Married By Law

Chapter 17: Giggles And Chuckles

Draco opened the cabin door with his free hand. His other hand was holding a handful of sea shells he had collected down on the beach with Hermione. Hermione, however, had both her hands full of shells varying in colour, shape and size, as well as her pockets.

Draco walked into the kitchen and ran some water in the sink. He placed his handful of shells in the water and stepped aside to let Hermione do the same. She then emptied her pockets.

"Bloody hell, there's sand in my pockets," Hermione complained. Hermione turned her pocket inside out, letting the sand fall to the ground.

"Well what do you expect to happen when you put sea shells, covered in sand, into your pockets?"

Hermione ignored Draco's rhetorical question and emptied the sand from her other pocket. Two small piles of sand had formed next to her on each side beside her feet.

"I didn't bring any clothes with me to change in to." Hermione groaned.

"Don't worry about it." Draco wandered into the bedroom, leaving Hermione standing in the kitchen.

"'Don't worry about it'?" Hermione threw her hands up in the air. "What do you mean, 'Don't worry about it'?"

"I mean-" Draco called from the bedroom, "Don't worry about it." He walked back into the kitchen with a pile of clothes in his arms. "I brought some of your clothes in case you forgot to do so yourself."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Draco handed the clothes over to Hermione. "I'll wait out here while you get changed."

Hermione wandered into the bedroom and into the branched off bathroom.

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Draco dipped his hands in the water and started washing the shells to rid of all the sand. It floated around in the cool liquid before slowly settling on the bottom of the sink. Draco grabbed the tea towel and layed it out flat on the bench next to the sink before placing the clean shells on it to dry. He was about to pull the plug from the sink when he remembered the peculiar shell he had found earlier. He pulled it out of his pocket.

The late afternoon sunlight, streaming through the window and lighting up the room, hit the shell at an angle which caused a small patch of green to appear on the ceiling above his head.

"Oh my gosh, that's beautiful," Hermione gushed from where she stood in the lounge room behind him. She walked over to stand at Draco's side to admire the shell more closely. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I." Draco turned the small shell over in his hand to examine the other side.

"Where did you find it?" Hermione asked.

"It was just sitting in the water, near the shore." Draco put the shell back into his pocket.

A few moments of silence passed between the pair.

"What are we gonna do now?" Hermione asked. "It's your turn to choose."

Draco shuffled into the lounge room, where he plopped himself down on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest in thought. He moved his eyes around the room while he ran a few ideas through his mind. Hermione sat down on the couch next to Draco, tucking her feet underneath herself, awaiting his idea to leave his mouth. But he had to form it in his mind first.

"I have an idea." Draco beamed.

"Well," Hermione raised her eyebrows in question. "Let's hear it."

"No," There was that smirk of his again.

"Oh, come on. Why not?" Hermione whined.

"It's going to be a surprise."

"Fine," Hermione huffed. She crossed her arms over her chest and sank down into the couch, pouting like a child.

"Now who's acting like a child?" Malfoy's smirk grew a bit wider.

Before Malfoy could move or react in any way, Hermione pulled out her wand and yelled out a charm. "Rictusempra!"

Draco realised what charm she had cast, but it was too late. The silver light hit him in the chest and threw him over the arm the couch. Hermione heard a thump on the ground. Then Draco's laughter echoed throughout the room. Hermione peered over the side and found Draco thrashing about in a fit of laughter. The Tickling Charm. It was now Hermione's turn to smirk.

"P-please," Draco wheezed out between shrieks of laughter. "P-p-please s-stop."

Hermione chuckled. "I cant' do anything about it. You have to wait for it to wear off."

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Hey guys!

Another short chapter. Hope you don't mind. A possible broken wrist made it harder to type and delayed the update. I hope that's ok. Anyway, as usual, don't forget to vote and comment your opinions or plot ideas, as it is greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!