Thank you everyone for reading. And thanks to all of you who pushed one of those buttons at the bottom of the chapter. A special thanks to Gabi16love for pointing out the Luscius isn't sweet. =)
As Hermione slept that night, her dreams were haunted by the clearest pair of blue eyes. When she woke up the following morning she couldn't get Narcissa out of her thoughts. The week went on with relative calm. She had her weekly dinner with her friends. This time it was at Ron's flat. They teased her a little about Draco, but since he wasn't in attendance they didn't feel the need to hammer on about it.
On Monday Hermione received an owl from Draco. She had managed to brush him off for the last five days. She didn't know what was wrong with her but she had no interest in having dinner with him this week. His tawny owl was waiting for her reply however. So she quickly pulled a piece of parchment off her desk and told him that things were a bit hectic at work, but she would let him know when she had some spare time.
Draco was in the sitting room of Malfoy Manor, skimming over the newspaper, when his owl returned with Hermione's reply. He quickly unfolded the paper and read what was inside. It was obvious that he was disappointed.
"What's wrong Draco?" Narcissa queried as she got off the couch to go see what had her only son so distressed. It was then that she caught a glimpse of the young brunette's flawless handwriting. Her fingers clenched as she waited for him to explain.
"Hermione. She says she's busy with work, and doesn't know when she'll be able to have dinner with me."
Narcissa turned her face to stone. The only person that knew her well enough to read her face was Lucius and she didn't need him to look up and figure out what was going through her head. That would only make the situation a hundred times worse. On the inside the blonde was cheering that Hermione would not be going out with her son anytime soon.
"Well, say something mother."
Narcissa realized that she had been caught up in her thoughts. "I'm sorry Draco. Perhaps Miss Granger is busy. I'm sure she will make time for you." Her blue eyes darkened the slightest bit when she said the last part. She truly hoped that Hermione wouldn't be finding spare time for him anytime soon. However if she didn't have the time for Draco that also meant she wouldn't have time for the dinner that Narcissa was planning on asking her to. Her spirits fell at that thought.
"Yeah. Maybe," Draco replied as sauntered off to take a stroll around the garden.
As Narcissa sat back down to continue the book she had been reading, Lucius looked up at her with a puzzled expression, "What was that about?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Narcissa said evenly.
"It almost seems as if you don't want the know-it-all to date our son."
"Don't be absurd." Narcissa knew she was caught, even her own voice betrayed her.
"Well I would hate to see how you acted if there was someone you really didn't want to date Draco."
"Let it go please," Malfoy's didn't beg but she was getting desperate. She knew that Lucius would drop it for the time being, but it definitely would not be the end of it. He was the type to try and gather information along the way then ambush you when you were least expecting it. She quickly gathered her belongings and stalked off to her wing of the house. She didn't want to sit under his scrutinizing gaze a moment longer.
When Narcissa reached her desk she pulled out a piece of paper and quickly jotted a note for Hermione. She called her owl and set him off in the correct direction.
Hermione was just leaving the ministry when she spotted Narcissa's owl. She lifted her arm so he could land. She was ill equipped to take any letters currently so she carried the owl back to her flat. As soon as she walked through the door she made a beeline to the kitchen to get the feathered creature some treats. After that was done she took the letter into her home office.
Dear Hermione,
Forgive me for bothering you. I know how busy things can get. However I would enjoy it if you would accompany me for dinner on Friday. If you have other things going on I understand.
,Yours Narcissa.
Hermione felt her heart beat quicken as she poured over the short note. She was already imaging the new and exciting places she would get to visit with the older witch. Without thinking twice she set out to write a quick reply.
As soon as she had sent the owl on it's way she realized just who Narcissa was in relation to Draco. She couldn't believe that she had overlooked such a major detail. If Draco found the note or Narcissa told him it would cause quite the problem.
She quickly pulled out a piece of paper. She figured she could have lunch with Draco on Friday. That way it would only last the hour that the ministry allowed her for lunch. Technically the ministry didn't care how long she took for lunch, but Draco didn't need to know that.
Back at the Malfoy Manor, Narcissa was pleased that Hermione had agreed to have dinner with her Friday evening. She tried not think to hard on the fact that Hermione had turned her son down but had accepted her invitation without hesitation. As she was walking toward the dinning room she couldn't help but notice the pleased look on her son's face.
"What has you suddenly chipper?" She hoped that it had something to do with one of the quidditch teams he followed and nothing to do with her brunette witch.
"Hermione has agreed to have lunch with me Friday."
Narcissa felt her heart sink as he continued. "It's only an hour. I would have hoped to spend a bit more time with her, but I'll take it for now."
Narcissa was still disappointed but she did notice that she was getting to spend all night with Hermione. She shook her head back and forth hard. She really needed to get these petty thoughts out of her head. Draco was interested in Hermione. She had no business interfering and it wasn't like Hermione would ever return any type of feelings she might have for the younger witch. All though it was curious that she was spending the entire evening with her and a measly lunch with Draco.
The rest of the week flew by. At noon on Friday Draco appeared in Hermione's office. He was ready to take her out for their lunch. Hermione had been dreading it all week, but her dread was overshadowed by the excitement she was feeling about her evening plans. She could tell by the look on Draco's face that he was pleased with him self. Hermione knew in the pit of her stomach that she was going to have to start letting him down easily. It was obvious to her that he had more on his mind than just friendship and that was the only direction Hermione wanted their relationship to move towards.
Thirty minutes into the lunch Hermione received an owl from one of the employees in her department. It described a potion emergency that had come up and she was needed back in the office as soon as she could get there. Hermione looked up at Draco's long face. It was obvious that he knew the gist of what the note had said. She apologized as she started to gather her things.
The pair parted ways. Draco had asked to set up another lunch and Hermione promised that she would owl him sometime this weekend. She was very specific not to actually confirm on the whole lunch idea just that she would simply be in touch. When Hermione got back to work there was a huge mess to clean up. Apparently a kid had gotten hold of their older siblings potion book and decided to have a go at it. Of course the whole thing went awry and now Hermione had a job to do.
Hermione left work an hour later than her normal time. She had considered asking Narcissa if they could push dinner back an hour but she was certain that the older blonde would disapprove of tardiness and plan changing. Besides Hermione was looking forward to their dinner.
On the other side of London Narcissa was in her room getting ready for her evening with Hermione. She had planned out something that would hopefully impress the girl. Narcissa had noticed that Hermione was different than most witches. She wasn't impressed by the Malfoy money. All though she could appreciate the finer things in life she didn't need them. She knew how to enjoy the simple things in life, and Narcissa found this quite refreshing. She had spent her whole life around people who thought the world revolved around how much money one had in their Gringotts account. It was a nice change of pace for her.
As Narcissa was applying a light spritz of perfume, before she headed out to pick up Hermione, she saw Draco slowly walking past her room. Being his mother for so many years had proven to be quite helpful. She could read his face as if she was reading his thoughts. And his current face said that he was up to something. "What are you doing," She called out.
"Nothing. Just walking about."
"Sure. Do you have plans tonight?"
Draco's face instantly froze as if he had been caught. "No."
Narcissa knew immediately that he was lying but she didn't have the time to play twenty questions and figure it out. "Fine. Have fun and be safe doing nothing," she said with a knowing glint in her eye.
As Draco turned to walk away he realized how dressed up his mother was. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere."
Draco knew that it was bold face lie. But he also didn't have time to interrogate Narcissa on the matter. It would have to wait till later. "Okay. Well have fun staying in tonight."
They both walked in opposite directions of each other, hoping to not have anyone else question there whereabouts this evening.
