I don't feel like working. Posting another chapter seemed like a much better use of my time.
Chapter 11
"If I don't make it out of this alive, please tell Ginny she's not entitled to everything in my wardrobe," Hermione stated as she and Draco entered a small cafe.
Draco squeezed her hand gently as he led her inside. "Now, there's the defeatist I know and love," he joked as he spotted his mother. "You will survive this. Unless you have a strange food allergy you didn't know about. I promise, that's the only way harm will come to you during this lunch."
"You swear?" she asked. "On everything you hold dear? On the hair on your head?"
He laughed and pulled out a chair for her. "Yes, even on that," he avowed.
"You've got my son swearing on his hair, his most prized possession," Narcissa commented, smiling kindly at the young witch now seated across from her. "You must really have him wrapped around your finger already."
"That she does," Draco replied, first kissing his mother's cheek then taking a seat beside Hermione. "Mum, I take it you remember Hermione Granger?"
Narcissa nodded. "Of course, and I must say I'm glad to be meeting again under more pleasant circumstances."
Memories of Malfoy Manor flooded back in Hermione's mind and she clutched Draco's hand tighter beneath the table. After a few calming breaths, she replied, "I am too. Draco talks about you all the time, so it's nice to be able to meet like this."
Narcissa eyed her son curiously. "All horrible things, I'm sure," she teased.
"Only about ninety percent of what I've told her was bad," he shot back, smiling. "Remind me to tell you about the time she dangled me over a banister for stealing a cookie."
"That never happened!" she insisted. "Hermione, believe nothing that comes out of his mouth."
Nerves forgotten, Hermione joined their laughter. "Believe me, I don't," she replied. "By the way, the bats in the attic that terrified him and kept him awake every night until he was 11 - those weren't real, right?"
Clearing his throat, Draco glared at his mother to keep from answering. "What's good here?" he asked, hoping for a change in subject.
"I took the liberty of ordering champagne," Narcissa stated. "Do you drink, dear?"
The young couple turned to look at each other briefly. "Once, and it had terrible repercussions," Hermione replied before feeling a pinch on her arm.
"Yeah, you looked terrible in that newspaper photo," Draco remarked.
"Perhaps that's because I had to carry someone twice my size," Hermione retorted with an over exuberant smile.
"Now, really, darling, we shouldn't fight like this in front of my mother. She'll get the wrong idea," he chided, kissing the back of her hand. "I thought you looked beautiful that night."
Hermione patted his hand with her free one. "Well, you were drunk that night too," she replied, "but thank you."
Narcissa watched the exchange with a bemused smirk. After they ordered, she turned her attention to Hermione. "I hope you don't find this question out of line, but I'd like to know why you're with my son," she inquired.
The younger witch choked on her water and coughed to clear her throat. "I..I don't...um," she stuttered. The feel of Draco's free hand on her back brought her back to her senses. She cleared her throat once more, hoping its former power would be restored. "It's strange, isn't it? Two people who professed their undying hatred for one another as long as we have are now together. I guess I saw something different in him before the war. Maybe it was his fear of Voldemort, but I suddenly realized he was hurting too. That he had feelings too. That year changed how I saw him, and for the better."
"And you're happy together?"
Hermione smiled. "The happiest I've been in a long time," she replied.
Bending down, Narcissa retrieved a newspaper from her handbag and passed it to her son. "I take it Astoria is seeing someone else as well," she commented. "She seems happy with Theodore if the pictures are anything to go by."
"He's all she talks about," Hermione interjected. Narcissa's eyebrows rose with an unasked question. "We've been good friends since Draco introduced us."
The older witch nodded and remained silent as their food arrived. With the waiter now gone, she continued to question the couple. "Does she plan to keep Theodore on the side after you marry?"
"Honestly, Mum, I think she intends to marry him," Draco replied as he cut into his chicken.
"What would happen if she did that?" Hermione wondered. "It would break the betrothal contract, meaning Draco can marry whomever he chooses."
Narcissa set her fork aside and turned her head so she wouldn't have to meet the young couple's eyes. She could see the hope emanating, and didn't want to see it shatter. "I have a feeling my husband would make arrangements with another well respected Pureblood family should Draco and Astoria not marry," she replied.
"What, um, what if we got married?" Draco asked. Hermione pulled her hand out of his and excused herself from the table. Narcissa turned to stare at her son before urging him to go after her. Draco found her outside, walking in the direction of her flat. "Hermione, wait!"
She stopped and turned to face him. "Marriage, Draco? Really?" she asked, appalled by the mere idea of the suggestion. "That's not part of the plan. That's asking too much of me."
He pulled her deep into an alley where they would have a bit more privacy. "I wasn't proposing to you," he assured her. "I just wanted to know what would happen. I'm sorry if I made it seem like I expected you to marry me right now. I have no intentions of putting you in that situation."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and allowed Draco to pull her into an embrace. "I'm sorry I ran out of there," she murmured, pressing her face against his chest. "How do we explain that one to your mother?"
"We could tell her the truth," he suggested. "Or at least, a version of it. You weren't expecting to discuss marriage so soon and it scared you a bit. She doesn't need to know anything else. She'll probably feel bad for you and be mad at me for bringing it up in the first place."
"Narcissa Malfoy mad at her precious baby boy? Now that I have to see," she remarked with a smirk as he led her back inside. They stopped by the door when Hermione tugged on his arm. "It's not that I think it would be horrible to marry you. I just want who I marry to be my choice."
Draco smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Looks like we're on the same page, Granger," he whispered.
