Visited Upon the Son

Disclaimer: I live in Texas, not Scotland, so I am obviously not JK Rowling.

I’m just playing with the wonderful characters that she created. I promise that I will

put them back the way I found them when I’m done!

AN: Here’s the next chappie!! Thanks to all who reviewed. As always, please

R&R. My muse loves the attention. I also do not own the chapter title. That belongs to

the wonderful, Urban Dance Squad.

Visited Upon the Son

© SparkyCSI

Chapter 25. Deeper Shade of Soul

The following morning, Draco awoke before Hermione. He lay there with her wrapped in his

arms, staring at her face. He was trying to control his body’s instinctual reaction to

her nearness. With a start, he realised that he was content for the first time in his

life. He smiled lightly as he continued to hold her. As he was drifting back to sleep,

he felt her begin to stir in his arms. “Good morning,” he said quietly, not wanting to

disturb her.

Hermione awoke slowing, languishing in the feeling of safety that surrounded her. As she

became more aware of her surroundings, she realised that she was still wrapped in Draco’s

arms. She also realised that the nightmares that had been plaguing her had not returned

after she’d fallen back to sleep and that it was the best rest she’d had in years. She

sighed in contentment as she heard him murmur good morning to her. She opened her eyes,

still blurry with sleep, and stared at him. “Good morning.”

Draco smiled softly. “How’d you sleep?”

“Very well, thank you,” Hermione said as she snuggled further into his arms, not wanting

to face the world.

Draco held back a groan as Hermione unconsciously brushed against him and quickly

tightened his hold, to prevent himself further torment. “Mia,” he said in a gravely

voice.

Hermione looked into his eyes, seeing the war raging between lust and keeping his word.

Impulsively, she leaned forward and kissed him, sighing as he deepened the kiss and pulled

him fully against him. They snogged for a few moments, until he pulled away breathing

heavily. His molten eyes stared into her warm chocolate ones before he closed them

briefly, praying for strength. She sensed the discomfort he was feeling and pulled away

slightly. “Um…I think I’ll go get ready for breakfast,” she said softly.

Draco opened his eyes, scared to see that she was disappointed, but only saw understanding

and a rising confusion in her eyes. He nodded slightly and watched her leave the room and

let out the breath he’d been holding. Merlin save me.

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That morning had been a turning point in their relationship; Hermione was more comfortable

expressing herself to Draco and he had learned a great deal of patience. Hermione was

still experiencing the nightmares occasionally, and after one particularly horrible one a

few weeks later, she awoke in a cold sweat. After getting some tea and trying to read

herself back to sleep unsuccessfully, she gave up.

She wrapped herself in her robe, gathered her wand and her courage and made her way to

Draco’s quarters. She bit her lip before knocking on his door. It only took a couple of

moments before he answered, his hair dishevelled. Hermione swallowed quickly as he

noticed he was only dressed in a pair of pyjama pants, slung low on his hips. She looked

at his toned body and felt heat rising to her cheeks.

Draco blinked as he saw her standing there. “Mia? Are you okay?” he asked, worry

infusing his body.

Hermione nodded shyly. “Yeah, but I keep getting nightmares and haven’t sleep properly

since Easter.” She bit her lip, not quite being able to bring herself to ask him if she

could sleep with him.

Draco smiled, pulling her into his arms without a thought. “Do you want to sleep here

tonight?” he whispered into her ear.

“If you don’t mind,” she whispered back.

Draco shook his head as moved back slightly and grabbed her hand to guide her into the

bedroom. “I don’t mind.’

Hermione looked at him with grateful eyes as they crawled into the bed, Draco pulling her

into his arms. “Do you want to talk about it yet?” he asked her. Hermione nodded

slightly.

“I think it’s a memory that I had buried. I’m running down a dark hallway, Lucius is

chasing me. I can see the light coming closer and I know that I’m close to my freedom,

but just as I reach it, he catches me,” she admitted as she shuddered.

Draco tightened his hold on her. “That was his favourite game to play. Make someone

think that they were escaping when they really had no chance,” he said with disgust in his

voice. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that. My father was a git. Is it bad that

I’m happy that he’s dead?”

Hermione smiled a sweet smile. “No, it’s not. I’m sorry that he was a git and he gave

you a horrible childhood, but I realise now how much stronger than him you are. You were

given a choice to take the easy road and despite of how you were raised, you didn’t. You

are a remarkable man, Draco Malfoy and,” Hermione paused for a second, “I think I’m in

love with you.”

Draco looked down at her, surprised at her revelation. “Well,” he began slowly. “I know

I’m in love with you. Is that okay?”

Hermione nodded, tears filling her eyes and she snuggled into his chest, a feeling of

peace washing over her. “Yes,” she said softly.

Draco smiled and ran his hands up and down her back soothingly. Hermione felt herself

being lulled to sleep and soon was experiencing a dreamless sleep.

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When they awoke the next morning, both were grateful that it was Saturday. Hermione got

up quickly and made her way back to her quarters to change. She grabbed her planner,

intent on making headway into the wedding plans. She smirked as she walked back to

Draco’s quarters.

She got back just as he was getting up. He walked into the sitting area, wiping the sleep

out of his eyes. “Mia? You’re up early,” he said with a yawn.

“I slept really well, so I thought I’d get a jump on the wedding plans. There are some

things that we need to decide on. Like, where do we want to hold it, what kind of

ceremony…” Hermione trailed off as Draco raised his hand.

“Before we do that, may I have coffee?” He smirked. “And a kiss good morning.”

Hermione laughed as she nodded her head. “Coffee is on the table with a warming

charm.”

Draco’s eyebrow rose. “And the kiss?”

Hermione sashayed over to him and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. “There you go,”

she said audaciously.

Draco growled as he pulled her back to into his arms to kiss her properly. Hermione

wrapped her arms around his neck as he parted her lips and explored her mouth expertly.

Hermione returned the kiss fervently.

When they broke apart, Hermione’s lips felt bruised, but her body was tingling. “So,” she

said as she sat back down, her legs too wobbly to support her properly.

“Yeah, the wedding,” Draco returned, surprised by the intensity of the feelings that he

was having. “What are our options again?”

Hermione smiled, clearing her head by looking down at her list. “Well, first we need to

figure out where we want to get married. Here or the Burrow?”

Draco looked at her honestly. “Really, I’d prefer here because my remaining friends may

not feel comfortable at the Burrow.”

Hermione nodded her understanding. “Second, I’d like to have a Wizarding ceremony, but

would you have any objections to wearing Muggle wedding clothes?” She bit her lip, half

because she really wanted to wear the wedding dress that she had found and half because

she was envisioning him wearing a black tuxedo.

Draco thought about it for a moment. “No, I wouldn’t mind.”

Hermione’s face light up with her smile. “Thank you. Now, about the rest of the

details…” she began and they began to plan the wedding in earnest, both knowing that their

time would be occupied for the next month, preparing the students for the end of year

exams.

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The next month passed in a haze of planning for both the end of year exams and the

wedding. Hermione and Draco never slept apart, since that was the only thing that was

keeping her nightmares at bay. As a result, Hermione discovered a well of energy and

patience within her. She had more time to manage all her priorities, while still keeping

an ear to the ground to make sure that her students were coping the stressful times

okay.

She was also keeping up a steady stream of owls between herself, Ginny and Luna, who was

planning her wedding in peace. She was just finishing Luna’s latest owl with a laugh when

Draco walked into her quarters.

Draco looked at her laughing eyes and wondered what she was reading. “What’s so funny?”

he asked intrigued.

Hermione shook her head, stifling her laughter. “Luna. She and Neville are getting

married on the summer solstice and she keeps warning me about making sure that the black

winged Irish snorks are kept at bay. She says that the solstice is their breeding time

and we’ll have to be careful to make sure that the water near where they are getting

married is not infested.”

“She’s not exactly sane, is she?” Draco asked.

Hermione shrugged. “Honestly, I just think it is part of her. She is a Seer and does

have a rather unique view of life, but she’s very smart. She’s a Ravenclaw and I think

she Sees more than she admits to.”

Draco shrugged, not knowing her well enough to make that kind of judgement call. He

sighed as he settled down next to her, exhausted from his long day. “Merlin, is the end

of year always this hectic?”

Hermione smiled in sympathy; she’d felt a similar way her first year of teaching. “The

first year it feels like that, but after that, it gets easier. Probably because you’ve

had the students for more than one term and you know more of what their strengths and

weaknesses are. I know that helping the seventh years now, is a lot easier since they’ve

been my students since they were third years. I know exactly what they are having

trouble with.”

Draco sighed. “So I have another rough couple of years before it gets easier?”

“Not really. Next year you’ll have more of a grasp of what your students are having

trouble with. Actually, I would suggest that you spend these last few weeks of the term

evaluating and assessing your returning students. That way, you can make a plan for how

to reach them.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a lot of work,” he began whilst thinking the

idea over in his head. “But, it would only be for one year. Then each year afterward I

would just have to assess the first years.”

Hermione smiled, noticing how in sync they were with their thoughts. “That’s exactly what

I thought! The first summer was really difficult to get through all of them, but now I

take notes throughout the school year and that makes the plan easier.” She paused for a

second. “Actually, do you know what a computer is?”

Draco nodded slightly. “I’ve seen one, but I have no idea how it works,” he

admitted.

“I have one in my flat and will show you how to use it over the holiday. But anyway, I

have a program on it that helps me to organise my students. Maybe we can set it up for

you, as well. It should make things easier for you.”

Draco sighed, letting his head fall back against the cushion. “That would be wonderful,

Mia. Ready to go to supper?”

Hermione smiled as she rose. “Someone has to keep the students in line. I swear, we were

never that bad!”

Draco laughed. “Actually, love, we were worse.”

Giggling, Hermione followed him out of the room and headed for the Great Hall.

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AN: Okay. First of all…Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! For some

reason I’m not getting review alerts, so I’m going to be thanking a lot of people now!

Anonymous – I’m glad you like the story, but this is an alternate universe where I have

her being called Mia. The reason being is that I think that if both Ron and Harry were

killed, the nickname that they used for her would be too painful to hear. But that’s just

my opinion and I respect that you don’t like it! I am writing another HP story (if my

muse will actually stick around) in which she is not called Mia. They actually call her

Beauty because it’s based on the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice. Check is out if you

want! Thanks for reviewing!

LadyBlueEyes – Thanks! I’m trying but it hard since I have absolutely no experience in

that area (Thanks be to God!). But I keep thinking about how I would react and try to use

that.

InBedWithSoviets – That is a great way to get a penname! It’s fab and I love it. It took

me a while to find the review button too, so don’t feel bad! Thanks!

Kazfeist – Actually, Lee is Ginny’s first hubby, she never married Harry, but for some

reason it just seemed to fit. I can’t wait to write Draco and Hermione’s wedding!

Lost in Stars – I agree, children in a wedding hardly ever work out, but they sure are fun

to have around! There is definitely some more action coming up (namely 26 which has both

a clean and an explicit version) so look forward to it! The story is wrapping up, so I

see no major issues as of right now, but my muse may change that.

Bellakuuipo – Thanks! I’m glad you are enjoying it!