I will have to personally write each and every one of you a thank you card one day. Personally. With little drawing on the side when I'm thinking of how to word something.
And you're probably thinking, "Yeah, bro, you don't even get that many reviews" BUT I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT. Because every review is just so encouraging and nice and great. And I am in love with every one of you. That's kinda strange and you're probably thinking, 'alright, this one's a weirdo and I'm going to un-alert'. I hope you don't.
Anyway, I'm in love with Muse. I swear; the latest album makes me see the world slightly differently. Everything that everyone does suddenly has taken on this romantic hue and the world is generally a more Fairytale place, where everything suddenly has great cosmic significance.
But then again, maybe that's just me.
I hope you enjoy this one too ;)
Love, Starky
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. Yet.
Chapter Nine
The breakfast table was silent. She couldn't look at Draco because after last night, she wasn't sure of where they stood with each other. Sure they were married legally but it wasn't permanent. Was there a point in getting close to him if they would be separating in little over ten months anyway? But yet, she knew, in the heart of her heart, there was a point. There was a huge point and that point was something that she didn't want to think about just yet because it scared the Merlin out of her.
She didn't look at Narcissa because she never looked at Narcissa anyway.
Yet, the silver haired woman was sneaking glances between the two, as if she knew a gigantic cosmic secret that she wasn't letting on.
As Hermione silently buttered a slice of toast, Draco sliced up his eggs into perfect squares. When they had first attempted to live together, the strange custom was a continuous source of entertainment for her and Ginny to laugh over but now, it seemed such a normal occurrence. Right in the middle of his fourth square, he dropped in knife, his fingers slack and the fork forgotten halfway to his mouth.
Turning in her seat, she almost dropped out of it as the tall, billowing figure of the one and only Lucius Malfoy swam into view.
He looked at her with disdain and a slight curve of his lips. "Hermione Granger, we meet again."
Straight out of a James Bond movie.
"Good morning Mr. Malfoy."
"There's hardly any reason to be so formal, after all, we are family."
Only he could make the word family sound almost synonymous to death sentence. She took in a breath as he studied her with his dark eyes. When she'd agreed to marry the infamous Draco Malfoy, the thought of being under the same roof as Lucius Malfoy had crossed her mind frequently, almost as frequently as she'd been thinking about what it'd be like to marry into his 'family'. But when she'd moved into the manor, he was no-where to be seen, not at dinner or parties held. The wedding was the last occasion she'd glimpsed him at and he'd disappeared just as they'd both signed above the dotted line and said "I Do".
Draco studied his father closely; unsure of what he was doing. He glanced at Hermione, her face ashen and eyes wide, and then at his mother, her lips thin and a fleeting look of fear cross her face, just a flicker of it in her eyes and a twitch of her lips.
"Father," Draco acknowledged with a small nod.
"Draco," a curl of the lip and a slight eye narrowing. "I hope you're playing nicely with Miss Granger."
Hermione didn't dare correct him. His expression was one of a cat, just about to lunge at the fish tank.
"Indeed I am. In fact, so nicely that she's now Mrs Malfoy."
The cat leapt only to find out that the fish tank was covered by a pane of glass, smashing its nose.
"Yes, I am aware. Narcissa," he turned to his own wife, his eyes moving dangerously. "I trust you are well."
The table was silent as he sat and calmly reached for a slice of toast. Hermione's breakfast was forgotten and she found herself staring at him, jaw open. It was a surreal moment, similar to watching Dumbledore brushing his hair or Mr. Weasley flossing his teeth. It was so utterly human and normal.
It was funny that on the surface, there was blood status and warfare due to superiority but further down, everyone was exactly the same and needed a full breakfast to function.
And that thought made her exceedingly queasy.
"So that day-" Draco started, pacing the room. "When you were crying about pregnancy, you never fully explained it to me."
He stared at himself in the mirror. He couldn't say that to her! She'd frown at him and then throw her hairbrush at him, like that time he'd asked her about her tampons.
Crookshanks, her orange Devil-On-Paws padded into the room and gave him a look full of contempt and superiority.
I'm being outdone by a cat. I'm being outdone by a cat. A cat whose face can be used for writing letters.
"What are you looking at?" he hissed at it.
It glowered back at him, sitting down near the bed.
"Get out," he tried shooing it. "This is my room."
The cat glared for another three seconds and turned on his tail to jump onto the bed.
"No!" Draco exclaimed, making a jump for the bed. The orange ball hissed menacingly at him, its tail swishing through the air and made two good swipes at Draco's face.
The first met thin air but the second reached its target. Three ugly red gashes appeared across his cheek, the pain beginning to register.
He yelled. "I'm going to throw you off the balcony!"
The cat yowled as the door was pushed open and jumped into the arms of Hermione, a scowl already on her face.
"What did you say?"
"Look what your monster did to me!" He turned so that she could see the marks.
"You must've provoked him," she stroked the cat, which contentedly started purring.
"It jumped onto my side of the bed!" Draco argued, standing upright again, pointing at his side.
Hermione started laughing. "Your side? You always end up on my side!"
Draco searched his mind for the perfect comeback. "It's not my fault that you always somehow manage to end up sprawled all over me!" There, that ought to show her!
Hermione turned red, dropping the cat. "Well, I'm sure if-if-" she let out a frustrated growl and left the room, leaving only her glare behind.
Oh crap, he was meant to ask her that question!
Running after her, out of the room, he saw her turn the corner and the resounding steps she took down the steps echoed in his head.
He stopped and stared at the wall, a portrait of Lucius glaring menacingly at him.
Two things struck him, one after the other in quick succession. One; Hermione noticed that he'd noticed her sleeping habits. And two; when he'd wake up next to her, there was no awkwardness, no strong desire to ravish her, just a quiet, unassuming contentment.
And it scared the Merlin out of him.
That night, she didn't turn up in their room.
He lay awake in the bed, it was too big, and his eyes were trained on the ceiling, straining his ears for movement outside the door. He was beginning to imagine noises, having to sift them through his mind again, just to check if they were real.
They weren't.
He knew she hasn't left the manor, the house elves would have alerted him to that but the manor wasn't a small house. There were many rooms she could've gotten herself lost in.
Of course! He chuckled to himself. The sometimes clumsy and forgetful Granger must've gotten lost!
Slipping out of the bed, he fumbled for his wand. The hallway was quiet and dark but he knew his way around, information that had been incurred over years of sneaking to the kitchens for midnight snacks.
Where would she be? He pondered, the answer already in his head.
Of course, she couldn't be able resist roomfuls of books and no-one around to disturb her.
The library was cool and dark, the shelves high and towering towards the ceiling. Of course the decor was ominously dark and dreary but that definitely would not have stopped the renowned bookworm from learning about a million new spells and facts.
He found her, hunched over a large tome, the candlelight flickering nearby. The cat was curled up against her foot and Draco threw it a disgusted look, wondering how he could convince her to get a new fur ball; one less ugly and without a superiority complex.
Deciding on an immature prank, Draco crept up behind her, trying to minimise the echoes of his footfalls. Gently, he moved his hands over her eyes, clamping down on them so that she couldn't see.
That was a mistake.
Hermione whisked out her wand, pointed it back at him and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!"
She didn't think about the heavy bookshelf that was standing behind him.
As he crashed into it, the look of shock held steady in its place, she covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide.
The resounding crash was enough to wake the household as the bookshelf toppled over, sending thick and dusty texts skidding all over the floor. Dust overflowed onto the room, like an avalanche engulfing the mountain beneath and Hermione struggled to catch her breath.
Lifting the hex, Hermione started to pull some of the books off Draco, who started coughing with her too.
"What in the world is wrong with you?" he erupted with as soon as the coughing subsided. She found herself amused slightly at his dishevelled appearance and bright red cheeks.
"Me?" She shrieked back. "You're the one who snuck up on me! You should know not to do that to someone who helped in taking down one of the darkest wizards of all time!"
Draco coughed again, the dust around him stirring. He looked up at her suddenly confused expression. "What?" he asked, having completely forgotten his comeback.
"Were you looking for me?"
"Yes, I was." He sat up straight, decreasing the distance between them. "You didn't show up to bed and I came looking for you."
Hermione's mouth twitched into a smile. "You noticed I hadn't come up to bed?" she narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Were you waiting up for me?"
"What?" he spluttered. "No, I was not!"
Her imploring eyes drilled deep into his. "You were. Oh Malfoy, please don't tell me you're falling in love with me?"
His eyes were swirling as he leant forward and placed a small kiss on her mouth, the right hand side.
As he stood, pulling her up with him, he chuckled. "I won't if you don't."
And so it became a challenge, a competition of sorts. Yet the stakes were higher than money and estate, pride and ego were on the line here and neither party felt particularly inclined to lose either. The rules regarding the contest were blurred and it was hard to differentiate between winning and losing when it felt like that to win, it resulted in loss regardless.
Finally, he allowed himself to admit it. He was in love with the insufferable bushy haired Muggle.
It had started as a small token of thanks, a small place he felt for her, deep in the icicles of his heart that had never been bared before, a place that was possibly reserved for her. And mainly, it was just thanks for she'd been the first to smile at him. A real smile. And it had driven him crazy as he tossed and turned in the night, thinking up all the things that he could do to get that smile again.
And then, they'd become associates. Of course, at this stage, his affections for her were purely friendly. Though, they'd never really figured out how to do that properly; they'd just jumped from enemies to acquaintances to married, leaving out the bits in the middle.
Then, their first night spent married was a complete disaster and he'd realised that the way she smiled at him was something he would kill for, just to keep around for the rest of his life.
Lying drowsily in bed that night, he felt Hermione gently nudge her fingers into his and he gripped them, feeling her smile against his shoulder.
Oh crap, he was in love with Granger. What was he going to do?
One thing was for sure, Malfoy's definitely didn't lose.
Wow! These are just spitting out these days, huh? No more waiting for months at a time. As I've mentioned on my profile, I've joined the twitter bandwagon. I don't really use it all that often and I only have 2 followers at the moment, only one being someone who actually reads this story.
Anyway, I'm on twitter as kangleidoscope :)
Well, I really hope you enjoy this and I'll update soon (I hope).
You are definitely the Karl to my Lagerfeld.
Love Starky!
Tiadorable: Thanks so much! I've already replied to you but felt like doing another shout out to you! So thank you! And hope you like this chapter too!
FaithfulHPReader: Thanks for that GREAT review. I always love the 'regulars'. And you're talking to a person who loves going to cafes and saying to the waitress "I'll have the regular, thanks". It's a problem I'm trying to overcome.
TheresNothingInside: Thanks for the review! And I'm glad you like this pairing as much as I do! Much love!
mysecretisfatallygorgeous: YES! Muse is my muse! I'm so into Unnatural Selection right now! Muse FTW! ;) BTW, thanks for the review!
Jenny Brooks: Thanks for the great reviews =)
padfootsgrl79: Thanks for that! I only hope that I can keep you interested!
catastrophecolly: Thanks again! And I'm still waiting on that cookie! Haha, I joke, I joke!
JillianUnleashed: Your reviews are always wonderfully insightful and I thank you greatly for taking the time to tell me these things. Rest assured, they will be going to good use!
Dianafefe1: I hope this one didn't disappoint!
ihatetosayitoldyouso: I love your pen name! Because it's TRUE! I hope you liked this and thanks for the review!
Jess: Thanks for pointing that out Jess! I actually went back to correct it and thanks a lot, I didn't actually realise! Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Magical words from Muggle pens: Thanks so much! All these kind words from individuals like you are going to give me a big head and a diva personality! Hope that doesn't happen. I'd be terrible at being a diva. I'll demand things then feel bad and apologise and apparently, that's just not on.
mentarisenja: Haven't heard from you in a while! You're usually one of the firsts to review me! But I'm glad you're back!
