Married By Law

Chapter 13: Paradise Sunset

The air whipped Hermione's clothes against her body and blew her hair around her face. It was exhilarating! She now understood why Harry enjoyed Quidditch so much. The cool air kissed her skin as she flew over the open countryside below her.

She continued following the blue light that stretched out in front of her. She leaned further forward on the broomstick to gain more speed. Her heart started thumping against her chest in fear as everything turned into a blur as the broomstick sped up dramatically. Draco must've cast a spell on it to get there quicker. After all, it took about thirty hours to get there. Her heart rate started to slow down slightly as she got used to the speed after nearly an hour of pure fear of falling off the broomstick.

Hermione flew over a city. She could see cars below moving around and she could just make out the shapes of people down below on the streets. From this high up they were just small dots. The broomstick carried her over the rest of the city and out over a beach and then the zaffre coloured ocean. Sunlight rays rebounded off the ocean waves and shined brightly. It was beautiful.

She had already been travelling for two hours, following the blue light and gazing at the zaffre ocean. With the speed enhancement spell Draco cast over the broomstick, Hermione thought that she should have a couple more hours of flying before she arrived in Bulgaria.

Her mind drifted to a sudden thought. What was so special that Malfoy had to plan this surprise outside of the country? It had better be pretty damn special because Hermione hated the idea of falling off the broomstick at this height above the ground.

Another two hours of gazing down at blue ocean, lush, green countryside, and busy city streets, the ray of blue light started angling downwards. She tilted the broom handle down slightly to follow the blue light towards a beach. Golden Sands. Hermione stopped the broom when she was a few inches above the ground. She touched one foot onto the sand and swung the other leg over the broomstick's handle, now standing with two legs on the earth again, much to Hermione's relief.

Hermione couldn't do anything before the person behind grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. She struggled to reach her wand but the person's grip was too strong.

"Hey, it's only me," Draco whispered in her ear. "Don't panic."

Hermione's body relaxed a little. "What are doing, Draco?"

"I'm surprising you. But first I have to blindfold you."

"Are you sure that you're not kidnapping me?"

Malfoy chuckled. "Yes, I'm quite sure. If I let go of your arms you can't punch me, ok?"

Hermione smirked. "I can't make any promises."

Hermione felt Draco tense a little behind her before slowly letting go of her arms. Hermione turned around to face Malfoy. Draco couldn't react quick enough before Hermione balled her hand into a fist and punched his arm. Hard.

"Owww. I probably should've expected that."

"Probably."

"Now turn around. I need to blindfold you."

Hermione hesitated slightly before turning around again so that her back was to Malfoy. He covered her eyes with a piece of fabric, tying it in a knot at the back of her head. "Can you see my hand?" Malfoy asked. He must've been waving his hand in front of her face.

"No," Hermione answered.

Without her sight, Hermione's sense of hearing seemed to sharpen. She heard the rustle of the twigs on the end of the broomstick. Draco must've picked it up. Hermione flinched as he grabbed her hand. Hermione heard a crack, signalling that they had apparated somewhere. But where, that was unknown. She heard a rustle behind her, sounding like Draco had put the Firebolt on the ground of wherever they were, before Malfoy untied the knot and removed the blindfold. Hermione's eyes had to adjust after being covered with the blindfold before she could see where they were. Once her eyes had adjusted, she gasped at the sheer beauty of the whole place.