Recap:
Draco looked down at his son and smiled.
"I think you're right."
Chapter 22: Aftermath
Draco yanked open the front door, as if it were the cause of his disquiet, a set glare for the person on the other side. One would think they were unwelcome when in fact it had been him who sent the owl and request. Ginny stepped into the foyer, removed her cloak, then hung it on the wall and turned to him, her eyes asking what her mouth did not.
"She's been crying for four hours straight," he groaned, gesturing down the hall. "She's in the library so she doesn't wake Tarquin."
"What's the matter?" she asked, already making for the massive book-lined room. "She's not— "
"No, it's not depression," he answered, cutting her off. "She...Well, you'll see."
They walked briskly down the painting-lined, rug-strewn corridor until they reached the second to last room on the right. Two large wooden doors with ornate ornamentation closed off the library and behind them Ginny could hear the faint whimper of a sobbing woman. She opened the doors without another moment's hesitation.
"Oh Ginny!" Hermione cried, flying from the floor where she'd been sitting, her blanket falling off her shoulders. Ginny didn't know whether she was truly that upset, surprised at her appearance, or Draco had told her she'd been sent for. Either way, she was having more than a little difficulty holding up the much heavier woman (for she had only had the baby two weeks before). "Ginny, I'm a terrible mother!"
She looked over her shoulder to Draco for an explanation. He only rolled his eyes and made a gesture as if to say, "See what I have to deal with?"
"Why do you think you're a terrible mother?" she asked cautiously.
"I can't even change his diaper properly!" Hermione wailed, clutching her best friend's shoulder even tighter. "Draco had to do it. Draco has done everything for him! I can't do this, Gin, I can't! How can I raise my baby when I can't even—"
"You're just new at it," Ginny said, stroking her back as if she really believed it would make a difference. "These things take time, sweety. I'm sure I'll have the same troubles once Harry and I have children."
"That's exactly what I told her. She won't listen to a word I say," Draco growled, crossing his arms childishly across his chest.
"But why can you do it!" Hermione screaming, flinging herself off of Ginny and brandishing an accusatory finger at the father of her child.
"I've been a father for eight years! I've done it all, woman! Why can't you understand that! You're the most brilliant fucking witch I've ever met and you can't see that it takes time to get the hang of this!"
The room went graveyard-silent. Both girls' eyes were trained on Draco, their expressions unreadable. He didn't know what they were capable of, but he made no move to leave or take back what he'd said. After all, it was only true. Harsh and said in anger, but true.
The silence ticked on for a full minute.
And then Hermione rushed forward, slamming Draco hard into the nearest bookshelf. Ginny was about to intervene, when she saw what Hermione did next. She kissed him full on the mouth, the sort of kiss that the receiver cannot ignore, filled with passion, love and urgency. Harry had kissed her that way countless times.
"You really think I'm brilliant?"
He rolled his eyes, but nodded nonetheless.
"Umm...I should be going," Ginny said, feeling suddenly out-of-place. "Send me an owl about lunch, 'Mione." And then she was gone.
"I'm going to bed," Hermione whispered, because she still hadn't moved back to her old flat yet, though neither saw fit to breech the subject, then she too was gone.
Draco stared at the space she had occupied only moments ago, a hard, cold sensation toying with his innards. He had been so sure—two weeks prior, when she'd confessed her love to him in the delivery room—that she was going to accept his proposal soon. And while that kiss confirmed what she'd said in the hospital, he wondered if she would ever want to be with him. Because if loving him wasn't enough, then what was?
"What's the diagnosis, doc?" Hermione asked, kicking her legs out like a child, her hands clutched in her lap. It made Julian want to give her a lollipop and a pat on the head. He hadn't seen her this happy since Tarquin was born.
"You've recovered brilliantly, Hermione," he said, offering her his hands to help her off the examination table. "In fact, I'm surprised you've become this healthy this quickly. Draco must be taking excellent care of you."
Her smile faltered a little at the mention of Draco's name.
"I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to bruise your happiness. I was enjoying that smile of yours."
"No, it's fine Julian," she sighed as she walked behind the screen to change back into her clothes. "You didn't say anything...It's just...You know how things are with me and Draco. And on top of that me not being able to care for Tarquin the way I want to...Well, until last week...I just...I realized during an argument we were having that maybe he did care for me as much as I do for him, like everyone's been saying all along, but I shut him down and I keep jabbing at him that we'll never be married—so how am I supposed to tell him I do want to marry him, that I've loved him for so long and so much I'm hallow inside at the thought we won't be together this way forever? How can I tell him this when he's seen what a coward I've been? Julian...What if he doesn't want to marry me anymore?"
Julian came forward and took Hermione's face in his hands, locking their eyes together.
"Hermione, there is no possible way Draco will ever not want to marry you. Understand?"
She nodded, not because she agreed, but because she knew that's what he required before he let her leave.
"Then go," he laughed, dropping his hands. "I expect my invitation to the wedding within the month."
"You're such a great father," Hermione mused from her seat in the rocking chair, where she had just been breast-feeding Tarquin. Draco, standing several feet away, was changing their son before setting him down to sleep.
"Kanika was surprised too," he said, not turning to look at her. "Though I suppose I don't really give off the 'father-of-the-year' vibe, huh?"
Hermione was too shocked by his obvious attempt at a joke that she didn't laugh, but sort of spurted, causing him to look at her over his shoulder, smirking playfully. Who was this man, she thought, standing before her? Surely he wasn't the same Draco she'd known most of her life. He turned back to Tarquin, finished putting him down, then came over to Hermione, offering her his hands. She obliged, allowing him to pull her up. But when she went to pull away and walk out of the nursery, he wouldn't let her go. She gave him a quizzical look, went to say something, but was silenced by a strong, carnal kiss, backing her out of the room, closing the door behind them.
"Draco," she breathed, her entire being overcome with that all-too-familiar tingling sensation. His head plunged down without giving her a reply, his lips hot and hungry on the taught flesh of her neck. She craned herself back, allowing him better access, her arms snaked around his shoulders, fingernails digging eagerly into his back.
Then, without warning, he bent down, scooped her up, and carried her into their bedroom. He tossed her on the bed, his hands caressing her body outside her clothes, then soon beneath, until he could stand it no longer and began tearing passionately at them, his breathing quickened, his eyes hazy and wanting.
Hermione braced herself for his entrance—this being the first time they would have had sex since Tarquin's birth—but was instead met with another surprise. Kissing down her stomach, he made his way between her legs, his fingertips toying with the dripping inner folds of her womanhood. She looked up, strained her neck, and saw him smirk devilishly up at her seconds before he licked his lips, then drove his tongue hard and deliciously into her, suckling and massaging the hot pink flesh in an almost loving manner.
Her toes curled, her back arched, Hermione's release was loud and much appreciated by her partner. He climbed back up on top of her, giving her flushed, warm cheeks tender kisses. When she had just about recovered from the sweeping wave of her intense orgasm, he pushed slowly inside her, looking into her eyes, searching them for what, she could not decipher.
When they were finished, they lay in bed, in each others arms, satisfied and breathing a bit harder than normal. A thin sheen of sweat covered their naked bodies. Hermione shifted her position, grabbed her discarded shirt that had landed on the headboard, and dabbed Draco's beaded forehead.
"Marry me," he whispered. She was so shocked she actually dropped her shirt over his face. He pulled it off, tossing it on the floor, and went on. "Hermione, what reason have you to deny it any longer? You told me—"
"Yes," she blurted out, then gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "Yes, I'll marry you."
His face broke into a genuine and most un-Malfoy-ish grin. He reached into the top drawer of the nightstand and pulled out the small velvet box that held the ring he'd had custom made for Hermione all those months ago, on that fateful day he realized he was in love with a Muggle-born.
Flashback:
Draco winced at he stood, his legs from the knees down caked with mud. His back cracked loudly as he righted himself; he left his broom on the ground.
"That's game," Harry declared, landing gracefully beside him. Ron and Ginny, who was Draco's teammate, landed moments later. "What's gotten into you, Malfoy? You've never played this hard before."
"Yeah," Ginny added. "Harry and Ron always cream us. What's up?"
Draco grumbled something incoherent at them, then bent down to retrieve his broom and access the damage. This was what Harry and Ron did with Draco every few weeks, at Hermione's request; play Quidditch. Ginny, having caught wind of it after the second time, demanded she be involved as well. No one objected. Besides, Draco had needed a partner.
"What was that?"
"Granger," he hissed, his hand clutched so tightly around the neck of his broom they thought for sure it would snap.
"What's she been doing?"
"She's so damn insufferable!" he shouted, as if he were yelling at her instead of her friends. "Mood swings. Demands. She's like a damn infant!"
"Then why did you want her to move into the Manor?" Ron inquired casually. They were used to Malfoy's outbursts by now, and took them with a grain of salt. "Obviously the two of you bicker. Anyone could see this would happen."
Draco sneered up at the male redhead, then dropped his shoulders and groaned, defeated.
"I mean, I know you wanted to protect her," Ron continued. "To make sure she delivered the baby ok, but you could have done that with her at her own flat. Face it mate, you love her. You wanted her close to you, so you could pretend you were a family. And, crazy as that sounds, I think it worked." He patted his stunned former-enemy on the back, smiling broadly. "I'd start shopping for a ring soon," he joked. "Marriage is the next step, right?"
Draco's eyes widened and he shoved Ron back, sending him into Harry, who fell back into Ginny. He was gone before any of them at time to react.
2 Hours Later...
"I didn't think you were going to take Ron seriously."
Draco jumped several feet in the air, the whirled around to see Ginny standing behind him, smiling coyly.
"What are you getting at?" he snapped. "I'm walking through."
"And you just happened to stop and tie your shoe outside the window of a jewelry dealer? Right, Draco."
"Well don't just stand there and pester me," he hissed, snatching her wrist. "I'm not a woman. I don't do these things."
Ginny only nodded and let him drag her into the shop. And even she didn't realize what a gorgeous ring he would purchase. The price tag was through the roof and when they walked out several long hours later, Ginny was shocked to silence.
"What?" he asked, checking the ring for the hundredth time in the light of the street lamps. "You've had your jaw hanging like a snake since I bought it."
Ginny looked up, her eyes misted.
"You really do love her, don't you?"
"I have to get home." And with a "pop" he was gone.
End Flashback:
Draco slipped the magnificent ring onto Hermione's finger, his soul seeming to expand and contract as he did so. This was it, this was the rest of their lives.
Hermione giggled with joy, pulling him to her so they toppled back onto the bed. "What made you change your mind?"
"I could ask you the same thing," he said, pointing to the ring. "You said no to me before."
"And you said you were never going to ask me again."
He sighed, but answered her nonetheless.
"Because I knew you never would."
"Doesn't that bother you? That I would never bring it up? Why would you still want to marry me after that? I was terrible to you."
"And I wasn't? All through school? Come on, Hermione. You're entitled to a lot more than a few months apprehension."
"Draco, this is incredible," she whispered, nuzzling her face into his chest. "I know I always say it, but it's so damn strange that things ended up the way they did with us."
"Not really," he countered, and she could feel his lips smirk against her forehead. He would always enjoy a good argument, especially with her.
"How so, Mr. Mafloy?"
"Well, you see. You and I are very much a like, and very much the exact opposite of one another. Passionate, head-strong, stubborn, smart, volatile. If we didn't kill each other at this point, then being together only seems logical."
"You say it so matter-of-factly," she said, pursing her lips together in mock-annoyance. Though she could have very well been just that, see as he was describing their relationship in textbook terms, with no feeling or emotion.
"Well that's how it is with us, isn't it? We've proposed everything to each other. I proposed to watch Farsiris, you proposed you adopt her, I proposed we have a second child, and so on. It's all very much like a business arrangement and I like it that way. I don't think it could have worked any other way."
Now Hermione really was turning sour. She moved her head back and looked into her fiance's eyes.
"What?" he asked innocently, attempting to pull her to him. At this she groaned loudly, then went to get out of bed. He snatched her back to him, however, and forced their lips together. "Hermione," he laughed, stroking her soft, bushy hair.
"What?" she snapped, glaring heatedly at him.
"I love you."
Hey people! Remember me? Hahahha! Sorry about the delay. Busy schedule you know. But I'm back for this chapter. One more to go! Woooo! Then it's FINALLY finished. Yippy!
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