Chapter 13
"Oh Merlin, Draco," she moaned as he nibbled at her neck. It was Monday night and she'd come to the Manor for dinner with Draco and Scorpius. But Scorpius had been put to bed over and hour ago and their activities had evolved from talking to snogging on the couch.
"You like that?" He wondered as he ran his tongue across the spot he'd just bitten.
She shivered in his arms. "Yeah." And only then did it fully register that she'd pulled his shirt from his trousers and unbuttoned it. She jerked in surprise when her fingers found, not warm skin, but hard metal. She wrenched her eyes open and regarded the pendant she'd inadvertently captured between her fingertips which was dangling from Draco's neck on a delicate chain. It was positively pulsing with magic. "What's this?"
He immediately froze and she looked up to meet panicked eyes.
"Draco?" She questioned more quietly, the front of it was a simple depiction of the Scorpius constellation, but she could feel engravings on the. Before he could stop her she flipped it over to see some of the most complicated runic work she'd ever encountered- and that was saying something. She was able to begin deciphering it before Draco jerked it out of her hands.
Her magic had always tended towards the defensive, but in the wake of the war she could admit that she'd become somewhat obsessed with warding and protective enchanting. She'd gotten herself a masters in runes in her spare time and thrown herself into several major projects and she was now- at only 27- one of the leading experts on wards in Britain. Many would say she was the leading expert, but prejudice still ran deep and she was a muggleborn with some rather revolutionary ideas.
"This is a talisman that's blood linked to Scorpius." She prompted him to explain.
He squeezed his eyes shut as if he was in pain. "Please don't freak out," he pleaded.
She snatched the pendant back to study it. "Why would I freak out? This is beautiful work Draco."
She felt him exhale and looked up at him curiously.
"The blood magic doesn't scare you?"
"Blood magic kept my best friend alive for his entire childhood. I'm well aware that it can be distorted and made dark, but this isn't dark," she reached up to caress the hand that was clutching the pendant like it was a lifeline.
"I thought…"
She cocked an eyebrow at him.
"This is- at best- grey magic, and you're the Assistant Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Hermione fought not to roll her eyes. "There are some benefits to being a muggleborn, we don't come with the same preconceptions," she explained, as gently as possible, without revealing her long-buried bitterness.
"It doesn't bother you?"
"Did you do this yourself?" She wondered, instead of responding directly to his question.
"Yeah, it took several months of research but it was too dangerous to leave to anybody else."
She took the pendant from him and rubbed it gently between her fingertips as she continued to examine the runes. "It's set to track him, monitor his health." She gazed up at him. "This was designed to keep him safe."
"Not everybody would see it like that," he countered.
"You could have manipulated the magic so that you could control him, that's why this is- as you say- 'grey' but you haven't, and I know that you wouldn't."
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"What you've done for him is beautiful," she said as she gently placed the pendant back against his sternum, making skin contact where it would best serve its intended purpose. "Not many people have the magic to spare for this."
He cleared his throat. "But I do, and I need to ensure his safety."
She reached up and touched his cheek, forcing him to face her again.
"It's wonderful, Draco. I'm a little over come. But I shouldn't be surprised by how eager you are to protect your son.
He kissed her then and she sunk into him. Safe and happy and completely relaxed, she kissed him, and kissed him, and forgot to care about anything else.
They didn't wake until Scorpius' happy babbling sounded over the monitoring spell the next morning. At that point there was no reason for her not to stay for breakfast; she still hadn't had the opportunity to do her shopping and there was very little for her at home. It didn't hurt that Scorpius had attached himself to her by demanding to be picked up the moment he saw her. She felt as reluctant to put him down as he seemed to be let go.
Draco asked her to come over for dinner again that night and while she felt like she should say no, thought that they should spend some time apart, she didn't want to, and she rationalized that since she didn't have other plans she'd be neglecting, she might as well see them again.
That night went much like the one before, except that at about eleven o'clock she finally mustered up the willpower to disentangle herself from him and stumble to the floo. He'd literally made her weak in the knees which made it easy for him to stalk after her, pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless again. He also easily extracted a promise that she would return the next night before he let her go. She didn't sleep as well in her own bed as she had on the sofa with Draco the night before, but she pretended that wasn't why and had an extra cup of coffee on Wednesday morning to counteract her sluggishness.
When she flooed into his sitting room on Wednesday evening he admitted that he was expected to dine with his parents that night. His mother had not taken the news that he was moving out well and was apparently laying the guilt on thick. It was actually rather cute that he couldn't seem to deny his mother, but she was annoyed that he hadn't let her know that he needed to cancel their plans.
She huffed at him but gave him a quick kiss before turning back towards the floo to return home, ignoring the pang of disappointment that she would be heating up a frozen dinner instead of enjoying a delicious meal courtesy of the Malfoy elves. Draco grabbed her around the waist before she could even retrieve any floo powder.
"I didn't say you had to go anywhere, Granger," he growled into her ear.
"What am I supposed to do, sit here by myself?"
"I thought you might like to spend some time with Scorpius," he said, with some hesitation. "Effie will still bring you dinner, I don't expect you to starve," he finished with more sarcasm.
"Isn't Scorpius going with you?" She questioned, puzzled, she'd love to spend the time with Scorpius but thought it would look rather suspicious if Draco showed up alone, and surely his grandparents wanted to see him.
He chuckled and turned her in his arms so that she could see he was shaking his head. "No babies at the table," he explained ruefully, "I think I was five before I ate with my parents."
She blinked at him stupidly. "At all?" She asked.
"At all," he confirmed with a funny little smile.
She knew that the Malfoys could be very formal, but she hadn't realized they were quite so old fashioned.
"Where did you eat?"
"With my governess, and on occasion when she was away the elves would just ensure I was fed."
"So why do you eat with Scorpius?"
She knew it was a stupid question as soon as it left her mouth; he was nothing like his parents. He looked slightly insulted but he answered her anyway.
"For the same reason that Scorpius doesn't have a traditional live-in governess but just a nanny who watches him while I'm at work. I want to raise my own son, Hermione, I want to spend that time with him. I'm not sure how my parents managed to remain so detached, I know it's how they were raised as well, but the moment I met Scorpius I knew that I wanted to be a different kind of parent. And I think that had my parents been more available to me, if they hadn't been these paragons who I would have done anything to impress, to get close to, I like to think that I would have made different and better choices. It took a war for me to realize that my parents are only human, just like everybody else."
She felt thoroughly chastised, and she stared at him for a long moment before rising up on her toes and giving him a hard kiss. Which was a bad idea, because Draco was already almost late to meet his parents, but as soon as her lips were on his he was walking her backwards and pushing her against the wall. She was immediately lost to his kisses, forgetting where she was and that he needed to leave, she wound her arms around his neck and then worked her hands into his hair. She had just hooked a leg around his hip in an attempt to bring him closer when Effie popped into the room and spoke with obvious hesitation.
"Master Draco," she squeaked, and they both jumped in surprise, "Effie is sorry but Master's parents are waiting."
Draco pressed his forehead against hers, breathing heavily and he didn't look away as he spoke. "Thank you Effie, I would have been late without you, you've done well," he reassured Effie. "Please bring Hermione and Scorpius their dinner once I've left and make sure that they are undisturbed."
"Of course, Effie can do that!" She answered, sounding much more cheerful now that she had an order and was certain that she displeased them by interrupting them in what had clearly been an intimate moment.
He took a reluctant step away from Hermione and blindly started to comb his hair back into place, she chuckled and reached out to help him. Then she pulled out her wand and cast a charm to soothe his bee stung lips and make his recent activities a little less obvious. She looked over his clothes and gave him a nod to let him know that he was presentable.
If they had known he had a witch in his rooms, his parents probably would have been suspicious about his appearance, but since they didn't, she assumed he'd be able to pass off the slight air of dishevelment as a result of being in a hurry. He pulled her back in for one more long slow kiss. She moaned into his mouth and let herself melt against his firm body. He finally wrenched himself away.
"I'll probably be about an hour and a half. They really like to draw these things out and since Mother is upset with me there will be at least four courses," he explained, sounding more like he was going downstairs for several rounds of torture rather than dinner with his parents.
Hermione nodded, her lips twitching in amusement at Narcissa Malfoy's passive aggressive attempts at payback. She wondered how many courses the woman would plan for the dinners Draco attended once he'd actually moved out.
"Scorpius will probably get cranky before I'm back, you can put him down or you can wait for me, whichever you prefer," he continued, narrowing his eyes at her when she began to trace his lips with the tip of one finger, but he made no attempt to stop her. "I think you know where most things are, if not just call for Effie," he nipped at her fingertip playfully.
"I've got it," she murmured huskily.
He began to back away from her. "I have to go now or I won't go at all," he told her, and with that he spun on his heel and marched to the door.
"Have fun!" She called after him and he waved at her without turning around.
She looked over to his mini-me who was happily playing in the middle of the floor with a host of toys uncaring of both the adults' antics and his father's departure.
"Well, it's just you and me kid," she walked over and plopped down next to him, she leaned over and gave him a smacking kiss on the top of his head. "Your daddy is a good man, baby boy, you're very lucky. In fact, I think we're both pretty lucky."
Draco was actually gone for over two hours. She and Scorpius ate, played for a little bit, she gave him a bath, and then- as predicted- he got cranky. She paced between the sitting room and the nursery rocking and singing to him until he drifted off to sleep on her shoulder.
Instead of putting him down she meandered back into the sitting room and lowered them both onto the sofa. She laid down and arranged him carefully on her chest. She rested there contentedly staring into the fire and listening to the soft sounds of the baby breathing and the occasional smacking of his lips and let her mind wander.
She felt Draco's presence before she saw or even heard him. She craned her neck to spot him hovering in the doorway. He looked completely exhausted but his expression was soft as he gazed at them.
"Are you acting as his mattress now?" He whispered as he walked across the room.
"If you try to tell me you've never done this before, I won't believe you."
He just smiled at her.
"I'm going to change," he indicated his dress robes, "do you want me to put him to bed?"
She would have held him all night, but she sensed that Draco needed to talk and that would probably wake Scorpius. Given Draco's demeanor she strongly suspected that he would require her undivided attention anyway. They carefully traded off the baby and she sat up to wait for Draco to return.
It was only a short while later when he came back into the room looking more casual, but no more relaxed. He stopped at the small bar which was arranged against one wall and poured himself a drink. His shoulders were tense and she realized that now, on top of being tired, he also seemed angry.
"Do you want one?" He asked without looking at her.
"I'm not really a firewhiskey kind of girl."
He finally turned to face her. "Wine, butterbeer? I can get you whatever you like," he told her, sounding exasperated.
She hopped up off the sofa and crossed the room to him, reaching up to envelope him into her embrace as best she could, given their height difference. "How about you come back over here with me and tell me what's got you so upset?"
She felt him physically sag and he didn't protest when she began pulling him across the room and then pushed him onto the sofa. He snagged her hand and pulled her onto his lap, careful to avoid spilling firewhiskey all over her.
"Hi," he murmured into her hair once she was settled.
She tilted her head so that she could see his face and then leaned forward to gently rub her nose against his.
"What are you doing Granger?" He asked snidely, pulling away from her.
She paid his attitude no attention and chased him. He had placed her on his lap, there was really no getting away from her in that position.
"It's called," she placed a kiss on one of his cheeks, "being affectionate," she kissed the other cheek, "Malfoy," she pressed a final kiss between his brows and then rubbed her nose against his again, "they call this an eskimo kiss."
"What in Salazar's name in an eskimo and why would it kiss like that?" He said derisively.
"An eskimo," she said slowly, now tracing the lines of his face with her nose, "is a member of certain tribes indigenous to parts of Canada, the northern United States, and I believe, Siberia. And it's called an 'eskimo kiss' because it is loosely based on a traditional greeting between members of these tribes, but has been popularized in muggle culture as a way of showing affection. Don't tell me you don't like it, I can feel you relaxing."
"Merlin could you be more of a swot? And did it occur to you that I might be relaxing because you're sitting on my lap, and not because you're weirdly rubbing our noses together?" He snarked.
She ignored both his overused insult and the urge to laugh at the backhanded compliment.
"Fine, be grumpy," she sighed dramatically and pretended to pout.
He eyed her speculatively. "Don't you prefer the way the French kiss?" He asked suddenly, swooping down to capture her lips.
She chuckled into his mouth but responded eagerly to his ministrations.
"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?" She pressed when they finally slowed.
"Are you going to do some other weird muggle thing if I don't?"
She socked him in the stomach just hard enough to make him gasp. "I realize you're in a mood, but don't be a prat."
"I thought we'd gotten past the stage where you hit me when I do something you don't like?"
She smiled sweetly at him. "Just for the record, we'll never be past that stage, but now I have a reason not to want to mess up your pretty face," she gently caressed said face as she spoke.
"Well at least you recognize beauty when you see it. And you broke my nose that day, Granger, don't you feel at all bad about that?" He scoffed.
"I stand by my actions, you totally deserved that punch. And how long did it take Madam Pomfrey to fix it, three seconds?" She rolled her eyes.
"It was embarrassing," he griped.
She buried her face in the crook of his neck and took in his scent, the one she was coming to associate with home and contentedness, and hummed happily. She knew he had been stalling and trusted he'd talk when he was ready- he hadn't flat out refused to answer her, after all. She could wait him out, she had plenty of practice with Harry. Meanwhile, she was quite comfortable.
"I told Mother and Father where I'm moving," he eventually confessed, switching his glass uncomfortably from one hand to the other, the condensation dripped onto her legs but she ignored it.
"Oh?" She asked innocently and began to run her fingers through his hair in what she hoped was a soothing manner.
"Mother is already angry with me for leaving, which means that Father is also angry with me because he hates it when she's upset. So, I figured I might as well get it all out there. Or, at least," he looked at her wryly, "most of it."
She understood his meaning.
"I appreciate you not telling them about me without at least warning me first," she assured him, "especially considering we're in the same building." It had been a long time since she'd truly been afraid of Lucius Malfoy, but neither did she relish the idea of a confrontation with him.
"That's what I thought, I'm not ready for that yet anyway," he breathed an actual sigh of relief.
"So I take it your news didn't go over well, but did you expect it to?" She wondered.
He sighed loudly. "No, of course not, but I guess I thought maybe they'd be slightly more reasonable. That they would have learned something from the war."
"They didn't?" She asked in a small, unsure voice. Because if they were just as they had been pre-war than they would almost certainly make her life very, very difficult when her relationship with their son was revealed.
"I don't know," he said, his voice defeated, "sometimes they seem to understand that times have… changed, at least. But then sometimes, like today, it's right back to my childhood. Father was furious from the word 'muggle,' Mother is terrified we're going to contract some kind of barbaric disease, or maybe be attacked. They are completely out of touch."
She bit her lip. "It's probably good that you'll be getting some space soon," she said hesitantly.
He snorted. "That's an understatement."
"It must be hard for them," she ventured after a few minutes of heavy silence.
Now he looked at her incredulously, she just plowed on.
"They're not old, but they're not young either, I can only assume they feel very set in their ways and their beliefs. And most people don't have the ability to adapt like you seem to, like you've been able to, and these are the beliefs of a lifetime we're talking about."
"Why are you defending them?"
"Because they're your parents, and as frustrated as you are with them right now, I know that you love them. And I know that they love you. Despite how misguided their reactions may be, I think that they are a result of concern for you, and I can only find myself in complete sympathy with that sentiment. I know you'll be at least as safe in the muggle world as you are among wizards, if not safer. And I have every confidence that you can be happy there, but they have no way of knowing that. I can empathize, it's similar to the way my parents worried- and continue to worry- about my life in the magical world."
He looked at her for a long time and then shook his head, a rueful smile on his face. "You're something else Hermione Granger," he hugged her tighter, "would you stay tonight?"
"I don't think that's a good idea," she answered immediately, before she could second guess herself.
"Why not?"
"We agreed to take things slowly," she said firmly.
"I'm not-," he stopped abruptly and gathered his thoughts. "I'd just like to share a bed, I think I'd sleep better with you here," he cajoled.
"Draco, we agreed," she reminded him, refusing to balk.
"And we've not had sex!" He insisted a little hysterically.
She sighed heavily, she was much more concerned about her emotional investment than her physical one, but she knew that once they became more physical that she would only get more emotionally attached. They may not have been hurrying things physically, but they were pouring all they both had into this with no escape route or safe place to land and that was the part she was worried about. But trust a wizard to focus on the sex.
"I should go," she said simply, not wanting to get into it with him, especially not when he was still so on edge from the time with his parents.
"Hermione-" he began.
"No, I should go," she reiterated.
"Hermione."
She shook her head, refusing to acknowledge his attempts to get her attention.
"We can get together tomorrow, if you like, but I need to go home."
She scrambled off his lap and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
"Hermione."
"Goodnight Draco," she said, like she hadn't heard him, like she didn't know he was trying to stop her from leaving, and threw a handful of floo powder into the flames.
She called out her address and disappeared as quickly as possible. With Scorpius asleep in the nursery she knew he wouldn't follow her. But, asa precaution she reinforced her wards for the night; she and Harry were the only ones who would be able to pass. Then she threw herself onto her bed.
Author's note: Sorry guys, as well as things are going, Hermione has her reasons for being insecure. I know it's been awhile but I hope this update was worth it.
In other news, something kind of unbelievable and amazing happened on Friday. I was nominated for some awards. They are hosted by the Beyond the Book Fanfiction Nook group on Facebook. To whomever nominated me, thank you so much, it's the most fantastic compliment! This fic was nominated for best post-Hogwarts and I was nominated for best new author. If you feel so inclined I would be so grateful if you would go over there and vote. If not, I'd still encourage you to go over there and look at the list of nominees, it's not all Dramione but it's still a great collection of stories for your reading pleasure the link is: https*:*/*/*docs*.*google*.*com*/*forms*/*d*/*e*/*1FAIpQLSf9h-zaH8sTTErFV0GU*_R1bCLNUDW-HszRzcuH*J7Ikk3lCZbA*/*viewform
Just copy and paste and remove that asterisks. Sorry, I know that's a pain but this site won't allow links.
As always thanks for reading!