A/N

Well, this is somewhat sooner than I'd expected, but I just had this compulsive need to write and couldn't stop myself (though I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it quite a bit) - solving math problems and studying be damned.

Chapter 10

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Draco squinted his eyes towards the front door, partly because he was still tired and partly because of the morning light protruding through the clear living room window, wondering about the cause of the completely unwelcome noise.

"The fuck.. ?"

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Draco.." Hermione whined lazily, snuggling closer to him. "Make it go away."

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"God, it's like the inquisition all over again."

Draco chuckled lightly at the sentiment and pulled her closer, joining her in hoping that if they ignored the noise long enough, it would eventually go away on its own.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Hermione groaned again, covering up the ear that wasn't pressed into Draco's side with her hand and looked up at him bashfully.

"Will you get it, please?"

"What am I - the house butler?" he retorted, unhappy himself with the interruption, but already on his way up, unable to resist the brunette's shy lip bite.

"I said please."

He cocked a perfect eyebrow at her and she blushed at the natural mannerism and the feeling of intense intimacy between the two of them right then.

"You did, didn't you?"

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Holy fucking shit" Draco mumbled, before coughing to fix his voice and yelled a loud "I'M COMING, CAN YOU FUCKING CEASE THAT?" towards the uninvited guest, startling Hermione and earning himself a heated glare as she flinched at the harsh words and the unexpectedly deafening noise.

He unwillingly grabbed a T-shirt and put it on as he hurried to open the door, reluctantly taking in the woman who weirdly resembled a toad - if toads casually engaged in dressing up in that particularly tasteless nuance of pink, that was; she was definitely there in some official capacity given her clothes, Draco thought, yet her colour of choice screamed of a complete disregard for all that was socially acceptable and a terrible sense of fashion - or rather, absolute lack thereof.

"Good morning" she broke the silence, a satisfied tint in her otherwise sickeningly sweet tone.

"Good morning" Draco repeated back with a nod, eyes half-closed, mentally kicking the woman for causing him to leave the perfect, warm couch and the presence of an equally warm Hermione - hot Hermione, his brain quickly corrected and he shook his head in an attempt to focus.

"Residence of Draco Malfoy?" she asked icily, her eyes inspecting his posture in a manner that oddly reminded him of a displeased parent, leaving him slightly uncomfortable when her glance finally returned to his face.

"Yes?" he prompted, awaiting an explanation, to which she quickly shoved a neatly closed envelope - elegant, even - into his unsuspecting hands. "What's this?"

"A formal invitation to your father's annual November auction, of course - he expects you in attendance - "

"Yes, indeed. Early-onset dementia is so sad." he grumbled, but it didn't faze his interlocutor, as she gave a small, thoroughly unamused smile, taking otherwise no notice of his interruption.

" - lest he find himself motivated to intervene in your personal life." she finished, mockingly reverential.

Draco took a virtually unnoticeable step back and adjusted his position, briefly considering her words and whatever impact his father might have on him, should he wish to, before an acknowledging smirk materialized itself on his smooth features.

"He can't intervene in my personal life."

"He seems to believe differently. Either way, he's been terribly unhappy ever since you left and have been completely off the grid and - "

"Apparently not completely-off-the-grid enough." Draco commented, only to be ignored by the old hag again. 'Who did she think she was, anyway?'

" - you've also vehemently refused taking on any of his calls."

"Oh? His calls?" he started and this time it seemed to demand her attention as her eyes narrowed sharply at the pronoun emphasis. "I was unaware of father's decision to change his sex - though far be it from me to judge, naturally, given we're living in quite a progressive century and all." he finished, absentmindedly waving his hand.

"Excuse me?"

A quick glance to her face revealed the toad seemed confused.

"Six missed calls from someone named Dolores Umbridge - horribly unpleasant person, if you ask me, can't she take a hint already? - originating somewhere inside my father's office building downtown. Now either he decided to become a woman or that is a rather funny way of spelling Lucius Malfoy - and I should mention my father is hardly known for his jokes; but then again, I would hate to assume he hasn't changed in these past weeks - must be that virgin blood he drinks every morning." Draco finished his short monologue jovially, though judging by her expression, his father's employee appeared to be continually bothered.

'Can't she take a joke?' he thought to himself again as she opened her mouth.

"How utterly dramatic of you to say that."

"How utterly unprofessional of you to point it out." he shot back, momentarily pleased with the passing outrage in her expression.

"Lucius warned me about your behaviour, though he'll take no delight in being proven right."

"Sadly, he didn't warn me about you. And yes, he will. I'm afraid he's rather petty that way."

She watched him through her unnaturally bright blue orbs that threatened to burst out of her head and he continued speaking his mind, his turn to inspect her figure. "You do work for him, don't you? What's your name?" he insisted, more out of curiosity than anything, his gaze wandering to the pink fuzzy boots - was everything about that woman pink?

"Dolores Umbridge." she gritted out through clenched teeth, seemingly on the verge of losing whatever short temper she appeared to possess.

Draco blinked rapidly in sudden realization and surprise, another slight smirk settling on his handsome face as he made a gesture with his left hand that implied for her to leave.

"Good day then, Mrs Umbridge." he smiled before shutting the door, abandoning her to marvel at his poor upbringing and crass rudeness.

He turned around, set on going right back to sleep, but a strange pang of sadness struck him at the fact that Hermione was no longer waiting for him cuddled up in the sheets, but rather scrolling furiously through something on her phone.

"That sounded like it went well" she called from the sofa and he could practically feel the smugness in her voice, despite her face being well hidden behind the small, luminous screen.

"Yes, a pleasure, don't you think?"

"Well, it could have been worse, right? You've only called her what - horribly unpleasant? And inadvertently, too, I'm sure she'll get over it and forgive you" she assessed with a bright, inviting smile.

Too inviting. Why was she so friendly? So calm? So smart and so perfectly appealing from every single point of view? It was bothersome, the way sudden thoughts struck him that he could probably get used to seeing her face when he got up in the morning.. every morning.

And it was terrifying, because he'd never thought it before; for good reason, too. He had always been afraid he would end up like his father - he wasn't sure why, he was smart enough to realize he understood the way his father was (ruthless, cruel and incapable of love, of course) and he knew he would never repeat his mistakes.

And yet, that wasn't enough to convince him he wouldn't somehow, someday, become the same monster who'd treated his wife like dirt, who'd treated his child like dirt, who'd treated everyone who couldn't immediately benefit him financially.. like dirt. The same monster he'd lived with for twenty long years, the same monster he called father.

Rationally, he knew he didn't want to become him and that that should be enough. But it wasn't.

And he couldn't remember the last time the idea bothered him as much as it did now, face to face with the beautiful, witty brunette that he wanted to wake up next to.

Not because he loved her. Or was in love with her. Or any other textbook reason that would warrant the stupid ideas running around in his head - they hadn't even known each other for that long, had they? It was just her presence - especially when he held her - oddly calming, like she could magically conjure up a shield around him to keep out all the background noise, all the stress, all the things that weren't supremely and undeniably her.

'Fuck, I'm becoming soft' he winced, as if the thought physically hurt him.

But there was, obviously, an easy solution to his problem. He'd basically promised himself he would fuck another girl the other night, anyway.

And he would.

He knew it was going to be a dick move - even though they had previously agreed to nothing exclusive - but he needed it. He needed to make sure he wasn't getting attached. And maybe that would show Hermione what a piece of shit he was anyway and wouldn't risk her getting attached either.

So, fucking another girl it was. Or maybe two girls? The more, the merrier, really.

Tonight, he thought decisively, taking another step towards the couch.

Hermione huffed loudly at him practically throwing himself on the soft pillows and unbalancing her, but he seemed in somewhat of a mood, so she didn't comment on it.

"You gonna call him?" she asked instead, as nonchalantly as she could; she was well aware it wasn't any of her business, but she had barely gotten him to say two words about his family in the time they'd lived together, so when the opportunity presented itself, she couldn't very well pretend it wasn't there.

She half-expected him to deflect the question, regardless.

"I'm gonna go break something."

There it was.

His words reeked of anger, and yet his posture gave off a surprisingly relaxed aura, like he was deep in thought and oddly unconcerned with her question.

"And then you'll call him?" she insisted, studying him closely until he finally made eye contact and shrugged after briefly pondering an answer.

"Jury's still out. Plus this isn't the best time to ask me, I'm still pissed I've been woken up at 7 for no good reason." Draco lamented, throwing her the tasteful paper he had formerly removed from the initial package and she read the carefully printed lines out loud.

Lucius Law & Associates

is proud to invite you to our

Annual November Auction

18th November

22:00

Gotham Hall, New York

Please present this document at the entry

and have it on your person at any given time.

"Wait, it's in New York." she remarked, quickly scanning the invitation again.

"Four hour drive, not that much. Distance isn't my issue with it, if I'm being perfectly honest."

"Well it sounds rather fancy, I sup - "

"It's a money laundering front." he cut her off, trying to gauge her disgust with his father at the newly discovered piece of information.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." he repeated, somewhat intrigued at the prospect of what she would think now.

"Still fancy." she observed, casually. "So, what is your issue with it?"

What? That's it? 'Still fancy'?

"Were you momentarily deaf when I told you it's a money laundering front?"

"That's not enough to not go. Plus, whoever that woman was - your dad's secretary and whatnot - she definitely seemed to believe not going could have some seriously negative impact on your life, you know." she started and immediately held a hand up to stop any incoming thoughts he was definitely intent on sharing "And I know you don't believe it and far be it from me to pretend to know your dad more than you do, but considering the stuff I do know, he sounds dangerous and not to be messed with and maybe a little bit crazy and.. I guess what I'm saying is, you never know. I don't know. I know I'm babbling and I've said the word 'know' like ten times, but this is just weird and whenever your dad is involved in a conversation with you or Harry I just - I just get this ominous impression from you and.. and I hope it all works out." she finished, barely out of breath and signalling him he could talk.

But he drew out the silence for a few seconds, pleasantly stuck on a certain part of her speech.

"You talk to Harry about me?"

"I - no." she stuttered and turned her head to gaze at her feet, avoiding his eyes at all costs.

He smirked at her hesitation and tried to catch her glance, widening his smirk even more when he couldn't.

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"Satisfaction brought it back." she countered quickly, getting up, causing Draco to be suddenly distracted by the blouse that only reached the upper outline of her green panties, admiring the way the morning light bounced lively off her unblemished legs.

"Can we not talk in clichés?" he scolded, his voice playful, noticing her blush at the way his eyes roamed over her features shamelessly - though she certainly looked like she tried to overlook it in face of continuing their discussion.

"You know, I really wish people would stop saying that. Clichés are clichés because they're true."

"Multiple people have asked you to stop speaking in clichés? That's a bit sad."

"Ha ha. And you started it." she muttered with a pout and Draco couldn't help the full-on grin at the childish remark.

"Mature."

"Whatever, you're hopeless. I'll go shower. And you should really call your dad - at least see why he wants you to attend so much."

He ignored the second part of her sentence, focused on the idea of her, naked, droplets of water sliding down her skin as he pressed her to the cold tiles and -

Why did she turn him on so much again?

"Was that an invitation to join you?"

Hermione sighed in what she hoped he would perceive as annoyance before announcing a simple "No."

"And don't forget we've promised to meet Harry and Ginny for drinks later." she added, reminding him in a lecturing tone - already well on her way to the bathroom, purposefully drawing out her steps in what she hoped was a seductive manner, fairly sure he was watching after her.

Thirty minutes in and the topic of choice was still Lucius' event in New York.

Could someone just kill him?

" - besides, it'll be a great opportunity for you to catch up with old friends. Come on, when's the last time you talked to Blaise?" Ginny asked animatedly, waiting for Draco to express.. well, something. Anything.

He shrugged.

"Theo?" she tried again, but was met with yet another shrug.

"Pansy, then?" Harry chimed in, immediately throwing what he probably thought was an inconspicuous glance at Hermione, who was positively mad at Ginny for sharing her nightly activities with Harry.

Well, some part of her had expected Harry to know, but it still bothered her that he was being so obvious about it.

However, her worries got soothed as she sneaked a peek at Draco and realized he was mostly oblivious to the exchange, looking thoroughly bored and like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Maybe we should stop grilling him about it" Hermione suggested kindly, and Draco raised his left hand with a fast motion in agreement, stating a deliberate "Seconded" while glaring to the happy couple and they sagged their shoulders in defeat, opting for a brusque change of topic.

"My brother's coming to Massachusetts" Ginny informed them gleefully and Harry didn't appear surprised, so Hermione suspected they had discussed it previously and it was being brought up now for the sole reason of taking the heat off a particularly gloomy blonde.

"Nice, which one?"

Ginny shot her a less-than-friendly look.

"Come on, Ginny, that's not fair, you do have six brothers." she added and watched the redhead's features soften.

"True." she sighed wistfully "It's Ron. He's coming in for some interview - a bartender for this specific place, actually - though I'm not sure how exactly you interview to become a bartender. Or why you'd come all the way down here for it, but.. " Ginny trailed off, contemplating his situation.

"Well, didn't you ask him?" Draco inquired, happy to be off the hook for interrogation and Ginny got pulled from her thoughts to inspect him. "Why he wants to come here, I mean" he corrected hastily, when she seemed conflicted as to what to answer.

"He broke up with his on-again-off-again girlfriend from back home for good and said he needs a change."

"He said he missed you" Harry amended and Ginny elbowed him in the abdomen before admonishing him about something - though she looked more like she was flirting, Draco noticed, not that he was paying a lot of attention anymore, choosing instead to ponder his father's gala and his old friends.

Truth be told, he did somewhat miss Blaise and Theo - and maybe Pansy too, though not that much, and he found himself desperately hoping she did finally get over him - but he could very well just pick up the phone and shoot them a text, no need to drive four hours and then subject himself to the inevitable schmoozing, lies and mindless chatting he was bound to hear only to talk to his former best friends.

Not that he would. Even if he did - and he wasn't very inclined to try - he knew they'd probably just set a date to meet, postpone two times and then the event would probably never be mentioned again; not that he blamed his friends for that, he used to do the exact same thing to them and they would end up mostly getting to catch up at their joint family dinners.

Maybe it wouldn't be that bad to see them again.

And with that in mind, he chose to tune back in to his friends' conversation, if only to let them know someone caught his eye.

Both Ginny and Harry looked expectantly at Hermione - as if she'd cause a scene - but she merely rolled her eyes at them and urged Draco on with a smile and a hand wave, so he was on his way.

" - doesn't that bother you?" Ginny's voiced pierced through the music-filled air and he could sense the deliberate carelessness in Hermione's tone as she answered.

"The idea seemed a bit irritating at first.." she managed, sipping lightly on her Diet Coke "but now? No, not really."

Smart girl.

But enough of that, he had his eyes set on the attractive girl sitting alone on a bar stool, who subtly rearranged her pose and uncrossed her legs at the image of him approaching.

"Do you come here often? " Draco started with a line, taking in the brunette's outfit - a short mauve dress barely covering her ass, allowing him a clear sight to the black lace panties that obstructed his view and he smirked charmingly at her.

A little sluttier than he was used to, but it'd make do.

She smiled back and placed a perfectly manicured hand on his lean hips, ignoring his demand, more interested in one of her own.

"My place or yours?" - the age-old question, of course, the one he'd found himself asking plenty of times in great frequency (more than he could count, surely) and he found himself slightly surprised at how easy that had been.

Then again, she didn't seem like the standard for high-class, but it wasn't an everyday occurrence that he didn't even have to bother with small talk or casual glances to his mark's lips until they eventually smiled seductively and kissed him, under the influence of an alcohol-induced haze.

However, he wasn't one to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth - for lack of a better analogy - and he let himself get his fingers intertwined with hers as she pulled him aggressively after her, finally exiting the club as the door click and music dimming quickly let him know, along with the colder air brushing against his face, when the girl pushed him against the wall and crashed her lips to his.

He sighed into the kiss and snaked his hand roughly on the brunette's thigh, hiking up her advantageously short dress and moving her panties to the side to allow himself the necessary space to stroke her skin, pleased at the sudden wetness connecting with his fingers as she expertly pulled down his zipper along with his boxers, wrapping his member in one of the condoms she usually carried everywhere, before smiling up at him and changing her focus to now attack his neck.

He entered her in one swift motion and she whore-moaned loudly at the contact.

He kept ramming with hard, fast pumps and he felt her getting inevitably close, her gasps turning up even more in volume and Draco couldn't help the overall feeling that she just wasn't right.

And her skin wasn't soft enough. And her hair was unnaturally straight. And her smell was too strong, like she sprayed flowery perfume on every last inch of her body.

Why couldn't her whimpers be subtle, like she's trying her best to hold them back and not give him the satisfaction of knowing how good he makes her feel? Subtle and terrifyingly rewarding that he could affect her with a shallow kiss dropped on her earlobe? Why couldn't she possess the soft curls that she had?

And then images of the well-known roommate he wanted this girl to be more like flooded his brain and he came, only needing a few more uncoordinated thrusts.

Fuck. This wasn't supposed to happen, he wasn't the sort of vanilla sap to fuck a girl and then be unable to get her out of his mind.

He wasn't a fucking virgin, so why was this happening?

Why?

He carelessly threw away the condom before zipping himself back up and leaving the girl alone in the alley to tend to her wrinkled clothes, as he started walking towards his apartment.

Soon enough though, he realized he didn't want to be tormented with questions as to why he was back so early (choosing usually to spend more time with his nightly adventures, or at least bringing them back home for a morning romp in the sheets), so he altered his decision and proceeded to wander the streets for a while.

And maybe he'd do something productive while he was at it.

His thoughts got pulled back to the Annual November Auction and he wished there was some way to know the right answer regarding what to do. He could probably endure a few hours in close quarters to his father if it meant getting to see his childhood friends.

But even if he chose not to go, he'd still need to somehow get in touch with his father and see what he meant by 'intervening in his personal life'.

So, in a moment of unadulterated, raw curiosity, he slid his phone out of his pocket.

He probably wouldn't answer, anyway, right? It was well past one in the morning, good old Lucius was most likely asleep and he could claim after that he had tried to call, but his father had been the one to ignore him.

With that in mind, he pressed 'dial'.

He certainly didn't expect his father to be awake.

And he certainly didn't expect him to pick up on the first ring.

"Hello?" he heard the familiar tone on the other side.

A/N

Firstly, yes, I'm aware Draco is a bit of a dick, but give him a break - the boy's got issues!

Secondly, I haven't proofread the chapter yet, but I was really excited about having it finished and I wanted to rush and post it. Sorry for any inconveniences (if you read it about a day after it's been posted, I'll probably have it fixed by then).

Thirdly, I'm embarrassed to say I was a bit of a prick last chapter and pretty much skipped review answering because I was tired of everything at the time, but I wanna take this opportunity to thank every last one of you lovely, beautiful, amazing people for letting me know that you enjoy the story. Or can't wait for the next chapter. Or just plainly saying something from the chapter that you liked or you're worried about. Or whatever. I adore you.

And now, review answering for Chapter 9:

Scorpia11: I had been toying with the idea of writing fluff for a while now, hope it was alright.

Witzo17: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much - that bit about being an excellent writer might be getting a bit to my head now, but you know what? Thank you.

Ruthy4vrSmoaked: I aim to please. And I enjoyed writing it, so I think it's safe to assume I'll be writing more fluff chapters in the future. Also, I love you. And you know that, but I'll say it anyway. I love you.

Snowflake Dazzle: Yeah, I think people sometimes overlook the fact that relationships aren't based on pure honesty straight-up. Sometimes just being understood is enough, even if all it means is understanding to not talk about something. Also in your review for the 8th chapter you mentioned how happy you were that you gave my story a try when searching for something new to read and I just want to tell you how fucking much that warmed my heart. Thank you.

Unoyoko94: I'll take it as a success, then! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, though not quite fluffy. Also thank you for everything you said on the Chapter 8 review - the part about liking my smut especially, made me inexplicably happy. Gah. Just thank you.

And thank you all for reading.