Chapter 11: Great Gifts Go Unappreciated
The cruise continued on with weary passengers. Training had begun to take a toll on all of the students. Exhaustion was evident on their faces and tension was beginning to build.
Hermione had gone to the mediwitch and was relieved to learn it had all been a false alarm. "Sometimes, those pregnancy check spells aren't exactly accurate," she assured Hermione. "It could just be showing the you're ovulating. Always check with a mediwitch to be sure."
Draco too had been relieved. They had both agreed that they were far too young to have a baby. They weren't even seventh years after all.
They told everyone the good news on the second to last day of the cruise. It was their one day off and they were all just relaxing in the practice room.
Ron however took his excitement a little too far. "THANK MERLIN!" he had cried out. "You didn't ruin your life!"
Draco was quite offended by this and then proceeded to pick a fight. "Don't think I'm good enough for her?" he asked. It wasn't that he didn't know the answer. He was just trying to get to Ron.
"I think Hermione could do much better," Ron had replied. "I think that if she had had your child, she would have been wasting her entire life."
Draco kept his calm, though. "You would rather she marry you, right? What can you provide her, Weasel? What can you give her that I can't? And don't you dare say love because you'd be wrong."
"I don't want to marry Hermione!" Ron said with a look of horror. "She's not really my type. I don't feel that way about her."
Draco shook his head. "You filthy liar. Hermione is everyone's type. You'd have to not like girls in order to... oh my."
Ron gulped and looked down at the floor. His face seemed to be burning up as everyone present in the room began to realize just what it was that Ron had been keeping a secret for so long. "I only just realized recently," he confessed. "Fred and George were teasing me about Hermione and you getting married. That's when it hit me."
"Oh Ron," Hermione sighed, hugging her best friend. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "It's not like it changes who you are. You're still our best friend." He too hugged Ron showing his friend how nothing had changed. "Want to go play some Wizards chess mate?"
Ron seemed happy about Harry's behavior and immediately said yes. Hermione watched them walk away and then turned to Draco. "I guess you can relax now," she laughed. "No more competition. You should be ecstatic."
He smiled. "As long as he doesn't make a move on me then I'm happy."
They were in one of the training rooms and this gave Hermione a little bit of a naughty idea. "What do you say to getting a little workout on our day off?" She moved to stand on one of the mats and batted her eyelashes seductively.
"As long as you promise me that this time there will be no pregnancy scares. This time, no chances." He conjured up a muggle condom and laughed. "No mistakes."
He got up from his spot and sauntered over to where she stood on the mats. His hands rested on her hips and pulled her close to him. "You know how badly I want you right now?" he groaned. "How is it that you can make me so desperate?"
She smiled. "I think that's called lust, sweetheart."
-
On the last day, the group assembled for training at eight in the morning. They did their usual warm-ups and workouts. Then they had their final duels. Harry and Ron paired off and Hermione paired with Draco. Neville wound up dueling Lupin.
Hermione and Draco had a fun time messing around at first but when they really took it seriously it seemed as though the match would never end. They wound up calling it a tie after several long and grueling hours.
Harry and Ron were also very close but in the end it wound up with a clear cut winner. Harry.
Neville lasted longer than most expected against such an advancedopponent and everyone, including Draco, gave him a pat on the back.
"You've all done very well," Dumbledore told them. "I am very proud of you. You have far exceeded my expectations. Remus told me you all did splendidly."
"That's only because we had a great instructor," Hermione replied. "Without him, there's no chance we ever could have gotten this far."
They all got off the ship with feelings of accomplishment and pride coursing through them. The slight chill in the air showed signs of fall coming but none of them really took notice. They all seemed to be wrapped up in their own thoughts.
Hermione and Draco said their good-bye's to the group before heading home. Even Draco said goodbye to Harry and Ron. No, they had not become friends. No where close, actually. But a civil peace between them had formed - for Hermione's sake.
Once Hermione and Draco arrived back at Malfoy Manor, they were greeted by their four parents.
"How was it?" Patrice asked, beaming with glee. "Did you two have a lot of fun? I hope you spent at least a LITTLE time outside the bedroom. You're both as pale as the day you left!"
"MUM!" Hermione screamed out in horror.
"Patrice has a point," Narcissa added.
Now it was Draco's turn to be horrified. "MUM!"
"Ladies," Lucius chuckled. "This is none of our business. I'm sure the two of them are worn out now. Let's give them some space." The parents gave their children welcoming hugs and then moved to leave.
"WAIT!" Hermione called after them. "Where are we going to live? I mean, we're a married couple now. We can't be living in our parents house!"
Lucius and Harold both laughed. "Yes of course," Harold said. "We just figured we'd show you in the morning tomorrow."
"Oh," Hermione frowned. "Can't we see now?" Patience was never a virtue of hers.
"Of course, darling," Patrice cooed. "But aren't you tired? Surely you must be tired!"
"And sore too," she heard Draco mutter under his breath. She just shot him dagger eyes to silence him. "I meant to say bored," he said, trying to cover up. Neither of them wanted their parents to know about their activities.
"I'd like to see where I'll be living until school starts right now, thank you," Hermione said, excited to be in her own bed and her own home tonight.
They followed their parents to the fire place. Patrice went first. "Malfoy Estate," she said clearly and soon disappeared. They all followed her lead. As soon as Hermione got through, she was surprised to find such a lovely home.
Hermione ran out the front door immediately and looked at her new house. Mansion, actually. It was nearly twice as big as Malfoy Manor. It was a red brick Mansion with a black gate surrounding the entire property.
"Come child," Narcissa called from the front door. "We have a lot to show you and the hour is getting late." As they began to walk through the house, Narcissa kept talking. "We had the house elves so busy while you were gone. We had to dust and put in all new furniture but it was well worth it."
"Did you just buy this house for us?" Hermione asked in awe. "You shouldn't have. It's such a hug wedding gift."
"Oh heavens no, honey," Patrice exclaimed. 'This isn't OUR gift to you. This is a gift from the Dark Lord to his future followers."
Hermione took in her surroundings as they took a tour through the house. The walls were filled with portraits of family members and family friends. She couldn't wait to get a picture of Harry and Ron up there.
They passed one portrait that gave Hermione the creeps. It was Nathaniel Reins hiding in a corner in shame.
Draco sensed her discomfort and took her hand in his. "Relax," he whispered. "You're too tense. When our parents are gone, perhaps you can convince me to give you a massage." She laughed and this made him happy.
"I'm glad to see you two so in love," Patrice grinned smugly. "And you were both so pessimistic about this whole arrangement. I told you you'd never regret it, didn't I?"
The newlyweds rolled their eyes. "Parents," Draco mouth.
They reached the end of the hallway and came to the master bedroom. "Your house has over thirty bedrooms not including the guest wing," Lucius informed them. "There's six wings and one bathroom for each room."
"Can you tell me a little about the history of this house?" Hermione questioned. "I'd really love to know how Voldemort came into possession of this gorgeous estate." There was no way she would ever believe he bought it for her.
Lucius nearly cackled. "My dear, funny you should ask.
Well, it used to be the Potter's.
Sweet dreams."
- -
As Hermione and Draco got into bed that evening, the mood was still gloomy. "He killed the Potter's, Draco," she explained. "He killed them and then gave us what he stole. It's not right. The Potters were good people. They were Harry's parents. I can't live in what should be the house of my best friend. This all rightfully belongs to him, not me! I don't deserve this."
"You're always watching out for Potter, Hermione," Draco sighed. "I think just this once we can let something like this slide. Potter's got Grimmauld."
"Still. I think he deserves the house. He's my best friend. I can't keep something that's not mine. We can't live in a stolen house. It would throw our whole relationship off."
"How 'bout this? We'll live here until school starts. Then we'll talk to Potter. How does that sound?"
She didn't like the idea but it seemed better than nothing. "I still can't believe Voldemort would think it was okay to give me my best friends murdered parents home as a wedding present. It's just so immoral. He truly has no shame."
"I doubt he realized that you'd care, love," Draco told her, kissing her forehead lightly. "You concern yourself too much with others. Try to let a few things go."
"I just don't want stolen gifts, Draco, and I'm just watching out for my best friends. They're important to me. Their happiness means a lot..."
"Shh... You have two options. We can either go to sleep or we can have some fun without the mention of Death, the house, and the Dynamic Duo, Pothead andWeasel."
Needless to say, she chose the latter.
- -
Sunlight seeped into the window and lit up their new bedroom. Their legs were tangled up together under the covers and Hermione was the first one to wake up. She detached herself quietly, not wanting to wake Draco up. The longer he slept, the better because as soon as he woke up, they'd have to get ready to meet their parents for breakfast.
As soon as she rose from the king sized bed, she felt the previous nights activities taking their toll on her body. Her limbs ached with every move she made. A combination of training and shagging really made a person sore.
She moaned at the feeling of pain that had even spread to her lower stomach and this caused Draco to wake as well. "Sore, love?" he grinned. "Did I wear you out? Oh dear. You're such a baby."
She quickly grabbed her robe from the chair, noticing that she was walking around the room nude and she wasn't comfortable with that.
"For your information, Draco, it was not JUST you responsible for my soreness. I think training may have finally caught up with me."
"Take a warm shower. It should relax your muscles," he suggested, throwing a naughty little wink her way. "If you want, I can join you..."
"Oh no. No way. I'm sore enough," she practically hollered. "I think I should stay far away from you for at least the next few days. Give my body a chance to rest up a bit." It was a joke but he didn't have to know that.
"You know there are charms that'll take away the tension in your muscles?"
"Yes but I don't happen to know any of them. Care to share?"
"Can I join you in the shower?"
She thought for a moment and then shook her head no. "Lose all my soreness just to get it back again? I think not. Now tell me the charm and I promise we can shag again before school starts."
He reached for his wand, wasting no time letting her deepen the threat, and muttered the incantation under his breath. "There you go. Good as new."
She didn't know whether to thank him for the new relief or to yell at him. "I wanted to know the charm, Draco! Why would you mumble it like that? I asked you to TELL me the charm, not do it for me!"
He almost laughed in her face. "Just go shower already. We have to meet with the grownups at ten or so. They want to officially give us their present over brunch."
"I know, I know," she groaned. "What do you think it is? I mean, we already have a house. We're wizards so we don't need cars. We're still in school so it can't be job opportunities and I swear to Merlin that if this has anything to do with the Dark Lord's inner sanctum than I'm going to tell them to take their gift and shove it..."
"Woah girl," Draco smiled. "Calm yourself. Hop in the shower."
"Don't tell me what to do."
"Get - in - the - shower."
"DON'T tell me what to do!"
"GET IN THE SHOWER, HERMIONE, OR - ELSE!"
"Or else what?"
"Or else I'll get in it instead and then you have to wait for ME!" This seemed to get her moving and she ran straight to the bathroom attached to their room.
She turned to face him when she reached the door. "Not that it matters though. I mean, we DO have all the bathrooms in this house that we could ever need."
A/N ... Sorry for the long wait. I had to make sure I knew what I was doing on this chapter. It's not as simple as my other stories. The plotline for this always seems to be harder to write. I know where I want it to go it's just the transitions from one place to another that take me a while. Hope you guys enjoy.
BTW thanks for all the great reviews. Without you guys, I definitely wouldn't be writing this story. If you haven't already, I suggest you go and read my other stories too: Message in a Bottle and That was weird. ENJOY and Review!
