The honeymoon suite at Draco and Blaise's Parisian hotel was every bit as stunning as Hermione expected. It was a corner suite with a large living area, a sumptuous bedroom and a luxurious bathroom. The balcony offered stunning views of Paris, and in particular the Eiffel Tower, which seemed to be so close you almost felt you could touch it.
By the time they arrived in Paris on their wedding day, it was already late and with it being their wedding night it was the early hours of the morning before they finally got to sleep. That meant they were late getting up the following day, and even though Draco had arranged a late check out for them it still meant they had no time to take in the sights of the city. Luckily no-one else was booked into the honeymoon suite, so Draco extended their stay for another night.
That meant that the couple had been able to dine out in Paris on their second evening and the following morning they'd done some exploring in the beautiful city. They were now back at the hotel, supposedly getting ready to leave. However, they once again had a late check-out sorted and they'd fallen back into bed. Only while Draco had drifted off to sleep afterwards, Hermione had gotten up and was sitting out on the balcony, wrapped in the silk dressing gown the hotel provided.
"What are you doing out here?" Draco asked, padding out onto the balcony.
"Admiring the view," Hermione replied. Turning her head she gaped at Draco, who hadn't bothered to put any clothes on when he'd gotten out of bed.
"Don't look so shocked, no-one but you can see me," Draco chuckled, settling himself in the chair next to his wife's.
"How can you be so sure?" Hermione muttered, glancing at a couple of the nearby building that were around the same height as the hotel. It was impossible to say if there was anyone in any of those buildings at the window, but if there were they would have a perfect view of her naked husband.
"All the balconies have privacy spells around them," Draco informed her. "There could be someone in one of the nearby building looking right at us, and all they would see was an empty balcony."
"Are you sure?" Hermione checked.
"It is my hotel, Hermione," Draco chuckled. "I can prove it to you if you want."
"How are you going to do that?" Hermione asked.
With an impish grin, Draco leaned forward and pulled on the tie of Hermione's silk robe. The robe instantly parted, revealing Hermione's naked body underneath.
"Draco," Hermione hissed, gathering the robe together and covering herself up. "How does that prove anything?"
"Do you really think I would have done that if anyone could see you?" Draco asked with a chuckle. "I'm far too possessive for that, Hermione. That delicious sight is for my eyes only."
"So you're positive no-one can see us?" Hermione checked.
"A hundred percent," Draco assured her.
"You better be right," Hermione muttered as she got to her feet and let the silk robe fall to the floor.
"Maybe I should have mentioned these privacy spells earlier," Draco said with a wolfish grin as his wife straddled his lap.
"I just thought we could have one last time admiring the view," Hermione said, settling herself so she could see the Eiffel Tower.
"One last time?" Draco frowned. "You make it sound as though we're going to be going our separate ways and this is goodbye."
"I just meant one last time here," Hermione chuckled. "We are going home in a few hours."
"We could extend out stay again," Draco replied, running his hands up Hermione's smooth skin and towards the firm globes of her breasts.
"As tempting as that is, we can't," Hermione said with a slight moan as Draco's hands reached their targets and his thumbs brushed over her nipples.
"We can do what we want," Draco retorted, pressing a wet kiss to the top of Hermione's chest.
"We're just about to head off on a long honeymoon, and we've got things to sort at home before we leave," Hermione pointed out. "As tempting as it is to stay here for longer, we have to be responsible."
"But not for another couple of hours," Draco countered. "Until then we can carry on enjoying ourselves."
"Most definitely," Hermione agreed with a grin as she pressed her lips against Draco's.
Regardless to the fact they were outside, albeit on a balcony with a privacy spell cast over it, things quickly turned heated between the couple. Without any fuss, Draco entered Hermione and with a stunning view of the most famous landmark in Paris, they leisurely made love under the warm afternoon sunshine.
"I love you," Draco gasped as they reached the peak of their lovemaking.
"I love you too," Hermione returned breathlessly, tumbling into ecstasy and loving every second of it.
Afterwards the pair remained wrapped around each other as they recovered. However, real life couldn't be avoided forever and with their time in Paris running out they headed back inside for a shower. Of course a shower led to more fun, this time under the hot spray of water in the majestic glass shower, but all too soon they were washed, dressed and checking they hadn't forgotten to pack anything. Although the chances of them leaving something behind were fairly remote as since they'd only planned to be in Paris for the one evening, they were travelling light.
"Are you sure you want to go home?" Draco checked before they left the honeymoon suite and went to check out.
"Yes, I want to get planning our real honeymoon," Hermione said.
"In that case, we should leave," Draco conceded. As much as he would have loved to have stayed on in Paris, he knew Hermione was right and he knew they had to return home and get everything sorted before they left for the prolonged honeymoon they both wanted.
Checking out of the hotel was a simple process, made even easier by the fact Draco owned the place and the staff were eager to please the big boss. The couple then took an international floo connection back to Draco's office, and then apparated home as they hadn't opened the floo before they'd left for Paris.
"Home sweet home," Draco remarked as they arrived back in his penthouse and he dumped their bag in the bedroom.
"In all our haste to plan the perfect honeymoon, we have forgotten something," Hermione said as she wandered into the kitchen to feed Crookshanks, who had appeared the moment they'd entered the penthouse.
"What?" Draco asked, his eyes glued to Hermione's backside as she bent over to deal with her cat.
"Crooks," Hermione replied, scratching her old cat on the head as he dove into the fresh food she'd just put out. "How can we go away for at least a year and just leave him?"
"We can't take him with us, Hermione, it's not practical," Draco warned.
"I know that," Hermione chuckled. "But if we are going to go away for so long, we need to find him somewhere to stay. And I don't want to give him away. He never had a proper home before I took him, and I won't abandon him now he's getting on in years."
"Would any of your friends take him while we're away?" Draco asked.
"Crookshanks hates Ron, and to be honest I think the feeling is mutual," Hermione admitted. "He and Harry get along okay, but I doubt Ginny will want to take him on. I guess I could ask George and Angelina, and hope that Angelina can stop George from blowing him up or something."
"You'd never be able to relax if you were worrying about Crookshanks being blown up," Draco pointed out. "We need to find him a home where you know he'll be well cared for, and possibly even pampered."
"But where?" Hermione asked. "I love Crooks, but even I have to admit he's an acquired taste. He's not instantly lovable, and at times he can be downright grumpy."
"Sounds like father," Draco joked. "Which is why I think the manor might be the place for him. Mother loves animals, and I'm sure she'll dote on Crookshanks."
"What about your father?" Hermione questioned. "Is he a cat person? Haven't I seen a portrait at the manor where your father is surrounded by dogs?"
"We've never had cats, but we have had dogs," Draco replied. "In fact, mother and father still have a couple of old Labradors. But Crookshanks won't bother them. At least let me ask if they would take him."
"Okay, you can ask," Hermione agreed. "To be honest, it would be the best solution."
"Consider it done," Draco promised. "Now it's too late to get started on planning the honeymoon, so how about we get out of these clothes we've been travelling in."
"You're sex mad," Hermione laughed. "We've been in these clothes for less than an hour, and since we haven't even had dinner yet, there's loads of time to start planning."
"And that time will still be there tomorrow," Draco argued. "Come on Hermione, you know you want to get naked."
"You're a bad influence, Mr Malfoy," Hermione chuckled as she began to unbutton her blouse.
"Only on you, Mrs Malfoy," Draco retorted, pulling his shirt off without bothering to unfasten it.
He then grabbed Hermione, and laughing the pair made their way into the bedroom, where they spent the rest of their day continuing from where they'd left off in Paris. They still had plenty of time to start sorting their honeymoon and arranging the practicalities of been gone for so long.
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"What about Vegas?" Blaise asked, settling himself in front of Draco's desk.
For the last couple of days, Draco and Blaise had been sorting out the practicalities of Draco going travelling for at least a year with Hermione. Although it wasn't as if he was going to disappear for that time. He would be in contact with Blaise and his parents throughout the trip, and if there were any problems, it would be easy for Blaise to get hold of him.
"You can take the time I'm away to perfect your plans," Draco said. "By the time I come back, you could have everything planned and wow me with your ideas."
"Consider it done," Blaise vowed. "By the time you return, I'll have such a magnificent hotel planned that you would have to be crazy not to want to be part of it. Vegas is the next step, Draco, you mark my words."
"Well just don't get so focused on Vegas that you forget our other hotels," Draco cautioned. "I do want a business to come back to, Blaise."
"As if I would let you down," Blaise chuckled. He may have been more laid back than Draco, but he was no fool and there was no way he was going to let their business suffer in his best friend's absence.
"I know I can rely on you, Blaise," Draco said sincerely. "I've always been able to rely on you."
"It's just a shame you never listened to my advice," Blaise remarked. "If you had, you and Hermione would have been back together long before now."
"You were right, I should have fought for her long ago," Draco admitted. "But at least we're together now, and that's what matters. You can waste so much time dwelling on what might have been. True, we could have been together for years if we hadn't let other people interfere, or if I'd been brave enough to fight for her, but we're together now and I want to focus on that. I don't want to get bogged down in what might have been."
"You focus on the future," Blaise agreed. "And you have a brilliant honeymoon, Draco. Go and make some memories you'll treasure forever."
"I intend to," Draco grinned.
After a few more hours of work, Draco called it a day and headed home to Hermione. While he'd been busy at the office, she'd been busy planning the first few legs of their epic honeymoon. As agreed they'd both drawn up lists of places they wanted to visit and things they wanted to do, and Hermione was logically sorting them into an itinerary that made sense. However, they were both agreed that they didn't want to make too many solid plans before they got going as they wanted to be free to go with the flow once they were travelling.
"How's it going?" Draco asked, flopping down beside Hermione on the sofa.
"Good, I'm just about done," Hermione replied. "I've got our first hotel booked, and I've got potential places to stay for the first few months of our travels. But we've got plenty of flexibility in case our plans change."
"And how are thing coming with Crookshanks?"
Draco had asked his parents about taking Hermione's cat, and Narcissa had been glad to do so. However, it had been decided that rather than just dump Crookshanks at the manor just before they left, they would try him out before hand, so for the past few days, Crookshanks had been visiting the manor and getting to know the place and it's owners.
"It's all set," Hermione said. "Your mother says he's fitting in just fine. He's already picked out a favourite armchair in the living room. He's apparently bossing the dogs around, who according to your mother adore him. And this afternoon Lucius was even found petting him and feeding him pieces of biscuit."
"I told you he would be pampered," Draco chuckled. Although to be fair he thought it would be his mother fussing over the feline, not his father.
"As far as I can see, we're all set," Hermione said. "There's Harry and Ginny's wedding tomorrow, and then we're good to go."
"Adventure, here we come," Draco grinned, hardly able to wait until he and Hermione said goodbye to Wizarding Britain and set off on a honeymoon of a lifetime.