A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews on the last chapter! In this chapter, Hermione and Draco finally take the next step in their relationship :) Fair warning, though, this is only the second time for me to write smut (and last time it wasn't Dramione). Please let me know what you think. I've had two more smutty scenes planned for the story (one Lucissa and one Dramione), but after rewriting this one three times, I'm still not sure, if it's any good. If you think it would be better for the sake of the story to skip the next two smut scenes, it's perfectly fine to say so!
Chapter 14
"Hermione!"
Oh, what now? Hermione rolled her eyes and turned around, away from the Ministry fireplace, that she had been about to use to get home, so she could change for her date with Draco. Sure enough, Harry was standing before her. He looked upset. She had seen him upset a lot lately. Skeeter's article had harmed Ron more than him, because Harry had, in the end, indisputably defeated Voldemort, but his unrivalled popularity sure had taken a hit.
Since the incidence with Ron roughly two weeks ago, she had spoken to him once, and for once he had not sided with his side-kick, but that was just too little too late. Especially since he had also mentioned how sorry Ron was. Hermione didn't even doubt that Ron was sorry for hitting her, she just didn't care.
"What is it, Harry?"
"Why did the Malfoys do that? Ron was already punished and he promised Kingsley to leave you alone. Isn't that enough?"
She stared at him. "I have no bloody idea what you're talking about."
"Please, don't make this difficult. You know very well that the Malfoys bought the Quidditch shop Ron worked for and immediately had him fired. Weirdly enough, he applied to other shops and none of them even considered his application and just declined or refused to get back to him. Does that ring a bell?"
"No," she answered honestly. "It doesn't. But if that is true and the Malfoys did decide to invest in Quidditch, they're free to choose their employees and it's none of my business. I don't think it's their fault that no one else wanted or needed Ron."
He snorted. "None of your business? I thought you're soon to be Lady Malfoy?"
That made her unreasonably angry, especially the tone of voice he used. Someone would have to remind her why she had spent years keeping those two idiots alive. "Now don't be ridiculous, Harry. Even if Draco and I do get married, I don't think Lucius and Narcissa will step back anytime soon, neither do I want them to. And you of all people should know that I would never date anyone for his bank account or title."
To his credit, he did look a bit sheepish. "I didn't mean that. But couldn't you put in a good word?"
"No," she said firmly. "I have no right to interfere with their business right now and if I ever have the right, I still won't care enough about Ronald to change anything about any decisions they've made regarding Ronald as an employee. Now excuse me, I have to get home and change. Other than my former boyfriend, my current boyfriend enjoys taking me to dates."
"That's because Malfoy has more money!"
"Oh really? When did Ron ever pay for anything? Even with me paying, he never wanted to go out with me. That was obviously reserved for his affairs. Look, Harry, he never made an effort to make me happy, he in fact went out of his way to ruin good things for me, and I was still stupid enough to stay with him for years, then he cheated, and then he calls me a whore when I find someone new and when he faces repercussions for his actions, he gets physically violent. Would you make any effort at all for someone like that?"
She didn't wait for his answer and just stepped into the fireplace and as soon as she stepped out in her flat, she had to grin. So Ron had lost the first job he had supposedly enjoyed, if that could be believed, and mysteriously he wasn't able to find anything else in the same field and Harry was already tired of Ron living off him and Ginny. That was too bad, especially considering Harry had always defended Ron's inability to stay in a job for long – but then it had been her money he had spent. She shook her head, enough of these two idiots for now. She greeted the cats, cuddled and fed them and then changed into a blue dress that would be suitable for the restaurant they were planning to go to. Since she had made friends with Pansy and Daphne, her wardrobe had grown considerably, especially when it came to nice things. Yes, she had spent a lot of money, but it felt good to spend it on something for herself instead of someone else. She left her hair open, but used magic to straighten and style it a little (Narcissa had shown her some amazing spells for hair styling) and then applied some make-up before she looked at the clock. 30 minutes early – very good.
They had wanted to meet at the restaurant, but she felt the strong urge to floo to the Manor first, so she did. She went upstairs and walked into Draco, who was just heading for his rooms, probably to get ready, too.
He looked at her in surprise. "Hi," he greeted her and gave her a quick kiss. "I thought we were going to meet at the restaurant? I'm not late, am I?" Worriedly, he pulled out his pocket watch.
"No, I need to talk to your parents before we go. You can get ready, I'll tell you at dinner."
"Alright," he said and stole another kiss before she went for the sunroom, from where she could hear the piano.
"Hermione?"
She turned around once more and Draco smiled at her. "You look beautiful."
He never failed to compliment her when she had made an effort to look good for him and his obvious sincerity made her happy every time. "Thank you."
She went to the sunroom, where Narcissa was playing the piano and Lucius sat on the sofa, just listening. Narcissa stopped playing when she heard her approach and turned around on the seat.
"Hello, Hermione. We didn't think we'd see you today."
Hermione walked into the room and sat down on an armchair. "Hello. I know, but I heard something interesting today."
"Really?"
"Hmm … I heard you're investing in Quidditch now."
"Do we?" Lucius looked at Narcissa with the hint of a smile.
"We may." She smiled. "We have quite a few investments, dear."
She chuckled. "I'm sure you do. But just out of curiosity, why were all his applications to other shops immediately dismissed?"
They didn't try to deny it and Hermione liked that. When she was here, she never felt like anyone tried to talk down to her. "Because Quidditch shops always find employees, but if you own more than half of Nimbus Broom Company and can tell the owners of the shops that they will pay more for Nimbus brooms than all of their competitors, if they employ Ronald Weasley, they will definitely think twice about it." Narcissa gave her a sweet smile as she let out a surprise laugh.
Hermione briefly felt like she should feel bad about it, but she simply couldn't. Ron deserved it. Still, it was quite an effort Lucius and Narcissa had made there, and all because of Ron's behaviour towards her. "You really didn't have to do that." But if she was completely honest to herself, it felt good. Finally, there were people in her life who were on her side, who took action, if she was wronged, instead of just shrugging it off.
"It wasn't that much. And if you mean the financial investment, you shouldn't worry. The shop is running well, it will pay out," Lucius explained in a calm manner. "And it only serves as a small warning. Mr Weasley seemed to be under the wrong impression that we cannot harm him without breaking the law. It turns out, we can. I won't take credit, though. It was Narcissa's idea. I had a different one, which may have been slightly more upsetting to you."
"Oh really, you think you can still shock me?" She grinned at him.
Narcissa laughed. "That may be a devastating blow to his ego, dear."
"My ego is perfectly fine, thank you very much."
Hermione giggled. "I have no doubt about that."
"Did he confront you about it?" Lucius asked.
"No, Harry asked me to put in a good word with you. I think he's tired of Ron living with him and paying for everything he needs. Please don't misinterpret this as a good word."
Lucius let out a short laugh. "Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of it."
Draco entered the room, now wearing an elegant suit with - wonder upon wonders – a dark green shirt with a black tie. Well, she had seen him wear Slytherin green before, that didn't count as him actually wearing something colourful. But he did look incredibly good. She gave him an appreciative smile.
"Ready?"
She nodded and got up.
"So, they ruined the Weasel's so-called career," Draco said with a sly smile and took a sip of his fine wine. "I'm a bit offended that I wasn't invited to join the party."
"You already got to kick him," Hermione pointed out.
"That's true. But still …"
She laughed quietly. "You guys sure know how to hold a grudge."
"Don't tell me you don't."
She just shrugged and smiled. "That's besides the point."
"Of course it is."
They enjoyed a wonderful dinner and Hermione was happy to hear that Draco was getting along well with the improved version of his potion. But work was only briefly touched upon and as usual with Draco, conversation flowed freely.
When dinner was over, they stood before the fireplace and neither was ready to say goodnight. They had taken it slowly until now, but Hermione was done with taking it slowly. For the first time in a long time she wanted to be close to someone, fall asleep and wake up next to him and it was clear that Draco felt the same.
"Are Zeus and Hades set up for the night?" He asked carefully. He knew they were, but he was giving her an easy out in case she wasn't ready, after all.
But she was. "They are."
They smiled at each other, Draco threw a handful of floo powder into the flames, called out "Malfoy Manor" and they stepped through together.
And suddenly they couldn't get upstairs quickly enough. They didn't meet anyone, the hallways were dimly lit and as soon as they were in Draco's room, they kissed.
They barely let go off each other as Draco led her to the bedroom. So far, she hadn't been in there and she took a moment to look around. It looked like she had expected. A huge four-poster-bed, a small book shelf, probably with some of his favourites, considering everything else was in the library, a fireplace with a comfortable looking armchairs, the colours were light brown and light green, not Slytherin green, but a much lighter tone, a door to her right, probably to the bathroom.
He pulled her into a kiss again, his hands gently exploring her body and when they reached her back, his fingers on the zipper of her dress, he pulled back a little. "May I?"
"Please," she whispered back and he opened the dress, she shrugged it off and it fell to the ground. Draco's smile didn't even allow insecurities or embarrassment to come up, he obviously liked what he saw. Hermione was grateful that for the last two or three dates she had made sure to wear nice underwear, just in case they would finally get here. "You're in an advantage here." She brushed off his jacket, which joined her dress on the ground, loosened the tie, and opened the buttons of his shirt, all the while feeling his lips on her, her mouth, her chin, her throat and shoulder. She finally managed get his shirt off. It wasn't like she had expected anything else, but Merlin, he looked good. He wasn't overly muscular, but it was obvious he still loved to fly and he was still regularly playing Quidditch with his friends, so his upper body and arms had lean muscles. She expected to see the Dark Mark, no one had ever been able to remove it, but she didn't. There was a Muggle tattoo in its stead, an Asian style dragon, beautifully detailed and all in black and grey. She gently turned his arm to have a better look. It covered the Dark Mark perfectly, there had been a very talented artist at work.
He smiled a little. "I usually wouldn't have gotten a tattoo, but I thought this is better than what was originally there."
"It's beautiful," she said simply and kissed him again.
He obviously had never encountered a Muggle-made bra, but after fumbling with it for a moment, he managed to get it open and once freed, his thumbs gently rubbed over her small breasts.
They both moved quickly as he got rid of his trousers and revealed his already erect and well-sized penis and she slipped out of her panties and shoes.
When they were both naked, Draco just picked her up, which caused her to let out a surprised laugh, and gently lowered her on the satin sheets. Her breath quickened as she felt him kiss her breasts, her stomach, her thighs. He looked up and this time he didn't have to ask as she eagerly opened her legs and took in a shark breath as she felt his tongue skilfully teasing her. She had been wet already and without thinking about it, she lifted her hips a little bit, pushing towards him as her pussy started throbbing.
A whimper escaped her as he suddenly stopped, his hands still on her thigs, now grinning up at her. "So eager."
She couldn't remember the last time she had been this aroused or the last time her pleasure had really mattered during sex. For years, it had been something that just belonged to a relationship, but nothing she had particularly been looking forward to. Draco, on the other hand, took his time, watched her as he touched her, paying attention to what she liked while using his fingers, his tongue, then she felt the smile on his lips as she let out a soft gasp as his teeth gently nibbled on her already hard nipples, heard him chuckle as she writhed and whimpered when he inserted, one, two and then three fingers into her dripping vagina while his signet ring rubbed against her clit.
"Oh God, Draco, I'll come, if you don't stop." She whimpered again, no, more something between a whimper and a sob. She hadn't even known she could make noises like that!
"Good," he whispered roughly as hand made a clever little move, the ring was pressed down harder. "Come for me."
That was all she needed. An orgasm stronger than she had ever experienced overcame her, her body spasmed, he didn't stop whatever the fuck he was doing with that ring and she pressed down against it and when she couldn't be quiet anymore, she screamed his name.
"Good girl," he whispered as she lay there, sweaty and trying to catch her breath, and a shudder ran through her at the praise. It surprised her how much she liked hearing it, how much it satisfied her.
Draco saw it and pressed a kiss on her belly. "So bloody good." Her hand brushed though his already ruffled hair and then he sat up, moved to the side so he was kneeling over her, his legs brushing both sides of her hips. He hadn't touched himself, his dick was still hard, but was dripping with pre-cum. "Are on the potion?"
She nodded and he smiled wickedly. "That's good. Ready for round two?" He put some weight on her lower parts and there was an immediate reaction, her hip twitched up and he gave her a satisfied smirk. "I take that as a yes."
Hermione found that her words had quite left her. She had never come twice in row, not on her own and most certainly not with Ron, but now she felt for the first time like she could. He took his time again, kissed her, which she eagerly reciprocated, sucked on her throat, her breasts, then his hands were on her hips and his grip was a bit rougher as he lifted her up a little, then she felt his lips and tongue on her again, teasing her once more. "You taste so bloody good," he whispered as he let go and she found herself whimpering his name helplessly.
His mouth was on hers again as he pushed in, gently at first, and her arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer, nails scratching over his back, but he didn't seem to mind at all. Then he started moving and so did she, thrusting against him, and when he realised it was alright, not to be too gentle, his thrust became harder, quicker she felt the second orgasm building and, still grabbing onto him, increased the speed of her own movements, matching his rhythm once more, and when she came with an incoherent scream that sounded only vaguely like his name, he, too, came, pumping into her a few more times, letting out low moans, before sinking onto the mattress next to her and pulling her shivering body into his arms.
"You're amazing," he whispered as he kissed her brow. "So fucking gorgeous."
Hermione wrapped her arms around him once more, as the blanket magically moved to wrap itself around them. "That was … oh shit …"
Draco laughed quietly and after a moment, so did she, cuddling even closer to him, if that was even possible, and rested her head on his shoulder. "I never thought I'd see the day when Hermione Granger doesn't know what to say."
She snorted. "Prick."
When Hermione woke up the next morning, she was still in his arms and perfectly contend to just stay there for now, watching him sleep, gently running her fingers through his hair and over his cheek.
She could get used to waking up like this, she mused and smiled as Draco muttered something in his sleep and pressed his cheek against her stroking hand. Without thinking she whispered softly, barely audibly "I love you" and it didn't feel too soon or rushed. Ever since he had come back to England and they had spent more and more time together, she had felt a connection and they had become friends so quickly, so easily, despite their past, and when they had finally become a couple – or started courting, as Draco and his parents called it – it had been just as easy. They had spent hours talking and Hermione felt like she knew him so well and he she knew her, too, because she had told him things she had never shared with anyone before, about herself, her past, the War, the little things she loved, and no matter whether the topic had been light or heavy, he had always listened and taken her seriously and of course she had given him the same curtesy. She felt closer to him than she ever had to Ron after five years of relationship and seven more of friendship. For the first time she really understood what it was like to say "I love you" and truly mean it, what it was supposed to feel like and it was so much bigger than anything she had ever felt before.
"I love you, too." Just a sleepy little mutter as he turned his head and kissed her fingers, which were still on his cheek, and slowly opened his eyes to look at her. Still, her heart soared and she felt a ridiculously wide smile on her lips.
"I thought you were still asleep."
"Hmm … I usually just need a moment to get started in the morning."
She grinned. "So you're not a morning person?"
"What's the opposite of a morning person?"
Hermione giggled and kissed him gently. "You can take your time to wake up, I'll take a shower if that's ok."
"Sure." He vaguely pointed into the direction of the door she had suspected to be the bathroom the night before. "You'll find everything you need."
"Can I borrow something to wear? I don't really want to get back into the dress."
He performed the same vague gesture towards the walk-in closet. Other than that, he had yet to move. Really not a morning person, then. It was endearing. "Have your pick."
"Thanks."
She went over to the closet, opened it and just stared for a moment. How was it even possible to have so many clothes? Suits, dressrobes, shirts, suit vests, jumpers, t-shirts (very few, probably not formal enough), trousers, a section was reserved for accessories, like ties, tie needles, cufflinks, watches and pocket watches, belts, pocket squares, and more; several of the accessories were engraved with the Malfoy crest.
After a moment of taking it all in, she chose a soft jumper that looked and felt like cashmere (and it was grey, not black!), some comfortable looking black trousers and soft wool socks, also black, of course. And because the trousers would be too big for her, she also took a belt.
When she finally left the closet, she grinned as he still hadn't moved and even his eyes were closed again. For a moment she was tempted to get back into bed, cuddle up with him, but she went into the bathroom instead.
Although she had spent many hours in the Manor since she had first come back there, she still was sometimes baffled by the sheer luxury. The bathroom was huge, with a bathtub that reminded her of the prefect bathroom at Hogwarts. In the corner, there was a shower and there was a closed off section, probably with the toilet. Everything in the room looked tasteful, expensive and beautiful. She spent almost half an hour getting ready and as she finally put on the extremely soft jumper she sighed contentedly.
Outside, Draco finally seemed to have woken up; he leaned on the headboard of the bed and grinned as she walked out in his – on her – oversized clothes. "You can wear whatever you want and still look great."
"Flatterer."
"Just telling the truth. You can leave your clothes here. Bimsy will clean them and bring them to your flat."
"She doesn't have to do that."
He got up – still naked and Hermione admittedly enjoyed the view – and kissed her cheek. "She'll love to do it for you."
She hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. And it wasn't like the house elves didn't already know she was there. They always knew when she was and they probably knew very well that she had spent the night.
"Should I sneak out?" She half joked.
"If you want father to make fun of both of us for at least a month, then sure. Or you can walk into the sunroom, all dignified, and act like it was the most normal thing in the world and have breakfast with us."
She grinned. "I choose Option B."
"I like Option B better, too. You can also go now or wait until I'm ready for backup."
She snorted. "I can take your father without backup."
Draco smirked. "I've had two girlfriends, one at school – and I'm not counting Pansy, we quickly realised that we work better as friends – and one in France, and you're the first one who ever said anything like that. They were both terrified of him. I think I'll have to keep you" His smile was way more sincere than the joke warranted.
Hermione returned it easily. "You should." Another quick kiss, then she forced herself to turn away from his naked form and walked over to the sunroom. On the way through his sitting room, she put a quick warming charm on the socks, so her feet wouldn't get cold on the stone tiles, but with the socks she wouldn't get into her heels and she didn't feel like wearing them now, anyway. Narcissa almost always wore heels, even at home, but as much as she admired the other woman's style, that wasn't for her.
Although she made no noise while walking on socks only, Lucius and Narcissa didn't seem surprised at all when she came into the sunroom, and she also saw why. Breakfast was already served and there was an additional cup and plate set for her. Of course, the house elves had known she was there.
She refused to feel embarrassed and turn this into a walk of shame, even as Lucius eyed her clothes and smirked.
"Good morning," she said brightly before making her way to the table.
~tbc~
