Chapter Summaries

Draco taught Hermione and Trillian to play Fight the Landlord, then added paper strips on the loser’s face as a penalty. After winning most of the afternoon and covering Trillian in strips, he proposed changing the penalty, leaving Hermione wary of what he would suggest.

• Hermione, Trillian, and Draco agreed to warn Evelyn and Windsor discreetly about Bruce rather than interfere directly.
• Draco taught Hermione and Trillian the rules of Fight the Landlord, and they played several rounds together.
• Draco proposed that the loser receive paper strips on her face, and Hermione and Trillian agreed to the stakes.
• Draco won most of the games while Trillian lost repeatedly and ended up with more than a dozen strips on her face.
• Draco suggested changing the penalty, and Hermione cautioned him against anything outrageous.

Draco, Hermione, and Trillian traded jokes while choosing a new card-game punishment, then started a round with Hermione as landlord and Draco and Trillian as peasants. Hermione won after Trillian’s poor plays disrupted Draco’s strategy, and Trillian began her penalty by massaging Hermione’s shoulders.

• Hermione and Trillian stuck their paper strips onto Draco’s face, and he later removed them with a Scouring Charm.
• Draco proposed a love confession as the punishment, but Hermione rejected it, so the three agreed that the loser would massage the winner and tell an embarrassing story.
• Hermione played landlord while Draco and Trillian teamed up as peasants, but Trillian’s misplays repeatedly undermined Draco’s strategy.
• Hermione stopped Draco from coaching Trillian and went on to win the round decisively.
• Hermione assigned Trillian to go first, and Trillian began massaging her shoulders as Hermione directed her.

Trillian recounted an embarrassing heist that ended with her covered in pink glitter, then Draco massaged Hermione before beginning his own embarrassing story about dreaming of a princess modeled after her. He left off just as the princess moaned during his dream massage, leaving Hermione and Trillian waiting to hear what happened next.

• Trillian described how a hidden fishing line triggered a pink glitter trap during a vault robbery, forcing her to flee from guards and spend a week scrubbing the glitter off.
• Draco massaged Hermione, who relaxed and accidentally moaned, then blushed when Trillian noticed.
• Hermione refused to let Draco massage Trillian, insisting that the punishment rules applied only to the losers.
• Draco began recounting a dream about a brown-haired sleeping princess who resembled Hermione and said he had massaged her until she moaned.

Draco embarrassed Hermione with a childhood story while playing cards with her and Trillian. After Draco and Trillian secretly discussed strategy before the next round, they worked together to defeat Hermione, leaving her stunned.

• Draco told Hermione and Trillian that his childhood fairy-tale dream ended with him waking beside a wet bolster after wetting the bed.
• Hermione demanded that Draco’s embarrassing stories involve only himself and agreed to start another round of cards.
• Hermione warned Draco and Trillian not to signal or cheat once the round began, but allowed them to discuss strategy beforehand.
• Draco quietly coached Trillian, who then repeatedly blocked Hermione’s plays to help Draco win.
• Trillian played her prepared consecutive pairs to go out, and she and Draco high-fived after beating Hermione.

Draco explained how he and Trillian had tricked Hermione into losing their card game, and Hermione fulfilled her bet by massaging them. After Hermione angrily gave Draco a painful massage, he used magic to soothe her aching wrists, leaving Trillian to complain that he was biased.

• Draco revealed that he had used Trillian to distract Hermione while she focused on blocking him, allowing Trillian to win the game.
• Hermione accepted her bet and massaged Trillian, who enjoyed being able to give her instructions.
• Hermione massaged Draco with increasing force after he complained that she was going too lightly.
• Draco used a pale blue spell to relieve the soreness in Hermione's wrists, and Trillian accused him of favoring her.

Hermione told Draco and Trillian an embarrassing story about taking revenge on a schoolboy who had hidden her schoolbag, then falling down the steps while savoring her revenge. Draco ended the games and persuaded Hermione to prepare for the farewell ball, while Trillian left them alone in the suite.

• Trillian reminded Hermione that it was her turn to tell an embarrassing story, and Hermione recalled how she secretly replaced Michael's exercise books with blank ones after he hid her schoolbag.
• Hermione explained that she fell down the steps while thinking about her revenge, and Michael mocked her at school the next day.
• Trillian teased Hermione that Michael might have liked her, then joked about taking Draco's affection for herself, making Hermione flustered.
• Draco ended the games and privately offered Hermione a better massage and embarrassing stories, persuading her to stop playing.
• Trillian left the suite so Draco and Hermione could get ready for the farewell ball.

Draco and Hermione prepared for the ball aboard the cruise ship, where Draco chose Hermione a dress and flirted with her as she tried it on. Trillian arrived in a revealing red gown and challenged Draco about whether he disapproved of women dressing that way.

• Hermione refused Draco's offer of a private massage, and they ate dinner together after getting ready.
• Draco picked out a nude-pink satin gown for Hermione, who admitted it suited her after he praised its design.
• Draco and Hermione left their room together and found Trillian waiting in a striking red dress.
• Hermione questioned Trillian's revealing outfit, and Trillian said she wanted to stand out and draw Draco's attention.
• Draco claimed he disliked revealing clothes, and Trillian asked whether he felt the same about other men's partners and single women.

Draco, Hermione, and Trillian attended the cruise ship’s farewell ball, where they reunited with their tennis friends and exchanged compliments. The men flocked to Trillian, while Hermione exposed Draco’s habit of spying on swimsuit-clad women, leaving him under the women’s scrutiny.

• Draco dodged Trillian’s teasing about his past touch by asking whether she had eaten, and Trillian made him promise to show her more concern.
• Draco, Hermione, and Trillian walked to the ballroom and met Becky, Susan, Kate, Mary, Tom, Jack, and Barty.
• The women complimented Trillian’s red dress and each other’s outfits as they became reacquainted.
• Tom, Jack, and Barty praised Trillian’s appearance and Barty asked her to dance, prompting the women to complain that men acted alike around pretty women.
• Draco denied being like the other men, but Hermione revealed that he had used binoculars to watch women in swimsuits on their first day aboard the ship.

At the ball, Draco joked with Becky and introduced Windsor, Bruce, and Evelyn to his friends before the dancing began. When Trillian asked to share the first dance with him, Draco chose Hermione instead, leaving Hermione surprised and delighted.

• Trillian tactfully turned down invitations to dance from Tom and his companions, hinting that she was Draco's maid and withdrawing from them.
• Draco and Becky traded playful barbs about tennis, exercise, and his recent leisure activities with Hermione.
• Draco introduced Windsor, Bruce, and Evelyn to Becky and the others, then greeted several wealthy middle-aged men.
• The orchestra began the ball's first waltz, and Trillian asked Hermione's permission to dance first with Draco.
• Draco firmly refused Trillian and said he would share the first dance with Hermione, who felt a leap of joy.

Draco and Hermione shared the ball’s first dance, growing more comfortable and intimate as he guided her. Trillian rejected several suitors, including Windsor’s boyfriend Bruce, and told him she was Draco’s woman and would not dance with another man.

• Draco insisted Hermione should have the first dance, then formally invited her, and she accepted.
• Draco guided Hermione through the waltz until she relaxed and rested her cheek against his shoulder.
• Trillian turned away several men who asked her to dance while she watched Draco and Hermione.
• Bruce invited Trillian to dance and admitted she was the woman he most wanted to dance with.
• Trillian mocked Bruce for approaching her after dancing with his girlfriend, then said she was Draco’s woman and refused his invitation.

Draco danced first with Hermione, then reluctantly took Trillian onto the dance floor, where she repeatedly teased him with close contact. He kept dodging her advances as the dance continued, and Trillian complained that he was avoiding her.

• Bruce asked Trillian what she saw in Draco, but she rejected Bruce’s advances and praised Draco’s looks to herself.
• Draco finished dancing with Hermione, complimented her, and agreed to dance one song with Trillian.
• Trillian dragged Draco to the dance floor, stumbled into him, and teased him about looking at her neckline.
• Trillian repeatedly created chances to press against Draco, while Draco dodged her and warned that she might make him lose his composure.
• Trillian pouted and asked Draco why he kept avoiding her.

Draco danced with Trillian, who revealed she had been pretending to be clumsy, and used a brief spell to touch her unnoticed by the crowd. After promising to investigate whether a Muggle could become a wizard, he finished the dance and returned to find Becky asking him to dance with her.

• Draco teased Trillian about her clumsy dancing, and she revealed that she had been pretending and that he was the first person she had approached through dance.
• Draco briefly blocked the surrounding guests’ perceptions so he could squeeze Trillian’s waist, then explained how he had done it.
• Draco promised to investigate whether there was a way to turn a Muggle into a wizard, while Trillian playfully offered her body as repayment.
• Draco and Trillian completed the dance and returned to their seats, where Becky asked him to teach her to dance.
• Draco resisted Becky’s request, and she jokingly sulked while Hermione and Trillian laughed.

Draco endured a disastrous dance with Becky before politely refusing further invitations at the cruise ball. After the voyage’s final party, he and Hermione returned to their suite, where Draco sought a reward for his good behavior.

• Draco danced with Becky, who repeatedly missed the beat and stomped on his feet before thanking him for the dance.
• Draco declined invitations from other women, including Evelyn, and said he wanted to save time for Hermione.
• The ball ended, and Draco and Hermione returned to their suite ahead of the ship’s arrival at the harbor the next morning.
• Draco asked Hermione for a reward and began teasing her, while she blushed and tried to stop him.

Draco and Hermione watched the sunrise together, though Hermione fell asleep before its most beautiful moment. Trillian joined Draco on the terrace and called him to account for enjoying the sunrise without inviting her, then teased him about his behavior at the casino.

• Draco and Hermione fell asleep together after agreeing to watch the sunrise in the morning.
• Draco woke Hermione before dawn, and they sat together on the terrace as the sea brightened.
• Hermione fell asleep against Draco's shoulder while he waited for the sunrise's most beautiful moment.
• Trillian vaulted onto the terrace, saw the sleeping Hermione, and quietly complained that Draco had not invited her to watch the sunrise.
• Draco promised to invite Trillian next time, and she challenged his claim to be a gentleman by bringing up their encounter at the casino.

Draco bargained with Trillian, promising her Wizarding World trinkets and explaining how he had saved the cruise ship. He woke Hermione with a kiss so she could see the sunrise, leaving her embarrassed by his teasing in front of Trillian.

• Draco agreed to give Trillian fun things from the Wizarding World and tell her how he had saved the cruise ship.
• Draco explained that he had used the Mending Charm to repair the hull and Transfiguration to turn the flooding seawater into sea creatures.
• Draco woke Hermione by pinching her nose and kissing her while Trillian watched.
• Hermione and Draco admired the sunrise over the sea, and Hermione realized Draco had woken her so she would not miss it.
• Trillian teased Hermione about staying up late, and Hermione covered Draco's mouth before he could reveal more.

Draco, Hermione, and Trillian arrived in New York after disembarking from the cruise ship, where Mabel Higgins of the Magical Congress greeted them and helped them bypass immigration. Higgins led them toward her car as Hermione took in the unfamiliar Manhattan skyline.

• Draco, Hermione, and Trillian watched the sunrise before returning to their suite to pack and leave the ship.
• The cruise ship entered New York Harbor, and the three disembarked with the first group of passengers.
• Draco spotted Mabel Higgins waiting in the terminal and introduced Hermione as his fiancée and Trillian as his traveling assistant.
• Higgins guided the three through a special passage so they could clear immigration without queuing.
• Hermione remarked on how different New York looked from London, and Higgins led them toward her car.

Higgins drove Draco, Hermione, and Trillian through Manhattan and explained that North America's underground nonhuman groups operated beyond MACUSA's direct control. She gave them access badges and a booklet marking their territories, then brought them to a villa where they would stay.

• Higgins drove the three to their accommodation and learned that Draco planned to stay in the Muggle world.
• Higgins described the new werewolves, who could control their bodies and lived alongside rival vampire communities in abandoned areas beneath New York.
• Higgins explained that MACUSA would not intervene in conflicts among nonhuman groups unless Muggles requested help, and that Draco's party would have to investigate at their own risk.
• Higgins gave Draco a booklet marking underground territories and three temporary top-level access badges for magical facilities.
• Draco and Hermione compared North America's decentralized approach with Britain's tightly controlled Wizarding World as Higgins drove them to a three-story villa.

Draco, Hermione, and Trillian settled into the temporary villa Congress had arranged in New York, where Draco planned to investigate the new werewolves. After resting and sharing lunch, they discussed Trillian’s risky past work, and Draco told her she could stay by his side and spend his money.

• Higgins gave Draco the keys to Congress’s furnished villa and wished the group success with their investigation.
• Trillian explained that her experience navigating the underworld and gray areas could help them find people and scout routes.
• Draco told Hermione and Trillian to unpack and rest, then he and Hermione slept until noon.
• Trillian ordered a large assortment of Chinese and Western takeout, and the three ate together.
• Hermione warned Trillian not to take such risks again, and Trillian admitted she had nearly been caught on the cruise ship.
• Draco told Trillian she would not need to take risks anymore, prompting her to ask whether he planned to keep her.

Draco, Hermione, and Trillian encountered an explicit videotape when Trillian turned on the television, and they spent lunch teasing Hermione about it. After Draco cleaned the sofa with magic, Trillian removed the tape and claimed she wanted to study anatomy, then teased Hermione again when she mentioned adult shops.

• Trillian turned on the television during lunch, and an explicit film startled Hermione into spraying cola onto the sofa.
• Draco and Trillian teased Hermione about the film and her future wedding night until she told them to stop.
• Draco used Scourgify to clean the sofa and carpet, and the three finished lunch and tidied up.
• Trillian removed the videotape and rewired the television so it would start on the TV input.
• Trillian claimed she wanted to study human anatomy and teased Hermione about borrowing Draco, while Hermione suggested buying something at an adult shop and then tried to cover her knowledge.

Hermione and Trillian teased each other about adult stores while Draco planned a quiet day in New York. In the bedroom, Hermione panicked at the thought of the television playing an embarrassing videotape, then watched the news with Draco and debated responsibility and relationships.

• Hermione advised Trillian to disguise herself if she visited an adult store, and Trillian teased her for having thought through the details.
• Draco said they would take no action that day and went to the bedroom for a nap; Trillian assured Hermione she would not pursue him, then teased her about buying her something from a shop.
• Trillian put away the videotape and went to her guest room, while Hermione hurried to the bedroom after Trillian's offer.
• Hermione blocked Draco from turning on the television, checked that its videotape player was empty, and denied being worried about seeing an embarrassing scene.
• Hermione changed channels before settling on the news, and she and Draco discussed the responsibility of parents and the consequences of failed relationships.