Chapter 17- Promises (Serious Dramione Fluff inside!)

Promises

Ah. Kazakhstan. The country that made you think you were taking a step into the past and then suddenly bombard you with skyscrapers and coming of age technology.

A full week since my second encounter with the ex-Deatheaters, and winter had finally decided to push through with a light snowy dusting. And it was bloody freezing! I rubbed my gloved hands together and blew into the fabric to warm my nose and mouth. Despite the multiple layers, light purple hat, mittens, scarf, and white button-up coat, I couldn't seem to escape the chill. I was really regretting not casting a warming spell on myself before having to sit in front of all these muggles.

I was on a cold stone bench right in the middle of Astana, Kazakhstan, a city that was positively brimming with modern-day buildings and structures. I shivered as I watched the swarms of people move past me with stern faces and heads bowed against the winter wind. Why was I sitting there? I don't really know. I was supposed to be waiting for none other than Draco Malfoy, but he seemed to be gone forever.

The crisp wind smacked at my face, turning my cheeks bright red. Where was he?! We'd aparated in a lonely alley earlier and hand in hand we moved to this very spot where he told me to wait and then left. I was going to wring his pale neck for leaving me this long!

I looked up into the river of dull faces once again. The ebony heads bobbed with their bodies' movements like ripples in a black lake. My heart skipped a beat and I stood excitedly, noticing a flash of white, angel hair among them. I craned my neck to see Malfoy shoving his way through the crowd and trying not to get swept away by the current. In his hands, that were gloved by two plain black mittens, were little white containers. From this far away it almost looked as though he was carrying blocks of snow.

When he got closer I could see that his ivory face was broken with splotches of bright red on his nose and cheeks and that there was steam rising from the two figures in his hand. He sat down next to me and handed me a white cup, taking a sip from his own.

"Coffee!" I yelled. "That's what took you so long!" My words were jumbled from my frozen lips. I sat down and took a drink and instantly felt my stomach grow warmer.

The rest of he grew much warmer though, when Draco slid his arm over my shoulders and snuggled in next to me.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it is to order a coffee here." He said. "They made me talk into this little box that somehow changed everything I said to Russian."

"How horrible." I teased, draping my arm around his waist. "You had to stand in a warm building and talk into a box."

"No. It wasn't very warm." He squeezed me closer when he felt me shiver. "Bloody muggles kept opening the door!" He took a drink of his coffee and I smiled at his frustration. "I got you the right kind didn't I?" He asked gesturing to the cup in my hands.

"Caramel cappuccino?" I asked taking a drink. It tasted a little different, but I assumed that was because of the change of country and culture.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. Why did it feel so right to be snuggled up to Draco Malfoy? Why did, no matter how close I got, I still wanted closer to him? It was odd to me. I felt like I should hate him, but I couldn't. He wasn't how I remembered him, and lately, I was beginning to question if I was remembering everything right. Because I remembered hating him to no end, but now I liked him. I really, really liked him.

I felt Draco quiver against the crisp air. "Why are we sitting here in the freezing cold?" I asked, shaking myself

"Because," He said setting down his cup and wrapping both arms around me. "I don't have a good reason to hold you like this where it's warm."

My face lit on fire and I could imagine my cheeks growing even redder. What a flirt.

Draco opened the door to my room for me. We'd made our way to a hotel which wasn't easy considering that everything was in Russian. I'd found out that the 'box' Draco said he had to talk into was actually a mobile with a translator. We had to speak into one so the man at the front desk could understand what we needed.

Draco waltzed in after me and shut the door. We had managed to get two separate rooms again, but I was glad that he wasn't going to his just yet. He took of his coat and mittens and used his wand to hang them on a wire hanger by the door. I took off mine and did the same, my face still numb from the wintry air.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked and moved closer to me.

I raised my eyebrows and stared at him questioningly. "Maybe..."

He reached out and put his hands on my waist. I leaned against the wall behind me and Draco moved closer so that his warm breath melted my face. He smelled like coffee. I moved my hands over his torso, feeling his small muscles under his gray shirt. I curled my fingers around the fabric on his shoulders and held on like I'd never let go. He bowed his head so that our foreheads were touching. Now I felt incredibly warm.

"You remember the night when the Deatheaters found us in the inn?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm trying to forget." I replied.

"Well, you remember how the one called you my girlfriend and you yelled that you weren't?"

I narrowed my eyes, suspicious at where this was going. "Yes..."

He reached over into his coat and took out a light pink flower and held it between us. "I was hoping that could change?"

I looked down at the beautiful flower and took it in my hands. It made my heart swell so far I thought it would pop in my chest. I caressed the petals with my fingers and felt that it was only plastic.

"I wanted to get you a real flower." He said, putting his hand on mine around the stem. "But it was a little late for that. I know you like Dandelions, but again, not many around. So I got you my favorite flower instead."

I looked up from the flower and into his big grey eyes. "I thought you didn't have a favorite flower?" I said.

"Well I found out what it is." He smiled. "It's called an English Rose, or, as I prefer it, a Gentle Hermione."

"Do you just like it because of the name?" I asked, my face nearly splitting with a smile.

"No." He looked down at the flower and stroked the plastic petals. "I like it because it's beautiful and delicate and soft and smells wonderful..."

He continued and I didn't think he was talking about the flower anymore. I could have cried. I gabbed his shirt forcefully and drove my lips up into his, muffling his last words. He stood surprised for a moment and then melted down into me. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulled me closer and pressed his mouth down on mine.

I felt his tongue tickle my bottom lip and then his teeth nipped playfully at it. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck to force him closer. I wanted him closer. Closer. His warm hands moved inside the bottom of my shirt sending ripples of goose bumps across my stomach. He moved his palms over my back and up to the back of my shoulders.

He kissed me forcefully and meaningfully so that my head spun and my legs almost couldn't support my weight. I breathed heavily as he sucked my lip and pressed his tongue on my mouth. His hands set my shoulders on fire and I thought I would faint when he started rubbing his fingers gently over my bare flesh.

His kisses drove me crazy. His hands traveled back down my torso and past my hips. He wrapped his arms under my bottom and picked me up, with my back against the wall for balance. I hugged his waist with my legs and moved my hands down to his chin so I could force his face up into mine. He kissed the corner of my mouth and along my jaw line.

"Is that a yes?" He said breathlessly. "Are you my girlfriend now, Granger?"

I grinned and nodded.

He slid me down the wall and pressed his lips onto my forehead, taking a deep breath of my hair.

"Then I have something else for you." He whispered, his breath running down my face.

He reached into his pocket and brought out a little black box. I looked at it quizzically as he opened it and took out a silver band.

"I believe the muggles do something like this." He said fingering it. "A promise band I think."

I nodded beaming.

He pointed to a small engraving on it: ТОЛЬКО МОИ it said. "It means only mine. I got it in Russian so that we would remember this happening here."

My chest cracked open and my heart jumped to my throat. I grabbed him in a hug. "Thank you!" I whispered.

When I let go my eyes were brimming with tears again. I held out my hand and he slipped it on my finger

"Do you have one?" I asked.

He held his hand in front of me and on his finger was an identical silver band with the same inscription.

I grinned. "You were that confident that I would agree with this?!" I teased.

"No." He admitted. "But I was going to wear it anyway. I can't get you out of my head, Hermione. I think about you so much that there isn't enough thoughts about you for anyone else to think. And even if you would have said you still weren't ready for this I wouldn't stop thinking about you. And you still would have been 'only mine' because I wouldn't let anyone else have you until I was sure we weren't meant to be together."

"Stop it Draco." I breathed. "You're going to make me cry."

He pulled me in and our lips connected once more.