Chapter 14: Walking through Sunsets
It was now around noon and Draco and Hermione had decided to get along for a short while and help Nick build a sandcastle. The child couldn't have been happier, after all it wasn't every day that his parents could stay in the same place for longer than five minutes without an argument firing up.
The sandcastle was one that no regular Muggle child could have ever succeeded in building. Hermione had used a simple sticking charm to ensure nothing collapsed because Nick had cried for ten minutes straight the first time it did. Their sandcastle was rather large and realistic, complete with seawater filled moat and several drawbridges leading into/out of it. A small town surrounded the castle, consisting of small houses and shops with a few horse carriages travelling on the makeshift roads. All in all it was an excellent effort from the trio. At the moment, they were all playing pretend as Draco had charmed up people made from sand and Nick was ruling the town as though he were king.
Narcissa watched as her son and his newly found family laughed and joked. She knew that somehow, at some point in time, Draco would find happiness in Hermione and they would be able to love one and other immensely. It was all a matter of realising this potential that stopped the two. They never seemed to look past their differences, for if they did, they would come to realise that they are more alike that they liked to think. And though certain differences did exist, it was these that would make them stronger. Narcissa had already made it her personal mission to bring the two closer, and what better place to start than in this recent change of scenery. If it were up to her, they would not be able to keep their eyes off each other before long.
oOo
"Mummy, I'm hungry," whined Nick, finally getting tired of their little game.
"Well then we should probably have lunch," said Hermione "what do you think Draco?"
Draco merely grunted in response. He too was drained; both due to the sun's heat and Nick making him carry buckets of water from the ocean, to do anything.
"Alright let's go tell Gamma Nick, and then we can find a place to eat" Hermione told Nick, brushing the sand off his shorts and picking him up. "Are you coming?" she asked Draco, who was still lying on his back next to the sand town.
"Yeah, I'll be right there" he replied.
Hermione rolled her eyes at his laziness but smiled nevertheless. Who would have ever thought Draco Malfoy would willingly appear anything but cocky in a public place. She carried Nick over to where Narcissa lay sunbathing.
"Narcissa, we've decided that its time for lunch" she said quietly, so as to not startle the older woman.
Narcissa sat up and stretched, with the grace of a feline, and smiled up at her, her white teeth flashing in the sunlight. "Excellent," she said, "I wondered when the three of you would finally get hungry."
Hermione laughed before replying, "Well we were just going to go look for a place to eat-"
"There will be no need for that," interrupted Narcissa, "we'll eat right here."
"Huh?" Hermione looked confused.
Without saying another word, Narcissa pulled her wand out of her beach bag and flicked it in a complicated way. Out of no where, a barbecue appeared in front of them, complete with a gas cylinder and several packets of uncooked meat, bread and a bowl of garden salad and one of potato salad.
"We are going to have a barbecue!" exclaimed Narcissa, standing up and brushing herself off. She walked over to the barbecue and began inspecting the packets of sausages and steak.
"What's going on?" came Draco's voice as he joined them.
"We're having a barbecue, apparently" replied Hermione, looking a bit sceptical.
"What? Mother do you even know how to work a barbecue?" asked Draco incredulously.
Narcissa simply sniffed "No, but there isn't any harm in learning".
Chuckling, Draco walked up to his mother and said "Mother, have you forgotten your past experiences with cooking? Why don't you just sit down and Granger and I'll take care of it."
"Draco, I think I'm quite capable-"
"No Mother, have you forgotten the cookie incident?"
"What's the cookie incident?" asked Hermione curiously.
"It's nothing Hermione dear" replied Narcissa.
"It's a lot more than nothing Mother" smirked Draco.
"What happened?" Hermione pried further, ignoring Narcissa's attempts to stop her son from telling.
"Well when I was eight, or was it nine, never mind. Yeah. Well I asked Mother to bake me some cookies and…what's so funny Granger?"
Hermione had a ridiculous smile on her face as she listened. The thought of Malfoy asking for cookies was incredibly amusing. "I was just imagining what you'd look like asking for cookies, you'd have been so cute!"
"Oh shut up Granger" Draco said, his cheeks tinting pink.
Hermione laughed. Hard. First the cookies and now Malfoy was blushing. It was too much for her to bear.
"Are you finished?" Draco asked coldly, folding his arms over his chest.
"Yes," replied Hermione, finally gaining her composure. "You were saying?"
"I'm not sure I want to tell you any more"
"Oh come on."
Narcissa had been watching the two silently, an amused smirk on her face. These two were so perfect for each other.
"How I tell you something Granger when you're just going to laugh at me?"
"Fine! Don't tell, like I care" Hermione said and then childishly poked her tongue out at him.
Draco rolled his eyes at her and turned away.
"Mummy! Daddy! Can you please stop fighting! I'm hungry!" Nick exclaimed.
Hermione looked down at her son in shock. He had never spoken like that to her before. The poor boy must be completely sick of their fighting. "We're sorry baby. We'll get lunch ready right away."
"Mother can you please watch Nick, while Granger and I try to work this contraption."
"Yes of course, dear." And with that, Narcissa took Nick from Hermione's arms and went to sit back down.
"She's not that bad at cooking is she?" Hermione asked quietly, standing beside Draco at the barbecue and ripping the plastic off the packet of sausages.
"Believe me," replied Draco, using his wand to light the barbecue.
They worked in silence for a few minutes. Hermione cut the sausages apart, placing them on the grill as Draco charmed a knife to chop up several onions and buns.
"You know I think Nick's completely fed up with out fighting," Hermione said after a while.
"No shit"
"Is that all you can say?"
"What else do you expect me to say?" asked Draco, looking at her as she glared at him.
Sighing Hermione turned away. "I suppose there really isn't much more to say."
"Exactly"
"We should make an effort to stop but"
"And how do you propose we do that? With your temper, I'm surprised we lasted that two hours building the sand castle"
"Excuse me!" exclaimed Hermione, putting down her knife and turning to him "you think it's all MY fault?"
"Whose fault is it then" asked Draco, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh! I don't know! Yours maybe?"
"Me?" asked Draco, putting a hand to his hear dramatically "what ever would give you that idea?"
"Stop making it like you're innocent, Malfoy, you know that most our fights are your fault."
"How so?"
"You always provoke me."
"Ah Granger, you got me there" said Draco smirking, "but you have no idea how fun it is to rile you up. The way your face turns bright red, the way your eyes get huge, as though you're completely crazy, and the way your hair gets extremely poofy, well poofier, as though lightening struck it." He had a far off look on his face as though he were recounting a very fond memory.
"Oh shut up, Malfoy." Hermione threw a chicken wing at him.
Draco laughed and squirted tomato sauce on her arm. "It's true"
"You know," said Hermione, wiping her arm on his bare stomach and he glared at her, getting a serviette to clean himself, "I'm surprised you notice so much when we fight. I personally think about nothing more than the best way to kill you without realising."
"Don't flatter yourself Granger" said Draco.
"I'd never make that mistake"
"Good"
"Are you done yet?" It was Nick.
"Yes honey," replied Hermione, picking up the trays of freshly barbecued sausages and chicken wings.
"Yay! Me and Gamma set up the picnic rug with plates and cups."
"That's excellent mate," said Draco. He was holding the salad bowls. "You want to help?"
"Yes"
"You can carry the buns. Be careful and don't drop them."
"I won't"
They walked over to where Narcissa sat waiting. Setting down the food, they dug in heartily and soon there was nothing but crumbs left.
oOo
The sun was about to set and Draco and Hermione were sitting in their spot silently. Hermione, as per usual, was reading a book, while Draco simply sat gazing out at the ocean. Narcissa and Nick had gone looking for seashells. It was completely peaceful, which was quite surprising, considering the pair's past history.
"Granger, do you want to go for a walk?" asked Draco out of the blue.
"What?" Hermione looked up from her book, a shocked expression on her face.
"Don't look at me like that. Do you want to go for a walk?"
"Why?" questioned Hermione.
"Because I'm bored and I don't want to sit here anymore"
"Okay then"
Hermione was still shocked by his proposition. It wasn't like him to ask her of something like that. He better not have an ulterior motive. Silently, Hermione marked the page in her book, and placed it in her bag. When she looked up, she saw Draco standing there, holding his hand out, as though expecting her to take it. Hermione could do nothing but stare.
"Just take the hand, Granger," said Draco irritably.
"What's gotten into you, Malfoy?" Hermione asked quietly, ignoring the hand.
"What do you mean? Wasn't it your idea that we get along? I'm just being a gentleman"
Hermione warily extended her arm and placed her small hand into his larger one. Draco tugged her to her feet and she brushed her self off. He then stood, folding his arm into a weird angle, waiting for her to take it.
"Since when have you been a gentleman, Malfoy" asked Hermione, smirking.
"Since now"
Laughing, Hermione wound her arm around his and they began walking. The silence they shared was, for once, companionable. They walked along the coast, the water lapping at their ankles. To an outsider it may have looked like they were a couple in love, oh how wrong that outsider would be.
"So, Malfoy, tell me about yourself." It was Hermione that broke the silence.
"What do you want to know?" asked Draco, looking expectantly at her.
"What did you do after graduation?"
"Well I took a year off. I had no idea what I wanted to do. My father always expected me to work at the Ministry, while managing the business on the side like he did. But it wasn't what I wanted."
"Why not?"
"Well I never really liked the Ministry."
"For once I agree with you there," Hermione said with a small smile.
"Oh?"
"The way they handled situation in such a controversial way was never appealing to me. I mean, when Harry said the Voldemort was back, they spread the news that he was insane, all because Fudge was scared."
"Potter is insane," smirked Draco.
"Oh, be quiet," said Hermione.
"How can you still defend him after what he did to you the other day?"
Hermione didn't reply, instead she looked past him, at the horizon. He was right of course. Why should she defend him? It didn't take long for him to throw their friendship away. He judged her in a way she would have never judged him. As this thought crossed her mind, tears welled in her eyes. But she refused to cry. It was over. It was done. Besides, Malfoy was there and she would not appear weak in front of him.
"Look, Granger, I'm sorry for brining it up," Draco's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You are?"
"Yes. It clearly upset you. Can we change the topic? Please. I always feel slightly nauseous when I think about Potter."
Hermione made a funny noise in between a laugh and a sniff. "I don't know what has gotten into you, Malfoy, but I'm not complaining."
"I'll take that as a compliment," said Draco, smirking somewhat triumphantly.
"I meant it as such," laughed Hermione.
"All right then"
"You never ended up telling me about the 'cookie incident'."
"And whose fault was that?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Just tell me. Please."
"Since you asked so nicely I think I will."
"Well?"
"Like I told you, I asked Mother to bake me cookies –and get that ridiculous smile of your face, Granger, it really isn't that funny- so she did, well tried to. Pureblood women are never taught to cook, that's the house elves' job. So anyway, she tried to bake me cookies, apparently the house elves gave her a recipe. She messed it up entirely. First she made the dough completely wrong, and then when she went to put it in the oven, she left the oven door open thinking it was the right thing to do. Somehow she had put the temperature on maximum and then she left the kitchen to take a bath. When she came back the whole kitchen was burnt, as in everything was gone. The only this that prevented the flame from spreading were the protective charms placed around the entrance and on the walls. It was horrible. We had to get the whole thing renovated. Father was, naturally, furious. It's rather hilarious to think about now. But, needless to say, I never asked her to bake me cookies again."
Hermione looked at him, shock written right across her face. "Didn't the house elves notice something was wrong in the kitchen? I mean that's where they always aren't isn't it?"
Draco laughed. "Not necessarily. They have their own quarters, somewhere in the west wing. Plus, mother had ordered them to stay clear of the kitchen until she was done, they couldn't have done anything about it."
"I can't believe she burnt down the kitchen," giggled Hermione.
"You see why I didn't let her near the barbecue now?"
"Yes."
All of a sudden, Draco came to a stop.
"What's wrong?" asked Hermione, looking around frantically.
"Let's go up there," he replied, pointing behind her.
Hermione turned around to see what he was pointing at. To her horror, it was a look out tower that rose about twenty five meters into the air. In her opinion, the metal framework that it consisted of was incredibly flimsy, as though it could snap any moment. The fear of heights overcame her, just looking at it. "Can-can we not?" she stuttered, looking at Draco with wide eyes.
"Why not?"
"Because-"
"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights."
"I am" said Hermione, looking at her feet.
"Well I think it's high time you overcame that fear of yours," said Draco, walking towards the tower, dragging her along.
"No Malfoy, you don't understand," cried Hermione, digging her heels into the ground.
"What is there to understand? What do you think will happen? Come on, I promise, if you get scared, I'll apparate you down straight away."
Hermione hesitated and then followed, mainly so she didn't appear a fool in front of Malfoy. When they reached the bottom of the staircase, winding up into the tower, Hermione stopped took a deep breath, clutched tight onto Draco's arm and let him lead her up the stairs. All the while, Hermione kept her eyes firmly forward and didn't dare look down at the ground. Still, with every step they took, Hermione's breathing became sharper, and her hold on Draco's arm became tighter. When they finally reached the top, she was near hysterical.
"Granger," said Draco, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to him. Instead she was looking around frantically, whimpering slightly. "Granger," he tried again. There was still no response. "Hermione."
This time, Hermione's eyes snapped to look at him and her eyes widened as though she had just noticed he was there. Then she did something unexpected. She threw her arms around him, buried her face in his chest and began sobbing uncontrollably. Draco stood there in shock for a few moments, his back as rigid as a board. Slowly, however, he wrapped his arms around her waist, returning her embrace. His hands made soothing movements on her back and she seemed to calm down significantly.
Slowly, so that Hermione wouldn't notice, Draco led them to the edge of the platform. When he was sure that she had stopped sobbing, he said, "Hermione, look up."
Hermione did so, staring at his face. He was gazing out into the distance. The light of the setting sun shone on his face, illuminating his chiselled features. From his high cheekbones, strong jaw, to his pink, slightly chapped lips. She could make out the blue specks in his grey eyes. The slight sea breeze caused his hair platinum hair to blow lightly around his forehead. He looked like a god standing there.
Draco tilted his head to look down at her. He gazed into her eyes for a moment. His stomach gave a lurch, yet it wasn't uncomfortable. It was nothing like he had ever felt before. "Turn around," he whispered, hoping she hadn't noticed anything was amiss. When she didn't move, Draco moved his arms to rub hers gently up and down. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall.
Hermione hesitated only a second longer, before turning around slowly. She let out an astonished gasp when she did. The view before her was incredible. The sun was just about to set beyond the horizon. It's rays spread out visibly in every direction. Causing the sky around it to turn slightly pink and purple. It illuminated the ocean so that part of it appeared to be made of molten gold, while on the rest of it a shadow was cast, the rolling waves giving it the appearance of dark grey silk.
"It's beautiful," breathed Hermione.
"Mmm," was Draco's reply.
They watched silently as the sun continued its journey beyond the horizon. Draco's arms were still wrapped around Hermione's waist, and she held onto them tight, as though if she were to let go, this dreamlike spectacle would and she would go plummeting down to the ground below. She tilted slightly, to look up at Draco, only to find he was staring right back. Her breath caught in her throat, but she held his gaze. Slowly their faces unconsciously drew closer. Both seemed to have lost all rational means of thinking. Their eyes fluttered close simultaneously when they were only centimetres apart and at an excruciatingly slow speed, their lips finally met.
It was as if an electric shock had gone through both their bodies, yet they didn't pull apart. Draco's lips, Hermione noticed, were extremely soft and gentle as they moved across hers. She moved her hands up his arms and shoulders and brought them to rest around his neck. She gradually began stroking his soft hair, relishing their silken feel.
As she did this, Draco opened his mouth against Hermione's and sucked on her bottom lip. She granted him entrance and he immediately seized the opportunity, slipping his tongue into her mouth. She tasted like heaven.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, kissing each other slowly, until, eventually, the lack of oxygen made them pull apart. Looking into one another's they saw nothing but surprise mixed in with a hint of wonder. Abruptly they jumped away from each other, both breathing deeply. Hermione no longer could register that she was elevated several meters above the ground. All she could think about was the kiss and its intensity, and the fact that she had immensely enjoyed it.
Draco's insides were in a similar turmoil. He was having difficulty comprehending the events that had taken place. He had just kissed Hermione Granger, willingly, and had enjoyed it. A lot.
They both cleared their throats at the same time and then blushed.
"I think-I think we should probably get back," said Draco, finally gaining his composure.
"Y-yeah," replied Hermione. She was surprised to still have the ability to speak.
So together they climbed down the stairs, Hermione once again clutching Draco's arm. Her surroundings had begun to register once again as the fog slightly cleared up from her brain. It was incredibly awkward as they walked back to their spot in the twilight.
A/N: well I'm not very good at kissing scenes…did I go okay?? Reviews??