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Draco’s 18th birthday came with a lot of firsts. As would every other birthday to follow. (But that’s getting ahead of the story and much of Draco’s life experiences.)
Draco gave little thought to his birthday with the Second Wizarding War just over and having to face the repercussions of his choices during that horrible time. Not like previous years when it had been the best day of the year. Since he was a little boy, it had been a day that centred around Draco and no one else. Not much different from many other days, his mother still made sure June 5th was even more special than any other day of the year.
But for his 18th birthday, Draco was handed a piece of paper that acquitted him of his supposed ‘crimes’ during the war on the prerequisite that he would return to Hogwarts and finish his education on probation and regular wand checks.
To be honest, that piece of paper was the best birthday gift he received that year. And one of the few he received at all.
When he returned home to the Manor, it was an empty home devoid of life.
His mother welcomed him with warm arms but tired eyes. They had shared a quiet meal after which the elves produced a small cake with a single candle for Draco to blow out.
“Happy birthday my darling.” His mother had told him with a pinched smile as they both avoided looking at the chair his father would’ve occupied.
That was the first birthday Draco ever had without his father.
When his 19th birthday approached, Draco gave it no special thought.
He would be spending it at the castle and it would be another first birthday with no celebration or warm wishes from his parents. His father was still in Azkaban and his mother had departed for France for her health when the first sign of winter showed in Britain and she hadn’t returned yet.
Draco had contended himself to celebrate the day alone with no celebrations of the day.
It was no big deal, really.
It would just be the first birthday in his life he spent alone. He was sure it wouldn’t be the last he did so.
But of course, bloody Pansy had other plans.
“I won’t have you sulking alone in your room all night. I’m throwing you a party, and there’s nothing you can say about it. And you’re going to bloody enjoy yourself for one sodding evening!” As always, once Pansy got an idea in her head there was no stopping her.
This was also why, throughout the school year, Draco had grown accustomed and somewhat friendly with a bunch of students he never would have dreamed to befriend before the war.
Least of all Granger.
But Pansy was relentless. Once she and Draco came to the understanding that their failed attempt at a relationship was perpetually doomed, she sought her pleasure and entertainment elsewhere. It wasn’t exactly as if Draco had truly given her much pleasure even when they were together. Having the Dark Lord breathe down your neck wasn’t much of an arousal in any instance. Pansy had been understanding those last years, but once they ended things, she hadn’t been quiet about what she wanted to do.
Draco had followed from the sidelines as she began her snog-fest with Theo for a week or two. When he didn’t live up to her standards, she quickly moved on. Draco was amazed at her candidness and straightforward approach. He nearly gagged when she had declared that Weasley was a decent snog, but nothing else. There had been no real spark, not like Potter who knew a thing or two. Draco vomited a tiny bit in his mouth at this statement. Essentially, Pansy took on the pursuit of snogging pretty much everyone until she found her perfect match. When that match turned out to be the ferocious little Weasley girl, every Gryffindor and Slytherin had been gobsmacked. Except for Granger.
Draco had observed as she had looked at the pair with a bemused expression, shrugged and then pulled the Weaslette in for a tight hug.
And that, seemingly, was that. And quite suddenly, the Slytherins were friendly and on many first-name bases with a lot of Gryffindors.
Throughout the school year, all four houses, in fact, mingled and found new strange friendships across age and pretty much everything. All aside from Draco who kept to himself as much as possible, as much for personal reasons as anything else.
But of course, Granger was just as persistent and a nuisance as Pansy and since their first partnership in Potions, she had instated herself as a permanent study partner for him. Not that Draco could blame her for wanting more intellectual company aside from Potter and Weasley, who never even returned after the Christmas holidays having gotten early acceptance to the Auror programme.
And Draco and Granger had grown close.
Draco would even venture to say they were friends after forgivings had been voiced and put to rest.
He even found himself flirting with her on occasion in recent months - and she fucking flirted back sometimes, when she didn’t laugh in derision at his attempts.
Despite Pansy’s relentless nagging about his birthday, Draco chose to spend most of the day by himself.
School was close to finished and most of the eight-year students were preparing heavily for exams that waited just around the corner. Draco had his first one just the next week. But he wasn’t too worried about Arithmancy after he and Granger had set up a plan for studying and revising.
Draco had set up his books and notes in the eight-year common area for the night, and he must’ve fallen asleep at one point. Suddenly a noise woke him and a book tumbled from his lap to the floor as Granger traipsed into the room. Her hair was a mess despite her wand trying to hold it together.
“Oh.” She said upon seeing him and then she checked her watch.
“I hadn’t expected anyone to be up this late.” She yawned and stretched her shoulders before slumping into a chair next to Draco. He started collecting his things and shrugged back.
“Well, I hadn’t planned to stay up this late. Fell asleep.”
“I noticed. Arithmancy?” She questioned as she handed him one of his books with a curious expression.
“Yes, as you can tell.” Draco shuffled his notes and shut them in the binder Granger had found for him after he kept losing his notes all the time. She eyed him funnily.
“I talked to Pansy earlier today.” She mentioned with a tell-tale look in her eyes and Draco groaned at the thought of what Pansy might have told Granger.
“Why didn’t you mention your birthday was this week?”
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
“Of course, it matters.”
“No, it doesn’t, Granger.”
“Huh.”
“What?” Draco found he was getting rather annoyed with Granger at the moment. Not that that was unusual, but despite their friendly way of being around each other, she could still be annoying as hell with the way she spoke or left things out sometimes, when she clearly wanted to talk on end. He saw her checking her watch once more. Then her lips twitched a bit.
“It’s past midnight.”
“So it is, well spotted, Granger.”
“It’s your birthday then.”
“Yes.”
“I suppose I might as well give you your present now.”
“Granger, you didn’t have to get me anything. I don’t want you to spend your galleons on me.” She looked at him with a raised brow. She didn’t look offended but was still a bit puzzled about his turn down of this offer for him. But Draco knew better than to expect anything nice at this point in his life. His life choices had made that adamant for him.
“Good thing I didn’t then.” She had moved in her seat, closer to sitting on the edge, and thus also closer to him.
“Nor should you expect me to wear anything of those things you persist on calling hats.” He pushed back to try and regain control of a situation he was starting to feel slipping through his fingers and into the hands of Granger. She had a way of doing this, taking control of things when he felt slightly overwhelmed with the world around him. Sometimes he appreciated it. Sometimes he hated it.
At this particular moment, he was yet undecided about how he felt about it.
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“Right.”
“Just close your eyes will you?” She exhaled and threw her hands in the air in frustration at him. Draco narrowed his eyes at her, trying to see if she had anything hidden she could torment him with in one form or another. Granger just stared back at him, one hand on her hip. And even when she was sitting down, Draco knew that look and sighed, giving in.
He closed his eyes.
“Hold out your hands.” Her voice came softly from right next to him. Draco stretched out his hands, palms up and open for what he anticipated for her to put in them. He heard her move beside him and then he could smell her much closer to him. It was a nice smell, one he had grown used to. She smelled of the usual. The Hogwarts Library and vanilla. She always smelled of vanilla and Draco’s fondness for sweets always perked up at the scent of her this close.
“Ready?” Her voice was almost a whisper, but she was so close to him that he didn't fail to hear her.
Draco nodded.
With his eyes closed, he hadn’t felt that exposed and vulnerable since the Dark Lord forced him to behave as he did in his sixth year. But sitting opposite Granger like this, it was a different kind of vulnerability. It made him itch and squirm right until his hands filled with soft fingers and a warm palm in each. Granger’s hands. Draco was holding Granger’s hands.
He was just about to open his mouth to ask her what was going on, what she was doing when he is obstructed from doing so.
Granger’s mouth was on Draco’s and his brain had completely shut down on what to do. It had stopped working upon registration of the fact that Granger was kissing him.
Because that’s what it was.
It was a kiss.
From Granger.
He felt her lips move slightly across his, gently pressing to the corners of his mouth before pressing themselves firmly right in the centre. He felt her tentative gesture shift into something else as she painted a path across his lips with hers. She started to explore his mouth and Draco found he wanted to do the same. So he kissed her back. Tentatively at first, but then he felt her smile against him as he started kissing her back. And he smiled too, because it was truly wonderful to be kissed. Even more so because it was Granger. He had wondered what she would be like to kiss, but never more than that. She was out of bounds for several reasons.
Not for the same reasons she had been a few years ago.
Draco knew better.
But for reasons that had more to do with him than her.
But here she was, kissing him. And Draco wasn’t fool enough to stop something this magnificent. He kissed her back with unspoken words of his desire to do so. She responded in kind and moved her palms up his arms to hold on to him. Draco raised his hands to her shoulders, but quickly moved them to tangle in the curls at the back of her neck. As he did so, she parted her tantalising lips and let him slip his tongue inside her warm mouth. Draco held her closer as he was allowed to stroke his tongue along Granger’s beguiling tongue as it twined itself around Draco’s. Kissing Pansy had never been like this, Draco briefly wondered, before his mind spun back to the fact that he was kissing Hermione Golden Girl Granger. And it was blowing his mind to smithereens. They both worked to deepen the kiss as their hands tightened their holds on the other, pressing their bodies closer together. Granger let out a little sound of pleasure that Draco never imagined he would hear from her, least of all because of something he was doing. But she did it again, and Draco couldn't stifle the lustful groan that his throat made as a reply.
Just as suddenly as it happened, Granger pulled back to break off the kiss and Draco nearly fell over and out of his seat as he continued to lean into the kiss.
“Happy birthday Draco.” Granger breathed into his face and her smile was magnificent and enticing. Draco was just about to reach out for her again when she rose from her spot and without another word, she went to her room to go to bed.
Breathless, Draco sat back and realised that for his 19th birthday, he had just kissed Hermione Granger for the first time. And he wanted to kiss her again.
On Draco’s 20th birthday, he lost his virginity to Hermione Granger. After that life-altering first kiss, they had shared, they had dived into exam weeks and had little time for more kissing aside from small and stolen moments. After graduating from Hogwarts, they had both been determined to make a path for themselves in their lives, and Draco was more than pleased to realise his chosen path ran parallel to the one Granger had chosen. They started dating properly at the end of the year but kept things discreet for many varied reasons. But when it was just the two of them alone, Draco felt the most alive he had ever felt. When his 20th birthday approached he knew
Granger had something planned for him, but he just wanted her. Nothing else.
So he told her this.
And that’s what she gave him.
On Draco’s 21st birthday, Granger introduced him to her parents. It was a strained meeting since their memories still played tricks on them and she had to remind them many times throughout a single conversation who they all were. But she had said she wanted him to meet them, and for them to meet him. It was the only way for her to move forward in their relationship, as they both wanted to.
On Draco’s 23rd birthday, he brought Granger with him to France to be reintroduced to his mother. All things considered, he felt it was a success. The meeting had been tense, but his mother had drawn him aside before he and Granger departed for home again. She had told him how happy she was to see him so happy. And so alive.
He returned home with a small box in his pocket that Granger knew nothing about.
On Draco’s 25th birthday, he made love to Granger for the first time in their new flat. Making love to Granger was something Draco never grew tired of. He may only have been with one woman in his life, but that was more than enough for him. Granger was enough for him.
On Draco’s 27th birthday, he decided to do something for him as well as for Granger. So he proposed and was beyond happy when she leapt into his arms with a squealing ‘Yes!’ on her lips.
On Draco’s 29th birthday, his wife told him she was expecting their first child. Draco didn’t remember much else from that day as he didn’t consider anything else important.
On Draco’s 30th birthday, he didn’t get to spend much of the day to be about him. But he didn’t mind. He spent the day fussing over his baby daughter, who still would only sleep in the vicinity of her parents.
On Draco’s 35th birthday, he took his pregnant wife and two children on an extended holiday to France to spend three weeks with his mother, whose health was deteriorating too much with every year that passed. It turned out to be a wonderful holiday for everyone and Draco’s heart felt near to bursting as he watched his mother with his children and his wife’s swollen belly in the warm sunlight. Draco didn’t think he could feel any happier in life.
Draco’s 36th birthday was the first birthday in his life without his mother.
On Draco’s 40th birthday, Draco had to deal with a ten-year-old girl throwing a fit about having to stay no more than a weekend with her favourite aunts because Draco wanted to spend the weekend with no one else than Hermione. His sons had already been shipped off to the Potters and were more than happy to say goodbye to their parents for the weekend.
On Draco’s 50th birthday, Draco and Hermione prepared to watch their second child graduate from Hogwarts. Every trip back to the castle brought many memories to the happy couple. Some memories left Draco clutching Hermione’s hand in his till she talked him out of the memory. Other memories had him pulling her to a dark alcove to have his wicked way with her, and he was still sometimes amazed that she let him. Not that she was Hermione Golden Girl Granger, and she hadn’t been for years. But any Lady Malfoy could be a handful, and Hermione proved no different.
On Draco’s 60th birthday, he sat across from his wife and marvelled at the life they had built for themselves, their children and the extended and chosen family they had formed with several friends through the years. Draco thought back to his teenage self and the state he had been in before he locked eyes with his wife. She still stole his breath, but he was happy for her to do so.
Draco knew all his birthdays had brought him many first. He also knew he had plenty more birthdays to come that would bring him several new firsts, their daughter was sure to see to that if she kept dating that ridiculous Potter boy.
But Draco thought back to the first of the firsts that Hermione had given him.
The start of his new and much better life with her in it.