Flying Lessons Assignment 3 (We should consider the speed of a relationship as we do the speed when on a broom. Maybe one of your pairing is moving too fast in some regard and making the other feel uncomfortable. There are so many factors that could be causing problems so you shouldn't struggle / Prompt: (Dialogue) "I will never let you down.")

Gringotts (Figures of Speech: defending silence / raining cats and dogs / Vocabulary Verbs: answer / blew)

-oOo-

"Where do you see us in five years?"

"Hopefully doing what we were just doing."

Hermione had to chuckle at that. They were a mess of limbs in his bed, tangled among the sheets. The air outside of the covers was crisp and warm. A steady rain was beating outside. His finger was running smooth circles against her naked back and she kept herself pressed against him as she breathed in the scent of the pillow.

"Why do you ask?" He smoothed her hair out so that he could move closer towards her.

"It's nothing," Hermione answered. The rain picked up and she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. It wasn't because of the weather though. No she loved the rain, but the constant beat of it against the window couldn't drown out the noise running through her mind. It couldn't drown out the voice of Narcissa Malfoy.

Draco shifted, rolling her over so that they could face the other. His warm breath tickled against her nose and she suppressed the urge to sneeze.

"Was it something my mother said?" He asked, remembering that she had met with the Malfoy matriarch earlier that day for lunch.

"It's nothing," Hermione reassured him. "Just me thinking."

She rose from the bed, not bothering to use the blanket to cover her body. They had seen enough of each other in the year and a half they had been dating to know every inch of each other, so why cover now.

Slipping off the mattress, she slide her feet into slippers and looked around trying to find her bathrobe. "I think I need a shower before bed."

Draco's arms were wrapped tightly around her shoulders preventing her from stepping away. She tried not to make note of his warm breath that blew across her skin.

"You don't think on nothing," Draco's voice was smooth as he nibbled on her ear. An action that he knew always got her weak in the knees. "So what's bothering you?"

"I don't want to get married."

There was a deafening silence as those words sat in the air. It was enough of a shook that Draco drew away from her as if she burnt on contact. Knowing that she needed to amend her statement, Hermione turned and looked at him pleadingly.

"I don't mean like, never," she started, "just like, not right now."

Draco looked even more confused. "What are you talking about? Where did this even come from?"

"Your mother." Hermione ran her hand through her hair, fiddling with a knot that was beginning to form. "She's been subtly mentioning it for weeks now and this morning she decided she'd rather take the blunt approach. Said that she was fine with you being with me. She wasn't going to berate you anymore about finding a pureblood wife, that you were stubborn and I am stubborn and she knew neither of us were going to change our mind no matter what she or your father said. So she was going to accept this, which is about bloody damn time actually. But instead of reminding me of all the ways I'm not perfect wife material she has now been trying to educate me on what a woman of the Malfoy family was to be.

"And I love you Draco, I really do, but I am not ready for marriage. I am not ready to call myself a Malfoy and I am sure as Hell not ready for your parents. Especially your mother. This afternoon she told me that if I was going to upset the bloodline I at least better have some kids to show for it. Half-bloods or not, she expects grandchildren and she wants to know when I'm going to start making some. And when am I going to marry you and start a family. Was I even planning on having kids? Did I know how important kids were? Was I going to quit teaching to raise kids? How much did I expect you to do with the raising of kids?"

She paused for a moment, running her hands over her face and turning away from him. Outside the rain picked up harder. Raining cats and dogs seemed like an appropriate way to go about it. The steady stream was now rapid banging against the window. The banging echoed through her head.

"I haven't even thought about kids. I mean I have, but not really in detail you know. We haven't even discussed it, so I don't know if you even want kids. I know I do, but not right now. And then your mother reminded me that we weren't getting any younger. There were only so many good years for having kids. I'm only like twenty four I don't need her putting a count down on my ovaries."

Hermione paused for a moment to take a deep breath. She turned to him, locking gazes. He was still kneeling on the bed, his arms at his side and a look of concentration on his face. She tried not to make note of the fact that he hadn't slipped on clothes yet. The sight of him was distracting and she could not afford that right now. They were both standing there in the bare; in more than one sense.

"And then I found the ring in your draw this morning," she spoke slowly. "You put my socks in your dresser after laundry and when I went to grab them I found the box. And I found the ring. And then when I went to talk to your mother it just all hit. She made it sound like I was letting you down. Like I was doing wrong in wanting to take things slow. But marriage, I'm not ready for that. It's too fast. Too soon. I'm just not ready for that commitment yet."

"Then we won't," Draco finally spoke. He slipped off the bed, and rested his hands along her arms. The contact dulled the throbbing voice in the back of Hermione's head only slightly. "My mother can be, forceful, at times. She has an idea of what she thinks is best, and doesn't like to let up on things. You're not the only one she's been hounding about marriage. She keeps Flooing me, reminding me that she and my father married right after school. As did pretty much all of my family. But I told her to calm down. You and I haven't talked about marriage and I wasn't going to spring the idea onto you without warning. I know marrying me is a lot more to consider than just a yes or a no, and I wanted to make sure it was something you wanted before I asked."

"I do want to marry you," Hermione said.

"Just not right now," Draco finished her thought. "And trust me, I understand. I love you Hermione, but marriage and a family are the last things on my mind as well. I don't want to rush things just because it's proper to have a ring on you. I want you to marry me because you want to, not because someone talked us into it.

"She shouldn't have pressed and made you uncomfortable. I have tried to get her to slow down, but she has never listened to me and probably never will."

"What about the ring in your dresser?" Hermione asked.

Draco grinned, running his hand down to meet hers. "My father mailed it to me at the beginning of the week. It was his mother's engagement ring. He mailed it with a note telling me that he was fine with whatever I chose, whenever I chose it. He likes you, thinks your good for me, and he just wanted me to have the ring so whenever I did ask, I wouldn't have that to worry about."

Hermione smiled at that. It was nice to know that at least one of his parents weren't up for hounding them. "Just tell me that I'm not disappointing you. That I'm not letting you down over this. I know I'm not what your parents wanted for you."

Draco kissed her nose. "Don't listen to anything my mother tries to tell you. I love you, Hermione. This is our relationship. This is for us. And you could never let me down. And I will never let you down. Or at least I will try not to. Sometimes I worry that outside of the bedroom I might be a bit of a disappointment."

Hermione laughed, shoving his shoulder playfully. "I love you."

"And I love you," Draco replied. They stood there a moment, the crisp fall air still dancing through the room and around their naked bodies.

"I do have a question for you though," Draco asked a moment later. "You're not up for the commitment of marriage yet, but what do you say to move in with me. I mean, a lot of your clothes are already here, plus you do spend most night here, but how about making it official?"

"I guess," Hermione answered with a smile. "You'll have to help me pack though. I have a library to bring with me."

She kissed his cheek before making her way towards the bathroom. Draco stood there smirking, trying not to picture the piles of books that they would have to shove into his flat. He already had enough books scattering around the place that adding more would most likely result in a fire hazard.

Shaking the idea of packing from his mind, and half thinking about the ring in his draw, he made his way towards the bathroom. The sound of the shower running drew him closer to the open door.

Hermione was standing there, already holding the shower door open for him to join her. Smirking and doing so, Draco did wonder about the pace of their relationship. He had to admit that they had really come a long way from that first moment. And they had come that far rather quickly.

She might not be ready for a ring on her finger now, but the moment she found comfort in the idea, Draco was going to make his move. He loved this woman and he wanted the world to know.