Author's Note: Well, it's still Wednesday where I live.
Life is crazy right now, so I haven't gotten to respond to reviews like I want, but I swear to get to them once things calm down for a bit - whenever that is. But thank you as always for all the love, whether that's favorites, follows, or reviews! Hope to see you Friday for the conclusion!
Hermione bit down on her lower lip as she watched Draco make his way to the kitchen, thoroughly enjoying the view as he walked away. The morning sun shone through the window and hit his back muscles just right, instantly making Hermione reconsider her insistence on breakfast and instead pull him right back into bed and finish what he had started. It was incredibly tempting, but knowing them, they wouldn't make it past noon before he had her screaming out his name, so all things considered, a slight delay for pancakes really wasn't too terrible.
When he turned the corner and disappeared out of sight, Hermione rolled onto her back and sighed dreamily up at the ceiling. Gods, she was a lucky witch. No other wizard had ever made her feel even half as satisfied as he continued to do time and time again. She closed her eyes, imagining the perfect way he had thrust into her the night before, sparking every nerve in her system to ignite with passion, her fingernails clawing into the mattress as she felt wave after wave ripple through her body.
To say it had been an incredible month would be an understatement.
Although, to be fair, while Draco did admittedly play a key role in that, he wasn't the only factor.
Being a Healer at St. Mungo's had been remarkably rewarding, and she would have been perfectly content continuing her career at the hospital, but all that changed when she received an owl from McGonagall asking if she'd be interested in the newly vacant matron position. Up until then, Hermione had never considered it an actual possibility - primarily because she just assumed Madam Pomfrey would hold that title for generations of students to come - but the moment Hermione finished reading the letter, she practically squealed in excitement. Hogwarts would forever be a second home to her, and now she had the opportunity to combine her love of Healing with her love of the institution she had fought an entire war to defend her right to proudly attend.
The night before her interview, Hermione had been extremely anxious. McGonagall had assured her that the position was essentially hers, yet Hermione still couldn't shake the nervous pixies fluttering in her stomach. So after failing miserably at her attempt to fall asleep early, she decided to venture downstairs to the pub portion of the Three Broomsticks where she was staying and have a casual drink to calm her jitters before trying again.
It was there that she had spotted Draco. It had been years since she had seen him last, but she would forever be able to recognise him immediately. With hair like that, it was hard not to. It also didn't hurt that he somehow looked even better than she remembered.
She decided to ignore him at first, opting to stick to her original mission and then return to bed, but a few minutes later, a Butterbeer appeared before her, and when she looked up and saw him raising his own glass to cheers her from the other side of the pub, she gave him a soft smile and gladly reciprocated. The Draco Malfoy she knew at Hogwarts would never have even looked in her direction, let alone buy her a drink and cheers her as his equal, but apparently his looks weren't the only thing that had matured over the past few years.
After taking a sip, she decided it was worth going over and talking to him - at least to say thank you. Besides, if she was going to be returning to Hogwarts in the morning, she might as well do so having resolved that part of her past. It also wouldn't hurt to talk about something - anything - that would get her mind off the interview.
The last thing she expected to do that night was sleep with him. But it turned out to be an excellent way of appeasing those pesky pixies - and surprisingly fun. So before she left, she made an impulse decision to leave him her address. It was rational enough. The sex was more than satisfactory, so why not continue a good thing?
And this… thing… that had transpired between them the past few weeks had certainly developed into more than just a good thing. It was amazing. Brilliant. Spectacular. Sometimes even edging on mind-blowing. Everything a summer fling should be.
But if she was honest, she had long since started to question if she really did want it to stay temporary.
At the beginning, she had been adamant that she didn't want anything serious, only giving them until the end of the month. That way, it would be a nice, clean break when she started the job at Hogwarts. After all, their casual hook-up status couldn't continue once she was off in Scotland for the next ten months.
Never in her wildest imagination would she have predicted that her fondness towards the wizard would cause her to reconsider that deadline.
She had tried to fight it - she really had - swearing to herself that she didn't truly like him and that she was actually stuck in some twisted erotic haze that was warping her perception of him. When she had suggested this end of summer getaway, part of her had secretly hoped that a week of just the two of them spending every waking moment together would help her snap out of it and remind her what the real Malfoy was like, but it had completely backfired. The real Malfoy was exactly who she presently perceived him to be, and after a perfect week of relaxing by the lake, lounging around the house, and, of course, tons of hot sex, she had only fallen further victim to her perpetually growing feelings towards him.
She knocked her head back against the mattress and groaned. This wasn't what her mind should be focused on the day before term began! She should be over-the-moon excited to be starting a new position, but instead, she was stuck sulking over an impending breakup with someone she wasn't even dating!
And unfortunately, the bleak reality was that ultimately, it hardly made a difference how she felt about him. Regardless of whether or not she wanted to continue being with Draco, the fact of the matter remained that tomorrow morning, they'd be hundreds of miles away from each other.
She drew in a deep breath through her nose, intending to release a heavy sigh, but then she caught the smell of the pancakes wafting in the air. A soft hum escaped her lips instead, and her worries instantly faded away. Tomorrow was bound to be an emotional disaster, but for today, she still had Draco - and his delicious pancakes.
Hermione pushed herself off the bed and after located her under garments and stealing one of his button-down shirts, she followed his path into the kitchen where she found him standing in front of the cooker, one hand on the handle of the fry-pan, the other flipping a pancake over with a spatula. The soft sizzling echoed in the otherwise quiet kitchen, and Draco was so focused on the cooking, he didn't seem to notice her approach. He startled slightly when she wrapped her arms around his bare torso but soon relaxed under her warm embrace.
He looked back at her from over his shoulder and smiled. "You know I love it when you wear my shirts," he said with an appreciative grin before returning his attention to the fry-pan, the pancakes just barely starting to turn golden. "They should be done any minute now."
"Good, because I'm starving." She popped up on her toes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and then rested her head against his shoulder blade. "I swear I'm not leaving tonight until you tell me what your secret to such good pancakes is," she commented, dipping a finger into the raw batter and taking a lick. If it wasn't for the fact that she had a job to report to, she wouldn't be kidding. Of course, his pancake recipe really wasn't the reason why.
Draco chuckled. "As I'm sure you won't find hard to believe, I'm rather good at keeping secrets, even from you, so I guess that means you're stuck here."
Even though she wouldn't be entirely opposed, Hermione still pulled herself away and looked up at him in fake offence, at which he merely laughed. Her heart soared at the sight of his genuine smile, his calming grey eyes turned into crescents as he peered down at her with amusement.
Hermione scooped up another finger full of batter and playfully dropped a generous dollop on his nose. "Well, that's not very considerate! Not even as a parting gift?"
Draco's smile quickly shifted into a smirk as he wiped the batter off with two fingers and streaked it across her cheekbone. "Trust me when I say that I can come up with a much more appropriate parting gift."
"Oh, really?" she continued to tease through her quickly accelerating heartbeat. Apparently the organ was responsive to everything little thing that he did. "Is that a promise?" His attention was so focused on her, he was completely oblivious to her hand slowly reaching back to the counter.
Draco started to gnaw on his lower lip. "It's most certainly a promise."
"Good," Hermione said with a taunting smile. "Then it shouldn't make a difference when I do this."
She dipped all five fingers into the batter bowl and flicked it in his direction, little specks of tan scattering across his face.
Hermione clapped her clean hand over her mouth to obscure her wide grin as Draco ran his hands over his cheeks and then looked down at his palms to examine the damage. "You witch!" he jokingly jeered, dipping his own hand into the batter and doing the same.
Fortunately for Hermione, her impulses were fast enough so that she could duck without getting hit by his initial attack, but unfortunately for Hermione, he managed to wrap his arms around her, locking her in place.
"Let me go, Draco!" she said through a fit of giggles, half-heartedly attempting to wiggle herself free.
"Not so fast, Granger," he mocked, his youthful enjoyment of the game she had initiated apparent in his light-hearted tone. "If you can't take it, then you shouldn't start it in the first place!" He then grabbed a handful of batter and ran his palm across the length of her face, eliciting a short squeal from her.
"I can take - whatever - you give me," she forced out through her laughter as she moved her body side to side in an attempt escape his clasp.
Draco tightened his grip around her, his strong arms proving rather difficult to wrestle out of, but she finally got the upper hand when, somehow, she managed to get one arm free enough so that she could dip her hand back into the bowl and then rustle her batter covered hand through his hair.
Immediately, Draco dropped his hold. "Too far!" he cried when he threaded his fingers through his hair and detected the thick paste. "You'll pay for that one!"
He picked up the batter bowl and chased Hermione out of the kitchen and through the corridors, both of them with wide smiles plastered across their faces as he flung the mixture in her direction, neither one caring what else in the lake house got hit in the crossfire. It was a terribly immature game for two adults to play, but Hermione couldn't care less. She and Draco were enjoying themselves, and that was all that mattered.
They raced through the house, their laughter filling every room they entered, even after Draco had her backed into the corner of the sitting room.
"You're mine now, Granger," he growled with a coy smile.
Hermione made one final feeble attempt to escape, but it proved unsurprisingly futile. She let out a short, high-pitched yelp as he clamped both arms around her waist, lifting her up in the air so she had no chance of getting away this time, but he needn't worry. Truth was, she really was his.
He deposited Hermione on the couch and wasted no time settling himself over her, his smug, victorious expression just inches above her. "Don't you ever trying getting away from me again," he said before leaning in and capturing her with his lips.
She had kissed him so many times this summer, it would be impossible to keep count anymore, but she could swear on Godric Gryffindor's grave that there was something different about this one. The passion in their kisses had often been there, but it was even more apparent this time. His lips were pressed so hard that she feared they might actually leave a bruise, and his hands were gripping onto the button down as if he was afraid that if he let go, she might actually disappear on him.
And yet, despite all this, he still didn't feel close enough. Hermione's fingers gripped onto his hair, and pulled him in closer, not even caring about the traces of batter that still remained. Because when she was with Draco, everything else in the world seemed to fade away.
Except for the smell of burning pancakes.
She stilled from underneath him, and within a few seconds, Draco paused as well, staring down at her confusedly until his nose wrinkled as he seemed to catch on.
"Your stupid pancakes are cockblocking me again," he hissed, begrudgingly getting to his feet.
"Not my fault you didn't turn off the cooker!"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Remind me again who started this whole batter battle?"
"Oh, hush, hush!" she dismissed. "Just go turn it off before we burn the house down!"
"Fine," he surrendered, "but don't you dare move before I come back. You and I are only getting started."
With a smirk and a wink, he headed back to the kitchen, Hermione watching him leave from over the back of the couch.
Gods, she really didn't want to lose him.
Maybe there was still a way to make this work?
She knew she and McGonagall had given their word to each not to tell anyone outside of the former Order members about her hiring at Hogwarts, but surely it wouldn't be a big deal if she finally told Draco, too. After all, in a little under forty-eight hours, it was bound to be plastered all over the front page of the Daily Prophet once word got out that she was seated at the High Table at the Start-of-Term Feast.
But even if she told him, it wouldn't change the fact that Hogwarts was nearly five hundred miles away from London, and she had a responsibility to the students and the school to tend to her job appropriately. Being Head Matron meant being almost constantly on call, so weekends at Hogsmeade weren't an option, and she seriously doubted Draco would be willing to return to the scene of so many of his crimes just for a shag - no matter how good it was.
At this point, it would just make the most sense to let this die its self-prescribed death and then hope for a continuation once the Christmas holiday rolled around and she had a few days off - that is if he was still single by then.
Hermione didn't even want to consider that possibility.
...
The late summer sun had already started its descent when Hermione stood in front of the Malfoy family lake house, all of her belongings for the school year hidden in a deceptively small weekend bag thanks to an Undetectable Extension Charm. Technically speaking, she and Malfoy still had several more hours before their month was officially over, but as much as Hermione wanted to stay until the clock struck midnight and their time together disappeared like the end of a fairy godmother's wish, she needed to get to Hogwarts and at least partially settle in before the students arrived tomorrow evening. The professors may have that night for last minute preparations, but her job started the second students stepped foot on the property.
"Well," Draco said, shoving his hands into his trousers pockets and giving his shoulders a shrug. "I guess this is it."
Hermione gave him a tight-lipped smile. What exactly was she supposed to say? It's been real? Thanks for the sex? Please don't tell me this is really the end?
There was a whole world of things she wished she'd just come out and confess, but all she could muster was, "Yep."
They remained standing there in uncomfortable silence, apparently neither one of them certain what form of salutation this situation called for. There wasn't exactly a book called What to Do When You Like Someone, but You Already Agreed to End It and Now are Moving Five Hundred Miles Away.
Hermione started to panic, the lack of action on either end starting to make her anxious, and ultimately decided to extend her hand for him to shake - a move she instantly regretted.
A handshake? A handshake? They'd had sex on nearly every flat surface in that house, and she was saying goodbye with a handshake?
Draco graciously enough accepted, but Hermione was so mortified by the whole occurrence, she quickly drew her hand away and picked up her weekend bag.
"Okay, well, um, goodbye then."
She turned from him and walked towards the edge of their property and out of their Anti-Apparition ward. Gods, could she have ended their summer on any more of an awkward note? Now that was going to be his last memory of her! Normally, she would go back and try to fix her mistake, but she didn't trust herself not to somehow botch it up even worse.
Well, there went any dream of anything happening over the Christmas holiday!
But then she heard the sound of the loose pavement under his feet, Draco rapidly approaching from behind. Before she could register much more, he had already pulled her back and dragged her into his embrace, capturing her lips with one final kiss.
Hermione clamped her eyes shut as he pressed his lips to hers, feeling the warmth of their connection spread like wildfire down to her toes. There he was again, proving just how capable he was of vanishing every thought and worry from her mind with something so simple, yet so intense and so undeniably perfect.
He slowly pulled away but left his forehead rested on hers. "Didn't feel right for you to leave without a goodbye kiss," he said with that irresistible smirk of his that had the power to make her crumble at his feet. Luckily, her knees proved strong enough to prevent any more embarrassing moments.
He stood up properly and gave her a curt nod. "Well, I, uh, hope to see you around."
A small blushing smile formed at the edges of her lips. "Me too."
Perhaps there was still hope for the Christmas holiday - or maybe even sooner. Once the news broke about her return to Hogwarts, she could send him a letter explaining why she hadn't told him and invite him up for a weekend. It wouldn't be the same as having him around every minute of the day like she really wanted, but at least it would be something.