"Draco, we can explain…" Hermione began before trailing off.

"Oh I hope so," Draco practically growled. "I really fucking hope so."

The two women exchanged a glance as Draco sat in the armchair staring at them, his fingers tapping the arm.

"Your mother had a sudden idea where he might be and she decided to go look. I went with her as two wands are better than one. We saw him, we spoke with him, he didn't attack us. He was rather pleasant actually…" Hermione trailed off as Draco became very, very still.

"I came to tell you that my father had been caught, only to find your house empty," Draco said. Hermione felt the temperature drop a couple of degrees from the chill in his voice.

"Draco, I'm sorry we scared you," Narcissa said gently. "However, we never agreed to stay here."

"Mother, leave," Draco said simply not able to look at her. Narcissa opened her mouth to speak but closed it, glancing between the two young people.

"I'll see you later then," Narcissa said nodding as she went to the fireplace. Neither person in the room watched her go. The silence that followed the roar of the flames was deafening.

Hermione took two steps forward, crawling onto his lap, straddling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, as though her touch could warm him from his frozen state. Draco sighed as he buried his face into her neck. His hands slid inside her shirt stroking the skin of her back. Fingers traced up her spine, ghosted over her bra strap before sliding down to cup her arse. Draco began to kiss along her neck as his hands splayed across her thighs, rubbing firmly, angling inwards as he did.

Hermione felt her body respond as he continued to touch her, thumbs brushing against her as his mouth continued to work at her neck. Her whole body was on fire as he continued to stimulate her, using everything he had learnt about her body to make her wet and aching.

"I thought you were mad at me?" Hermione asked slightly breathless.

"Oh I am," Draco replied. His voice was steady, calm, and somewhat light in tone. It made her pause to draw back and look at him. He was smirking, but in a way that reminded her of the Hogwarts boy, not the man she knew now. He set her on her slightly shaky feet and grinned coldly. "Time to go visit Potter, isn't it?" he was looking at his watch still grinning.

Hermione looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. They had five minutes until they needed to leave. She didn't even have time to change her clothes. She glared at him. He didn't really expect her to go in this condition, did he? He was putting on his jacket carefully as she stood there watching him. Her mouth agape he moved around with casual ease, ignoring his own discomfort.

"You really didn't think you were getting away with scaring me like that with no repercussions?" Draco said, smoothing his hair back. "So, we're going to go to the Potter's and have a lovely evening, or horribly awkward, honestly could go either way, and then we'll come back here and maybe I'll fuck your brains out. Ladies first."

Draco gestured towards the floo as the clock chimed six. It was time to leave. Hermione could barely bring herself to take a step. Her friends were waiting but her entire body was on fire.

"You… you've jinxed me," Hermione said staring at him. His face creased in confusion.

"What? I didn't do anything," Draco scoffed.

"But then…"

Draco started to smirk, "are you… are you so horny you think it has to be a curse? That it couldn't possibly be natural, a natural reaction to me?"

Hermione shifted uncomfortably.

Summary

Dinner at Harry's and Ginny's. Ginny and Draco get on well. Harry tries to understand Hermione's new relationship. Hates that Draco is actually kinda funny.

Back to Hermione's. Draco finds Hermione's quidditch books and all her notes on learning how to fly. He finds this hilarious. They have sex. The fun sweet kind that is mostly giggly and full of teasing.

First competitive Quidditch match. She wins. They kiss publicly. There is a mass media backlash until Harry gives an interview to help smooth things over.

Draco's panic gets less. They go through more matches. Some get won, a few dont. They win the cup. That night Hermione takes Draco to the clearing where she taught herself to fly. She tells him she's quitting as Seeker. She's found an academic project she's super excited about. Draco proposes. She says yes.

The end.

Player started as a fic that was just… fun. It was fun to write. It was my free writing exercise. Until sometime around chapter 16, there was absolutely no plan. I would open a document, write, edit, and post. Chapters would take 2 to 3 hours maximum and it was fun. It was born out of frustration with the idea that Hermione being afraid of flying was canon. It's not. Pure fanon. Nothing wrong with that but it discounts things that happened in the books which were cut from the films. In the first one Ron and Hermione fly to help catch the key, in book 6 she joins Harry, Ron, and Ginny to make up the numbers for two-aside quidditch. Yes, in prisoner of Azkaban she isn't happy flying Buckbeak but Harry didn't like the sensation very much either.

I never expected people to really love it. I began trying to apply some form of planning and plot to it. I wanted to finish it. To have something complete. Alongside this, writing had stopped being fun. Fandom things were happening which bogged me down and made me doubt. For the first time I began to wonder if my writing was good. That was never what it had been about for me. My priority was is it readable, is it enjoyable, does it create feeling. I was never aiming for perfect grammar, I didn't care about the rules. If one person enjoyed it, it was enough, especially if that one person was me. I was writing the fics I wanted to read. I began to write as a frustrated reader. I couldn't find what I wanted, so I wrote it myself. The doubt never left. I know I have great ideas but writing through that doubt was stressful. This is a hobby, it was supposed to be fun.

Ah, I'm rambling. This is essentially my goodbye. Even if I do comeback one day, it wont be to these works. They're tainted for me now. There are a lot of feelings attached to them. Being flightglow32 changed my life. I made some incredible friends along the way. The only regret is not being able to complete this and The Fever series. I wish I could have done better for all of you who supported me so much.

Thank you