Chapter 12
Hermione was exhausted after meeting with her advisors. She hadn't been mistaken, they weren't happy with her at all. They wanted her to reconsider, to marry James. They had yelled at her that she was stupid and that this would mean the end of her rule, the end of her country. She had yelled back. She told them that the only reason she was still alive to be married, was because of Draco and that if she had to be a queen, she would do it with the person who had saved her and whom she could trust. But it had been an exhausting feet. They eventually decided to give her time and space to change her mind, which she wouldn't. But it did make sure that they didn't bother her any longer. She had retreated to her chambers and shedded the dress. She managed to get out of it on her own, as Draco hadn't laced it as tight as her servants would have. She was standing once again in her black corsetdress when a knock on the door sounded. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Seriously, wouldn't they ever leave her alone. She opened the door to yell at them some more, but standing in the hallway was Draco Malfoy. She opened her mouth to yell, but as soon as she saw him, she shut it again.
"Can I come in?" he asked. She noticed that he, too, must have been getting ready for the night as he was just wearing a loose white shirt and some black trousers.
"Sure" she answered and opened the door completely to let him in.
"I wanted to know how your meeting with your advisors went, I imagine they weren't too happy with us" he smiled. Hermione shook her head.
"Well, no, they weren't" she complied. She turned away from him and looked in the mirror. She was carefully taking the braids out of her hair and she let it cascade down her back. She felt Draco's hands on her shoulders.
"I figured we needed to talk about what happened in the library" he whispered in her ear. She nodded.
"Yeah, we should" she whispered. His hand combed her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. She closed her eyes as he pressed his lips on the spot where her neck and shoulder met. She leaned into his body.
"Draco" she protested "I thought we were going to talk." He smirked against her skin.
"But this is so much more fun" he breathed. His hands slid down her frame, to her back and he started working on the strings that kept her corset in place. Hermione turned around and forced him to stop fidgeting with her corset. She placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him while pushing him back.
"Malfoy, as much as I would like you to continue, we need to talk about this" she whispered. He sighed and closed his eyes.
"Yeah alright" he answered. He sat down on her bed and she sat down next to him.
"What is happening here?" she asked. He looked at her and bit his lip. His hand raised to her cheek and his thumb ran over her cheekbone.
"I honestly don't know. Maybe it's just this weird time travelthing" he answered. She looked at him and leaned into his touch.
"It's scary" she whispered. He smiled.
"yeah, it is, and crazy" he laughed. She grabbed his face in her hands.
"Totally insane. But that's why I trust it" she whispered before pressing her lips to his. They had never kissed like this. They had kissed in the heat of the moment, passionate and hungry, but not like this. His hand laid on the back of is neck and he pressed her closer to him. Her tongue gliding over his bottom lip and his meeting hers. He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against her.
"This is unreal" he whispered, smiling. She nodded but didn't say anything. "I ran into James after you left" he whispered. Hermione broke away from him and looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
"What did he want?" she asked. Draco smiled.
"He wasn't happy, I'll tell you that." He grabbed her hand. "Nothing I can't handle, though" he smirked.
"Well, he won't be leaving any time soon. He will come back to English court with us, for as long as my advisors don't let up" she answered, looking down.
"I know, it's fine. We'll manage him" he whispered.
"My advisors told me something else, too" she started, getting up and walking a few steps away from him. He looked at her, she looked nervous. "The old king had a seer in his court, a woman who supposedly has magic and can see the future." She looked at him.
"Well, that sounds like a lot of crap" he laughed.
"Yeah, maybe, but wouldn't it be worth it if we went to see for ourselves. We know what magic looks like and maybe, just maybe, she'll have a way out for us." He got up and walked over to her.
"If you want to go see the crazy lady, we'll go see the crazy lady" he grabbed her face in his hands. "I will go with you, I'll follow where ever you go" he pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him into a hug. "We'll go tomorrow, before we leave for England." He nodded.
Draco held her in his arms as she slept. They had crawled into her bed not long after their conversation and she had fallen asleep almost immediately. Her head was resting on his chest and his arms were wrapped around her, carefully rubbing her arms. He didn't understand what was happening between the two of them, but he would follow her to the end of the earth if she asked him to. Maybe it was because they were in a universe where they only knew eachother, or maybe it was because of the prophecy, but from the moment they got here, he had been drawn to her. He wanted to be near her, wanted to be able to touch her. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that she would feel the same way and that they would come together. It was rather odd. He didn't think it could ever have happened in their own time. But here she was, asleep in his arms. The girl who supposedly was his nemesis. He knew it was only temporary though, if she found out about him, it would all be over. There was no way she would trust him then. It didn't matter, he would make the most out of the time they had together. She stirred in her sleep and moaned. He looked at her and pressed a soft kiss on her hair. "It's going to be fine, Hermione, we're going to be fine" he whispered.
Draco stayed with Hermione all night. He just held her and they slept until the morning sun warmed the room. Hermione stretched in his grasp and carefully opened her eyes. "You stayed" she whispered. He smiled at her.
"Of course I did" he pressed a kiss on her forehead and she crawled out of bed.
"Should I call for my ladies? It's time to get dressed." She asked. He shook his head.
"I'll help you get dressed" he smirked. She turned and raised her eyebrows at him.
"What do you know about dressing girls?" He got up and walked over to her.
"It can't be that difficult." He smiled as he rummaged through her dresses.
"Besides, I have better taste." He smirked. She slapped him on the arm before combing her hair. She decided to just tie it into a high ponytail and added a crown on top of her head.
"Okay, I've decided." He announced. Hermione turned around and looked at Draco. He was holding a black dress with a silver harness. Hermione grabbed it from him.
"Well, fine, if you insist" she answered.
"I do" he smirked.
"Turn around." She commanded and he obliged. She slid off her skirt but kept her corset on, it would fit perfectly under this dress and she didn't believe in the fact that Malfoy could actually tie corset in a decent way. Afterwards, she stepped into the dress. It sleeves covered her arms and parts of her hands as well. They were tight fitting, as well as the rest of the dress. "Alright, you can turn around" Draco looked at her, he walked over to her and started working on the dress. His fine fingers tying it and making it fit even snugger around her body. The silver harness was designed so it looked like silver leaves tangling her body. She turned to him when he was done.
"There, you look beautiful." Hermione smiled at the compliment.
"Thanks" she blushed.
"I should go get ready too." She nodded. "I'll come find you after" he pressed a soft kiss on her lips and walked out the door. Hermione watched him leave and she also saw to other people enter the room.
"My lady, you're already dressed?" the two ladies maids looked shocked. She smiled at them and walked out of the room herself. It was time to do some of her queenly chores. Her guards weren't at her door, which was unusual, but Hermione didn't think much of it. It wasn't until she was pulled into an empty room that she vowed to herself to be more careful.
"We need to talk" someone whispered into her ear. Hermione recognized the voice immediately.
"What do you think you're doing? I could have you imprisoned for this." She hissed.
"Well, you refused to speak to me." He turned her against the wall, his hands gripping her shoulders.
"Let go of me, James" she pushed him off her.
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you" he took a step back and raised his hands.
"Then what do you want?" she hissed.
"To talk, I just want to talk" he sounded sincere.
"Okay, fine, so talk."
He took a deep breath and started. "I'm just confused, is all. I thought we had something here." He took a step closer.
"What? I've always been engaged to Draco" Hermione answered.
"Yeah, but that didn't stop you from kissing me." He took another step closer.
"You kissed me!" she hissed. "And you did nothing to stop me, did you?" Another step.
"Look, you can deny it all you want, you can try to pretend, but I know what there is between us, and I won't give up." Another step.
"There is nothing between us!" she yelled, pressing her body against the wall. He took another step, his body almost pressed against hers.
"Oh, but there is." He grabbed her face in his hands and pressed his lips on hers. Hermione gasped at the sudden action and tried to push him off her, but he was too strong. So she did the only thing she could, she bit his lip, hard. He cursed as he pulled away from her. "Don't ever touch me again. Get it into your head that you and I are nothing" she hissed before stalking out the door.