Dearest Readers,
here is the complete version of chapter 53 including the adult content. Enjoy.
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Ginny was sitting in the Griffindor common room and tried to concentrate on the potions essay she was expected to write. It was hopeless. The letter from Harry was at the bottom of the pile of books before her on the table. She resisted the temptation to read it again. She had done so at least two dozen times in the last hour.
A part of her was happy that her friend Hermione was awake again, but there was also the part that knew she would be having a child in March and for some reason that was really depressing. She couldn't understand why she would be wanting a child herself already. Being only eighteen and still at school as well as having a career as professional Quidditch player waiting didn't really fit together. Sooner or later she would need to decide where her priorities lay, career or family. There would have been times when she would have thought that the choice would have been easy, but it wasn't any longer.
She drummed her fingers on the table in frustration. This essay was due tomorrow and she hadn't even managed half of what was expected. Ten inches instead of two feet wouldn't get her anyway. Not even with Slughorn who was given his students a lot more slack than Snape ever had. Images of the war and especially the final battle invaded her thoughts. Trying not to groan she did her best to banish them back into the dark recesses of her mind. Failing miserably her brother was lying in the Great Hall again. Tears were slowly starting to spill onto her cheeks.
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"I think, we should have insisted them coming back..."
"Cissy, this place might be big enough for the two of us, but there isn't room for a young couple. Especially teenagers like Draco and Hermione. You might not know, what kids get up to at that age, but we know of the results..."
Narcissa Malfoy looked at the man sitting at the diner table with her. She frowned. He was right of course. His flat wasn't made to accommodate both of them and a young couple. The reference to what her son had been up to with the brown haired witch made her realise that he wasn't the little boy any more she still saw when she looked at him. He was a young man now, expecting to become a father himself in a few months time.
"You're right." She exhaled deeply. His hand found hers.
"Don't worry. They'll be fine at her parents. Shaw has sent Dawlish with them."
They ate in silence for a while.
"Have we ever been so... reckless at that age?"
James Mulligan smiled. He knew that some of her house mates had been more than reckless when trying to win some of his. Several of the parties had been the talk of the school for weeks afterwards. The amount of Firewhiskey that had been consumed in their last year would have been enough to get half a dozen whales seriously plastered.
He smiled at her. "Believe me, we had our moments."
To his utter surprise she ever so slightly blushed.
"What?"
"Maybe I was just too worried about Lucius finding a way to get to me as that I ever thought it wise to let my guard down."
Caring arms encircled her.
"Lucky me that you can let your guard down now..."
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Hermione sat on the double bed in the guest room overlooking the garden and was lost in her thoughts. The day had been rather exhausting. After the incident with Ron in the hospital, Shaklebolt and the Head of the Auror Office had been wanting to talk to them. They had explained what had happened at their house, even so Draco had been smart enough not to tell them what kind of spell he had been using on his father. Using the Cruciatus Curse would land him in Azkaban regardless of the circumstances. He just pretended he couldn't really remember, having just used his magic unfocused, at least not on a specific spell.
She run her fingers over her tummy. The small human being that was growing within her would be born into a world where Voldemort didn't spread fear and terror any longer. He would have two loving parents and maybe there would be siblings in the future for him. Siblings... It was wonderful to fall asleep in Draco's arms. It was also rather frustrating that he was too afraid to make love to her. She sighed. She had been able to survive for so many years without doing more than kiss Ron occasionally. Then again, she didn't know what it would be like to be with a wizard that truly cherished her like the one in her life did.
She heard him in the bathroom next door. Dawlish was sitting in a comfy armchair on the landing. Her parents had insisted him taking the second guest bedroom, but he had declined with the words that he had been spending a lot of time sitting around, watching over them in the past month that one night more or less wasn't a big deal. He had been provided with tea and biscuits. Her mother hadn't taken no for an answer.
The door opened and a Draco only clad with his boxers came into view. Leaving his clothes on the chair in the corner he grinned as he saw her watching him.
"I know that you like what you see." he drooled.
"Oh, please... Just because you are gorgeous..." She blushed.
"Yes?" climbing into bed next to her he shuffled close and then whispered into her ear, "You just say that, because you want to get into my knickers." His voice was husky.
"I would never..." she started.
"Oh, no?" The tip of his tongue tasted her sensitive skin. She sighed wantonly. "I remember your hand...," her hand was gently placed on the fabric covering his growing erection. She felt his mouth on her own and just gave in to him.
'Merlin! Being able to kiss like this should be forbidden!'
Her brains became scrambled as he slowly found his way underneath the t-shirt she was wearing, caressing her skin in slow circles.
"Draco..." it was a mere moan.
"Yes, Lea?" soft lips feathered kisses down her throat.
Her hand found its way into his underwear and had him gasp as he felt her wrapping her fingers slowly around his manhood. It started slow and didn't really change before he wasn't growling in frustration. Hermione's mouth trailed over his collarbone, setting his skin on fire. Feeling her ministration arousing him to a state of delirium he lost all connection to reality. Only she was real, she and her wonderful, knowing fingers. Her rasping her teeth over his erect nipple threw him off the edge. Her lips silenced his unbridled moans for more.
He fell asleep in her arms not long after. Hermione smiled at the happy and contended grin on his face. He looked even more handsome than when he was awake. She sighed. Loving him was so wonderfully easy in moments like these, but she knew that there would be the day when they would be arguing over nothing. Hopefully it would be a long way away.
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They stayed with her parents for a few days before deciding that it was time to go back to their own home. Taking the Grangers out for diner tonight would be their thank you.
Hermione was just walking up to Draco who was standing in the garden, watching a couple of sparrows. She slipped behind him and put her arms around him.
"Hi, gorgeous." he turned around and wrapped her into a tight embrace.
They stood for a while just feeling the other one.
"Lea...?" he finally broke the silence.
"Yes?"
"I know, you might not be as keen as I'm, but can you imagine us getting married, soon?"
"How soon?"
"Before the end of the year?"
She looked up at him.
"Why?"
There was a pained expression flicking over his face for just a moment.
"I want our child to wear my name when he is born. I want you to wear my name. Now..."
She tried to think about it, but found she couldn't. She loved him and she wanted to get married, but was she really ready? She wasn't sure. Were there any reasons as to why she shouldn't marry him straight away? Her parents would be able to attend, it wouldn't be too obvious that she was pregnant, even so everybody at their wedding would know about it and she could avoid the large society affair his mother would probably think appropriate. So, did she want to marry him? Straight away?
"Hermione?"
"What about my friends?"
"What about them?"
"I want my friends to be at my wedding."
He wasn't quite sure what she tried to tell him.
"Of course your friends are going to be there. What is your point?"
"I want the Weasleys to be there."
He groaned. A horde of ginger haired morons wasn't really on his wish list.
"Well, do you really want Weaselbee to be there? After what he tried to do?" His voice was devoid of any sympathy and he saw her cringe at his choice of words.
"His name is Ron."
"Ron, Weaselbee, he is still a moron." he could see that this conversation was slipping into an argument, and fast.
"I don't call Goyle gargoyle, do I? Even so he would deserve it. And what about Pansy? That deranged witch has been cursing your mother. Let alone Crabbe. That idiot nearly killed us all."
He opened his mouth to answer, but found that he didn't have a reply.
"With these kinds of friends you are in no position to have a go at mine." her voice was agitated.
"Weasel tried to curse me in the orchard and he lied deliberately to your parents in order to antagonise them enough so that they would turn against me."
Fire was blazing in his eyes.
"He would have no scruples to ruin your wedding day just to try and get to me. What is his problem anyway?"
"He was just trying to look out for me."
"Looking out for you?" anger was rising in him and he was having a hard time to not shout at her. "He doesn't need to look out for you any longer. That is my job now. You are my fiancé now. Not his." and before he could stop himself, he added, "Or would you prefer to be his after all? Does all we shared in the last months mean so little to you? Have all your words been without meaning, without sincerity?
She gasped.
"I have loved you even so I thought that I would never even be able to talk to you. You were important enough to me in order to risk utter humiliation and ridicule. I would give my life to keep you and our son safe." he paused, his face had a red tinge, "Does our son mean nothing to you? Do I mean nothing to you?"
Her mind refused to process what he was saying. His tone was so sarcastic and cold. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes.
"I am proud enough to tell anybody that will listen that you are with me. I am proud to be the father to your child." his breath was heavy. "If you care more concerned about that lying git than me, the man that loves you, then maybe it was good that I didn't ask you earlier about becoming my wife."
He stepped away from her. Fury staining his face.
"I would have given you the world, if you had asked for it. I have offered myself, my heart, my soul, my love, but seemingly that is still not good enough for you."
Tears were spilling over her cheeks and she desperately tried not to sob in front of him.
"I love you, Hermione, pity you don't love me."
He turned and disapparated without another word.
Her knees gave way and she sank to the ground, crying.
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Harry sat in his kitchen and looked at a rather distraught Kreacher.
"She crying again. Kreacher can't make her stop. Miss Ginny not there to help."
Taking a deep breath he placed his hands on the shaking shoulders of his house elf.
"Kreacher, calm down. Who is crying?"
"Miss Hermione."
"Hermione? She is here?"
"In top guest room, Master."
"And when did she come here?"
"Shortly before Master comes home."
He looked at Kreacher and frowned. Why, for Merlin's sake, was his best friend back in his house, crying yet again? Where was the ferret? Wasn't he supposed to deal with her when she was sad or just needed a shoulder to cry on? Or was he the reason that she was crying? Again! A heavy sigh followed.
"Okay, Kreacher, just leave it to me."
"Yes, Master."
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He was sure that their fight had been as senseless as a chocolate kettle. He loved her and she loved him. Why had they been rowing over something as trivial as the Weasel getting invited to their wedding? He didn't really care, if that git was present or not. Maybe he preferred him attending in a way. That would ensure that he once and for all knew that he would never again be able to hurt her.
He punched the wall. The feeling of need for her warmth and tenderness engulfed him. Why did he tell her, that he didn't care about her friends? That equated to him saying he didn't care about her. Her friends had always been an important part of her life, in contrast to his own. A heavy sigh escaped him. The guys he had been hanging out with had been there because of his name, his influence, the power of his father. He frowned. Only Blaise had been different. He had always been his own man.
Was he ever going to get her back? There was the feeling of tiny paws on the small of his back. Yearning for anything had never been part of his life. It was now. He felt himself yearning for her embrace, her being flustered by him showing publicly how important she was for him. A sad smile appeared on his face. At school all the girls had been keen on being with him and he had never paid any attention to any of them, but now that there was one witch who deserved all of his attention and he didn't seem to be able to give it to her.
The soft mattress was reminding him of the nights they had spent in this bed. More pain tore at his heart. The long weeks of longing and despair came flooding back into his memories. All the days he had been hoping against hope that she would be next to him when he opened his eyes. Loneliness was gripping his soul. He didn't even care, that tears had started to make their ways over his pale cheeks. It didn't matter. Nothing did matter any longer. All the months next to her should have taught him that his arrogance got him nowhere that she wouldn't be impressed by anything but honesty. He had been afraid to be honest. After all this time he was still too much of a coward when it really came to the crunch.
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Her tears had long dried. She didn't know, why they had been rowing. It had been so pointless. Why had Draco got so worked up about her wanting to have Harry and the Weasleys at their wedding? They had been her friends and family for the past decade. How could he think, that she would do anything as important as getting married without them present? She wanted Ginny to be her bridesmaid.
She sighed. There had been the knowledge deep within her that he was unsure about them attending. He had been accusing Ron of being capable of spoiling the day for her. Not that she discounted the possibility, but he should have trusted her enough to know that she would deal with him, should he do anything inappropriate. Why did he have to become sarcastic instead of being honest about his feelings?
Wrapping her arms tightly around her pulled up legs Hermione thought of his words in the hospital as he had tried to calm her down. She had just slapped Ron across the face and Draco had told her that as long as she remembered the Dragon everything would be okay. The Dragon. She could feel its tail swishing. It felt as if it was sad as well. His body was forming a tight ball. His fiery breath was feathering over her skin. Longing spread through her soul, longing for the warm arms of Draco Malfoy.
