It is 4:20 AM here in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, and IDK why THE FUCK i am still awake!
Oh wait, I KNOW! Because I'm still in a hypomanic stage and am not fucking with the "winning formula" of societal change. Just, don't ask.
Anyway, some cutesy fluff, and I will have chapter 6 posted soon hopefully!
ENJOY THE CHEESINESS ADORABLENESS!
Draco made a decision. He and Hermione went out to the bar and then fucked. Yet he had never romanced her, taken her out for dinner, he hadn't even bought her flowers! He didn't even know what her favorite flowers were! And that was completely abysmal and made him ashamed to call himself a "true gentleman" if he was being honest.
When she came over that night, he kissed her softly and leaned his head on hers, "Hey, I'm taking you out tomorrow. Dress really nicely, fancier than cocktail but not as fancy as ballgown, if that makes sense. I'm going to wear a muggle suit."
Hermione giggled, "Okay, I have a dress in my closet that is ready for a night out! May I ask what is the occasion?"
"Does a gentleman need an occasion to spoil his girl?" Draco hummed.
"Solid point."
"By the way, hypothetically, if I were to buy you flowers, what would make you squeal in delight the loudest?"
"Tulips."
"Perfect." Draco said before unbuttoning her shirt, starting at the top.
They found themselves tangled in the sheets yet again almost all night until they fell asleep in each other's embrace.
The next day, Hermione returned home and spent the day shaving and plucking every stray hair she could find. She wanted to dress for the kill, to "knock him dead" in a proverbial sense.
A few months earlier, she had stumbled upon a short red halterneck dress with lace around the collar. It was adorable and Hermione found herself shelling out the about fifty pounds it cost. It had been on sale after formal dance season for the muggles, and it fit Hermione like a glove.
She was thrilled to finally have a reason to take it out.
She paired the dress with a set of red high pumps with crystals around the ankle band, and chunky diamond bracelet and teardrop diamond earrings that were a family heirloom. THings that she never got to wear.
The neckline of the dress wasn't conducive for a necklace, so she went without.
Her make up with medium, where it wasn't too heavy, but red lips aren't found naturally on humans.
Hermione spent a lot of time on her hair, taming it into an elegant updo.
Hidden under the skirt of her dress was her wand holster. Darn dresses without pockets! But she always wanted to be prepared.
She just prayed she wasn't over dressed. Draco had given no inclination as to what their evening would entail, just that she would swoon and it would be a wonderfully magical night.
Five forty five soon rolled around, and Hermione grabbed her clutch and left her apartment, a shall draped over her shoulder.
She aparated to the alley down the street from Draco's flat and walked to it. She was thankful that her heels were more pumps than stilettos.
Hermione knocked on the door to Draco's flat. Usually she would just let herself in, but she felt like knocking.
Draco quickly opened the door, wearing a black suit with a red tie and white shirt, with a giant bouquet of purple and pink tulips in his right hand.
"Hi! These are for you!" He said enthusiastically.
Hermione laughed and entered his flat, taking the bouquet from his hand.
She admired it and smiled, "Thank you so much. These are beautiful."
Draco looked her up and down, "But nowhere near as beautiful as you."
Hermione blushed, "Thanks," she muttered, looking down.
Draco placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head up, capturing her lips with his in a heated kiss.
He didn't hold the kiss for long, pulled away a few seconds later and rested his forehead on hers, "I have a vase over there, let's go put these in water and then get our night started."
Hermione beamed, "Yes! Please!"
"Excellent."
Draco led her to his kitchen table where he took the tulips and placed them in a simple vase.
He then took Hermione's hand in his and led her out the door and down the stairs to the street.
He took out his wand from his inside pocket, "Side apparition okay?"
Hermione looked at him quizzically, "Now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't actually seen you perform magic since school. This is odd."
Draco chuckled, "You are correct. I haven't mastered non-verbal spells, but I'm proficient. I can't walk around the muggles waving a pointy stick now can I?"
Hermione grinned and laced her arm through his, "Well, aparate us away!"
Draco said the spell and with a loud POP, they disapperated and apparated to another alley.
Draco led her from the shadows of the alley to the street, where they were across from Cibo, which was an Italian restaurant that Hermione had never been to, but had always wanted to try. Yet it was more a "couples" thing, and she had never really dated anyone worth the expense of Cibo.
"I've always wanted to try Cibo," Hermione thought aloud.
"Good, I made reservations, shelled a pretty penny to get private dining, and plan on romancing you with wine and good food. Please, do not feel guilty. I specifically used money from my trust fund because I have a stupid amount of it."
Hermione's small amount of guilt melted away with that admission.
Draco led her to the front of the restaurants and opened the door for her. She entered and Draco met the host of the venue and gave his name.
"Draconian Malloy." He said cooly.
Draco looked completely out of place with his blueberry hair, but the host didn't bat an eye as he led the darling couple past the rest of the tables to a hidden alcove by a window.
Hermione swooned at the taper candles on the table and the fairy lights draped on the ceiling. This was romance at its highest peak.
A waitress soon arrived to offer them wine and menus. Draco looked at her, "White or red?"
"Red."
He went with a vintage red for the table and the waitress darted off to fetch the bottle.
Hermione hid her face behind the menu.
It was almost too much, like, he was both trying and doing the romancing of her and the winning of her heart. Her mind was confuddled by the suddenness. She believed it was more than just casual hot sex, but this was a whole new level, hell, a whole new game!
She almost got lost in her thoughts when she felt Draco's foot run up her leg.
HE WAS PLAYING FOOTSIE UNDER THE TABLE!
Hermione couldn't help it, she giggled and put down her menu.
Draco was smiling at her, as if he knew what was in her mind, which wouldn't surprise her, she was probably easy to read right then.
"Stop overthinking. Go with the night. And order something delicious. Understood?"
Hermione nodded and smiled, "Okay, I'll try to stop overthinking. No promsies."
"I'll take it."
Hermione returned to the menu and finally chose a pasta dish.
The waitress soon came back with the wine and poured them each a glass, then took their orders and rushed them to the kitchen.
Draco raised his glass in the air, "A toast."
Hermione raised hers as well, "A toast to what?"
"To our happiness." Draco replied.
"To our happiness," Hermione repeated as they gently clinked their glasses.
Hermione took a sip and the vintage was absolutely delicious.
Draco watched her with curious eyes from over the edge of his glass as he took a sip. She was ever so amazing.
Was he falling in love, he wondered to himself. Probably.
Hermione sat her glass down and tried to think of something to say, and then came up with a compliment.
"You look absolutely dashing tonight." She said.
And he did. He had styled his hair for once, instead of being a wild mess of blueberry blue strands, it was styled neatly and obviously combed.
Draco gave a genuine smile. "Thank you. And you look beautiful, but I think I've already told you that, yet I will tell you again many times tonight."
Hermione smiled and felt her cheeks turn hot.
"So, I'm curious, because we've neve actually had a true conversation about anything other than your demon cat. What on earth do you do for a living?" Draco asked.
"Oh! I'm a freelance ancient ruins interpreter. I assist in reading ancient runes to those who aren't proficient in them! I got an O in my N.E.W.T.S. for the subject, and then I studied for a while under a master, and I am considered an expert in my field. I know, it seems kind of boring, but I get to read so much history before everyone else! It pays surprisingly really well, and so much more exciting to me than a stuffy job in the Ministry like everyone expected." Hermione gushed.
Draco smiled, "You just lit up when you started talking. I like that look on you. I highly doubt it's boring. I wish I had taken Ancient Ruins, but my father didn't want me really, learning, that subject because it would open me to A LOT of dark texts in the Malfoy Library. He didn't want me getting any ideas. So stupid."
"Well, you missed out. It's fascinating! I've been invited on a summer dig in the Netherlands actually! They've found the ruins of an old magic village and loads of writings on the walls! So I might go into the field instead of interpreting pictures. I haven't brought it up yet because I just didn't know how."
"How long will you be gone?"
"About two weeks total. Working non stop. It's not my first field experience, but it's my first in a long while."
"That's amazing."
"Thank you. I'm glad I've made a career out of something that I love. So, tell me, where did you study tattoo artistry?"
"Russia actually. I have distant relatives out there who offered to let me stay with them after the trial, and I met this magical tattoo artist who took me under his wing and taught me both muggle and magic tattooing practices. Boris is his name. He actually is the one who tattooed the dragon onto me. And my dark mark cover up. Obviously, you've seen my tattoos, but they do have stories behind them that I haven't told. And I don't think I've actually SHOWN you Henry, the Hungarian Horntail. He moves." Draco said, wiggling his eyebrows. "I have him stunned most of the time since I've integrated with the muggles. I miss him roaming my shoulder. I feel a bit bad actually."
Hermione smiled, "That's adorable actually. I'd love to see Henry in action. And would you like to tell me about your own coverup? I know it's daffodils, I didn't expect that."
Draco sighed and looked at the table before looking back at her, "Well, they are daffodils, which are classified as Narcissus flowers. My mother, Narcissa, is named after them. She is the only reason I stuck to the cause, why I kept my head down, why I did terrible things. Because the Dark Lord threatened her life. And when I basically disappeared, I wanted to remember her. I haven't spoken to her in well over a year, and I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm dead now."
Hermione felt a pain in her heart, as if it was breaking for him. She placed her hand over his on the table and squeezed it gently, "I'm sorry. Whenever you're ready, you should send her a letter, just to let her know that you're alive. I've seen her in Diagon Alley a few times, she looks lost. But only when you're ready."
"Thank you. I might be ready soon, I thought I'd never be, but, I miss my free use of magic. I've changed so much, and you've changed me further. I used to be more dreary, but now I wake up either to you, or to the anticipation of seeing you."
Hermione swooned.
Draco chuckled at her swooning. He could read it on her face.
"The biggest problem of course, of seeing mother, will be her critique of my hair. I like the blueberry blue better than the snow white strands I had. And she knows about Henry and the cover up, but everything else? Um, she'll lose her mind! She is a mother after all."
Hermione laughed.
"So, what of your parents?" Draco asked suddenly.
"I couldn't reverse my memory wipe spell without permanently damaging their minds. So I let them go. It hurts everyday, I miss them so much, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat, just to keep them safe." Hermione grimaced. It was a painful memory.
"Hey, you did what you thought was right, and it was right. You're the strongest of our entire class." Draco cooed.
"Thank you." Hermione replied softly.
Their food arrived right then, and the deep conversation of opening old wounds was ended for the time being.
Hermione almost moaned from how good her dish was, and Draco wanted to hear that moan, for his own pleasure, but vowed to make her scream later.
Yet, he wanted the end of the night to be different. He didn't want rough, hot, tangled in the sheets sex. He wanted to worship her. He wanted to cherish her. He wanted to make love to her.
Wait?
Yes, love to her.
Draco pondered on that thought, and then accepted it. It was a good thought, he liked where things were going, and he decided he would make love to her tonight.
Cibo is a REAL restaurant in Muggle London. I looked up a lot of "Italian Restaurant Names" and they were fucking STUPID and RIDICULOUS and INSULTING to Italians! UGH! So i looked up romantic london restaurants italian, and BOOM! Cibo! They are closed due to Covid, but should I ever visit london, ima go there.
I genuinely enjoy writing this; I don't have any clue what the next word will be, but it's fine!
As always, review, fave and follow!
Thanks luvs!
AND ART COMING SOON! I PROMISE!