Back to Winning Ways.
Hermione was lying on the golden sand, enjoying the view of the crystal blue Mediterranean Sea. She and Draco had been in Italy for the past week, enjoying a break before the start of the new quidditch season. They were residing in a luxury villa and had spent most of their time exploring the beautiful country that was Italy. However they were currently spending the day doing something more relaxing and they were on a private alcove of beach, accessibly only via the villa they'd been renting for the week. Hermione was wearing a red bikini with white spots, and while she'd been reading earlier she'd abandoned her book to enjoy the scenery. And she wasn't just enjoying the sights of the deserted beach, she was watching Draco, who was wandering around in just a pair of shorts.
As she lay on her towel on the beach, Hermione watched as Draco emerged from the crystal blue water of the sea. As a professional quidditch player he was in excellent shape, and even his recent accident hadn't left any scars on his flawless frame. As he approached her, Hermione smiled in greeting, but the smile soon turned to a squeal as Draco shook his head vigorously and sent droplets of water raining down on her.
"You did that deliberately," Hermione said with a pout as she sat up.
"I did say I was going to get you wet today," Draco replied with a smirk. Hermione had refused to go swimming with him earlier, but he'd vowed to have her wet through before the afternoon was over.
"Did you have a nice swim?" Hermione asked.
"I did," Draco answered as he rolled his right shoulder. He was recovering nicely from his accident, and swimming helped with his physio, but even so he'd been left with some stiffness in his shoulder as a result of his broken collarbone.
"Is you shoulder hurting?" Hermione asked in concern. She'd noticed Draco wincing a few times, but every time she'd asked about it he said he was fine.
"It'll be fine," Draco replied, as he yanked down his wet shorts and stepped out of them.
"What are you doing?" Hermione questioned, unable to stop herself from checking out her boyfriend's naked body. The sight of Draco without clothes on still got her hot under the collar, and the fact he was stripping off outside was even sexier for some reason.
"Drying my shorts," Draco answered, laying his shorts out on the warm sand as he settled down on the towel beside Hermione. "Why? Were you hoping for some action?"
"Not in public," Hermione replied.
"We're not in public," Draco retorted, leaning over and brushing his lips against Hermione's. "This is our very own private beach. No-one else can get onto this stretch of beach and the cliffs at either side of the alcove make it impossible for someone to get down her from up above. We're all alone, so we can do what we like."
"I'm not sure you're up for it," Hermione replied, lightly running her fingers over the shoulder Draco was stretching earlier. "Your shoulder is sore."
"You could always give me a massage," Draco suggested hopefully.
"Okay then," Hermione replied with a smile.
Draco was surprised that his suggestion had been met with such positivity, and he watched as Hermione rooted around in her large beach bag, emerging with some coconut lotion. His girlfriend then moved to sit behind him and her legs appeared at either side of his as she settled into position behind him.
"You just relax," Hermione said as she squeezed some of the lotion onto her hands and started to rub it over Draco's stiff shoulder.
"I'm not sure relaxing is the word for what we're doing," Draco muttered, letting out a low groan at the feel of Hermione's hands on him and the press of her breasts on his back.
"What is the word for what we're doing?" Hermione asked in a whisper, her breath hot against Draco's bare neck.
"Arousing," Draco replied. "Very arousing."
"I can make it even more arousing," Hermione said in a promising voice.
Before Draco could ask what she meant, she briefly took her hands away from his shoulder, but before he could protest her bikini top landed in his lap. When Hermione then returned to her massage, he could feel her naked breasts brushing against his back.
"Better?" Hermione asked in a sexy whisper.
"Much," Draco answered, closing his eyes and basking in Hermione's touch.
Inevitably the massage turned even saucier, and Draco got a surprise when Hermione's hands wound their way around his middle to his erection. Not one to miss an opportunity, Draco twisted his head to kiss Hermione, and within a couple of minutes he'd turned around fully so that his girlfriend was sitting in front of him.
"I don't think it's fair that I'm naked and you're not," Draco muttered, one hand caressing Hermione's breast while the other trailed down towards her skimpy bikini bottoms.
"We can easily fix that," Hermione replied with a smile as she untied the strings at either side of her bikini bottoms and threw them over Draco's shoulder.
"What happened to no sex in public?" Draco asked, his grey eyes slowly taking in every inch of Hermione's naked form.
"We're not in public," Hermione said, repeating Draco's words back to him. "We're on a private beach, and there's no-one to see us. We can do anything on this beach and no-one will ever know."
"Anything?" Draco asked with an arched eyebrow, wondering just what his girlfriend had in mind for the afternoon.
"Anything," Hermione repeated breathlessly as she moved in for another kiss.
After that conversation drifted away to nothing as the couple made the most of being on the beach by themselves. After making love on the sand, they headed into the water to wash off, only to give into passion amidst the waves of the sea. Returning to the beach the couple didn't even bother to redress, they just stuffed everything in Hermione's beach bag, before returning to the villa where they spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening in each others arms.
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The first match of the season occurred three weeks after Draco and Hermione's romantic trip to Italy. Before and after the trip, Draco's physio had been going great and he'd been back in training well before the start of the season. However, he was still struggling to rid himself of the stiffness in his shoulder and Harry and Theo had taken the decision to give him a few more days to recover before letting him play. As a result, it meant Draco wasn't part of the team for the first match of the season and he was relegated to watching his teammates from the stands of The Rising Phoenix Stadium.
Fortunately for Draco he wasn't alone, as Ginny was also not back to full fitness. Unlike Draco she'd taken longer to recover in the first place and she'd only just started light training, so while Draco was hoping to be fit for the next game, Ginny knew her return was still some weeks ago. But still, things could have been a lot worse for both of them and they were both grateful to still have their quidditch careers. Harry was proof of how easily a promising career could be lost, so although both of them longed to be playing with their teammates they understood that it was better for them to be fully fit before returning to action.
Both Draco and Ginny were in the executive box for the match, and they chose to sit together at the front of the box. Hermione was also in the box, but as well as watching the game she was playing hostess and ensuring that things were running smoothly. Recent events had left The Cannons needing to do some serious damage control, but Hermione was rising to the challenge beautifully and if she was worried about how things were going with the club, she wasn't showing it. She was effortlessly restoring faith in the team and its management, and all she needed was for the team to help her out and win their first match of the season.
"I really wish I was out there," Ginny said with a wistful sigh as the two teams flew out into the middle of the stadium to a deafening roar.
"Me too," Draco replied, wholeheartedly agreeing with Ginny.
At times it hit him how different things were with Ginny, and this was one of those times. Just over two years ago when he joined the club he was sure that he would never learn to get along with the redheaded witch who was sitting at his side. She'd been a right little bitch and a troublemaker, just like her brother, but nearly losing Harry and her place with The Cannons had saved her. The difference in the last year was palpable and now she'd stopped being a diva, Draco found he actually liked Ginny. Once she'd accepted he was part of the team, they worked well together, and thanks to their respective relationships with Hermione and Harry, they'd become friends outside of the team as well.
"I thought you would have been back today," Ginny remarked. "You seemed to be getting back to normal in training."
"I'm still having issues with my shoulder," Draco admitted. "I was hoping I could fight through the stiffness and be match fit for today, but Harry and Theo were adamant I wasn't ready."
"Theo is quite cautious," Ginny said. She didn't mean it as an insult, it was just part of Theo's personality and it worked well since he was a physio and being reckless with someone's health could potentially wreck someone's career.
"He always has been," Draco replied with a fond chuckle. "He's the sensible one in our friendship. In school, he was the one who kept Blaise and I grounded. Without him, I dread to think what sort of trouble we could have gotten ourselves into."
"And from what I remember, you and Blaise weren't exactly trouble free as it was," Ginny laughed.
"And if it wasn't for Theo, it would have been a hell of a lot worse," Draco said. "I guess that's why even though I'm itching to play, I'm not arguing. He's a great physio, and if he says I'm not ready to play, I'm not ready."
"He is pretty amazing," Ginny agreed. She would fully admit that if it hadn't been for Theo's hard work and dedication over the summer there was no way she would be back on her feet, let alone back on a broom.
"We better not tell him about this conversation, it'll only swell his head," Draco joked.
"And the last thing a Slytherin needs is someone inflating his ego," Ginny teased. "All you Slytherins do seem to think a lot of yourselves."
"We've just got self-confidence," Draco replied with a shrug. "And it's not as if you're shy either, Red. It wasn't too long ago you were walking around as though you were queen bee."
"Don't remind me," Ginny muttered with an embarrassed wince. She hated to think of the fool she'd made of herself when she'd first joined The Cannons and she was just grateful that her teammates had given her a second chance to make the right impression and prove to them she was a team player. "I was totally horrid."
"I can think of worse people," Draco said, letting his gaze drift across to the game where things seemed evenly matched and there hadn't been any early dramas.
"Ron," Ginny guessed. "He has been a thorn in your side these last few years."
"Not anymore he's not," Draco answered with a shrug. "He blew his last chance with Hermione when we were injured."
"He is sorry," Ginny ventured. She couldn't defend her brother's words and actions, but he was still her brother and no matter what, she loved him.
"And I'm sure he means it, until next time he flies off the handle," Draco replied. "I know he's your brother, but I'm pleased he's out of the picture."
"I understand," Ginny reassured Draco. "You and Hermione deserve to be happy, and Ron has no right to try and trample on that happiness. If I were in Hermione's shoes, I would have done exactly the same thing. Sometimes you have to say goodbye to the past to fully embrace your future."
Draco smiled in response. Hermione had said something similar to him when she'd first informed him she was done with Ron, and he had to wonder if she'd gotten it from Ginny, or if she'd been the one to say it around Ginny. Either way, it was true, albeit it a bit sad that Hermione had to leave Ron in the past because her future lay with him. Still, it had been Ron's choice, and things could have been very different if only he hadn't behaved in such an immature way.
Shaking his head to dispel thoughts of Ron, Draco refocused his attention on the game in hand. After a slow start the game was starting to pick up, and by the time the match had been going on for forty minutes, Draco and Ginny were engrossed in the game. They lived every move with their teammates, celebrated every goal with them and felt the pain of every goal scored against them. They may not have been physically playing in the match, but they were part of it in spirit.
"Sylvie's got the snitch in her sights," Draco announced as the young witch flew past their stand at breakneck speed. As a seeker, and fellow teammate who trained with Sylvie every day, he knew the difference between her genuinely having the snitch in her sights and when she was trying to fool the opposition.
"Go Sylvie," Ginny cheered as the young witch closed in on her target.
However, Sylvie wasn't the only seeker who had the snitch in her sights, as zooming in from the opposite direction was the Ballycastle Bats seeker. Forgetting about the rest of the match, which was still closely contested, Draco and Ginny focused on the battle for the snitch. With outstretched hands, the two seekers dove for the same spot and they passed within inches of each other and a nasty collision. As they began their ascent they both opened their hands and Draco and Ginny let out a huge cheer as the snitch sat fluttering on Sylvie's palm.
The Chudley Cannons had won their first match of the season, and their bid for the title had gotten off to the perfect start. Now all they had to do was keep winning, and with a bit of luck the title would be theirs come the end of the season.