Even though they were by themselves, in their corner of the world, not a public street around, Harry's heart was racing to be there. I mean yeah, he loved his home and where he came from. But this was the good ol' USA. He had heard so much about it here. How free everyone was here. He remembered reading, in muggle school that is, all about the formation of the USA and how people looked to it as a beacon of hope, of freedom, from so many different evils. Harry found it poetic that they were now escaping their own evils here. He knew they weren't really a hundred percent safe here. For a wizard a trip like this takes, well, as they found out, nothing more than a blink of an eye. He knew all of this, but the thought that an entire ocean covered the distance between himself and Lucius Malfoy made him breath a little more easy that day.
The cottage was small, but if it comfortably fit the entire Weasley family, it was sure do it's job for this lot. Walking in, it was one big room. This held the kitchen, in the back, and a living room , with a large table off to the left. On the right of the room were three doors. The middle one, the bathroom, barely the size of a closet. The other two doors each lead to small bedrooms. Each with a small sized bed and a single window. In the back of the kitchen was another exit from the cottage, and a small door concealing a pantry. With a look around the room, they entered, Hermione and Ginny taking the bag of food Ron had packed to the kitchen.
Without warning Ron yelled out, " I call this room!" pointing to the first room on the right.
Luna laughed, falling back onto the couch.
" Oh nice! Real mature Ronald. " Said Ginny, laughing with Hermione.
Not a moment too soon as Harry spoke loudly, " I call this one!" standing in front of the other bedroom.
They all looked around at Draco, who was smiling.
" That's fine. Hermione and me get the living room. Hermione love, guess what. We have the only tv in the house." He said, sitting next to Luna on the couch, with a look, they both laughed.
It took them a very short time to unpack the food, seeing though there wasn't much packed to begin with.
" Ron, why didn't you bring more food?" Hermione asked, putting her hands on her hips.
" Um, well, I wanted Mum and Dad to be sure they had enough. I figured between all of us we could find more. I mean, it's just the two of them."
He was very somber when he said this, which made Ginny walk over and give her brother a hug.
" Oh. okay. Well then someone look around for a map." Hermione said, walking into the living room.
" A map?" Draco said, questioning, " Why would there be a map here?"
" Well, this is a vacation home that gets rented out. Obviously people who come here don't know the area. They will need to get around some home. Most likely the people who own this will put out maps or pamphlets or something for them to find food and stuff." Just as she was saying it, Luna turned to her right, seeing a small table with several books and little paper books.
" Here you go Hermione. Just what you said" Handing the pamphlet to Hermione, smiling.
" Ok this is good. Even though it's the off season right now, there's a local strip mall that will do wonders. Boys give us your sizes." Hermione said, looking it over with Ginny.
" Sizes? For what?" Harry said, sitting at the table, scratching his head.
" When is the last time you changed your clothes?" Hermione asked, making Ginny give a slight shudder in disgust.
Ron turned around, smelling his own shirt, she was right.
" Luna, do you want to come with us? We could use the help." Ginny asked
" Sure!" She said, standing up, and skipping out of the house.
They all smiled, because Luna was great.
" We'll be back in a little while. If you don't hear back in about 2 hours, just come find us, look, there's another map" Hermione said, pointing to the table.
The girls all left together, giggling, like they always did. Passing the back side of the house and down the road. On the front of the cottage was a small porch that spanned the entire length of it. On it were several wooden reclined chairs. After pulling out a few butter beers, the boys went out, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Since they had apparated there, and the time difference factored in, it was morning for them all over again. In the midst of all of this they didn't realize they had gained a day. For several minutes they sat there in silence, just drinking and relaxing.
" So" Harry said," I wanna know.."
Draco interrupted him abruptly, " Okay fine you want to know. She's my girl okay? I love her! Granted she is a bit frightened by it, but damn it I am! Nothing in this world is going to keep her from me now. I am a good person and I know I still have to prove it to all of you but damn it Harry back off a bit Mate!" Draco took a deep breath in, preparing to continue.
But he stopped,looking at Harry and Ron, who looked like they were being attacked by a wild raccoon or something.
" Jeez Draco. What the fuck was that all about?" Ron asked, looking terrified
" Yeah!?" Harry said," I was gonna ask about what happened with Ron and Luna in that damn cave."
They all snorted a bit, then laughing. " Oh. Sorry. I think I'm just a bit stressed" Draco said, a little embarrassed.
" Stressed? A bit?" Ron said jokingly.
He sat there laughing and drinking his butter beer, then noticed they were both staring at him.
" What?" He said, " what's your issue?"
Harry shrugged, " Well? are you gonna tell us? What's up with you and Luna?"
Harry and Draco were both on the edge of their seats, looking at Ron with great wonder.
" I dunno man. " Ron said, leaning back in his chair, sighing at the sunrise still in progress.
"It was odd you know? When I first got with Hermione it took either of us years to say anything along the lines of how we felt, or how we thought we did. " He caught himself, realizing it was Draco he was talking to, " We curled up to go to sleep and well, she told me she's loved me all along." He sipped from his bottle, like it was nothing.
" What?" Harry said, a little taken back " Really?"
Ron nearly spit his drink out, " What do you mean "really?" !? You mean you can't imagine her liking me?"
He sounded a bit heated.
" No it's not that. She said she loved you." Harry said, defending himself, " That's like, forgive me for saying it..."
" Wicked cute!" Draco said, interrupting Harry again.
" yeah" Harry said, pointing his finger in Draco's direction.
Ron's stern face became a big smile and they all laughed.
" off of me and on to you guys. " Ron said, opening his arms to Harry and Draco, " What's going on with you two?"
They looked at each other and Draco was the first to respond.
" Well I already told you. I love her, I have for a while. I told her this. She said she's not ready. Ta friggen da!" Draco ran his fingers through his hair, " but it's okay. I'll wait. She knows and she's okay with it and well, that's the important part. Not to mention there was no physical violence when I told her! so that's good!"
Ron turned to Harry, " And you? She's my little sister, I should know these things"
Harry scratched his arm, examining it for too long, obviously avoiding the question.
"Harry! Come on!" Draco said, " Things not to great in candy land?" He asked, laughing.
" Oh it's nothing like that at all" , He answered, realizing he had to now, just so they knew nothing was wrong, " Mum. Did you see when she pulled me into the hall?" Harry asked, both boys nodded. " She um...she gave me this." Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the antique ring.
Draco let out a little " oooh" and Ron said, " hey. I recognize that!"
" Well you should.Mum said it belong to your great great grandmother. It's to go to Ginny."
Harry stared at the ring, turning it over in his fingers.
" Harry" Ron got quiet, " What are you supposed to do with it?"
Harry could hear that he was being egged on.
Breathing deeply he said, " Well. That's where it get foggy. When she gave it to me, she asked me a million and one questions about our relationship. I guess the jist of it is that, even if it's not used as an engagement ring, it still has to go to her. So how this all plays out is still up in the air. but don't worry, I'll let you know which way the conversation swings. I have my own questions for Gin, and well, depending on how she answers them..." He trailed off.
Almost 3 hours later three small framed bodies could be seen, walking down the road. Each with arms full of bags. When they reached the back porch, Hermione came to a halt.
" Well, I know why they didn't come looking for us!" She said, smiling at Ginny.
Draco, Ron and Harry had all fallen asleep in the chairs.Quietly the girls slipped around the boys, and creeping inside as to not wake them up. After they were done unloading all the food they had purchased, they seperated the clothes into piles. Hermione even had the good sense to buy bags for everyone to carry this stuff. There was a creak by the door and they all turned, very startled.
" Hey , you just get back?" Draco said, rubbing his eyes like a little boy.
Hermione gushed, he was so cute.
" Yeah, we didn't want to wake you up"
Crossing the room, she walked up and hugged him tightly. Draco smiled a sleepy smile and kissed her gently on the lips. A little rush went through Hermione, from finger tips to toes.
" So" Draco said, walking to the table, " That's a lot. What did you get?"
Peering through the piles he could see that the girls prepared them for the long stay they probably had to look forward to. There were six piles of clothes, on top of each a bag, with an initial draw on with black marker. Everyone had one extra pair of shoes,this was mostly because the girls all had sandals on. A side from all the food they bought, the girls picked up practical stuff as well. Shampoo, soap, laundry supplies, towels, toiletries, and bathing suits.
" What's this?" Draco asked, eye brows raised and lifting a black pair of shorts in his pile.
" It's your swimming suit silly" Luna said, in her normal soft sweet voice.
" Yes Luna thank you. I am aware of what it is, but why did you get it?" He asked, looking at Hermione.
" We're at the beach Draco. What do you plan on doing. Staring at it?" Ginny asked, laughing a little.
" I am not big on the whole swimming thing" Draco said, dropping the swim suit.
As he walked away he could hear the girls laughing.
" Where are you going?" Hermione asked, trying to stop her giggles.
" I'm waking up tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb" He said, not turning around.
Walking onto the porch, his eyes winced a bit, trying to block out the bright sun.
" Hey!" He snapped, kicking the chairs." Wake up!"
Ron and Harry bolted straight up, as if on high alert.
" What the hell Draco?" Harry said, rubbing his head.
" Hey, the girls are back." Ron and Harry stood, following Draco back into the house.
Later on that evening, as darkness fell, Draco wondered, drink in hand, out to the front porch again. It was pitch black but he could still hear the ocean. The soft yet, crushing sound of the waves as they hit the shore. It nearly entranced him, that was, until he felt hands around his waist, rubbing his stomach.
" Now Ron what did I tell you about this?" He turned, " Oh Hey Hermione, didn't know it was you."
She stared at him, eyes wide, he couldn't hold a straight face anymore and broke out laughing.
" Ah!" she yelled, swiping at him.
" Oh come on, it was just a joke." Draco said, wrapping his arms around her.
" Yeah? well, still!" She said, smiling at him.
They stood there a while holding each other when suddenly a solid white stag when tracing out of the front door and ran straight towards the ocean.
" What the fuck was that?" Draco said, running to the door.
" I was sending a safe message to Arthur and Molly. Oh wait. you've never seen that before have you?" Harry said, looking at the amazement on Draco's face.
" No. That was wild!"
Harry stood, walking to Draco, " You've never produced a patronus, have you?" Harry said.
Putting his head down, realizing he was probably the only one in the group who couldn't.
" No I haven't. But well, aren't those based on happy memories. My life isn't exactly bursting at the seems with those, now is it. "
" How about this. When 'Mione is all cooped up with her books doing her thing, like we all know she's gonna be, let me teach you some stuff" Harry said, putting his hand out to Draco, to shake it.
Draco, a little taken back, saw Harry's smile, and shook his hand in agreement.
" oh shit!" Hermione said, a striking look on her face, " My books! How the hell am I going to get those? They at the apartment."
She looked to Draco, with a pleading look.
" Harry." Draco said, still looking at Hermione, " In the morning, go with her to the apartment. Gather the things she needs"
" Sure, but why don't you want to go with her?" Harry said, confused at getting volunteered for a job.
" You just said it, you want to teach me stuff. I don't know enough spells that could keep her and me safe if we ran into someone. I trust you. It's hard to admit and say, but I know you will do a better job keeping her safe than I will."
Harry reached forward, grabbing Draco's shoulder.
" you know I would never let anything happen to her, no matter what!"
" uh oh" Ginny said, laughing, " Ron's lifted his pant leg a little, he's full and ready for bed"
They all turned to Ron.
" Dad does the same thing after dinner."Ginny said with a smile.
Looking around the room for a moment, Luna walked to Ron, a little unsure of what to do, and took him by the hand. Without locking eyes with anyone, she lead him to the room they would be sharing for the night. The four remaining friends stood there, not too sure themselves what to make of what just happened.
" I guess that's our cue. " Said Harry, putting his hand out to Ginny, who quickly stood, taking Harry hand.
" Goodnight guys. Bright and early okay 'Mione!" Harry said, just as Ginny shut the door, with a very evil grin.
Hermione collapsed onto the couch with a " ummmphh! It feels so good to relax" She said, throwing her head onto the back of the couch.
Draco sat down with her, laying out, she laid down with him, curling up so her head was directly over his heart.He let out a little comforting moan as she did so.
" Mmmm! Hello lovely" He said, wrapping his arms around her." you okay?" He asked.
" You know", she said, pulling a blanket up over them." I've never been more okay in my life"
He was fading fast into dreamland when Hermione spoke up.
" Draco, did you mean it when you said you loved me, that night in your room." She asked, drawing hearts on his chest with her finger.
He squeezed her a little, " Yes very much so! I wouldn't give you up for anything in this world!" he said, sweetly.
" Draco?" she said, lifting her head a little.
" yeah?" He replied, picking his head up a little to see her better.
She leaned in and kissed him. Gently giving him little kissing on his lips.
Stopping only breaths away from his face she whispered to him, " I think I love you, too."
He opened his eyes wide now, looking deep into her. Taking in the moment, he was quick to take her chin in his hand, kissing her deeply now. He could feel how badly he wanted to take her. Wrapping his arms around her small frame, it felt so good to hold her. He didn't want to just sleep with her, as he had with Pansy. First and foremost, he had never had feelings for Pansy Parkinson,so right away this was a different case. His hands were running up and down her back as they continued to passionately kiss. He was making her body tingle all over, and now, she wanted him too.
" whoa" he said, pulling back, " Let's not get ahead of ourselves here love"
He looked into her eyes and he could tell she thought she had done something wrong.
" I just don't want to rush into something like this. I am scared of fucking everything up! And I would hate to lose you over something like this."
Placing a finger on his lips to discontinue his talking, she whispered to him, " it's okay. I was just checking your boundaries"
She grinned at him, " tell me.." She said, staring deeply into him.
Right away he knew what she was craving from him, " I love you Hermione!" He said, with another sleepy smile.
" I love you Draco" She said back to him. Giving each other several more little kisses, she curled back up on his chest, and within moments, they were both content and asleep.
A/N I know i know..if i'm not writing chapters that are too short, they're tooo long! I was going to make this two, but i couldn't find a place to split it where i was happy with it. hope you all enjoy. craziness be happening! loves- dazen