Draco
Draco woke up to the sight of Blaise Zabini on his sofa. Blaise had an exquisite talent of intruding and doing it so casually that you felt like you should be apologizing to him. At that moment, he was sipping from Draco's morning tea and giving his friend a truly disappointed look.
"What Blaise?' He found that there was no point in beating around the bush or mentioning things like courtesy to Blaise, he'd just do whatever the hell he wanted to any ways.
"Why didn't you tell me about the new O?" He asked, adopting an affronted façade. Sometimes, Draco was convinced that Blaise had the soul of a ninety year old witch.
"Just because you ignore discretion doesn't mean I have to." Draco challenged, snatching up his kettle of tea and making himself a cuppa. "And since when do you care?" Sure Blaise was always an over sharer, but Draco was usually pretty tight lipped, especially since nothing had even really happened with the Omega in question.
"You're shagging your, and my, fiancées' personal attendant, how could I not care?" Blaise demanded, looking at his friend incredulously.
"Huh, didn't know that." Draco admitted honestly, sipping his tea and savoring the way the warm liquid hit his tired throat. "How did you know?"
"She chaperoned Daphne and I's 'bonding' yesterday, I smelled her the moment I walked in here. How did you not know?" Blaise explained offhandedly, before returning back to his original question.
"It didn't come up." He shrugged, and then sniffed, he could sort of pick up some left over pheromones from yesterday, but maybe he was just too exposed to her scent to notice it anymore.
Blaise raised his hands as if contemplating choking the other alpha, before gesturing wildly, the Italian coming out.
"How do you do it? You're like a child who picks up a wand and plays with it, thinking it's a stick and then magics a unicorn into existence." Blaise gaped.
"I resent that implication, and I don't see your point, I'm spending time with Astoria's assistant, so what?" He hadn't intended to get some side benefits out of the arrangement he and Hermione had established, other than some karma cleansing, but maybe…
"So... we can do whatever the fuck we want now, we have a spy behind enemy lines." Blaise's eyes lit up, contemplating the possibilities.
"No." Draco cut him off right there, it wasn't easy to dissuade Blaise from an idea once he got it in his head, but he had every intention of trying.
"How could we not?" Blaise challenged, raising an eyebrow, "think of the possibilities, how easy it would be to sneak away, how she could keep them out of our hair, the shit we could get away with on 'chaperoned' dates."
"Yes, because both of us are so attracted to our fiancées, that's the issue that's been keeping us away, chaperones." Draco snapped, Blaise hated Daphne just as much as he hated Astoria; shagging would be irritating at best.
"Don't you dare complain, Daphne's going to lop my bollocks off; Astoria's annoying but she's not insane, you got the way better sister in this deal." Blaise argued.
"She. Spat. Tea. At. Me." Draco replied through clenched teeth, earning raucous laughter from the other alpha.
"On purpose?' Blaise asked, his eyes watering with mirth.
"I think she forgot how to properly swallow." Draco snarled, groaning. Blaise continued laughing for another few beats before he got back on track.
"Then think about it this way, your Omega can help you get away more often, and me too of course, it's only right, since it was my idea." Blaise suggested, the mischief painted across his expression. Draco rolled his eyes.
"We'll see." He offered reluctantly, with no intention of actually following through.
"You won't regret it mate." Blaise promised, leaving his empty cup and crumbled napkin on the table before bounding out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Draco asked, half regretting it as he did. Blaise paused in the door way just long enough to toss his reply over his shoulder.
"Birds to pull, in laws to enrage, etc, etc." He called as the door clicked shut. Draco groaned, his head dropping back at the reminder, they had a formal luncheon today. Why couldn't someone just stab him with a butter knife and get it over with? At least then he wouldn't have to spend time with his father either.
Hermione
"Favorite color?" Hermione quizzed.
"Green." Astoria answered immediately, flinching as the older girl nicked her accidentally with the pin she was trying to place perfectly on Astoria's gown.
"Daphne?" Katie prodded the other girl, who seemed in danger of falling asleep standing up.
"Red." Daphne guessed.
"Not even close." The tailor reprimanded from her hunched position inspecting the hem, and Daphne stiffened, probably as a pin was intentionally stabbed into her skin.
"Daphne, can you at least try please?" Katie begged.
"Nope." The Alpha answered, not reacting as the tailor no doubt poked her with another pin.
The group stood in the Greengrasses' tailor's temporary work room. The space had the air of luxury, with expensive silks draped over every surface in the most vivid array of colors imaginable. The woman hand stitched every pattern, per Lady Greengrass's request. Only the best would do. They had been quizzing the girls through the entire fitting as they teetered on the small platforms, desperately trying to make this dinner less of a disaster than the last one.
"Dangerous topics?" Hermione offered.
"Father, School, Crime." Astoria rattled off, her face scrunching as she concentrated.
"Father, School, Crime." Daphne answered, squeaking when the seamstress poked her again.
"Father, Mother, Crime, unlike Draco, Blaise is absolutely fulfilling his potential." Katie corrected. Daphne rolled her eyes as Hermione felt a small part of her want to jump to Draco's defense, oops, better squash that shortly.
The girls were dressed in contrasting gowns, Astoria in an emerald green gown with a deep a sweetheart neckline, gold filigree on the bodice, and full sleeves that hung off the shoulder, starting at mid bicep. The plan was to play about Astoria's beauty and sensuality, to force out the memory of the tea incident with décolletage. Hermione didn't know of a man who it wouldn't work on.
The plan for Daphne was different, she was dressed in Blaise's favorite color, grey, with a boat neck and elaborate appliques, including real flowers. The goal there was to highlight her femininity, make her look more dainty and welcoming. Hermione didn't know a man that it would work on.
It wasn't that Daphne wasn't just as beautiful as Astoria, but her features were sharper, her eyes colder, where Astoria was all sprite, a pleasant little pixie, Daphne carried the spirit of a Hippogriff, proud and unapproachable, with an edge of danger.
As the last alterations were finished, Hermione and Katie looked at each other and shrugged, if they weren't ready now, they would never be.
...
Hermione waited in the hallway outside the dining room to cue Astoria and Daphne for the right time to arrive, her foot tapping nervously. She watched patiently as Harry came around the corner.
"I'll send it." He offered easily, leaning beside her with his arms and legs crossed as he watched a flurry of waiters and frazzled cooking assistants pass by.
"Hmm?" She questioned without opening her mouth.
"I'll send a patronus so you won't have to sprint to wherever they're waiting." Harry offered. He knew the skill was way above the level pf spell work that she was capable of. She tried to act as if the offer didn't bug her.
"Thank you." She muttered curtly, wishing she could lean back and relax like him but no, she had to be lady like all of the time. Ginny slipped out of the dining room, taking Hermione's other side silently.
Draco rounded the corner next, the last to arrive before the girls, and Hermione worked to keep her expression neutral. Draco nodded at her, showing a tiny little smile, then focused on Harry.
"Stable Boy." He said by way of greeting, smirking nastily, before slipping into the room.
"Send the patronus." Hermione ordered quickly, before Harry could react, but she was already too late.
"That self-righteous git!" Harry fumed.
"Harry!" Hermione and Ginny reproached in synchronization. The girls waited a beat, but when Harry was still angrily staring at the dining room door, Ginny sighed and cast the charm herself.
"Could you believe the way he spoke to me 'Mione? As if I was a mildly irritating flea." Harry snapped, storming off. The girls looked at each other before sighing and following. He finally stopped in the garden, melodramatically dropping down into the grass.
"That's who we are to them." Hermione reminded him, Minerva's voice strong in her mind.
"But is that true?" Ginny asked thoughtfully, her head tilted in that way that Hermione knew meant that she was carefully considering something. Ginny plopped down beside Harry, basking in the sun as it lit up her hair. Hermione shot her a warning look; Ginny's control was still even more tenuous than hers.
"I think Mione and I have experienced enough personal evidence to make it pretty obvious, Gin." Harry argued. She shook her head.
"I… I did something recently and I'm not going to tell either of you, because neither of you will be happy with me about it, and yeah, it ended really shitty, but there was some genuine shit their too. Maybe we're not the only ones who have to act differently around nobles." She mused, playing with the grass underneath her fingers. Hermione and Harry exchanged a look as she sat down on Harry's other side.
"None of what you just said made any sense." Harry spoke for the pair as Hermione nodded in agreement, before they could press for more though, another servant broke through into their clearing.
"The doves have landed." Katie announced, laughing at herself through the joke, as she sat down across from them. Harry chuckled, though Hermione and Ginny just rolled their eyes.
"I wonder how much a train wreck it will be this time?" Harry asked, ignoring Katie and Hermione's reproachful expressions. Astoria had just once forgotten Harry's name and he had never gotten over it. Sure, she had known him for nine years at the time, but they all make mistakes.
"Considering Astoria accidentally spilled the wine on Draco and Daphne intentionally spilled her soup on Blaise, I think it's going well so far." Ron answered dramatically, plopping down beside Hermione, who promptly squished up against Harry in order to get some space. Harry just rolled his eyes.
"Poor Astoria." Katie murmured, Ginny snorted.
"Poor Blaise, that soup was scorching hot." Ron corrected, Hermione wasn't sure she disagreed, for once. She laughed without realizing she was about to, and then Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She stiffened, her shoulders going up to about her ears. Harry laughed, Ginny snorted, Katie pinched the bridge of her nose, and Ron simply blurted, "What?"
"Let go of the poor girl Ron." Ginny ordered, and Ron's turned pink up to his ears as he waited for Hermione to defend him, as if that was going to happen. He slowly lifted his arm and put it back by his side, and then shifted away slightly.
"How are you even here? Aren't you kind of needed right now?" Harry asked curiously. Ron shrugged.
"My poker face isn't good enough, Dad knows I wouldn't be able to stop laughing if I was in the room for one of the inevitable slip ups." Ron explained easily. "He used Percy and Charlie instead."
"What about you Gin?" Katie asked. Ginny shrugged in a gesture that was eerily similar to her brother.
"Mom had me awake before dawn this morning doing prep work. We both needed the break during the actual meal." Ginny announced, dramatically flopping back to communicate her exhaustion more dramatically. They all chuckled at her antics, Harry more than most.
"Well, how bad do you think it will be, one to ten?" Harry asked spitefully.
"It can't be going that poorly, we did all that prep!" Katie argued, and then there was a loud crash that echoed outside through two sets of walls and a wide hallway.
"Ten." Hermione answered, and they all nodded in agreement, cringing as a second, louder crash followed.
"I think we might need a higher number." Ginny suggested.
"Well, Katie and I are going to have a fun evening." Hermione announced, and Katie just sighed deeply.
...
"Well that was an unmitigated disaster!" Lady Greengrass announced as she flounced into the room. Astoria was sitting in the arm chair with her head in her hands as Daphne calmly worked on her embroidery. "How could you two have messed that up? You were coached properly, correct?" She demanded as Katie and Hermione frantically nodded from the deep curtsies they had to hold until they were addressed.
"It wasn't their fault Mom, I'm just an idiot." Astoria slumped in defeat.
"I did it intentionally so..." Daphne shrugged, still totally unfazed.
"You two can stand." Lady Greengrass snapped. The maids slowly rose, still not lifting their heads fully, now was not the time for relaxed etiquette.
"Both of your contracts can still be terminated. Daphne, if we have to forfeit that Dowry, your father will disown you. It would break my heart to do it, but we can't have you sabotaging your sister's future," Lady Greengrass threatened. Daphne swallowed, losing her bravado in an instant. If she was disowned, she couldn't set foot in her home again, she'd be cast out onto the street, desperate to do anything to make a living. It was a horrifying future. "And Draco is the absolute best option for you Astoria, I don't understand why you can't see that well enough to stop making a fool out of yourself."
Astoria nodded slowly as her mother stormed back out of the room, apparently too disgusted to stay in their daughters presence any longer. The maids looked at each other for one brief moment before escorting their respective charges back to their rooms for a hot bath and a good night's rest. Everything else could be dealt with in the morning.
A/N: Hello everyone, first things first, I will be offering a sneak peek offer for this chapter, so all readers (with fan fiction accounts, unfortunately I can't send you your sneak peek without being able to PM you) who post a review with the phrase "sneak peek" will receive a short sneak peek in their PMs.
So what did you think? Will Daphne keep being so stubborn in the wake of her mother's threats? Will Ron ever take a hint? Will Harry and Hermione be willing to drop their curiosity over Ginny's mysterious interaction with a noble?
Also drop by my blog. FortemStories at Tumblr for some neat content.