Chapter Eleven
Draco showed up at Hermione's door at exactly seven o'clock like they had arranged. He held a paper in his hand. The headline read, "War Hero and Delegate Clear the Air"
By Wilmilda Roth
Two statements were issued after the publishing of this mornings article "New Delegate Malfoy and War Hero Granger Doing Unspeakable Things". One jointly from Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger, and another from Ron Weasley who was quoted in the article. It turns out that our own Rita Skeeter was doing less than truthful reporting.
In Mr. Malfoy's and Miss Granger's statement they made it clear that they were not in a relationship when Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley were, and also that they are not expecting a child. They did not however, deny the fact that they were in a relationship. Mr. Malfoy also made it clear that he was not with Miss Granger for her blood-status or for her clean name, but because she is "a bright, and beautiful witch." Miss Granger also went on to say that anyone who was still harboring grudges against the Malfoys from the war should let them go because, "if Harry Potter can stand up for this family and be friends with them, anyone can."
Mr. Weasley's statement was much more controversial. He came open with the fact that it was he that was having an affair during his and Miss Granger's relationship, and that it is his girlfriend, Luna Lovegood, that is currently six months pregnant, and that they have in fact been charming her stomach to be flat. He said that he now acknowledges that Mr. Malfoy is not using Miss Granger and they are in, "a meaningful and equal relationship. In which there is mutual respect and love."
Miss Rita Skeeter has been released from her contract with the Daily Prophet at the request of the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. It seems that Miss Skeeter should be seen as a cautionary tale of telling the truth. Whether or not Mr. Malfoy's and Miss Granger's relationship is going to last is still to be seen.
The statements worked out a lot better than they had anticipated, and Draco was afraid that now that they didn't have to prove her wrong and go to dinner, she wouldn't want to go. After all they could easily come out with another statement in a couple of weeks and say that the stress was too much for the new couple to deal with and they mutually parted their ways. She opened the door.
Draco wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss her. But she didn't want him, not like that, he knew that, and it was something he would have to accept. She wore her hair loose, her make up light, and wore a simple dark blue dress that was slightly off the shouders, a tight waist and then flowed down to right above her knees. She wore a pair of matching peep-toe heels and carried a white sparkly clutch. She beamed at him.
"Did you see the paper?" Draco held it up and she grinned even wider. "I can't believe the statements worked! Though she will still try to find a way to ruin us, she still works for that piece of rubbish Witch Weekly."
Draco stood awkwardly, "So you still want to go to dinner?"
Her smile faltered for a second and then returned, "Yeah! I mean we need to celebrate right?"
He held out his arm and apparated them to a restaurant called Celestial. The host greeted them. "Ah Mr. Malfoy! So nice to see you!" he noticed Hermione. "And I see Miss Granger is dining with you tonight! Excellent, your table is waiting."
He let them to a table in the middle of the room. Draco didn't say anything as they sat. After the host took their drink orders, and left the menus Draco finally spoke up. "I figured we wanted to be seen when I made the reservation."
Hermione shrugged, "I like being able to see everyone. Observing people gives you a lot insight into human nature."
The waiter came over, "Hello, my name is Dexter and I will be your server for the evening." He sat their drinks in front of them, "An apple martini for the lady, and a gin and tonic for you sir. Have you decided what you would like?"
Hermione smiled, "I would like the beef tenderloin with red wine and shallot sauce please."
Draco eyed his menu for a moment and finally said, "I'll have the chicken scaloppini with saffron cream sauce."
Hermione threw back her martini and quickly said, "I'll have another drink as well please."
The waiter tried to hide a smile as he picked up her empty glass and left with their orders.
"So observing people gives you a lot of insight to human nature? Such as?" He took a sip of his drink.
She sat back and eyed him, "Such as you don't want to be here now that our little problem is taken care of."
Draco raised an eyebrow, "That's not true."
She briefly smiled at the waiter before she tossed back the next martini and handed him back the empty glass. The waiter took it and walked away. Draco eyed her.
"What makes you think that I don't want to be here?" Draco was beginning to feel angry.
"Because I'm not your usual type. You want a piece of eye candy on your arm, and while I suited a purpose, that purpose is done." She didn't even blink an eye as the waiter sat two of apple martinis in front of her. She picked up one and drank it down, and then the other quickly.
"Hermione, I think you need to slow down." Hermione smirked at him.
"I think you need to catch up."
Draco stood up, threw a couple of galleons on the table and grabbed her arm and apparated her to the Leaky Cauldron. She took one look at the bar and started laughing.
Draco held up three fingers to the barman, Tom, and sat down at a table. Tom brought over three shots and set them down in front of him. Hermione looked up at Tom, "I'll have three of the same."
Tom raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He returned with not three but six, since Draco had already thrown his back. Hermione's face was slowly turning pink and she was giggling. He threw back the three quickly and asked for six more. Tom rolled his eyes and fetched him. Draco did the six and soon he felt himself get all warm. Hermione was watching him with wide eyes.
"That was immmmmpressive Mr. Malfoy. Twelve shots in what? Two minutes. You should probably apparate me home before they hit. You can sleep on my couch." She slurred slightly and giggled again. Draco started to feel a slight haze come over him and knew she was probably right. So once again he threw money on the table and took her arm and apparated into the night.
They arrived at Hermione's flat and the first thing she did was kicked off her shoes. "Ah" she breathed, "Much better."
Draco stumbled a bit at the landing. The shots were starting to kick in. Hermione sat on the couch heavily and patted it. Draco sat next to her. She turned towards him.
"Why don't you like me Draco? I mean, I thought we got over our differences after the war." Draco stared deep into her eyes.
"I do like you Hermione. Just a little too much. I'm no good for you. You deserve someone better."
Hermione frowned slightly, "Better how? You are my match in intelligence, you are just as stubborn as me, and I think we want a lot of the same things out of life, don't we?"
Draco took her hand softly, "Hermione, you need someone who doesn't have the past that I do."
She sighed and shook her head, "I don't give one shit about your past Draco Malfoy, I just care about the man you are right now in this second."
She kissed him, once, softly. She felt her eyes flutter shut and her heart pound hard. She opened her eyes and looked deep into his gray ones. "Tell me that didn't move your world just a bit and I will never put another move on you in my life."
Draco took her face in his hands and kissed her, this time more demanding. Her hands twined up into his hair and she responded, their hearts beating as one. She crawled up into his lap, never breaking their kiss, and straddled him. He reached and felt for the zipper and tugged it down, she responded by unbuttoning his buttons. He had her dress around her waist and her bra halfway undone before he finally broke it and leaned back.
"I thought you were waiting for marriage? I don't want to take that away from you Hermione."
She reached behind her and finished taking off her bra, baring herself to him. "I was, but after Ron, I swore no one else would ever leave me because of something like that again. So I wrote Viktor Krum and we had a fling. For a month. He wanted more, I didn't, so we broke up. I want to do this Draco, more than anything else."
He kissed her again, holding her as he stood up from the couch. He wrapped her legs around his waist and held her up as he walked towards her bedroom. He kicked the cracked door the rest of the way open and walked in. He set her at the edge of the bed and quickly pulled off his shoes and pants, and shed his unbuttoned shirt before crawling into bed with her. She moved backwards to make room for him. She pulled the dress over her head and tossed it to the floor.
He touched her softly, kissing her mouth, her neck, her jaw line, anything in reach. Her breaths became shallow, and her pupils dilated. She used her hands on him, stroking, rubbing anything and everything until finally he pulled down her panties and tossed them aside. He reached down and found her slick and ready. His fingers moved to a rhythm and soon Hermione was bucking her hips and crying little cries. She hooked her fingers into his boxers and tugged downwards, "Now Draco!"
He slipped them off and positioned himself between her legs. He leaned down and kissed her as he entered her in one smooth stroke. Hermione arched her back and moaned against his lips. He used one arm to hold her up against him and the other to hold himself off of the bed. They moved together in a quickening ryhytme until Hermione cried out and Malfoy felt her convulsing around him. He joined calling out her name and kissing her. His entire life suddenly had meaning in that one moment. Hermione was breathing in little pants and reached up and pulled his face to hers. She kissed him. He rolled off of her gently, gathering her in his arms. Nothing in either of their lives was ever going to be the same.