Ransom Drysdale: Manipulation

The Gala

Ransom and Hermione do some last minute adjusting to their clothes before the limo door was opened from the outside by the driver. Ransom stepped out, reaching a hand back in for Hermione.

She rested her hand in his, gracefully exiting the limo. Looking magnificent. She wore her hair down, as always, it was straight and hanging below her waist. She wore no makeup, not that she needed it.

Ransom couldn't stop looking at her. Her skin was glistening, a light and gorgeous layer of sweat lining the groves of her face. Their after-sex glow making the both look god and goddess-like.

Once she was fully out of the limo his hand moved from hers to the groove right above where her hip was. Her tiny arm could only reach the small of his broad back and she rested her delicate fingers there.

They walked into the doors together, entering a huge ball room together. The outside of the room was lined with tables, there was a giant whole left in the middle of the ball room for dancing and mingling.

There were easily a hundred people there. Hermione looked unfazed, as usual, but Ransom was nervous. As they walk in they're greeted by a man.

He's taller than Hermione, which wasn't hard to accomplish, but shorter than Ransom. His hair was night-black. Clearly not his original hair color.

He looked intimidated by Ransom. And by the way he was looking at Hermione, Ransom was glad he was there and glad the tiny man was frightened by his larger size.

"Hermione! I'm so glad you made it. Anastasia said you may not be coming. And who is this?" He gestures towards Ransom with a look of disgust on his face.

Ransoms mind was racing. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in the limo or the way this man looked at Hermione. He felt possessive of her.

He knew he had wanted their first time together to be special but he couldn't help himself. And he knew that regardless of how it happened it would be special because it was her.

"This is Ransom Drysdale. He's my date." Hermione looks up at him with a certain shine in her eyes that makes him weak in his knees. She smiles and he gives her the same look back.

Ransom looks away from Hermione over to the man and reaches his hand out. "You can call me Hugh." Hermione giggles as she recalls what she had read in Ransoms case file.

He only made the help call him Hugh. He saw that Marcus was flirting with Hermione and he didn't like it, so he was being an asshole. His only line of defense.

"I'm Marcus, Hermione and I go way back." They shake hands and the tension in the room rises. "Oh do you? She's never mentioned you." Ransom says dryly.

"You know, Hugh, she's never mentioned you either. I guess she's just a quiet person." Hermione can hardly hide her smile as the two men spit half-assed insults at each other.

"I'll catch up with you later Marcus, Ransom and I are going to go mingle." Her free hand slides down his chest, fixing his tie and brushing her hand over his broad shoulder smoothing his jacket.

"Okay, it was nice to meet you Hugh. Hermione, I will see you later." Hermione leads Ransom to a group of people. A red headed women stood a bit taller than Hermione but extremely timid in the group of outgoing people.

"Anastasia?" Hermione's hand leaves Ransoms body and pulls the ginger into a hug. "Hermione! You look gorgeous! And who's this handsome devil?"

The women slip out of each others grips and Hermione's hand goes back to Ransom and his back to her. "This is Ransom. Ransom this is my friend, and personal assistant, Anastasia."

"It's nice to meet you." He extends his free hand and they shake. "Oh, Ransom as in," She pauses, trying to finish her sentence without sounding like she was judging him. She failed miserably.

"Ransom Drysdale? Like...the uhm- murder," She whispers the word murderer, "Hermione is writing about?" Hermione's face turns to straight anger. Ransoms, pain.

"Anastasia!" Hermione practically yelled, drawing slight attention to them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Yes she did. Hermione's grip tightened around Ransom, pulling him closer.

"It's okay, I did do pretty terrible things, but I have changed. I know that's what everyone says, but I have." He looks down at Hermione, she picks up on his unspoken words and the softness in his eyes.

He's trying to tell her that she's part of what changed him. Most of it actually. "Ransom it's not okay, nobody should just say things like that." Hermione says softly.

She's looking up at him with doughy eyes. Sorry written in them. Ransom practically melted at how gentle and sweet she was to him. She looks back at Anastasia with daggers.

"Ms. Hale I'm so sorry." Ana only calls Hermione that when she knows she's done something terribly wrong. "You should be apologizing to Ransom."

"Ransom, I really am terribly sorry. I shouldn't judge. I don't know the whole story and I don't know you." Hermione nods, satisfied with her answer.

"It's alright Anastasia. Hermione, do you wanna grab a drink?" They tune out everyone else in the room as she nods and they go to the open bar.

The sit down, facing each other on the barstools. They sat extremely close, as close as the could be without practically mounting each other right there.

They drink champaign together. Making small talk. Hermione eventually has enough and turns in on her stool laying her head on Ransoms shoulder.

"Are you tired?" He chuckles as she lets out a long sigh. "Will you dance with me before we go?" Without hesitation Ransom stands up and holds his hand out to her.

She takes it and he leads her to the dance floor. He pulls her close to him. Her head rests against his chest. One hand on the small of her back, the other entwined with hers. Her free hand is on the small of his back as well.

"I didn't know you could dance Ransom." She chuckles as they sway to the music. "I'm full of surprises Ms. Hale." She smile against his chest. Her eyes closed.

Once the song ends Hermione pulls away, looking up at Ransom. She smiles with her eyes. Her mouth in a slight pout. She looks at him like he's the only person in the world.

"Thank you for tonight Ransom." He smiles and nods a little 'you're welcome'. She stands on her toes and places a light, sweet kiss on his lips. They close their eyes as their lips meet.

Only remaining the contact for a short second or two. As they pull away their eyes flutter open and they both smile uncontrollably. "Thank you, Hermione. How about we get you home?"

"Okay." She whispers. They sneak out without anyone noticing they had left. They had only been there until ten-thirty. The gala wasn't supposed to end until one in the morning.

But Hermione had already drank more than what she was used to and she was exhausted. She barely slept anymore. She would stay up all night writing.

She fell asleep on Ransoms chest on the way back to he store. When they got there she stayed asleep as he carried her upstairs. As he laid her in bed she started to wake up.

"Ransom?" She whispered. Barely conscious. "Can you stay?" She forces her eyes open. He would love to stay. And the limo driver already drove off.

"Yea, are you sure you want me to stay?" She nods as she closes her eyes again. Her hand reaches out to him. She takes it and sits next to her on the bed.

"Can I get you dressed?" Hermione mumbles and her head nods yes. She sits up slights and he unzips her dress. Nothing underneath of it, he grabs a t-shirt from her closet and puts it on her.

He gets ready for bed himself, stripping down to his boxers and tucking her in with him. They lay in bed together, she's already fast asleep snuggled up on top of him.

He falls asleep easily for the first time in several years. Not letting go of her through-out the night.