Chapter 17

Hermione needed a bath, and she needed one badly, it had been almost a week and the aurors were finally coming to interview her in the morning. The infirmary didn't have the facilities for anything other than a sponge bath.

And while she knew that between that and magic, she was technically clean, she wanted to soak herself. Dunk her head and scrub her hair clean with something that felt more cleansing than a 'scourgify.' However, she was too weak to bathe by herself and even the thought of raising her arms above her head long enough to wash her hair made her cringe in agony. That was the one motion that really seemed to tweak her injury. Splitting it open again had been a really bad idea.

But if she was being truly honest, she just needed some time alone with Draco. Teddy was annoyed with her, specifically with her hard stance against their father. Draco, while clearly uncomfortable at times, was far more open minded about her opinions.

Dobby's appearance had rocked Draco to his core, and the more she spoke with them both, the more she realized that Teddy had been much better sheltered from the Death Eater organization than Draco had been. It was something which Hermione was infinitely grateful for, that her precious brother had been spared. However, it left him far more hesitant to question their father's choices and sometimes made it difficult to speak with him.

Beyond that, despite the friction between the siblings, Teddy was reluctant to leave her alone with Draco. She'd shared a few chaste kisses with her betrothed, but whenever it seemed to be turning into more Teddy would appear. It was driving her crazy.

When the boys returned from dinner- a meal she'd insisted they attend every night lest people begin to think they were hiding, or that she was keeping them away from them- she asked to speak to Draco alone.

When she'd explained her request he'd turned such a spectacular shade of red that she'd almost hurt herself laughing. "I didn't mean anything scandalous, Dragon. I really just want a bath and I can't take one by myself. We can wear our bathing suits- it's just that I feel a little too weird asking Teddy to help me bathe. It seems like something you should do."

She would have felt bad about her manipulation, except she really didn't particularly want her twin's aid bathing. Or anybody else's. Not when Draco was an option.

Hermione had heard the talk amongst the girls in her dorm. In fact, given that she was best friends with two boys who often seemed to forget that she was a girl, or that she was there at all, she had heard a lot of talk amongst the boys in her house as well. She knew that most people her age had begun to experiment sexually.

She had been intrigued by the idea intellectually. She had even done some (very innocent) experimenting of her own with Viktor. But the boy crazy atmosphere amongst some of her peers had never made sense to her. It was as if every good looking wizard was interchangeable for another.

She now understood why she had been so baffled. At least she thought she did. It had always been Draco for her. He wasn't interchangeable.

And she was anxious to explore her more physical attraction to him, even if it was only a little bit. As far as she was concerned they were each others forever, and she wasn't in any hurry. She just wanted to be close to him.

Teddy threw what could only be described as a temper tantrum when she told him her plan. Draco stood steadfastly by her side. But he let her fight her own battle with her twin.

"I hope you have better control of yourself over my personal business with my betrothed before we're in public," Hermione answered cooly in response to Teddy's ire. "This is not your decision, and if you ever embarrass me over my relationship, I will not take it well," and then she let herself be led, leaning on Draco, to the Prefects bath.

Teddy wouldn't be able to follow them into the bathroom, given that he wasn't a prefect himself. She felt only momentarily guilty, there was only so much emotion she could contain at once. Teddy would have to adapt and she didn't think it would help to coddle him.

She'd made that mistake with Harry and Ron in the past.

Draco helped her strip off her top and pajama bottoms with little ceremony, but when she was left in only her deep blue bikini his eyes went wide, and then fell to her chest.

She looked down, the scar was a shiny pink and probably two inches wide and stretched from her sternum to her hip bone, but it had at least finally closed and no longer had to be heavily bandaged. And she'd been assured that if she was vigilant with her potions and creams it would shrink, and fade almost completely.

"Sorry, I know it's not pretty."

His eyes flew to hers. "Huh?"

"The wound," she clarified.

He reddened spectacularly and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"You weren't looking at the wound?" She guessed.

He shrugged and still refused to meet her eyes, suddenly extremely bashful.

And that's when it hit her like a ton of bricks and she hated herself for inadvertently embarrassing him. Because for all her seemingly natural connection with Draco, and their newly remembered history, they had been raised differently. She was wearing a fairly modest bikini, but it was probably more of a witch than he'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I just didn't think."

"It's- it's okay. I was just surprised. We're promised, right? This isn't inappropriate?" He looked at her hopefully.

"Of course. Are we okay?"

"Of course."

She looked at the steps leading into the bath and sighed. "Help me in?"

"Okay, how?"

"Help me sit, and then I can just scoot in."

"Okay, and then I'll catch you."

Hermione bit back a sigh; her independent nature once again warring against the fact that she wanted (had asked for) help, and that she wanted to spend time with Draco, not fight her own body just to stay upright and afloat.

"Thanks."

He took her arms and helped her lower herself down onto the ledge, then he stepped into the bath (which was really much more of an indoor swimming pool). She took her time lowering herself into the bath, relishing in the feel of the water against her skin, until she heard a snicker and she cut her eyes to Draco who was watching her with amusement.

"Shut up," she murmured, "this feels so nice."

"It's okay, I've just never seen a grown witch enjoy a bath so much."

She narrowed her eyes and kicked off towards him, he was only a few feet away and grasped her easily and gently. "Have a lot of experience with grown witches and baths, do you?"

"I'm onto you Granger," he murmured. "You aren't going to trip me up again."

"Granger?"

He shrugged. "I've been calling you that in my head for a long time, does it bother you?"

"Not at all, but it would probably drive Teddy mad."

"I know," he commented lightly. "How do you feel?"

"Right now? Pretty glorious. But in general, I'm extremely sore. Sometimes the wound burns. And I wasn't just using that as an excuse to get you in here with me, I'd rather go without than try to wash my hair by myself." She smirked at him.

"Come here," he requested quietly, guiding her legs around his waist, he held her around her own waist. "I've got you, just relax."

"I have so many things I want to say to you," she told him, without opening her eyes.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I think maybe I've been holding them in my heart for whenever I found you again." She tucked her arms against his chest and her head in the crook of his neck.

"Okay," he answered, as if he didn't know what else to say.

"First of all I wanted to say thanks."

"What for?" He chuckled.

"Not questioning me too much about coming here, I know you're going to hear about it from Teddy. I'll have a talk with him. I'm sorry about how he's been."

"He's just being protective, I think that's normal for a brother."

"But you're the very last thing on earth I need protecting from," she huffed. "Though I guess he doesn't really have any way to understand what's between us," she conceded upon further thought.

"What is between us?" He wondered. "I mean what does it feel like to you?"

She sighed and traced a droplet of water across his shoulder with her fingertip. He held her tighter. "Like we belong to each other so completely that we could never really hurt each other, not in any real, long lasting way."

He hummed in agreement.

"I went to a wedding once and as part of their vows they promised to belong to each other 'with all that I am and all that I have.' It really bothered me at the time and I got up on what my parents call my Hermione Soapbox-"

"Oh I know what that looks like."

"Yes you do, you prat, you've sent me up on it more than once." She flicked his arm.

"Always so violent," he murmured.

"Anyway, I went on and on about how they should be ashamed to be giving up their independence like that and how I was never going to lose myself to somebody else. And my parents just sort of looked at each other in that way that parents do and shook their heads. You know what I mean?"

"Oh yeah, I know you've seen Mother and Father do that a thousand times."

"Yeah," she sighed over her bittersweet memories. "Anyway, they tried to explain that it wasn't about sacrificing anything at all but about sharing something beautiful." She smiled to herself and kissed his neck. "But you know, I was about nine or ten at the time and convinced I was going to be the second female prime minister and I wouldn't have time for a husband at all. Plus, boys were icky."

A chuckle rumbled through his chest. "What about now, do you still think boys are icky?"

"Oh Dragon," she laughed. "I've spent a significant amount of time in the Gryffindor boys' dormitories. I know for certain that boys can be very icky. But there's one in particular who definitely isn't." She lapped another drop of water off of his skin with her tongue and then lifted her head to look him in the eyes. "And I've been dying for some alone time to explore that beautiful thing that we share."

"Calla," it was half-gasp, half moan. He ducked his head and captured her lips with his.

They snogged furiously for what could have been minutes or hours but Hermione knew that she would never get enough of, no matter how long she lived, and she never wanted to stop. Except then it got better. He began peppering her cheeks with small kisses, licking and sucking down her neck.

He hiked her legs further up his body so he could reach her chest. He kissed all the way across her clavicle and with something like reverence traced the exposed swells of her breasts with his nose before leaving one last kiss to the top of her injury.

"So beautiful, and so stupidly brave," he whispered.

She tunneled a hand into his damp hair and pressed his face more firmly against her chest.

"Merlin, Draco, I want more, I want you closer. I wish there was a way to get you closer."

He lifted his face, pupils blown wide, lips red and swollen. He was so beautiful. "There's a way I can get closer."

The moment the words left his mouth the expression on his face went from blissed out to completely horrified. It broke the spell between them. "I didn't mean that!"

She laughed. "Oh yes you did mean that! It's fine. You're sixteen, we were just snogging half-naked in a bathtub, I'd be concerned if you weren't thinking about that at least a little."

He let her slide back down his body and nuzzled her nose with his. "I would never want to pressure or rush you."

She shrugged. "I don't feel pressured or rushed, I just feel wanted. It's nice." She traced his cheek with her fingertips. "I'm not worried. We'll figure this out together. Lots to explore," she waggled her eyebrows at him.

"I'm looking forward to that," he stroked one of her thighs. "You know, I'd say you're actually more than half naked. Is this really what muggles wear to swim?"

"Yes, they make some that are more modest too, but they also make them more revealing. You won't believe what a thong is, and then there's topless sunbathing and even fully nude beaches."

His jaw dropped and he started swallowing convulsively. "The muggle world sounds like an interesting place," he finally choked out.

"It is, it's a diverse place."

"Have you ever done any of that?"

"I have a couple of skimpier suits, yes. I've never been to a nude beach and I've never sunbathed topless, but I've seen other women do it and I'm not opposed to the idea. I like to feel the sun on my skin."

He just stared at her, eyes dark. "I'm not sure how I feel about that, about other people seeing you like that."

For a moment her independent nature bristled and she almost told him that it was her body and she'd do as she pleased. But then she realized that the very thought of the way Pansy Parkinson looked at Draco made her want to claw the other witch's eyes out, and that was when he was in full uniform. She couldn't very well blame him for being uncomfortable at the idea of another man ogling her when she was mostly nude.

"Tell you what," she said, "if I remember correctly the Malfoy Villa in France has a private beach in front of it."

He nodded. "It's warded."

"Maybe it's something I could try when it's just the two of us."

He groaned. "Your brother's going to kill me." His eyes fell to her breasts. "So I'm allowed to look, but am I allowed to touch?"

"Yes."

He tentatively raised one hand to her breast and palmed it gently. She let out a sigh.

"Is that okay?" He wondered.

Her heart clenched at how uncertain he sounded, his eyes were wide and hopeful. It was obvious how badly he wanted to please her. She leaned in to him.

"Mmmmm-hmmm. Feels so nice. So nice when you touch me." She settled her face against his neck again and luxuriated in his touches which became bolder and bolder: her waist, her back, her bum, but it was more sensual sexual.

"Calla," he said after awhile as he continued to stroke up and down her spine and she was drifting in that land between sleep and wakefulness.

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking about something?"

"Okay, what is it?"

"What if we got married."

She forced her bleary eyes open and reluctantly pulled away from his delicious skin so that she could see his face. "I thought we'd pretty much already decided on that."

"No, I mean, what if we got married soon? This summer? We're old enough with Mother's permission, and you know she'd give it."

"Where is this coming from?"

He shrugged, his eyes fixed somewhere over her shoulder. "I just don't want to ever be separated from you again."

She had suspected something like that, she sighed and hoped that she could manage to explain her thoughts to him in a way that would keep him from throwing one of his epic temper tantrums. "Oh Draco, please don't take this the wrong way, but no."

"Why not?" He asked, managing to sound both petulant and resigned.

"Because we're sixteen and if I tell my parents we want to get married this summer it'll probably give them both heart attacks. People really don't get married that young in the muggle world unless the girl's pregnant, at least not in Britain."

"But you're not pregnant."

"No, but my point is that they'll think we're way too young. It's going to be difficult enough to get them to understand and accept the circumstances of our relationship as it is. But that's not the only reason."

"Okay, what else?"

"I don't want to get married because we're scared. That's a thing you know, especially in times of war, people think their time might be limited so they just seize the day. War brides and war babies are very common. I don't want that for us. I want a big wedding, a big celebration. I want it to be on the front page of the Daily Prophet so that we can rub it in the faces of the people who tried to destroy our families how disgustingly happy we are. I want it to be safe for my parents to attend. And I want them to be treated with respect."

"Calla, you realize what that means, don't you?"

"That the dark arsehole will have to be dead?"

"The dark arsehole?" He asked faintly.

"I too have been doing some thinking," she confessed. "And all of his other names are stupid. He's not the Lord of anything, and he's certainly not my lord. One does not call somebody who was born out of a cauldron 'Tom' like he's a normal person. And 'Voldemort' is just bad French. Don't even get me started on You Know Who or He Who Must Not Be Named."

"Calliope," he practically choked on what sounded like a laugh, but his eyes were wide and horrified.

"I'm just saying," she shrugged. "Anyway, yes, you're right, he would have to be dead. But like I said, I've been thinking. You and I could see to that, and I think Teddy would help when it came down to it."

"Oh, okay sure," Draco's voice went very high on that last word, "just kill the darkest and possibly the most powerful wizard to ever live."

"Oh please, history is riddled with dark wizards, no pun intended," she snickered to herself and tightened her hold on Draco who was looking kind of light headed. "And he's not even the most powerful wizard alive today. He's just made everybody so afraid of him by hiding behind that personae, it makes him seem untouchable."

"He's pretty untouchable, not to mention ruthless and evil," he countered.

She shook her head vigorously. "Just think about it, his body is a magical construct. Love banished him once, we just have to figure out how he came back and then we should be able to get rid of him for good. I'm not saying we challenge him to a duel, but I don't think we necessarily need to."

"And you think you, Theo, and I are the ones for the job?"

"We're smart, determined, obscenely wealthy, we have all sorts of resources at our fingertips including some of the most extensive private libraries in the world, and most of all, he'll never see us coming."

He just stared at her.

"Are you in?" She finally asked, "because I'll work by myself if I have to."

He continued to stare at him for several minutes and she could practically see him processing her words. Finally his eyes fell shut. "Yes, you insane witch, of course I'm in."

"Excellent. Now I need your help washing my hair."

His eyes popped back open, they were now filled with mirth. "Whatever my Lady desires."

"That's good," she grinned, "because I'm just getting started."

Author's Note: Happy 2020 everybody, I hope you enjoyed my first post of the new year! Thank you to Weestarmeggie for her alpha/beta work (my new year's resolution to you is that I will write more of these two in the Prefects Bath xoxo) Thanks to you all for reading!