Remain Nameless

Chapter 51

"You'll miss it, won't you?" asked Ginny softly.

Hermione nodded and turned on the spot, taking in her bare walls, empty mantel, lonely shelves devoid of objects or decorations, a home stripped of all evidence she'd once resided here.

"Let me put on a kettle before I go," Ginny said with a comforting squeeze to her shoulder.

Alone with her memories, she indulged in a wistful smile at the thought of this stage of her life coming to a close. She saw the hallway where she'd shared her first kiss with Draco. The burn mark on the hardwood from when Harry sent off startled sparks from his wand in a panic with a younger Teddy, terrified of babysitting alone and mortified when the child threw a tantrum because Harry wouldn't let him fly. The scratches on the corner of the wall from when Crookshanks felt particularly sassy. The dent in the ceiling from when Ron decided it would be brilliant to experiment with miniature trick Bludgers indoors.

Remnants of a previous life. Despite the sometimes lonely nights, she'd never regret this stage of independent living in a home she'd bought for herself, with her own savings, with her own preferences and no one else's in mind.

She wondered how Draco fared at the office the last two days and then at their home without her. Hermione still met him at the café both today and yesterday morning, but returned to the townhome at night to pack away the remainder of her belongings and shore up plenty of work before they'd depart on their honeymoon. But her husband of all of a few days had a certain way, actually make that several ways, of convincing her that work could wait in the mornings, so she'd opted to retire to her bed here, alone.

It hadn't stopped Draco from sending dozens of messages through their two-way journals. She knew he was trying so hard to respect her space and had yet to beg she come sleep with him at least. Part of her liked once again having that anticipation build by being apart a few days before their soul-bonding ceremony, but a larger part of her argued she needlessly deprived herself for a silly tradition. They were already married anyway for Merlin's sake.

As if he'd heard her thoughts all the way from Berkshire, the fireplace lit up green and Draco stalked out.

"Damn it all Granger, you are my wife and this is bloody ridiculous!"

Before she could so much as open her mouth, he commandeered it with his own. Pushed up against an empty stretch of wall, she only came to her senses once he'd moved his lips down to her neck.

"Draco, Ginny's here!"

In her periphery, she caught a flash of red hair and heard a snort of laughter. Draco did not seem to care about another presence in the room, only pausing his attentions to her skin to toss a cursory greeting over his shoulder.

"Evening Ginevra, best be on your way unless you want a show."

"As much as I would enjoy that, I don't think Hermione is an exhibitionist. Enjoy your evening with Mrs. Malfoy."

"It's Granger-Malfoy," Draco corrected, and Hermione couldn't remove his outerwear fast enough as Ginny's parting guffaws rang in her ear.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Draco found Narcissa in one of the smaller dining rooms of the Lestrange Estate. He'd taken the last few days to focus on quidditch match updates and player statistics at the office, but he'd mostly spent his time dreaming up ways to seduce his wife. Which meant today's arduous task occurred later than he'd liked, but Draco could put it off no longer. He'd not go into his soul-bonding ceremony with this hanging over his head.