(A/N)

So, this is a LONGGGGGG chapter. And well, with long chapters, come long lemons!
Not for innocent eyes and you can skip it if you want.
Marking it with ~~~~~~~~~~~~ lines. Hope you like it! ;)

Love,
Mili

P.S. As to what I had dropped off as hints previously were these; the ingredients that Draco had used to disguise the so-called potion for Hermione. They all hold a certain significance.

(Roots of) Acacia Blossom- Concealed love
(Petals of) Azalea- Take care of yourself for me
Turm oil- A pun on the word turmoil

smallpeg you are awesome for almost getting it right! :D

P.P.S. Picture edits by me for this chapter!

The ballroom was one of the rare rooms where Draco & Hermione had still not set foot. There had been no need until today. It was a beautiful and spacious dancing space with a polished floor gleaming the sunlight, blush pink walls and gilded motifs on the wall. The two storey high ceiling was equally ornamental with beautiful ornate patterns all over it. It spoke of the Baroque period's grandeur from each nook and cranny. Some couples were already on the floor, while others stood around chatting with one another.

As soon as they had entered the ballroom, the older Lady Fawley had almost immediately taken them under her wing and introduced her to every possible person. They could only be glad that the Malfoys were absent and only the local folks had been called for the dance.

They had finally made themselves comfortable and were chatting with a few villagers who wanted to thank the duo when Hector Fawley called for everyone's attention.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we are here to show our gratitude towards the Zabinis for being wonderful healers to not only my ailing Mother, but also many of you from the villages. As we all know, they are a young newly wed couple, so I would like to ask them to take the dance floor with this song. We all shall join in from the next song onwards. Hope you all have a great time tonight!

Hermione was prepared to dance a bit with Draco and with others who might ask for a dance with her tonight. What she was not prepared for was to put up a show! The last time that had happened was at the Yule ball when she was Viktor Krum's date. And that was simply because not only she was smitten by the unusual attention that Viktor was showering on her, but also as he was spiteful because of Ron's ignorance towards her.

"Shall we? And we'll do just fine. We do have a lot of sync between us, after all." Draco smirked offering her his hand which she took with a blush spreading across her cheeks.

Lady Fawley looked at the young lovers and smiled to herself. Those two always kept each other at their wit's end and yet were the most comfortable with one another. She knew in her heart that they were meant to be, just like her and her husband, the late Lord Fawley. The Lady Fawley looked at her mother in law's fond expression and smiled as she said, "They are perfect, aren't they?".

Hermione was counting the steps in her head when Draco had interrupted her careful counting and had asked her to simply feel. Now, she was sure that it was supposed to be pun-intended. But dances alone were difficult to manoeuvre without sexual innuendos clouding her head!

The symphony breezed through the air in the ballroom as people looked at the couple swaying in each other's arms so gracefully on the dance floor.

Draco knew that unlike the muggle society, it was acceptable to dance with one's wife at a ball. But even in the Wizarding world, it was rather rude to only dance with one's partner instead of socialising. However, he absolutely refused to share Hermione with anyone tonight. He knew she was a spirit of her own, no one could ensnare that spirit of hers or own her. Yet, he wanted to be her sole keeper.

He grudgingly saw her dance with Lord Fawley and a few other men, while he himself danced with a few dames to not appear rude. Malfoys knew how to keep up with pretences after all.
The Matriarch was unusually gleeful tonight, which made her yet more endearing for Draco. He made his way towards across the ballroom and requested her for a dance which she happily obliged.

Hermione saw the two in the centre and felt a warm feeling bubble up in her heart. She knew that Draco was deeply loyal and cared tremendously for those who were dear to him, but to see him show his fondness for the old Lady of the Estate so openly was a rare sight and one that Hermione knew she would always cherish. Maybe this was Draco's own way of saying goodbye, she thought wistfully.

The night stretched on and Hermione's feet were now aching, but she had not had so much carefree fun in a tremendously long time. All the outings with Ginny or Luna and Parvati back in the present were half-hearted attempts to cheer up, but those merely served as distractions. Here, in the past, she had found her spirit again. She had somehow found herself again. Without her realising, Draco had pulled her in as the last set started to play for the night.

As they moved to the tunes, Hermione found herself getting lost in the stormy orbs that were staring right into her soul through her toffee-coloured eyes. Draco looked at her eyes and felt like he was being pulled into her very being. His eyes drifted down her perfectly sculpted nose as hers went up from his broad shoulders and his sharp jaw. Both their gazes locked at each other's lips. The need to kiss the other was driving them insane, but both of them knew better than to create a scandal for the Fawleys at a dance that they had thrown in their honour.

Once dinner was served, people started to leave gradually. Hermione and Draco made their way to their favourite old noblewoman and couldn't help but tell her how overwhelmed her gesture had made them feel.

"Oh, this was nothing! You both made me feel young again, my dears. I just can't eat as much cake as I like to have with my tea, but otherwise am as good as a lady can be at my age. And that's all thanks to the two of you." Her smile was as affectionate and full of warmth as a grandmother's might be, Draco imagined. Showing affections so openly was never encouraged in the Malfoy or Black household, but staying with the Fawleys had only reinforced his ideas about how things needed to be changed about how the future Malfoys must be brought up. Hermione felt her eyes well up. With a choked sob, she asked, "Can I hug you?"
Lady Fawley seemed a bit taken aback but pulled Hermione in for a warmhearted embrace. This time, Draco knew this was Hermione bidding adieu.

The two made their way back to their chambers after taking their leave from everybody. They knew it in their heavy hearts that this was probably the last time they would be meeting them. They wanted to go back, they missed their life and living this charade was not going to help their inner turmoil at all! Yet, they craved to take back parts that they had discovered about themselves. Draco had learnt how to accept and show affections gradually, while Hermione had learnt that it was okay to not understand everything because not everything needed to be fixed. And most of all, they had learnt so much about each other, not just as living breathing people, but as who they were deep down in their hearts.

They locked themselves in the room as they packed the few necessities that they might need for the journey. Draco packed a few healing potions, just in case, along with the alleged enchanted jewellery box. They sat and watched the hours tick until even the servants and elves had gone to sleep after cleaning up.

At two hours past midnight, they made their way towards the Estate gates, from where they were to apparate to the cottage in the Marshlands. They had just walked into the cottage when it started raining outside. "Bloody brilliant!" Draco cursed.

"At least we didn't get drenched." Hermione reasoned.

The two sat with the box on the table. Draco carefully put the earrings on the table without touching as he tried to examine the box. The incantation glistened in the faint light of the candles that they had put in the room.

"Nos temps est huius."

It made as much sense to Draco as it had to Hermione with the literal sense. "Let's do this." He finally said after steadying his erratic heartbeat and pushing aside all the dilemmas in his head. They both held onto each other as if their lives depended on it as they read out the spell.

A few seconds passed but all they could hear was the uproar of the storm outside. There was no flash of light, nothing. Not even a thunderclap.

"Oh, Merlin. I don't think it worked." Draco said looking away to hide the relief and disappointment that flooded him at the same time.

"It might have. It could be raining in the present too!" Hermione knew she was sounding like a loon trying to be optimistic, but one had to be the hopeful one if he had decided to be the broody one, unsurprisingly.

"How can you be so sure, Granger?" There it was again. Him trying to sound all agitated yet in control by using her family name.

"Draco, I can check my watch for the time! Remember how it got stuck in time the last time?"

She dashed towards the grandfather clock in the room, but to her great disappointment, the watch was still stuck at the same time as before while the grandfather clock seemed to be working normally as opposed to how it had stopped for a few minutes after the last spell had taken effect.

"Maybe we should try to do the spell again at the exact time? At 1:25 in the afternoon tomorrow? It might be that the spell can only be reversed at the same time as when it was first done?"

"That could be a possibility. But I really hope it works because I really don't want to go back to the Estate again with no idea about how to get back to out lives!" He now sounded downright angry which really confused Hermione.

"Why are you so agitated suddenly? I understand that it's quite stressful. But being so negative about our predicament is not going to help us Malfoy!"

Draco himself was clueless why he was so wound up suddenly. On one side it had just struck him that his Mother absolutely had no idea about their whereabouts. If they had been missing for the weeks that they had spent here, the Ministry would have informed her by now. But he knew that losing her only son was a trauma that the Malfoy Matriarch wouldn't be able to take. Her heart was too weak, her sanity was already on its edge. Losing him would break her spirit. He felt the crazy need to see his Mother immediately. The other factor was that even though he had seen a new side of himself, he knew the Draco he was in this era was far removed from the one he would be the moment he went back to the present. The fact that he would not be sharing his life with Hermione anymore was something he had pushed to the back of his mind. However, that obviously did not mean that it wasn't what was troubling him so much.

"For Salazar's sake, you understand nothing! My Mother was half insane and without me, she would completely lose it, Granger! She would be in the bed next to the Longbottoms forever if we don't make it back any sooner!"

"And what makes you think I of all people wouldn't understand?" Hermione bellowed. Tears betrayed her, running down her cheeks as she spoke. "I did a memory charm on my parents to keep them safe during the war. I was sure I would be able to reverse it when the War ended. But guess what Draco?" Now she was outright sobbing.

"At least your Mother remembers and loves you more than her life. My parents on the other hand have absolutely no idea about who I am! They only remember me in flashes and that too rarely. And your proud ass might not know of it but they actually are in the Janus Thickey ward at St. Mungo's, right next to Neville's parents since after the War. I tried to bring back their memory and botched it up. Now they remember nothing! Not me, not their old life and not even the false one that I had planted in their mind! So don't you dare tell me that I understand nothing!"

Hermione broke down and fell onto her knees onto on the floor. Draco was beside her in a jiffy and hugged her tight. He almost expected her to push him away but she did not. She could do with this comfort today. She was really tired of putting up a facade all the time. Now her soul was tired. And it could do with the warmth that Draco Malfoy rarely offered to anyone.

He kissed her on the top of her head as he held her in his arms and whispered, "I am so sorry." She snuggled into his embrace as if forgiving him. Both of them had been lonely and forced to be strong for far too long now.

"Hermione..." Draco lifted her chin so that he could look at her. Her tears had now dried up and she looked up at him with glassy chocolate coloured eyes. He did what he used as the best way he knew to comfort himself. He gave in to his desires. He held her tight and kissed her deeply. It was different from the raging passionate kisses that they had shared earlier. This started slowly as if he was testing the waters and then he dove into her soul. He held her snugly in his arms as he dipped her head and kissed along her jaw towards her neck. He sucked a little at the juncture between her neck and shoulders, right where her pulse was going crazy.

Hermione had felt herself come alive this time. Usually, her heart would start hammering and she would lose her senses and get lost in him. Today was different. Today she had noticed how her heart had gradually sped up to, how their breaths mingled and gradually their erratic hearts were beating in the same rhythm. She had felt her body and soul wake up to Draco's ministrations and that's when she knew that it would be a futile effort to keep her walls up around him because he had long climbed over them without her realising. And as stubborn as he was, she doubted and fervently hoped that he refused to leave.

Draco suddenly pulled away and looked at Hermione. As if urging her to say something. Hermione knew he was waiting for her to give him a go ahead. He knew she would overthink and regret this come morning or else. "Take me Draco. Please." Even though her voice was barely but a whisper, the fire in her eyes said enough.

He felt himself go hard at her words. He took her mouth with a fierce kiss as he put his arms behind her neck and the back of her knees. He picked her up in his arms and looked at her for an answer one last time. When Hermione answered his silent question by biting his earlobe and then kissing his jaw, he almost growled in pleasure as he carried her straight into the only bedroom the tiny cottage had.

He cast a silent Scourgify as he gently laid Hermione on the bed. She looked at him with lust ridden eyes as he kicked off his shoes and climbed into the bed next to her. He took her feet in his hands and took off the slipper on her left feet and planted an open-mouthed kiss on the insole of her foot. Then, he took off the other slipper and as he looked straight into her eyes, he suckled on her toes, sending shivers of pleasure up her body.

He carefully brushed his hands along her legs, gradually lifting up the skirt of the dress that she was wearing. As her legs came into view, the anticipation of what lay between them made him even harder. He lifted the hem up till her thighs and then went back to kissing her.

Hermione did not mind him kissing her, but when he stopped lifting her dress, she felt a huge amount of disappointment wash over her. She decided to take matters into her owns hands, literally. She moved her hands away from his head where she had been pulling at his hair to move him even closer towards her. She stroked her way down and then slipped her hands under his shirt. He hissed his pleasure in between kisses.

"I am going to take my time with you this time." He murmured as he went back to nipping and sucking at the delicate skin of her neck. Then suddenly he was licking and sucking at the exposed mound of her breasts. Hermione felt her nipples go as hard as pebbles, begging for his attention. He brought out his wand and with one quick spell, slashed through the dress. Hermione gasped but was soon moaning when Draco started to caress her mounds through the fabric. She felt him lazily pull aside the dress from one side and then his other hand was pinching and pulling at her hard nipple.

"Sweet Merlin." He nuzzled and then took the peach coloured hardened tip into his hot mouth. The cold in the cabin was suddenly forgotten as his hot mouth was suckling her breast while his other hand was busy was toying with the other nipple. Then he let go of it with a pop and started kneading both her breasts with his large hands.

Hermione looked at him through half-lidded lust filled eyes and saw that he was not only relishing this, he seemed to be actually worshipping her body. He flicked the other nipple with his finger and when Hermione moaned, the finger got replaces with his tongue that kept flicking her nipple until she was writhing under him begging for release.

She couldn't control it anymore. She held his head in her hands and then brought him up to kiss her. As soon as their lips met, she put her hands to work and got rid of his shirt. Draco took the hint and the remains of Hermione's dress vanished equally fast. Right when Draco was thinking of how to bring her to a screaming orgasm, she put an unsure hand on his hard-on.

Draco groaned. She took it as a 'go ahead'. And touched him with more sure stroked through his pants. She nibbled on his earlobe and gave him butterfly kisses as she skimmed her hand over his hard-on with more fervour. He had never hated his pants so much in his life before. His erection was dying to be free and this vixen under him was secretly a sex goddess who knew!

"Hermione..." he managed to croak in warning. She stopped thankfully, but in less than a minute, her hands slipped down and were in his pants. He moaned embarrassingly loud. She wrapped her dainty fingers around his heated and hard shaft. She could feel the drops of his pleasure leaking from the tip, which she spread with her thumb by rubbing over his tip slightly earning more groans of pleasure from him. She slowly started moving her hands up and down his manhood. He was large, Hermione was sure of that, and her fingers barely wrapped around his shaft!

When it got too much for him, Draco held her hand still and in a second got rid of his confining bottoms. Hermione stared at the appendage in her hands. It was pulsating in her hand. And even though she was no blushing virgin, it made her wonder how will she ever be able to take it all in.

Her own need was now throbbing as she felt a pool of desire drip down her thighs. Draco switched their postions and was now sitting between her legs. He spread her legs and pulled off the skirt that she wore. She was now as bare to him as the day she was born, and so was he. Her nether lips glistened with her juices. It made Draco's mouth water. Last time she had brought her an orgasm, they were rudely interrupted before he could taste her properly and to his contentment. So, without wasting any more time, he looked at her and asked with a smirk, "Mind if I taste you?" Her eyes widened in surprise. She weakly nodded, starting to feel her heady with her hormones.

He spread her legs further and then moved in. He used his fingers to pry away the outer lips and then gently blew. Hermione grasped the sheets to control the shiver that went down her spine! He skimmed a finger over her sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex and before she could whimper again, he took it in his mouth and started sucking on her clit. Hermione had lost all inhibitions and control now. Her mind and body were exploding with pleasure.

He let go of her clit and spread her juice with his fingers and then slyly tried to slide in his forefinger into her. As her breath hitched, he began licking her clit with his tongue. Then in one fluid motion, he had his finger completely inside her. He started mimicking the motion of fucking her with his finger while his tongue continued the sweet torture on her bud. After a while, he added a second finger and soon Hermione could feel a familiar tightening in her belly.

With his mouth still on her, Draco said, "Come for me, love." and with his fingers plunging in and out of her and her clit being driven crazy by his tongue, she came undone. She was breathing heavily and felt extremely tired. It was one of the most powerful orgasms of her life! No man had ever done that to her before! Using a tongue on her was just a prelude to actually doing the deed, but to bring her to such an intense orgasm just with one's fingers and mouth; it left her wishing for more already.

He came back up to kiss her softly and she could taste herself on his lips and tongue. It was a huge turn on for Hermione, somehow. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him until he lay flat on the bed on his back. "My turn." She said with an evil grin. This was a side of Hermione that Draco had never quite imagined. He never could imagine that under all the Ms-Know-it-all mask was this sex goddess!

"Would you like this Draco?" she purred. With that, she started licking his dripping pre-cum off the tip of his penis with her tongue. The sensation of the tip of her tongue on his tip was driving him insane. After the careful ministrations, Hermione wrapped her lips around him and took him in her mouth and the gradually eased his shaft in. He was thick, so it was a little difficult for her to do so. Once she got used to it, she started bobbing her head up and down his erection. He started thrusting into her mouth with his hips, so suddenly, she started sucking on his hard-on. She was now pushing him in and out her mouth by sucking him off with occasional nips and licks with her tongue.

When he knew it was too much for him, he pulled her up and staretd kissing her and flipped them both so that once again she was under him. In a second he was hovering over her on his hands and knees with his glistening tip pushing against her slick slit. He thrust slightly so that his tip got engulfed by her outer lips and she moaned. Loudly.

"Please Draco."

"Please what, Hermione?" He teased as he rubbed his tip along her slit.

"Please don't tease me Draco!" she almost whimpered.

Draco pulled away and Hermione's eyes shot open. "What? You asked me to stop teasing you. So am doing just that!" Draco smirked.

"Merlin! You know I didn't mean that Draco!" she said with a frustrated sigh.

"Then what did you mean Gryffindor Princess?"

She groaned but she knew how to take her revenge so she said the next words in the most sultry tone possible while her lips almost grazed his lips.

"I want you to take me hard. I want you deep inside me and plunging hard and fast until we both are hoarse from screaming each other's names in pleasure."

"Wicked." he retorted as he took her by surprise in one swift move. He moved inside her at an agonisingly slow pace. She swirled her hips to take him in deeper, but he went slowly to give her time to accommodate to his girth. Once he knew she was fine, he started to pick up his pace.

Draco put his hands around her waist and picked her up with his shaft still deep inside her core. He made her sit on his lap and started moving her by holding her up from the waist. His hands slid down and grabbed her ass and started to knead her butt cheeks. He pulled her in closer and now her hard nipples were grazing across his naked torso. The sensation drove both of the crazy. After a while, when Hermione's legs started to feel tired, she started grinding and swirling her hips with him seated inside her core. This made her clit rub against him and she moaned loudly. Draco noticed this and he laid her back on the bed, once again and started to grind his own hips into hers as he plunged into her slowly and deeply. He caressed her soft stomach and brought down his hands to her apex where they were now joined. With his thumb, he started rubbing her clit.

"Oh, Draco! I am going to..." and with the next two strokes she arched her back and moaned his name loudly as she came undone. This orgasm had spread throughout her body and she was feeling as if her entire body was on fire. He kept fucking her as she kept riding out her orgasm. But the sensations just increased as Draco reached his own climax and spilt his seed deep inside her. The feeling of him erupting inside her brought on another wave of pleasure as Hermione went over the edge for the third time that night.

Tired and panting, Draco lay half on top of her, his shaft still lay inside her and was already starting to get hard again. Drowsily, Hermione looked at Draco and asked, "Already?"

"It's the effect you have on me, what can I say?" He smirked at her as he got up and settled on the pillow next to her and pulled her in his arms. Hermione turned to face him and snuggled into his side with her hands and legs wrapped around him. With a sleepy, good night, both drifted off to sleep feeling sated and peaceful.