This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

The music was good, the champagne better, and the company divine.

The masquerade ball held at Malfoy Manor was in celebration of Draco finally making an honest woman out of Ginny and proposing to her. The wedding would be held in two weeks. Narcissa was in her element, playing hostess to a great number of people. But for now, she was leaning against a wall, sipping on a glass of Lucius' best wine, enjoying the irony that Lucius was not around to yell about her drinking it. He would have simply yelled at her for opening it and depreciating its value before giving her the silent treatment for a day or so. He was a good husband, and she had loved him deeply, but towards the end, they stopped sleeping together, stopped having meals together, stopped having anything to do with one another. Narcissa was a bit frightened by how cold he had become, as if he were transforming into a Dementor.

Shaking those thoughts from her mind, she smiled into her glass as a black-robed figure came to stand beside her.

"Enjoying yourself, Narcissa?"

"Immensely, Severus. Are you enjoying the party?"

"You could say that I'm enjoying the company more than the party itself." Sneaking a look at her low square-necked dress, her breasts nearly spilling over the top, a result from the corset tightly tied around her waist, making it appear smaller than what it actually was. "I'm also rather enjoying the view."

She raised an eyebrow elegantly and took another sip of her wine. "Letch."

"When it comes to you, yes. Care to grace me with a dance, my elegant wench?"

Setting down her wineglass, she took his hand.

Ginny snuggled into Draco's arms, her velvet dress rustling against his own deep blue robes. He pressed a kiss onto her forehead.

"Doing okay, Gin?"

She nodded, her eyes scanning the crowd again. Her parents were currently huddled against a wall, standing very close together, shooting secretive glances at each other. On the dance floor, her old Potions Master was leading her future mother-in-law across the dance floor, Narcissa's white dress contrasting sharply with Snape's customary black. Of all the odd pairings, including her own with Draco, even that was odd.

Draco, following her eyes shook his head, bemused. "I know it seems odd, but he makes her happy again."

"Just like you make me happy," she whispered before pressing her lips to his.

Pulling her closer, he quickly deepened the kiss, neither of them caring who might be watching them. They had hidden their relationship for so long, it was almost a relief to be able to broadcast it to the entire world. Once the need for air became a pressing issue, they pulled back from each other, breathing hard.

"I love you, Draco." She had said that for a solid three months before he said it back, but often times, he didn't need to use words. What he could do with his body showed her more than once how much he loved her. Even now, he didn't often say the words.

"Love you, too, Ginny."

They sat there in silence for a while, Ginny practically sitting in her fiancé’s lap, their hands twisted together, resting on Ginny's stomach, looking over the dancing crowd. Draco nudged her gently, then nodded his head towards the side door that lead out towards the gardens, sunlight still brightly shining in. Looking at the clock, Ginny noticed that it was only five-thirty, and remembered that the sun wouldn't be going down for a few hours yet. But the sunlight wasn't what Draco had wanted to point out. Two people were slipping out to the gardens, possibly to snog, but as the couple disappeared from view, Ginny knew that Harry and Hermione were probably just going to take a walk around the gardens. Neither of them were big crowd lovers, preferring to keep their private lives just that - private. They had come to celebrate Draco and Ginny's engagement, but Ginny was almost shocked that they had stayed in the ballroom as long as they had without sneaking outside.

The sunlight and fresh air was a welcome relief from the crowded atmosphere of the ballroom. Smiling as Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she breathed in the subtle scent of his cologne, an unexpected turn on with his hand just barely brushing her breast with each step they took. Glancing over at him, she had to admit that Harry looked quite handsome.

Owing to the medieval theme, Harry had dressed as a knight, but had shed the armor from the heat, while Hermione was dressed as a lady-in-waiting. Her lavender gown flashed a light blue occasionally as the light hit it right, while her hair was pulled up in a simple loose bun, a few tendrils allowed to escape and curl about her face. Harry, once he had shed the armor, was dressed in black trousers that tied around the waist, a forest green shirt with a matching robe, and a phoenix pendant hanging from a thin strip of leather.

They walked towards the gardens, set fairly far away from the Manor itself, not wanting, or needing to speak. The simple feel of each other was enough. Hermione often wondered what had taken them so long to realize their feelings for each other went far, far beyond friendship, but kept telling herself that the timing before just wasn't right. It had been just over three months since they had made love for the first time, just over three and a half months since they had finally spoken those three little words while out on their first official 'date.'

He nudged her shoulder slightly. Looking up at him, she felt her heart turn over, a normal reaction whenever she saw him smiling at her with that bemused look on his face.

"I love you, Hermione."

Smiling back at him, she squeezed his hand. "I love you too, Harry."

Stopping in the middle of the path, he twisted Hermione around so that she was facing him. Leaning his head down, he gave her plenty of time to back off, but she moved forward, towards him, towards his waiting lips. The sensation of kissing Harry would be something that she never tired of, and would never give up. Flicking his tongue against her lips, he groaned softly as she opened for him, letting him taste the heady scent that Hermione alone had.

Their tongues dueled for a long moment before they both broke off for the necessity of breathing. Staring deep into each other's eyes, neither one noticed the building black clouds quickly rolling in. They walked slowly towards the gardens, hand in hand, and it was another few minutes before Hermione looked around.

"It's getting dark already?"

Looking up, Harry frowned at the dark clouds starting to cover the sun. "Looks like it's about to storm."

Lightning arched from one cloud to another, followed by a crack of thunder. Looking at each other, they stopped, realizing the precarious situation they were in. Two lone people in the middle of a path winding through a well-manicured lawn, with nary a tree in sight. Lights that were charmed to come on when it was dark started springing to life. Lightning flashed once more, and with the crack of thunder that followed it, the heavens opened up, immediately drenching both Harry and Hermione.

Hermione took one step towards the Manor when she felt Harry tug on her arm.

"Gazebo," he shouted over the rain. "It's closer!"

Following his pointing finger, she saw a small circle of lights standing out from the gray semi-darkness surrounding them, as well as through the pouring rain. Linking her hand through his, she followed his quick sprint to the gazebo, feeling the rain soak whatever part of her that was still dry. They reached the gazebo and ducked inside as it thundered once more. The wind was lashing all about, chilling them both as it caught the wetness of their clothes. Hermione could feel her nipples pebble as she shivered and turned to ask Harry if he had his wand with him, since hers was with her cloak. Her words died in her throat as she felt desire run through her system at the sight of Harry's clothes sticking to him like a second skin.

Harry looked at Hermione back, noticing the rock-hard nipples, the formerly well-placed hair plastered to her face, the way the gown clung to her figure, and the desire rapidly putting a flush in her cheeks. He needed to kiss her. Pulling her close, he set his lips against hers and devoured her mouth. They weren't very far into the gazebo, close enough to the edges to be lashed with more rain as the wind blew it on them.

Neither of them felt the cold, only the intense heat that sparked between them. In between mad, feverish kisses, they struggled to get each other's clothing off, Hermione deftly unfastening his cloak while Harry struggled with the ties on the back of her dress. Finally getting them loose, he felt Hermione tugging his shirt up and broke off from her mouth to help her get his shirt off. Once the annoying garment had fallen with a plop to the floor of the gazebo, Harry leaned in to kiss her once again.

Instead of aiming for her mouth, though, he spread tiny little kissed all over her face, then trailed down her neck. Pulling the laces as hard as he thought they could stand, he finally got them loosened enough to begin peeling Hermione's dress off her shoulders. Kissing each inch of skin exposed, he yanked the wet cloth down to her waist and fused his mouth to her breast.

Her moan echoed blissfully after a clap of thunder. Her hands came up to pull his head closer while his hands were still trying to get the damn dress off her. She was completely awash in sensation as Harry's hot mouth switched from one breast to the other, licking off each cold raindrop from her skin before playfully teasing the nipple. Her fingers fisted and she swayed dangerously. Her knees felt like jelly, and her skin was so hot, she no longer felt any of the raindrops hit it.

"Harry," she called out.

Harry lifted his mouth from her breast, an action that made her moan her dismay, and then backed her up until she felt a hard railing under her bottom. Gripping the railing tightly, she felt Harry drag her dress down over her hips, down her legs, until it was merely a puddle on the floor. Kicking it away from them, Harry felt her hands leave the railing and start tugging at the waistline of his trousers. Helping her, his hands came around to untie the knot, then they both struggled with the wet fabric. Working it down over his hips, down to his thighs, Harry suddenly stopped helping her with his trousers and cupped her gently, sliding a finger along her to gauge her readiness. Growling softly when he found her so hot, so wet, so ready for him, he could swear that he heard his self-control break.

Plunging into her, he watched Hermione's eyes widen, then her head roll back with the pleasurable shock.

"Yes," she hissed. Locking her legs around his waist, she encouraged him by rocking her hips forward, moaning unexpectedly when the feel of him inside her starts tiny shivers to start.

The moan did him in. Plunging in and out of her recklessly, he would have felt guilty about needing her so badly if she wasn't meeting him thrust for thrust, her moans indicating her pleasure.

All too soon, she could feel the tiny shivers grow and expand with each thrust of Harry's hips against hers, and she knew that her orgasm was close. Harry knew it, too. Speeding up his thrusts even more, he watched her face as she went flying over the edge.

His name was torn from her throat as she exploded, her nails digging crescents into his shoulders.

The pull of her body proved to be too much for him to fight, and with one last thrust, he surrendered himself to the pleasure.

They were both shaking as their heartbeats slowed down and their breathing returned to normal. He caught her lips in a tender, loving kiss, the opposite of the frenzied taking they had just experienced. Whispering words of love in between soft kisses, they held each other.

Hermione was the first to notice the sun begin to peek out from behind the clouds. "The sun's coming out."

Harry looked up. "So it is." Giving her one last kiss, he struggled to pull his wet trousers up, finally conceding defeat. Picking up his robe, he found the pocket his wand was in. Waving it over the clothes, he muttered a quick drying spell. They dressed quickly, not wanting to be caught half-dressed by any other party-goers wandering around, enjoying the cooled air.

As they slowly walked the path back up to the Manor, Hermione smiled as she saw the raindrops clinging to the grass. "I'll never look at rain the same way again," she said.

Harry looked at her lovingly and tucked a strand of her now-dry hair behind her hear. "I'll have to remember to get a gazebo for out house when we get married."

Hermione stilled and looked at him. "*When* we get married?"

He shrugged bashfully. "That is assuming that you'll say yes."

Hermione jumped into his arms.

Her shouted answer was heard by everyone who had come out to enjoy the cooled air.

"Yes!"

-The End.