leaves to the enchanted ceiling. Like in the Great Hall of Hogwarts it appeared like the sky outside, currently the moon shining into the room. The humidity of the plants, the chirping of birds that seemed to live here, the warmth, all which created an atmosphere humming of life and Hermione dove headfirst into it when she stepped through the doors.
"So…what do you think?" Draco, almost timidly, asked after he explained what he thought about every individual plant to the witch.
"This is so wonderful, the epitome of life replaced a theatre of war, quite poetic. The symbolism behind it makes me nearly forget the circumstance that I've been one of the main actors in the drama."
Draco gently traced the phoenix on Hermione's arm, which covered the scars from the day she was tortured by his aunt. "I will never forget," he whispered, his voice filled with heavy emotions.
The situation was in desperate need of something lighter, and this was why Hermione demanded, "You promised me dinner, Malfoy! Or are these plants all I get to eat?" Draco snorted and guided her over to a small lavishly laid table in between two majestic trees. Hermione was astonished. "Draco, did you hit your head again? Something so romantic is not what I had expected!"
The blond sheepishly admitted, "Maybe I asked Blaise for advice. My mother told me once: seduction is for shagging, romance for keeping the witch."
She smiled at the pink hue that tinted his pale cheeks and gave him a small kiss on the nose. "Your mother really said that?" Inwardly a recently established girly princess giggled and screeched 'Did you pay attention? He wants to keep us!'
"Mh, maybe she did say that when you run the don't-forget-contraception-I'm-too-young-to be-a-grandmother- and the pureblood-tradition-erase-filter over it." He arranged the chair for her and poured the wine, and, with a snap of his fingers, the food appeared. Over dinner, Draco explained to Hermione that the plants in the arboretum were picked after a list Snape had developed years ago for the creation of his own potions-plants garden on Hogwarts' grounds. "This way he was independent from deliveries which often were not up to his high standards."
"I'm sure he would have a blast with this drug. I wonder where Jackie got her ingredients from?" Hermione contemplated, "After all, you can't buy this special version of fluxweed, nor cannabis or cocaine while on a shopping trip in Diagon Alley."
Draco knew where her train of thoughts was leading, as he had the same. "Surely not. I agree with you: Jackie wasn't operating alone. Maybe she was the lab rat in it and had some personal goals to achieve, but she isn't the criminal mastermind behind all this. She's too- is 'intelligence-wise challenged' a fitting description?"
The irony dripping from his words made Hermione giggle, "You hit the nail on the head. Even the naming of the drug bore a mistake." Draco tried to appear knowing; in reality he had no idea what she was talking about, but he could always bring the distracting view of her low neckline forth as an excuse. "Morgana's Touch, pah! I mean, honestly, she apparently saw a connection between the Celtic calendar and its influence on the fluxweed. But the Morrigan is a much too complex goddess to be confused with Morgana Le Faye; the former plays different roles in the mythology, the latter only is part of the Arthur-myth. Two entirely different etymological backgrounds and personalities."
A second after he discovered the dark sparkle in her brown eyes, Draco felt a naked foot rubbing at his ankle. His inner alpha-male protested, 'Oh, no, vixen! I generously granted you a dose of romance and softness, now it's my time to play.' Thanks to the floating candles around them, Hermione saw his grey eyes clouding with lust. With another snap of his fingers, he switched the table and chairs magically for a soft blanket, the sudden movement causing Hermione conveniently landing on top of him. He met no resistance when he placed her in his lap.
"If I remember correctly, the Morrigan is the Goddess of war, fertility and sexuality." He started placing soft kisses on the now exposed skin on her neck, causally playing with her curls with one hand. But the brunette wouldn't leave it, "Originally, the Irish mythology mentions a trinity, in which-"
"Shut it, Hermione." The seductive drawl in his voice melted her alpha-female for the moment, knowing it was more rewarding to be played sometimes than being the player. There was always another game. "I'm worshipping my own goddess, you shouldn't interrupt me." The tip of his tongue licked the sensitive point below her ear, and she gave an almost pleading sigh. He opened the zipper of her flowery dress, slipping the straps from her shoulders, replacing the fabric with his lips. At some point, Hermione closed her eyes in bliss, but she opened them once again as she felt something cool settling around her neck. She heard Draco behind her fastening a chain, and her fingers touched a pendant. Lifting it, she made out a beautiful work of craftsmanship: A silver Aesculapian staff, circled by a snake. However, it was not an ordinary snake that accompanied the ancient symbol of medicine and healing; this one consisted of deep green emeralds, which reflected the moonlight- and had a probably not-so-random resemblance with Slytherin's snake.
Her breathing hitched for a second. "What does this mean, Draco?"
"This is a token of my loyalty, Goddess. Isn't it to your liking?" he answered, all the while turning her around, causing her to straddle him, a quiet groan escaping him when her panty-clad core touched his growing erection.
"It's beautiful. But why this-"
He interrupted her again. "-Because a dragon-pendant hissing 'fuck off, she's mine; sincerely, Draco Malfoy' would cause a ruckus in the muggle world." Without waiting for her reaction, he lifted her dress over her head, leaving her only in her lacy white knickers—and the necklace, the snake now snugly resting between her breasts. Both of his arms reached around her, his hands resting flat on her shoulder blades when he lowered her on the floor. Slipping out of his shirt and trousers, he admired the sight of her, sprawled on the blanket, her hair falling like a halo around her head, the face flushed. 'A goddess, indeed.' Her eyes rested on the unmistakable bulge in his boxers, commanding them to come off. And the believer he was, he followed her unspoken wishes and kneeled down naked beside her. "You're beautiful, Hermione." His lips closed around her nipple, one finger teasing the other.
"And I'm yours." Hermione answered, because it felt so- right. His teeth scraped over the sensible tip, sending a gush of wetness into her already dampened knickers. He chuckled when her hips lifted, pressing against his now south wandering hands. The chuckle switched into a deep moan when her fingers closed around his rock-hard cock.
"Don't tease me. Your Goddess wants an offering." A quick squeeze accompanied her wishes, bringing him already on the edge of losing control. And offer, he did. He kissed his way down to the juncture of her legs, his hands following, sneaking under the only piece of fabric left on their bodies. The smacking sound his ears met when one of his fingers dipped into her sweet cavern made him forget his name. With a decisive move, the offending fabric ripped. Where his fingers ghosted over his favoured spot for an inked marking this afternoon, his tongue set a wet trail on her sensible pubic mount. Hermione gripped his head reflexively, urging him to go lower. Parting her folds with his fingers, he gave her hooded clit a short, flat slap with his tongue. Hermione threw her head back with a moan that jolted straight to his loins. With gentle licking, nipping on her delicious labia and occasional, but forceful probing with his fingers in her pussy, Draco brought Hermione to the brink of orgasm. But seconds before she came, and her inner muscles already started shaking, he stopped his ministrations.
He glided over her heated body like the lindworm he was, and without interrupting his movement, sunk his length into her. The sudden fullness crashed the waves over her and her body succumbed into the dark and warm ecstasy that was Draco Malfoy. He didn't move though; he wanted her to be half-lucid for that, and so he rested in her, the convulsing tightness around his cock bringing him sweet torture. Seconds later, she opened her eyes again, her vision filled with his almost black orbs now. She pulled him down for a languid, almost lazy kiss, their tongues dancing, the only part of her bodies moving with each other. Deciding it was time to turn the tables and ready for more, she rolled them around with a strength that surprised him. With a joyous groan, she adjusted herself on him, taking him even deeper into her. He gave an impatient hiss and his hands gripped her hips, rocking her against him. But she resisted his guidance this time, prying his fingers away from her and pinning them over his head. Two could play this game of dominance, and now it was her gambit. She started to move slowly on him.
"Are you mine, Draco?" A guttural moan was her answer. She sensed he was so aroused that he wouldn't last long, giving her a feeling of unbridled power. Her hips sunk on him faster now, her breasts bouncing inches over his face, his gift sparkling between them. "I'm asking you again. Are. You. Mine?"
With a last move of resistance before he fell over the edge of orgasmic abandon, he lifted his head, hissing "Yesss!" and sucked on her left nipple. They came hard then, simultaneously moaning their release into the green heaven around them.
When she came to her senses again, Hermione found herself snuggled into Draco's chest, his arms encompassing her in a protective embrace, his now flaccid member still buried in her depth.
"I take it you like my offering?" Draco asked, grinning smugly and playing with the silver chain around her neck.
"Shall I tell you again?" Hermione jerked her hips a little, causing the handsome wizard between her legs to shift uncomfortably. "Uh- give me some minutes to recuperate before starting the next round?"
He summoned another blanket to wrap them in. She grinned, the inner slut dancing victory 'Sex-God spent to the point he asks kindly for a break? Hell, yes!' and high-fiving the alpha female 'He's so ours!'.
"I'm afraid the next round has to wait for a bit, my dear son." The voice of Narcissa Malfoy doused over Hermione's head like a bucket of ice-cold water.