A/N – There is a slight time jump in this chapter, bringing us up to right before the wedding.
Chapter Five.
There was a sombre atmosphere in Draco's penthouse as he sat talking with Hermione and Blaise. It had been almost six months since Ron had first blackmailed Hermione into agreeing to marry him and the trio were no nearer to bringing the redhead down. Despite doing everything he could to help, Blaise had been unsuccessful in his attempt to try and find the fake information Ron had on Draco. Twice he'd successfully broken into Ron's flat, but neither time had he managed to find the information they needed. Unfortunately even then his search had been hindered by the fact he couldn't make a mess, the last thing they wanted was for Ron to realise someone had been in his place.
The atmosphere wasn't helped by the fact the following day Hermione was due to head to the hotel where she would be marrying Ron over the weekend. Draco had already announced that when Hermione left his place the next day he was going to spend a few weeks in his villa in the south of France. He'd reassured his girlfriend he would be back before she returned from honeymoon, but he just couldn't stick around while she married Ron.
"I'm sorry I haven't been much help." Blaise sighed, breaking the heavy silence in the room.
"It's not your fault Blaise." Hermione smiled at her boyfriend's best friend. "Ron's being quite crafty so I'm sure his information is securely hidden somewhere."
"I know, I just wish I'd been able to help you more." Blaise said. "It's awful that you actually have to marry the bastard."
"Hopefully it'll be a short lived marriage." Hermione shrugged. "I'm hoping once we're actually married Ron will get careless and drop himself in it."
"I hope so." Blaise replied, before the trio lapsed back into silence.
After another ten minutes or so Draco detangled himself from where he was sitting on the sofa curled up with Hermione, and stood up. Sitting around was only giving him more time to think, so he had to find something to do to occupy his mind.
"Are you staying for dinner, Blaise?" He asked his friend.
"No." Blaise shook his head. "I'll give you two some space."
Draco nodded before heading into the kitchen to make something to eat. Cooking wasn't something the blond did often, but it was the perfect way for him to distract himself for a while.
Hermione watched her boyfriend leave the room, before she turned back to Blaise. "Can I ask you a favour, Blaise?"
"You can ask me anything." Blaise replied.
"Will you go with Draco to France and keep an eye on him?" Hermione asked. "I don't want him doing anything stupid."
"I was actually already planning on going with him." Blaise answered. "I thought I could get Theo to come along and together we could make sure he was okay."
"Thank Blaise, I appreciate it." Hermione smiled in relief. The last thing she wanted was for Draco to crack and do something that caused Ron to use his information against him.
"It's fine, I don't want him to do anything stupid either. He's my best friend, I don't want to see him end up in Azkaban." Blaise said as he stood up. "I'm going to be off now, but I'll be back tomorrow morning."
Hermione stood up and gave Blaise a hug as she thanked him once again. Blaise then quickly popped into the kitchen to say goodbye to Draco, before leaving the couple to spend one last night together. Once Blaise had gone Hermione wandered into the kitchen, where she leant against the table and watched Draco as he prepared dinner.
"You didn't have to do that you know." Draco commented, not looking up from what he was doing.
"Do what?" Hermione questioned, looking puzzled at what Draco was talking about.
"Ask Blaise to babysit me." Draco replied. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."
"I know, I just don't want you to be on your own." Hermione sighed, walking over to Draco and wrapping her arms around his waist.
Draco put down the knife he was using and turned round to face Hermione. "What exactly do you think I'm going to do?"
"I don't know." Hermione admitted. "But in your position I would definitely be debating interrupting the wedding."
"I admit, I have thought about it." Draco smiled sadly. "I often think I would rather be in Azkaban than have you marry the Weasel, but then I think about the fact I would lose you for good that way."
"I don't want that to happen, Draco." Hermione said softly, reaching up and brushing her hand against Draco's face. "I'm doing this so you can stay a free man."
"I know." Draco whispered. "But it doesn't mean I can't think about stopping the wedding."
"As long as all you do is think about it." Hermione replied.
"Don't worry, I'll stay well away." Draco reassured his girlfriend. "Although I admit your idea to have Blaise around is starting to look appealing. He can make sure I don't lose focus and come after you."
"I wish you could come after me." Hermione sighed, leaning her head against Draco's chest.
"So do I." Draco responded, wrapping his arms tightly around Hermione's waist.
The couple stood in silence for a few minutes before they composed themselves and separated. Wishing wasn't going to get them anywhere, they just had to deal with the situation they were in and hope everything worked out in the end.
"Do you want any help?" Hermione asked, gesturing to the half prepared meal on the counter.
"Sure." Draco smiled, directing Hermione to where he wanted her.
As the couple made dinner they deliberately steered clear of mentioning Ron and the upcoming wedding. Instead they passed the time talking about other trivial things. When dinner was ready the couple settled down to eat, continuing to act as though their world wasn't about to be torn apart. After dinner the couple tidied up before wordlessly heading into the bedroom.
The second they entered the bedroom Draco pulled Hermione into his arms. "I love you." He whispered, brushing his lips over the top of her head.
"I love you, too." Hermione replied, looking up at Draco and gently pressing her lips against his.
Draco deepened the kiss and pulled Hermione even closer to him. Still kissing Draco carefully walked them over to the bed. Briefly lifting his lips away from Hermione's, Draco settled them onto the bed, before continuing what he was doing. As the couple carried on kissing Draco's hands began exploring Hermione's body and he started to slowly undress his girlfriend.
Despite trying to concentrate on Hermione, Draco couldn't help his mind wandering as he gradually exposed his girlfriend's naked body. No matter how hard he tried to forget about what was going to happen in the next few days, he couldn't help but dwell on the fact that Weasley would get to bed Hermione. Hermione had made it clear that she wasn't going to be an active partner in Weasley's bed, but the thought of him touching his girlfriend made Draco's blood boil.
As their clothes came off Hermione watched Draco carefully. His kisses and caresses were soft and gentle, but she could see his mind was elsewhere. Hermione watched her boyfriend, wondering if she was losing him. She knew he loved her, but she wasn't naive enough to think her marriage to Ron wouldn't change anything between them. She was becoming seriously worried that once he knew she had been with Ron he wouldn't look at her in the same way, that he would look at her as though she was tainted.
"What's wrong?" Draco stopped mid-kiss noticing Hermione had tears in her eyes.
"Nothing." Hermione whispered, shaking her head.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Draco repeated his question, knowing that something was bothering his girlfriend.
"Do you think things will change between us once I'm married?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Possibly, but it won't change how we feel." Draco responded.
"What if it does?" Hermione questioned. "What if you don't want me anymore?"
"Do you mean sexually?" Draco asked, wondering if his thoughts had been obvious to his girlfriend. She was very good at reading him and it was possible she had picked up on the direction his thoughts had taken.
Hermione nodded. "What if I repulse you?"
"That's never going to happen, you could never repulse me." Draco said forcefully. "I love you and Weasley will not ruin that."
"But things will be different. You'll know that's he touched me." Hermione said, shuddering at the mere thought of having Ron's hands on her.
"I'm not going to lie it will be torture knowing he's seen you naked and that he's touched you, but it won't affect how I feel about you." Draco said softly, raising Hermione's head and pressing his lips against hers. "You'll always be mine and I'll always love you."
Hermione smiled slightly at Draco's words, knowing he was telling her the truth. Undoubtedly her marriage would change things between them, but hopefully it wouldn't change how they felt about each other.
"Can we forget about Weasley now?" Draco asked. "I've got my beautiful, half-naked girlfriend on my bed and I really want to concentrate on her."
"I like the sound of that." Hermione grinned, vowing to forget about what could happen in the future.
Draco grinned back at Hermione before crashing his lips against hers and quickly ridding her of the last of her clothing. Clad only in their underwear Hermione and Draco moved further onto the bed. Hermione ended up lying underneath Draco as he began kissing and caressing his way down her body. Within minutes of settling back on the bed both Hermione and Draco had lost their underwear, leaving them completely naked.
Moving at a leisurely pace Draco pinned Hermione underneath him and sunk into her. Hermione moaned at the feeling of having Draco inside her as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him even closer to her. Pressed tightly together Draco slowly began to make love to Hermione, the couple staring into each other's eyes the entire time.
"I love you, Hermione." Draco whispered lovingly as he brushed her hair out of her eyes.
"I love you, and I always will." Hermione gasped, bucking her hips up against Draco's.
Draco smiled down at Hermione before connecting their lips. Breaking the kiss Draco's slow pace began to pick up, as their lovemaking became more passionate. As the couple moved effortlessly together Ron was the furthest thing from their minds as they lost themselves in each other. In a culmination of panting and moaning the couple reached their climaxes together, before collapsing onto the bed.
After catching their breath the couple resumed their activities, both eager to make the most of their time together. After Hermione left the following day it would be well over a fortnight before they saw each other again and they had no idea what the situation would be once Hermione was married. They didn't intend to stop seeing each other but they both knew things would be very different with Ron in the picture.