A/N: Thank you to my beautiful beta xxDustNight88 for the prompt, beta duties and coming up with the title!

Prompt: Lemon and Ginger, Counterclockwise, Earl Grey, "You can't just dump the lot of it in the sea!"

Insert disclaimer here...


Title: The Intricate Art of Tea Making

Rating: T

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"What are you doing?" he peered over her shoulder as his hands snaked around her waist.

"Making tea," she murmured as she felt his lips trace over her shoulder and neck.

"No, that's not making tea," he chuckled. "Making tea involves putting a teabag in a cup and pouring on hot water. What you do is so not that. I often wonder if you, infact, should be doing what you are doing in a pewter cauldron." He smirked into her neck.

Hermione frowned as she pinched the Earl Grey leaves, dropping them into the teapot. "Making tea is an artform," she replied, pouring the water on the leaves, deliberately overspilling it.

"Really? Pouring water all over my mother's silver teatray is an artform is it?" His tone was mildly scolding as he watched her press the lid down on the teapot, the water spilling over the edges.

"Yes, and you have to do that with clay teapots," she huffed.

"I see," he replied. "Why?" he asked, his teeth grazing her throat.

"Because otherwise the clay will dry out," she replied, pouring the tea into the cup. "Do something useful and take this to your Mother," she instructed, pulling away from him and blowing a kiss before she reached up into the cupboard for the herbal tea bags as he frowned.

"Seriously Granger, how long does it take to make a cup of tea?" he asked, returning to the kitchen. She rolled her eyes as she stirred the tea three times counter clockwise before depositing the lemon and ginger teabag into the bin.

"I told you, making tea is an artform; like potions, it's an exact science that I wouldn't expect a dunderhead like you to understand!" she smirked, channelling her inner Snape.

Draco's eyes widened. "Dunderhead?" he repeated, "Right, just for that-" He grabbed her ornate wooden box where she kept her loose leaf tea and took off running out the door.

"What do you think you're doing?" she cried, running down the pathway towards the beach after him.

"Dumping your tea in the sea where it belongs!" he cried, watching her as the wind whipped up around her, sending her curls across her face. Her hands came up, brushing them out the way "You can't just dump the lot of it in the sea!" she cried above the wind. He held the box over the water, grinning at her. "Yes I can," he chuckled as she ran towards him, reaching up for the tea. He laughed as he returned the box to her, watching as she clutched it to her chest protectively.

"Barbarian," she hissed, turning on her heel and making her way up over the dunes towards Shell Cottage. Catching up with her, he grabbed her elbow and spun her round, his other hand coming up to brush the hair from her face, as he grinned down at her scowling face.

"You love it," he whispered, leaning down to capture her lips with his own.

"Do I?" she asked when he pulled away.

"You know you do," he breathed against her lips as she dropped the tea caddy into the sand, hands coming up around his neck as she opened her mouth for him to deepen the kiss.

He loved her too. Her and her bloody tea.

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