Ok - for all of you who practically burned me at the stake for the last chapter (I say this jokingly) - check out the story I posted the other day, "Show Me What I'm Looking For." It's in the same universe as this story - and it's a promo/teaser sort of thing for what will either be a sequel to this story OR the third part (think trilogy). Either way - they will all line up and if you read that - I think you'll see that I'm not out to be a dream crasher for Draco and Hermione ;D.
I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and Angelina occupied the master bedroom in Draco and Hermione's house, the four of them changing out of their clothes from dinner and into more festive apparel for the evening's events. Angelina, all arms and legs as she was just as tall as George, wore nothing but a skimpy, plum colored tube dress with silver stiletto heels, the hem falling mid thigh. She's spent eight hours the day before at the salon getting her hair braided in a bunch of tiny braids just for tonight, all of them gathered up in a chic ponytail. Hermione didn't understand why she spent her time playing professional quidditch because she was convinced that Angelina could be a supermodel.
Luna changed into a shiny gold dress with a scoop neck and sparkly white pom-pom balls adorning the straps. It looked more like a stage costume than a dress one would wear in public, but when Luna put it on and slipped a matching pom-pom decorated barrette into her hair, she looked every bit herself. It even had a perfect outward flare as she gave it a test spin. Neither Angelina, Ginny, nor Hermione could quite figure out what it was with Luna that had Blaise Zabini persistently pursuing her. Hermione had the fleeting thought the other day that it was the pursuit of the chase – that he'd never met a woman who said no to him, or turned him down – and with that thought, she threatened Blaise within an inch of his life if he had intentions for Luna that didn't go past another notch on his toothpick of a bedpost. But Blaise promised Hermione that it was more than that - and that he just wanted a chance to prove it to Luna.
"Ginny - my sister wants to know your secret," Angelina said as Ginny shimmied into her red dress, turning her back to her brother's girlfriend as she zipped her up. With a strapless sweetheart top and big black buttons down the front of the dress, stopping at the wide black belt around her waist, Ginny spun around as the bottom of her skirt puffed up slightly like the top of a cupcake. "Because she's convinced her body isn't going to go back after my niece is born."
Ginny blushed a bit as she threw on a small, long sleeved black shrug while stepping into her red heels. "I wouldn't say my body is 'back,' but honestly - I just keep moving. It took me a lot longer to lose my weight with James than it did with Albus, but two kids also keeps you a bit busier."
"Your tits look fantastic in that dress," Angelina said, slightly in awe. "I'd have to pay for mine to look like that."
"Or you could just marry George already and have babies and get a pair of your own," Ginny replied.
Angelina stuttered for a moment before she managed to put together a coherent sentence. "Wait - what are you talking about?"
Ginny gave her a pointed stare. "I think you know."
Hermione stood in her closet, shaking her head as she heard the conversation between Angelina and Ginny unfold. She was honestly shocked that Ginny hadn't broached the topic sooner with Angelina. One of the things Hermione loved the most about Ginny was how straightforward she could be, and that like she was growing up - most things were black and white, right or wrong, yes or no. Hermione wasn't nearly as black and white in her thinking today as she was growing up as her experiences from sixth year forward showed her that there was a lot of grey area than she initially thought there could be. Draco wasn't as black and white as he appeared. George and Angelina's relationship wasn't as straightforward as it seemed. The two of them deeply cared for one another, brought together initially due to Fred's death, and the two waited for nearly a year and a half before dating each other. To be precise, George had proposed two Angelina twice, and both times she said she loved him, but wasn't ready. Hermione thought it was because unlike George, Angelina never found a way to properly grieve for the loss of Fred, and until she did, she would never be ready.
Deciding to save Angelina from the Spanish Inquisition that was Ginny, Hermione stepped out of her closet, bracing a hand on the doorframe that connected the bedroom to the walk through closets and master bathroom while slipping into a pair of glittery ruby red platform heels. She wore black tights and sleeveless, silver sequined tunic that had a deep v-neck and was rather fitted, falling just past her bottom. "Is this ok?" she asked, seeking the opinion of the three women in the room.
"I think you look really lovely," Luna said in her light and airy voice.
"No dress?" Ginny asked, turning away from Angelina who was mouthing 'thank you' to Hermione. "I mean, not that you don't look great because you do."
Hermione laughed. "I thought about a dress - but I bought this top in Paris and I've been looking for an excuse to wear it."
"It is a pretty hot top," Angelina replied. "Shoes too - Paris as well?"
"Yep," Hermione said, holding her leg out as she swiveled an ankle back and forth. "When I was little, I was in a musical at school, oddly enough titled The Wizard of Oz, and I was so devastated that I didn't get the lead role, Dorothy, who got to wear these magic ruby red shoes so my Dad. So my dad, he went out to the store and found me a pair of evenbetter of ruby red shoes - that they had a cute little heel and fake diamond buckle and I was in love with those shoes. I hadn't even given those shoes a second thought until Ginny and I were in Paris, and I don't know…I just saw them, and knew I had to have them."
"Well I think it's the perfect shoe for a night like tonight," Luna replied. "What are the plans for tonight, anyway?"
"Oh, you know, just some bar hopping," Ginny said rather innocently.
"And dancing," Angelina chimed in.
"And drinking," Ginny stated.
"Lots of drinking," Angelina added with a grin.
James wandered through the bottom floor of the house, collecting blankets off of various pieces of furniture and quilt racks and tossing them into a pile on the floor. He kept giving Blaise a look, unsure why he got to crash his party tonight when he couldn't come on Blaise's, but the looks instead of the talking led Draco to assume that Ginny had a stern conversation before hand, as the sleepover with Draco and Harry turned into a sleepover with Draco, Harry, George, and Blaise. Draco told James at dinner that the more the merrier, but he still seemed pretty skeptical.
"Buddy - we have plenty of blankets at the house to build a fort with," Harry said, a firm hold on Albus' legs as he sat on Harry's shoulders.
He gave his dad a look, borderline scowling. "We had enough blankets for you and Uncle Draco and me. Now there's more people so now we're going to need extra blankets."
"Sounds like an excellent plan," Draco said. He figured any kind of positive reinforcement was better than James getting himself knee deep into trouble, which would then impede on their night of fun. "And you know - Blaise has never made a blanket fort before, so he's actually kind of excited about tonight."
James looked bewildered as he stared at Blaise. "You've never built a blanket fort? Like ever?"
Blaise shook his head no. "Never."
"Did you do anything fun when you were little like me?" James asked.
"Not really - I didn't have a fun mum and dad like yours," Blaise replied.
Draco looked over at Harry with a smirk, as they could see James' hostility towards Blaise and the weekend he wasn't allowed to attend slowly deteriorating. George helped James refold the blankets and stack them up before he used his wand to shrink them down for easy transport back to 12 Grimmauld Place, the two of them talking about how tall the fort had to be since shrinking George wasn't in the cards this evening. Harry shifted Albus off of his shoulders and onto his hip, catching a bit of Albus' teething drool with the sleeve of his shirt. "You need to get these teeth in, Albus, because the drool is out of control."
"Mum mum mum mum mum!" Albus exclaimed, smacking a hand on his chest with each 'mum!'
"No, say Da da da da da!" Harry mimicked.
Blaise looked towards the staircase and saw what Albus was screaming at, a bit awestruck himself at the women walking down in their evening attire. "I think he means mum, mate - take a look."
The men all turned and saw the women walk through the foyer and into the living room. Hermione was donning a wild 'bachelorette' sash that Ginny picked up at a novelty shop, giving Draco a small smirk. "Nice shoes," Draco said, walking towards her a bit.
"Where in the bloody hell is the rest of your dress?" George exclaimed, looking at Angelina.
"Galleon!" James squealed in delight.
"There is no rest of the dress," Angelina replied as George dug deep in his pocket for a galleon, slapping it in his hand as he gawked at her long dark legs. "But if you're lucky tonight, I might let you see what's under the dress."
Blaise clapped hands over James' ears as Angelina spoke. "Child in the room, Johnson. Child in the room."
"Mummy you look super pretty," James spoke, barely above a whisper as he pulled away from Blaise. "It looks super nice with your new haircut."
Ginny squatted down, her knees pressed tightly together and gave James a kiss. "Thank you, buddy. Now - you're going to be good for Daddy tonight, right?"
James nodded, pocketing his galleon. "Super good."
Standing back up, she gave Albus a kiss and her husband a hug, lightly brushing her lips against his. "Have fun tonight - and don't you lot fall asleep in that bloody fort. Make sure the kids sleep in actual beds - they'll never get a good night's sleep if they don't and I won't have the tolerance to deal with it in the morning."
"Yes ma'am," Harry said with a mock salute.
Blaise cleared his throat a bit awkwardly as he nodded towards Luna. "You um, you look really pretty Luna."
Luna whimsically swished back and forth a touch, smiling politely at Blaise. "Thank you. I just got the dress the other day."
"It's very you," he replied, a bit bashfully.
Draco held back his laughter, swallowing it, as he didn't want to embarrass an already blushing Blaise. Snaking an arm around Hermione's waist, he kissed her temple before dropping his lips near her ear. "That's quite an outfit," he murmured, kissing her temple again.
She grinned. "I thought you'd appreciate the fact that I'm wearing pants."
"Very much so," he replied. "You look like you're finally in the birthday/hen party spirit."
"I'm not sure follow,' Hermione said, looking at him a bit peculiarly.
He gave her a hug. "I don't know - at dinner tonight you seemed…demure, which is hardly like you."
She waved him off and flashed a smile, not wanting to tell him the things she left out about her visit to the doctor earlier that day "I didn't mean to give that impression. My birthday dinner was fantastic, and I loved my gift." Hermione held up her wrist, showing off her new diamond tennis bracelet. "Very sparkly- just as I like it."
"Which obviously goes with your attire for the evening," Draco replied. "Have fun tonight, dear."
"I don't think not having fun is an option," Hermione replied. "You have fun with James - and don't pass out at the Potters. I don't want to sleep alone tonight."
He gave her a kiss on the forehead, avoiding her lips as he could see she had a gloss over them that he didn't want to ruin. "Will do."
"Love you," she said with a playful wink.
"Love you more," he retorted, playing their game.
"Not possible," she said.
The girls gathered their clutches and bid a final farewell before walking outside, where a limousine was waiting to take them all over London for their evening. As the door shut, the adult men looked around at each other, none of them willing to admit out loud that they wished they were tagging along for the night. It wasn't until James yanked on Harry's free arm with his hand, ready to go back to his house that the men snapped themselves out of it and flooed to the Potter residence. After all - they already had their wild night of fun, and it was now their turn.
First on the docket for the evening planned by Ginny was a ride on the London Eye in a private capsule. Ginny told them all as they entered that the ride was about 30 minutes, which she thought would be brilliant as they could watch the sun set over the Thames River while also enjoying a few drinks in order to prepare them for the evening to come. The capsule was already set with a bar and with what was promised to be a discrete bartender, though Hermione wasn't too worried about the need for discretion, considering her skill with a confundus charm. Martinis in hand, the four gathered in the middle of the capsule, all of them grinning at the guest of honor as they toasted one another.
"This is such a cool muggle contraption," Angelina gushed as the capsule very slowly began to ascend around the large round frame.
"We took Dad here for his birthday a few years back," Ginny replied. "It about set his affinity for all things muggle related into overdrive. The view however is pretty stunning."
The four of them made small talk with one another, listening as Angelina talked about her sister's shower and Luna's continuing quest for the most random of magical creatures while also helping her dad with writing articles for The Quibbler. Halfway into their London Eye ride and two martinis later, Ginny sat down next to Luna on one of the benches and gave her a nudge.
"So how long are you going to make Blaise wait?" she asked with a giggle.
"Wait?"
"Luna - the boy has it bad for you," Angelina replied. "George talks about it all the time - or makes fun of it really - considering that it's Blaise, and his reputation precedes him."
Luna tilted her head to the side and looked around the room. "Yeah, I think he likes me."
Hermione nearly choked on her drink. "You think? He's been taking you out to dinner since May - courting you even like a…dare I say, a proper gentleman."
"He's been quite lovely" Luna said, shrugging her shoulders. "He seems quite nicer than he used to be. I like that about him."
"Do you like him as more than just a friend?" Ginny asked.
Luna nonchalantly sighed and smiled. "I probably should like him more than just a friend. He has been very kind to me."
"Luna - have you ever had a boyfriend?" Angelina asked, finishing off her martini.
"Friends who are boys? Sure," Luna said. "Harry was my first boyfriend. He offered to help me search for my shoes when they all went missing; I still suspect it was because of the nargles. We also went to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party. That was fun."
Ginny and Hermione giggled. "No, Luna," Ginny replied. "Angelina doesn't mean friends who are boys. She's talking about a boyfriend - someone you fancy, who fancies you back."
"Oh, well, no, I guess not," Luna replied. "I quite fancied Neville back in school, but he's going to propose to Hannah Abbott soon. She's a sweet girl - and very lovely. He told me about it over tea the other day. He seems nervous, but I told him not to worry."
"Luna, have you even kissed a boy?" Ginny asked.
"Oh certainly - I've kissed some boys. But that's about it," Luna replied, taking a drink. "But I can see you're worried, but you needn't be. I know all about Blaise."
"All about Blaise?" Hermione questioned.
"We talk quite frequently about lots of things," Luna replied. "I like him a lot, I'm just not like the girls I think he is accustomed to, so I've not really given him a lot of thought past friendship I guess. I should probably give it a bit of thought."
Hermione loved how Luna could talk about everything so casual, nonchalant, lackadaisical, or whatever you wanted to call it. It was if Luna internalized nothing, which she found herself to be incredibly jealous of at the moment. She stood at the window walls of the capsule, watching the sunset. Ginny was right - the view was amazing as the capsule slowly began to descend in sync with the sun, providing a lovely - albeit momentarily distraction from her thoughts.
The sooner the liquor kicked into her system to turn her momentary distraction into a much longer distraction, the better.
A menagerie of blankets were draped over couches and extra chairs brought into the living room as all of the boys sat inside the makeshift blanket fort in a circle, a pile of plastic dragons and dinosaurs in the middle. Albus sat in Draco's lap, gleefully gnawing on the head of a plastic dragon while James had a dragon and a dinosaur in each hand, making them fight each other. George was sprawled out on his stomach, joining in on the fun as he chose a dragon and pretended to crash into the ones James was holding as he sat on Harry's lap.
Blaise looked utterly confused as he sat criss crossed, not sure what to make of what he was watching. "Here," James said, handing him a dinosaur.
"What am I to do with this?"
"You play," James replied, as if the answer was obvious.
"I don't follow," Blaise replied.
"There's nothing complicated about it, mate," George said. "You just make them make noises, and then crashing noises -"
"And fire breathing noises," James interjected, hissing as he crashed his dinosaur into George's dragon. "It's just playing pretend - you have to use your 'magination."
Blaise frowned. "What if I don't have an imagination?"
James looked up at Harry, who grinned at his son before James looked back at Blaise. "You better get a 'magination or else Miss Luna is never gonna kiss you."
Harry, Draco, and George all doubled over into laugher, Albus even managing a cackle as he imitated everyone around him while Blaise sat there, slack jawed and embarrassed. "What the - why would you - how would you -" Blaise sputtered, causing the men to laugh even harder.
James sighed with an eye roll eerily reminiscent of his mother. "I heard Mummy and Aunt Hermione talking about it the other day. Something about Blaise wanting to crush Miss Luna…and something about liking her…but that's all I remember because then Jori brought me ice cream with sprinkles all over it and it - was - delicious."
"Has a crush," Draco gasped in between laughs. "Has - a - crush."
"What would an imagination have to do with getting Luna to kiss me?" Blaise asked James, his seriousness triggering more laughter from the guys.
"Miss Luna only has the best 'magination I've ever seen," James replied. "But Mummy says that she believes most of what she thinks even if makes no sense, so you gots to human even if what she says makes no sense because if you don't it might hurt her feelings."
"Humor," Harry corrected with a tousle of James' hair as he chuckled at Blaise's expense. "Humor her."
Boys boys boys, we like boys in cars -
Boys boys boys, buy us drinks in bars -
Boys boys boys, with hairspray and denim -
And boys boys boys, we love them - we love them!
The girls jumped and danced around in the middle of the crowd inside Club 49 - a hot London nightclub that they only meant to stay at for an hour or so but one hour turned into four going on five. If Hermione had known sooner that all one needed to wear in order to get free drinks was a tacky bachelorette sash, she would have purchased one sooner. The four of them had lost count of the shots they threw back or the martinis they sipped, or the water they drank in between to keep themselves hydrated so they weren't drunk beyond comprehension.
Luna, surprisingly enough, shocked them all with her dancing skills, keeping up with Angelina as they moved on the dance floor, laughing and having a good time. Hermione danced with Ginny, screaming at the top of her lungs to the words of the Lady Gaga song, her arms waving above her head as she moved her hips to the beat. As the DJ went to play a patch of slower songs for the couples on the floor, the four girls retreated to a table the doorman had labeled as reserved for them when he saw Hermione's bachelorette sash - another lovely perk in Hermione's inebriated opinion. They collapsed into the round leather booth where a bar maid brought over four bottles of beer.
"Ugh - I cannot drink anymore," Hermione said, pushing the bottle away from her.
"Pansy," Angelina teased.
"I hate that word," Hermione groused, reaching back for the beer and took a swig. "Ok - now I'm done," she said as she pushed the beer away again.
"Sorry – poor phrase choice," Angelina replied. "Speaking of - has anyone heard from her, or from Ron for that matter?"
"Last Mum said the two were somewhere in Morocco - I think they're just bopping around from place to place because neither of them have any direction in any aspect of their ridiculous existences," Ginny said, slightly slurring the last part of the sentence as she giggled.
Luna held her beer in her hand, leaning back into the leather booth. "I think I might let Blaise kiss me next time we're out to dinner. You think he would, if I told him it was ok?"
Hermione giggled, leaning towards Luna and putting a hand on her arm. "I think if you told him to play in traffic, he'd ask you which lane to stand in - he's completely infatu - infatua - intatchfu – he's completely obsessed with you."
"Hermione cannot speak with words bigger than three syllables - someone should cut her off," Angelina teased in a singsong voice.
"Or get her another drink," Ginny said, shoving Hermione's beer back towards her. Hermione clapped her hands over her face, feeling her cheeks get red with embarrassment as she laughed. "At least you're finally having fun," Ginny teased.
"I've been having fun all night!" Hermione exclaimed. "Loads of fun - I'm drunk…people keep bringing me free drinks…and I'm drunk…I'm with my three best friends - I'm having loads of fun!"
Ginny took a drink. "You were off tonight at dinner. Draco kept fucking kicking me under the table at dinner tonight, looking at me like I knew but I didn't know anything - except that if he kicked me again, your fiancé was going to lose a bloody foot."
"You should've just cut it off," Hermione said, making a slashing motion with her hand in the air. "We could have called him 'stumpy.' Stumpy Malfoy." She dissolved into uncontrollable giggles, burying her face in Luna's arm as they all laughed at the notion of calling Draco Malfoy such a ridiculous nickname and getting away with it. Composing herself, she sat back up, slouching a bit as she removed her sash and put it in a crumpled wad on the table. "I know I'm drunk," she said. "I know I'm drunk because if I wasn't drunk, there's no way I'd say this out loud but I cannot say it to Draco so I'm just going to say it here, but you're all sworn to secrecy. Promise?"
"Oh my god you're pregnant," Angelina said with a gasp.
"She's drank her body weight in liquor tonight, Ang - she's not pregnant," Ginny said before taking another drink, looking at Hermione. "You aren't pregnant, right?"
Hermione let out a sad laugh. "I'm not pregnant," she said. "And I might not ever get pregnant. I shouldn't say ever, or never, never ever, but my healer today said that because I was under the cruciatus curse for so long that it might keep me from getting pregnant. Other women have been having same issues…women who were crucio'd during the war."
It was like the entire table sobered up as they listened to Hermione speak. "But she said might," Luna offered. "Lots of things 'might' happen, you know?"
"Luna's right," Angelina said. "Loads of things might happen. You can't focus on the one bad thing."
Hermione picked her beer back up and took a big swig, still slouched back against the booth. She looked at Ginny, waiting for her to say something. "Well?" she said, prodding her best friend. "What do you think?"
"Who in the bloody hell goes and gets their lady parts checked out on their birthday?" Ginny finally asked with a smirk, breaking the mounting tension slowly brewing from Hermione's somber confession.
"That's what you got out of all that?" Hermione asked.
"Well, no, but seriously - you couldn't find another day to have someone poking around inside of you - someone other than Draco?"
"You're so vile!" Hermione squealed, laughing as she picked up her wadded sash and threw it at Ginny, who stuck out her tongue in response. "And yes - it was the only time between when I booked the appointment and the wedding."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I still would've picked a different day. Regardless - I'm going to tell you what your soon to be husband told me the day I had Albus. You ready?"
Hermione nodded.
"You have met your quota for bad things happening to you in your life," Ginny said. "You've not only met it - you've exceeded it. I'd tell you to not worry over things you have zero control over, but it's a waste of oxygen because you worry and it's what you do and it's what makes you Hermione Granger." She reached a hand across the table and grabbed Hermione's hand. "You'll have children. I'm certain of it - one way or another."
"Why can't you tell Draco any of this?" Angelina asked.
Hermione looked down the bottleneck of her beer and took a drink. "Because his aunt was the one that used the curse," Luna answered, as she'd been locked in the cellar with Harry and Ron as Hermione's tortured screams echoed through the manor.
"He'll go mental," Hermione said. "I know he will. I can't tell you how many times since we began dating that he's apologized for not saving me, despite the fact that I didn't expect him to."
"I think Ginny is quite right," Luna said sweetly. "I think that you just don't need to worry about it because everything will work out."
Hermione nodded. "I went off the potion today too. The healer said it'd probably take my body awhile to adjust to not being on a potion so it would take several months before I got pregnant anyway."
"So you get to go home and have repercussion free - reckless sex with your sex god of a fiancé for awhile. You shouldn't complain about that Hermione - embrace it, girl!" Angelina exclaimed.
"Why does everyone think he's a sex god?" Hermione asked, finishing off the beer she had no intention of finishing.
"Look at me right now and tell me that he doesn't exceed all of your expectations - I know you heard the rumors at school," Angelina said with a glint in her eye.
Hermione blushed. "I'm not answering that."
"Your mouth might not but your face just did," Angelina said with a smirk. She finished her beer and put it down on the table, glancing at her watch. "Bloody hell - it's barely past midnight."
"Shut up!" Ginny exclaimed, grabbing Angelina's arm and yanking it towards her as she read her watch. "I feel like I could pass out."
"You're also sloshed - and not moving," Angelina replied. "The key is to never stop moving. Ever."
"I'm perfectly fine with never moving again," Hermione groaned. "I think I've used muscles in my legs I didn't know I had dancing in these shoes."
"I agree," Ginny replied. "You all ready to call it a night?"
"I was ready before I finished that blasted beer," Hermione said.
"No one forced you," Ginny said with a laugh. "Besides - I have anti-hangover potions in the car for all of us."
"That's brilliant, Ginny," Luna said as the four of them slid out of their booth on either side with their things and headed out of the club.
The limousine took them back to Ginny's house, the four of them tossing back their individual vials of anti-hangover potion before gingerly crawling out of the cab, giggling as they walked up the front steps of the brownstone. Ginny unlocked her house with her wand and quietly snuck inside.
It was half past twelve thirty in the morning by the time Harry carried the sleeping deadweight that was his oldest son to bed, tucking him in while Draco checked on Albus who was lightly snoring in his crib across the hall. The littlest Potter clutched a stuffed owl as his pacifier hung slightly out of his mouth. Adjusting the light blanket draped across him, Draco retreated from the room and shut Albus' door as Harry did the same for James' room when they heard the front door downstairs.
"Could they be back already?" Draco asked.
"I hope so - because no one else's wand has the ability to open the front door other than mine," Harry said. They stood in the hall and waited a minute until they heard a thud, and a swear. "That would be my wife stubbing her toe on the coat rack," Harry said with a smirk as they retreated towards the stairs. The two boys found the four girls in the kitchen, barefoot with their heels sitting with their clutches on the kitchen table. "I thought I heard a motley crew walk in here," Harry said, wrapping his arms around Ginny from behind.
"We're not motley, we're drunk," Hermione corrected as she found Draco and leaned heavily into him, letting the arm he wrapped around her side hold her up. "Drunk and tired. Or tired and drunk. We're both of them."
Draco laughed as he pulled the thin headband out of her hair and set it on the table with her things. He eyed the rest of the girls and then back to Hermione. "How much did you all drink, anyway?"
"Lots," Angelina said. "People just kept giving them to us because Hermione had the magic sash."
"Magic sash?" Harry questioned.
"People were just so happy for me and my party that they kept buying us drinks - so we of course had to drink them because if we didn't it would have been rude," Hermione explained.
"Very rude," Angelina chimed in. "Is George still here?"
"Just left," Harry replied.
Angelina pulled her long legs out from under the table she sat at and stood up, collecting her things. "I think I'll just floo on home then - if I apparate I'll probably splinch half my hair off - which will look completely unattractive." She wobbled slightly as she walked, saying goodbye to Luna and Ginny before giving Hermione a week high five. "We need to get drunk more often, Hermione," Angelina said. "Or at the very least go dancing."
"Good idea," Hermione replied. "When my liver recovers from this evening, we'll plan another outing. Definitely."
As Angelina made her way to the floo, Luna collected her things and followed. "If I were going to find Blaise, where would I find him?"
Draco gave Luna a peculiar look. "Um…at his apartment I reckon."
"Do you think he's asleep?"
"No," Harry replied. "I'm sure he's wide awake after the mini-therapy session he had with James this evening?"
"Excuse me?" Ginny asked.
"I'll explain later," Harry said. "Promise." He looked over at Luna and nodded towards the floo. "My floo is connected to his house if you wanted to pop over and say hello."
Luna smiled. "That would be lovely." As she walked past Hermione and Draco, Draco put out a hand and stopped Luna. "Yes?" she asked.
"I um, I just wanted to say that Blaise really likes you," Draco said, somewhat awkwardly as he felt entirely uncomfortable with what he suddenly felt compelled to do. "He genuinely likes you."
Luna smiled. "That's what Hermione and Ginny said too. He really is much nicer than I remember. I think I might tell him tonight that I like him very much."
"Just don't let him make you feel like you have to do anything more than you want to," Draco said. "Blaise is one of my best mates, but he's not all that bright when it comes to women."
"You're a nice friend, Draco," Luna replied. "Thanks for inviting me to the party, Hermione."
"Of course," Hermione replied as she stifled a yawn. "I'm glad you could make it."
As they heard Luna say the address to Blaise's apartment, Harry looked at the two girls left and shook his head. "I'm disappointed," he teased as he still stood behind Ginny, hugging her to him. "I figured you wild women would be out later."
"We've been drinking since eight - we were plenty wild and ready to come home," Ginny replied.
"We can tell," Draco replied as he reached over and collected Granger's things with his free hand. "Come on, Granger - let's get you home."
"Uh huh," she mumbled, "Good plan."
The four of them bid each other goodbye before Draco scooped up Hermione in his arms and had her hand on tight as he apparated them from Harry and Ginny's into their bedroom. He kept a hold of her for a moment while she collected her bearings before setting her down on the bed. "You want a sobering potion?" he asked.
"Please," she said, moaning as she peeled her clothes off, tossing each piece towards the direction of the hamper. Kicking off her shoes, she sat on the bed in just her leggings and her black strapless bra when Draco returned with a sobering potion and one of his old, well worn quidditch team shirts for her to sleep in. "Thanks," she said after taking the potion, handing him the empty vial in exchange for the shirt. She felt it's effects slowly, her head feeling less like a twenty pound weight atop her neck as she shed her leggings, kicking them off without bothering to toss them with the rest of her clothes. She'd take care of it in the morning. "Did you have fun tonight making your fort?" she asked.
"Definitely," Draco replied as he returned from the closet dressed in a pair of boxers. "We also had ice cream and popcorn and watched that How to Train Your Dragon movie James is obsessed with. You should've seen Blaise get into the movie - it was a riot."
Hermione laughed as she unclasped her bra and tossed it to the ground. "I can imagine."
Draco crawled into bed and leaned over towards Hermione, pulling the string of her red knickers on her hip back and snapping it lightly against her skin. "Nice knickers, Granger."
She looked over her shoulder at him and laughed. "You think so?"
"I love all of your knickers," he teased, grabbing at her hips and sliding her across the bed as she yelped. She turned around and looked at him, the potion in her system already taking her from completely inebriated to slightly inebriated. Hermione still had ahold of the shirt he brought her in his hand as she leaned down and rested her head on his bare chest. "Did you have fun tonight?" he asked, rubbing a hand lightly up and down the middle of her back.
"Loads of fun," Hermione replied. "We were going to go to all sorts of bars but we really liked the first one we went to so we just stayed. It was brilliant."
Draco cocked his head to the side to catch her gaze. "Brilliant, eh?"
She nodded. "It was amazing."
"No strippers?" he teased.
"Blaise wasn't in charge of my party," Hermione replied. Sitting up, she crawled on top of him, straddling his waist as she pressed the palms of her hands into his chest. "Besides - you're the only naked man I want to see."
Draco leaned in to kiss her, Hermione meeting him halfway as her lips crashed into his. As their kissing went from chaste to needy, they managed to shed the only piece of clothing left on either of them. Draco rolled her over so he was hovering over top of her, a hand cupping a breast as he continued to snog Hermione while her hand trailed south, grazing a bit of pre-cum away from the tip of his head with her thumb before stroking his erection to the rhythm of their mouths.
"Hermione?" he asked, breaking his lips away from hers.
"Yes?" she replied, catching her breath.
His eyes bore into hers as a small grin crept across his lips. "We aren't 'practicing' anymore, right?"
"No more practice," she said, grinning slightly. The weight of today's events slowly receded from her shoulders as she remembered what Angelina said about the reckless and repercussion free sex she was able to have, how Ginny told her to not worry so much, while Luna reminded her that everything would be fine. "Are you ready?" she asked.
Draco brushed the back of his hand against her forehead before tracing it down her cheek. "I was ready the moment you came back into my life, Granger. Are you ready?"
"With you," she whispered, capturing his lips in a soft kiss, pulling away slowly. "I'm ready for anything."