Chapter 36 –
Present Day:
Draco closed the door to his flat and turned to the man just inside the door. He said, "That was difficult. I did not exactly like turning her away like that. She looked positively crushed. I almost feel as badly as I did that day I announced I was running for Minister of Magic, which by the way, I will remind you, you were allegedly suppose to have already told her about, so I swear, you better make this worth my while."
The man said, "If you want the truth, you will play by my rules, and my rules says no public contact with Hermione, not until this is over with. We have to continue to make him think that you two are not together."
"He's too smart for that. He knows we are still a couple, I know he knows," Draco said, coming to sit on the couch.
"Of course he knows, but he still needs to think that you are purposely staying away from each other, even if he knows you two are faking. Its better that way, and she will be safer."
Draco glared at the man and said, "You better promise me that, because I swear if one hair on her head is so much as pulled out, you are a dead man!"
"Trust me, Malfoy," he said.
"I trusted you once, and it landed me in St Mungos. I wasn't supposed to really get cursed, remember. You were suppose to make sure I wasn't hurt, but my head is still throbbing, so I think you lied a wee bit, you wanker," Draco said.
"Yes, well, we hardly fooled Potter as it was. He knows something's going on, by the way, before she tells you about it, I visited her today," Anthony said plainly. "I might have gotten a bit overzealous with her."
"You are supposed to be in hiding!" Draco shouted, "And you are also suppose to leave her be!" He turned away from him, only to turn back and ask, "What do you mean by overzealous?"
"I had to talk to her, but her mother was there, so I didn't get a chance. I grabbed her arms, but I didn't hurt her. I needed to know exactly what she heard between 'me' and Blaise," Anthony said.
"You better hope you didn't hurt her, or I will kill you, I swear on that fact. I will find out what went on with her and Blaise, leave that to me," Draco said. He stood up and poured himself a drink. He passed one to Anthony as well.
"To the next Minister of Magic," Anthony said, holding up his drink. Draco clanged his glass to Anthony's glass, and took a big drink. If only it was that simple.
The next morning, Hermione decided to take another day off work. She had to get ready for the black tie event tonight, and she did not even have a dress bought yet. She dressed and showered, and for some reason, a reason in which she could not pinpoint, she felt on edge, as if something big was going to happen tonight. She felt a heaviness on her chest, and she had trouble breathing and trouble swallowing. She felt like she was sitting on a powder keg and it was about to go off any minute and blow her to bits. It might have to do with the fact that Anthony was missing. It might have to do with the fact that Draco didn't want to see her last night, or it might have to do with the fact that the election was almost at hand, and she wasn't even sure which way she wanted it to go.
Then again, maybe it was just indigestion.
Whatever the case, she felt off, and on edge, she was worried, and she could not articulate why. She had no clue what the outcome of any of this would be, but it could not be good.
She walked to a store in Muggle London. It was a high-end department store. She took the escalator up to the woman's department. She really did not want to go to this event tonight, but it was the last big event before the election, so she had no choice. Not only was it 'ties and tails' for men, but all women had to wear either black gowns, or white. She knew most women would probably wear black; therefore, she was determined to wear white.
Her first instinct was that every white gown she looked at looked like a wedding dress, but then, she saw the perfect gown. It was Grecian looking, sleeveless, coming up to a high neck, which consisted of a choker. The bodice was draped to a cinched waist, and it fit very tight on the bottom half. It had a high cut up the legs, and little diamond jewels covering the entire bodice. She thought it was beautiful.
The salesman, a perfectly nice, if not somewhat effeminate man, came up to her and said, "Isn't it lovely?"
"Yes, it is. I have a formal engagement tonight, do you think I might try this on?" she asked.
He smiled and said, "It's a one of a kind. I don't know if we will have time to alter it before tonight, but why don't you try it on, it might fit as it is," he said. He led her to the dressing room, and opened the door. In the middle of the large dressing room was a plush circular bench. There was a large three-way mirror, and four individual dressing rooms with full-length doors.
"Here, try it on, and come out when you are done, and I will zip it in the back," the man said.
Hermione tried on the dress, but immediately did not like how it looked on her. She did not even come out with it on. She opened the dressing room door a bit, and said, "Is anyone there?"
The salesman came up and said, "Do you have it on yet?"
"No, I don't like it after all. Do you have another white dress?" she asked.
He pushed her door open, which surprised her since she was just in her bra and knickers, but he had an even more beautiful white gown in his hand. It was strapless. The bodice was tight fitting, and the white gown was long and flowing and had white netting over it.
"It's pretty," she said, as he pushed it toward her, "but perhaps a bit too pretty, you know, a bit too 'fairy princess'. Don't you think it screams, 'wedding'?" Hermione asked.
He smiled and said, "This dress is perfect for you, and what's more, it's already paid for."
"Oh," Hermione said, "Well, if it belongs to someone else, there's no reason for me to try it on," and she pushed the gown back toward him.
"No, it's paid for, and is for you," the man said. He pushed the gown back toward her. "The man said if a woman with curly brown hair came in looking for a gown, I was to convince her somehow to try on this gown. Like I said, he already paid for it and everything."
Hermione looked confused for a moment and said, "Who picked it out and paid for it? And when? I just got here?"
"I'm not at liberty to say," the man said. He unzipped the gown and said, "Now, try it on, so I will see if it needs adjustments."
"No, I don't want this dress," she said, though it was very pretty.
The man rolled his eyes and said, "He said you would be difficult."
"Oh really?" Hermione asked, peeved. "Listen, I will pick out my own dress and pay for my own dress."
"Just try it on, it will be beautiful, I'm sure," the man proclaimed. "Just try it, please."
She crossed her arms in front of her, no longer aware she was half dressed and said, "Just tell me who bought it!" She was just weary enough not to trust wearing something that she had not bought herself. What if the dress was charmed to emit a poison the moment she perspired? What if the dress was cursed to squeeze her until she could no longer breathe? She knew her imagination was on overdrive, but the caution was warranted.
The man sighed, rolled his eyes, and said, "He said if you were especially difficult to tell you his name starts with a D. Does that help you any?"
"Not really," she said. She reasoned if Anthony wanted to hurt her, he might pick something like this, and he would not be above proclaiming it was from Draco. She had to be careful. She started to push him out of the dressing room. "I will just go someplace else," she said.
The man gave her a positively contemptuous stare and finally said, "He told me if you were impossible that I was to tell you to shut your eyes, and count to three, and he would appear." The young man hung the dress on the hook in the dressing room, and walked out, saying, "I don't get paid enough for this."
Hermione felt like an utter fool, but she closed her eyes and before she could start to count, she heard the door to her dressing room close. She was about to open her eyes in protest, when a hand went over her eyes. The person turned her around, so she was away from them, and toward the mirror. She counted, "one, two, and three." She opened her eyes, but the person's hand was still over them.
She felt the person's cheek next to her cheek, as her body came to rest against a man's hard frame. Her back against his front, the person kept one hand over her eyes, and the other hand skimmed down her arm. She heard the man say, "I'm not asking for your firstborn child, Granger, although I do intend to claim that as my own someday. I just wanted to buy you a pretty dress, is something wrong with that?" He let go of her eyes, and she looked at the reflection of his face, as her own reflection appeared in the mirror. She turned around quickly and jumped in his arms. She felt like she had not seen him for decades, instead of hours.
She said, "Yeah, my stalker returns!"
He hugged her tightly and said, "Well, now, this is nice."
Flashback:Hermione had to buy a dress for the banquet for the orphan fund banquet at St Mungos next week. She was presenting them with a rather large check of one million galleons, and she was the keynote speaker at the event, so she wanted to have a beautiful gown, but as always, she waited until the last moment to buy something. With only a week to go, she was certain she would not find anything appropriate at Diagon Alley, so instead, she went to a boutique in Muggle London. It had been four weeks since Draco had announced his candidacy for Minister, and in that four weeks time, she had not talked to him once. She had read about him a lot. He was constantly in the papers. He was also constantly making disparaging remarks about her in the same papers. To think, at one time she thought she might like the prat. Now, she knew, she thoroughly, utterly and completely, disliked the man. She was glad she discovered what he was really like before she became emotionally involved with him. Besides, she and Anthony were somewhat back together again. Not really, but for the sake of the election, they were. He was escorting her to the banquet.As she began to look through the racks, the sales woman asked her if she could help her find anything. She politely said she was just looking. She held up a red gown, and looked in the mirror. That was when she knew she was not alone in the store."That dress would be okay if you are going for the trollop look? Are you, Granger? I'm not asking you if you are a trollop, I am asking if you are going for that look," Draco Malfoy asked, his arms crossed. He seemed amused."Why are you alive?" she asked. She put the red gown down and picked up a gold one."That one will make you look fat, but then again, have you gained some weight since I last saw you?' Draco asked. He sat down in a comfortable chair, content to sit there and malign her character, just for the sheer pleasure of it. When did he turn as hateful as she? The moment she thought it, she knew that she really had been detestable toward him, so she deserved the same treatment back.Ignoring him again, she picked up a midnight blue gown. It was very pretty, and very expensive. The sales woman came up to her and said, "Now that one will look exquisite on you.""Yes, it's beautiful. I really like it. I think I would like to try it on," Hermione said."No," Draco said. Both Hermione and the sales woman turned to look at him.The sales woman looked perturbed and said, "She can try it on if she wants.""No she can't because I am buying it," he said.Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "It will match your eyes and hair, fine, you take it." She threw it toward him.She picked up a pink dress and he said, "Nope, can't have that one either. I am buying it as well."Hermione pointed to a black dress and said, "May I try that one?" She actually asked Draco, not the sales woman. The sales woman said, "Certainly."Draco said, "NO!""Draco!" Hermione stomped her foot. "Do you mean to tell me that you are going to buy every last dress in this shop, just to keep me from buying them?""Yes," he confirmed. He turned to the woman, pulled out a credit card, and said, "Ring them all up please, every last dress." He turned and smirked to Hermione."There are other shops, Malfoy," she told him."Yes, and I will follow you to each of them, and buy them all out too, and you know I have the money to do so."Hermione sat down on the chair he had just abandoned and felt defeated. Why was he being so hateful? She did not have the urge to fight him now. She finally looked up and said, "I will wear something from my closet." She started to leave and he grabbed her arm."You might find your closet empty," he said. He was lying. He did not have access to her closet. She said, "Fine, I will go naked."He wanted to say that he would prefer that, but he had to remember that he was angry with her for saying she hated him again, when he knew that she did not, and for not going out with him, after she had agreed that she would. "That might be amusing, but you don't want to scare the public Granger, although, that might be a clear win for me. Yes, go naked," he said."Why are you being so odious?" she asked."Because you are, you always are," he said."Not always," she said softly. "But usually," he said back. She looked up at him and said, "I asked this earlier, and you didn't answer, but why are you alive?""I am alive to torment you, apparently. Who is your pity date to this little soirée you are attending, anyway?" Draco asked, as he tried to look bored."Anthony, we are officially back together," she lied.He laughed. Loud. "Oh, that's a good one. You do know he's gay, don't you?""He's not gay!" she shouted.The sales woman said, "Sir, your purchases will be ready by this afternoon, would you like them to be delivered somewhere?""Yes, here's my card, have them delivered to my business, and I will promptly have them burned," he said. The woman looked shocked. "Very well, sir," she said, taking his card and giving back his credit card. The woman turned to Hermione and said, "I'm so sorry I couldn't help you.""That's fine, it's not your fault," Hermione said. She looked back at Draco, who was staring right at her. She said, "I don't like you at all, anymore.""I know, you hate me, remember?""Yes, I do, and I remember why," she said.She went home and decided to wear something from her closet. She stood at her closet, examining all of her gowns (both of them) and she heard a knock at her door. She went to answer.Draco stood outside, holding a package. "Is that a bomb?" Hermione asked."No, the woman at the store felt sorry for you, so she sent this old rag along with the dresses she had delivered to me. The note said to give it to you. I do not even know what is in the box. I am merely the messenger." He dropped the box outside her door and disapparated. She picked up the box and brought it inside. She opened the lid. Enclosed was the pretty, midnight blue gown.
Present day:
Hermione let go of Draco and said, "I thought we weren't to see each other."
"I am merely here as a fashion consultant, I recall you have no fashion sense at all," he said with a smile. He said, "My little Aurors found out from your little Aurors that you were coming here today, so I stopped by earlier, because I knew you probably hadn't gotten a gown yet. Are you going to try on the dress or not?"
"Yes!" she said, excited. She took the dress from the hanger and said, "It's almost too pretty for me, don't you think?"
He thought she was teasing, but when he looked deeply in her eyes, he knew was being sincere. "My, Granger, you have a warped sense of self awareness. You are so beautiful."
"You think so, but that's because you rather like me," she blushed.
"Yes, I rather like you, you idiot," he said with false scorn. He stepped out of the dressing room and said, "Try it on, idiot, and let me see it when you have it on."
He shut the door, and heard her say, "I'm not an idiot." He laughed. She looked at her reflection, and thought that the dress made her look very pretty, if she did say so herself. She asked the salesman to come in. He walked past Draco, and opened the dressing room door. He came back out a moment later, holding the dress. He walked past Draco without a word.
Draco frowned and knocked on the door. "Granger? I told you I wanted to see you in the dress."
"I'm not getting it," she said back.
"Yes, you are, and it's already paid for, so you have to," he said through the door. He tried the handle, but she had it locked. "May I ask you why you aren't getting it?"
"I just don't want it," she said. Truthfully, she was getting it, but she wanted it to be a surprise. She did not want him to see her in it until the last moment. "I think I will just wear something from home. I have a black gown."
She heard the door open. She turned quickly, startled, as she was only half dressed, in just her knickers, her bra, and her shirt. "Malfoy, I locked that door."
He twirled his wand and said, "Ah, the wonders of magic."
She smiled and said, "Leave, I'm only half dressed."
"Let's remedy that, then," he said. He locked the door, and took off his jacket. He pulled her shirt right over her head in one felled stroke. She was dumbstruck. He said, "Now you are less than half dressed. Shall we go for complete nudity?"
"Malfoy, you and I aren't supposed to be seen together," she said, pushing on his chest with her hands.
"Granger, we are in a woman's boutique, in a dressing room, in a Muggle Department store. Who is going to see us?" he asked. He put her hands on hers and pulled them down from his chest. "Besides, we have out little Aurors guarding us, remember? They are right outside the store."
"What is with you and all the public sex?" she asked.
He had the gull to smack her face, very lightly, and said, "Get you mind out of the gutter, Granger. I was not even thinking about sex. I was going to kiss you, that's all."
"You only mean to kiss me?" she asked with a lazy smile.
He looked her up and down and said, "I might not even want to do that. Convince me to kiss you, Granger."
She turned back toward the mirror, and looked at his reflection. She said, "I don't particularly want to kiss you either, so no convincing will be done on my part."
He pulled her flush up against his chest, so that her back was pressed against his front. The feel of his wool trousers were rough on her legs, especially when he forced one of his legs between hers to part them slightly. In contrast, the feel of his silk shirt was soft on her back. He placed his left hand on her stomach, and his right hand came up and grasped her neck. He pushed her face back toward his, and he kissed her earlobe, pulled on it slightly, and then kissed her neck. He brought his face up to stare at her reflection once again, but her head was thrown back on his chest, and her eyes closed.
"I love you so much," he said, as his mouth went back to her neck. His lips went to her shoulder and he bit her gently, letting his teeth graze lightly on her skin. He brought the knuckles of his right hand up and down her arms. He could feel her flesh pimple as she became excited by his touch. His left hand went from her stomach to her hip. He then placed the same hand on her lower abdomen, to press her rump right up against his erection.
He continued to suck on the side of her neck. His right hand came up and kneaded her breasts over her bra. His left hand went down to stroke the outside of her knickers, and she whimpered. One of her hands went to the back of his head, and she placed the other one on the smooth glass of the mirror.
He whispered, "You naughty girl, you are very wet for me, aren't you?"
Hermione usually did not like 'dirty' talk, but just the way he said that made her moan. She began to arch her back against him, instinctively, and she said, "You are a bit naughty yourself, aren't you. I can feel how naughty you are."
He chuckled and said, "If that's what they are calling it nowadays, than I am always naughty around you, my sweet." His hand slipped inside the elastic of her knickers, and she gasped. Her left leg bent at the knee, as she tried to grant him more access. He was supporting most of her weight, her head was completely back on his chest, and she was moving it side to side. His hand was playing her like was a well-tuned instrument, and he was a virtuoso, or perhaps, since he was orchestrating this interlude, he was a maestro, and she was his orchestra.
His mouth finally captured hers, he kissed her as hard, and deep, as he could, all the while his fingers continued to play her deftly, until she felt like she could no longer stand.
She tried hard not to scream out; she closed her mouth and clenched her teeth. When her legs began to spasm, and her stomach quake, he turned her quickly to face him. He pulled down her panties, and unclasped her bra, doing it all so suddenly that she was not even aware of his actions. He undid his zip, and picked her up, so that she had to wrap her legs around his waist. He drove into her so hard, that he pressed her into the mirror. She threw her head back at the exact same time, hitting it so hard she saw stars, and they weren't just from the amazing sex.
She wanted to cry out in pain now, and in fact, tears came to her eyes. He put one hand on the back of her head for the briefest moments, when he realized what she had done. Then, his hands had to go back under her bum, to hold her upright on top of him. She could no longer distinguish pain from pleasure as he continued his upward descent.
She began to whimper, and the salesman came back to the door and said, "I heard a banging noise, are you alright in there?"
"Yes, oh yes!" she screamed. She was in ecstasy.
"Are you sure?" the man said.
"Oh, shite!" Draco yelled. He was on the brink of a mind-blowing climax.
"Miss, are you alone in there?" he asked.
"No, oh god, no," she said. She was close, so close.
"Miss, is that man that was with you in there, too?"
"Fuck!" Draco said, driving into her harder.
The man rapped on the door and said, "Miss, is he hurting you?"
"Oh! Help!" she screamed. She was only coherent of the way she felt at that moment, and she felt wonderful.
"Shall I summon the police?" he asked concerned.
"Oh, god, yes!" Hermione said in the throes of her climax.
"Sir, don't hurt her!" the man said.
"Oh, shite, mother fucker !" Draco yelled at the top of his lungs as he continued his climax.
"I'm getting the police right now, don't worry, miss!" the man said as he ran from the dressing room.
Draco collapsed against the wall, her legs still around his waist, he still inside her. He put his head in the crook of her neck and tried to catch his breath. Hermione finally moved her wobbly legs from around his waist and said, "Draco! He's calling the Muggle police!" She could not help herself; she began to laugh as she tried to put on her clothes.
"I did assault you after all, how's the head?" he asked. He zipped up and put his hand on her head.
"Forget that, get my clothes, and the gown, and let's get the hell out of here!"
A/N:
How is that for an anti-cliffhanger! HA! EVIL LAUGH!