Disclaimer: you know the drill, half the characters aren't mine, nor will they ever be :'(

You know I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything
You see I feel sad when you're sad
I feel glad when you're glad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile without you

You came along
Just like a song
And brightened my day
Who would've believed that you were part of a dream
Now it all seems
Light years away

Some people say
That happiness takes
So very long to find
Well, I'm finding it hard
Leaving your love behind me

"Can't Smile Without You" – the Carpenters

The Perfect Life

Chapter 6 - Anniversary blues

For the following several days, everything was going remarkably well. At least better than how Draco thought they would be. Every morning he'd get up, leave the kids with Sean, then go to work. He'd come home at around 5 and play with the children until Hermione comes home late in the evening. And if he was lucky, he would have his way with the wife. It was a routine really. But something new always happened to keep him on his toes.

So much like every morning, Draco assumed this one to be the same. He stretched as soon as the sun rays unpleasantly greeted his eyes, yawned, and headed for the bathroom. Hermione shot up from her bedside when Draco had closed the door, an excited gleam in her eye. It was a special day indeed. Special enough to make a big fuss over, that's for sure. When Draco reentered the bedroom, a hand on his crotch trying to adjust himself, he found Hermione sitting up and fully awake with a large box in front of her wrapped in decorative paper. She definitely looked thrilled about something.

"Hermione…" he said slowly, the name now easily rolling off his tongue like he'd been calling her that for years. "What's this-"

"Happy Anniversary!" she blurted out, unable to contain her bliss.

Draco's face dropped. 'Anniversary?'

"You have no idea how hard it was to shop for you since you could never decide what you want," she laughed. She pulled on his arm, motioning for him to sit on the bed, and pushed the box towards him. "Come on, open it!"

Draco uncertainly took the box and carefully removed it from its packaging. It was a book. "History of Quidditch," he read out loud.

"That's not all," she said pointing at the box once more.

Draco dug deeper inside and pulled out a smaller box. When he opened it, he was astonished to see an old rusted snitch. But it wasn't just any kind of snitch.

"That's the snitch Roderick Plumpton caught when he held the-"

"-the record for the fastest snitch capture. I know," he finished, as he continued to stare at the not-so-golden ball like it were Pandora's Box. It must've cost her a fortune to get this. It was practically an artifact, one that every Quidditch fan would die to possess. "How did you…" he began but immediately stopped.

"Oh don't you worry about how I got it. Let's just say I had to ask for a lot of favors." She shook her head and chuckled, and then her eyes began to search the room. "Okay where'd you hide mine?"

"Uhh…" Draco looked around nervously.

"Is it downstairs?" she asked eagerly. "Coz it better be a big present if you couldn't bring it up yourself-"

"No!" Hermione's eyes widened in surprise and he tried to recover himself. "I…mean…it's not downstairs." She continued staring at him expectantly. "Well, see, this year I wanted to…to…keep you in suspense for the whole day. Yea, so you won't get it till later." He tried to smile but only achieved so slightly.

But she only snorted. "Oh come on! You can never wait till the end of the day. So where is it, where is it, where is it!" She playfully frisked him but Draco didn't even crack a smile. He couldn't put her off anymore. She was going to find out anyway.

"I forgot our anniversary," he said quietly. By the look on his face, she knew he was being serious. He wasn't fooling around. He really didn't have a present for her.

"Oh," was all she said. But deep down, she was hurt. Draco studied her face closely, trying to figure out his next move.

"Hermione, you know the funniest thing happened. I-"

"Yea sure…you don't have to do that," she replied quickly sliding off the bed, avoiding eye contact. "I'm just gonna go get dressed okay." And with that, she exited the bedroom, leaving Draco sorry and confused as he watched her retreating back.

:o)

"Dad's never forgot a anniversry." Draco looked up at Rina who sat in front of him eating her bowl of cereal.

"I know. I can tell by the look on her face this was the first time." He sighed and propped up his chin on his knuckles, his eyes squinted in thought. "So, how am I going to fix this?" the question more directed to himself than to his daughter.

Rina shrugged her shoulders. "Flowers and candy?"

"Nah. Too cliché." He thought for another moment or two before he raised his head. "Hey, when was the last time your mother went on a picnic?"

She raised an eyebrow sarcastically. "Picnic?"

"I meant a picnic under the stars."

Rina smiled, almost as if reading his mind. "Now you're talkin'."

Later that night…

"Draco, what is this?"

"I told you. It's a surprise."

"This isn't about you forgetting our anniversary is it? Coz I already told you, I'm not angry with you. It's alright, really."

Draco held Hermione's hand and led her through a clearing in the middle of the night as she wore a blindfold over her eyes. She sighed.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"Sorry. Can't do that." She held onto his arm taking cautious steps. She can feel the light breeze blowing in her hair, the glow from the moonlight streaking along her face. "Don't worry, we're almost there." They stopped suddenly in the middle of nowhere. "Wait here," Draco told her as he left her side. She can hear his feet shuffling away but she stood still. After a minute or two, Draco had still yet to return.

"Draco?" Hermione called out. There was no answer. "Very funny Draco. Now where are you?" Still, there was no response. "Fine. If you're going to be like that, then I'm leaving," she threatened. Silence. "I'm serious. I'm taking off the blindfold." She gave him a couple of seconds then began to remove the blindfold. Hermione was utterly irritated that Draco had decided to play such a childish game with her. But when she had uncovered her eyes, she was surprised to find what lay in her sights.

In front of her was a neatly lain out picnic blanket. On it was a picnic basket with two champagne glasses sitting in the middle. Several candles floated around the blanket, and off to the right stood Draco himself holding a single long-stemmed rose and wearing a certain lopsided smirk. Hermione's mouth stretched into a smile and averted her eyes up.

Scattered across their heads were thousands of stars. In fact, she had never seen the night sky so clear before. It was almost...well, magical. Hermione was in awe.

"Oh my..." was all she managed to mutter under her breath, still stunned by the beauty of the stars. "Wow Draco. This is...this is..."

"Romantic?" he offered, slowly making his way to her.

Finally her gaze fell on his presence once more. "Yes. Very." She found it difficult to hide the mist forming in her eyes.

They met each other half way, both wearing stupid grins. Draco tenderly fingered through her hair then tucking them behind her ear. While he handed her the rose with the other hand. "Happy Anniversary."

By this time, Hermione couldn't stop several tears from trickling down through her smile. "I knew you didn't forget. I just knew it." Together they sat in the middle of the blanket as Draco swayed his wand, the champagne pouring itself into the glasses. "Draco this is the most perfect anniverary ever. How did I ever land a husband as perfect as you?" She leaned into his body and looked up at his face with a love-struck stare.

He shrugged. "You're just lucky I suppose."

She laughed. "I am lucky. I must be the luckiest woman alive."

"I guess I'm not doing that badly in the 'luck' department either," he said with a smug expression, leaning back into the blanket. She smirked at him and allowed herself to fall atop of him, her lips hovering only centimeters from his, torturing him as much as possible. She knew Draco wanted so badly to taste her lips but savoured those few seconds of his torture because not very long after, he lifted his own head to meet her mouth. When their lips finally met, it was complete bliss; the same feeling one would get for achieving something after years of pain-staking hard work. Draco had never tasted anyone as sweet as Hermione's soft lips.

Pretty soon, the male dominance in his brain took over and he rolled Hermione onto her back so that he was on top. His wandering hands found their way on her legs and were now sliding up her dress. She suddenly placed her hands on his chest and gave a hard push, certainly hard enough to break the kiss.

"What?" he asked innocently. "It is our anniversary. Don't we have the right to..."

She shot him an evil grin. "I know, I know. Just...not yet."

Draco looked around confused. "When?"

Hermione had a mischievous gleam in her eye. "First let's dance," she said, jumping to her feet and pulling him up with her. He groaned. "Dance?"he whined. "What for?"

"Because I want to," she replied resolutely. "Besides, we should savour this moment. It's not everyday we don't have the kids to worry about."

Draco huffed in defeat. "Fine." He got onto his feet and locked Hermione into his arms as she coiled hers around his neck. She looked around expectantly then glanced down sadly. "What is it?"

"It's just too bad there's no music."

Draco took out his wand again and muttered a spell in which a harp appeared and began to play. "Better now?"

She smiled. "Much," as she began to rest her head on his shoulder.

Draco grinned, the warmth from her body seeping in through his clothes. 'That's odd,' he thought. 'My stomach feels funny for some reason. I can't be sick can I? Maybe it'll go away.' Hermione lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him with that same loving expression she had before. Draco's stomach jumped. 'What the bloody hell is wrong with me? It's like my condition gets worse everytime she looks at me like that... no one's ever looked at me like that. Well maybe cept for Parkinson. Then again, that crazy loon just makes my skin crawl.' He shuddered inwardly at the thought of Pansy.

Draco continued staring at Hermione's face. She wasn't particularly gorgeous but she did have a glow to her. A quality he himself couldn't figure out. All he knew was that it was there, and she was irresistable because of it. Her features weren't sharp and elegant like a model's but Draco found himself wanting more of her with every second. Even if he could have her in bed every night, it still wouldn't feel like enough. He couldn't even stop staring at her as these thoughts ran through his mind. 'Oh bloody hell, don't tell me I'm actually falling for her! This can't be possible. I've never fallen for anyone, ever.' His worried mind trailed away as Hermione stood on her tiptoes to plant a light kiss on his lips. As she did so, his stomach began doing back-flips.

'Dammit! I am falling for her. What am I suppose to do now? I've never fallen in love before. Do I even know what the hell love is?' But it was quite difficult to stay worried when Hermione's eyes reflected the stars swimming above their heads. Soon enough, Draco was wearing that same stupid grin he'd worn when he saw her face light up earlier.

She leaned in closer to him, if that was even possible, and softly began singing in his ear.

"Coz when I close my eyes
I still can see your smile
It's bright enough to light my life
Out of my darkest hour."

Then something happened that Draco did not expect. His backbone tingled and he blushed. How could this one girl be having such a big effect on him? Was he really falling in love for the first time?

AN: sorry this one took a while to write. im even more sorry if it sucked :( i was listening to Truly Madly Deeply when i wrote the last half of this so i tried to convey as much emotion as i could. hope it worked, im not much of a writer -tear- anywho, pleez review and i'll try to post chappie #7 faster.