warning: excessively sugary fluff ahead and it might end with the need for an ice-cold drink too. Don't say I didn't warn you. Plus, better not read on an empty stomach as well, or if you're in need of a sweet tooth.
My Magzillasaurus has perfected this cheesy chapter for you, my gratitude goes to you, love, xxx.
Day Fifty-Eight
"I'm not touching whisky again." Despite the sober-up potion, she still sported the mother of all headaches. "You can have your collection, but I'm keeping my paws away from that sweet water from hell." Turning around onto her belly, she hid her face in the pillow, hoping to escape the rays of sunshine lighting up the room.
Draco pressed against her shoulder to make her shift again, whispering, "My dear swot was a little tipsy yesterday." He snaked an arm behind her back and pulled her into a sitting position. He brought an uncorked vial to her mouth and helped her consume a new dose of sober-up portion. "If I had a cauldron, I would mix you my special blend, which helps against the side effects of drunkenness." Carefully he let her rest against the headboard, pushing a few strands away from her forehead.
His eyes roamed over her face, grinning.
"Don't make fun of me, Draco. It's really not funny at all." She lamented, covering her eyes with a hand.
"It is, you know why? Because my lovely swotty witch is just as human as I am." Draco shifted higher on the bed and cradled her cheek, the thumb rubbing over the cheekbone. "Let's get you under a shower, you'll feel like a completely new human being." He rose to his feet and carried her with an arm behind her knees and shoulder blades.
In no time, he had them undressed and under the spray, using a loofah to scrub her entire body and taking the time to wash her hair, softly scratching her scalp. She leaned onto him and enjoyed the pampering, feeling the headache dissipate into nothing. Draco took the showerhead and let the rain of waterdrops rinse all the suds. His fingers untangled her curls at the same time, soft from the conditioner he applied last.
"Do you want to have a whisky collection?" She asked him with closed eyes. This soft, caring side of her wizard would never get boring.
"If it's okay with you. Turn our library into a cosy place for some rest, while enjoying a good tumbler." He picked a fresh towel from the rack and wrapped it around her frame, using a second to dry off himself with quick motions.
"Not to smoke, I hope." Hermione wrapped her hair in a towel and stepped out of the shower after him. She untucked her towel but was stopped by the blond, who gently used the fabric to dry her off. He walked quickly to the dresser , selected a set of underwear and helped her pull up her knickers. Draco assisted next with the bralette over her head to avoid getting it wet from her hair.
"Only when I'm older than a hundred years, like my grandfather Abraxas." He pecked her on the lips. "Wrinkled, grey-haired, needing a walking stick and degustating a good tumbler of single malt whisky and a good Cuban cigar."
Hermione could see the picture before her eyes. "How old was he?"
"Barely sixty, he died from dragon pox, but you get the idea right?" To her surprise, he kept choosing her clothes for today, selecting a floral sundress and repeating the same motions as with the bralette to dress her up. The lacy hems of her underwear added a nice finishing touch to the entire silhouette that she hadn't thought of. Her wizard had an eye for fashion too.
But he was far from done, apparently. He guided her outside to the balcony, placing a chair in the sunniest part of the deck and sat her down. He unwrapped the towel around her hair and dried the strands. "Well, I can imagine. Do you look like Abraxas?" She closed her eyes and relaxed, he was now using the comb to untangle the points starting from below.
"I'm the very much better-looking version. You're lucky to have the sexiest Malfoy at your side." He told her this drop-dead seriously. "Where do you want to live? In the city or in the countryside?"
"Don't you live in a penthouse now?" She threw back a look at him. The sun was shining bright, and she could feel some parts of her hair dry already. Her belly growled, "I'm getting hungry."
"Are we going downstairs or should I ring for room service?" He felt hungry as well, but taking care of her was primordial.
"Let's go downstairs and choose from the buffet. I don't know what I want to eat." Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, "You have this sweet side nobody knows about, I love it."
"If you ever say this in public, I'll deny it with everything I've got. I only take care of my witch and any child we're blessed with." His frown advised her not to take his warning in vain. But he did love to take care of her, something he learned from watching his father closely all those years.
"I'm hungry, let's go eat." Instead of heading straight to the front door, she caught his lips first into a sugar-sweet kiss. Slytherins did have a soft side after all.
-oOo-
"You didn't answer my question this morning." Draco devoured a spoonful of chocolate tart with a little from her clotted cream he stole. The theft was followed by a pair of brown eyes and a soft smile. This was a regular occurrence.
"Which one?" They were enjoying afternoon tea at the piano bar. Sitting at a table with a sea view window, courtesy of the Slytherin who cast a confundus to drive out a couple halfway through their own tea break. Hermione noticed it a little too late to intervene.
"Where do you want to live? In the city or in the countryside?" He sipped his herbal tea.
"I thought you lived in a penthouse." She offered him a piece of her orange blossom scone with a dollop of marmalade. On the way back, she claimed a bit of his tart, though he halted her fork to add some of the caramel drizzle.
"I do in London, between the London Bridge and Tower Bridge." He relaxed into his chair, crossing the legs. His plate only contained crumbles. With a slight nod, he requested the attention of a waiter and asked for fresh tea for the two - politely enough to earn brownie points from his witch. "It's close enough to Diagon Ally."
"Tell me more about it." She bet this location had the best view money could buy, though living in an apartment compared to a house didn't appeal to her.
"Well, you can see the Thames and Canary Wharf on the opposite side, the living room and the kitchen blend into an open space, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows. It's always bathed in sunlight. Three rooms, each room with their own bathroom. Occasionally, Theo stays overnight in the guest room, Blaise and Pansy have their own not far away from mine. It's through them that I found mine. I turned the unused room into my own potions room." He stirred some sugar into his tea.
She added a dash of cream to both teas, "You can't fly."
"True. That's the only reason I floo into the Manor, beyond visiting my mother." A waitress took the plates away, and he paused his answer until the coast was clear. "I haven't forgotten my promise to you, lady. I'll take you on my Firebolt and show you the beauty of Wiltshire after dawn."
"Are you happy in your penthouse? I like my parents' home, but I wouldn't mind living in the countryside, having a garden to tend to." Briefly, she thought of her parents' house in Brisbane, which was so much different than where they used to live. The garden was far bigger for starters.
"Nothing Manor-sized, I hope." That had been one of the red flags about Astoria. How their idea of living arrangements differed so much.
"What do I need twenty bedrooms for? I want to have children with you but not my own quidditch team, don't you even think about it." Draco nodded with pursed lips. If it was up to him, the first would be already on its way. He learned to be patient in the meantime.
"A nice place with three or four bedrooms so we have a free room for a stay-over then?" She agreed with a nod. "A big enough garden for you to tend to and for me to fly and teach our children quidditch?"
She bobbed again, imagining a cottage house, "Room for a library big enough to also house your whisky collection, maybe a pool?"
"Remains one question, where?" Unknowingly, they both had the same design of a house in mind, far from what his Manor looked like.
"The floo connects everyone, so even if it's not close to your parents or Harry's, where it is is less of an issue. I think we need to find a place we both fall in love with and focus less on its location, don't you think?" Draco offered a hand and guided her outside the promenade deck, towards the nose of the ship, "If it turns out to be closer to the Manor and farther away from Harry, then so be it. I want a home, not a house."
Right on the spot, he turned her to him and caught her lips in a searing kiss, shoulders raised as he held her face between his palms. Despite how much he enjoyed discovering the world aboard this ship, he would love to start immediately searching for their home. Above all, to bind his life to hers forever. They still had a little more than thirty days, but damn they felt now like an eternity.
"Draco, I can feel your impatience." She smiled against his lips, also holding his face between her hands. "Consider this our honeymoon, I don't want to travel again so soon after our wedding."
"That was the original intention of this journey for Astoria and me." They were breathing each other's air, unaware of their surroundings.
"Your intention brought you to me. My intention was to escape my reality." She played with his hair, bringing their bodies closer. He was growing hard, and the last thing she wanted, was for people to notice his erection. Nevertheless, she moaned, "Draco..."
"Give me a second." He was breathing hard. Drawing a significant intake of air, he concentrated in casting a wandless disillusionment spell. He disapparated them into their room.
He barely gave her time to breathe, holding her against the wall, his hands made quick work of her panties, shoving them down her legs. The sandals fell with two thumps on the ground. His lips devoured her mouth relentlessly, consuming her moans.
Hermione responded equally, fingers pulling on the buttons of his shorts, pushing down his fly and releasing his hardness; stroking the soft skin with determined movements, coating the head with her slick each time she rubbed it against her entrance.
However, his patience ran thin, and he grabbed his cock, aligned it with her sheath, impaling her in one powerful thrust. His hips started to piston relentlessly, his hands pulling her dress over her head. He aided her to ditch his own polo shirt, her lacy bralette following shortly. Draco winced when he heard a slight tearing sound, but it was the least of his worries.
Her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, Hermione covered his face with little nips, bit his lobe and moaned into his ear. The head of his cock was hitting a special place within her heat, and it sent sparks of fire down her spine. Faster than usual, the pressure built inside her core, eager to snap.
Her walls squeezed his length, and the wizard redoubled his efforts, recognising the signs. Draco pounded heady, with short guttural grunts, each palm squeezing a globe; a finger stroking her puckered hole. She screamed her release, squeezing his waist between her legs, the fingers leaving creases on his back.
"I love you, witch." Draco kept pumping through her orgasm, speaking into her mouth. "I love you so much. Ah, fuck." He wanted to last longer, bring her once more over the edge but his body had a mind of its own. He growled, kissed her fierly, thrusting erratically until he was spent.
To his surprise, she had trails of tears on her cheeks. "Did I hurt you?"
"No." She choked on a sob. "I love you too, Draco." Hermione caressed his hair, pushing away sweaty strands. Merlin only knew how many times she had had this thought, but not in a million years could her old-self imagine that this blond wizard would be the one. Passionate, caring, slightly naughty, but her equal in so many points.
He dried her tears with a soft caress. "You didn't know that you would find the love you sought, did you?"
"I was so angry when I saw you first."
Draco carried her to the bed, sitting on the edge carefully before leaning back taking her with him.
"Yes, me too. But I was afraid of you too, you know?" He confessed a thought from that first night, "You had a murderous look in your eyes, for a second I feared that you would confund the captain into helping you kill me and ditch my body over the rail."
She laughed warm and hearty, "You're not wrong. I did think of it."
"Thank Salazar you didn't." Draco exploded into joyous laughter.
"Indeed, thank Merlin, I didn't." She scourgified them, too lazy to grab a washing glove and a towel for the purpose. Stretching, Hermione curled around him, caressing his chest, a flexed leg was thrown over his. The sound of his heartbeat lulled her into sleep. He followed shortly after, the last thing he remembered was a deep intake of blissful air.
