Snippets
Chapter Thirty-One
"But why can't I play quidditch, too, Aunt 'Mione?" Albus Potter pouts, crossing his arms defiantly as he sits cross-legged beside his aunt.
Hermione adjusts Priya Patil-Weasley on her lap as she turns slightly to look down at her younger godson.
"The adults are playing right now, Al, but I'm sure that your mum and dad will play with you later if you ask."
Albus huffs in response.
"It's not fair. Dad says that I'll make a great Seeker, but instead of asking me to play in this match, they brought some new bloke in."
Hermione laughs lightly, leaning in a bit closer to the frustrated young boy.
"That 'new bloke' is a friend of mine," Hermione explains, casting a quick glance up above her to where a shockingly blonde blur zips through the air, Harry not far behind him. "That's why your dad asked him. He was a Seeker at Hogwarts, too, just like your dad was."
Hermione decidedly does not mention that while Draco is a good Seeker, that he hadn't exactly earned that title at first like Harry had.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Al teases, the corner of his lips turning up into a smirk which would rival even Draco's.
Hermione tries to disguise her discomfort at Albus' question, though she's not sure that she succeeds entirely– fortunately, the boy doesn't seem to notice.
"He's… someone special," Hermione finally decides, leaning her chin down against the top of Priya's head, her soft, red hair tickling her neck just slightly.
Albus scrunches his nose up in distaste before flopping down onto his back, presumably to watch the remainder of the game from the ground.
Hermione decides to do the same, reaching up with one hand to use it as a visor to block the bright sun shining down on her. She had already cast shielding and sun protection spells over all of the children surrounding her prior to coming out to watch the game, but somehow managed to forget herself.
Hermione alternates between watching the sky and watching the children– Albus, who is beside her, James, who is lying on his back on the other side of her and Freddie, who is standing in the grass beside Hermione's knitted blanket, watching the game intently. Priya is cooing contentedly from her spot in Hermione's lap and Lily has been sleeping in a Muggle baby carrier with a blanket over the top since before the game had even started.
Hermione had been surprised when Harry and Ginny had invited Draco to join in on their pick-up game this afternoon, and she was even more surprised when Draco had accepted the invitation. He had asked her if she wanted him to play quidditch with her friends, and upon her reply of 'yes', Draco had pressed a kiss to the side of her head and simply agreed.
As of today, Hermione and Draco have been on three dates, including their first official date to the pub– and if Hermione is being honest with herself, she is finding herself understanding the vision-version of herself more and more with each passing date. Either Draco is just trying to impress Hermione and then will suddenly become intolerable again, or he truly is just a handsome wizard who is kind, respectful, funny– Hermione could go on.
Hermione is snapped out of her reverie when a loud whistle sounds, signaling the end of the game. She isn't even entirely sure who won, but she also knows that at these pick-up games, it doesn't really matter much who wins. It's all in good fun, regardless of the outcomes.
Hermione stands, balancing baby Priya on her hip as she awaits the descent of her friends– who, one by one, land on the grass in front of her. She vaguely registers the landings of Ginny, Harry, George and Angelina– the two wizards each dropping quick kisses of gratitude onto her cheeks as they pass her and head off behind her, disappearing through the back door of Ron and Padma's home.
Draco lands next and Hermione's breath hitches in her chest at the sight of him in his quidditch kit. She may well never have been a massive fan of the sport itself, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't appreciate a wizard in a quidditch jersey– and appreciate it, she very much does in this moment.
Draco hoists his broom up over his shoulder and stalks toward Hermione, smiling a half-smile and winking at her as he walks by, evidently taking notice of Hermione's appreciation of his current appearance.
Once Draco passes her, Hermione twists to admire the view of the wizard walking away from her for a moment before exhaling heavily, biting her lip and tipping her head back in frustration. Hermione decides in that moment that she will be attempting to usher Draco out of Ron's house and back to her own flat as quickly as possible after she returns each of the children under her watch back to their respective parents.
After Ron, Dean and Seamus land and follow the rest of the players back to the house, Hermione laughs lightly to herself, rubbing her hand along Priya's back gently as she speaks quietly to the small child.
"Come on, Priya, let's go find Auntie Hermione's special friend."
Draco chuckles darkly as he drags the tips of his fingers over Hermione's ribs, forcing a shiver to run down her spine and the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end.
"I knew that I saw you watching me," Draco drawls, his voice low and gravelly, as he dips his head down to press his lips to the hollow of Hermione's neck.
Hermione had, in fact, made it approximately seven minutes in Ron's kitchen before she all but grabbed Draco by the lapels and dragged him through the floo into her flat. Up to this point, she and Draco have still only had sex the one time– twice, she corrects herself– and therefore, she decided that she was quite finished entertaining Draco's bizarre sense of propriety. She is more than willing, and he has said as much about himself, too, so as far as she is concerned, two consenting adults can do whatever they like– regardless of whether they have gone on enough dates or done whatever else it is that Draco had been waiting for as of yet.
Hermione arches her neck, pressing the back of her head back against her pillow as she tries to keep her wits about her– though she is quickly losing that battle. Draco is still in his quidditch kit, minus the robes and padding, and it's making it very difficult for Hermione to think straight at the minute.
"What was it that was doing it for you, hmm?" Draco whispers as he kneels above Hermione on her bed and toys with the shoulder strap on her bra, which is currently the only thing covering her top half. "Was it the uniform? Or the fact that I let Potter catch the snitch? The flying, maybe?"
Hermione can feel each of the words Draco speaks against her skin as he questions her, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin on her neck and chest as he does. She digs her fingernails into his bicep and hooks one of her legs up over Draco's hip in an attempt to pull him closer, but Draco– seemingly very intentionally– keeps limited contact between the pair, the exceptions being his kisses and the slow drags of his fingertips.
"What would you say if I told you that I played just a little bit harder today because I knew that you were watching?"
Hermione's thoughts take a moment to catch up with Draco's question due to the fact that Draco has just slipped her aforementioned bra strap down her shoulder and has moved his attention to her now-exposed clavicle.
"Draco," Hermione breathes, reaching out blindly and balling his jersey into her fists.
Draco breathes a laugh against Hermione's collarbone before he continues talking.
"Tell me, Granger," Draco draws out every syllable in her surname, his warm breath ghosting over Hermione's chest. "Tell me what it was and I'll give you whatever you want."
Hermione groans in frustration, reaching forward for the placket on Draco's trousers in an attempt to show him what she wants, but his hand catches hers as soon as it makes contact.
Draco shifts his attention to press a lingering kiss to Hermione's lips, but he retreats before Hermione has a moment to deepen it.
"Tell me," he whispers against her lips.
Hermione huffs.
"Godric, it was everything," Hermione finally replies as she rolls her hips up against Draco's, watching as his eyelids flutter briefly before he steels himself. "You willingly walked into the lion's den just because I asked you to. You spent an entire Saturday with my friends. You didn't take the bait when Ron called you 'ferret'."
Draco releases Hermione's hand and allows her to finally begin her work on his trousers.
"And you look so bloody fit in your quidditch kit."
"Draco, I have to tell you something," Hermione sighs, sitting upright and clutching her quilt to her chest in an attempt to cover her still-nude body.
Draco raises an eyebrow at her, nodding for her to continue as he stretches one arm up behind his head, momentarily distracting Hermione with the sight of his bulging bicep muscles.
"Well, I suppose I should start by telling you that today was another one of my visions," Hermione begins, thinking back to the quidditch vision which now feels like eons ago, but which has now come to pass. "You playing quidditch with my friends, that is, not the–"
The corner of Draco's lips turn up into a half-smile.
"Not the part where you jumped me as soon as I dismounted my broom?" Draco laughs, his eyes sparkling with mirth as he pokes fun at Hermione.
Hermione rolls her eyes playfully, but a knot twists in the pit of her stomach. Draco seems to notice this dichotomy in her nearly immediately.
"Hmm, not the time to make a joke about you mounting my broom, then, right?"
Hermione eyes Draco pointedly, but a small laugh bubbles up out of her chest uncontrollably.
"Technically, I think you just did," Hermione responds, but her voice betrays her discomfort.
"Hermione, you can tell me anything," Draco states, his tone turning serious once Hermione stops her brief bout of laughter. "Your visions don't frighten me."
"Well, they frighten me," Hermione frowns, resisting the urge to lay back down and curl into Draco's side for comfort. "And today was one of them."
Draco nods, evidently sensing that Hermione has more to say than just that– which, unfortunately, she does.
"So was that night you came here and we fought," Hermione continues, looking down at her hands for a moment before turning back to Draco. "I saw pieces of that night too before it happened."
Draco sits up, the quilt barely covering his lower half as he brushes a rogue curl out of Hermione's face.
"You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to, Hermione," Draco insists, using both of his hands to cup the sides of Hermione's face to force her to look at him so she can see the sincerity of his words in his eyes.
"You have a right to know," Hermione explains, believing that he especially has the right to know about the next vision that she plans to tell him about.
Hermione breathes deeply for a moment to steady herself as she tries to ignore the way that her heart is hammering in her chest.
Hermione surges forward for a moment, crushing her lips to Draco's tightly. According to her visions, this won't be the last time that she does so, but in any case, she still worries that Draco will be especially bothered by the next thing that she has to tell him.
Draco kisses her back, clearly realizing that that is exactly what she needs in this moment and giving it to her.
When Hermione finally pulls back, she rests her forehead against Draco's for a brief second before finally finishing her thoughts.
"Since the beginning, I've been seeing images of a child. A little blonde child. Your child," Hermione averts her eyes from Draco's, favoring instead to look just beyond his right ear. "Of course, I didn't know that at first, but it became clear as more visions came to me. I've seen him as a baby, I've seen the three of us living together as a family, I've seen the moment the vision-version of myself told the vision-version of you that she was pregnant."
Hermione can't even bring herself to chance a look at Draco just yet.
"I– I'm sorry, I should've told you sooner."
Hermione finally fights her own instincts and brings her gaze back to Draco– who is looking at her with something akin to awe.
"A child? We're going to have a child?" Draco asks, his voice cracking slightly.
Hermione shrugs her shoulders. If her visions are to be believed, then yes.
"A son. Y–you said 'he'," Draco clarifies, and when Hermione nods, his look of awe shifts. "We're going to have a son."
A smile stretches Draco's cheeks as he beams brightly at Hermione for a moment– only for a moment, though, as in the next, he is tackling her down onto her back on the bed and peppering kisses along her forehead, cheeks and neck.
"We're going to have a son," Draco repeats once more, his lips then finding Hermione's and kissing her passionately. "Gods, I love you."
Hi, friends! Happy Tuesday! (:
Fair warning, there likely will not be any uploads next week, possibly the week after, too. My surgery is officially next week, so uploads may be a bit weird. I still plan on uploading Somewhere on a Beach this Friday and then once again, no upload for at least next week. Thank you again for your patience and understanding.
Also, I love this chapter. This is my second favorite chapter in this fic- second to chapter twenty-one. I also really love the epilogues of this fic, but as far as regular chapters go, twenty-one and thirty-one are my favorites. (:
Y'all. I may or may not have started another multi-chapter. Lol. This one is, again, a Fremione (different from Somewhere on a Beach) and it's actually a bit similar to Snippets, but definitely not the same. So, if you have enjoyed Snippets so far, I think you might like this new one once it's finished. I won't begin uploading this new fic for probably a long while. I want to finish uploading Somewhere on a Beach and all of its companion pieces before I upload the new one, but that's probably good because it's still in the early stages. I'm just incapable of not talking about my WIPs, lol.
Anyway. As always, thank you so, so, so much for spending a bit of your time here with me this week. Thank you for your patience regarding uploads in the next few weeks. Thank you for your kindness and understanding. I am so, so grateful. Thank you.
Please, if you feel so inclined (especially for this chapter, because I love it (: ) leave a review. I love reading your thoughts, opinions, observations, favorite parts, etc. All the things. I love reading your reviews. They make me happy. (:
Thank you all so much. See you soon. (:
