October

Sitting at the breakfast bar, he casually scanned the front page of Il Profeta as he sipped on his espresso. Blaise strode across the lounge and into the kitchen, taking the espresso that Binny held out for him. Draco's eyes lifted from the paper as he watched Blaise chose his pastry from the selection Binny had prepared. Sitting himself on a bar stool, he turned to Draco "What?" he asked, mouth full of pastry.

Draco said nothing, uncertainty gripping him momentarily.

He put his cup down.

"I need your help"

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Padding across the lounge and under the archway into the kitchen, Hermione glanced around. She knew she wasn't the first one up, having reached across the bed only to find it cold and empty before coming downstairs. Helping herself to espresso, she looked up to see Binny wringing her hands and smiled warmly at the elf.

"Master Blaise is telling me I am to be telling Misses Hermione that he and Mister Draco be visiting Vicolo Italiana" she informed Hermione, referring to the magical alleyway, similar to Diagon Alley in London and access by the Bar dei Tedeschi from outside the island and from Via De Le Motte by the wizards who lived under the wards of the island. Hermione loved to visit the bookshop Libreria Acqua Alta when heading into muggle Venice and was quietly pleased they had a little wizarding outlet in Vicolo Italiana. There was also a little cafe that sold Gelato which put Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to shame, an Italian outfitters, a wand makers, a Quidditch shop and a Goblin jewelers. Of course there was also a branch of Gringotts. Quietly jealous they had gone without her, she presumed they had business at Gringotts or had snuck off to admire the latest brooms at the Quidditch shop. She mused that some things it seemed would never change and no matter how old they got, the men in her life would always love Quidditch.

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Settling herself at her usual reading table in the study, she pulled on her gloves for handling manuscripts and picking up her quill removed the marker she had placed last night and set to work. Every couple of hours Binny came and checked on her, bringing her little snacks and cups of tea. When Binny came and told her dinner was ready, she was surprised by how late it was and that there was still no sign of Draco or Blaise. Not wanting to sit and dine alone, she told Binny she would have her dinner in the kitchen, but she picked at it barely eating. In the end she pushed it away and went for a walk about the grounds. Lost in thought she trailed her fingers along the tips of the leaves as she walked past the carefully manicured plants, along the stone balustrades and across the stonework of the wall around the fountain. Her footfalls light, she danced down the steps to the jetty and settled on the bench, smiling as she remembered the night of the Summer Garden Party. She watched the sun set across the lagoon before slauntering back along the cedar grove to the house.

As she made her way towards the house, she caught sight of Draco and Blaise, drinking Firewhiskey on the terrace, laughing at a shared joke. Her eyes narrowed. Not only had they been gone all day, no one had bothered to come find her. She made her way up the steps, and catching sight of her, Draco called to her. Hermione stopped on the steps, threw Draco a look of indignation and stalked into the house. Unless he was mistaken, he could have sworn she had ever so slightly tilted her nose up into the air and he struggled to suppress the laugh, choking slightly on his Firewhiskey.

"Hermione?..." he called, making after her. She turned out of the lounge and he heard her run up the oak staircase to the first floor.

Crossing the room, he set his tumbler down on a sideboard and ran up the staircase.

"Hermione!" he yelled. He went to turn the door handle but she had locked the door. Taking out his wand he cast Alohomora and tried the handle again.

"Should have known better" he muttered, ruefully, before banging his fist on the door.

"GO AWAY!" she yelled from inside the room, eerily reminiscent of a quite literal ghost from his past. He shuddered as a memory of that same ghost came to the surface.

.

"Don't...Don't...tell me what's wrong...I can help you..."

"No one can help me."

.

He banged on the door again.

"Seriously, Hermione, open the fucking door!" he yelled, pressing his forehead to the wood.

She ignored his pleas and shouts for over an hour before they ceased. Getting up off the bed, she padded over to the bathroom to wash the tears from her face. Taking her wand, she took down the wards and opened the door, startled when Draco fell backwards into the room.

"What are you doing down there?" she hissed, glaring at him, her hands on her hips, cheeks flushed. He suddenly had countless flashbacks to hotel rooms and hexes and staggered to his feet.

"What are you so mad about?" he asked her, exasperated and exhausted from yelling at a door for an hour.

She turned on her heel and began passing the room. Gesturing wildly, she began cursing him in Italian. Blaise was certainly rubbing off on her he thought, chuckling.

"Don't fucking laugh at me!" her shrill voice cried. Draco shuddered at the notion that Pansy too was rubbing off on her.

"I wasn't laughing at you dear" he told her quietly.

She carried on in French and he started counting. German. Dutch. Finnish. Lots in Finnish. He was pretty sure, having looked some of these up that her most crude phrases were Finnish. Russian. Dutch. Italian. Some more in Italian. English.

"Always the same, Ron was just the same, just took off! Took off and left me" Draco glared, his temper rising. He hated being compared to any man, but he certainly hated being compared to Weasel. He acknowledged that Weasel had taken better care of Pansy but he had broken Hermione, left her for days in hotels surrounded by broken glass. Draco was the opposite and even in their worst fights would always hold her til her anger and tears subdued, often in the piles of broken glass and never left her alone.

"I didn't know where the fuck you were. Anything could have happened!" she continued screaming, her eyes flashing with sheer fury.

"Typical fucking Malfoy, selfish fucking FERRET!"

Draco snapped, grabbing hold of her upper arms.

"STOP! THATS ENOUGH GRANGER! I DONT GIVE A FUCK WHATS PISSED YOU OFF BUT STOP FUCKING CALLING ME FERRET EVERY TIME YOU GET INTO A PISSY BITCH MOOD. YES I WAS FUCKING GONE HOURS. BECAUSE EVEN WITH FUCKING BLAISE I COULDN'T FUCKING DECIDE WHAT FUCKING RING YOU DESERVED." He bellowed, his normally pale features glowing crimson with the rage he felt. Letting go of her arms unexpectedly, Hermione fell in a heap on the ground, her mind reeling at the revelation.

"Ring?" she asked timidly, her brow furrowed with confusion as she stared at his back, his hands braced against the wall.

Draco realised what he had said and sighed heavily, dropping his head.

"That's not how I wanted to propose" he muttered.

Hermione found her feet and staggered towards him, forcing one arm down from the wall to look at him.

"Propose?" she whispered, as he leaned in to touch his forehead to hers.

"Yes" he confirmed, capturing her lip with his "Marry me, Granger" he murmured against her lips.

Hermione smiled as she kissed him back.

"Ok"

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