Chapter 10
It wasn't until Draco's valet woke him up that he realized that he had fallen asleep again. He was still feeling cross from earlier that day, especially with Hermione. He picked green and silver that night hoping the sight of it would irritate her. He sat still while his valet tied an intricate knot with his cravat before leaving the room.
He walked right into the Earl of Canton. "Bloody hell." Draco growled.
The Earl of Canton gave Draco a look of disdain. "You again."
Draco straightened his jacket and started to walk towards the stairs. "That's exactly how I feel every time I am cursed enough to see you."
The Earl gave a grave smile. "Why should you be surprised to see me? After all the Marquess is a cousin of sorts."
Just his bloody luck, he thought. It seemed this was the new Harry Potter for him. Draco kept going to the parlor ignoring the Earl who was several steps behind him. He couldn't say anything rude while the man was a house guest of their current host and hostess. He also didn't want to be stuck playing nurse maid for Hermione like he feared he'd have to.
Draco was immediately pulled into a group with several men, consisting of the Marquess and Earl of Hawkins. They were speaking of matters that were currently being debated in the House of Lord. He was completely immersed in the conversation. First thing when they got back he'd have to join so it wouldn't seem odd to those that the Duke whom was generally there and rather radical stopped coming all together.
He didn't notice her at first but the swish of red trimmed in gold caught his eye. She looked lovely, like from their school days in her house colors. The gold trim made her hair shine in a new way. Her smile and laugh resonated through him. She was on the Earl of Canton's arm making his way through the drawing room.
Draco hadn't realized that all the men had left the group except for Lord Hawkins. She watched Draco intently and then watched Hermione. It was his voice that brought Draco back to the present.
"You know he has asked me for her hand again." The Earl said nonchalantly watching for Draco's reaction.
Draco grew stiff. "Is that so?"
The Earl bit back a grin. "That he did. He's been after her for some years now. I never understood why she never settled for him. He has a nice title, nice income and she could certainly do worse."
"Why have you not simply accepted for?" Draco asked.
The old man shook his head. "My marriage was arranged. We never loved each other, but grew to find a friendship. We both promised that our little Sofia shall settle down for love or not at all if she felt she hadn't found the right person. Once she's bound to another I cannot help her. She will, in all essence, be her husband's property."
"She shall never be considered any man's property." Draco spoke without thinking. "She will be her own person, married or not. She is willful and strong, but she is no fool."
"You are of course right, Sofia knows what she wants. As long as I live she will never be forced to do something she doesn't find to her liking." The Earl gave Draco's shoulder a squeeze and moved off.
The Marquess moved back to Draco's side and watched the Earl of Canton. "He may be my cousin so distant that I couldn't tell you from where, but I could never like him. Even as boys. There just seems to be something not complete about him. My wife invites him because he is family and she felt it is her duty."
Draco ground his teeth. "Yes, decorum is something I am very familiar with even in my time."
The Marquess nodded. "Are you from high society from your time?"
He pushed his hands in his pockets and kept his eyes on Hermione's smiling face. "In a certain aspect my family is. There is the muggle world and then there is the magical world. My family is on the instep on the latter."
"Ah, I understand. There is a magic society here, too. Not big, mind you. It is harder for us whom are titled to do our duty that is expected of us here and balanced our magical obligations. It seems that it never stops."
The Abernathy's butler announced; the men offered their arms to ladies and led them into the dining room. Lucky for Draco he got the honor of escorting another young debutant in before Lady Victoria could come over and dig her claws into him. He didn't even know how she was here. Either way he would ever be grateful to the young lady on his arm.
Draco went along with niceties that go along with society dinners. He talked to the woman on his left and the young man close to his age on his right. They spoke about cricket, a game that Draco had only heard in passing. He was not familiar with such games. He was fascinated to hear all about it. The young man told him there was already a gathering for the game noon the next day if he'd like to play.
His glances were only fleeting on Hermione whom seemed more comfortable in the setting she was now in. She basked in the glow of the candles and compliments that came from the gentleman next to her. Canton watched her with a Hawk's eye and glared at certain men who looked at her. Their eyes met and Draco lifted a challenging brow.
He felt the hot gaze of someone on him. He turned to see Lady Victoria. She gave a lush, seductive smile. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip. Draco turned a disgusted eye away.
The ladies rose for the men to have their port and cigars in piece while they left for their after dinner tea. Draco sat through an agonizing hour of debates that he didn't care about before the Marquess signaled that they would join the ladies. He got sucked into a game of whist with an elderly matron on his team.
He raised his head to the tinkling sound of the piano. Hermione was sitting on the bench while Canton turned the pages for her. He shouldn't be surprised she was accomplished, but he was. She played beautifully and you could hear her passion through the song. He concentrated on the game at hand. He could easily lose himself otherwise.
Even though Hermione was across the room she was still fully aware of Draco. The conceited git would not get the best of her. So she smiled prettily at the Earl and flirted shamelessly. She fluttered her lashes to keep him enthralled in the things she spoke about. She found having a man so attentive rather exhilarating. She wasn't used to this kind of behavior.
The clock chimed eleven o'clock; she quickly jumped up and announced that she was going to get an early night. The Earl tried to convince her otherwise, but she told him she was starting to feel the headache coming on. She smiled brightly at him, telling him how much she enjoyed his company. She said good night to Lord Hawkins before heading up to her bedroom.
She let Mildred help her undress and she sat in front of the mirror and let the maid brush her long tresses out. She felt a pang of longing thinking about her mother doing the same when she was a little girl. She was missing her parents something fierce. No matter how bad things got she knew she could always rely on them to fall back on. She dismissed Mildred with a fake yawn and watched as the maid left the room.
Hermione sat at the window seat looking out at the black sky full of sparkling diamonds. She waited an appropriate half hour before she started to get herself ready. She had no idea what they were doing this night, but she wanted to be ready no matter. She put her wand in her reticule and a few other necessities.
She opened her door and peered into the dark corridor. She slowly stepped out and quietly closed her door. She waited in front of her door for only a few moments so her eyes could adjust to the darkness. When she could make out objects she quickly made her way down the corridor. The creaking and groaning of an old house settling was something familiar from her school days, but still it was a bit unsettling.
She made it to the parlor with no incidents and slowly crept into the room; she closed the door and immediately ran into something hard. "Oomph."
Strong arms came out to settle her. "Still as clumsy as ever, I see."
She stiffened and shook away from Draco. He was starting to really get to her with his taunting. "Haven't we grown past childish things? I thought maybe you had grown up."
"I suppose that's what you get for assuming things you do not know." He moved away from her to the window. He was bathed in the moonlight glow that shone through the curtains. His platinum hair looked silver in the light, his skin pale and creamy. His profiles made his high breeding more prominent than ever.
The door gave a small creak as a slight figure slipped into the darkness. A taller figure followed suit closing the door. "Wonderful, you're both already here!"
Hermione smiled in the darkness for the Marchioness' ever sunny personality. The Marquess lit only one candle and put it on a table as far away from the door as he could get.
"I'm afraid the only dragon, on such notice, I could get any information about is a Norwegian Ridgeback." The Marquess said gravely.
Hermione sucked in a breath. "That's a rather dangerous dragon to mess with. Do you not have sanctuaries in this time?"
The Marquess shook his head. "No, we have only some whereabouts of these dragons. I was lucky enough to have a contact who knows where we could locate this one."
"Even more reason for the ladies to stay behind." Draco said.
"Absolutely not!" stormed the Marchioness, "Myself and Hermione shall accompany you like it was originally planned, thank you very much, sir."
"It was not planned like that, you chose for it." Draco informed her.
She snorted. "No matter, it's going to happen either way."
Hermione felt like her heart was going to burst from her chest. These weren't dragons to be dealt with lightly. She wasn't too keen on going up against one, but she wasn't one to back out either. Squaring her shoulders she took a deep breath.
"Draco we are going, so stop this trying to stall." Hermione stared him down.
Giving a disgusted sigh he moved closer. "Fine, but try not to get eaten."
The Marquess took a hold of Draco's arm while the Marchioness took Hermione's. They disapparated without a word.
Hermione felt the cool breeze of the air make the hair around her face dance and her skirts rustle. It was dark where they were but she could see a cliff not too far off. Jagged rocks dug under her soft kid boots. The stars were bright and the moon high in the sky.
Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her behind him as the quietly walked along the cliffs. Hermione lost her footing on a loose bit of rock and Draco steadied her. His glare was clear through the moon light. She bit the retort on her tongue and followed quietly behind him. The Marquess led their procession through the cliffs.
Her skirts kept hampering her movements making her stumble. Draco gave a low growl in his throat and turned without a word to her and charmed her skirts into pants. Blinking down she wore men's clothing. She felt instantly freer, like she could breathe again.
The Marchioness' eyes lit up. "Me next!" She whispered excitedly.
Draco did the same for her whom seemed delighted to be traipsing about in men's clothing. "How indecently exciting," She murmured to her smiling husband.
"Why not fly there?" Hermione whispered.
The Marquess shook his head. "I was advised against doing that until we knew for sure that the beast was in its cave. This specific dragon is female and may be out hunting."
Draco heard Hermione's hiss of breath. He squeezed her much smaller hand for silence. He knew what she was thinking. Females were much more aggressive than their male counterparts. If they were lucky this one wouldn't be nesting.
It seemed like they climbed for hours in intense silence. Draco was afraid to let go of Hermione's hand, afraid she may plummet down or try to move ahead of him. He didn't like this feeling of being responsible for someone else's well-being. It gave him the feelings he tried to keep away.
A sound like a low growl echoed through the rocks; they stopped and waited in silence. Hermione held Draco's hand in a vise grip like she wasn't going to let go. Again another small growl came again.
"Stay here," he demanded Hermione with a look that expected her compliance.
The Marquess ordered his wife to stay back with Hermione while they went ahead of the women. Hermione itched to go ahead without listening to Draco, but the look he gave her made her hesitate.
She was fighting herself to stay when she heard a yell further up the way.
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