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Pansy's Volcano	By : Bluemidget57 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 206747 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 8
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
- 1-Pansy's Volcano
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Nineteen
- 20-Twenty
- 21-Twenty one
- 22-Twenty Two
- 23-Twenty Three
- 24-Twenty Four
- 25-Twenty Five
- 26-Twnety Six
- 27-Twenty Seven
- 28-Twenty Eight
- 29-Twenty Nine
- 30-Thirty
- 31-Thirty one
- 32-Thirty Two
- 33-Thirty Three
- 34-Thirty Four
- 35-Thirty Five
- 36-Thirty Six
- 37-Thirty Seven
- 38-Thirty Eight
- 39-Thirty Nine
- 40-Forty
- 41-Forty One
- 42-Forty Two
- 43-Forty Three
- 44-Forty Four
- 45-Forty Five
- 46-Forty Six
- 47-Forty Seven
- 48-Forty Eight
- 49-Forty Nine
- 50-Fifty
- 51-Fifty One
- 52-52
- 53-53
- 54-54
- 55-55
- 48
- 49
- 50
49

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she felt the familiar tug on her mid-section which announced the activation of a Portkey, and she squeaked out loud as she was whisked instantly out of her bedroom and buffeted around for several agonizing moments until she stumbled to her feet in a totally unfamiliar room.
Hermione swung around wildly, cursing that her wand was currently laying on her dresser in her room. She had come to rest in possibly the most luxurious bedroom she had ever seen; the four-poster bed across from the fireplace put those in Hogwarts to shame, the carpeting was so thick that her feet had actually vanished into it, and the massive French windows opposite her looked out onto exquisitely manicured gardens with acres and acres of rolling parkland beyond.
�Hermione!� Her name, breathed with heartfelt relief, brought a halt to her frantic twisting and turning , as she finally caught sight of the person who had summoned her here. He was staring at her like a starving man before a feast, and she almost jumped him, he looked so damned good, and it had been nearly a whole week, after all!
However, her natural caution chose to assert itself. �Draco,� she sighed, calming slightly. �What happened? Where are we?�
�Happy Christmas, Hermione,� he said, stalking towards her from where he had been initially concealed in the shadows. �We�re in my room at home -�
He couldn�t have chosen to say a more controversial thing. �What?� She shrieked shrilly, in a voice he hadn�t heard directed at him since 5^th year. �You�ve brought me to your house? Are you insane? What if someone catches me here - you must have lost your mind -�
Draco halted abruptly in his advance towards her; she certainly didn�t seem as if she would be receptive to kisses and declarations of how much he had missed her. She was vibrating with temper and looked on the verge of throwing things. �It�s ok, Hermione,� he started again, soothingly. �There�s no one else here at the moment, just you and I -� and at least twenty house elves, but he really didn�t think it would be wise to mention that to her - �My Mother has gone to Greece to stay with some friends, it�s just us, and I�ve put all sorts of wards and alarms around the room. I promise you, no one can get in or spy on us.�
He took a couple more steps towards his nervous girlfriend, and relaxed slightly when she stayed put. �I�m sorry - I didn�t mean to scare you, I just needed to see you. It�s been too long.� A few more steps; he was almost within touching distance now.
Hermione fidgeted, and backed away, making him frown. �I know - it�s been forever,� she admitted. �But you can�t just drag me away from my own home like this, Draco. My parents are having a party tonight. I have to be there - my whole family is coming, just to see me because I am away at school so much.�
Draco cringed because he knew she was right - his behaviour had been selfish in the extreme, but he also knew he wouldn�t change his decision either. Even if seeing her standing here in front of him was all he had, it was still better than the previous six days had been. �I know,� he muttered. �But I had to see you - I needed this. Just let me hold you for a minute before you go -�
Hermione hesitated and watched as he winced; she felt guilty about making him think that she didn�t want to be here, but the sad truth was that she didn�t trust herself to stop at just a hug. He tempted her so much, that she doubted her ability to remember her obligations. �Please,� he muttered and she could not deny the great Prince of Slytherin as he pleaded with her.
She took two steps into his embrace, and all of a sudden the world seemed right again. Draco had buried his face in the curve of her neck and his arms clutched her fiercely to him. Hermione simply clung on to him thinking this was the best Christmas present yet.
�Did you like the bracelet,� he asked, his words muffled by the mass of her hair, his breath hot and moist on her skin, making her nipples tighten into needy points.
�I love it, Draco,� she replied, a hitch in her breath.
He withdrew a little. �Are you wearing it?� He asked, and frowned when she shook her head uncertainly and held out her hand so that he could see she was still clutching it tightly in her palm. �Let me put it on for you then,� he said huskily, and gently removed the bracelet from her grasp. He turned her arm, wrist upwards, and brushing his fingers sensuously along the length of her forearm, he positioned the clasp over her pulse point and closed the clip before bending down and pressing a lingering kiss on her wrist relieved to feel her pulse speed up beneath his lips.
�Kiss me,� he whispered hoarsely, and she couldn�t find the will to resist, digging her fingers into his hair and pulling his head up to hers, driving her tongue into his mouth to rediscover the intoxicating taste of her lover.
The pressure of familial obligation managed to penetrate the fog of her lust however, and she reluctantly withdrew from his lips, panting heavily. �Draco,� she moaned regretfully, �I have to go back. They think I�m just having forty winks and changing my dress -�
�Let me come with you,� Draco said, surprising himself and apparently stunning Hermione. She pulled away with far more conviction than previously, and stared at him in complete shock.
�What? You want me to take you to my home when all my relatives are there? Draco - they�re Muggles. Every last one of them; not a Magical bone amongst them!� She exclaimed in shock. �You have lost your mind!�
Unbearably hurt by her harsh words, Draco let her go and turned away stiffly. �I do realise that, Hermione,� he said formally, unhappily aware that he probably deserved her distrust and shock. She was after all only recalling the many cruel and prejudiced things he had been saying for the past six years. He wondered with a leaden heart why he had ever assumed that she would trust him enough to let him anywhere near her family.
�Draco -� Hermione began, realising suddenly how cruel her impetuous words must have sounded to him. �It�s not that I don�t want you to come with me, but - but - it�s just that everything in my world is so different from anything you�ve ever known. And there will be loads of people who don�t know about - magic. They will have certain - expectations... I just don�t want you to feel awkward, or out of place. Damn - I�m not saying this right -�
Draco kept his back to her, and walked over to sit in the chair by the fire - the one which had figured so prominently in his dream the night before school broke up. �That�s quite alright, Hermione,� he muttered. �I understand - you don�t trust me and I do see why. However, I am a Malfoy, you know. We are taught manners in the cradle - just not expected to show them to Muggles, and I do know how to conduct myself in a social gathering, regardless of the company. I admit I may not have ever led you to suppose that I could behave politely in�er�mixed company - so I should hardly be surprised -�
�Stop it, Draco,� Hermione hissed, moving over to stand in front of him. He still refused to meet her eyes and she knew she had wounded him far more than she could have believed possible, and although she felt guilty she was also frustrated with him for placing her in this position. �I am quite sure with your upbringing and background, your social manners would be impeccable should you actually choose to use them. But look at it from my point of view; I�ve spent six years listening to you deriding my heritage and announcing how superior you are to my humble self. Despite what has happened between us recently, you�ll have to accept that it�s only natural for me to wonder whether your new-found liberalism would extend to all my Muggle relations. I am sorry, and if you are serious, then my parents would be happy to welcome any of my school friends -�
Draco dropped his head into his hands. �No - I�m sorry, Granger,� he muttered at last. �I have been obnoxious about your background, and it�s only right you should be defensive. It was a really stupid idea anyway - it�s just that I was visiting my father this morning. We do that, you know - have to spend Christmas morning at Azkaban -� Hermione gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth, her guilt swelling to mammoth proportions. The only feelings she had for Draco�s father were of loathing and disgust, but even so - the necessity of spending Christmas visiting Azkaban Prison was something she couldn�t even begin to imagine.
Oh, Draco -� she interrupted, dropping to her knees beside his chair and putting her hand on his knee. �Why didn�t you say something before we left school?�
Draco snorted into his hands, not looking up at her. �How do you envisage that conversation going?� He asked dryly. �Oh, Granger, can I come visit you because I am going to be emotionally drained and enormously depressed after visiting my convicted Death Eater father in a maximum security jail? I think that might have destroyed the Christmas Spirit a bit!!�
�You are such a jerk,� Hermione snapped. �No, it wouldn�t have been a pleasant conversation, but at least if we had spoken of it, you would have known you had a willing invitation and we could have avoided all this arguing and angst and snatching of unsuspecting people out of their houses. You would have had something good to focus on instead of just your father�s situation.�
Draco looked at her now. �Actually, I think it�s better this way, despite the shouting,� he said sadly. �That would have been one more thing for the dementors to latch on to and try and suck out of me. Merlin, Granger - it was awful this time. I don�t think I can have ever been especially happy before - because I have never felt those things pressing in on my mind like they were today. They wanted to take you out of my head - I could hardly fight it�it was awful -�
Hermione gasped and tears sprang to her eyes. �Oh, no!� She cried, mortified at her behavior since she arrived. She moved in front of him and slipped in between his legs, resting her cheek in his lap and wrapping her arms around him as best she could. �Where�s your mother?� She asked. �How could she leave you alone after that?�
Draco stroked his fingers through her hair, feeling his equanimity returning now that he was touching his Gryffindor. �She has her own problems with that place,� he said softly. �She really does love my father, and she puts on a brave front for him while we are there, but it all collapses when we leave. She has to deal with it her way - and what she needs is to get away from the house and all the reminders of my father. She�s gone to Piraeus - some of her friends have a villa there. I promised I would go there and stay with her tomorrow. But I had to see you first; I would have gone crazy if I hadn�t -�
Hermione didn�t let him continue; she reached up from her squatting position and brought her mouth back to his, cutting his words off with her tongue searching for his own. Draco returned her kisses feverishly, clenching his fists into her hair and holding her head still so that he could reacquaint himself with the taste of her lips.
Hermione had forgotten how this felt; well, obviously she had not forgotten forgotten, because it had been all she could think about this past week - but the memories fell short of the reality a thousand times over. Nothing else mattered now that she was touching him, and she began tearing at his shirt, desperate to feel his naked skin against her own. Small whimpers of frustration escaped her lips as they both fumbled with fingers shaking too much to be accurate. Draco�s hands moved around her back and pulled the full-length zip of her dress down so that it tumbled off her shoulders and pooled on the floor around her knees, leaving her in only her black satin underwear, something she had used Julia�s staff discount to purchase, and which at a whim, she had put on moments before greeting Draco�s owl. Fogged with lust, it seemed to her to be fate that she had chosen to wear this today, instead of the serviceable M&S undies she had preferred all week.
�Oh, God!� Draco exclaimed when he saw the sight before him. �Fuck, Granger, I need to touch you,� even as he spoke his hands were moving to cup the swell of her breasts, his thumbs easing into the sides of the bra and rubbing the rigid points until she whimpered and began ripping at the buttons on his trousers, trying to get in.
Draco gasped as cool air finally rushed onto his stomach, letting him know that she had succeeded. He waited desperately for the first touch of her hot little hand on his cock, but it never came; in fact Hermione seemed to have stopped moving altogether. He opened his eyes which had fallen shut with the surfeit of pleasure that the feel of her breasts had brought him, and looked dazedly at his witch. �Granger, what is it?� He asked faintly; he would die from over-stimulation if she didn�t finish what she had started, he just knew it.
�I - I�m not sure,� Hermione replied weakly. �Am I doing something wrong?�
Draco couldn�t decipher what she was talking about, �No,� he moaned desperately. �Only if you stop -�
Hermione looked up at him now, blushing furiously, �But - you�re not�.ready,� she whispered. �Every time before it�s been - um - harder�.� she stammered, and Draco finally got a clue. He had been so lost in having her in front of him and the sheer reality of her, that he had totally overlooked this unfortunate side-effect of visiting Azkaban. He groaned and let his head fall back against the chair.
�Shit, I�m sorry,� he sighed, entwining his fingers with hers. �It�s not you - it�s that place. I�m always like this when I get back; it doesn�t usually last this long, but I told you the dementors were really draining me this time. I thinks it�s one of the deterrents that the Ministry appreciates in the dementors. Prisoners are so much more docile if their passions are drained out of them.� Draco couldn�t believe it; his reunion with Hermione was totally destroyed because he couldn�t get it up. He wanted to throw a tantrum, kill all the dementors in Azkaban with his bare hands. His whole body was buzzing with the need to be inside her, to reassure himself that she was still his, in the most basic of ways, and they had taken even that from him.
He would have been quite startled had he been privy to Hermione�s thoughts at that actual moment, instead of wallowing in his own self-pity.
Rather than being upset by the lack of Draco�s erection, Hermione was actually quite fascinated by it. She had really never seen his penis�soft, before. Their foreplay had always been more than enough to have him hard and ready for her by the time they had gotten naked; even in the mornings in the Head Boy�s bedroom, he was usually awake before her, and more often than not woke her by slipping into her from behind. Although she had certainly spent plenty of time recently casting furtive glances at his crotch when he was dressed and hopefully unaware, it was hardly the same thing at all, and she had never before had the opportunity to enjoy the sight of him in his natural state. And she liked it.
She stared avidly at Draco�s un-aroused cock; despite being soft, there was no way he could be described as small, and Hermione could feel her pussy tingling and swelling just from the sight of him; her frantic hands had torn his fly open and pushed the unwanted fabric aside. Before she had been brought to a halt by her discovery of his state, she had already released his cock and balls from his shorts and was currently enjoying the view of his genitals framed by the still-tight material of his trousers. She had been correct to assume on that first night that he had been circumcised; she could see a faint scar line which she wanted to trace with her finger, but was too shy to do. Her breathing began to quicken as she studied the bell-shaped head, which despite the lingering effects of the dementors was still leaking a bubble of clear liquid; his body was so fair in contrast to the velvety-soft skin of his penis which was a much darker red colour, as it lay against his stomach, framed by a nest of coarse golden curls.
Hermione was overwhelmed by the need to feel him while he was soft like this; she couldn�t even remember the reality of his hardness buried deep inside her inspiring a longing to touch the way the sight of his un-erect cock did. While Draco was disbelievingly hitting his head against the chair back, Hermione stared at him as a sudden idea popped into her head. She was immediately intensely conscious of her position, kneeling between his legs; her face level with his crotch, and the impulse to take him in her mouth welled up inside her, causing new floods of arousal to leak into her knickers.
She gnawed on her lip, staring avidly at his penis. He had done this for her many times, and never suggested she return the favour. He seemed to understand that it was still an act she was reserved about, despite the fact that it made her come like a freight train. Surely it would feel as good for him, she thought, and frankly she imagined that only while he was soft like this would she be able to fit him in her mouth. She liked her lips and realised that she was salivating at the idea, and before she could over-analyse it and scare herself off she leant forward and took him into her mouth.
To say that he was shocked would be an understatement; Draco had been berating himself for ruining their reunion, and wondering in between mental self-flagellations if he could persuade her to stay any longer, when suddenly his traitorous cock was engulfed in a hot damp cavern. His eyes flew open and he jerked as if he had been electrocuted. �Holy Shit, Granger!� He yelped as he took in the unbelievable sight of his prim Gryffindor lioness on her knees before him with her nose buried in his hair and his penis down her throat. She stared up at him startled by his explosive reaction and a centimeter of his cock slipped out of her mouth, and Draco realised that she thought he wasn�t happy. He grabbed at her head trying hard not to thrust upwards, �No - don�t stop. Merlin that feels good -� She was sucking him like a lollipop, rolling his pliable cock around her tongue and sucking gently on the head. �Oh, God - keep doing that - it won�t take long,� Draco moaned, and indeed he could feel the sensation flaring back to his extremities, feel every drop of blood in his body rush south to his dick. �Oh, Lord - where did you learn to do that?� He moaned as his cock began to stiffen and grow in her mouth.
Hermione grunted with dissatisfaction as he began to extend until she could no longer engulf his whole length in her mouth. Draco was incoherent by now, muttered praises and exhortations falling from his lips as she mimicked his own attentions to her. Of course, Draco was far too over-stimulated thanks to their parting, and his experience this morning, and it seemed to be mere seconds after his cock stiffened in her mouth before he could feel the orgasm gathering in his balls. He barely managed to bite out a warning to Hermione, � - can�t wait - don�t - stop - swallow - Oh�ohohohh�Now!� so that she had barely time to allow his cock to slip from her mouth before he was shooting his release all over her breasts and the chair and his trousers.
Hermione stared at him, thinking how gorgeous he looked in his abandon, and whilst she waited for his breathing to return to normal and his brain cells to regenerate, she scooped a trail of his cum from her stomach and brought it to her mouth to taste. Next time, she vowed, she would not stop when he told her; next time she would take every droplet of his release right into her body through the less conventional entrance.
Finally, Draco stirred and his eyes opened immediately seeking Hermione out where she still crouched before him. He sucked in a large breath before whispering, �Merlin, that was fucking amazing, Granger. I didn�t think you wanted to do that, you never -�
Hermione shook her head, embarrassed but pleased with herself. There could be absolutely no doubt that Draco had enjoyed it as much as she did. �No, it�s not that. I just wasn�t sure how to -�
�Exactly like that!� Draco assured her fervently. �But now I�m going to need a while to recover; I haven�t shaken off the after-effects of that place fully yet, and you -�
Hermione was amazed that he could still make her blush like this. �It�s ok. I don�t need -�
�Yes, you do,� Draco interrupted. �And so do I. Come on,� he stood up from the chair, his spent cock still framed in the vee of his opened fly, level with her face and Hermione had to seriously resist the temptation to pounce on it again. He held out a hand to help her up, and she found she needed it as her joints protested the prolonged kneeling. When she was upright in front of him, he picked her up in his arms and carried her across to the enormous bed, where he deposited her in the centre of the quilt and kicked his remaining clothes off before sprawling out at her feet, staring up at her though his lashes. �I want to watch you while we�re waiting,� he whispered encouragingly.
�What?� Hermione frowned, not quite sure she understood his request.
�I want to watch you wanking,� Draco said hoarsely, taking his soft cock in his hand and stroking himself leisurely. �Show me how you play with yourself�.let me see where you like to be touched, so I can get better -�

�Draco!� Hermione gasped, going scarlet with embarrassment. �I can�t - I don�t -� She stammered, clasping both hands over her face and curling into a mortified ball on the bed. Draco was surprised at her reaction to say the least. He immediately crawled up beside her and tugged her hands away.
�What�s the matter? There�s nothing wrong with us watching each other - you�ve seen me wanking - I thought you liked it -� he added worriedly.
Hermione turned her head into the pillow. �I did - I do,� she murmured wretchedly. �But that�s you. I just - I�ve never�I don�t -�
�You don�t what?� Draco asked and she could hear the hurt creeping back into his voice. �You don�t want to let me share that with you?� He was already withdrawing from her, mentally as well as physically, no doubt a by-product of his emotional visit this morning and Hermione knew she would have to be very quick to salvage what could turn out to be a very damaging situation.
�No!� She grabbed at his arm, and he winced. �That�s not what I meant at all. Draco, I�ve never done that. I don�t know how to. I don�t think I�m very good at it, and - well, I just don�t think it would work.� She finished wretchedly before venturing a glance at Draco.
He looked stunned. �Are you telling me you have never masturbated? You�ve never played with your pussy, touched your clit?� Hermione, mortified at his explicit language, stared mutely at her clenched hands and shook her head.
�Well, I tried once or twice last year,� she allowed when he seemed to be waiting for a reply. �But it didn�t work, and so I decided I couldn�t be very good at it�� she trailed off miserably.
Draco could barely contain a bark of laughter. That was so unlike the over-achieving Gryffindor princess the whole school knew and - well - loved, that he couldn�t help but be amused by it. Then it stuck him forcefully that it also meant she had never had an orgasm which he had not been responsible for. He growled in his throat, and although some dark macho demon prodded him to keep it that way, a larger part of him wanted even more to be the first person she shared this with also.
�Oh, no baby,� he whispered hotly in her ear. �I know you�re good at this, too. You just need the right motivation. Give me your hand,� without waiting for her compliance, he took her right hand in his and led it down between her legs. �Feel this,� he whispered. �You�re so wet - you got so fucking horny from sucking me off, didn�t you?� He taunted, and Hermione knew he was right; if ever she would be able to find that elusive pleasure, it would probably be now. She ached for his cock inside her, but he wasn�t ready, so maybe she could help herself; she certainly had the right fantasy this time, which was the one thing she had been unable to successfully create before.
�That�s right,� she heard his voice dark and seductive in her ears, and realised that he had let go of her hand and she was still exploring on her own. �Use your other hand - play with your tits,� he directed and she moaned in spite of herself. Before that night in Pringle�s office, she had never thought herself the type of girl to be aroused by crudity. Draco Malfoy was teaching her a lot of things about herself she had never known before. He was being so explicit and it was making her hotter than the Sahara in July. She obeyed his directive, pinching at her diamond hard nipples with her left hand, alternating between one breast and the other until the sound of his harsh panting pierced the haze of her lust.
She searched him out with her eyes and found him crouched by her thighs, his hand wrapped around his now fully erect cock, moving with agonizing slowness so as not to loose it before she finished. The sight caused a renewed flood of arousal to wash over her, and instinct guided her fingers to slip inside her aching passage, leaving her to rub concentric circles over her throbbing clit with her thumb. �Draco, I need you inside me�.� she moaned, her hips lifting off the quilt and straining towards him.
�Not yet,� he groaned, sounding quite unlike himself. �I want you to finish yourself first - I want to see you come, but Oh, God be quick, I can�t hold it much longer. Come for me, baby - come now, so I can fuck your brains out -�
And that was what it took for Hermione - the sight of his strained face, the beads of sweat gathering on his forehead, his teeth biting down on his lower lip as he stared intently at her fingers working in and out of her slit. �Oh!� She gasped as it happened, her eyes rolling back in her head and a litany of incoherent grunts breaking from her lips.
Draco lasted until the second moan before he pounced, tugging her fingers away from her entrance and thrusting home all in one fierce movement. The rasp of his cock sliding over her already raw nub, sent Hermione into an immediate second orgasm, and she wailed out his name as he drove fiercely into her, pushing as deep as he could get.
Hermione clung to him, instinctively wrapping her arms and legs around his body as he thrust ever more erratically into her; he was going to come any second, she could tell by the harsh grunts in her ear and she crooned his name softly as he stiffened and exploded, pouring his release into her waiting depths. He shuddered as he climaxed and words spilled unchecked from his lips, �Oh Mina - I love you. Oh, God - I love you, I love you�� before he collapsed heavily on top of her limp and drained from the intensity of his orgasm.
Hermione continued to hold him tight against her until his breathing leveled out and he rolled to one side so as to avoid crushing her totally. They lay in awkward silence, the weight of Draco�s unguarded confession too enormous for Hermione to even process. She was still wondering if she had just imagined his impassioned words when she heard him ask accusingly, �Did you hear me?� She nodded uncertainly, �Well?� He demanded. �Don�t you have anything to say?�
Hermione winced and stammered in her confusion, �I - um. Well - I always thought it was foolish to take notice of what men say when they�re in the grip of passion, so you don�t need to worry that I might be getting ideas or - or anything.�
Draco groaned. He was a complete idiot; he had never meant to say anything to her so soon, and look at him - the very first time he saw her after his realisation, and he spilled his guts like a twelve year-old boy, and instead of taking her lead and letting it lie - using the perfect cop-out she had given him, he had to go and push the issue. Where was his highly vaunted control now? It seemed to have taken a hike - just shut up, Draco, he threatened himself. Let it go.
He had almost managed to wrest his unruly tongue into behaving, when Hermione�s voice asked tentatively, �Are you going to say it again, now that we�re - calmer,� and all his resolve scattered.
He tugged her chin up to look into her passion-drowsed eyes and searched for the right words. �Would you believe me if I did?� He asked cautiously.
She bit her lip and looked deliciously confused. Hell, he was confused, too. How on earth had such a thing happened? �I - I would want to,� she confessed at last, still nervous of letting the remaining fragments of her guard down before this person, this Slytherin who had made her life a misery for so long. She had trusted him with her body, and he had not let her down - could she really trust him with the last piece of her that she hadn�t already given him - her heart. Or was that even true anymore either? In reality, she had already surrendered it to him hadn�t she? The only question being whether she was ready to tell him so.
Draco sighed and pulled her tighter into his arms, �I don�t want to scare you away,� he muttered. �I should have kept my mouth shut. You�re right; passion does loosen up people�s tongues - but that doesn�t necessarily mean they lie, you know.�
�No - Draco - I�m not scared away,� Hermione hurried to reassure. �I just wanted to be sure. If we say the words, then the pretence dies here - this ceases to be an affair that we can walk away from without regrets.�
�I don�t think it was ever really that,� Draco mumbled. �Not since that evening in the Quidditch stands�not for me, at least,� which was the closest he could come to a declaration without using the words again.
�Nor me, either,� Hermione confessed quietly, linking her fingers with his. She didn�t give him the words, but nonetheless his heart leapt as if she had, until she rolled away from him and picked up her discarded dress from the floor. �Could you -� she asked, waving a hand vaguely at herself. �My wand is still in my house,� and Draco understood that she needed a cleaning spell before she faced all her relatives.
He waved his fingers and cast a quick Scourgify in her direction, then sat up on his bed as she slipped the dress back on and turned around to ask his assistance with the zip. When she was finally tidy again, she sent an irritated glance his way.
�Are you intending to meet my family stark naked, Draco?� she asked, and he sent her a startled look. �What? I thought you wanted to come back with me? Did you change your mind again?�
�No!� Draco leapt from the bed, �No, of course not. Are you sure you want me to come? Is this the end of the pretence then. Do your parents know about - us?�
Hermione shook her head. �No - and no. They know I broke up with Ron, and I�m sure my mother suspects there�s someone else, but I think she�s got the idea in her head that it�s Anthony Goldstein,� she grimaced guiltily, not willing to mention the two owls she had received from Tony so far this holiday, or the fact that she had run into him in Diagon Alley when she posted Draco�s gift and had been unable to avoid his invitation to have coffee. Draco�s expression darkened just at the mention of the other boy�s name and Hermione rushed on to explain. �My folks won�t mind if you come tonight; they will just think you�re a school friend, and they always welcome my friends - unless you want to tell them already?�
�I just want to spend Christmas with you, and if you have to go, then I�m coming with you - I don�t care where or what we say to people,� Draco muttered. �Tell me what to wear, and let�s go.�
When Hermione had chosen a pair of dressy black trousers and a blue knit jumper which did amazing things for his eyes and almost made her change her mind about going home, they both took hold of a corner of the letter, and Hermione whispered the words which had brought her here, �Oh, Draco,� and they were pulled away from his bedroom and tossed and turned until they stumbled to a landing in hers.
Hermione immediately leapt up and examined herself in the mirror to make sure that the previous hour�s activities and the journey did not show too disgracefully in her appearance. Draco merely stayed where he had landed, and took his first good look at a Muggle house.
Hermione�s parents were both professional people; by most standards they were fairly well off. Of course, compared to the Malfoy fortune it was a mere drop in the ocean, but even so Draco was quite surprised at how affluent his surroundings were. The Grangers lived in a very nicely renovated Tudor cottage - actually three cottages joined together, complete with a thatched roof - on the outskirts of the village. Although there were other houses nearby on either side, the gardens were planted with sufficiently mature trees and shrubs that you could barely see them. Out of Hermione�s bedroom window and beyond the end of the back garden he could see fields and hedgerows, barren now in the winter chill, but no doubt lush and golden in the summer sun. Draco suddenly felt a little foolish for all his ignorant taunts during the past six years.
Turning away from the window, he looked around Hermione�s bedroom, but whereas he could appreciate the country outside the house and relate to the open spaces, the absolute foreign-ness of her room brought him crashing back to the undeniable reality that he was in Muggle territory now. Her room was full of objects he had only ever seen in controlled circumstances in class or in books.
In one corner of the room was something he was sure was a computer; Professor DiBona still had not managed to charm one to work in Hogwarts, and so this was his first close encounter with the thing - it had a picture box like a television, but instead of showing moving images, a bright red ball was bouncing around inside the screen changing shapes and occasionally exploding into red and gold words which read Gryffindor Rules, before breaking up and swirling back into abstract shapes again.
Hermione�s bookcases were crammed with the kind of strangely bound books the likes of which were only found in the darkest recesses of Flourish & Blotts upper level, penned by people he had never heard of; Jane Austen, David Eddings, Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz - someone called Tolkien who did not seem to have a first name.
He did recognise the tv/vcr which was on a chest of drawers at the end of her bed; on a shelf above the tv was an assortment of stuffed animals, including a fat orange cat with black stripes and a squashed-looking face which looked startlingly like Crookshanks. Draco wondered where on earth she had found such a toy.
The only thing which was remotely familiar to Draco was a poster-sized picture of the Gryffindor Quidditch team from Oliver Wood�s last year, which had no doubt been blown up from one of Colin Creevey�s photographs and was stuck on the inside of her open wardrobe door; and that of course led him to the sight of a closet quite bare of any manner of robes, being full instead of brightly colored Muggle garments, many of which were crammed hastily inside or falling onto the floor.
There were more unidentifiable electrical appliances on Hermione�s dressing table, one of which she picked up and wound into her hair, whilst muttering about frizz and mousse.
�What is that?� Draco asked, coming up behind her until they were both framed in the mirror, which stayed obligingly quiet. �What are you doing with it?�
Hermione smiled at his reflection behind her. �It�s a hot brush,� she answered. �It helps turn the frizz into curls so I don�t look so much like I just stuck a finger in the electric socket.� Her words made absolutely no sense, so Draco left her to it, and instead studied the pictures she had stuck around the edge of the silent mirror. None of them moved, a precaution he understood, but in spite of being Muggle photos he noted that at least half were of Potty and the Weasel, frozen forever by Muggle technology. There were pictures of other people Draco did not recognise; girls pulling faces and hugging each other, older people who had to be relatives. It made him suddenly uncomfortably aware that Hermione had a completely separate second life, of which he knew very little and understood even less. He felt insecurity sweeping over him, and swallowed convulsively, wondering if this had actually been such a good idea after all.
Hermione finished performing with the hot brush and put it back on the dresser, next to her wand. Draco gulped as he stared at the two symbols of her separate lives laying there next to each other. �I can do this,� he muttered, and she smiled at him, seeming to understand what he was thinking.
�Of course you can,� she whispered as she moved over and embraced him. He felt his worry seeping away at her touch. �Just watch at first, and you�ll soon be fine. You�re a quick learner. Oh, but first I need to use a charm on you to make it easier to talk to people.� She explained her adaptation of the babbling hex to cover up for wizarding words, and applied it to Draco�s throat. �There, that should cover the majority of things that come up in casual conversation, but most people will probably be too stuffed with turkey and tipsy with port to be attempting any deep interrogations, except maybe -� she broke off just as Draco began to worry about that word for a knock had sounded on the outside of her bedroom door.
�Hermione - are you awake?� A man�s voice called from the landing. �Aunt Grace and Uncle Frank are here, and the Morriseys will be across shortly.�
�Yes, Dad - I�m just doing my hair. I�ll be down in a bit,� Hermione called cheerily, and they heard the sound of footsteps receding down the hallway. �Okay, this is what we�ll do,� she said decisively, turning back to Draco. �I am going to go down there and tell them I got an owl from you asking if you could hang out this afternoon because your Mum was called away to visit a sick relative. I will tell them I said it would be fine and you will Apparate into the garden,� she pulled him over to the window and pointed to a shadowed spot beside the shed, �there - in precisely ten minutes. I will come out to meet you and we will walk back into the house through the kitchen.�
Draco was truly beginning to look concerned now, and Hermione eased into his arms reaching up to press a lingering kiss to his mouth. �I�m glad you�re here,� she whispered before slipping out of his increasingly desperate embrace. �Remember - ten minutes,� she said as she left the bedroom.
*****************************
Here is the next chapter. I know I said it wouldn�t be a long wait, but I was overcome with the need to redecorate my living room and my bathroom, so despite the mostly-finished state of the chapter, I was distracted from the minute nit-picking I usually do by paint and masking tape.
I hope that with the kids back in school, I will find more time to devote to this; unfortunately, the summer brought with it a lot of obligations to work on the house which can be more easily ignored in the cold weather, but as I am sure you understand, ignoring them too long can make life very expensive, and since my last relationship finished, I have no one to do it for me. Sigh.
I hope it was worth the wait.
Blue

9.12.05
PS Threesisters, of course you can use Reunion Row. Hope I am not too late saying so for your story. And to everyone else - even the threatening ones, thanks for sticking with this story.
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