Move, Countermove

Hermione arrived at the restaurant on time and full of nerves. It had been six years since she had laid eyes on Draco and now she wondered if she did the right thing in accepting this invitation. What if he was married? She didn’t know if she could handle that.



She was shown to a private curtained dining area and looked around at her surroundings as the host took her cloak and hung it for her. She was looking closely at one of the paintings when she saw a shadow in the glass.



She turned and saw him looking at her. Silence overtook both of them. She couldn’t move. He hadn’t changed in his eloquence or his carriage. He stood tall and proud, with a few white blonde locks hanging over his forehead and the rest carefully combed and shining. His face was serene and passive, but he looked at her with relieved gaze as if he thought she might not have come.



The host took his cloak and an order for champagne then closed the curtain, leaving them alone.



Hermione continued just to look at him. He wore his dress robes with the same confidence and sophistication he always wore them with. He took a step forward. “Hello Hermione.”



“Hello Draco.” She told him, in a quiet voice. He took another step forward and Hermione was thrown back in time, to when they were in the room of requirement. Alone together as they were now, with only their wants and needs to dictate what they did.



He took another step and smiled. The smile was her undoing and she came forward as he opened his arms. Being in his embrace again filled her with emotions she wasn’t ready to deal with. She held back tears and blinked them away before they fell.



Draco held her tightly. Having her in his arms chased away the depression he felt when he had last seen her. To hold her again gave him a newfound joy and he refused to give it up again. He was here because he wanted her and he was going to ask her to see him again. So many things had changed in his life. She had told him if there was any way he could make it work to contact her and that’s what he was doing. He only had to make her see it.



The server arrived with their drinks and reluctantly they both let go and seated themselves. Hermione delighted in having a chair pulled out for her. She hadn’t been treated to such chivalry in a long time. They placed their orders and were again left alone.



“It’s been a long time Hermione.” He said with a smile, leaning toward her.



“Yes it has.” She agreed unable to look away. He seemed so much happier now and she wondered if he married or if he was divorced or what. If he was married then she shouldn’t even be here. She should have thought of that before accepting his invitation.



“Tell me what you have done with yourself.” He said watching her.



While they dined she told him of her legal career and how she now worked as one of the main prosecutors against dark wizards. He was fascinated and asked about her cases. She got over her nervousness talking about the most recent case.



She giggled. “You must be bored listening to me talk on like this.” She said.



“No I’m not. You have a fascinating career. I’m sure your very proud.” He said giving her one of those smiles she had come to love.



“Well, I’ve talked enough, tell me what happened with you. Did your father push the marriage? Are you married now?” She asked quietly, looking down at her plate.



“Hermione,” she looked up, “would I take a woman out to dinner if I was a married man?” He asked with a teasing grin.



“I honestly don’t know.” She said but still smiled. “You could have changed in so many ways since we finished school.” She said.



He nodded. She had a point. “No I’m not married.” He said quietly, and smiled wider and her look. “Your glad?”



“In a way.” She admitted. “I know you didn’t want to marry.” She said.



He nodded and remembered that day he told her of his fathers announcement. “As I recall, you made me feel much better that day.” He said lifting an eyebrow.



She blushed slightly and nodded. “So what happened?”



“I met her at a dinner my father held and she was having a hard time even holding her head up. She didn’t speak unless spoken to, and when she did, it was hard to hear her voice. She was a doormat plain and simple. Even if I had been thinking seriously about my fathers request, I knew I couldn’t marry her.”



“What did you do?” She asked, genuinely curious.



“I told my father outright that I wouldn’t marry her. I didn’t yell, I simply told him I couldn’t marry a woman I didn’t love.” Hermione looked shocked.



“You said no to Lucius Malfoy?” She was stunned.



“Well he is my father. He is different with mother and me then with most people, although I did expect a fight. He challenged what I said, saying that I just needed time, but I insisted. I just couldn’t marry her. My mother heard that tail end of the conversation and interrupted saying she would not force the issue.”



“And your father agreed with her?” She asked.



“It was either that or give up sex. I’ve seen my father sleep in his study a few times.”



Hermione laughed. “I knew there had to be someone in the world who could take Lucius Malfoy in hand.” Draco laughed along with her. “I’m glad you weren’t pressured into marriage Draco.”



“So am I.” He said.



“Can I ask you something?” She said softly.



“You can ask anything.” He told her.



“Why did you contact me after six years?” She asked.



Draco took a deep breathe in. He was prepared for this and ready to answer. “Well Hermione, I wanted to see you again. Do you remember what you told me when you left me on the train?” She blushed hard trying to forget that day and how she cried afterwards. “You told me to contact you when I figured out how to make something work.”



“Draco I know what I said and you don’t have……” She started but he stopped her.



“I know what you said, and I know I don’t have to do anything. Did you think I forgot about you?” She looked up at him without answering. “How could I forget you?” He reached out and took her hand, holding it gently. “I could never forget what we had. When you left me on the train I cried, for most of the trip home.” Hermione felt her heart beating faster. “I didn’t want to lose you and I knew I had no way of keeping you in my life. When I stood up to my father he changed. He gave me interest in business dealings and began teaching me what he knew.”



“I saw your name linked with his a few times at the ministry.” She said.



“Yes, with some of the money from the trust my mother set up for me I started venturing into deals on my own. The past few years have been spent creating my own fortune and I have succeed in so many ways. My father now respects my business sense and my life is now my own. He has stopped trying to influence anything I do or say. I have enough to buy my own estate but my mother wishes me to stay at the manor until I marry. Seeing as how she always supported me when father tried to control me, I gave in.”



“I’m glad your father sees you as a man.” She told him.



“Yes, but Hermione, I have my own life, my own plans and you told me to contact you when I found a way.” He moved closer. “I found a way Hermione.”



She was silent and felt like crying. Six years later when she was set on trying to live her life without living in the past, he had found a way. She kept a blank look on her face, but said nothing. He was silent as well, letting her thoughts occupy her.



Why had he waited six years? Why now? She wanted to ask these questions, but she had told him to find her and he did. She thought he would have forgotten those words.



“Draco…..” She stopped not knowing how to go on. This was too much, it was way too much. Six years. Six years he had taken. “Do you think I waited for you this whole time?” She asked with malice, just curiosity.



“No I don’t.” He said. He wasn’t sad just understanding. “I know it’s been a long time and to think you waited for me would be unrealistic.”



“Draco, why wait this long?” She asked, unsure of actually wanting the answer.



“It’s taken me a long time to get secure enough in my wealth to approach you. I didn’t start my own ventures into business until about three years after Hogwarts. It took time to learn from my father and build my reputation, then I saw the rewards.” She nodded. It had taken her a long build her own reputation as well.



“I just wasn’t expecting this.” She admitted. “I thought you were long gone from my life.” She said looking at him.



“I thought you might feel that way. I was actually terrified you might feel that way. Hermione I have never forgotten you. I tried to replace you but it was pointless, no one can replace you. I want what he had back Hermione, that’s why I contacted you. I have spent the last few years trying to get to a place where I have control and I can do anything. I did this so I could contact you again. I did this for you.”



She felt like crying. “I don’t know what to say.” She admitted. For the first time in her life, Hermione was completely baffled at how to continue. He had taken her final words to heart. She had given up after that first year or so thinking that he had moved on. He hadn’t forgotten her.



“I know this is sudden, and you can have all the time you want to decide. Make me wait for six years if you want. Although I wish you wouldn’t.” He added tongue in cheek.



“I need some time.” She said, looking down where he still held her hand. “I had thought you were gone.”



“I understand. I won’t make any demands of you.” He told her. The server came back and Draco took care of the bill. “Can I see you home?’ He asked.



“Of course.” She delighted in in the walk home from the apparition point and unlocked her door before turning back to him. “Thank you for dinner Draco. It was wonderful.”



“I would like to take you to dinner again, if you will let me.” He was so polite and gentlemanly in his manners and she felt herself melt at his words. She wanted more then anything to agree with him, but she had to think.



“I would like that. When I know what my schedule looks like I can owl you.” She suggested.



“I’d like that.” He said. “I’m going to kiss you goodnight now.” He said taking a step toward the door frame that she was standing in. Hermione froze, watching him as he neared her. Should she stop him? Should she tell him it was too soon? Should she……..



She was silenced when his lips lowered to hers. They were just as soft as they had been at Hogwarts. They had more power now, more depth of passion. Hermione leaned into him, unable to contain herself anymore.



She knew at that moment that Luna was right. She was holding every man to this standard and nobody measured up. Draco had no equal and it had taken her six years and his return to realize that.



She didn’t know when the door had shut, she didn’t know when she had dropped her purse. All she knew was she was responding to Draco’s kiss with a hunger that overpowered everything she had ever felt at Hogwarts.



She lifted a hand to his hair and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. She clutched his shoulders and tried to practically climb into his body.



“Hermione, it’s like heaven.” He said, bruising her lips with his eagerness, but she didn’t care. “I can’t get enough.”



Hermione felt her body go weak but she didn’t let go of him. She didn’t want to let go of him. She was vaguely aware of being lifted, only realizing it when she was up against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist. It had been far too long since she held him like this.



He was working her dress down, or trying to at least. She pulled away and slipped her arms free, letting the fabric fall to her waist. The ecstasy in Draco’s eyes at her unbound breasts was enough to sent her over the edge. He lifted his hands and cupped them, while he buried his face between them, inhaling deeply. She arched her body into his, needing more, much much more.



Draco knew that need all too well and in mere moments, had freed his cock. Using his wand to vanish her knickers, he slid inside her and they both cried out at the sheer bliss of being connected again.



Hermione clutched at his shoulders and thrust her hips forward. Draco thrust deep, hard, pushing her into the wall. She would be covered in bruises but she didn’t care. She was beyond all thought, all she wanted was more. She cried out, shrieking from the feel of him taking her body roughly, but she loved it. She had needed this, craved it.



Draco drove her body onward, pushing her harder and harder against the wall while he fucked her, holding her ass in a tight grip. She was soaked, and burning hot. She was close, he knew it, and he wanted to see her lose control. He reached between their bodies and found her clit, rubbing it with his finger. She let out a howl as she came hard, while Draco fucked her harder, coming inside her just as she came down from her own release.



As they slid to the floor and collapsed in a heap, Hermione slowly came back to her senses. What the fuck had she just done?