Chapter 31

"Pass me the obsidian pestle, Draco," Hermione said quietly.

She reached out blindly, her eyes on the softly smoking potion, fingers curling around the pestle as she counted stirs under her breath.

"Okay," she said, smiling. "This batch is done. I'm about to grind the lacewing flies for the next round. Draco, can you bottle these?"

Leaving Draco to the finicky job of pouring the potion into specially created silver vials, Hermione set to work on the next step. They'd been at this all week. Today was the first day the werewolves would be coming in to get their potions. Michael was taking care of customers. There was a form for the werewolves to fill out, which would help in the future when Draco and Hermione began their charity, as well as for the statistics needed to implement changes in Ministry laws. The werewolves would down the potion, leaving the vial behind (in order to decrease the cost to the consumer), and come back the next day for the second batch.

Nearly four dozen werewolves had come in to place orders, most of them paying in advance. It was so busy in the shop that Hermione was dividing her time between brewing and helping Michael.

"Thello, can I give you a hand with anything?" she asked as she poured the finely powdered flies into the potion base, watching critically as it lightly steamed before turning a dark red, the perfect colour for this stage.

"I've this batch taken care of," he said, concentrating on the final stirs just as Hermione had been a moment ago. "Then I'm taking a fucking break."

Draco laughed and Hermione nodded. After this batch and Thello's, they'd be finished. It had taken a week of near-constant brewing, but they'd be able to go home tonight and actually get some rest.

After Thello left to visit Michael, Draco finished stoppering the vials and came to assist Hermione. Between the two of them, the potion's ingredients were quickly diced, ground, and infused. They could only wait while the potion did its job, adding the correct elements at the exact time.

Snape would have been proud of them, Hermione thought.

"Have you decided where you want to go on our little vacation?" Draco asked softly, plucking a stray hair out of the aconite and frowning at it.

"Someplace warm, I think," she said softly, turning to wrap her arms around Draco's neck. "Have you any private islands I should know about?"

Draco chuckled softly and pushed her hair behind her ear. "We do have an Unplottable beach house on an island in the Caribbean. We don't go often because we Malfoys tend to burn, but I think we might convince my father." He kissed her nose and Hermione wrinkled it, which only made him kiss it again.

"There are spells to prevent sunburn, you know. Potions, too."

"The potions are so greasy," Draco complained. "The spells might be okay."

Draco started to sway them slightly, and Hermione laughed. He was a good dancer, so she let him lead her in an impromptu waltz around the potions lab.

"Are you nervous about meeting the werewolf?" Hermione asked. Lucius had insisted that he come by a week before so he could become familiar with the dungeon...though Hermione knew it was more so Lucius could meet him and make sure he was acceptable. Though that was probably a good idea, Michael had already told her about him, and if Michael trusted him, Hermione did, too.

Lucius and Draco weren't so easily convinced, but Hermione certainly wasn't going to argue. She was still trying to recover from their last fight. She and Lucius had really pressed each other's buttons, and now that the fight was behind them, she could see his side more clearly.

She couldn't fault him for making his son and her a priority over a stranger. She would do the same. But she'd wanted so badly to help, and combined with his comments about his house, she'd just lost sight of the bigger picture. Which wasn't to say she regretted the fact that a werewolf had a place to stay during his transformation.

But hearing the bell over the door of the shop constantly ringing to signal new customers made her realise that helping one wolf just wasn't going to cut it.

They needed more room.

She was looking in the papers now for a location that might suit their needs. Something secure, preferably a basement, in a rural location. Separate rooms with bars or locking doors would be a bonus. She wasn't having any luck finding something suitable, but she was getting ideas for maybe building something.

The only problem was funding. She was sure the Malfoys would pay for it if she asked them, but she wanted to take care of this on her own esteem.

She'd think about it while they were on vacation, she told herself.

It was another five hours before the potion was at the stage where Thello could handle it by himself. The weary pair said their goodbyes to Michael and Thello and Apparated to the Manor.

To Hermione's surprise, Michael's werewolf friend, whose name was Jackson Symes, was already there, sitting in the parlour with Lucius.

"I didn't know you'd be here so soon!" Hermione said, extending her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."

Jackson stood and took her hand, giving a slight bow at the same time. "I know who you are," he said warmly. He shook Draco's hand next, smiling broadly. "And you must be Draco Malfoy. Malfoy blood runs true, does it not?"

Lucius chuckled and shifted on the sofa so Hermione could sit next to him and Draco on the other side of her. Lucius kissed Hermione lightly on the cheek and greeted Draco with a touch to his shoulder.

"We were just talking about the rules," Lucius said in a soft voice.

"Ah," Hermione said, looking between Lucius and Jackson, who was still smiling. He had shoulder-length brown hair and pale brown eyes. His skin was olive-toned and rich. He was lightly scarred, just as Remus had been. In fact, his aura was similar to Remus': gentle, unassuming, but with an inner core of strength.

"Lucius was just telling me that I'm to arrive at seven in the evening on the night of the full moon. As you won't be here, the wards will allow me to Apparate directly to the dungeon, which Lucius has already shown me. The wards will close at half seven, so I'm not to be late." Jackson winked at Hermione, proving her suspicion that the rules had been relayed more than once. "The wards will not lift again until after sunset the next day, and Lucius will be here to see me off."

Lucius nodded his approval, as did Draco. Hermione thought the plan was sound.

"All you'll be all right by yourself?" she asked softly.

Jackson smiled. "You've a good heart, Miss Granger. I assure you, I'll be just fine. The... accommodations are more than I'm used to, and the peace of mind will be, I'm sure, unprecedented."

"Good," Lucius said. "Do you have any other questions or concerns?"

"None at all," Jackson said lightly, running his hands over his knees.

Hermione noticed that while his robes had once been the height of fashion and likely quite expensive, they'd obviously been through many repairs and years of use. It seemed Jackson had as much trouble finding work as Remus had.

Anger flared inside her at the prejudice of the wizarding world.

Jackson seemed to notice her impotent frustration, for he gently said, "They say change begins at home, Miss Granger. You've done that. You can't know how much I appreciate this. It will take time to affect change on a larger scale. But you've my support in whatever you do."

"Thank you, Mr. Symes," she said softly, gripping both Lucius' and Draco's hands.

"Please, call me Jackson," he said. His smile wasn't carefree, but it wasn't burdened, either. He'd accepted his lot.

But Hermione planned on changing that lot.

"And call me Hermione." She rose to shake his hand again, and she and Lucius walked him out as Draco headed upstairs, claiming to have spilt questionable materials on his robes. Hermione knew he just wanted a shower after a long day of dealing with smoking Wolfsbane.

"Thank you again, Lucius, Hermione."

They nodded, and he crossed the lawns, Disapparating a moment later.

Lucius closed the door and immediately had Hermione pressed up against it, his mouth hard on hers, his knee between her thighs.

She gasped when he broke the kiss, her body flooded with warmth and desire. She brought his mouth back down immediately, letting him plunder her in a way she desperately needed after not having spent much time with him over the past week.

"I've missed you," she whispered against his lips.

He hummed as a response and moved his mouth to her throat, kissing and nipping her skin.

"Draco says you have a beach house," she said, wondering how big the bed was.

"Is that where you want to go on the full moon?" he asked, pulling away slightly.

"It sounds lovely... would that be all right with you?"

Lucius nodded slowly, frowning a little. Hermione touched the line between his eyebrows, working away the tenseness in his expression.

"Tell me," she said softly, kissing his chin.

"The beach house... we... that is, Narcissa and I spent our honeymoon there."

"Oh," Hermione said. Draco probably hadn't known that.

"But that was a long time ago," Lucius said, holding her tightly against him. "We can make new memories."

"Are you sure?" she asked sceptically. There was no need to stay there when anywhere in the world would do just as well.

"I only want you." He kissed her again, but Hermione mind was elsewhere. She hoped the bed was huge, since there would likely be four of them in it; Narcissa's presence had never been so keenly felt.

The next week was spent working on the charity. Hermione and Draco had many ideas, all of which melded together to make what they hoped would be a welcomed company.

On the day before Hermione, Lucius, and Draco left for the beach house, Hermione brought home the paperwork to register the charity.

They called it simply Outreach. Writing the mission statement took some time, but Hermione worked on it tirelessly. They had the support of several charities, not to mention numerous big names in the wizarding world. When she went to drop off the forms, Harry personally endorsed the project, making it a shoo-in for approval.

She was a little concerned that the Ministry would see fit to deny them, though they'd have no grounds to do so. The Ministry obviously wasn't best pleased with Hermione and Draco...they'd ended up docking four hours of Hermione's final paycheque, claiming that was the accumulation of time she'd spent 'fraternizing.' Draco was only docked half as much...they didn't count the time he'd spent with his father as being time wasted, which Hermione thought was horse shite, but she wasn't about to complain, not when Outreach was on the line.

If they were denied, Michael and Thello had agreed to file again in their names and then sign the company over to them, which the Ministry could do nothing about.

In celebration of filing the paperwork, Hermione, Lucius, and Draco took dinner in bed and didn't leave Hermione's bedroom until late the next morning, which was spent packing and running around. The full moon fell on the Friday, so they were planning on staying all weekend.

Hermione still had reservations about staying in a place that was sure to have strong memories for Lucius, but he'd assured her that his time with Narcissa was well in the past. And Hermione knew that...intellectually...but emotionally, it was still a little uncomfortable.

Draco wasn't picking up on that tension, and she was grateful for that. She didn't want him to always be in the position of mediator between her and Lucius. They had to learn to solve their own problems without forcing Draco to choose a side.

She'd learned a lot from her fight with Lucius over Jackson staying in the Manor. She'd learned about herself...how stubborn and frankly irrational she could be at times. She'd learned about Lucius...how he got his back up and became distant when he thought she was challenging him unduly. And she'd learned the most about Draco...he had natural peacekeeping abilities, which was especially shocking as he'd spent so much of his youth being the antagonist. But still, it wasn't fair to any of them to continue with these roles. They'd each have to balance their roles carefully so as to not make any of them feel pushed into an uncomfortable position.

It was a long process, learning to live with and yes, love two such different men. There hadn't been a very long acceptance period before she'd moved out of her flat and into the Manor, so everything they did was learned as they went.

But she couldn't think of two more perfect people to learn along with her.

"Holy shit." Hermione gulped.

This was not a beach house. A beach house was a quaint little cottage-like structure, one floor, on or near the water.

This was a beach mansion.

"Hermione!" Draco chided, smirking. "Such language."

"You cannot be serious about this," she said, awed. The house was a more modern structure than she would have thought the Malfoys would like. It was three storeys with a flat roof (and she was sure she could see the greenery of a garden up there), and there were more windows than walls, and what wasn't window was painted a startling white.

It was magnificent.

"Our humble hideaway," Lucius said, taking away her overnight bag. Lucius and Draco had brought at least five times her luggage between them, but as Draco had said, it was three whole days.

And if Hermione had cause for exclamation at the outside, the inside struck her speechless. It was white walls, black marble floors and stairs, and pewter accents...completely ostentatious for a beach house, though for a normal house it was more her style than Malfoy Manor.

"Come along." Hermione saw Lucius disappear around a corner on the main floor, and she hastened to follow him.

She found him in a bedroom by the back of the house. It was as big as her room at the Manor, and just as cosy. Done in soft ivory and ice blue, it was cool and comfortable. There was a door leading to a patio, from which the ocean was only a few metres away.

"Can I go outside?" she asked, breathless. Lucius had begun to unpack, but Hermione suddenly spotted Draco through the patio door, bolting for the ocean. She grabbed Lucius' hand. "Oh, please, that can wait! Come for a swim!"

Lucius smiled at her and kissed her softly. "Go. I've got to make sure the elves have stocked the kitchen."

Hermione pouted, but only until she heard Draco's carefree cry. She turned just in time to see him plunge beneath the surface.

She was so glad he'd talked her into wearing her swimsuit beneath her clothing. She tore off her shorts and tee shirt and ran through the back door and down to the water. She turned to give Lucius a beseeching look, but he wasn't in the room any longer.

"How's the water?" she called, squishing her toes in the sand.

"How do you think?" Draco splashed about, but the water didn't reach her. "Perfect."

Slowly walking in, amazed that the water was almost body temperature, Hermione made her way to Draco, who swam up to her.

"Does Lucius not like the ocean?" She looked back at the huge glittering house, hoping to catch a glimpse of her lover.

"He does," Draco said. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, holding her beneath her arse cheeks so her face was level with his.

Steadying herself with her hands on his shoulders, Hermione sighed. "Your parents honeymooned here."

Draco kissed her. "I know." He nipped her neck, and she automatically tilted her head to one side to expose herself to his ministrations.

"I'm not sure he's entirely comfortable with me here." She wrapped her legs around his waist and let him take them deeper, so the water was to their chests.

"It's not that. Listen, a lot of places have a history for Father. Including this place. But I've always loved it here, and I have only good memories. For some reason, they never fought here. Before we left and the minute we got home, the gloves were off. But here... everything was perfect. I've always wanted that for my own family. He needs to learn to adapt. You're a part of our lives, and this house is a part of our past and our future."

"I do love it here, Draco. I've never seen anything like it." She paused, brushing the water-darkened hair out of his face, slicking it back like he used to in school. She grimaced and mussed it up. Better. "I just want him to be happy. I think he's having second thoughts about the triad."

Draco looked shocked, pulling back to study her face. "You're wrong," he said insistently.

She shrugged. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Draco, her legs the same. The water lapped around them, Draco swaying softly with the waves. "I hope so."

Looking back at the house, Hermione saw Lucius on the bedroom patio, watching them. She raised a hand high in greeting, making Draco turn to see his father as well.

Lucius gave a half-wave before turning and re-entering the house.

Draco met Hermione's eyes and frowned.

After trying for almost an hour after dinner to pull Lucius into the conversation, Hermione and Draco both gave up. They finished dessert in silence, and Lucius immediately excused himself afterward.

"Is it because I'm here?" Hermione asked Draco, running her finger through the chocolate sauce on her plate and licking it.

Draco's eyes followed her movement, but then he shook himself. "What do you mean?"

"At the beach house. Do you think he thinks I'm trying to replace Narcissa?"

"Er... as my mother?" Draco cringed.

"No!" Hermione hissed, slapping his thigh. "As his... true love." She swallowed. "Or whatever."

Draco scooted his chair closer and brought their heads together. "You already have, Hermione. I know that he loves you. Just like I know that you love us." He raised his hand to stop her when she opened her mouth. "It's all right, I don't mind that you don't say it yet. I'll want to hear it one day, but it doesn't have to be right now. You should be sure. But know that I am sure. He loves you."

Shifting so she sat in Draco's lap, Hermione wrapped her arms around him and pressed their foreheads together. "I love you, Draco Malfoy. Mad as it is...as we are...I love you."

Draco kissed her softly, his lips a whisper over hers. "See?" he said softly. "Told you."

Laughing, Hermione went to smack him again but he grabbed wrist and held it against his chest. "When will you tell him?"

"I want to," she said honestly. "I just don't want to... oh, I don't know."

"Put your heart on the line?" Draco supplied, letting go of her arm and cupping her cheek softly.

She nodded and looked away. It seemed stupid to not tell him when she knew how she felt. But he seemed distant at times, and she couldn't bear for him to pull away even more.

"Hurts to say it and not hear it back, hmm?"

"Oh, Draco," she whispered.

But then he smiled. "No matter. You've said it. Now I'll need to hear it at least once a day, probably more."

"What about Lucius?"

"Tell him, too, of course."

"Not here," she said firmly. Narcissa might still be alive and kicking, but her ghost was evident in the beach house. When Hermione said it, she wanted it to be on her terms, not as an echo of words said before she'd even been born.

"I wonder how Jackson is doing?" Hermione stood from Draco's lap and stretched. She wanted to find Lucius and pester him into spending time with them.

They both looked through one of the huge windows to the overeager moon, full and cruel with its implications.

"I'm sure he's fine," Draco said. "He's safe and sound in the dungeon, curled up in the blankets you put down there, perfectly content."

"Hope so." Hermione grabbed Draco's hand. "Let's find your father."

Lucius was in what appeared to be a study. Hermione shook her head. Even on vacation, the man worked himself like mad.

"Lucius," she said softly, not wanting to startle him, as he looked so involved in whatever he was working on.

He lifted his head slowly, smiling when he saw the two of them, hand in hand in the doorway.

"Come in." He put down his quill and sat back. Hermione walked around the desk to kiss him, and he sat her on the desk, right over his paperwork. He pulled her down for a kiss, and Hermione wondered how she ever could have thought something was wrong.

Breaking the kiss, he leaned back in his chair, rolling his shoulders and wincing.

"You work too hard," Draco said sternly, moving behind Lucius' chair to rub his shoulders. Lucius groaned a little and dropped his head forward. Draco grinned at Hermione over him, and she squirmed at the almost sexual sounds Lucius was making.

She was pretty sure that shouldn't be as hot as it was.

"How was your swim?" Lucius asked softly, running his hands up Hermione's thighs. She was still wearing her bathing suit with only a sarong to cover herself, having planned to head out to the ocean again after dinner.

"It was lovely," she said, parting her legs a little as his thumbs moved closer and closer to where she wanted them. "Could have been better."

Lucius leaned forward and planted a kiss on her inner thigh. "How so?"

Hermione let herself fall back on her elbows, watching Draco's hands move nimbly but firmly over his father's shoulders, back, and neck. "You could have been there."

Lifting her arse when Lucius tugged on her bikini bottoms, Hermione bit her lip in anticipation. She'd never forget the first time she and Lucius had been really intimate. In his study at the Manor, his hands working her body, then her beneath the desk pleasuring him... Draco's untimely entrance.

"But you had fun without me, no?" Lucius' voice was almost a purr, but when she met Draco's eyes, they were concerned.

She carded her fingers through Lucius' silver-blond hair and tilted his face so he was looking at her. "I always want you there, though." A look that on any other face might have been called vulnerable passed over his features, but was gone in an instant. He grinned predatorily and parted her thighs further, moving her feet to rest on the arms of his chair.

As Lucius' tongue delved into her folds, Draco groaned. "You look perfect like that, spread out like a feast."

She felt him untie her sarong, and then her bikini top. She felt wanton and wicked, completely nude atop Lucius' desk with both men watching her, wanting her. Draco's hands ran up and down her body, avoiding her breasts even as she arched her back for contact. Her fingers tightened in Lucius' hair as his mouth wickedly teased her clit.

Draco pushed her onto her back, pulling her slightly away from Lucius so her head hung over the other edge of the desk. She heard Lucius pulled his chair closer before he continued his devilish actions between her thighs.

She watched, upside-down, as Draco unbuttoned his trousers. Her mouth filled with saliva when he pulled out his long, hard cock. Her lips parted automatically, desperately wanting to taste him.

As his cock filled her mouth, Lucius' fingers filled her pussy. She moaned around her mouthful, which made Draco cry out softly, which made Lucius chuckle against her... a full circle of intimate sensations, and Hermione could only dig her nails into the desk as she tried to concentrate.

Draco's hands supported her head as he thrust into her mouth, his cock moving deeper and deeper, pressing against the back of her throat. Lucius' fingers were pumping...there must have been three by now...and his tongue was exploring her body so intensely she wanted to cry.

When Draco's cock pressed again at the back of her throat, Hermione tried her best to relax her muscles. She'd tried this, with moderate success, but never in this position. She raised her hand to touch his hip, signalling that she was ready. She felt Lucius' movements slow a little as Draco pressed forward.

At first she always panicked, her gag reflex trying to expel him. But Draco pulled away to let her breathe and came back a moment later, pressing. She willed her throat to relax, her muscles to calm.

Draco groaned loudly as he moved into her throat. It felt raw and sensitive, but she was almost heady with power. She could feel Lucius' panting breaths against her thigh, and she rolled her hips to show him how much she needed him.

"Aren't we... lucky, Father?" Draco said, hissing as he pulled out and filled her again. "Isn't she fucking... perfect?"

Lucius' hands clenched on her thighs, and he rested his cheek against her hip. "Perfect," he whispered. Then his fingers were inside her again, his tongue pressing and flicking her clit with singular intent. Between Draco's absolute ownership of her mouth and Lucius' skilled tongue, it wasn't long before she was crying out, her body trembling. Draco pulled out of her mouth as she inhaled deeply, lightheaded from the scant breaths she'd been taking and the position of her head.

"Shit, Granger," Draco said, his hand flying over his cock as her body came down from its high. She watched him intently, obediently opening her mouth when she saw he was ready to come.

"Ah, fuck!" he cried, coming over her mouth and chin. Hermione swallowed quickly, her throat feeling very sore.

Draco helped her into a sitting position, and she licked her lips slowly to catch Draco's come.

Lucius' eyes were almost black with lust as he watched her. She drew a finger along a streak that crossed her jaw and sucked it into her mouth, her eyes on him. She could see he was desperate...his cock was clearly outlined through his trousers.

She gracefully sank to the floor before him, pushing his chest so he was leaning back in his seat. She opened his trouser placard and pulled out his throbbing prick, hot and heavy in her firm grip. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco sit on the desk, and she could feel the erotic weight of his gaze on her. On them.

"Remember?" she whispered, flicking her tongue out to tease the head of his cock, collecting the wetness at the tip. "Last time Draco watched from the doorway. Isn't it nicer, now that he doesn't have to hide?"

Hermione closed her mouth over his cock and took as much as she could. She didn't want to tease him, and he didn't want her to.

"Much better," Lucius agreed, his voice annoyingly nonchalant.

But her fingers on his balls and her hand beneath his shirt, playing with his nipples, drew much more satisfying sounds from him.

Lifting off his cock, Hermione turned to Draco. His eyes flitted to her chin and she knew then that she hadn't cleaned up all of his come. She smiled wickedly. "Isn't it better, Draco?"

Draco shifted a little, but grinned widely at her. "Much, much better, Granger."

And Draco watched them both as Hermione showed Lucius the new trick his son had taught her, swallowing him whole and adding his come to the mess on her chin.

Narcissa's ghost was nowhere to be found.

The three shared the bed in the room that opened to the beach. Draco curled against her back while Lucius provided a very comfortable pillow.

He was gone at six in the morning to check on Jackson, and when he came back, Hermione and Draco were making love, slowly and sweetly. She immediately invited Lucius, but he said he had a few owls to attend to. Disappointed but oh so close, Hermione and Draco finished together.

It was strange, making love to only one and not the other. It felt like there was something missing... she kept waiting for more hands, a responding chuckle, a lick against her shoulder blade. It felt lonely.

Draco agreed.

When they'd made it out of bed, Lucius was working at the kitchen table, which was unlike him. He usually kept his work and home life separate, preferring the office for Ministry work.

"How's Jackson?" she inquired immediately, pouring herself and Draco a cup of tea and refreshing Lucius'.

"He's fine." Lucius frowned and crossed something out on his parchment. "He arrived on time, took the final dose of Wolfsbane, transformed normally, slept, and left as soon as I raised the wards."

"Good." Hermione was relieved. She'd been concerned for him, though she hadn't said anything, not wanting them to think she needed to return to the Manor. Which she probably would have done.

"You had a good many owls waiting," Lucius continued, gesturing to a lacquered container the size of a shoebox at the end of the table.

"Me?" Hermione eyed the box.

"You and Draco."

Hermione's eyes widened as Draco reached for the box. He dumped it on the table and immediately opened the largest one.

"It's from Potter. Our charity was approved. There's paperwork here, some changes..." Draco read it quickly. "Nothing major." He passed it to Hermione.

She laughed in delight. They'd accepted the proposal. She and Draco were officially the co-founders of Outreach, a non-profit organisation designed to help those in need.

"Congratulations," Lucius said warmly. Hermione ran to hug him, and then fairly jumped into Draco's arms.

"We did it!" she cried, kissing him soundly. She laughed as he spun her around.

"We did it. I'm so proud of you," he said. He kissed her softly, and it immediately turned heated. "You're amazing. You'll change the world."

Hermione sighed softly against his lips. "I like our world the way it is."

"What's the rest of this, then?" he asked, putting her on her feet.

Hermione reached for one of the envelopes, opening it quickly. A wizarding cheque fell out, paid to the order of Outreach. Twenty galleons. A note from a young wizard who claimed he felt much more comfortable donating to an outside source than giving his money to the Ministry.

"My god," she said, her hand shaking. She eyed the letters strewn across the table. There were at least forty more owls. Some were clunky with Galleons, some were light with cheques, some were just well wishes, a few were offers to volunteer.

"Harry must have put the word out," she said, shaking her head. But Draco was looking at his father.

Hermione mouth dropped as she spun to look at Lucius. "You did?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow but didn't look up from his work. A slow smirk lifted his lips and Hermione screamed. "Lucius!" She ran at him, uncaring that his inky fingers stained her skin. "Thank you so much." She kissed him hard and fast.

He pulled away, breathless and laughing softly. "It was nothing."

She grabbed his face with her hands and kissed him again. "Not to me. Not to us."

Tell him, a voice inside her whispered eagerly, and Hermione opened her mouth to say it, to tell him she loved him, but she just... kissed him instead.

Draco sighed.