A/N: Hi! It's been so long and I'm super sorry. My muse has been on hiatus and rarely checks in... I'm not sure what's up with her. Anyway, please forgive my lapse and enjoy the chapter. :)
Draco was reclining on their bed reading when he heard Hermione calling his name. He looked up startled when she rushed in. His stomach clenched at the look on her face. "Why are you so pale? What happened?" He lowered his book and straightened up while she hurried over and sat down on the bed next to him, silently handing him a piece of paper. He felt fury building as he read the short note. "Son of a fucking bitch." He resisted the urge to crumple note in his fist. "What the hell? Is he following you?"
"He might've seen me at lunch or something, we were in muggle Paris the whole afternoon…. it… erm." She looked nervous and he scowled at her. What was she nervous about telling him?
"Spit it out, Granger."
"Heputitinmyhandbag!" She said in a rush, looking at him with a worried expression, gnawing her bottom lip and twisting her fingers together in her lap. He wondered if she was worried about his reaction or about the situation. Probably both. It was in her handbag… he forced himself to take a deep breath.
"It was in your handbag." He said in a flat voice. She nodded and he could see the fear in her eyes. The bastard got close enough to get a note in her handbag? He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her close… trying to convince himself not to completely lose his fucking mind at the thought of The Arsehole anywhere near her. He swallowed the impulse to berate her for letting her guard down, knowing that it would only lead to a row.
Instead he took a deep breath and said, "I assume you'd have noticed anything strange… between you and mother, I can't believe one of you didn't notice anything." All of them paid an absurd amount of attention to their surroundings, Hermione was no different. A product of spending your adolescence on the lookout for people who wanted to kill you, he supposed. This was The Arsehole's fault, not hers he reminded himself. The three years of peace had barely lessened their vigilance and he must've been very sneaky to get it in her bag without her noticing. It was already established that the tosspot was sneaky.
"I was with our mums and Molly and Ginny all day… none of them mentioned anyone acting strangely. They know what's been going on, they'd have mentioned it." She said, straightening up and pushing her hair out of her face.
He nodded. He was surprise that someone had gotten away with it with his mother near. Nothing got by that woman.
"Alright." He stood and pulled her up with him. "I'm going to look at your memories and see if I can find when he put the note in your bag." He faced her and raised his wand to perform the Legilimency.
"No!" She slapped a hand over her eyes as if he was going to break his way forcibly into her mind. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a calming breath.
"What do you mean no?"
"Exactly what I said! No! I bought my wedding dress today! You can't see that!" She peeked at him through her fingers and if he wasn't so bloody angry about the fucker getting so close to Hermione he might've laughed at her.
He sighed and threw up his hands in exasperation. "I hardly think that's more important than finding out who this fucker is!" He nearly shouted, knowing it was already a lost cause but feeling that he was right, nonetheless. It was just a dress!
She shook her head and cocked an eyebrow. "Harry can look; you're not going to see my dress." She said with a note of finality… she even did an odd head swivel that was all attitude. He didn't care for it and was thankful she rarely reverted to typical female things like that.
"He's not a Legilimens, I am." He protested reasonably but she just crossed her arms and jutted out a hip in the universal female signal that he'd just lost the argument.
He glared at her for a moment in false hope but her posture and expression did not waver. "Fuck it." He muttered under his breath, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, and then spoke out loud, "Let's call Potter again." He sighed in frustration.
They ended up with a living room full of aurors, Potter, She Weasel, even Mrs. Granger and his mum. None of them had noticed anything strange or anyone watching them. Draco was pacing while Potter leaned against the doorjamb and glared at everyone. Hermione was trying to keep her mum comfortable and, shockingly, his mother was chatting politely with Mrs. Weasley. The aurors had taken memories of the day from the ladies and had taken them back immediately to be reviewed while two men stayed to take statements from everyone.
None of the rest of them had had any notes delivered like the other instances. Ron was playing in Italy this weekend and his hotel suite was searched and was cleared. Neither Draco nor Harry had had anything strange happen. It was determined that it was a crime of opportunity: The Arsehole had just happened across Hermione out and about while they were at lunch in Diagon Alley and took the opening to put the note in her bag. Thankfully, it seemed that no one had followed them to Paris.
Hermione was just plating up some biscuits to serve their friends and family when an auror came back through the Floo.
He surveyed those present and seeming satisfied that everyone was supposed to be there he addressed the room at large. "We discovered a waitress who brought you drinks… she had a curiously blank expression on her face. You were all involved in conversation and she didn't speak to anyone; she just set the drinks down and tucked the note in your bag when she turned to go."
Hermione blew out a breath. "Well if she didn't speak to us I wouldn't have paid her much mind. I assume you're thinking an Imperious?" The auror nodded while Ginny explained in a whisper to a horrified Mrs. Granger what exactly that was.
Ultimately there was nothing to be done except question the waitress, which the aurors promptly left to do. It was decided, and commanded by Harry and Draco, that they would be on their guard and none of them would go out alone until the Arsehole had been apprehended.
Just after the aurors left they heard an owl in the kitchen and Hermione went in to discover that Mr. Weasley had sent on a copy of the Evening Prophet that displayed a front page headline that made her groan out loud.
SHOCKING NEWS: A Baby for the Boy Who Lives and Malfoy Matriarch Lunches with Muggle
By Me, Myself, and I correspondent: Rita Skeeter
Today in Diagon Alley Ginny Potter and her mother Molly Weasley, Hermione Granger with her muggle mother Jean Granger and her future mother in law Narcissa Malfoy were seen at the posh La Sociere today for a long lunch. There are two things about this lunch that interest this reporter. The first is the suspicion that Mrs. Ginny Potter may be with child. What evidence of this is there, do you ask? First, all the ladies, excluding Mrs. Potter, indulged in several mimosas a piece during their two-hour lunch. Why would Mrs. Potter abstain unless she was with child? Ever since she and the savior of our world, the one and only Harry Potter, wed this past summer the wizarding community has kept a close watch on Ginny Potter's svelte figure, waiting for any sign of a baby bump. Alas, Mrs. Potter managed to both add to speculation and thwart any attempts to confirm a fuller figure by wearing a loose-fitting flowy blouse. Avoiding both alcohol and tight clothing? You have our attention Mrs. Potter!
The second aspect of the ladies at lunch adventure that interested this reporter was that the women appeared to be very friendly, even the pureblood Narcissa Malfoy and Hermione Granger's muggle mother Jean who were seated next to each other, without the buffer of war-heroine Hermione between them. It is well known that Narcissa Malfoy is…
Hermione stopped reading there, not wanting to see them rehash Narcissa's history. She carried the paper back into the living room and handed it to Ginny.
"Arthur just sent this. Looks like speculation about baby Potter has officially begun." She explained to the room.
Ginny snatched it up and read the first paragraph aloud, wisely avoiding the second half of the article to avoid awkwardness between Narcissa and Jean. "Bloody hell. I've only gained half a stone! I thought we'd at least get away with it until later in the summer…"
Harry heaved a sigh from his position across the room. "Let the madness begin."
.
The weeks dragged by and they didn't see hide nor hair of The Arsehole. The press tried their best to get a confirmation about Ginny's pregnancy but they all responded with a tight lipped "No comment." Ginny was always sure to dress in dark colors and concealing cuts when she ventured out into the public. Hermione began to wonder if Ginny didn't enjoy toying with the media…
Spring turned to summer and Hermione made good progress on her book. She had powered through the distressing chapters involving the deaths of Harry's parents and the significance of Lily's sacrifice and had detailed Voldemort's attempt to regain life through the Philosopher's Stone and she was now working on all the drama and scheming surrounding the Triwizard Tournament.
She'd been working in secret on wedding plans with her mother- and Draco when he decided to have an opinion, deciding the menu for the caterer and finding musicians and picking flowers. It was hard to get everything done in secret and they had resorted to using mostly muggle vendors so that her mother was the main contact. By some grace the wizard media hadn't pursued her parents, she didn't really know why the fact that they were muggles would really stop them, but she wasn't going to dispute it or bring it to their attention.
One evening towards the end of June Draco came home from work to find her, unsurprisingly, at her computer. She appeared to be neck deep in notes and timelines and Tom Riddle.
"Remember the four-day limit we talked about?" He asked, leaning against the door frame and taking in her disheveled appearance. She started and whipped around to look at him. She blinked at him for a few seconds as her brain returned to real life.
"Has it been four days?" She glanced around and saw a stack of plates and a collection of glasses bearing evidence that Draco had brought her several meals. "Oh. Well…." She looked up at him sheepishly. "Let me go take a shower then. Do you want to go out to dinner?"
"No, I picked up takeaway. You've got ink on your nose, did you know? Just there…" He tapped his own nose and turned to go, she immediately rubbed at her nose where he'd indicated.
"Oh, drat. Okay. Well I'll be quick in the shower. Be right back." She stood up and stretched her back, groaning as every single vertebra in her back popped and cracked. Sitting in front of the computer for hours on end was really doing numbers on her body. She'd have to start getting some kind of exercise if she wanted that wedding dress to fit in a couple months… she filed that away on her mental to-do list. She sniffed the air; it smelled like he's brought some kind of Oriental food for dinner and her stomach growled.
Draco was so tolerant of her… eccentricities. He never complained about how much time she spent on the book; it was really surprising when she thought about his past… maybe he got all his whinging out while they were at school. He had complained incessantly and she was extremely grateful he seemed to have outgrown that… She really had to quit neglecting him though… maybe she'd make it up to him after dinner. She rushed through her shower, trying not to get distracted with thoughts of how she'd go about said distraction…
A few minutes later she met Draco at the table and kissed him on the cheek as she took her chair next to him. "Sorry I've been neglecting you again, love."
" 's fine. I knew what we were getting into when we started talking about you writing this book. You can make it up to me when we go on holiday in October." He smirked at her but winked and she knew he wasn't irritated.
"Holiday?" She laughed, "I'm fairly sure you mean our honeymoon?" He nodded. "We need to decide where we want to go and make reservations. We're cutting it close as it is."
"Yeah… we need to get on that. All we've decided so far is that we want to go somewhere we've never been, correct?" It was her turn to nod back at him. "And we don't want to go camping." He added, managing to keep a straight face.
"Merlin, no! I'll die a happen woman if I never have to camp again."
"Alright then. Do we want sand and sun? Snow and mountains? Culture? Adventure? Cuisine? Muggle? Wizard?"
"Ugh, now you're just overwhelming me on purpose. Wait- would you take a muggle holiday?" She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. She giggled as he squirmed uncomfortably.
"I'd really rather not, no. I was just running out of options to list and wanted to keep going until you yelled at me." He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes.
"Alright magical it is. I don't want snow. I want somewhere warm…" She began, her eyes glazed as she pondered places she'd like to go. "What do you think? What's our budget? That'll probably narrow down our options."
"Please. Mum told us as soon as she found out I'd proposed that she's paying, remember? She wants us to take a month and said she wouldn't settle for less than two weeks." He said, pushing his plate away as he finished his dinner.
"Yeah, I know." She squirmed guiltily; she felt a little awkward going on holiday with someone else paying for it. Maybe they'd just go to the chateau…
"You know she won't settle for anything but extravagance. You won't let her to pay for any of the wedding so you've got to concede to this," he added, once again making her wonder if he even needed Legilimency to read her mind.
"When we spring a surprise wedding on her she may change her mind about paying for even that!" She was really starting to worry if they were going to anger their friends and families by keeping the wedding date a secret until the day of. Would their feelings be hurt? Would they think she didn't trust them?
"Stop it." He said, cutting into her thoughts. She looked up surprised at him. "Stop worrying. This is about us and no one else. We're perfectly within our rights to keep this out of the press you saw what a circus Potter's wedding was. They'll understand why we did it after the surprise wears off."
She nodded, "You're right… I know." She sighed and rolled her shoulders trying to work out the lingering aches and tense muscles from sitting hunched over the keyboard for days on end.
"Come here." She opened her eyes and looked up to see Draco standing and holding his hand out to her. She raised her eyebrow questioningly at his commanding tone. "Come on, Granger. I can practically see the knots in your muscles."
She smiled sheepishly and let him lead her back to the bedroom. She laughed when he grasped the hem of her shirt and dragged it over her head. "Oh, you're going to give me a massage, how selfless of you. This is just an excuse to get my shirt of isn't it?"
"Oh hush, woman. It is a perk yes…" He smirked as his eyes raked over her now bare skin. "On the bed," he ordered.
"So bossy," she muttered under her breath as she acquiesced. But her slight annoyance at him melted the second that he pressed his fingers to her cramped muscles. She lay in somewhat of a stupor as he worked her knotted muscles into something that roughly resembled the consistency of bread pudding; she let out an involuntary moan as he attacked a particularly sore spot.
A little while later, when she was nearly catatonic, she registered his weight shift on the bed and felt his lips press against her shoulder. She hummed as she felt them graze across her skin and slowly trail down her spine towards her bum. She felt her belly clench as his lips and breath ghosted across her lower back and his fingertips played with the waistband of her loose trousers. He felt her shiver and laughed as he repeated his path and made her breath catch. As much as she had enjoyed the massage, she had a feeling that she'd be feeling even more relaxed in a little while…. She smiled to herself and her breathing picked up as she felt his fingers dip below the fabric of her trousers and push the elastic down her hip towards her knees. She smirked, awaiting a comment about the fact that she'd foregone knickers when she'd gotten dressed after her shower. It was funny that that was all it took to get a bloke in the mood… the absence of knickers. He didn't comment but felt his hand hesitate and heard his chuckle of appreciation. He made quick work of removing her trousers and quickly picked up where he'd left off, making her squirm with his lips, teeth, and tongue trailing down one leg to her ankle and then slowly back up the other. By the time he'd made his leisurely way back to her shoulder, her hands were fisted in the sheets and she could feel the flush on her cheeks.
He settled himself on top of her and gripped one hip tightly. His lips traced her ear and he pulled her hips up to meet his and she realized that at some point he'd divested himself of his clothing and had been enjoying himself just as much as she had been. His teeth latched on to shoulder and nudged her knees apart with one of his and they moaned in unison when he sank into her.
"I love you," He whispered into her ear and she responded in a breathless whisper as he began to move and continued on his task of turning her muscles to gelatin.
.
He was pacing in the dark, back and forth… to the wall and back to the bench. He stopped in front of his newspaper clippings that had now taken over one full wall of the tiny room. He glared malevolently at the photos of Ginny Potter. If that witch was pregnant… he fisted his hands in his hair and let out a stifled scream. How dare they go on with their lives? How dare they move on! How dare they live and be happy! How DARE they when his own life was in ruins. They would pay…
It was their fault. Their fault. Their fault!
A/N: Man, that guy's creepy!
So, I had enough trouble writing sexy scenes before because I'm kind of a prude, but now it's even worse. Why? Because my little sister has started reading this. Does it matter that she's a 28 year old mother of two? Apparently not. Silly I know, but it weirds me out. So you can blame her that my supposedly rated M story is really only T... :)