Author's Note: I own no person, no place, no thing – except the plot! If you recognize it, it probably belongs to Ms. Rowling or some other awesome super-human.

Chapter 16 Anticipation

The joy of victory was diminished for Draco somewhat as he listened to Hermione and the female officer reviewing her statement concerning Sutton's attack on her. He politely gave his own statement to another officer, then finally pulled Hermione upstairs to her flat. A strange and violent feeling was sweeping through his system, and he was desperate to get her alone so he could find out what the hell had actually happened between Hermione and Sutton.

More accurately, Draco wanted to know how the hell anything had happened between Hermione and Sutton.

Draco flipped through the six locks and punched in the six-digit code on the keypad, and swept inside with Hermione hot on his heels.

Hermione only realized that something was amiss with her boyfriend when he stalked straight to the refrigerator and reached in to pull out a beer. Hermione watched, puzzled, as Draco very uncharacteristically snagged a bottle opener, pulled the top off and poured his beer without looking up or saying a word. He remained silent as he made his way to the windows that overlooked the street they'd just vacated. Draco stood there, staring pensively across the way at the path that led to Hermione's route into the Park.

"Draco? Are you okay?" Hermione asked as she walked quietly up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her heart plummeted when she felt him stiffen at her touch, and she instinctively drew her hands back and stepped away from him.

"What's wrong?" she asked his back in a whisper. Draco was radiating a tension she hadn't seen since the height of the War - but then this tension seemed to be directed towards her –

"Tell me something, Hermione," Draco suddenly said in a quiet, yet stern voice. Hermione felt herself stiffening at his tone, and her defensive hackles rose.

"Yes?" she said evenly. Hermione repeated to herself over and over again that she was not going to fight with Draco, no matter what he was about to hurl at her.

"The first night we went to dinner, and you oh, so merrily reminded me that we needed to practice constant vigilance even out here in the Muggle world, did you think you were above such measures?" Draco's voice was even as he leaned forward to look down at the sidewalk underneath him.

"No, of course not, Draco. I am aware of my surroundings at all times. Today was just an unfortunate accident –"

"How?!" He spun around and cut her off. "How was today an unfortunate accident? I'm really curious Hermione. How does a heavy-footed, lump-arsed prick like Sutton sneak up on a fighter with your experience? How did he manage to get his hands on you? How did you fail to notice that you were being watched?! How-" Draco stalked forward and picked her up roughly by her arms, shoving her against the closest brick column as he pushed his weight into her body. "How in the HELL am I supposed to protect you if you aren't protecting yourself? How in the Hell –" Draco broke off and shuddered as he pushed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes against the confusion and fear on her face.

"He would have taken you, Hermione! He would have ripped your clothes and pushed you down and used you and broken you! And you. Almost. Let him," he growled.

Watching Draco's face as he rested his forehead against her own, Hermione realized the man in front of her saw Sutton's attack on her in an entirely different light than she did, and what he saw, she didn't like. Hermione cringed at the thought that Draco was enormously angry with her. And honestly, she deserved it.

Hubris was her downfall in so many areas of her life, and now, here she was, staring at a man who she'd, just hours before, been daydreaming like a schoolgirl about, while foolishly thinking that no one could or would dare to hurt her out here in Little Whinging. But Draco was absolutely right. She had no shields or wards to protect her like she had as a witch, and Sutton could have easily taken her and broken her. All it would have taken was a knife to her ribs or a stout stick to her head – or a glass bottle like what had happened to Draco – and Hermione wouldn't have stood a chance. She'd have been incapacitated and her entire future would have been over.

Hermione had gotten lucky when she beat him into submission, but she'd lost the confrontation as soon as Sutton laid hands on her.

Hermione's shoulders drooped under the weight of Draco's condemnation. "You're right. And I'm sorry," she said sadly. "I think, well, I think that we won't have to worry about that happening again."

"Why, because Sutton's in jail?" Draco queried harshly.

"No, Draco. Because I won't let my guard down again," she said. Then she squared her shoulders, and looked him in the eyes. "Constant vigilance," she said, then shrank away from her angry boyfriend and turned so he wouldn't see her lip start to tremble. "I'm going to go take a shower, Draco. I'm suddenly not feeling very well," Hermione said quietly so he wouldn't hear her voice wobble, and made her way towards her bedroom.

She opened her bureau and pulled out her most comfortable pajamas: a long sleeved, white flannel nightgown that covered her from collar to toe. It had once been decorated with pink roses, but they'd faded so much in the wash that the pattern was barely noticeable anymore. Hermione buried her face in the flannel and sniffed. The nightgown still smelled like the rose and cedar sachet that had been tucked under it for so long.

The stress, guilt and fear finally overwhelmed her tear ducts as the bathroom filled with steam. Hermione stripped off her clothes and ducked into the shower, counting on the pounding pulse of the shower to camouflage her tears.

/…../

Draco watched Hermione bend under his judgement, and felt like ten different kinds of arsehole, but he honestly didn't know of any better way to deal with her. Hermione's intelligence was mighty to behold, but she was also a damned stubborn woman, and he knew she never would have considered the repercussions of Sutton's attack seriously unless he literally forced them on her. He was surprised she picked up on his intent and acquiesced so quickly…

Draco blew out a sigh of exasperation as he leaned against the windowsill and sipped absently at the Newcastle he'd poured earlier. He wondered how mad she really was at him for speaking to her like that. Maybe she'd gone off to take a shower to pout, but it was also likely that she simply didn't want to be around him. Draco frowned. Maybe she wanted him to leave her alone. He considered the likelihood of that, and wondered if he should just go back to his flat tonight. With another sigh, he walked over to the sink and poured out the last of his beer, then rinsed the glass and plopped it upside down into the dishwasher, then kicked the door shut gently with his foot as he turned to walk to Hermione's bedroom.

He paused at the bathroom door, preparing to knock, when he heard muffled gasping coming from inside. 'What the hell?' he thought, and turned the handle to poke his head inside. His heart dropped to his feet when he saw her in the shower behind the glass door, with her hands over her face to quiet the sobs that shook her body.

"Shit, shit, shit,' he thought as he observed his girlfriend. She'd been perfectly fine earlier, but she obviously wasn't anymore.

He'd done this to her, not Sutton. Draco had been so focused on making her see her mistake that he'd completely disregarded her feelings. He kicked his off his shoes and took his glasses, mobile and wallet out of his pockets, then quietly slipped over to the shower and slid the door open. Hermione's head shot up, and her red-rimmed eyes broke Draco's heart. He stepped in and grasped her gently by the arms to pull her into him.

"Hermione? Love, I'm sorry," he whispered, and wrapped his arms around her startled and shaking body. "I'm so, so sorry for yelling at you. You didn't deserve that. Please don't cry," he begged as he kissed her hair and rocked her in his arms. Suddenly Hermione giggled and pulled her arms up to wrap them firmly around his neck.

"You idiot," she laughed. "I'm not crying because you hurt my feelings. I'm crying because I've had a very stressful afternoon and I HATE being wrong!" She shuddered and giggled against his shoulder, and he froze as he realized how he'd misinterpreted her actions.

"You're not crying because I yelled at you?"

Hermione snorted. "Of course not. I'm not THAT weak Draco. I can take a little criticism. But I AM a girl. Crying's just my body's way of dealing with stress. Besides, you were absolutely right. I was monumentally stupid for not noticing Sutton before he got his hands on me, and it just kills me that I was so smug and proud about how easily I beat him."

"Oh thank God!" he cried. "I was starting to think I'd gone and buggered everything up." He rested his head on hers, then jerked up as water flowed straight into his ear. Draco shook his head to clear out the water, then looked down at his girlfriend. Hermione was grinning sheepishly up at him.

"So, I take it you're not angry with me then? I did deserve it Draco. I wasn't thinking right-"

"Well, neither was I. Yes, we needed to have that talk, but I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You're my best friend, Little Girl. I should have known your ridiculously advanced brain would have figured out what went wrong today without my behaving like a complete arse."

Draco leaned in and kissed her forehead, and said, "You know, if it'll make you feel better, I'll permit you to slap me. Just this once, for old times sake. Try not to leave a permanent mark if you don't mind." He stood back and held still, squeezing his eyes shut and grimacing in a comical wince.

Hermione couldn't help but giggle at his scrunched up features and the memory it brought back from when they'd been fourteen. He opened one eye at the sound of her laugh, and grinned wolfishly down at her. Suddenly Hermione realized what an awkward position they were in – her totally naked, him fully clothed and completely soaked. She blushed as Draco reached out to run his hands down her bare back, and ducked her head into his chest.

"Draco? Um…" She needed to say her apologies and get some clothes on as soon as possible.

"Draco, I'm sorry. I truly am. I was daydreaming and careless and almost got myself killed for it."

Draco kissed the tip of her nose. "My darling Girl," he said, "You scared the hell out of me, but I'm proud of you for taking my advice and ruining his hands."

"Well, it was a brilliant idea. Inspired, really. I should thank you for it."

"You're most welcome, Love. You know, I can think of several ways you can thank me right now. I'm like a ticking time bomb over here," Draco chuckled as he let his hands drift down her back to cup her naked bottom. Hermione squeaked and jumped, but Draco just grinned evilly before releasing her to turn off the water. Silently he grabbed a bath sheet and handed it to her, then he grabbed a smaller towel to pat her hair dry. He worked through her masses of hair as she huddled under her bath sheet.

"I love your hair, Little Girl, but there's an awful lot of it. Do you know how many times I've woken up to it attacking me in my sleep? Or that I constantly find strands of it wrapped around various parts of my body? Very odd, really, to suddenly discover a half-meter long brown hair wrapped around one's ear." Draco kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, her cheeks, her closed eyes, and finally, her lips.

Hermione reached up and clung to him for just a moment, then wrinkled her nose.

"Ugh, Draco. I might have too much hair, but you're a mass of wet wool. You've gone and ruined your jumper."

Draco looked down at his newly ruined black wool jumper, and shrugged. "I like you better," he said, then opened the shower door to usher her out. "Get me a towel, Love?" he asked as he started stripping out of his sodden clothing. His jeans were on the verge of defeating him utterly when he heard a girlish giggle from the doorway. Draco looked up from where he was struggling to free one leg to see Hermione in a long white flannel gown spattered with pink flowers. Her long, damp hair hung loosely down her back, and her feet were bare. She looked like a child. An angelic child. His ankle finally popped free of the wet denim and Draco lost his balance and fell over.

Hermione had never seen Draco lose his balance before, so naturally she burst out laughing. "You know, you could come over here and give me a hand. Well, as soon as you're done cackling over there," Draco drawled. Honestly he was just happy she was laughing again. He'd been monumentally worried he'd fucked everything up earlier.

Hermione pulled out a clean towel and made her way over to Draco. She handed him the towel, then knelt down to pull the denim away from his legs while he sat and watched her from the shower floor. Without a word, she pulled his socks off as well, and threw them off to the side of the stall. She looked up at Draco, who gestured towards his boxer briefs and raised an eyebrow.

"Going to help me out?" he asked.

Hermione stood, and held out her hand. "Sure, I'll help you out." She caught his hand, but instead of her pulling him up, he dragged her down into his lap. Hermione willingly allowed herself to be drawn down on top of him, and snuggled against her soggy boyfriend. Draco combed his fingers through her damp hair and kissed her fiercely. They sat there peacefully for a moment, allowing the last strain of their first conflict as a couple to fade away into the night. Eventually Hermione smiled against his lips, and pulled away to tug him to his feet with her.

"Take those wet pants off, Mr. Malfoy, and join me in our bedroom," she said softly, and left the room.

Draco's mouth dropped open. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

/…../

Hermione stood next to the bed, holding the framed photo that recently found its home on her bed side table. It was a photo of her and Draco from young Renton and Lindy's wedding. Sue had taken the photo just as Draco's lips had met hers as they danced together under the fairy lights. She loved the way her dress flared in the photo, so that even though it was a Muggle photograph, the feeling of movement was strong, as was the feeling of joy and desire that washed over her every time she looked at the photo. It was, all in all, very romantic.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and Draco's voice whispered in her ear, "I love that picture." He pulled her hair away from her neck and kissed her underneath her right ear, then licked the back of her neck. It had become a habit of Draco's to kiss and lick the insides of her wrists as well as her neck, something he enjoyed immensely and she good-naturedly accepted, for the most part.

"Hey! Draco, enough with the licking! Why do you keep licking me?" Hermione squirmed and turned around in his arms just to get facially assaulted by Draco's tongue. He licked the top of her nose, her left cheek, and across her lips as she giggled and pushed at him in an attempt to free herself.

"Just marking my territory, Love. Plus, you taste absolutely delicious," he said as he skimmed his hands down her sides, tickling her as he went along.

"Do you even realize that you are constantly licking me where I would normally wear perfume? I can't wear it anymore for fear of poisoning you," she complained.

"Good, I like the way you smell best anyway," Draco replied smoothly as he leaned down to nuzzle her neck.

"I probably smell like Eau de Malfoy these days. Seriously Draco, you're worse than a puppy!" she said, then shuddered as his tongue snaked its way from her collarbone, up her neck, across her jaw, and into her mouth. Draco kissed her slowly, and sensuously, then released her to observe her flushed face.

"You don't look like it bothers you," he remarked. Then he swooped down and hauled her up into his arms and turned to deposit her on her side of her bed.

Or was it THEIR bed? He'd heard what she'd said moments before when she called it 'our bedroom' instead of 'the bedroom', or even 'my bedroom'. Hermione rarely suffered from slips of the tongue, and he hoped desperately she was going to offer that he move in with her. Draco got himself settled into the bed next to his girlfriend, propped himself up on one elbow, raised one eyebrow in silent query, and waited.

"Sooo…" she said quietly.

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking," Hermione said as she sat up and twisted the edge of the bed sheet in her hands.

"Naturally."

"Oh, shut it, Draco. Look, I was wondering if, maybe, you'd like to move in? I mean, we spend all of our time together anyway, and you never even go to your flat anymore except to get extra clothing and even that all ends up in the wash here. And there's plenty of room for both of us, and I have storage space across the hall for your furniture so it's not like you'd even have to get rid of your stuff. I know it's kind of sudden and we haven't really been together that long in the grand scheme of things, but I really feel like we're really, REALLY good together, you know? I mean, we're going to argue and we're not always going to want to do absolutely everything together, but we made it through today right? And today was kind of a whopper, you know? And, I don't know, look at us, Draco. I think… well, I think as far as couples go, we're-" Hermione's ramble was cut off by her delighted boyfriend, who tackled her and dragged her down into the pillows with him.

"Brilliant? Amazing? Magnificent? Awe inspiring?" Draco asked as he kissed her over and over again.

Hermione laughed and nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. After all we are-"

"Young, brilliant, incredibly good looking and ridiculously wealthy?" Draco asked cheekily.

"Yep," she said, grinning up at him.

"Well then I accept your offer of cohabitation, Ms. Granger. When do you want to get started?" he asked.

"Get started? Draco, you're already half-way moved in. I just figured you'd like it if all your clothes were together in one location again." Hermione pointed out.

"Well that's just careful manipulation on my part, Love. I've been quietly moving in since you first brought me here. Think of it as a friendly take-over. After all, the Fortress is much nicer than my flat," he said as he shifted them around so that she was laying on top of him, straddling his hips in that way that he loved so much.

"How very Slytherin of you," Hermione said archly, raising her eyebrow to indicate she'd noticed Draco's manipulations to their bodies as well as to her flat. She rocked her hips, and Draco hissed in anticipation.

"It's my nature, Love. Couldn't stop if I wanted to," he panted as Hermione slid down his naked body until she was facing his erection. He was hoping for her hands on his cock, but was shocked and nearly overwhelmed to the point of embarrassment when Hermione licked him.

Then she did it again. And again. Draco's eyes rolled back in his head as he considered that he might have possibly found the most perfect girl in the world.

/…../

For the next three evenings, Draco and Hermione packed the contents of his flat and rearranged her bedroom, kitchen, and bookshelves to make room for Draco's belongings.

Draco noticed as each day passed that new photos would appear on the walls or the various horizontal surfaces. There was a black and white photo stuck to the front of the refrigerator of Draco and Renny, standing between two of Renny's motorcycles, holding their helmets under their arms as they chatted. A series of three framed pictures of Hermione and Draco now hung on the brick column directly in front of the front door that Sue had taken of them at young Renton and Lindy's wedding a few weeks before. A photo of Hermione, Sue and the fairy girls - all four of them in princess gowns - sat in a Tinkerbell frame on the kitchen counter. It sat next to a photo of a grinning Hermione and Sue with their arms around each other's shoulders, sweaty and victorious after they'd crossed the finish line of their first race together.

There was a sepia photo hanging in Hermione's practice studio of Draco, alone, sitting in the sand facing the ocean. She'd taken it the afternoon that they'd driven down to Sussex so that Draco could meet her parents. Not that Mr. and Mrs. Granger fully appreciated who either of them were, but it was a good visit anyway.

Draco's favorite photo, though, was one he'd taken just the other night. Hermione sat on the floor in front of her bookshelves, with Draco's collection of books scattered all around her as she tried to assimilate his titles in with hers. She'd gotten sidetracked though, on Draco's newest acquisition: a first edition copy of C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce – one of her favorite Lewis apologetics – and had sat right down on the floor to read it. Draco had taken the photo just as she'd started to wind a lock of her hair around her finger. It was Hermione in her element, as he would ever think of her, lost in her own world in the Library. Draco's heart thumped happily every time he even thought of the photo, now cropped to size and tucked away in his wallet.

'Tonight,' Draco thought to himself late Friday afternoon as he, young Renton, and Shaun hauled the last of his furniture onto a trailer they'd borrowed from Renny. Draco's appliances and bedroom furniture were already in Hermione's storage room, which was behind the door opposite their front door. The far end of the storage room had a very convenient freight elevator that led to an empty garage that Hermione could technically use for her car if it wasn't so damned inconveniently placed away from the entrance to the Fortress. The storage room was already half filled with the contents of Hermione's parents' house and some of her and Harry's odds and ends that she wasn't sure what to do with, but didn't want to get rid of.

'Tonight,' he repeated as he stood under the shower spray to rinse off the sweat and dust of manual labor. Tonight he was going to tell her that one thing he'd never told anyone before. Hell, he was pretty sure he could have told her weeks ago, it just didn't seem appropriate or even possible when they'd only just gotten together that he'd fallen arse over heels in love.

To Be Continued.