"Come back here!" Hermione called after Draco.
"Need help trying them on?" Draco asked simply. Leaning against the open door.
"When you're rude, nobody outdoes you!" she scoffed.
"I'll take that as a compliment." he replied haughtily.
"It wasn't." she narrowed her eyes on him "But that's not important, we need to talk." she added.
"Obviously." he replied indifferently "But I have more important things to do now, we can talk when I'm back." he added before descending the stairs and leaving the manor.
Draco cursed himself inwardly. The men's clothes move was completely uncalled for, but so was her attitude this morning. Had anybody else thrown his own shoes at him, he would've rendered him motionless before he could reach for the other one. She had such a nerve! Draco huffed. Part of him panicked when he heard her describe what happened as molestation.
For a minute he started to think that he was imagining things and that last night's events happened differently than he remembered them.
He was taking one turn after the other, going through narrow filthy alleys until he finally reached his destination. A tiny shop stood at the end of the alley, it looked as shady as its owner. Draco glanced over his shoulder to make sure nobody was watching him then he slipped through the door. Even for a Death Eater, dealing with somebody as disreputable as Fergus MacGregor was suspicious.
As Draco entered the shop, Fergus jumped off his chair and stood up, watching Draco closely with his head slightly bent down. The man was old and frail, with shoulder-length wavy white hair and an equally white mustache.
"Did you get it?" Draco demanded
"Y..yes, sir." the man nodded eagerly. "But I have to say it's a very powerful potion..you add one drop to your drink and it's enough for thirty days." he informed.
"Who said it was for me?" Draco narrowed his eyes at the man.
"I..don..didn't know. I'm sorry, sir." the man stammered.
"Where is it?" Draco asked. The man disappeared into a small room and emerged again shortly, holding a tiny flask in shaky hands. Draco snatched the flask from the man and inspected it, it was filled with some light blue liquid 'Sterilescere' was written on the flask in gold.
"I must warn you sir_" the man said hesitantly "_after the thirty days are over, you have to wait for seven days to drink the potion again...otherwise the effect of the potion..cou...could become permanent." he explained.
"You already said that before." Draco said impatiently.
"I don't believe I've ever seen you before, have I, MacGregor?" Draco demanded in what seemed to be a threat, his eyebrow raised at the old man.
"No, no, sir..never." the man shook his head quickly.
"Good." Draco nodded, reaching for his pocket, he took out a small bag full of Galleons and threw it at a near table. Without another word, he turned on his heel and left the shop.
He toyed with the flask in his hand for a while before tucking it safely in his pocket. This potion was never part of his plan, but he seemed to be improvising ever since Hermione agreed to his bargain.
He didn't want a child so soon. He knew it was a long journey that he had to make before she could actually love him. But at least he wanted some time where he could improve his image in her mind. Make her view him as somebody worthy of having that baby...and much more.
She had a hidden reason behind accepting his offer, of that he was sure. Yet, he still couldn't figure out that reason. The only thing he was positive of was how impossible it was for Hermione to simply stop fighting and give into fait accompli.
So all he had to do now was buy himself more time and since she was so determined on trying for a baby as soon as possible, it left him with no other option than to try with her. Only he had to ensure that they would fail for the first couple of times. Draco smirked in satisfaction.
He apparated back to the manor. Walking through the door, he noticed the living room was lit. He opened the door slightly and saw Hermione curled on one of the armchairs her nose poked into a book in a very familiar scene.
"I can't help but wonder how did you survive on the run without your precious books." Draco remarked as he entered the room and Hermione's head shot up in his direction.
"I had some books with me, but I lost most of them." she said.
"I don't think there's possibly any book the Wizarding world had known that's not in our library." he said "My father really liked to show it off." he added almost ruefully.
"I know, I've spent some time searching it." she confirmed "Anyway, let's talk." she added, taking a deep breath as she set the book aside and sat upright in her chair. Draco looked at her expectantly as he sat on the opposite chair.
"About last night..I...I might have used the..umm..the wrong term." she stammered.
"Might?" Draco shook his head in disbelief.
"Will you let me finish!" Hermione said impatiently. Draco nodded in response.
"I am not objecting to the act itself; it was inevitable anyway." Hermione said, exerting extra effort to make her tone sound casual. "I find the...the abrupt stop very impractical, though." she added, swallowing hard.
"Impractical?" Draco raised his eyebrow at her. "You have an outstanding talent at turning something as exciting as sex into the most dull subject ever." he twisted his mouth at her in disapproval.
Hermione ignored his remark. "I'm just saying that there is a reason behind it, a mutual goal. And I don't think what happened last night serves that goal in any way." she explained as she stood up and started pacing the room.
Draco looked at Hermione for too long. He hated the miss prim and proper attitude she was maintaining and was so tempted to kiss her out of it. Complicating things was definitely her strength point.
"You know, people have sex for reasons other than pregnancy." he informed.
"People, but not us." she corrected.
"Why not?" he asked.
"We have a..special situation." she replied.
"Yes, but if we're having a child together and eventually getting married, don't you think sex is going to be fundamental in our relationship?" he reasoned with her.
"Look_" Hermione raised her hand in a motion to stop him from speaking any further. Her stomach convulsed with tension at the image his words formed in her head. "_for once I don't want to plan so far ahead. Can we please go through this step by step?" she implored.
Draco was getting more and more fed up with the space between them. He stood up and moved towards her, she stepped back and he stopped in his tracks. Her frame tensed and she swallowed visibly.
He reached for her wrist and pulled her closer. "You desperately need to relax." he advised quietly, his thumb rubbing her palm in circular motions. Hermione nodded faintly in response.
"I'm willing to go at whatever pace you set." Draco said. "But I don't think I can keep up with the unsteady one you're maintaining now." he added.
"This..this whole situation..it's not exactly a picnic for me." Hermione fought to produce a decent sentence; she was too distracted by the man standing in front of her.
"It's not remotely easy for me either. It's a great risk to keep you here; I always have to worry about what would happen if I had a guest and you suddenly decided to wander around the manor." he admitted. "If anybody saw you here, we'll both be dead in the blink of an eye, and that's the best case scenario." Draco flinched at the other scenarios that came up in his mind.
"I'll be careful." Hermione assured. Draco nodded in acknowledgment.
"And then there's dealing with you." he said. "You're not an easy person to handle, in case you haven't noticed." a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"I could say the same about you." Hermione retorted.
"Yes, but at least I'm just one person." he contradicted. "You on the other hand, have at least two or three other people living in your head." he smiled in amusement.
"Two or three?" she repeated in confusion.
"Well, there's the proper one who talks like something between a professor and a politician." he said "And there's the barking mad one who literally throws stuff around." he smirked at her.
"Then_" Draco slightly inclined his head to one side "_there's that tiny feeble one who made a brief appearance last night." he said, bending his head down, he stopped with his lips inches away from Hermione's.
He gazed at her for an agonizing moment, waiting for any objection on her side. She let out a small sigh and her hand closed over his thumb. Her lips, cold with anxiety collided with warmer ones. No persuasion was needed this time as her lips parted instantly for him.
He freed his thumb from her grip, gliding his hand along her arm and up to her neck. The pad of his thumb brushed her cheek lightly as he angled her head further to one side. He forced his eyes open to look at her and a sense of satisfaction washed over him as he saw her eyes closed.
When the kiss have lasted too long for him to breath properly, he broke it slowly. His ego puffed up his chest as Hermione clutched the lapel of his robe for support. He moved his hand to the small of her back and pulled her closer.
"Yes, that's her." he murmured against her ear.
"However_" he said, lifting her chin up so she could look up at him "_I think she's being bullied by the other two. And I feel personally obligated to empower her." he went on, a mischievous smile curved his mouth.