A/N: Thanks to TheOnlyCeeCeeJ for being my beta. Thanks to all of you that are reading my story and those who review. The reviews really help me to get ideas for new chapters so thanks.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Harry Potter I am just borrowing the characters from J.K. Rowling and any mistakes found in any of the chapters are my own.
Revised on 3-3-16
Chapter 10: A Day of Facing Fears
The next morning, Hermione slowly woke up. She was feeling so relaxed and comfortable that she did not feel like getting up. 'It would not hurt to sleep in a little,' she thought to herself.
"Mmm," she moaned as she snuggled further into the heat surrounding her. Just then, the weight around her waist moved and something began to caress her stomach. This caused her hazy brain to wake up. 'That is NOT Crookshanks,' she thought as she slowly moved her hair away from her face. Once she took in her surroundings and realized where she was, she gave a yelp and quickly sat up against the headboard taking the blanket with her. At this, the two lumps on either side of her began to stir.
"Go back to sleep it's too early to wake up," came Draco's husky, sleep induced voice.
Hermione, who was too distracted by the bare chests, had a hard time getting her brain to work and respond to Draco. All she could think about was how good they both looked and how bad she wanted to touch them. She felt a need to make sure it was all real and not a dream. Her gaze continued to switch back and forth between the lightly dusted, dark-haired chest of Blaise and Draco's smooth one. Both were muscular, but not overly muscular. They both had six packs, and were just perfect. Her mouth felt dry, causing her to swallow and lick her lips. The chuckles and Blaise and Draco's smug smirks brought Hermione back to reality.
"I have to use the restroom," she said, feeling her face turn tomato red.
"Alright then, Cara." Said Blaise, as he fully woke up and kissed Hermione on the cheek.
Once Blaise moved out of bed, Hermione scurried as quickly as she could to the bathroom. She shut the door with a bang and leaned against it with her eyes closed. She took deep breaths as she gathered her thoughts and calmed her nerves. 'I can't believe I just sat there staring at their chests like that. Urgh how embarrassing!' As she went to get ready for the day, she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her face once again went red but this time with anger instead of embarrassment.
Hermione burst back out of the bathroom startling the two veela. "What the hell am I wearing? And better yet, how exactly did I get into it?!" She yelled, hands on her hips with her foot tapping against the floor as she glared at the two veela.
"Hey it looks good on you! Green really is your colour, you should wear it more often." Said a smug Draco, only enraging Hermione more.
Blaise could practically see the anger and tension rolling off of her, even her hair seemed to come to life with pent-up anger. "Relax, Cara. Take a deep breath, he transfigured your clothes from last night into that nightgown."
Blaise's calming and reassuring tone caused some of Hermione's anger to dissipate. That is until she looked at Draco again. He was laying back in bed, resting on his elbows with a cocky look on his face, "maybe you should wear a green dress to tea with mother?"
Hermione threw her hands up in the air yelling, "you are hopeless, Draco Malfoy!" And re-entered the bathroom.
Hermione wrapped a towel around herself once she got out of the shower and headed for the opposite door she had entered from. She turned the doorknob to her room and found that it would not budge. She slapped a hand to her forehead, "Why...? Why did I place locking charms on my door?" She groaned. 'Okay my wand is either in the bedroom with them or it is still in the common room, but either way, I will have to go back into Draco's bedroom to get it and I am NOT doing that in a towel!' So she began to look around for something to wear. She finally came across some bathrobes and found a comfy floor length white bathrobe with the initials HG. 'Well that either stands for Head Girl or Hermione Granger but just the same it is mine' she thought as she put it on and made her way back into Draco's bedroom.
When she re-entered Draco's bedroom she noticed that he had, once again, transfigured clothes for her, only this time it was a green dress. She ignored it and addressed Blaise, "Do you know where my wand is?"
"I believe it is still in the common room, why?"
"Oh, I just needed it to get into my room so I can get dressed for breakfast."
"You look plenty dressed to me... In fact, you look overdressed if anything."
Hermione was determined to ignore Draco and gave Blaise a grateful smile when he offered to summon her wand for her.
Once she got her wand, she gave Blaise's cheek a kiss in thanks and made her way to her own bedroom.
"Hey, what about me?" said Draco with a pout.
"Bad boys don't get rewards." Said Hermione without looking back.
Blaise gave a hearty laugh. "Looks like your plan to get her worked up backfired."
"Oh shut up!" Replied Draco, as he threw a pillow at Blaise's head.
Once all three were ready for the day, they made their way down to breakfast. At breakfast Hermione informed Minerva that they would all be going over to Malfoy Manor to have tea. "We should be back at about noon," Hermione told the Headmistress.
"You better make that after lunch, maybe around three in the afternoon. I do not see my mother letting us leave before then." Said Draco.
"I had hoped that you would all start on your assignments today, but I guess you can start them when you get back."
"What assignments would that be Professor?" Asked Blaise
"Oh well not you dear, since you will be using the time to study for the exam. I thought that Hermione could help get the books in the library back in order and Draco could help Professor Snape replenish potion ingredients and get his stockroom back in order. You both also need to agree on the first months schedule for rounds and who the new prefects will be so we can send them an owl. I was also hoping that Hermione would help me to make a list of all the announcements that will be needed to be addressed at the holiday feast."
"There will be plenty of time to get the school in working order before August 1st, Headmistress, and we will all do whatever we can to help, so please stop worrying!" Said Harry.
"Thank you Harry, I knew Severus had the right idea choosing you all for this opportunity."
The rest of breakfast was spent in smaller grouped conversations. Harry and Neville were discussing Quidditch teams and Bulgaria's chances now that Krum would not be playing. The teachers were discussing lesson plans and what remained to be done around the castle. While the trio sat in silence, both veela noticed how Hermione was getting more and more nervous as it got closer to 9 o'clock. They had decided to go early so they could walk up to the house. This would give Hermione a chance to see the property in all of its glory and they would be able to give her a tour of the house before tea with their mothers.
Draco finally had enough when five minutes passed without Hermione eating anything, "you know our mothers won't bite." At Hermione's death glare, he added, "no I am being serious, they are really nice once you get to know them and they will both just LOVE you. There really is no reason to worry, so would you please eat your breakfast."
Hermione's death glare disappeared when she saw real concern in Draco's eyes. She looked down at her plate and whispered, "it is not meeting your mothers that has me worried... It's just that this will be my first time back in that house since I was...there last."
"Oh," said Draco, clueless at how to respond to what Hermione had said. "You should know that since we were not able to destroy the room, mother remodeled it into a parlour and you will never have to go into that room EVER. In fact, mother remodeled the entire house so it is all much brighter and looks like more of a welcoming home than the death trap that Voldemort had it looking like."
"That's good to hear," said Hermione feeling better but still scared.
Both veela could sense this, so they gave her a hug, "we will be right by your side and if it gets too much for you, I promise we will leave." Blaise whispered into Hermione's ear.
"But won't that seem disrespectful and rude?"
"Our mothers will understand sweetheart, and they will never do anything that would make you uncomfortable." Said Draco, as he gave Hermione's hand a squeeze.
Just then, the clock chimed alerting everyone that it was 8:30am. "I guess we better leave now if I am going to get a tour of your gardens." Said Hermione as she stood up. Both boys wiped their mouths with their napkins, laid them down in their plates, and walked on either side of Hermione as they left the Great Hall.
All eyes were on the exiting trio when Neville said, "who would have ever thought those three would end up together."
The others shook their heads and returned to their earlier tasks, while Harry said "Not me, that's for sure."
"I guess we are going to have to welcome them into the group, huh?"
"Unless we want to be at the wrong end of Hermione's wand... Yes." At this thought, both boys shuddered.
*Malfoy Manor*
Draco and Blaise spent about 45 minutes showing Hermione the Malfoy Gardens and the stables. This is where they found out that Hermione loved to go horseback riding but had not done so since she started Hogwarts.
"Well you can feel free to ride any horse in this stable whenever you wish."
"Thank you, Draco, that is very sweet of you... But shouldn't you ask your parents for permission first before giving me such an offer?"
"Father and mother won't mind. Speaking of mother, we may have 20 minutes before 10 o'clock but it would make a good impression to arrive early. Especially since they already know we are here. The wards alert father and mother of any visitors being on Malfoy land. Besides I owled mother this morning while you were getting ready to let her know we would be taking a tour of the grounds before joining her."
"You should have told me all this before," said Hermione smacking Draco's arm, "oh she is going to think I am so rude for not greeting her when we first arrived, I can't believe you, Draco!"
"Will you stop worrying, I told you mother was fine with it!"
"She may have been fine with it, but today was going to be the first time she really meets me and first impressions are always lasting ones!"
"You are getting worked up about nothing-"
"This may be nothing to you, but it is not nothing to me. I want both of your parents to like me. I wanted to start fresh today. To erase their old thoughts about me and now-"
By this time, Draco had had enough and did the only thing he could think of to stop Hermione's babbling; he kissed her. At first, he thought that once Hermione had gotten over the shock she would pull away and hit him again, instead it was his turn to get shocked as Hermione deepened the kiss.
They reluctantly pulled apart when Blaise said, "I would hate to break this up, especially before I got my turn, but we only have 15 minutes left." Hermione straightened out her clothes and hair as Draco did the same. When both once again looked presentable, Hermione grabbed onto Draco's arm and they all apparated into the foyer.
The trio then made their way to the study where tea was going to be held. Hermione could not get over how different everything looked, it did not even seem to be the same house! Upon walking into the room, they were greeted by Lucius, Narcissa, and Eliza; Blaise's mother. Once pleasantries were exchanged and both Lucius and Narcissa made their apologies about Hermione's last 'visit' to their home, the ladies sat down at the chairs in front of the fireplace while the men went to the desk to discuss business.
"So, Ms. Granger, I hear congratulations are in order. From what my son tells me, you deserve to be Head Girl."
"Thank you, Mrs. Zabini and please, won't you both call me Hermione?"
"Only if you call us Eliza and Cissy" replied Narcissa.
"Of course, and thank you both for inviting me to tea, from what Draco and Blaise tell me, you are both mates to veela." Said Hermione, wanting to get right down to business.
"Yes we are, but we both handled it differently when we found out."
At this Narcissa gave a giggle, "You can say that again!" She turned to Hermione, "Lucius and I were already in love when he transformed. Eliza on the other hand could not stand Nathaniel."
"Well, he was such a womaniser and so full of himself that I did not believe that I could be his mate. I truly thought he was just saying that to get me to go out with him."
"What made you finally give him a chance?"
"Well... Mind you I am not proud of this, but I did not take him seriously until he was practically crazy with despair and was on his deathbed. Cissy is actually the one that came to me and told me that he was really a veela and it had not been some kind of trick."
"I would have told you sooner but he had forbidden either Lucius or I from interfering." Huffed Narcissa.
"He is very stubborn. But he did not want to force me into something he thought I truly did not want... Silly man," she whispered to herself. "After I accepted him, he had a quick recovery. We got to know each other, and I fell in love with him. I think it was about four days after I accepted him that I realised he really was my soul mate. Of course, I did not tell him until I was sure I would be able to finish school. You see, I loved him so much that I could deny him nothing and I knew that if I told him how I felt before I finished school, I would probably have had to leave. We ended up getting married the same day I graduated from Beauxbatons." finished Eliza, with a faraway look in her eyes and a small smile on her face as she recalled one of the happiest days of her life.
"Why would you have had to leave school?" Questioned Hermione.
Both mothers could see that Hermione was getting worried, so Eliza quickly reassured her, "I did not have the same laws protecting me as you do. A lot has changed over the years for the better. In my time, a woman was not able to go to school while she was pregnant and me going to school under those conditions was especially difficult since veela can become overly protective and Nate was not allowed on school grounds to watch over me."
"Oh, I see." Replied Hermione, but she continued to bite her lower lip. The anxiety coming from their mate was also beginning to affect the boys and as a result, the parents.
"But you will not be affected by any of the problems that Eliza had to face. First off, both your mates go to school with you. Second, you have the support of your family, friends, teachers, Headmistress, and the Ministry. And third, I trust our boys are complete gentlemen and would do everything possible to keep you happy."
This, more than anything, calmed Hermione down and exhaling breaths could be heard from across the room as the men turned back to their task.
"The book that I was reading mentioned mating stages but I was unable to read into detail what exactly they entailed, would you mind informing me?"
"Not at all dear!" Began Narcissa, "first you should know that each mating is different, yours especially. But the basics of the stages are the same."
"Yes. Now just because you accept, does not mean that you have to be marked right away." At Hermione's confused expression, Eliza continued, "hang on let me take a step back here. When a veela approaches his or her mate, they first spend time with them, they then inform their mate about their veela status when they feel that their mate is comfortable with them. This is when the mate can accept them or deny any feelings. If the veela is denied, they will usually die slowly within a year's time. It takes that long in case the mate changes his or her mind and decides to accept the veela. Now, if the mate does accept the veela, they continue to get to know each other at a more intimate level."
"By intimate level, we mean that the veela and mate get to know of each other's personalities, goals, fears, etc." Interrupted Narcissa.
"The acceptance stage is always unique to each relationship. This stage is also when the engagement occurs. Now the marking, which is the third and final stage, occurs on the wedding night."
Hermione turned to Eliza. "How were you able to plan the wedding and finish your last year at Beauxbatons?"
"It was not very difficult, the challenging part was planning the wedding party."
"Am I right in guessing that wizarding weddings are different from muggle ones?" Questioned Hermione.
"Well, in a wizarding wedding, the actual marriage is performed with only family or close friends as witnesses and a powerful wizard or witch is the one to do the actual binding. The wedding party occurs after about a month of marriage. The party is always the talk of the town so to speak and is open to all, so everyone can celebrate the union. It is also a great time to show off your man," laughed Narcissa.
"That is, if your husband actually allows you to get any planning done," said Eliza as she gave an unladylike humph.
Just then, their conversation was interrupted by Lucius' yelling, "that little WEASEL! Did he really think I would not find out about this?"
"What is the matter dear?"
"Do you remember how John Parkinson made such a big deal about selling me his shares to OWL Enterprises at a low cost? Well, I just found out that it is doing very poorly and will continue to do so, he took advantage of the situation, it won't even be worth what I paid for it in a month's time!"
"Well that makes sense," came Hermione's voice in a thoughtful tone.
"Would you care to elaborate, Ms. Granger?"
"Please, call me Hermione." At Lucius' nod of acceptance, she continued, "well if you think about it, owls have been losing their appeal. During the war, many families moved away from England so owling has been taking a longer time than usual. This has caused many families to switch over to floo calls. All of which I am sure Mr. Parkinson knew when he sold you his shares."
"Well he will not get away with his deceit. I will ruin him for this!"
"Would it not be better to make a profit from the company so you can forever rub it in his face, especially if he sold you his shares of the company at such a low value, as you said?"
"How Slytherin of you my dear! I can see these boys have been a good influence on you." At this remark all the females in the room rolled their eyes.
"What exactly do you have in mind 'Mione?"
"Well, Draco, do you remember me telling you two about computers? Well it has tools on it that allow for instant communication with anyone anywhere as long as they also have a computer. Using this muggle technology would benefit your company in many ways Mr. Malfoy-"
"If I am to call you Hermione, you may call me Lucius."
"Alright" said Hermione, with a genuine smile, "as I was saying, it would be faster than owling or flooing, and nowhere near as messy. In fact, it would be the equivalent to the magic mirror communications without the high cost. It would already have popularity among the muggleborns and half-bloods since they would already be exposed to it. And I happen to know that there will be a market for it."
"And how would you know that, may I ask?"
"I have been working with both Kings and Minerva to make the wizarding world more muggleborn friendly. In doing so, we will be have electricity at both Hogwarts and the Ministry." At the blank faces she added, "the computers work off of electricity. I may be able to better describe this by showing you all what I mean."
"Please do, Ms. G- I mean Hermione."
"I just have to go to Hogwarts and get my laptop-"
Draco interrupted her, "just call Dobby to get it for you."
Hermione agreed and did just that.
"Heres you gos, Ms. Harry Potter's friend," said Dobby as he handed Hermione her laptop bag.
Hermione thanked Dobby and pulled out her laptop. "Now this is a laptop. It is a different kind of computer and is for more of an individual use that was made for easy travel. It is used by most of the muggle population around the world. I have already performed spells on my laptop to ensure that it would work properly in a magical home, since I had planned to spend my summer at the Burrow. On this laptop, you can send letters to anyone else as long as you have their email address. You can also talk to people face to face through this camera as long as they are also online. And it looks like my cousin Sam is on so I can demonstrate if you like."
"Does your cousin know of the magical community because, if these are so common in the muggle world, as you say, would your cousin not think it odd we know nothing of it?" Questioned Lucius.
"She does know of the wizarding world as she is also a muggleborn; she went to Salem Academy for Wizards and Witches. In fact she also went to a University to get her degree in computer engineering so she would be the perfect person for you to talk to if you decide to develop something similar for your company."
"In that case, please continue."
So Hermione went about calling her cousin.
"Hey, cuz, long time no see! Hello who are all those hunks around you?"
Laughing Hermione said, "down girl! This is Lucius Malfoy, his wife Narcissa, their son Draco and this is Blaise Zabini and his mother Eliza."
"Wait, the same Draco Malfoy that was always picking on you?" Sam's face got red with anger as she looked directly at Draco. "What are you doing around my cousin?"
"Focus, Sam. That is a story for a different time," when Sam folded her arms across her chest Hermione said, "I promise I will tell you some other time okay? Right now I just wanted to show them how easy it was to communicate through a computer."
"Fine, but I will hold you to your promise, 'Mione." She then turned to Lucius, "hi my name is Samantha Wheeler, and I am living in New York, New York of the United States of America. As you can see, this is a faster way to communicate than owling and a less of a hassle than flooing. You do not need to have ministry approval to use video chat, as you do to make international floo calls. And the only way anyone would be able to tell who you have chatted with is by looking at your computer or through your IP address, which not many wizards/witches know how to do. It is also just as easy to send letters and instant messages as it is to video chat. And if you do not mind my saying so it is smart of you to get involved in computers since they are the way of the future."
"It would also be very profitable if you are able to get computer design on the market during the Christmas holidays and advertise to parents. I am sure every parent will want to buy a computer for their child to take to school so they will be able to communicate with them," added Hermione.
"I think my son is very lucky to have you Hermione, you may have just saved OWL Enterprises," said Lucius quietly to Hermione. He then turned to the computer screen, "Well Ms. Wheeler it seems you know a lot about these computer things," at Sam's nod he continued, "how would you like to come work for me?" When he saw the hesitation in Sam's face he added, "I will, of course, pay for any travel expenses, give you a fair wage, and an office of your own."
"That all sounds lovely it's just that I am in the middle of making my own computer design, I have just been having a difficult time finding a backer, not many wizarding businesses understand about computers and are not willing to give them or me a chance."
"Well, in that case, look no further. I would be happy to fund your project, if you are willing to become a partner in OWL Enterprises. We can work out all the legal details when you come to England, say the day after tomorrow, if you agree that is."
Sam had a huge grin on her face, "YES, yes of course that would work. I can't believe it... I just can't believe it. You have no idea how much this means to me. I am so glad Hermione thought of calling me, you have no idea. Eeee!" Yelled Sam, "okay I have so much to do, I better go... Oh My Gosh okay, thank you so much for the opportunity and I promise you won't EVER regret it, and thank you Hermione for calling me, I swear you're like an angel I LOVE YOU! Bye everyone, and I will see you the day after tomorrow, Mr. Malfoy." Said an excited Sam as she disconnected the call.
Hermione spent some more time showing everyone everything else that could be done on a computer. "Of course we will not be able to search up anything to do with the wizarding world since no one has ever gathered up the information and made it available. That would be another money making idea for your company Mr. M- Lucius, I am sure Sam could go into detail with you about it during your meeting."
"Thank you, Hermione. This will definitely shock Parkinson."
"Well it is nearly noon, should I have the house elves lay out our lunch?" asked Narcissa.
"Not yet mother, we wanted to give Hermione a little flying lesson first."
"And since she is scared of heights, we thought it would be better to do so before her stomach is full of food." said Blaise as he and Draco grabbed Hermione's arms and pulled her towards the exit.
"Wait, do we really have to do that right now? Wouldn't it be better after lunch or maybe even tomorrow?" When neither answered, she added "Don't you two think we should get back to Hogwarts as quickly as possible to help out?"
"Come on, sweetheart; Where is your Gryffindor courage?"
"It has nothing to do with courage, Draco, it is about being responsible. We are, after all, Head Boy and Girl." When she just received skeptical looks from the two, she finally caved, "fine we can have a VERY quick flying lesson, but no going too high or too fast."
"Didn't you fly on a Hippogriff, on Thestrals, and on a Dragon?" Questioned Blaise.
"Yes, but those where all life threatening situations and my eyes were closed the entire time," replied Hermione as she started biting her lip.
"Don't worry we will be right there the entire time and one of us will fly with you while the other circles beside, okay?" said Draco in a reassuring tone.
"Alright."
"Good," said both boys at once.
"Okay, I will take you up in the air while Blaise flies around us just in case. Do you want to sit in front of me or behind?"
"I think behind will be better."
"Okay then, climb on." When Hermione hesitated Draco held out his hand, "it will be alright, I will only go as high and as fast as you say okay?"
"Promise?"
"I promise, now climb on"
So Hermione took a deep breath, grabbed Draco's hand, and climbed onto the broom behind him. When he asked her if she was ready she tightened her grip around his waist, buried her head into his back, and nodded. Draco kicked off the ground causing Hermione to yelp and give another squeeze. Draco only went as high as the second storey windows and did not go faster than a walking pace.
"Hermione, you will have to open your eyes, I promise I won't do anything to scare you. You need to get comfortable on a broom."
"Alright, I will try," she said. After a few minutes, she worked up the courage to open her eyes and realized that flying with Draco was not that bad. It did not hurt that Blaise was right next to them ready to catch her if need be. Blaise gave her a reassuring smile and Hermione loosened her grip enough for Draco to be able to breathe a little easier.
"That's it princess, see it's not so bad? Do you want to try turning the broom or going higher and lower?"
"NO! I mean, no. This is fine, Draco," said Hermione.
"Okay then, should we fly over the garden to give you a Birdseye view? The shrubs and hedges should be high enough to touch your feet, so it will seem like you're on the ground."
"That would be fine."
The trio spent the next 15 minutes flying around getting Hermione to at least trust herself on a broom, even if it was while riding with someone else. They finally landed near the dining room double doors and went in for lunch. Once they had all been seated, Narcissa asked Hermione how her lessons went, to which she gave a smile to Blaise and Draco and responded "they went perfectly."
It was just after 2:30pm when the trio finished lunch. They made their goodbyes, Hermione assured Lucius that she would let him know when her cousin arrived in England and they left to return to Hogwarts.
Please review! The feedback really helps keep the muse going :D
Do you want Sam to be in a relationship with Charlie Weasley, Oliver Wood, or Marcus Flint (good handsome version)?