Author's note :

I am very sorry for the long update. I haven't had as much time to write recently and some things in my life have kept be very busy.

We have a saying in Canada that goes something like this : "Don't sell the bear's fur before you've killed him." Which means to not speak of your future actions so fast, but you guys should be expecting a nice surprise no later this week, hopefully excusing my lateness in updates!

Happy reading! Xx

Last chapter on Circa Mundi :

"Your kari has been put to sleep, Draco."

"I told you, she is not my kari", Draco responded.

"I am not taking sides in this battle," Efe replied with a laugh. "Maybe you should go to sleep to Draco. You look like hell."

Chapter 10

The next morning, Hermione awoke to the sounds of birds chirping merrily outside her bedroom window. She turned around lazily in her sheets, wondering what time it was. The sun had yet to come up as she noticed the room still basked in a dark shadow. Stretching her limbs, she made to stand up from her bed and that's when she noticed the room was not all that familiar to her.

The bed she laid in sat in the middle of the room. Dark panelled wood adorned the walls whereas her own room was painted in a light taupe color. The window stood a foot away from the edge of her bed and a small bedside table stood beside her cot, to her right.

Ayla.

Efe.

The Lupici.

Jackson.

The eve's events all came back to her suddenly as she put her foot on the ground in the room. She struggled to remember all the detail of what had happened but was suddenly shaken from her sleep-induced daze as she stood up.

Draco brought me here. We're in Turkey.

She cocked a smile as she remembered Ayla quietly taking care of her broken wrist the night before. The witch she had had reservations about was all too caring, taking a sudden interest in Hermione's welfare after a few uttered words from Draco.

The small witch shook her head and made to step out of the bedroom and into the small hallway. The house reminded her of Grimmauld Place in a sense. It seemed packed four or five stories high and was very narrow. Hermione slowly trudged her way downstairs and into the kitchen.

Ayla already sat at the kitchen table and was currently nursing a cup of coffee around her hands.

"Good morning, Hermione," she said in a whisper.

Hermione nodded back at the other witch and sat down at the table.

"Thank you, Ayla … You um, didn't need to …" she trailed off, unsure.

Ayla smiled widely and got up to pour Hermione a cup of coffee of her own. She thanked her upon receiving the cup and quickly set to taking a large gulp of the steaming liquid. Thank Merlin for small miracles, she thought as felt the coffee going down her throat.

"Draco has saved us, Efe and I. A long time ago, while he was on a research project," Ayla started.

Hermione felt the shift in their light conversation and sat closer to the edge of her seat, drinking in the other witch's words. If it meant she would get a glimpse into Draco's past, she was all for it.

"It was two years ago. Efe had been dealing with some dark people but only because we didn't have the accord of our parents. See, I am a Muggleborn and he is Pureblood. His parents disapproved of our union."

Hermione nodded. "Such a way to think exists in my country too."

Ayla swallowed the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes and kept on. "Draco came upon us by pure luck. He was with his partner at the time, Anna. Efe's parents had taken me away. See, even if my family is filled with muggle history, we are one of the richest origins and purest of muggles. We are what one would call royalty! Yet, Efe's parents' had yet to see that. Upon our engagement, they finally discovered my family's history and set out to put their hands on my family's greatest treasure. The Koyu Yakat. Dark Ruby. It has been in my family for centuries, passed on from one lineage to the other.

"Draco, naturally because of his work, had been sent out to find this Ruby. That's how he found us and the peculiar situation our families had been entangled in. Long story short, he and Anna saved me from my step-parents, explained a whole deal to them concerning pureblood and muggleborn marriages and unions. That's when I found out he was a Malfoy. His family has a reputation in Europe, but for bad. And him … No matter all the negative I had heard from his name during the years prior to our meeting, he all but smashed my prejudices against him to the floor. If it weren't for him … Efe and I, we would probably be six feet under right now."

Hermione swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and cast her eyes to the floor. Never would she have thought stumbling upon Ayla's doorstep the night before that she would learn this witch would have such a history. And a sort of life-debt towards Draco, no less?

Looking back up and crossing eyes with Ayla, Hermione extended her hands towards the other witch. Ayla looked back with a sad smile and glistening eyes.

Suddenly, the Turkish woman shook her head and lifted a hand to smooth down her hair. "No worries anymore though, it is now in the past!"

Hermione sat surprised at the sudden change in atmosphere but was kind of grateful. She'd had lived through enough emotional turmoil of her own during her teenage years, and even after. She fully understood where Ayla was coming from but sometimes, these conversations were still hard.

Tac, tac, tac.

Both women raised their heads at the sudden sound.

"Is that an owl?" Ayla said.

"Sounds like it."

Ayla raised an eyebrow and the other witch frowned at her reaction.

"Were you not expecting mail?" Hermione asked.

"Although I've just told you that Efe and I's worries are all in the past, I have to say I had chosen to leave out we don't use our magic as much these days. Since whatever happened with his parents, we chose to take a step back from the magical community here and start a fresh life, living more like muggles than anything."

"That doesn't mean you can't expect an owl from time to time, no ?"

Tac, tac, tac.

The scrapping noise was starting to get louder, more aggressive it seemed. The two finally got up from their seats and made their way to the formal dining room, the place where the sound seemed to be coming from.

"Dex?" Hermione let out with a surprise gasp as she saw the bird standing on the ledge.

"You know this bird?"

Hermione nodded and proceeded to open the window and let the owl fly in, the animal perching himself on the chair nearest the window. Ayla crept closer to Hermione as the latter opened the small letter that had been delivered. All blood seemed to drain from Hermione's face as her eyes skimmed through the few lines on the parchment. She slowly lifted her eyes to meet Ayla's worried look and breathed slowly.

"Fetch me Draco? Please?" she uttered.

The other witch nodded quickly and left the room without a word. Seconds later, Draco burst through the room with his two friends following closely, both sharing the same worried expression.

"What's happened? What is it Granger?" Draco bellowed at the witch. Hermione sat still and extended the letter to her partner so he could read it.

H and D,

Hope this letter finds you quick. I am still in Arabia, in the South to be more precise. I met up with some friends last night to rest and after talking a few, I found out we had been put up to a ruse. My source apparently deliberately put us up to the meeting with the men from yesterday and wanted us to get caught. The Lupici has kept an eye on us lately and they know we're close to tracking them down. They were to confirm our identities and have us killed, luckily we outsmarted them.

Get back to England as soon as you can. Word is they have a lot of men throughout Europe and they are still trying to find us.

We are in far more danger than I thought.

Please get back to Hagpipe and warn him of the Lupici's plans. We have to catch them before blood is drawn.

I am still set on my original destination and should be arriving there in two days. Do not contact me before I reach out to you. This is to keep us safe, all of us.

Lay low,

J

Huffing angrily, Draco crumpled the letter and threw it at the far wall in a very un-Malfoy kind of gesture. His face was red and he was breathing heavily. "I knew it smelled fishy! This reeked of a set-up from the beginning!"

Hermione stood up and was by Draco's side in an instant, her small hands on both his shoulders trying to calm him. His shoulders kept bopping up and down as he fought to regain a normal breathing pattern. Understanding she would not be able to calm him as easily as Harry or Ron, the small witch resorted to force. Her right hand suddenly gripped Draco's chin as she forced him to look into her eyes.

Finally, he seemed to regain a bit of composure as he stared deep into pools of honey brown. "Jackson didn't know. We were set up Draco, this isn't the first time it's happened to me," Hermione calmly told him. Her melodic voice seemed to have an effect on his angry haze as he blinked a few times and let out a long breath.

"We could have been killed, Granger."

"I know. You knew that to, coming into this."

"This mission is bull-"

"Don't even say it Draco," Hermione started with a tone that closely resembled Molly Weasley's own. "Don't start that 'near-death experience, mad people trailing us, mortal peril' crap. We've been through a war, for Merlin's sake. Now toughen up, we need to get moving. We have to get to England and summon some back up or something. Hell if I know, Hagpipe will have a plan when we explain everything."

The two were still standing awfully close together, Hermione's hand had traveled from Draco's chin to his neck, with her other hand still on his shoulder. Draco had inched a few spaces closer to the witch and it was when Hermione finished speaking that both seemed to realise their proximity to one another. Hermione turned beet-red and disentangled herself from Draco's frame, taking a few steps back.

Draco smirked at her blush and leaned back in to whisper in her ear. "You drive me mad woman."

Hermione's cheeks grew brighter and she fumbled to get out of the room and up the stairs, presumably to the bedroom she had occupied the night before.

"Quite the fury she has, that one," Efe joked as he walked towards his friend. Ayla stood in her corner still, a mysterious smile gracing her features. Draco only punched his friend's shoulder and sat back down at the table.

"Can you help a man with his travels, by any chance?" he asked the couple with a crooked smirk.

Ayla abruptly left the room muttering to herself in her own language, while Efe excused himself to his office a ways down from the dining room. The blond wizard still sat in the dining room, now drumming his fingers on the table and staring at a particular point on the ceiling.

As he stared ahead, he asked himself why he had even bothered to come on such a mission. Sure, a few weeks ago when he had found out what Granger had been up to, he been a mix of curious and determined, wanting to see for himself some of those treasures the woman stumbled on once in a while. In the end though, deep down, if he really asked himself the right questions, he knew what the answers would be. He perfectly well knew why he had insisted on joining Granger on her expedition, and then to Arabia, and now the fact that he led her here specifically to have her healed –

"Malfoy!" a loud voice cut through his thoughts. "Quit your daydreaming and get ready, we're leaving in an hour."

He looked up, ready to snap back at the voice as he raised himself from his seat, but suddenly couldn't find any words. Hermione was standing in the doorframe to the dining room and has chosen to slide back into her earlier black outfit. Draco liked to call it her cat-woman outfit, as the material hugged her curves as much as it did that feline-superhero. Harry had been the one to introduce Draco to the series a few months earlier and-

"Malfoy! Let's go!" Hermione's voice cut through his thoughts again.

Draco blinked once, twice, and left the room.

Minutes later when Draco had finished packing the last of his few belongings, the rest of his stuff still being at the hotel in Arabia, he followed the voices he had been looking for and found the trio in the kitchen, Efe in the middle of the two women. They were leaning over a map that had been laid out on the small breakfast table and he was pointing out some locations to Hermione.

If it wasn't already obvious that Hermione's choice of outfit had an effect on Draco's mind, he was sure it would be out in the open if she kept on leaning on tables the way she was currently doing and wiggling her behind as she was now.

Maybe she didn't realize how tempting her body was.

Maybe she just didn't care.

Draco shook his head a few times and loudly approached the group, his thick boots thudding on the floor as he put one foot in front of the other. Reaching the gang, he leaned over to get a look at the map they were all currently analyzing.

"What's the plan," he asked Hermione with a whisper.

His breath tickled her ear and she swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat, the close proximity between them also playing games on her mind. No one could ignore the fact that Draco had filled out quite nicely and being around him for a few days now was toying with her own brain. "Efe was able to get us a portkey to Spain. It leaves in a few minutes." She nodded her head towards a piece of jewelry that lay beside the map on the table.

"It might not be your home, but it was the farthest from here I could get you," his friend replied.

Draco nodded and squinted his eyes at the map. "Where exactly in Spain?"

"Barcelona. From there, you will be able to rest for the night and if strong enough, apparate back to London. If not, I will leave you some notes. I have a few friends there that can always help you out."

Draco nodded again at his friend and moved closer to him. Efe smiled when the other wizard hugged him with an arm, his right hand firmly grasped on his shoulder. It was their way of saying thanks and no matter that words had not been said, the embrace was full of emotion from both.

"Should you need anything, anytime dost, do not hesitate to owl or call me," Efe let out while he moved to shake hands with Hermione. The women then embraced as well, a knowing twinkle in Ayla's eyes as she looked over Hermione's shoulders and straight at Draco. He lifted an eyebrow at the woman who only smiled back.

Quite suddenly, the necklace that would act as their portkey started glowing. Hermione and Draco moved over to the other side of the table and joined hands without another thought. They waited for the glow to go from bright white to green, the signal that the portkey would be ready. The group exchanged another look and finally, Hermione and Draco set their free hands on the necklace.

In a whirlwind of colors, they were gone. Ayla and Efe stood still at the table, their eyes connecting with the other, each of their own smiles gracing their features.

"I am – cough – never again – cough – taking a portkey for such a – cough – long distance. Never," Hermione struggled to get the last bit of sand out from her mouth as she regained her footing.

Draco laughed deeply and extended his hand to help her up. They had unceremoniously been dropped out of the portkey and onto a secluded part of a beach. It wasn't the first time that he had taken a portkey for such long distances, but apparently, Hermione had a bit more trouble adjusting to their method of travelling.

"Weakling," Draco teased as Hermione stood back on her feet, his tall frame towering over her own. She stared at him for a few seconds, before quickly reaching to pinch his side. The result was instant, Draco burst out laughing uncontrollably.

The surprise that etched Hermione's face was priceless as she understood she had finally found Draco Malfoy's weakness.

He was ticklish.

And he seemed very sensitive to the touch.

As he doubled over in laughter and tried to keep his sides protected, Hermione grinned like a cheshire cat, as a hunter looked over his prey, and sought to extend her hand again and gather intel on his weakest spot.

As soon as her hand flew out this time, Draco's seeker reflexes kicked in and he blocked her hand by grasping her un-hurt wrist, twisting her arm around to neutralize her and quickly made to drop her on the sand. As she fell down to the soft ground, Hermione waived her feet around and one of them connected with Draco's ankle, resulting in him falling to the ground as well.

If you had told Hermione a few months ago that she would be playing a game of tickle with Draco Malfoy, on the beach of Barcelona no less, she would have cursed you to Monday and back. However, in the moment, she threw her cares away and decided to enjoy the moment. Her excursions lately had been filled with tension and danger, and she suddenly felt the need to breathe a bit more and enjoy the tiniest bit of time off from facing death.

It just so happened that she was enjoying that time with Malfoy.

As Draco struggled to get off Hermione's small frame, he unknowingly found out she was ticklish as well and the two started battling for domination, resulting in the pair tossing and turning ungraciously in the sand.

All their cares seemed to melt away for the time being.

Right now, it was as if they had been long-time friends and were playing out during a day off.

Suddenly, in a lightning-fast move that surprise Draco as well as herself, Hermione flung both her legs around Draco's middle and flipped him over so that she was now sitting on top of him, his body slowly sinking into the lush sand. She had caught both his hands and was now keeping them above his head while her body was extended over his, her chest heaving quickly for air.

Draco was the one who came back to reality first, as her breasts grazed the top of his chest. "Uh, Granger…?" he managed to say.

Hermione grinned and lowered herself even more, her body firmly pressed against his.

"You still consider me weak?" she whispered.

Draco was having difficulty trying not to move under her grasp. It wasn't because she was stronger than him of course, but more because certain parts of his own body were quickly starting to react to her touch.

He swallowed a lump and looked into Hermione's eyes with a dark look. The small witch stared back intensely as she regained normal breathing. All too quickly, she realized the position they were in and as she moved to get off him, he reached at her again and switched them so he was now on top.

Realizing what was about to happen, Hermione's eyes looked all over Draco's face before finally settling on his eyes. Instead of the usual cold silver, she now stared into dark blue swirls of color, an indecipherable look in his eyes. The regular breathing pattern she had just regained a few seconds ago now gave way to erratic, frenzied breaths.

It wasn't nervousness, but more anticipation at what was about to happen.

"Draco, I …" she whimpered.

"No talking Granger."

With great speed, he crashed his lips to hers, savoring every inch he could before she would push him off. All at once, he realized what he was doing and made to step back but Hermione finally reacted to the kiss and reached to put her hands around his head and pulled him back to her.

Time had seemed to stop as both grasped at each other, their tongues battling it out. Draco knew he ought to savour the moment before the small witch under him came back to her senses. For now, she didn't show any signs of stopping though as he felt her body move under his, her hips raising to meet his. He let one of his hands slowly travel from her neck to her ribs, finally reaching down and raising her shirt a bit to settle on the side of her stomach. He then felt her bite into his bottom lip and he ground back against her moving hips.

Hermione let out a small moan and that was when Draco reluctantly pulled away from her. As he moved his lips from her but stayed hovering over her face, he grinned at the look in her eyes. Confusion, lust, worry. So many emotions were tumbling through her face it was laughable.

"I … We…" Hermione stuttered miserably. Her cheeks were bright red and her already wild hair was fanned around her in the sexiest way possible, from Draco's point of view.

"I've been meaning to do that for some time, Granger," Draco said with a deep voice. His eyes were still dark blue and stared straight back at the witch.

"Yes! Uh, I mean…"

"So you too, then?" Draco asked with a charming smile.

Hermione rolled her eyes and struggled under Draco's frame. As she wiggled to get him off, she noticed the way his body was reacting to hers and blushed even more, if that was possible. He saw the look on her face when she felt his growing member and his smile grew wider.

"That's what happens when sexy little witches tempt you as you did, Hermione."

She narrowed her eyes at him at the use of her name in such a way. Her face grew hot at the way his lips seemed to caress the word ever so softly, and right now, it felt far too erotic the way he had used it.

"Malfoy," she started with a firm voice. "We ... We have a mission."

All of a sudden, the magic was lost. Draco resigned to raise himself off of Hermione and she got back up, looking around the beach for any way towards the city. While she dusted her suit off from all the sand it had accumulated while they were tumbling around, Draco stood as well and made to reach for their backpacks. Hermione sighed and started walking in one direction, catching Draco off guard as he made to quickly follow her.

"So, what now. You're just going to ignore the fantastic snog we just had? You're going to pretend there is absolutely no sexual tension between us and that that kiss wasn't passionate as hell?"

At his words, she whirled around, stopping him in his tracks. The look on her face was hard to read, as it seemed a trace of enjoyment at their previous activity was still there, but also confusion at their actions.

"Draco, I… I'm sorry, but can we deal with this after the mission?"

She sounded like a small child, begging her mother to pardon her after a prank.

The flurry of emotions was still very present on Hermione's face and as Draco stared at her, he finally let out a sigh and nodded once, making to start walking again in the direction of the city.

This woman will be the death of me, he thought as he walked ahead of her.

Author's note :

I would have kept going, but I want the next chapter to be written really-well. I have some things in store for our duo, and I hope you'll like what's coming!

Reviews?

Xx