Seduction

Chapter 6

Hermione dragged herself out of bed and went to the washroom. Her eyes were puffy, her cheeks were tear-streaked. She splashed cool water on her face, and ran her fingers through her hair. Her eyes focused on the necklace and smiled sadly then walked back to the bedroom, put on his dress shirt and went to find Draco.

She opened the study door slowly; the room was only illuminated by the fire in the fireplace. She closed the door behind her but didn’t move.

“Why are you here?” His voice was so cold, so harsh. She knew she deserved it but it didn’t make it hurt any less. Hermione retrieved a throw pillow from the loveseat, placed it between his feet and sat down. She took his hand in hers; he tried to pull away but she wouldn’t let him. He rested her head on his knee and said nothing for a few moments. When she began to speak, her voice was quiet but clear.

“My Nan died a year and a half ago. She was my best friend. When I lost her, I didn’t know if I was going to survive. Shortly after she passed, I received a letter from her solicitor stating that I needed to come to his office. My Nan had left her entire estate to me with one stipulation, that I fulfill one of her wishes. That’s how I ended up in Ibiza. She had left a letter for me saying that she didn’t want me to have the regrets that she had lived with her entire life. When she was our age, she met a man that she fell madly in love with but they were from two different worlds. She wasn’t strong enough stand up to her family and her friends, she walked away from him. She took the safe road and regretted it her entire life. Nana was afraid that I was living too sheltered of a life. That I would never know joy, or love. She had met Harry and Ron, she thought that they were ok but she knew that I was wasting my time with them. She said that they weren’t for me, they were smothering me.”

Draco sighed; he didn’t like feeling her so close, no; that wasn’t it. He did like having her that close; that was the problem. He didn’t want to forgive her for hurting him but he loved her. With every fiber of his being, he wished he didn’t, but he did. He began to stroke her hair; he felt her body relax against him.

“Nan always called me Mina; it always made me feel special, loved. I thought what you and I had was just a fling, I could handle that. But then things changed and I got scared. What you said…I couldn’t believe it. Those words were meant for other people, not me.”

Draco turned her face toward him. “Hermione, I said I love you. That hasn’t changed.” He wiped her tears with his thumb.

“I tried to forget how you made me feel, Draco. I went back to school in the states and tried to forget about you but I couldn’t. That’s why I came back; as much as you scared me to death, I don’t stay away from you.”

Draco sighed, “Hermione, what do you want from me? I can’t take this uncertainty and pain anymore.” He watched her unhook her necklace then turn toward him; she was kneeling before him.

She cleared her throat and took his hand in hers as she looked into his eyes. “Draco Lucius Malfoy, will you marry me?” She slid a men’s diamond ring onto his left ring finger.

“What?” He stuttered.

“I know I haven’t done anything to deserve you or us but… I can promise you that I will love you with all my heart and…” Hermione was crying and shaking; she felt completely exposed. Draco was staring at her; he hadn’t said anything in quite some time. She started to back away from him; his non-response was the answer she feared most. Hermione stood and was about to move toward the door. She knew that this was a possibility but the reality hurt so much more. She bit her lip to stifle her sob.

Draco was completely stunned; everything that he wanted had just been laid in his lap, almost literally. She not only wanted him, she wanted him forever; she wanted to be his wife. She actually proposed to him. He glanced at the diamond ring on his finger, mesmerized. When he looked up, he saw that she was crying and moving away from him.

“NO!” He practically lunged at her, stopping her in her tracks. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all of the love and passion that was coursing through his body. Draco eased them down onto the thick plush carpet and continued to smother her with kisses. He buried his fingers into her hair, and then let his kisses traveled along her jaw and down her neck. His robe had fallen open; his growing member was rubbing against her warm folds. Draco looked into Hermione’s eyes, she was still crying. His voice was soft and gently.

“I’m not letting you go again, Mina. I would be honored to spend the rest of my life being your husband.” He peppered her face with kisses, making her cry and giggle at the same time. “Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes.” Hermione hugged him as tightly as she could, trying to stop her tears.

Draco pulled away from her for a moment and smiled as he wiped her tears. “There’s one thing, my sweet, I’ve been holding onto this for quite a while.” He kissed her nose and retrieved something from the table next to the winged back chair. He pulled Hermione up so she was sitting in front of him. The light from the fire was dancing in his eyes.

“Um… I’ve been holding onto this for you…” He took her left hand and slid a 5 carat oval shaped solitaire diamond ring onto her ring finger. Hermione looked at the ring then looked at him with almost a confused look on her face. “I’ve known that I’ve wanted to spend my life with you since the first time you fell asleep in my arms. This was your final surprise that night.”

“I…I don’t understand…” she whispered.

He smiled, “I’m not the only one that gets an engagement ring. Yours has been waiting for you for a year.”

“Draco…” Her tears began to fall again.

“I never had the opportunity to do this, officially, so I’m doing it now. Hermione Jean Granger, will you make me the happiest man in the world; Hermione, will you marry me?”

“We’re really doing this, aren’t we?” Hermione’s voice was shaky as she tried to hold back her tears.

“Only if you say yes.”

Hermione hugged him around his neck, she could feel his arms wrap around her middle. She pressed her lips to his ear and whispered. “Yes…”

Draco apparated them back to the bedroom where they made love then Hermione fell asleep in his arms. Draco couldn’t sleep, not just yet. He couldn’t believe she was really his, that she truly wanted to spend her life with him. He slid out of bed, and went to the desk by the window. He wrote a short note; then summoned his eagle owl. When the owl had flown out of sight, she climbed back into bed with Hermione, pulled her into his arms, kissed her and fell into a deep sleep; Draco was happy at last.

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The eagle owl tapped lightly on the bedroom window of a stately looking manor. The man groaned as his wife wiggled out of his embrace and moved toward the window.

“This better be important, Love. I don’t take kindly to interruptions when I’m ravaging my wife.” She merely rolled her eyes and opened the window. She removed the note from the eagle owl’s talons, gave it a treat then the bird flew away. As she read the note, she couldn’t help but giggle with glee.

“Woman, get your sexy ass back in bed. The letter can wait.” She walked over to his side of the bed and smiled. “What’s that look for?” He asked. She said nothing, she simply kissed him warmly on the lips. “Are you going to tell me?”

“My plan worked.” Blaise sat up and looked at his wife.

“Pansy, what are you talking about?”

“Draco and Hermione, the note was from Draco…” Blaise gave his wife a suspicious look.

“Pans, what did you do?” She fidgeted nervously.

“Nothing really; I just asked Hermione if she wanted to go to lunch and we ended up at Mina’s.” Blaise covered his face with his hand. He knew far more than he wanted to about what went down with Draco and Hermione and all he could do was expect the worst. His wife’s meddling rarely turned out well and he frequently had to clean up after her and was not looking forward to doing it again.

“And?” He asked, sternly.

“They left the restaurant together and well, the owl simply said “Thank you.”

“You know you really shouldn’t meddle in other people’s affairs, Pans, it’s going to backfire on you one of these days and I’m not going to be around to fix it.”

“But today was not that day.” She leaned in and kissed him, hoping to distract him and diffuse his anger. It worked.

*********************************

Hermione felt a warm hand caressing her cheek as she began to wake up. She opened her eyes to find Draco looking at her with his head resting on her pillow.

“I love waking up next to you.” He kissed her gently on the lips.

“Me, too” she smiled.

“Do you have any plans today, Mina?”

“Um, I don’t think so, why?”

He smiled, devilishly. “It’s a surprise. Send an owl to your job and tell them that you’re going to be taking a few personal days. Then take a quick shower, I’ll be right back.” She had no idea what he had planned but she was excited about it nonetheless.

Draco returned 30 minutes later, Hermione was clad in one of his silk bathrobes; her hair was hanging in soft waves at her shoulders. He walked over and handed her a big box.
“Open it, Love.”

She sat on bed and carefully opened the box. She couldn’t help but gasp. She pulled out a cream silk slip dress, similar to the one from ‘that night’.

“The minister can be here in 30 minutes if you say yes.” He looked at her, hopefully.

“You’re serious?” She asked in disbelief.

“My heart has hurt for an entire year, missing you. I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to be married to you, Hermione.”

She looked at him, in disbelief, as she contemplated the possibilities. Draco merely nodded, reassuring her that he was serious.

“Yes…”

“Yes?”

She nodded and smiled.

Within one hour, Draco and Hermione stood in front of a minister exchanging vowing, a year later than he had planned. After the ceremony, the happy couple sent an owl to Pansy and Blaise then took a port-key to Ibiza for a romantic honeymoon day and night.

“Thank you, Draco.” Hermione lay with her head on his bare chest as she drew circles on his stomach.

“For what, Love?”

“For not giving up on me, on us, I love you, Draco.”

“I love you, Mrs. Malfoy.”