Okay, so this is my first attempt at anything remotely smutty, so be kind in the reviews. Thanks so much for reading. I continue to be amazed at the attention this story has received.
Chapter 24
Hermione pulled on her gray cashmere coat over a long sleeve tee that declared her to be 'magically delicious' in gold glitter with a glittery green shamrock and pink heart. She skipped down the stairs to the floo where Theo waited. Since he and Draco were snickering at the dying green flames she assumed Tracey left.
Theo grinned when he saw her. "Are you really?" He asked embracing her.
"Really what?"
"Delicious."
"You'll just have to find out." she teased, pulling away.
"No." Draco barked when Theo moved to chase her. "No disgusting flirting in front of the brother. We discussed this. You agreed."
"Actually, you whined about it and we ignored you. There was no agreement." Hermione smiled. Draco hung his head in defeat. "Go get yourself a girlfriend who isn't Pansy and I promise to pretend to be affronted when you're romantic in front of me."
"Maybe I'll just date Pansy."
"That punishes you far worse than it punishes me, but as you will." Hermione laughed when Draco made a sour face.
"Yeah, did not think that through."
"As entertaining as Draco is, the Tower of London awaits." Theo offered Hermione his arm. She giggled and took it. "Don't wait up, Drake."
"If you had a sister I would date her just to get to you." Draco yelled after them.
"I love him dearly, but sometimes he makes no sense." She said as Theo summoned the Knight Bus. "I hate this thing."
"I don't. At every corner and bump I get an arm full of beautiful witch leaning against me. And today she's wearing arse caressing muggle jeans. I am a happy man." Hermione playfully smacked him. "Even if she is a bit violent." He hugged her closely as the bus took off with a loud bang.
They joined the queue waiting to enter the ice. Boisterous crowds of brightly dressed people laughed and talked, creating a party atmosphere. Enterprising muggle innovators transformed the moat of the old castle into a festive ice skating rink for the Christmas season. To maintain crowd control each session lasted 45 minutes and allowed a finite number of people onto the ice at any given time. Theo estimated they would be at the end of the next group or the beginning of the one after that. He purchased a mug of hot chocolate from a vendor. The attendant shaped the heavy cream on top into a snowflake. He took a sip, then offered Hermione a drink.
"Only one? Trying to be economical, Mr. Nott?" Several twenty somethings in line behind them.
"Perish the thought, Miss Malfoy. Drinking from the same cup is a time honored traditional display of intimacy."
"Nice save, mate." one of the guys told him. Theo nodded his acknowledgment.
"Oh, so you're effectively peeing on me in public?" Hermione questioned.
"Harsh." the stranger laughed.
Both Hermione and Theo laughed. "Do you want your own?"
"No, I like the idea of sharing." She took another sip and passed the mug back to him. "And we have to finish it, just in case we're in the next group." They took turns sipping and pointing out different sights. She teasingly dotted the tip of his nose with cream, then kissed it off, to the amusement of the rest of the crowd.
Hermione happily covered for Theo's lack of muggle knowledge while they waited in the crowd.
A buzzer signaled the end of the current session. The music cut off and a voice over the loud speaker squawked out instructions to the skaters. The current group departed the ice and changed back into their shoes. Theo disposed of the cardboard cup. He took Hermione's hand, and shot her a nervous grin. "Is now a bad time to confess I've never ice skated?"
She stared at him wide eyed as the line began to move. "Why didn't you say anything before this? We could have done something else."
"You wanted to do this." Theo started.
"I have a brother, and whatever Harry and Dudley are to do this with, we could have done something else."
"He's here willingly, honey, don't knock it." A girl behind them told her.
"This is want you wanted to do." Theo said again. "And I wanted to do what you wanted to do. Also, Drake can't skate, either."
"I did this every year with Wendell, I could have done this with someone else. I suggested it because Essence called it her dream date, well, and ice skating is kind of romantic anyway."
"We're here now." Theo shrugged.
They selected skates and Hermione helped him lace up his skates before quickly tying hers. Theo tottered towards the ice. "So far, so good."
"This is the easy part." She told him. Once on the ice, Hermione showed him how to glide, rather than step. Faster skaters flowed around them. "Unless you decide you hate this, next year we could go to Canary Wharf in Cardiff."
"I think I'm getting the hang of this." He told her, gliding his legs in and out. "I feel stupid, rather, I feel like I look ridiculous."
Hermione spun around to skate backwards. "You look fine."
He glared at her, "You can do all those fancy jumps and spins, can't you."
"No." she laughed. "Monica hated ice skating, so I got a pass on those lessons. Wendell enjoyed it, and skating here is trendy, which was the only part Monica liked. Wendell took me skating, it was our thing. I know the basics. Monica sat and drank hot chocolate and watched." She spun back around and took Theo's hand. They glided around the old castle for the next forty-five minutes. Theo only fell twice. He got the hang of it towards the end.
"We should do this again."
"Yeah, I had fun." For dinner they decided to pop into a cafe to warm up. Both ordered soup and a sandwich. Hermione smiled at how cute. Theo looked with pink cheeks. The tips of his ears and his nose also had colored. She expected she looked a fright. Stealthily, she attempted to wrangle her hair back into the braid.
"Why are you doing that?"Theo asked grabbing both of her hands.
"I must look awful after all that wind. I'm trying to tame my hair."
"Leave it. I like it all wild and curly like that. Matches your cheeks and my ears." She attempted to pull back her hands. "Sweet. Hermione. I'm the one looking at you. Let me assure you, you look beautiful. You look like someone who enjoyed an afternoon outdoors, which we did." She allowed him to cajole her into leaving her hair alone.
After dinner they walked along the streets in the dwindling daylight. Theo insisted on buying her a knitted hat and scarf. When he refused to let her pay him back, she bought him his own hat. Once darkness fell Theo pulled out his wand, summoning the Knight Bus. Hermione gave them her old address. The double decker bus shot off with a bang.
Theo pulled Hermione onto his lap and held her securely against the rough ride. She in turn, wrapped her arms around him, hanging on for dear life. The bus stopped in front of her childhood home with a wrenching jerk. They stood and disembarked.
Hermione looked at the house she called home for most of her life. Instead of Monica's monochromatic single strands along the trim and on the tree, the new owners took a 'more is more' approach. The house and yard rioted with color. Multicolored lights outlined the house, attached garage and driveway. White lights mimicking icicles hung from the gutters. Each tree glowed with multiple strings of lights. An inflatable Santa waved with the breeze. After a moment Hermione began laughing so hard tears ran down her face. "Oh. My. Gods. Oh, Monica would die if she saw this. Oh, Merlin, this is too good. Oh, the neighbors must hate it."
Glancing around at the other houses, Theo concluded she was correct. "I assume your family had a display more in keeping with the others."
"Yes. Monica insisted on white lights only, more sophisticated."
He critically examined the house in front of them. "I like it. Sure, it's jarring, but that makes it stand out. It shows the owners aren't afraid to be themselves, in spite of peer pressure."
"I suppose." Hermione took his hand and began leading him towards the park where she played as a child. She pointed out special locations: where she fell off her bike and knocked out three baby teeth, where she hid to read when Monica complained of her lack of social skills, the hill she fell down when Wendell tried to teach her how to play football. "He forgot it was there at the end of the field." She smiled wistfully.
"Do you miss them?" He asked softly.
Hermione shrugged, "Sometimes, maybe, as angry as I feel about the lies, they were my parents. We had good times."
"But," Theo coached.
"But spending ten months of the year away at school took a toll. Add in the fact that the school is for world they can't see or really understand. We started drifting apart. Maybe things are better this way." Again she shrugged.
"How are things with the Malfoys?"
"So much better than I ever imagined they would be."
Theo threaded his fingers through hers. "How so?"
"When I read the article outing me, I hadn't decided what I wanted to do yet. I knew I wasn't the biological child of the Grangers, and evidence suggested it was me. Viktor had suggested I take my time and process it all before looking for my birth parents."
"Then Skeeter's article took that way."
"Yes, the whole walk through the Ministry was surreal. At any moment Professor McGonagall would tell me it was fake. Before I left both Viktor and Professor McGonagall suggested I keep an open mind. When I walked in and saw the Malfoys I nearly fainted. Every time tried to be the least little bit snarky Professor stopped me. And Narcissa made Lucius take it in stride." Hermione giggled. "I could have been living in the muggle world like a squib and she would have reclaimed her baby."
"They might not have shown it, but Lucius and Drake were just as excited."
"Probably. Lucius was wonderful with the Grangers. As much as hearing them say I was a commodity they didn't need anymore, he did what I asked."
"Which was?"
"If they were innocent of kidnapping, that they not be left to the mercy of mob justice. So, he got them out of the country. He sent them to Canada."
"Canada? Huh, seems so boring?"
"How? I'm sure Canada is lovely, and still within the Commonwealth."
"Yeah, but it's Canada. New York, Sydney, Bali, they seem exciting. Canada sounds cold."
"Well, no one is asking you to live there." Hermione snapped. "So behave." She swatted him playfully. They both laughed. She entertained him with tidbits about the people who lived in the different houses as they walked.
Once their ears shone read, Theo held out his wand. The Knight Bus thudded to a halt not long after. Theo assisted Hermione onboard and directed the driver to Malfoy Manor. He took an armchair and pulled her onto his lap. To secure her against the bumpy ride, he wrapped his arms around her. This time his hands dipped further down her back. His mouth brushed against her ear, each breath sending a tingle down her spine. She wiggled her bum against his lap in retaliation. Theo tightened his arms around her. "Teasing is mean, sweet." He whispered against her ear.
"I'm teasing you? You started it, so you stop first." He raised a questioning eyebrow. "I'm sorry, does this information surprise you? I assure you teenage girls think about sex as much as teenage boys?"
"Oh."
"Yes, oh. Now stop teasing." Theo moved his hands to her hips and relaxed his hold. "Thank you."
Once inside the manor, Theo insisted on seeing Hermione to her bedroom door, 'like a gentleman.' She laughed at the comment and kissed him soundly. Her hands held his as the kiss deepened. She swiped her tongue against his bottom lip. He opened his mouth and his own tongue moved to explore her. Hermione's entire body burned with sensations. She moaned, causing him to pull her hands to her shoulders and pressed Hermione against her bedroom door. She responded by pushing her hips forward against him, unconsciously searching for friction to relieve the building ache.
Moaning himself, Theo released her hands, to begin caressing her sides and back. Hermione reached behind and after several attempts managed to find the knob and open the door. Theo held her upright as she fell backwards. Stumbling across the room Theo backed her to the bed. One hand tangled in her hair, the other gripping her waist. Their kiss broke when she tumbled onto her bed.
She scrambled up the mattress, Theo quickly following her. His lips found hers again as she pulled him down on top of her. Hands explored, slipping under clothes, as tongues resumed their tango. Hermione's hands traveled in a circuit from his shoulders to his arse, pausing once to squeeze. He pulled back to rip off his jumper, leaving only a white t-shirt on. Her hands happily resumed their pattern.
Her skin burned when he slipped his hand under her shirt to caress over the lacy cups of her bra. Her back arched, pushing her breast further into his hand. He squeezed gently causing a low moan to escape her. Unconsciously he bucked his hips against hers, earning him him another moan. She pulled his weight down, further nestling his weight between her legs. Every nerve in her body seemed to fired at once.
The second time he ground down against her, Hermione raised her hips in a circular manner to meet him. This time Theo moaned, the sound going right to her groin. She repeated the action, enjoying the jolt of the pleasure when he pushed down to meet her. They fell into an easy rhythm, each chasing the building tension. She hissed his name, clawing his back as she fell over the edge. Streaks of light flashed before her eyes. Her brain cut off all rational thought.
"Oh, sweet. Oh, Merlin. Hermione." he breathed in her ear as his own body tightened and relaxed in relief. Theo rolled his torso to the bed next to her, his legs still covering hers. Both struggled to regain control over their breathing. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to get carried away like that."
Brushing her hair away from her face, she giggled, "You're not only one here you know." She pulled her wand and cleaned them up. He smiled down at her. "Though I have no intentions of complaining."
"I might." The bedroom lights flicked on. Theo attempted to spring up and off the bed. Hermione sat up, startled.
Harry stood in the open doorway. "If you wish to avoid getting caught with your pants down, close the door." He told them in a tight angry voice.
"Our pants are still on." Hermione snapped. "And if you suggest we aren't prepared to be safe, I will perform the seven contraceptive charms I know, AND I will ask Professor Snape to brew me the potion, for your peace of mind."
"Sweet, I'd like to live long enough to actually have sex. If you ask Snape, he'll tell Lucius, who might kill me."
"Not as long as I'm smiling." She replied.
"I'd rather not risk it."