A/N: New chapter finally! Remember the italics are for emphasis in dialogue, names of publications, words related to magic, foreign language and/or inner thoughts.

Please review! PM me if you see any errors, plot holes, or inconsistencies, as I currently do not have a beta.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 25

Several hours after Ginny leaves Hermione's floo activates and Draco walks in, directly to her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply. He is not sure he can do what Potter insisted on and keep the identity of the new victims to himself. He will, for her sake, but only for tonight. He makes the decision to take her to dinner and distract her while hoping to keep her questions at bay.

When Draco pulls back Hermione sees the stormy look in his eyes. He takes her hand and apparates them and she stumbles into him. He catches her by the waist and keeps her from falling. In a matter of seconds, she's analyzed her surroundings and notices they are in some kind of storage room. She gets excited thinking he's brought her somewhere related to the case, but then frowns, whispering, "Draco, I don't have my wand on me."

She still isn't fully stable on her feet and Draco pulls her close, frowning at his thoughtlessness. He growls under his breath when she mentions her wand and thinks, "Damn it Potter. I am acting like a bumbling fool because of your demands. I do not like lying to Hermione, even if it is a lie of omission. I do not want to fuck us up." His mind immediately goes to all those kind of lies of his father and the repercussions on his mother. Ignoring his thought, he takes a deep breath, and in a soft voice replies, "You will not need it. I apologize for not forewarning you that we were leaving." His words fill her with warmth. He's so considerate now. She smiles at him, stretching up on her toes and giving him a small kiss. "You are forgiven, although you did not need to ask for it, but I would like to know where we are."

Draco smiles back at Hermione, thinking about devouring her, rather than dinner. Instead, he holds out his arm, which she takes, and they begin walking to the door. Grinning, he says, "Welcome to Il Ristorante del Drago. We are here for some delicious italiano food and some very fine vino." His flawless Italian accent leaves her flustered. Realizing she finds it seductive she chuckles since she has always found his friend Blaise's to be pretentious. She infers, "Drago, that means dragon. So you own the restaurant?" Whispering in her ear he teases, "Yes, you intuitive little minx." He flicks out his tongue, licking, then gently sucking on her earlobe immediately causing her knickers to dampen. "I always come in through here as the room is silenced." Anticipating her next question he continues, "I only hire wizards, squibs and muggles who know about magic, so I can come and go as I please without attracting any unwanted attention."

They enter the lobby and the manger who also serves as maître d' shows them to his table. As they are walking, Hermione looks around and shyly says, "I'm underdressed." He takes her hand, kissing her knuckles, "There is no dress code, especially for the proprietario e la mia sua bellezza. Plus, you look better in jeans, than any other woman here that is wearing a dress." His compliment causes her to blush, but she meets his eye and squeezes his hand, softly saying, "Thank you."

Draco pulls out Hermione's chair and places her napkin in her lap causing her heart to flutter. She loves these little gestures, especially since he's been doing them since they began working together, although over the last few weeks, they've become much more personal. She looks up at him with adoration and he cannot help reaching out and stroking her cheek. For a moment he gets lost in her eyes causing her to blush deeper. The intensity of his stare becomes too much for her and she has look away, softly saying "Merlin" which causes him to smirk. He takes her hand, not letting go as he sits.

As he steps to the side, the maître d' grins at their display. He likes their interaction much better than the coldness exhibited by him and the cagna di una donna francese he brought before. As he waits patiently, he listens to the couple. He catches snatches of their conversation in English, enough to tell they have an easy affection for each other as they banter back and forth. Eventually Draco signals to him and orders, thanking him for his patience. When he walks away, he is glad, knowing his employer has found his anima gemella. He hopes they share years of love and happiness, like he his wife.

Draco tells Hermione he spent some time here with Blaise after the war. He feel in love with the northern coast of Sicily, especially the wizarding village of Mirto and the nearby beach Rocca di Capri Leone. The only thing it lacked was a good restaurant, so he provided a remedy. He does not tell her that the maître d' is also the general manager and he has him hire locals, especially those with families who are in need. He wants to help them and the economy, not caring if he makes any profit.

Hermione asks what he loves about the area and he opens up to her. He explains these municipalities remained untouched during the war and being here allowed him to begin to heal. The people are not judgmental, but welcoming. Since his name does not mean a thing to them, positive or negative, there are no expectations and he feels free to be himself. Hermione nods, "I understand what you mean, not completely, obviously, but people always expect me to be perfect all the time. I can never have a bad day and I have to always have all the answers." He reaches and takes her hand, squeezing it. "Not with me. I only expect you to be yourself." He smirks at her, "Plus, you know, I always have all the answers and am always right," and they both laugh at his quip.

At Draco's insistence, the couple shares a slice of of cassata, Hermione moans after the first bite and says, "It's divine. I didn't think Sicilians could make a better dessert than cannoli, but I was wrong. This is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth." He is about to imply otherwise when a cute little girl runs up to him yelling, "Signore Malfoy! Signore Malfoy!" He turns and she jumps into his lap, bouncing, flinging her arms around his neck.

Draco awkwardly pats the girl and gives Hermione a bewildered look. She shrugs, chuckling. A flustered looking lady approaches, speaking in heavily accented English, "Scuse, Signore. Violetta is excite see you. Vi, get Signore Malfoy off." Hermione just manages to stifle a giggle and when Draco blushes she laughs out loud. Violetta tightens her hold on Draco and says, "No Mammina! I have to say grazie like Papà had me practice and he said to tell him when I see him!" She turns back to Draco, putting both her small hands on his cheeks. Hermione is sure it's a gesture she uses with those she loves. The child clears her throat, and speaking slowly and sounding rehearsed she says, "Mr. Malfoy, thank you for my scholarship." She throws her arms around him again and continues excitedly, "I got my letter when I turned eleven last week and just like you I'm going to Hogwarts soon! I hope I'll be in your house. What house were you in? Were you scared when you first went? Is it as big as Papà says? He said he used the get lost his first year. Did you get lost…" the girl continues and when she takes a breath her mother tries to lead her away, but Draco just smiles and asks her to join them for dessert. He humors Violetta, answering all her questions and in turn finds out her father is a halfblooded Hufflepuff that graduated a few years before their first. When he returned to Mirto, he feel in love with a muggle girl from here and they had their daughter a little more than nine months following their wedding. They also have a younger son, Matteo. They visit with them as they eat dessert. The mother says they need to leave because it is close to Violetta's bedtime and she is finally able to pull her away.

When they leave, Hermione doesn't hesitate, "So you set up a scholarship program?" Draco nods. When he doesn't add anything she asks, "Is it just for halfblooded children?" He shakes his head no. When he still doesn't offer more, she prods, "So anyone that needs it, anywhere?" He sighs, "It is only here. I entrusted Blaise to set up the fund for me when I left for Auror Training." He grimaces and scoffs, "Of course, he plastered my name on it and started the precedent of having a banquet to honor the recipients in the fall. At least it is here. He had the invitations out before I knew of it. I thought he would have understood I wanted to keep out of it, but I should have known better." Hermione reaches across the table for his hand. Her touch soothes him and he relaxes him enough to add without thinking, "McGonagall knows if a child needs it, I would be happy to silently sponsor anyone's magical education. That was what I intended for the scholarship fund here as well." She squeezes his hand and says, "You know, after a few minutes, you looked awfully comfortable with Violetta sitting on your lap and absolutely adorable." A loving look passes between them and he gives her a lopsided grin, "Want to go for a walk on the beach?" She nods and as they leave hand in hand, he casts a warming charm on them both.

The couple walks silently, side by side, still holding hands along the shore. The sound of the crashing waves provides their soundtrack. Hermione replays the evening, thinking of how sweet Draco had been with Violetta. The images of the child changes to a girl with curly brown hair, like hers, and eyes the color of the sky during snow, like his, when they twinkle with mirth. Hermione glances at her companion, noting that in the moonlight, his platinum blonde hair glows, creating a halo effect. She thinks he looks like Adonis, the god of beauty and youth. She decides she must be his Persephone because she would never be Aphrodite and she hopes he chooses to spend more than four months of the year with her.

Draco notices Hermione shoulders slump and when he looks at her, a frown mars her face. He stops, turning to her, asking "What is the matter love? Are you tired?" She smiles, but it does not reach her eyes and she shakes her head no. He cups her cheek and kisses her tenderly. Pulling back, he searches her face for the reason her mood shift. He wishes she would tell him, but will not push her to share. "Ready to return home?" She sighs, "No, not really, but we probably should. It's so beautiful here, I'd like to see it in the daytime."

Her words propel Draco to continue on, "Well, we will walk a bit more, then we will be home." Hermione reluctantly nods. They walk for a little more than a block when Draco stops. He points up at the sky, "See the faint grouping of stars there?" Immediately she sees the two Dippers and knows where he is pointing. His eyes drop to her when she answers, "Yes, the Draco Constellation." He rewards her knowledge with a kiss before continuing, "'Draco's stars are not very bright. The head of the dragon consists of four stars (Beta, Gamma, Nu and Xi Draconis) in a trapezoid and located just north of Hercules. From there, the dragon's body winds its way through the sky, ending between the Big Dipper and Little Dipper. From early to mid-October, a meteor shower known as the Draconids appear to radiate from Draco's head.'* That is when he is breaths fire, defeating all his enemies." Standing behind her he wraps his arms around her and plants a kiss on her hair. She snuggles back into him and his grips tightens. Looking up, she is awed by the night sky, "You can see so many more stars and planets without the light pollution. I love it here." He feels a touch of disappointment with her saying here and not you. But he reminds himself they have only been dating for less than 24 hours, yet it seems like they have always been together, fitting like puzzle pieces.

Draco reaches for her hand saying, "I have something I want to show you." They take a sand path up to a quaint cottage. He opens the door with a touch, "This is my retreat. Where I feel most at home." Although sparsely furnished, it still is completely beautiful. She looks around and she can't help but see the images she created a few moments ago, of that same child running up to Draco as she calls out, "Papà."

He has brought me home, his home, his retreat. Hermione thinks, He's showing me more and more of who he truly is. Draco's openness continually surprises her. If someone told her a year ago that Draco Malfoy would show her his soft side she would have scoffed. She ponders this and realizes she is wrong, he has shown her his vulnerability before, during sixth year. Until recently, she had pushed their encounter to the farthest recesses of her mind, not being able to reconcile the Draco by the lake and the Malfoy who let Death Eaters into Hogwarts. She is finally able to do that now. Voldemort left him no choice. She studies him, noting his relaxed posture and the smile he gives her as he shows her some ancient Roman artifact. She replays the memory of them together that day, the first time they really talked to each other. She remembers smelling what she thought was freshly mowed grass, but then realizing it was sandalwood. Then the conversation she had with Ginny this afternoon pops into her mind, Parkinson thought someone slipped him Amortentia. She closes her eyes, remembering it like it was yesterday, the smell that engulfed her was coming from Draco. Her eyes pop open. Bewildered, she looks at him and whispers, "Amortentia?"

Italian to English

Il Ristorante del Drago – The Dragon Restaurant
italiano – Italian
vino – wine
proprietario e la mia sua amata – owner and his beloved
cagna di una donna francese – bitch of a French woman
anima gemella – soulmate
cassata – a dessert that incorporates lots of Sicilian yumminess. Google it or check it out on my Pinterest page.
Signore – Mister
scuse – apologies
mammina – mommy
grazie – thank you
papà – daddy

*Information about and direct quotes about the constellation come from the article Draco Constellation: Facts about the Dragon by Kim Ann Zimmerman dated July 19, 2017 on space dot com.

There is also a picture on my Pinterest page of Draco in relation to the Big Dipper and Little Dipper as well as a picture taken from the SkyGuide App and the recipe for Cassata.

Thanks for the new follows and favorites and a big thanks to you all for reading!