Fated: Chapter Six

Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine. The characters, setting, and everything else belong to JKR.

It was a good thing that Hermione took Ginny up on her offer of an afternoon at the spa, because her life got very busy after that. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she would leave work early to meet with Narcissa Malfoy. Although their meetings would always start at Malfoy Manor, as the plans for the ball began to take shape, there were excursions to the various shops in Wizarding London and Paris who were responsible for different aspects of the ball. At the end of their meetings Narcissa would invite Hermione to stay for dinner but the young witch would always refuse, inventing some excuse about having something else to do. She didn't want to risk another confrontation with Draco—particularly not one where he had his latest fling by his side.

Work was busy as well for Hermione. She had a standing appointment with her boss first thing on Wednesday morning so she could relay to him the progress being made on both the gala and the new foundation being created. So much of her time was being eaten up by her new assignment that Hermione often tried to work late so she could keep up with everything.

That was not always possible, however, for Ginny's matchmaking plans were in full swing. The first week after that disastrous evening with Oliver, Ginny had sent her out on not one, not two but four dates with four different wizards. While none of the dates had been as explosive as that first one, Hermione had found them all rather dull and lacking. By the time the weekend rolled along, she found herself exhausted by her schedule—so exhausted in fact that she wound up suggesting to her friend that quality was to be preferred over quantity.

The spat that followed with Ginny was not pretty. If Harry hadn't been there to confiscate their wands, it was likely they both would have needed a trip to St. Mungo's afterwards. On the bright side, however, Ginny seemed to have taken Hermione's words to heart—after much prodding by Harry—and so only scheduled one date for Hermione the following week on Friday.

Unfortunately the wizard she had picked out for that one date was Neville Longbottom.

Hermione had no idea just what was running through Gin's mind when she decided to set Hermione up with Neville. Hermione liked Neville very much and all, but there was just no spark between them, something that she had known for a long time. She had thought that Neville had the same opinion, but now she wasn't quite so certain. She hoped that she was right, that he had no interest in her for she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings. Hermione set down her glass of wine and sighed deeply, rubbing the sides of her forehead, feeling the start of a headache coming on.

"That was a big sigh. Is everything all right?" asked Neville, his eyes full of concern.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Hermione sighed again then realized that she hadn't been very convincing. "I'm sorry, Neville. It's just that this"—she waved her hand back and forth between them—"this is all a little…."

"Weird?" he suggested.

"That was what I was thinking, but I didn't want to say it," Hermione admitted. "And you know it's not that I don't like you or that I don't think you're a great wizard and all…but you and me? That's weird."

He nodded his head. "I know exactly what you mean," said Neville.

"You feel the same way then?" she asked.

He nodded his head. "When Ginny told me that I was supposed to meet you for dinner tonight…I wanted to say no, but then she went on and on about how she had already told you and how disappointed you'd be if I backed out and all." He let out a deep breath. "I didn't really believe her, but I wasn't about to say that to her face."

"I can't believe she told you that." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly I love that girl like a sister, but I'm beginning to think that she has no skills when it comes to matchmaking."

"That's a generous assessment of her ability," Neville muttered. "She actually thought me and Parvati would be a good idea."

"Ouch." Hermione winced. She didn't think that ended very well. Neville and Parvati were both likeable people in their own right, but they didn't have very much in common. "I didn't know that you were one of her special projects too," she noted.

"Unfortunately. I asked Harry about it, and he was no help. He just said that this is a phase she's going through and with any luck, it'll be over soon. Personally I think she's broody and that's why she suddenly wants to set us all up."

Hermione perked up. "Really? Did you tell Harry that?" She smirked, thinking of how her friend would react.

He shot her a look of disbelief. "Are you mad? I'd never tell Harry that. Best case scenario, he goes red and blushes whenever he sees me for weeks. Worst case scenario…." Neville shuddered expressively.

This time Hermione's eye roll was for him. "Don't be silly. Harry would never hurt any of his friends."

"Not intentionally no. But Harry can be scary when he's angry," he replied. "Why don't you tell him?"

Hermione smirked. "I think I will. In front of Ron even, if I can manage that." She rubbed her hands together gleefully as she imagined the reactions of her friends.

"Yup, you're definitely a Gryffindor with that twisted notion of fun," Neville stated.

Hermione arched her eyebrow up. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Well there was a time when everyone wondered why you weren't in Ravenclaw," said Neville. "But I think you've proven since then that you're stubborn enough to be a Gryffindor."

"It takes one to know one," Hermione declared. "But in any case, to get back to our original topic, shall we agree that this isn't really a date?"

"Yes, yes. Let's do that," agreed Neville.

The rest of the evening proceeded pleasantly from there. The ice between them broken, Hermione listened eagerly to her companion as he described how he was spending the year at Hogwarts as Professor Sprout's assistant. "It sounds like you're learning a lot," she commented as he finished up on one story.

"That I am." He glanced over at her then looked away. "What about you, Hermione?" he asked.

"What about me?" she echoed. She shrugged her shoulders. "There's not nothing new for me to report about."

"Oh." His brow furrowed. "Well I um…have to admit that I was…um wondering just why you'd agree to Ginny's mad matchmaking scheme. I mean me—you know me, I have trouble saying no. But you…you've never had problems with that."

"Oh that." She thought for a long moment what to say. The truth—or at least a part of it—was the best answer, she decided. "I guess it's just a bit lonely always being by myself. I got a new kitten recently so that helps but…well it would be nice to have someone to talk to and maybe more. And since I've had no luck finding that someone on my own, I thought I might as well give Ginny a chance to help out." She snorted. "Bad idea, that one."

"You can say that again," said Neville, "especially as you don't really need Ginny's help, now do you?"

Hermione stilled. There was something about the way he phrased that that sent off warning bells in her head. "Well she certainly hasn't been much help," she said cautiously.

Neville actually frowned at her then, a truly rare occurrence. He leaned forward and said, "Hermione. Give me some credit, will you? You know that Herbology is my specialty. I know what that means." He gestured towards the pendant that was always present on Hermione's neck.

Out of reflex, her hand reached out to grasp her seed pendant. Somehow the simple act of holding it never failed to make her feel better. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them to gaze at her companion. "How long?" she asked.

"A few months now," he replied quietly. "I was doing some research in the library when I came across a book about…about forest guardians, let's say." His entire face flushed a deep red, leaving Hermione no doubt about just what sort of details the book contained. "Um…but anyway I was led to believe that you already know who the wizard for you is," he finished awkwardly.

"I do."

He looked questioningly at her. "Then why don't you—"

Hermione shook her head furiously. "No. He doesn't want me, and I refuse to be made the fool."

"How do you know that? Have you even asked him? I'm certain that if you speak to Ron—"

"What?" she exclaimed, taken aback by his assumption. The diners around them all snuck glances at their table at her shout, and Hermione could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. She lowered her voice before she continued. "What makes you think that I feel that way about Ron?" she whispered furiously.

"Do you mean to say that you suddenly deciding to date again after he's announced his wedding is just some sort of coincidence?"

She winced. She could see how Neville leapt to such a conclusion. "Well it's not, but not for the reason you think," she said. "I just want to find someone to take along so I don't have to attend all by myself. I don't think that'd be very comfortable."

"I don't think there's any way you'll enjoy seeing your…um…wizard get married to another witch," Neville said.

Hermione sighed then let her head fall forward. "If only life were that easy. But no. It's not. Ron's not the one for me." She smiled sadly. "If he was, I assure you that I would've never let him go. But since he's not…well I always knew he wanted a family of his own and since I couldn't give him that…." She shrugged her shoulders expressively.

Neville stayed silent, looking as though he didn't know quite what to say, and finally settled for just patting her on her hand. "I'm sorry," he said. "But if it's not Ron, then who is it? I find it hard to believe that there's anyone out there who wouldn't want you."

"Oh trust me, there is more than one wizard out there who can't stand me and unfortunately for me, my mate is one of them," she said. "But I'd rather not dwell on such things. There's no point in wallowing in misery and all. So do you expect to stay on at Hogwarts next year too?" she asked before he could follow up with another question as to her mate's identity. Neville raised an eyebrow but acquiesced. Not another word was said that evening about that prickly subject.

There were few things in life that Hermione hated as much as running late. She liked to be punctual. She liked to be on time. If she had any say in the matter, she would always be on schedule. However, there were times when she didn't really have much control over that.

Tuesday was such a day.

She had woken up late that morning after yet another vivid dream about Malfoy. Those damn dreams were becoming more and more frequent—and what was worse, they kept becoming more detailed as well. This last dream was especially cruel since for not only had Draco been kind and loving towards her the way he never was in real life, she had also been expecting their first child. Knowing that she had to clear her head if she was going to be any use at work that day, she had decided to take a nice hot shower—which had wound up lasting longer that she had expected. And so it was she had arrived at work not one but two hours late.

It was all downhill from there.

So it was she found herself with no choice but to Apparate from her office if she was to make it to her meeting with Narcissa. Usually Hermione preferred to return home first so she could change, but she didn't have much choice today. She would simply have to feel dowdy in her work robes in front of the older witch. It didn't really matter that they were one of her new sets; somehow she always felt inadequate when confronted with the elegant grace of the Malfoy matriarch. Really, she thought, I don't know why I even bother to freshen up in the first place. It's a lost cause.

She closed her eyes so she could firmly pin her destination in her mind. Once that was done, she Apparated away to the woods behind Malfoy Manor with an apology was already forming on her lips as she departed for she knew she was supposed to have been there ten minutes ago.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she arrived. "It's just that today has been so very hectic and—" Then she took a step back as she realized who was standing before her. "What are you doing here?" she snapped at Malfoy. She felt thoroughly discombobulated at the pleased smirk that he had on his lips—something that she was so desperately tempted to kiss away.

"Last I checked I lived here." Malfoy smugly crossed his arms as his smirk only grew wider.

"I meant what are you doing here meeting me," she ground out. "Last I checked, your mother was supposed to be here."

"Touché. But then you were supposed to be here …about thirty minutes ago if I'm not mistaken."

Hermione closed her eyes and tried to calm down. She hated how her damn mate loved being so difficult to deal with. "Try ten. But that doesn't explain where your mother is." She was struck by a sudden burst of fear. "Did something happen? Is she all right?" she asked anxiously.

The smirk finally disappeared from Draco's lips as he ascertained that Hermione's concern was genuine. "My mother is fine," he said. "But like you, her day has been hectic to the say the least, and she is unfortunately still tied up in another meeting."

"I see." Hermione bit her lip. She wondered why Narcissa simply didn't owl her to tell her not to come.

"And that is why she sent me in her stead," Malfoy finished with a flourish.

Hermione blinked. She did not hear him right. "Excuse me," she said. "You can't possibly mean…."

He sighed heavily, which lifted his fringe up momentarily before it fell back down. "I'm afraid I do. Mother has commanded that I accompany you today."

"No," said Hermione quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was to spend an entire afternoon in his presence. At best, she would simply have to endure his ceaseless taunts. At worst, she'd give in to her instincts and make a fool of herself. "I think it's best that we reschedule. I can come back tomorrow if Narcissa is available then." She was almost babbling, but she couldn't help it. The logical, rational side was all but frantic with the need to get away from him but there was a part of her that longed to launch herself at him and never let him go. She screwed her hands up into fist as she fought to remain in control.

"Believe it or not, I suggested that she owl you with that request. However it appears that her schedule is already full for tomorrow."

"Well there's always Thursday. We're supposed to meet then anyway."

"I mentioned that to her as well. She almost took off my head, reminding me that the ball is only two weeks away and that there is still so much to do."

"Then I can go by myself." Hermione nodded her head. That was her best idea yet. This way they wouldn't fall behind schedule in planning, and she would be able to make her escape from her blasted mate.

"That is not possible," he said. The sharp look he gave her was inscrutable. "I've already promised Mother that I would help you. I know better than to break such a promise to her—and she has threatened me with the most dire of consequences if I don't behave around you. So I am afraid you'll have to swallow your dislike and deal with me today."

Hermione chewed her lower lip. It was almost as though Narcissa wanted her to spend more time with Draco. Belatedly she remembered the conversation she had overheard between the two of them the other day. Perhaps this was the older witch's way of trying to get the two of them to make amends. It was underhanded and sneaky and just like a Slytherin. Little does she know what I'd really like to do to him. But no—don't think such thoughts. You've got to remain in control else you're certain to make a fool out of yourself today, Hermione, she scolded herself sharply.

"Fine," she said. "I expect that we can behave civilly to one another for the space of one afternoon." She looked up at him expectantly. His head tilted to one side as he digested her words. Hermione took advantage of the moment to admire his handsome profile. It wasn't often that she could do so; usually he was too busy spewing insults at her and she was too busy trying to flee to really look at him. She couldn't deny that fate had had good taste when selecting her mate, although she dearly wished it had also chosen a wizard who didn't despise her. Then at least she would have had a chance.

After a long moment of silence, he spoke once more. "Yes I suppose we can. You can rest assure that I shan't be unpleasant if you're not. Very well then. Let's be off."

He reached out a hand towards her. Hermione looked at his hand and then at hers. A worried expression covered her face as she grasped that Malfoy intended to Apparate them to their destination. Oh dear. This is not good. I'm not wearing any gloves. If I have to touch him—much less touch him while he's doing magic...I can't see that ending well.

She was startled out of her thoughts by Malfoy stepping forward and roughly grabbing her arm. Hermione shuddered as a frission of pleasure ran down her spine. The feel of his skin upon hers—she knew this moment would haunt her dreams for nights to come.

However Malfoy mistook the expression on her face to be one of disgust rather than delight. "I'm not about to bite, you know," he said, sounding slightly exasperated.

"I know. But side along Apparition has never been my favorite. If you just let me know where we're going, I'll meet you there."

He cocked up an eyebrow at her then smirked. "Seeing how I don't believe you've been to Verdant, the restaurant that we're—"

Hermione's brow furrowed. She thought that they were going to visit a couple of flower shops to pick out the table arrangements. "Wait a second. We're going to a restaurant. Why?"

"To pick out the food for the ball Mother has been planning, of course." He had the audacity to roll his eyes at her.

"But we already did that ages ago," Hermione protested. That was one of the first tasks that she and Narcissa had finished. Hermione remembered very clearly how Narcissa had insisted that good food and lots of it was of the utmost importance to any gathering, be it simple or grand. She couldn't very well disagree with that sentiment, and the two witches had spent an entire afternoon at one of Narcissa's favorite caterers nailing down what the menu would be for the evening.

"Of course you did. Mother is nothing but methodical when it comes to planning one of her events," Malfoy agreed readily. "But unfortunately it appears that there has been some…issues with the caterer. She has been going back and forth with them, but it is still not settled. So she wants us to go and pick out an alternate menu at Verdant just in case."

"Now that's a surprise," she muttered. "Seeing how she went on and on about how reliable they were…I didn't think there'd be any issues with them."

"I have to agree with you there, especially since upsetting Mother is not the way to get repeat business from her." He shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? But that is one of the reasons why she has been so busy today. Now it's high time we get going. We're going to be late enough as is." That was all the warning Hermione received before he Apparated the two of them away.

Hermione swayed back and forth on her feet as they arrived, absolutely enraptured by having all of her senses engaged by him. She loved the soft feel of his hands upon her. With each breath she took, she became further intoxicated by his scent. And then there was his magic which lingered, so palpable that it was like a cloak enveloping her.

"Granger? Granger, are you all right?" She looked up to see him peering down at her. He bent his head towards her as he examined her with care.

Hermione stared back at him. She was completely enchanted with his eyelashes that framed his silver eyes, with his sharp nose that was just a smidge too pointy to be considered classical, and with his mouth, which looked so very warm and soft and inviting—so much so that she forgot all the reasons why she had to ignore her instincts. She slowly rose up on her toes, intent on closing the distance between her and her mate.

However before she could do so, Draco turned aside, yelling at the wait staff to show them to their table. Her disappointment only lasted a moment for soon he drew her to his side as he escorted her through the restaurant. She all but clung to him, resting her head against his shoulder, as they walked. Hermione felt as though she was in a dream—never had he ever fussed over her so much. Her fuzzy state of happiness continued as he held out her chair for her to sit in once they reached their table before taking the seat across from her.

Then he opened his mouth, and the illusion was ruined. "Blast it, Granger," he said with a fierce grimace, "if I had known side along affected you this much, I would have Apparated on ahead and sent back a portkey for you to use."

Hermione gave a start as his harsh words eroded her stupor "Well I did warn you," she said indignantly. She started to shake as she took in just how close she had come to revealing her secret and having him reject her yet again.

"I didn't know it was this bad," Malfoy mumbled grumpily, but he waved down a waiter and imperiously demanded that a shot of firewhisky be brought for Hermione to help calm her nerves. She was of a mind to refuse at first, thinking that the last thing her self control needed was alcohol but gave in after deciding that she really did need something to fortify herself.

"All better?" he asked after she set the glass down.

"Much," she replied. "Let's get started."

"Good idea." He withdrew a small piece of parchment from his robes. "Mother has given us very clear instructions. We are to select a veritable battalion of appetizers, at least three entrees, and a variety of small desserts along with one or two flavors of cake."

Hermione winced. "Just as well that I didn't eat much of a lunch today. It sounds like she's planning to order enough food to feed an army."

"That is Mother's usual modus operandi," Draco agreed, "although she might very well look at our selections and then further narrow them down. That way she can avoid having to try one of everything on the menu here."

Hermione raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Narcissa had warned her that Slytherins rarely do anything for one reason, and Hermione fancied that she had just figured out why Narcissa had sent Malfoy with her today—not only would the older witch get to test her son's ability to be civil towards Hermione, she would also be able to spare her hips the massive amounts of food that they were about to consume.

They agreed that it made the most sense to start with the appetizers. Draco signaled at a waiter that they were ready to start their tasting, and in scarcely a minute, the table before them was absolutely covered in food. Hermione gamely made her way through everything, taking a bite here and a bite there. She soon figured out that there was a pattern to the dishes Malfoy selected—he had a bit of a sweet tooth and so favored everything sweet. Hermione preferred more savoury items herself. Between the two of them, they managed to pick a good cross section of appetizers.

Malfoy gave another hand signal, and the two of them then moved on to the entrees. Hermione uttered a small groan as she took in all the food before them. She was already stuffed from the appetizers. She didn't know how she was going to manage to try one of each dish before her, much less one of all the desserts.

"Just try the ones you think you'll like," Malfoy advised her with a knowing look, his tone almost kindly. "Otherwise you will be of no use when the desserts arrive."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "You can say that again. I'm not certain how much help I'm going to be with this." She waved a hand at all the food on the table. She sighed before picking up her fork once more. She was willing to let Malfoy take the lead for this round, and at the end he had picked four dishes to her one.

Despite the fact she had paced herself, she was still ready to mutiny when the desserts arrived. "Oh let's just get them all," she muttered. "I doubt they'll go to waste," she added as she eyed Draco, who was busy cramming an éclair into his mouth. Watching him inhale dish after dish reminded her that Malfoy was distantly related to Ron.

Malfoy rolled his eyes but didn't say anything, focusing instead on chewing his food and swallowing it. Hermione was grateful for that; one thing she hated about her friend was the fact that he had never learned not to talk with his mouth full. "I can't say I dislike the idea," Malfoy said when he was finished, "but I don't think there's any need to rush. It would be a shame not to try everything."

"Yes, but will you have any room left for cake?"

"Cake!" His eyes lit up with glee. "To think, I'd forgotten about the cake. Let's move on to that right away." He eagerly flagged down a waiter, telling him they were now ready to taste test the cakes. Malfoy's eyes kept growing rounder and rounder as cake after cake was set before them.

Hermione made her selection fairly quickly—a white cake with a light Italian buttercream as the frosting. Malfoy, however, was bound and determined to sample everything. Hermione could only watch in horror as he sampled three white cakes, five varieties of chocolate cake, a carrot cake, a cinnamon cake, and half a dozen more. He finally settled on a dulce de leche cake that was far too sweet for Hermione's taste but that he seemed to enjoy.

Hermione sighed happily as she folded up her napkin. All in all, the afternoon had gone fairly well. Not only did they complete their task for the day, but Malfoy had been very pleasant and considerate towards her the entire time. A small part of her couldn't help but think that maybe there was some hope for her after all—that maybe if she kept spending time with him like this eventually he would warm up to her. It was silly but she found herself toying with the idea of asking if he would meet her for the weekend. She would have to manufacture a reason of course, but if it meant getting to see her mate again, Hermione thought she would be able to come up with a halfway decent lie.

But then Malfoy stood up and roughly pushed his chair in. "Well, Granger, I hope that I have earned a good review," he said. "If you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to." With that, he strode off, leaving her and her hopes and dreams far behind.

Author's note: Thanks to everyone reviewed the last chapter. I hope you like this chapter too. I should have another update for this fic in a couple of weeks.