A/N: It was fun to read your theories regarding the underwear thief. A few of you were right on the money. I was hoping to post this earlier in the weekend, but stupid life got in the way. LOL Hope you all had a good 4th (if you celebrate Independence Day).

Disclaimer: All characters (except Caroline and a few others) belong to JKR.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 8

The solitude was exquisite. Draco treasured working in his office amongst the sound of silence. He leaned back in his leather chair and closed his eyes to rest a little.

All of a sudden Caroline stormed through the doors screaming at the top of her lungs holding a bunch of her underwear. Robbie was close on her heels trying to explain. There was no way Blaise was going to miss the action so he came into the room followed by Julian playing with his truck.

A very furious Caroline threw the bras and knickers on Draco's desk. Straps were tangled everywhere. "This bastard's been stealing my lingerie." She pointed to her younger brother. Her hair was still wet from the shower and her robe barely tied.

"OK, OK, OK, I can explain." Robbie tried to calm his sister down, but she wasn't having any of it.

"What? Explain that you're a cross-dressing freak?" Caroline screamed.

"No, no, no, you don't understand. This is just a big misunderstanding. These aren't for me."

"Who are they for, your girlfriend? Oh, I forgot, you don't have a girlfriend," she said snidely. "No sane female in her right mind would go out with a pervert like you."

Julian reached up and grabbed one of the bras without anyone really paying attention. He put the leopard print bra on his head like a hat with the two cups on either side of his head and hooked it under his chin. He continued to play with his truck on the floor.

Draco had not said a word. He looked back and forth between the two trying to absorb everything. Blaise leaned against the bar in the back of the room nursing a drink enjoying every minute of it. You couldn't pay for this kind of entertainment.

Finally silence filled the room. Caroline folded her arms across her chest - waiting. Draco leaned forward and with a pencil lifted one of the bras by its strap. There was no way he was going to touch his daughter's brassiere. He looked over at Robbie.

"Explain."

Robbie fell back into one of the chairs in front of Draco's desk. "Well, um, Caroline is kind of a legend at Hogwarts. There are still stories floating around about the things she…you used to do."

"Like what?"asked Caroline.

Robbie's eyes shifted between Caroline and Draco. "Are you sure you want me to repeat them in front of Dad? I mean, they're just stories and each year they become more outrageous."

Draco held up his hand. "I don't even want to know."

"So what does this have to do with you stealing my things?"

Robbie cleared his throat. "Well, since people think you're a celebrity, I decided to cash in on it. I found out that the guys would pay a lot of money to have a piece of Caroline Malfoy. So I decided to sell some of your things."

"Why not a t-shirt, or a scarf or something like that? Why did it have to be my underwear?"

Robbie looked at her like she was daft. "Do I have to explain it to you? Guys are interested in only two things – tits and arses. And, um, you had some of the biggest you-know-whats at Hogwarts. Not that I was really noticing, mind you. What guy wouldn't want a piece of that? Am I right, Blaise?"

"Uh, I plead the fifth." They all looked at him strangely. "An American term." He walked to the desk and sat on the edge. He looked down and for the first time noticed his son wearing a bra on his head.

"Look Papa, I have a leopard hat."

"Daddy, are you going to let him get away with that?"

"Who? Blaise, Julian or Robbie?"

Caroline growled in frustration. "Robbie, of course." Blaise grabbed the "hat" off his son's head and looked at the tag with the size on it.

"You're wearing the wrong size," Blaise stated as a matter of fact.

Caroline grabbed the bra out of his hands. "I think I know what size I wear."

"Well, you really should be wearing a larger cup. You're really not getting the support you need."

"And just how do you know what size she should wear?" Draco looked at him with narrow eyes. "It better not be from personal experience."

Blaise laughed. "Draco, you know that breasts are my hobby. I've been around them long enough. I should know a thing...or two about size."

"Just as long as you stay away from hers," Draco warned.

Caroline's face was getting redder by the second. "Would you guys quit talking about my boobs? Let's get back to the discussion at hand, shall we?"

On his hands and knees, Julian still happily played with his truck around the adults' feet. He especially hung around Caroline's legs. She happened to glance down and caught him looking up her robe.

"Julian! You little pervert!"

"That's my boy," said Blaise proudly.

The little Zabini put his hand to his mouth and snickered. "You're not wearing any knickers."

"Men…You're all pigs," screamed Caroline. During the course of her ranting, her robe came undone a little more. Blaise was enjoying the view. Draco looked over and noticed Blaise ogling at his daughter.

"Caroline, calm down and fix your robe. You're giving Zabini here a free show." Draco leaned forward on his desk, clasped his hands and looked over at his son. "Rob, I can appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit. It's actually quite brilliant. However, your sister's things are off limits. Do you understand?"

"Does that include the magazines?"

"What magazines?"asked Caroline.

"Cosmo Witch gave me a bunch of complimentary copies. You know, since you're my sister and all. I signed your signature on the cover by your picture and was going to sell them as autographed copies."

Blaise chuckled. "Slytherin to the core."

"You're forging my signature? I can't believe my own brother has sold me out. Un-fucking-believable."

"I'm too old for this," said Draco. "I'm going upstairs and lie down." He put his hand over his heart and started walking toward the door.

"You okay, mate?" asked his best friend with concern.

"Yeah, yeah. I just need to rest. St. Mungo's is looking really good right now."

"I've had enough of this bullshit. Robbie, if I merely sense that you're in my room going through my stuff, I'm going to hex your balls off. That is if I can find them. I'm going upstairs and get ready for the party," said Caroline.

"What party?" asked Blaise.

"You know, Tabitha's parents' annual Christmas party. Everyone who's anyone is there." She turned and left the room.

"Blaise, you go with her," said Draco.

"What?"

"And take Isabella with you, too. She can meet some of the people that will be coming to your engagement party."

"No fucking way," said Blaise.

"Yes fucking way. You never know, she might meet some rich bloke to take her off your hands, and you could hook up with that little blonde of yours."

"What time is the party again?"

XXXXXXXX

Draco walked into the bedroom and noticed Hermione lying on the sofa in front of the fireplace reading a book.

"Why aren't you getting ready for the party?"

Without looking up from her book she said, "Because I'm not going. I'm going to stay here with you."

"Just because I don't feel like going doesn't mean you have to stay here as well."

She looked up from her book. "You're up to something. There is no way you'd want me go to a party by myself."

Draco shrugged. "I'm not up to anything. I just thought you'd like to get out of the house for a bit. That's all." He sat down beside her on the sofa.

"I still don't believe you. You have that look on your face. Spill."

He sighed. "Okay, I do have an ulterior motive. Culpepper is going to be there with his wife…"

"And you want me to suck up to him so he'll reconsider your offer."

"No, I don't want you to suck up to him. Just be your charming delightful self and invite them to dinner. Then Blaise and I'll do the sucking up. Wait, that just doesn't sound right."

Hermione hedged for a moment. "Okay, but you owe me. Big."

"And I need you to do one more thing…"

"And that would be?" asked Hermione.

"Blaise is very tight-lipped about the woman he's seeing, which is unusual for him. I want you to find out who she is. "

"Isn't that his business?"

"Yes, but there is something odd going on. He claims he hasn't slept with her yet. And when I try to get more information out of him, he changes the subject."

"Maybe this girl is special and he doesn't want to jinx anything. Or maybe he can't because of the engagement curse on Isabella's ring," reasoned Hermione.

"Bullshit. Something's going on. I can feel it."

"I think you have too much time on your hands and have nothing better to think about than Blaise's love life. Why don't you think about your own love life?"

Hermione dropped her book and leaned over toward Draco and straddled his lap. With a sparkle in her eyes, she slowly unbuttoned his shirt and removed it. Since she didn't have any buttons on her shirt, Draco just ripped it over her head and threw it on the floor.

He looked lustfully at her body. "Why are you still the most gorgeous witch in the world?"

"I think your eyesight is failing," laughed Hermione.

"Nope," said Draco, "that's one of the only two things that still work."

"What's the other thing?"

Draco wiggled his eyebrows and said, "Why don't I show you?" He pushed her off his lap and onto the floor. He got down on the floor on top of her and started to kiss her neck. She squealed when he kissed her at her most ticklish spot. But that squeal quickly turned into a moan as Draco captured her lips with his.

As they were getting hot and heavy, the door burst open and in ran Julian.

"Auntie Mione, Auntie Mione…"

He saw Draco and Hermione on the floor, gasped and slapped his palms over his eyes. "Sorry." He turned around quickly and ran toward the door with his hands still over his eyes. Since his eyes were covered, he ran into the door frame and fell back on his rump. He scurried up on his feet and ran out the door.

Hermione laughed and put her shirt back on. Even Draco gave half a smile at the little Zabini.

"It looks like that we're going to have to go back to using the cottage if we want any privacy," said Draco.

"I tell you what. I'll meet you there after the party. We can have our own little secret rendezvous." She purred as she nibbled the bottom of his ear.

"Well, on that note, you'd better get ready for the party," he said huskily. "The sooner you go, the sooner you'll come back, and the sooner we can get busy."

XXXXXXXX

Isabella was very excited. She was attending her first social event as Blaise Zabini's fiancée. She was very eager to meet some of the other people in higher social standing. Each day she was getting closer to her goal.

The dress she was going to wear had to be perfect. When she went shopping she couldn't decide between two very expensive gowns, so she bought them both. She would decide later which one to wear.

Blaise stood before a full-length mirror straightening his bow tie. He looked very suave in his new dress robes. Isabella came into his room without knocking.

"Which one of these gowns should I wear? The green one or the red one?" She held up the two garments for Blaise to look at.

Blaise looked between the two and pointed to the red gown. "The green one."

"What are you talking about, this dress is red. What? Are you colorblind?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. I can't see greens or reds very well." Blaise continued to fuss with his tie. "That's why I really don't care for Christmas much…too much red and green.

"Well that explains a lot," she mumbled. She filed that little factoid in the back of her brain. One never knew when it could come in handy.

After putting on both gowns numerous times, she finally settled on the red one. It was very pretty, but a little old for her age. She wanted to dress conservatively to make a good impression.

When they were finally ready, they walked down to Caroline's suite to see if she was all set to go to the party. After Blaise knocked on her door, she answered it, still in her robe.

"Why aren't you dressed?"

"Because I can't decide what to wear." She held up three dresses – a red one, a green one and a blue one. She eyed Isabella's red gown and tossed the red one aside. There was no way she was going to wear the same color as that bitch. "Now it's down to green or blue. The green one is so last season."

Blaise closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just wear the fucking blue one then."

"Well, the blue one doesn't really fit..."

"Isabella, will you please wait downstairs for me? I need a word with Caroline." Isabella turned in a huff and went downstairs.

Blaise stepped into Caroline's suite and slammed the door behind him. He grabbed her by the arms and threw her up against the wall.

"Do you know how much you drive me crazy?" he hissed. "When we were in your dad's office, it took all my willpower not to throw you on his desk and take you right there."

"Do you know how hot you look when you're angry?" She twisted out of Blaise's grasp and wove her hands through his hair. Pulling him toward her, she kissed him long and hard. He broke away from her.

"I'm not kidding, Caroline. If your father get's a whiff that I'm slightly interested in you, best friend or not, he will kill me. I think he already might suspect something."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You have nothing to worry about. You're being paranoid."

"No, Caroline. I'm serious. We need to cool it for a while. So no more running around in skimpy outfits, alright? And I'll do my part by…by… staying the hell away from you." He turned and walked toward the door.

"Good luck with that," she said to herself as he left the room. She looked at the blue dress and smiled. "He's not going to know what hit him."