Hermione smiled, revelling in hearing these rare snippets of Draco's life. There was a whole world to experience with him and a past to familiarize herself with.
"I feel new to this," she heard him say next. And there was a more serious edge to his voice. "I don't like beinguncertain. You're going to have to give me some guidance."
With studied concentration, he slid a curled knuckle from her bottom lip, over her chin and down her neck. It stopped at the first button of her cardigan, skimming the top of her camisole. Her skin became gooseflesh all over.
"I don' t think you need guidance," she said, huskily. "You seem to know what you're doing more often than not."
Draco's answering smile was pure sex. "I mean everything that comes before and after. What do nice girls like to do outside of bed?" His voice was a low rumble she swore she could feel vibrating in the core of her.
"Whatever gave you the idea that I' m a nice girl?" Hermione replied seriously. She placed her palm over the pronounced bulge in his pants. She was well aware that he'd been hard for the past hour.
"Granger, I have to be honest. Dinner was the last thing on my mind the moment you walked through the front door. But I know we need to be doing other" she scratched her nails down along the fabric covered ridge, "things," he finished on a groan.
"Really?" Hermione said, "I' m sure we' ll eventually settle into a comfortable rhythm." At mention of 'rhythm' , she had him unzipped and free, lying across her small, warm palm.
She sighed. The wine made her brave and more than a little impatient to touch him. The firelight turned his pale skin gold. He was hot and very sleek. The familiar smell of him was intoxicating. She squeezed along his shaft and was delighted when a tiny drop of dew appeared at the tip. Hermione bent her head and flicked out the tip of her tongue to taste him. Her palette still held a trace of chocolate. The combination of flavours was not unpleasant.
Draco hissed and caught her about her shoulders. "Stop that."
She looked up, smiling. "Why?"
"Because If I come now, I may not have the energy or inclination to take you on the walk I have planned. That is, if you're agreeable?"
She was.
**
It was a trip to sum up the past. It was cleansing, really. The dinner date had started the process, now the walk they took through the Malfoy grounds marked the start of whatever lay ahead.
Draco insisted on bundling her up in an additional layer on top of her trench coat. The cloak he put on her was from his Hogwarts days. It was huge and smelled a little like the Great Hall, if indeed the Great Hall ever had just the one smell. There was always woodsmoke. It was bacon and eggs on some morning, fresh, buttery scones on others. Hermione liked it best on Yule mornings, when the scent of Christmas fruitcake seemed to cling to the walls.
"Warm enough?" he asked, once they were outdoors.
She nodded. They were both wearing gloves, but she thought she could still feel the heat from his hand.
They walked through a wooded area at the back of the estate. It was the same path where they had stumbled across Carmen Meliflua and Tandish Dodders on the night the Death Eaters attacked the Manor.
But this time they continued on a narrow, paved pathway, winding deeper into the woods. Hermione noted that they were walking on a gentle incline, judging from the feel of the ground under her feet and the tension in her calves.
Soon, they came to the top of a small hill that overlooked the Manor from the back of the property. From this vantage point, the house and the village of Thimble Creek were nestled in a valley below. The innumerable windows of Malfoy Manor were aglow, from east wing to west wing. It was an impressive sight.
"I had this put in last week," he said, indicating a gothic-looking, covered, lookout point at the top of the hill. It still smelled freshly of varnish. "This whole area is covered in wildflowers in the summer. My mother liked this spot and I thought I should do something, you know?"
She knew. He meant he should do something meaningful now that his mission had been accomplished.