Chapter 84
Prompt: You owe me
Draco groaned into his hands, mentally berating himself for being in this situation in the first place. When Hermione had first asked, he had simply scoffed in response and went back to his paperwork.
“But you owe me!” she had whined, stomping her foot to further her petulant behavior.
“I covered for you last week when you left work early! Come on Malfoy, it’s just an afternoon.”
Draco had peered into her warm Amber eyes and knew he would agree to anything she asked anyway, so ended the charade and agreed with a dramatic roll of his eyes. Now as he sat on a chaise at Madam Milkin’s new bridal boutique, he wished he had at least put up more of a fight.
“One more moment!” Hermione called out from behind the dressing room door.
Draco rolled his shoulders as he attempted to school his features into a more neutral expression.
The sound of the door opening snapped him from his thoughts and when his eyes landed on her, his heart soared in his chest.
Her gown was backless and hug her curves tastefully before it fanned out at the bottom. Her chestnut hair fell in long wild waves down her back, but it was the enchanted viel, decorated as the night sky and magicked to shimmer that caught his eye.
His mouth was dry as his eyes roamed her body, breathless with the intensity of emotions he felt toward this beautiful, stubborn witch.
“Well?” She interrupted his thoughts, her voice small, “What do you think?”
Draco cleared his throat as he sifted through the many different responses fighting to slip out. He reached out to tuck a curl behind her ear, noting how Hermione reflexively leaned into the palm of his hand.
“I think,” he swallowed, treasuring the moment for a few more seconds, “I think your fiance will be entranced when you walk down the aisle.”'
Prompt: I can't dance
Hermione felt her stomach drop as Draco's words brought her crashing back to reality.
She was marrying Ron in one week.
It wasn't as though she had forgotten about her fiancé, but being here with Draco, standing before him in the wedding dress she chose thinking with only him in mind, she had allowed herself to fantasize. She imagined standing before him and promising eternity, imagined kissing the lips she had only dreamed of, of dancing all night held in his strong embrace.
"Granger," his voice was a whisper calling to her softly, pulling her toward him.
She lifted her gaze and found his soft gaze looking at her how she had always dreamed. His own longing and admiration open to her, for once, and her breath caught in her chest.
"Dance with me."
"I - I can't dance," Hermione responded, a pathetic excuse to put off the inevitable.
Draco let out a small sigh and pulled her compliant body toward his, his hand gently caressing the small of her back.
"Please Granger, let me have this moment before it's too late."
Prompt: I chose you
His words were met with silence and Draco fought the urge to walk back his plea. He thought he could do this; resign himself to live on the edges of her life, satisfied to just exist in her orbit.
He was a fool.
He knew now as he held her close to his body, feeling the way she leaned into his touch, that he would never be satisfied with anything other than an eternity with her by his side.
As they moved in sync with one another across the boutique, Draco summoned the rest of his courage and moved Hermione into a slow dip.
His left hand moved across her back as his right slid slowly up her thigh, pulling her closer to him. Hermione’s body complied immediately, as her own hand moved through his hair to behind his neck, her touch soft but firm.
Amber met grey as she held his gaze boldly, her eyes flitting briefly to his lips.
Time stopped before Draco closed the distance, his lips claiming hers.
Hermione responded in kind, a quiet groan filling the silence as the two allowed their bodies a taste of what they’d been denying themselves all of these years. Coming to his senses first, Draco reluctantly pulled away and gently pulled Hermione back to her feet and he rested his forehead against hers.
“Granger,” he breathed and in it a plea, a declaration, a promise.
Hermione swallowed hard, unable to meet his gaze and Draco's heart sank.
He was too late.
He pulled away, unable to stay and hear her explanation of why they couldn’t be together.
A soft touch on his wrist forced him to turn back and face her.
“I choose you,” she breathed and Draco’s world tilted on its axis.
“Wh-what?” he stuttered, barely able to comprehend the words falling from her mouth.
Hermione’s lips twitched up into a slow smile.
“Draco Malfoy. You are the most infuriating man I’ve ever met and your timing is absolute shite,” she sighed as she moved her hands to cup his face.
“But I have been madly in love with you for the past three years and if you feel even a little of what I do, I’ll choose you every day for the rest of my life.”