Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy	By : AnasellaEmm Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 75943 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter related characters, places and themes belong to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury and Scholastic.
A/N: I’m so, so, so, so, so, so sorry! I will never take this long to update again! The title chapter comes from the song, “Baby, It’s Fact” by Hellogoodbye.
Chapter 16: They Don’t Know How Real Love Feels
Hermione waited until Draco had come out of the shower, his towel wrapped around his waist, before she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his wet and warm neck.
He stumbled for a moment and caught his balance as he grasped her shoulders. “What on earth…”
She pulled away and grabbed his face, planting her lips on his firmly and kissing him as if the act itself was about to go out of style.
If he was surprised he didn’t show it as he kissed her back with the same fervor she was lavishing on him. Somewhere in the corner of his mind, he was trying to figure out why she was kissing him… but being of the single-minded male variety, he decided he didn’t care.
“You’re getting all wet,” he remembered to murmur as they took a breath.
“I don’t care,” she said with a wide grin, throwing her arms around him again. “Thank you so much, Draco.”
“For what?” he asked, unwrapping her arms from around his neck.
“For not being incorrigible for once,” she replied evenly. “I can’t thank you enough for the Quidditch tickets, Draco.”
“Oh,” he said quietly and walked to the dresser to pick out some underclothes. “Think nothing of it.”
“How on earth did you manage to get tickets? Wait, I can’t let you pay for them… they must have cost a fortune and…”
“I told you, think nothing of it,” he replied, pulling on his boxers and a white shirt. “I designed a house for one of my mates on the Falcons team and he pulled a few strings for me.”
“Can’t I repay you for them?” she asked.
He turned a serious look at her and shook his head. “What part of ‘think nothing of it’ have you not understood thus far?”
She smiled at him, not caring that he was getting testy with her. “Thank you, again. It was a very sweet gesture. Donny is going to be thrilled.”

“Don’t you have to get ready for school?” he asked, his back turned to her as he finished getting dressed.
“Yes, and I’ll go wake Zane,” she said as she left the room, leaving Draco with his contemplations.
He sighed as he started buttoning his shirt. His thoughts for the past few days had been overwhelming to the point of annoyance. He was immensely enjoying the physical aspect of his relationship with Hermione. Hell, he’d been abstinent for so long that he was almost sure he’d forgotten how to have sex.
Thankfully, he still knew how.
Knotting the tie around his neck, he ran a pale finger down a fairly recent mark on his neck given to him by Hermione two nights before when she had used her lips to torture him to the brink of erotic madness… he smiled at the memory of her brazen side in their shared bed. He wouldn’t lie to himself: Hermione was a fantastic lover. She applied the same determination and expertise in bed as she did everything else. He was a lucky bastard.
He closed his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation. Every night after they explored each other’s bodies, they would lie quietly next to each other, touching, caressing, whispering words to each other… it was sickeningly romantic.
They fought less these days. They fought, yes, but less.
He knew why they were fighting less and he also knew why he looked forward to coming home from work every day. He was starting to like her, as if he were some teenage boy crushing on his first girl. It made him nauseous thinking about how Hermione had finally gotten under his skin, sparring with him in intellectual conversations, sparring with him physically as they made love at every opportunity.
She was smart, she was compassionate and she was kindhearted towards his son; she took care of them like a mother-hen watching over her chicks and her sharp wit brought laughter back into his previously dull life.
He knew he was heading for dangerous waters as he let her burrow herself deeper into his life, but for once, he felt as if maybe he could be happy for once… that maybe he could come to actually love someone and have them love him in return. Wouldn’t that be nice?
But, it was all futile thinking… Hermione couldn’t come to love him. He was only the boy who had effectively made her childhood a living hell and a real relationship between them was completely preposterous. They had hated each other for so long that no amount of time together or sex or intimacy could make the past change, could make her love him unconditionally.
With another sigh he smiled ruefully and ran his hand through his hair. The six months were halfway over and in three months, they would divorce and move on with their lives. Their sham of a marriage would just be a bittersweet memory for them both.

Hermione listened intently as Zane finished the story of his crazy dream right as they reached the door to the school. He was stumbling over his words as he tried to tell her about the grand adventure of his nighttime conscious.
“Isn’t that so silly, Mummy? I wasn’t wearing any underwears!” he giggled loudly as his backpack bumped along the back of his knees. “But, I waked up and I was wearing all of my clothes!”
She smiled down at him and squeezed his hand. “That is such a silly dream, sweetheart. Can you just imagine walking around with no pants on?”
He laughed harder, shaking his head at her. “That would be ‘idiculous!”
As they walked into the front office of the school’s small structure, Hermione helped him take off his backpack and jumper, hanging them on the row of hooks. As usual, they were the first ones at the school and, as usual, Zane ran off to the classroom to draw on the chalkboard before the other students arrived.
Hermione unlocked her office door and put away her things, pulling out a stack of parchment and quills to start the itinerary for the day. Just as she was finishing up her writing, Donny walked through the door and gave her a small smile.
“Good morning, Hermione,” she said quietly.
“Good morning, Don,” Hermione replied. “You look especially lovely this morning.”
“Do I?”
“Oh, yes, and I do believe it’s because you are celebrating a most wondrous twenty-third birthday,” she said with a laugh.
“Oh, God, I’m getting old,” Donny laughed. “Ancient!”
“Ancient? How is that supposed to make me feel at the prehistoric age of twenty-four?”
“Well, you’re already a wife and mother! I’ve got nothing under my belt except a messy flat covered in pictures of a half-naked Quidditch player who would probably die laughing if he ever knew I existed,” she said despondently.
“Did you know that Puddlemere is going to be here this weekend?” Hermione asked, unable to hide her growing grin.
Donny slumped in the chair in front of Hermione’s desk, propping her legs up on the table and leaning back. “Yeah, they’re playing the Falcons. It’s the European championship. Can you imagine? Oliver Freakin’ Wood in the same city as me.”
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he was in the same room as you?”
“Don’t tease me, love. I don’t think my poor heart can take it,” she chuckled softly.
“Can I give you your birthday present now or do you want to wait for dinner tonight?”
Donny put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. “I guess I could open it now, although I specifically asked you not to get me anything.”
“And I specifically told you that you’re an idiot for thinking I wouldn’t do something for your birthday,” she teased.
“Ok, fine. Give it to me,” she replied with a melodramatic sigh.
Hermione handed her the envelope that was now adorned with a red ribbon. “I hope you like it.”
Donny smiled brightly, the first smile Hermione had seen in a long while, as she opened the envelope. “Let’s see what my favorite gal got me for my birthday… what’s this?”
Silence immersed the room as Donny’s jaw dropped and her hands started to shake. Hermione watched as her friend stared at the tickets in glorious amazement, tears pooling behind her eyes. “Happy birthday from Draco and me.”
Jaw still hung in shock, Donny sputtered for a few seconds before shaking her head, unable to speak at all.
“The VIP passes will let you in to the locker room before and after the game and also allows you to attend the Champion’s Dinner if your chosen team wins the game,” Hermione explained.
More silence was Donny’s response as she blinked rapidly, her smile growing wider and wider. “Hermione, I… I… what… I… OH, MY GOD! You are the most incredible human being in the entire universe! Oh, my god; oh, my god; oh, my god.”
“So, do you like it?” Hermione asked, laughing quietly to herself as she watched Donny read through the tickets more slowly.
“I can’t believe it,” she said in a whisper. “Thank you so much, Hermione. I don’t even think I deserve these…”
“You most definitely do deserve them, Donny. Now, what are you going to wear when you finally meet Oliver Wood?”
“OH, DEAR GOD! I’M GOING TO MEET OLIVER WOOD!” Donny suddenly squealed, jumping out of her chair and running to the other side of the desk where she engulfed Hermione in a crushing hug. “I love you so much, Hermione! You don’t even know!”
Hermione laughed into her friend’s shoulder. “I love you, too, Don. I’m glad you liked the gift. I have to tell you, though; it was all Draco’s idea.”
“If you weren’t married to him and I wasn’t about to go meet my future lover, I would most definitely propose marriage to Draco for his brilliance,” Donny laughed.
Hermione felt her smile falter at that thought. She almost brought up her breakfast as she realized she was feeling the first sting of the green-eyed monster, jealousy. If the mere thought of a hypothetical arrangement between Donny and Draco made her feel like that… Shit, shit, shit, shit! I’m pathetic.
“Well, now you know that I have to play hard-to-get when I meet Woodie. It’s basic flirtation 101. I have to act completely disinterested no matter how much I want to pounce on him and shag him into oblivion…” Donny was speaking rapidly as Hermione shook her head in laughter.
A small knock at the door sounded and she waited while Zane poked his head into the room and gave her a tenuous smile. “Mummy, I had a accident. A accident in the room!”
She exchanged a startled look with Donny before standing up swiftly and walking over to Zane and putting her hands on his shoulders and face, making sure he was unharmed. “Are you ok, sweetheart?”
“Yep! I’m ok, mummy. I did that thing again when I thinked really hard and I made the blackboard turn another color! It’s green like Rosie!” he said without taking a breath.
“Oh, you did magic?” Hermione asked, relief pulsing through her.
He nodded slowly. “I just thinked really hard about it and it happened!”
“It’s alright, Zane, don’t worry yourself about it. I can change it back and as long as no one was hurt, then everything is fine. Now, why don’t you help me set up for the class and we can practice our controlling exercises, ok?”
He nodded again and clasped her hand as she led him out of the room while Donny followed them.
“Hey, Zane,” Donny said, walking alongside him as they neared the classroom. “Would you like to go see a Quidditch game and meet the players?”
His grey eyes quickly lit up as he looked at Donny. “A Kidditch game? Yes, I wanna go!”
“Well, you and your mummy and your daddy and I are going to go see a very big Quidditch game this Saturday,” she said excitedly. “That is, if your mummy and daddy aren’t busy.”
“Are you sure you want to take us?” Hermione asked as she walked over to the newly colored chalkboard and changed it back to black.
“Of course I’m sure,” she replied with a snort. “As if I would take anyone else.”
“Well, I’ll make sure we’re not doing anything and we’d be happy to go,” Hermione said. I don’t think I’d want to miss Donny meeting Oliver Wood for the world.

The night before the big game, Hermione sat in the kitchen cleaning out the pantry as she waited for the rack of lamb to roast in the oven. She could hear Draco coming in through the front door and she could also hear Zane and Wolf playing in Zane’s bedroom.
Draco walked by the kitchen and announced his presence before moving on to the bedroom to change out of his work clothes. She called out a hello and went back to organizing the pantry. Seconds later she heard him laughing hard as he called her name.
She put down the bag of rice she had just been about to stow away and walked over to their bedroom where she found Draco leaning against the doorframe between their room and their bathroom, holding his side in mirth.
“I think you should see this,” he said in between laughs.
She walked over to the doorway and her jaw dropped when she saw what was making Draco laugh so hard.
Zane and Wolf sat on the floor of the master bathroom surrounded by many, many tampons. The cabinet beneath the sink lay wide open and a trail of opened tampons lay scattered from the sink to the bathtub, surrounding the young boys in every direction.
“Look, mummy! We found some swords and some wands for Rosie and Jasper to play with!” Wolf had named his stuffed dragon Jasper.
“Jasper is using a wand and Rosie is using a sword!” Wolf exclaimed happily, clutching four tampons in his hand and waving them around.
Draco burst out into more laughter. Hermione brought her hand up to her head and placed two fingers at her temple.
“We put some in the water and they got very bigger!” Zane explained, pointing to the toilet where several inflated tampons floated.
“Oh, dear heavens,” Hermione murmured, closing her eyes for an extended amount of time and taking a few calming breaths. Draco had yet to stop laughing, crouching on the floor after seeing the tampons in the toilet. “Zane, Wolf, can you please drop everything and go to your room?”
The two boys stood up warily, grabbing their stuffed animals and frowning. “Did we do something bad, mummy?”
“I’ll come speak with you in your room. Right now, just head over there so I can clean up,” she said calmly, moving out of the doorway so that they could leave.
They looked at each other and then at Draco who was wiping his eyes and rubbing his side, random chuckles being emitted every few seconds. They left the bathroom and Hermione let out a long breath.
“Don’t say a word,” she warned Draco, pulling out her wand and returning the unused tampons back to the box and the misused tampons into the rubbish bin.
His eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter and his lips were curved into a wicked smile. She felt her own lips curl into a traitorous smile as she looked at him. “It’s not funny!”
With that said, he laughed again. “If it’s not funny, then why are you smiling?”
“Oh, just shut up!” she said. “Since you find this so funny, you can be the one to explain to them why they are in trouble.”
He shook his head, his smile slowly disappearing. “No, I don’t think that’s something I really want to do.”
“Well, that’s too bad.”
“I’ll take you out to dinner,” he tried bargaining.
“Nope.”
“I’ll make the bed from now on.”
“You wouldn’t know how to make the bed even if I put you under the imperius curse and did it for you,” she replied.
“Fine! I’ll talk to them!” he huffed, turning on his heel and walking to his son’s room. Hermione followed him and stood at the doorway as Draco crouched in front of his son’s bed where the two boys were sitting.
“Boys, now, I want you to listen up and listen carefully,” he started, looking annoyed. “You two are not supposed to go into the adult’s bedroom and the bathroom. You did not have permission to be in there and you played with something that didn’t belong to you.”
“I thought they were toys,” Zane explained, looking confused and sad. “I’m sorry I played with ‘em.”
“Me too,” Wolf added, nodding in agreement.
“Well, they weren’t toys and they did not belong to you.”
“What were they?” Zane asked.
Hermione smiled smugly as Draco blanched and turned a furious look at her.
“They were, uh… they were something that belonged to your mummy and you shouldn’t have touched them,” he said.
“Oh,” came the boys’ replies.
“Five minutes in separate corners,” Draco said. “Don’t let us catching you playing in places you shouldn’t be playing in and playing with things you shouldn’t touch, ok?”
They nodded and then slumped off into two opposite corners of the bedroom. They were both used to the routine by now.
Giving her a pointed look, Draco left the room and walked back to their bedroom, waiting for her to following him. She was a few steps behind him and entered the room as he was shrugging his shirt off and searching for a clean one. She couldn’t help but allow her gaze to roam over his lovely, pale, defined torso that she had touched all over…
“Can you hide those things better next time?” he asked, breaking into her suddenly lustful thoughts. “Heaven knows I don’t need Nymphadora or Lupin chewing my head off for exposing Wolf to things he shouldn’t know about.”
“Oh, yes, this is all my fault,” Hermione replied dryly. “If only I had hidden them better, then they would have never rummaged through any of our things and found them. You and I both know that they have the scavenging tendencies of nifflers and would find anything we hide, so let’s not play the blame-game right now, because I’m really not in the mood.”
She took a step back once she realized Draco had moved closer to her and was standing just a breath away, smirking down at her as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He shrugged and leaned down to kiss her lips softly, leaving her dazed and quite flustered. His lips were always so soft and warm. Damn him and those lips.
“You look quite tasty when you go off on a rant. Your cheeks turn pink and your nostrils flare and you just seem… kissable,” he explained.
“Ok,” she said slowly, quirking an eyebrow up at him, “you’re acting strange.”
“Strange?” he asked with a heart-stopping smile. “How so?”
“You’re acting… romantic,” she said.
“Romance doesn’t suit me?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow and smiling even wider. He moved closer and nuzzled her cheek with his nose, letting his lips linger along her jaw line. “You’re right; romance doesn’t work well for me. I’d rather just pounce on you and ravish you.”
She threw her head back and laughed, exposing her neck to his roaming lips. Soon, all thoughts of laughter fled her mind as Draco pulled her close, running his strong hands up and down her back as he worshipped her neck with his oral attention. A tiny whimper escaped her lips as she felt her knees weaken and her heartbeat race an erratic tempo.
“Draco…” she whispered gutturally as her fingers clutched his shoulders in desperate control.
He smiled against her neck and brought his hands down to her hips to hold her even closer. He was just about to run his fingers to the button of her jeans when a sharp tap sounded from the window of their bedroom.
He cursed under his breath as he let go of the warm, supple, female body against his. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Hermione adjust her shirt and fan herself before sitting on the bed in a flustered heap.
Opening the window to a Ministry owl, Draco slipped the brown bird a treat as he wrestled the parchment from it. He unfurled the parchment and let the bird out as he walked to the bed where Hermione sat, his eyes darting back and forth across the letter.
“What is it?” she asked, crossing her legs and placing her elbows on her knees.
“It’s a reminder that we have to schedule an interview for Zane with our DMP. We have until next Friday to schedule it,” he said, looking up from the parchment. “I have meetings with new clients all next week. I won’t be coming home until late.”
Hermione shook her head and took the parchment from his hand. “Don’t worry about it. The Ministry closes at six in any case and I would have had to take Zane. It’s no problem.”
“Thank you,” he said quietly, lying back on the bed with his hands behind his head. He stayed silent for a moment, his eyes closed. “I just wish this was all over. I hate being in this limbo where I have no idea how my fate with my son will turn out.”
He reached a hand up and pulled Hermione down next to him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders once she was lying next to him.
She stayed quiet and nestled closer to him, burying her face in his chest. She put her arm over his waist and just hugged him, not knowing what to say. One thought did cross her mind… if he wished all this to be over so quickly, did he also wish for their marriage to be over just as quickly?
For once, Hermione had found herself in a real relationship where she enjoyed almost every waking moment with her new family. Taking care of her two rowdy boys, as she had begun thinking of Draco and Zane, brought newfound meaning to her life. She had a purpose and she was depended on and she was relishing in the feeling.
Sleeping with Draco was an added bonus and she had never felt closer to anyone before. After Hogwarts, she had gone on a few dates with men that various friends had set her up with and yet she had never connected with any of them beyond just those few dates. Hell, she hadn’t slept with any of them and Draco had only been her second lover since losing her virginity.
She had no clue as to whether Draco felt anything for her beyond just the physical aspect of their relationship. She knew she did feel something for him. It was difficult not to care for him when he was gentle with her and with Zane and when he brought her heart-stopping pleasure almost every night. As
long as she didn’t admit her feelings out loud, then the pain of being discarded after the six months was over wouldn’t be too harsh. Or so she hoped…
Draco awoke to a loud banging noise at the front door and he let out a string of curses as he slowly got out of bed and left the warmth Hermione’s body had provided.
It’s a fucking Saturday! Who the hell is at the goddamn door this early?
Having reached his cursing quota for the morning, Draco opened the door and was instantly bombarded with a loud shriek and a petite bundle of light blue.
“It’s today! It’s today! It’s today!” the creature that had wrapped its arms around his neck squealed.
Draco groaned and tried prying Donny’s arms away from him as he stumbled back from her attack. She weighed little more than nothing and yet she had nearly caused him to fall on his behind in her excitement.
“Donny… can’t breathe,” he gasped as he struggled with her steel-like grip.
“Oh, sorry, mate,” she laughed, jumping away from him and then proceeding to bounce in place. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”
He scowled at her and stifled a yawn. “Because it’s seven-thirty in the morning.”
“I know! The game starts in seven and a half hours!” she said with a big smile. “Is Hermione up yet?”
“No. She’s not insane,” he retorted. “How about you sit quietly on the couch until it’s a more human time to wake up?”
“Miss Donny!” Zane’s voice said from the hallway as he approached the living room. He was still in his footy-pyjamas and his hair was still sticking up from sleep. Rosie was clutched firmly in his arm and Zane appeared to be just as awake as their early-morning visitor.
“G’morning, my love!” she said, kneeling down to wrap him in a hug. “Are you excited for the game today?”
“The Kidditch game?” he asked. When she nodded, he smiled. “Yes! I’m very excited! I’m going to see so many brooms and all the Kidditch players!”
“You sure are!” she replied.
“I’m going back to sleep,” Draco yawned.
“Can I take Zane out for breakfast?” Donny asked as Draco walked towards the hall. He nodded in response and closed his ears against the excited squeals.
Many hours later when Draco deemed it the normal, human time to wake up, he opened his eyes to an empty bed. He slowly got up and made his way to the bathroom where he conducted the morning necessities. He could hear his wife in the kitchen and he could hear Donny and Zane laughing about something.
He dressed for the day and went to the kitchen, prepared for an interesting day.
“What is that you’re wearing on your collar?” Donny yelled the instant he walked into the room.
“Good morning to you, too,” Draco replied as Hermione handed him a cup of tea. “I believe I’m wearing a Falcons pin.”
“But Woodie plays for Puddlemere!” she groaned.
“I’m not sure if Hermione filled you in, but I’m not Oliver Wood’s favorite person. We played against each other back in school and more often than not, the games didn’t end with friendly sportsmanship.”
Donny furrowed her brow with the acceptance of this new information. “So, you’re not going to come into the locker room with us?”
“I have friends on the Falcons team and I’ll be visiting them instead. I haven’t seen them in a while and if I did decide to join you in the Puddlemere locker room, Wood would probably ignore you. So, if you want to snag him, go with Hermione.”
“I want to go with Miss Donny and Mummy!” Zane announced.
Draco shrugged and hid a smile. “You have fun then, Z.”
“Can we go now?” Zane and Donny asked at the same time.
“Are your hands clean and did you make your bed?” Hermione asked Zane.
“Yes,” both Zane and Donny sighed. Hermione exchanged a smile with Draco.
“Ok, then. We can go.”
“YAY!” the two yelled, jumping up and bouncing around the kitchen.
“I never signed on to have another kid,” Draco mumbled to Hermione on their way out of the kitchen. “You’re in charge of Donny today.”
She playfully slapped his arm and laughed at him, ushering the excited ones out of the flat and to the Apparition point behind the building.

Hermione watched Draco walk down to the opposite side of the large hallway that housed the opposing team locker rooms. He was walking towards the Falcons’ locker room and she was watching his straight, elegant gait as he gave her a small wave and smile.
She clutched Zane’s hand in hers and listened to Zane reassure Donny.
“You look very, very beautiful, Miss Donny. Stop looking in the mirror!” he was saying.
Donny ran her tongue over her teeth and looked to Hermione for the crucial teeth-check.
“Zane’s right, Don. You look beyond gorgeous and it doesn’t even matter what you look like! You’re a wonderful girl and if Woodie can’t see that, then you’re better off without him,” she told her.
“You know what? You’re right, babe. It’s time to leave the insecure Donny out in the hall and go in as super-confident Donatella Miller.”
“There you go,” Hermione laughed. “Now, you just need to fix your hair and we’ll be fine.”
Donny’s jaw dropped and she pulled out her compact mirror again.
“I’m kidding, Donny!” she replied, snatching the mirror from Donny’s grasp. “Your hair is beautiful just like your face and everything else. It was a great idea to leave it down and an even more great idea to not straighten it. Your waves are looking extra… wavy.”
Donny put her hand up to her dark locks and bit her lip. “Ok… then let’s get a move on!”
They walked up to the door of the Puddlemere locker room and showed the security wizard their VIP passes. He looked at them with a nod of his head and opened the door for them. A representative for the team met them at the door and shook their hands.
“Welcome, welcome. I’m Ralph and I’m the P.U. representative of human resources. You three must be the lucky VIP’s.”
They introduced themselves and Ralph nodded his head at them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and I really won’t stand in your way here. If you have any questions, I’ll be by the door and you can just walk around the locker room and make yourselves at home. The players are already dressed so you don’t have to worry about walking in on them half-naked,” he laughed.
Hermione heard Donny mutter a soft curse and a sigh.
“You have about an hour before the players have to line up for the start of the game, so just enjoy yourselves and don’t forget your free shirt on your way out.”
They thanked the representative and made their way to the partition that separated the anteroom and the actual locker room. “Good luck, Don,” Hermione whispered as they appeared in front of the players.
The seven men looked up when the three of them appeared. The awkwardness was quite intense as everyone stared at each other until Zane broke the silence.
“Brooms!” he squealed, looking at the impressive flying instruments that were lined up against the wall.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen lovelier VIPs in my entire career,” one of the players said, his smile cocky and his swagger confident as he approached them. “Benjamin Sands at your service; captain and seeker of Puddlemere United.”
Hermione introduced them all and had to hold on tight to Zane’s hand to make sure he didn’t struggle out of her grasp to go touch a broom.
“You never seen a broom before, mate?” he asked Zane, crouching down to talk to him.
“My daddy has a broom but I’m not ‘upposed to touch it,” Zane confided in the man.
“Well, I don’t see any harm in you getting a closer look at the brooms,” Benjamin smiled. “Do you want to meet the rest of the team?”
Zane shrugged and looked up at Hermione and Donny. “Ok. But I want to see the brooms more.”
Benjamin laughed and nodded. “A true flyer among us.”
He took Zane’s hand and led the three of them over to where the team was standing. He introduced them all one by one and Hermione caught the interested looks they all gave Donny, ignoring Hermione once they caught the wedding ring on her finger. She couldn’t help but be proud of Donny’s beauty and bubbly personality as she shook hands with the players and gave them her natural charm.
Surprisingly, Oliver Wood was the last to be introduced to them. He looked at Hermione first and furrowed his eyebrows. “Yer Potter’s friend, right?”
Hermione nodded and shook his hand.
“I thought ye looked familiar. Potter’s game depended on ye so much it would be hard to forget ye,” he said, smiling. He looked over at Donny and looked back down to the ground, his cheeks turning a bashful pink.
“Your picture is in my school,” Zane announced, looking up at the tall man.
“Is that so?” Oliver asked, kneeling down in front of Zane. “Do ye watch a lot of Quidditch, wee lad?”
“Sometimes,” he replied. “Miss Donny watches much more than me. She loves you.”
Donny groaned and flashed a quick smile when Oliver looked up at her. He smiled and looked back down at Zane. “Who is this Miss Donny ye speak of?”
“Miss Donny is right here! She teaches the big kids at school and she always plays with me and gives me kisses and gives me big hugs and she is so pretty all the time and Wolf said he wants to marry her when he gets big!”
“Who is Wolf?”
“Wolf is my bestest friend in all of the world!” Zane explained.
“This friend of yers is quite a smart lad,” he whispered to the boy. “Can ye introduce me to yer Miss Donny?”
“Of course I can,” Zane said in his most big-boy voice. “That’s Miss Donny over there! My mummy is standing next to her.”
Oliver stood up straight and stuck his large hand out to Donny. “It is nice to meet ye, Miss Donny. I’m Oliver Wood.” His cheeks still held a tint of pink as he smiled at her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Wood. I’m Donny Miller,” she said brightly.
“Please, call me Oliver. Now, Donny is quite a unique name for a lass,” he said quietly. “Is it short for anythin’?”
“It’s actually Donatella, but nobody has called me that since primary school,” she said.
“But that’s such a bonny name,” he told her. “If ye dinnae mind, can I call ye Donatella?”
She gave a mock sigh and smiled at him with a wink. “If you win the game today then you can call me Donatella.”
“Ah, now we must win,” he chuckled. “Ye’ll be in the locker room after the game, then?”
“I’m not sure yet,” she said with a casual shrug.
For a moment, he actually looked stricken and Hermione could not believe how fast Donny had hooked him and how completely indifferent she was acting to meeting the man she had obsessed over for the past few years. Women all over would need to take lessons from her.
“If we win, ye’ll have to come and congratulate us and go out to dinner with us. If we lose, then ye’ll have to come and console us… give us a shoulder to cry on,” he explained.
“Well, when you put it that way, I guess I really can’t refuse,” Donny said with a finger tapping her lips.
“Can I see your broom now?” Zane asked, entirely bored with the conversation. Adults talked too much.
“Of course, lad,” Oliver said, dragging his eyes away from Donny to take Zane by the hand and lead him to the row of brooms.
Donny and Hermione stayed in place and waited until the boys were out of earshot before turning to each other and laughing into their hands, looking like a pair of pre-teens in the presence of a rock star.
“Can you believe it? He wants to call me Donatella!” Donny whispered loudly.
“He can’t keep his eyes off of you, Don!” Hermione whispered back, grabbing Donny by the arm and hugging her tight.
“I wonder what Zane is telling him,” Donny said, looking at the boys as they talked to each other. Oliver kept shooting Donny glances and looking quickly back as Zane explained something to him.
Near the brooms, Oliver listened intently as he fished information from the young boy.
“Ye said there is a picture of me at yer school? Why?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Zane said, his eyes glued to the broom in front of him as he ran his tiny hands over the shiny handle. “Miss Donny gives it kisses when school is done.”
“Kisses?”
“Yes. I already told you that she loves you a lot! Are you going to marry her? Wolf said he’s going to marry her when he gets bigger. Are you going to share with Wolf? My mummy and my daddy got married and they had to kiss each other and it was yucky.”
“Ye talk verra fast, Zane,” Oliver said, looking over again at the two women whispering to each other. “Do you think yer friend, Wolf, will mind if I take yer Miss Donny out to dinner?”
“Can Wolf and me go, too?” Zane asked mindlessly as he poked at the bristles on the broom.
Oliver rubbed the back of his head and shook his head slowly. “I dinnae think that would be verra fun for ye and yer friend.”
“Ok. Growmups are boring a lot. My mummy and daddy talk so much and it makes me sleepy! And when they kiss it’s yucky. Are you going to kiss Miss Donny?”
“Do ye think she’ll kiss me, then?” Oliver asked with a laugh. “I thought ye said it was yucky.”
“It is yucky. But, I think you can kiss her one time. It will make her happy and it can make her smile and she is pretty when she smiles. She lets me put on her pretty red lipstick on her lips all the time. She says I do it the best.”
“How about ye ask her for me? Ask yer Miss Donny if she’ll give me a good luck kiss for the game,” he said. “If she says yes, I’ll let ye sit on any broom ye pick.”
Zane’s eyes lit up and he grabbed Oliver’s hand, dragging the larger man over to where the women stood.
“Miss Donny! The Kidditch man wants you to give him a kiss for he can have good luck at the game! It’s ok; you can give him a kiss. It won’t be yucky.”
Donny’s eyes widened as she exchanged a glance with Hermione. Was this actually happening? Was Oliver freakin’ Wood actually asking for a kiss? Holy Hell.
“It willnae be verra long. Just a good luck kiss from a bonny mouse so that I can play extra hard,” Oliver said, running his thumb and forefinger over his jaw.
“I guess that would be alright,” Donny said with a shrug and smile. “Does the rest of the team also get a good luck kiss?”
He shook his head vehemently and furrowed his brows. “I don’t think so. That would be verra bad luck.”
Hermione could only take so much subtle flirting and she sensed Zane being grossed out, so she took the little boy by the hand and gave her friend and the handsome Quidditch player some privacy.
“Was that Woodie?” Zane asked as they walked along an empty row.
“Yes, that was Woodie,” Hermione smiled down at him.
“Oh, ok. I know he’s the man in the picture at school but I didn’t know he’s also Woodie,” he explained. “He said that I can sit on a broom if Miss Donny gives him a kiss.”
“It looks like you’ll be sitting on a broom, then,” she said as they took a seat on a vacant bench.
“Can I have a punkin juice when we watch the Kidditch game?”
“As long as it’s ok with your daddy, then it’s ok with me.”
“I see Miss Donny; she’s smiling big,” Zane said, looking in the opposite direction.
Hermione looked up to see Donny casually strolling down the row where they were sitting, her cheeks flushed and her smile wide. She sat down next to Hermione and exhaled a breath.
“Are you ready to go find our seats?” Hermione asked with a laugh.
“Oh, yes,” Donny nodded, her smile twitching with the effort not to laugh. “I’m going to have to skip dinner after the game.”
“Why’s that?” Hermione asked as they walked out of the locker room.
“I just remembered an appointment with a certain Scottish Quidditch Keeper I can’t miss. It just came up, actually,” she said with a dreamy sigh. “Can you believe it, Hermione? He asked me out!”
“Of course I can believe it. You’re stunning, Don, just in case no one has ever told you before. You’re a bundle of cute and spunky wrapped up in a petite little package. The poor bloke had no choice but to be completely entranced by you.”
“I just can’t understand how amazing this all is… I mean, this stuff only happens in stories! But, it’s happening to me in real life! It wouldn’t have happened without you, Hermione. I love you so much!”
“Do you love me, too, Miss Donny?” Zane asked.
“I love you the most,” she replied. “I don’t know what you said to Woodie, but I officially love you the most.”
Zane smiled his father’s arrogant smile and sped up ahead the minute he saw Draco come out of the Falcon’s locker room. “Daddy! We met Woodie!”
Draco nodded in acknowledgement and picked up his son. “I see you’re still in one piece, Donny. I was expecting you to spontaneously combust upon meeting Wood.”
“I thought so, too. But apparently not only can I remain in one piece around him but I can also stay firmly attached to the ground while he kisses me.”
“You kissed him?” Draco asked in astonishment.
“No. He kissed me,” she replied with a coy smile. “Boy, can he kiss!”
“Kissing is yucky,” Zane added.
“Oh, Zane, I cannot wait until you’re older and all the girls will be following you and you’ll regret the days you thought that kissing was yucky.”
Reaching their seats in the VIP box, they ordered the typical game-day snacks and settled in for an interesting match. Hermione tried to concentrate on the game, but a certain husband of hers had his arm around her and was caressing her arm in a most delicious manner. He had no idea of the effect he had on her.
And she had no idea of the effect she had on him. Namely, just the presence of her near him made him feel as though he couldn’t get enough of her. She was soft in his arms and warm in every way possible… and she was his. Well, she was his for at least a few more weeks…
a/n: I know there should be no excuses for taking so long with this update, but it’s the middle of finals right now and my grandmother just died and I just got home from a cousin’s wedding in Mississippi and work has been completely taxing…. But again, there should be no excuses and I’m sorry! I love you all so very much and I thank everyone who voted for me over at the Quill to Parchment awards!
- 15
- 16
- 17
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy