A/N Sorry for the long wait, but I've had awful writer's block again. Please keep reading the story, though, it's going to get good. And don't worry, the rating won't get above K Plus.
I have been staring at the table for the past ten minutes, wondering when Celestina's anecdotes will end. She's been telling them continuously for the past half an hour, and she doesn't seem to be losing steam. Right now, she's saying that people would pay her to give concerts every night by the time she was fifteen.
Right. No one pays her to give concerts now, let alone twenty years ago. But I hold my tongue, because we're at her house, and I don't think insulting her would help with Draco's business deal.
Celestina passes me the peas, which sets her off on another story about how at one bar, she had to dress up as a vegetable, since the place was organic. I fight to suppress my eye-roll, but it doesn't work. And Celestina sees it.
"Everything all right, dear?" she asks me. I smile at her.
"Of course, Ms. Warbeck. I was just admiring your beautiful ceiling," I tell her.
"Oh, Hermione, please call me Celestina. Didn't I tell you that already? I think I did. You should really remember more," she says. I take a deep breath. This idiotic woman is getting on my nerves. I grip the seat cushion beneath me and grin again.
"I know. It's a bit of a problem for me," I say. Draco raises an eyebrow at me, and I kick him under the table. He seethes and turns away.
The rest of dinner passes without much incident. Celestina's assistant breaks a plate, and gets yelled at for around ten minutes. The poor girl leaves, terrified and fired, and I feel bad for her. But who wants to work for this woman anyway?
After dinner is cleared away and dessert has been brought out, I start to get a little jumpy. How long does Celestina want us to stay in her house? I didn't know it was customary to hold people hostage at dinner.
The dessert is awful, just like the main course. Fried liver. Seriously? I know she's a witch, but does she have to come right out of a fairy tale book? I eat one bite and, after gagging, Vanish it with my wand.
Celestina has been asking every couple how they came to be together, but I don't really notice until she turns to Draco.
"So," she says to him, "how did you meet Hermione?" Draco freezes. I have to hold back a laugh, I have to, I have to, I have to...
"Well," he starts, "I had to come to the Ministry for business..." he trails off and looks at me. Me? What am I supposed to do?
"And, uh..." I say. "I guess we..."
"Don't worry, honey," Celestina says. "I get it." She winks, and I almost faint. I can't believe she actually thinks that we're together. "So you won't mind sharing a room tonight?"
"What?" I ask.
Celestina looks at Draco. "You didn't tell her?"
"Of course I did." Draco looks at me. "You knew that we're spending the night, right? Everyone else is." He widens his eyes, trying to tell me to play along. I'm almost too startled to do it, but I manage.
"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry, I didn't hear you correctly, Celestina. But we can't share a room," I add.
"Why not?" she asks.
Draco and I share a look. I try to come up with something, but I can't. "I just, don't really feel like-"
"But you've got to! It just wouldn't be right. And besides, there are no extra rooms in the house for you to have your own," she says.
"I live right-" I start, but Draco cuts me off.
"Can we have a moment?" he asks Celestina, and grabs my arm tightly.
"Sure, sure, go ahead." Draco pulls me away and into the kitchen, where we can still hear Celestina and her friends laughing over something, probably me.
Draco turns to look me in the eye. "What are you doing?"
"Excuse me if I didn't know I had to spend the entire night at this insane woman's house! In the same room as you, no less! Why didn't you mention that?" I ask, trying not to yell at him.
"I thought you knew! It's kind of custom in the wizarding community."
"I've never heard of it," I say.
"Too bad! We have to share a room," he says. "Do you think I want to?"
"Of course not. But what are we going to do?"
"Maybe there will be twin beds," he suggests.
"You'd better be right. And you told her we were together?"
"Yes, I did, but only because she wouldn't have let you come otherwise. One of her rules is that only couples or families can come."
"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," I say.
"I know, but we have to play along. If you leave, if this blows at all, my company is going to fail, and it's going to be all your fault."
"So what? Why should I care about your stupid business?"
"Because I am the biggest donator to your department and you won't have any money if I don't, which means you'll lose your job, your house, and your life," he says.
"That's a bit extreme. I did help save the world and kill Voldemort. I'm pretty sure I'd get hired anywhere I wanted to work. Plus, you are not the biggest donator, and my department only uses donations for extra projects that we wouldn't do otherwise." I don't tell him that one of those "extra projects" happens to be working on funding our floor, but he doesn't need to know. I'm not going to betray him, but I don't want him to think that I actually care about his stupid company. "I'm not going to ruin this for you, Malfoy. I'm not you."
I turn around and walk straight out of the kitchen, sit down at my seat once more, and resume mindless chatter with Celestina Warbeck.
