The Family Jewels

Chapter 52
I Wanna Hold Your Hand

The Healers came around on their morning rounds, and Ron was given a clean bill of health. The Healer was pleased with the improvement that Blaise had made, and since his mother and sisters had said that he would be staying with them, he was also released from St. Mungo’s. The Healer-in-Charge stopped at Hermione’s side. “How long has Miss Granger been asleep?” she asked.

“Since she was released,” Blaise answered immediately. “Is she doing all right?” he asked worriedly.

The Healer seemed to care, but was also clearly in a hurry. “I understand that she had a very difficult time. The mind and the body need rest in equal measure to recover from trauma. Now that you are leaving, perhaps you can take her somewhere safe and watch over her.”

Isabella Zabini stepped in and said, “Of course we will take care of her. She is ours.”

Ron and Pansy raised their eyebrows slightly, but wisely remained quiet. “Mama, we are not engaged,” Blaise clarified.

“Pfft, you are in love with her, I see it,” his mother said dismissively.

“Well, good,” said the Healer. She walked over to Hermione with her wand and said “Ennervate.”

Hermione woke up and looked rather owlishly at the group of people surrounding her. “Hello,” she said awkwardly.

Blaise’s father walked in carrying a large basket. He smiled when he saw that Blaise was awake and seemed stronger. “Where did you want us to have this lunch, cara?” he asked his wife.

“Did you rent the house?” she asked.

“You wound me, Isabella. I told you I would do it.” Carlo smiled gently down at her.

Blaise had gotten dressed, and reached out to help Hermione up. “How are you feeling, cara? You seem…tired,” he said leadingly.

“I guess now that all the danger is past, I just wanted to celebrate being able to sleep soundly,” Hermione said. The others smiled, hoping that was indeed all it was.

Hermione noticed that Blaise and Ron were dressed. “Are we all leaving now?” she asked.

“We should all go to the house. I just didn’t know if we were able to take Blaise with us. I should have known he would be up.” Carlo put an affectionate arm around his son’s shoulders.

“All of us?” asked Fred, a little skeptically.

This earned him a motherly frown from Isabella. “I think I have enough food for my guests,” she told him mildly. His brothers all frowned at him, and he blushed very uncharacteristically. “Sorry, Mum,” he said out of habit and was rewarded with a beautiful smile from Signora Zabini.

“Don’t worry, sweet,” she told him.

The Weasley boys, the Zabinis, and Hermione flooed to the house in Southwark that Signore Zabini had let completely furnished, service included. Ron was a little concerned that Harry and Ginny did not know where they were, but they had left word at the St. Mungo’s of where they were going. Blaise and Hermione exchanged a glance over what Draco would do when he discovered they had left without him. They decided that they would go to the Connaught after lunch to try to find him. Ron and Pansy were going to come with them, ostensibly because Ron still needed rest. The twins had itched to make a lewd remark at this news; fortunately, fear of Carlo Zabini had turned them curiously circumspect.

Bill and Charlie Weasley were going to escort Elena and Lucia on a short sightseeing tour. Paolo had more business meetings with his father to attend. Blaise was not fooled that Lucius Malfoy had nothing to do with their ‘business’ in the UK. Elena and Lucia had no wish to draw attention to themselves, nor did Ron and Pansy who were doing much non-verbal communication. Although not everyone was willing to speak, they could all eat.

The luncheon was delicious. They were two kinds of pasta, followed by chicken marsala, which had been charmed to stay hot, and then salad. Blaise recognized the amaretto cheesecake that his mother brought out of the basket. He knew it took two days to make, he wondered how she had managed it. There was wonderful bread and red wine that Carlo explained was a super-Tuscan. Only Bill Weasley realized that this was a description of the vintage, not a compliment.

Fred and George excused themselves right after eating. They had to get back to their store in Diagon Alley. Lee Jordan had been covering for them for a few days now. They would Floo their parents and let them know Ron would be at the Connaught. Blaise gave Lucia a significant look and she waited for his whispered words. “Get your date and get going while Mama is still distracted, unless you want her to come.”

Blaise’s words were wise advice, Lucia kissed her mother’s cheek while she was involved in conversation with Pansy and Ron, and Elena followed suit minutes later. Bill and Charlie had still not left the table. Blaise gave Charlie a swift kick under the table and at first he looked a little angry and offended. Blaise raised both eyebrows and Charlie realized that both his sisters were gone. He excused himself quietly, catching Bill’s eye, who followed after, but not before getting Signora Zabini and Pansy talking about whether they thought the Italian Riviera was a good place to go for a honeymoon. Blaise and Ron gave him dirty looks and Bill smiled widely.

Blaise waited until he was sure that the other four had escaped before he put Part 2 of his plan into action. “Mama, I have been wanting your agnolotti for months now. You know it is my favorite. Can you please make it for dinner tonight?” Blaise begged his mother.

“Of course, caro, of course. Goodness, the meat needs to be slow roasted. However will I manage that here? Oh never mind me, Blaise, I am just talking to myself. Don’t all of you have somewhere else to be?” Isabella Zabini never liked people just hanging around her kitchen. Her sisters were always welcome, because they actually knew what they were doing. Her children could all cook, but she still didn’t trust them with anything complicated. “Go children, but do not be late for dinner, and bring your friends that are at the hotel.” She kissed them all soundly, then practically pushed them out the door.

Ron was in awe. “That was bloody amazing,” he said.

“No, Weasley, that was Slytherin. Pansy will teach you.”

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There were many couples strolling through the Tate Gallery, and Bill and Elena, Charlie and Lucia were happy to join them. Most people do not realize that museums are wonderful places to go on a first date. The atmosphere lends itself to quiet whispering and strolling through the halls, hand in hand. Charlie and Lucia stood in front of Pablo Picasso’s Girl in a Chemise for a long time. Bill and Elena gave up on them and went on alone.

“She looks like you, doesn’t she?” Charlie asked Lucia, bending close to her ear, so as not to bother the other patrons, of course. ‘Merlin, she smells amazing,’ he thought.

“No, of course not,” Lucia said.

“Perhaps you are right,” Charlie said, with a contemplative look, “You are much more beautiful.”

Lucia blushed, but she did not look away. “Thank you, signore,” she said finally.

“I wonder where the others went off to,” Charlie said, noticing that they were alone at last.

“Maybe they thought that we wanted to be alone,” Lucia said, not meeting his eyes.

“I certainly wanted to be alone with you,” Charlie returned, taking her hand and leading her to the next painting.

Bill and Elena had stopped in front of Walter Sickert’s Venice, la Salute. Elena gushed on about Venice for some time before Bill asked her if she had ever heard about the theories that Sickert was Jack the Ripper.

Elena looked puzzled, “Jack the…Ripper?” she questioned.

“Sorry, an infamous Muggle murderer here in London in the 1880’s. He rather brutally murdered at least five women in the Whitechapel area. I guess they’ll never know who really killed them,” Bill said, putting a comforting arm around Elena when she shivered.

“I don’t think I want to look at his work anymore,” Elena stated quite decisively.

“We can do whatever you would like, Elena. I doubt your sister and my brother need us to chaperone them,” Bill said, leaning against the wall and looking down into the most brilliant blue eyes he had ever seen. A harmless flirtation with Elena Zabini might be all he needed. Fleur had broken up with him a few months before. He had thought everything had been fine, and suddenly, she told him it was over and that was that. No fighting, no compromises, no ‘ex-sex’, she was just gone from his life. Bill wasn’t sure he had ever been dumped before, he was usually the dumper. Elena smiled, and Bill took her hand, “I’m sure there must be a nice café around here where we can get a coffee and talk.”

Elena gave his hand a small squeeze. “That would be lovely.”

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Draco paced in his suite in the Connaught, his blood pressure sky high. He had gone to St. Mungo’s to find that they were all gone. One of the medi-witches had told him that the patients had been released and that they had said that they were going to lunch at the house the Zabinis had rented while they were in London. “Not even a bloody fucking note,” he said aloud. “If they know what’s good for them, they will get their arses over here before I track down Blaise’s mother and tell her the whole story.”

“Draco, we both know you would never do that,” Blaise admonished, shaking his head.

“Where the bloody fuck were you?” Draco cried, not caring that he sounded like a fishwife.

“Draco, calm down. We’re here now,” Hermione said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before stretching out on one of the divans in front of the fire.

Draco was about to question them more when he received a sharp head shake from Blaise. He took the cue, noticing that Hermione was very calmly divesting herself of all her clothes. He was no fool. He unbuttoned several of the buttons on his shirt, then pulled it over his head.

Blaise was down to his boxers in no time, kneeling next to Hermione kissing one bare shoulder. “I love you, Hermione. Please, I need to be with you,” Draco said hoarsely. He claimed Hermione’s mouth, his anger quickly dissolving into passion. She moaned into mouth, reaching out to stroke the erections of her loves.

“I need you,” she said. “I was so afraid I had lost the two of you. Make me remember just you.”

Draco’s fingers moved down her body to gently touch her folds. To his surprise, she was already wet, and he caressed her with one finger. Her hips bucked up and he moved the finger to her entrance, circling it. Her eyes were darker than he had ever seen them, and he crushed his mouth to hers again. Draco’s tongue thrust into her mouth at the same moment that he slipped his finger inside her. Blaise was licking and kissing one nipple, but Draco wanted to be inside her.

He shoved his trousers and boxers off his hips and down his legs. He had been barefoot when they walked in, and Hermione drank in his nude body. She opened her legs to him and he settled between her thighs, rubbing the tip of his cock against her. She was reaching down to help him find her entrance, when he thrust into her. It felt so right, so perfect inside her that he didn’t even move until she made an impatient sound and wriggled her lower body.

He was in no mood for long drawn out lovemaking. He needed to fuck her, and that was what he did. Long, deep thrusts into her core, hands hard on her hips. Draco looked up to see Hermione sucking Blaise’s cock. He was moaning in Italian, his English forgotten. Draco was mesmerized by the sight of them, and his hips seemed to speed up. Hermione began to choke a little around Blaise’s cock, and he pulled out of her mouth and directed his spurts onto her breasts. Draco concentrated on the face of the woman he loved, and when she began to smile, he knew she was going to cum even before he felt her walls clench against his cock. He closed his eyes and thrust into her as hard as he wanted. She was so wet; he knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Draco came inside her, a few last hard strokes, saying “Yes!” loudly in the quiet of the room. He opened his eyes to find Blaise and Hermione kissing as he rode out the last of his orgasm.

“Still angry, Draco?” Hermione asked with that Slytherin smirk again.

“Did you teach her that?” he asked Blaise accusingly.

“Which part?” Blaise asked cautiously.

“That bloody smirk!” Draco said angrily.

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A/N – Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my story. You could walk past me and never know it was me. LOL I know it is coming to a close, but I promise I will write The End when it is the end.

Threesisters - It is a great hotel. Damn, I miss my expense account.