The Malfoy Family

Chapter Three

It was pretty late by the time Hermione got back to the manor. She couldn't find Draco at first, but she knew that when he was frustrated, or something was on him mind that he would usually be in his study.

It was rare that Hermione would disturb him while he was in there, but tonight, she just really needed to talk to him.

She tiredly began to walk up the large, spiral staircases towards the east-wing of the manor. This was the part of the house where Draco's study was, the extremely large library, and various other old offices.

What gave Hermione the chills about this wing of the manor was that those old offices are where Voldemort and his Deatheaters held their meetings. She was told not to go beyond the corridor with the study and the library in it.

He never told her why though.

She didn't know how Draco grew up in such a home. Though he had never said anything to her about his childhood, Hermione knew it probably wasn't a very good one—at least while he was staying here at the manor.

Hermione was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice she had ventured past the corridor in which Draco's study was.

It was dark and musty. She could barely see anything.

"Lumos," she whispered, and her wand lit up.

Hermione looked around the long corridor. There were spider webs and dust on practically everything. The walls were stone, but they were covered by portraits of previous Malfoy family members that glared at her as she walked further and further down the long dooming hall.

She knew she wasn't supposed to be there, but she couldn't stop walking. It was almost like she was in a trance.

"What the hell is a filthy little Mudblood doing in our corridor?" one of the portraits hissed at Hermione.

Hermione immediately looked up at the portrait. It was of a man that looked almost exactly like Lucius Malfoy. His name was Ludwig Malfoy II, and he lived in the late 1600s and early 1700s.

Shaking her head, Hermione once again continued down the dark corridor. But, something caught her eyes. It was an emerald encrusted doorknob, sparkling in the darkness. She was drawn to it, touching it lightly as she contemplated opening it or not.

Slowly her hand began to twist the knob.

"What the hell are you doing over here?" Draco yelled, running towards her.

Hermione snapped out of whatever she was in and looked in his direction.

"I don't know. I guess I got lost," she replied quietly.

Draco sighed in frustration. "Granger, you cannot go down this corridor, it is too dangerous. See that door you were just about to enter? That room is full of dark magic—it's haunted. You could have either been killed, or severely hurt," he told her.

Hermione looked at him strangely. "What do you mean it's haunted? Why didn't you tell me that before?" she asked.

"Because, I know that you would be curious as to what exactly is in here", he said quickly.

"Well, what exactly is in there?" Hermione inquired.

"Black magic, like I said," he replied. "Now, let's get out of this area, we need to talk about some things."

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, that is why I came this way—so I could talk to you."

"Come on, we can go into my study," he said, leading the way.

The inside of the study was something different than you would find in any other room in the manor. The walls were a deep mahogany color, and the desk and bookshelves were a beautiful cherry wood. The brown leather couches also gave it a warm touch.

Hermione sat down on one of the couches, motioning Draco to do the same.

"Look, I know this whole baby thing is kind of a shock to us both," she started. "But, I've done a lot of thinking on the matter, and I came to realize that I barely know you."

Draco raised an eyebrow at this. What did that have anything to do with having a baby?

"What I mean is, I've known you for over ten years, and I know nothing about you. I know that you grew up in a family of infamous deatheaters, but I don't know what your childhood was like. I don't know what you like, or what you don't like. What do you feel? You are so good at hiding emotion," Hermione continued.

Draco had an unreadable expression on his face. "Do you honestly want to know that much about me? You've hated me a good percentage of your life, Granger."

"Well, we are married. That is kind of a commitment for life in our case. Besides, I would like to know who the father of my child really is," she replied.

He blinked a couple of times before responding. "So you're going to do this? We are going to have a baby?" he asked her.

Hermione shrugged. "Well, like you said, we have no choice. Anyway, if I'm going to be married to you for the rest of my life I would like to know you a little better."

Draco took a sip of his coffee that was sitting on his desk. "Well, what don't you know about me?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged once again. "I know that you were a total prat growing up—well at least from the ages of 11-17." Draco smirked at this. This was true. " I know that your family members are all former Deatheaters. I also know that you were supposed to be one, but you turned to the light side instead."

"So you want to know what I was like from birth until Hogwarts?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "I want to know what your summers were like here, if your family has traditions that you want our child to carry on, etc."

"Let's see. When I was little my father was my hero—like most fathers are to their sons. I wanted to be just like him in every way. I remember running around the manor asking Father for missions I could complete—just like the ones he went on when he was away. He would always give me something lame like go give this letter to your mother without letting the house elves seeing you." Draco paused for a moment. A small smile lingered on his handsome features.

"When I was five my mum began to tutor me. Merlin I hated it. She would make us sit in the library all day learning simple things such as the alphabet and counting to 50. Sometimes she would let me color—that is were I developed my passion for art."

Hermione nearly choked at this. Patting her chest and adjusting her throat she asked, "You are an artist? What the hell?"

Draco chuckled a bit. "Surprising, right?"

Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Surprising? That's an understatement. I just can't see you as the artsy type."

Draco shrugged. "Not many people can. It's more of one of those things you enjoy so much, but nobody knows about. Don't you have anything like that?" he asked.

"Yes, actually I do. You have to swear not to tell anyone though. And don't laugh" she warned him.

He nodded. "Go on."

"I'm a writer. I write romance novels and publish them to a muggle publisher in London," she confessed.

Draco had to bite his lip so that he didn't laugh. But, he couldn't help it. He started laughing.

Hermione frowned at this. "You said you wouldn't laugh," she whined.

Draco, who was still chuckling a bit, replied, "I couldn't help it. Who would have thought Hermione Granger would be a romance novelist. No way, you are way too left-brained for that."

"I know. It is very strange that I would pick up writing romance when I've never fallen in love myself and probably never will," she told him.

"Can I read some of your work?" he asked her.

Hermione laughed nervously. "It's kind of embarrassing. But, I'll let you read my stories if I can see some of your artwork. Deal?"

"Deal." He replied. "Okay, don't get mad at me, and I know this is random, but did you ever have a crush on Weasley or Potter?" he asked. "The question has been swimming around my brain forever."

Hermione blushed a scarlet red.

"Yes, I did on both of them, Ron more than Harry. Ron and I even dated in 6th year," she said.

Draco nodded. "I thought there was something between you two."

"Yeah, we have kind of a love-hate relationship. Actually to tell you the truth, Ron was my first love. I mean, it wasn't like something extremely amazing that you would read in one of my novels or anything, but he was the first boy I really ever cared about," Hermione said in almost a whisper.

Draco smiled. "I remember my first love. And no before you ask, it wasn't Pansy Parkinson. Her name was Lynette LaBlanc. She was a student at Beauxbatons, and we met during the summer between 5th and 6th year, in France."

"Did you ever have any romantic feelings towards Pansy?" Hermione inquired.

Draco shook his head. "No, absolutely not. I really couldn't stand the girl. My parents just adored her. Personally, I'm glad she is off in Romania. I was really getting sick of her."

Hermione laughed. "I think just about everyone was getting sick of her."

After a while of talking, and a few glasses of wine, Hermione felt like she was really getting to know the man that was supposed to be her husband.

Sure there were still many things about him that she did not know, but they had all the time in the world to talk. Hermione also had a feeling that when they did have a baby, he or she would be a lot like Draco, and surprisingly, she was ok with that.

"Do you remember that night?" A slightly tipsy Draco asked.

Hermione paused for a moment. She didn't know what he was talking about at first.

"Bits and pieces. We were completely gone though, Draco. It's a miracle alone how we managed not to pass out during the wedding ceremony."

"I know that, it's just, I was wondering if you could remember any parts of it. I mean, we do have to sleep together to make a baby. Maybe it won't be too awkward if we can remember the last time we did it." Draco told her.

Hermione shook her head. It was a strange question, but it made sense.

"I wonder if there is a potion that helps you remember things that you forget?" She asked, more to herself that Draco.

It was silent moments.

"Well, I should get going to bed. It's really late and I have to go to work tomorrow," Hermione said after a while.

Draco nodded. "Hey, do you think maybe we can have lunch tomorrow?" he asked her.

Hermoine thought about it for a moment.

"Sure. That would be nice. Umm…you have my office number, right?" Draco nodded once again. "Okay, just call me there and we can meet somewhere." She said, staring into his blue orbs.

She hoped that their child had his eyes. They were absolutely beautiful.

It was weird thinking about her own child and which traits would he or she get and all of that kind of stuff. She wasn't even pregnant yet.

Honestly, she isn't too worried about it anymore. She now knew Draco wasn't as bad of a guy that he had been. He really had changed.

A/N: Hey you guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update. I swear it won't happen again. Things have been crazy around here lately. School is ending soon and I have a big project due that is worth two test grades. I've been spending most of my time working on that. More post to come—and sooner, I promise.

Thank you for all the reviews. They really mean a lot to me.

Constructive criticism is always welcome—as long as it is positive.

Mucho love,

Kristen