A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! I can't believe this is chapter 11!!
Chapter 11:
Hermione was avoiding him. Plain and simple. By the time Draco woke up, she had always already left for work. The only time she would actually talk to him was to confirm if he could look after Haley or if she needed to take her to Ginny and Harry.
Draco was amused. He had never seen her run away from something like this. He knew that he would be able to get her to stop for a moment and actually talk to him, but he also knew that she was extremely stubborn and wouldn't back down so easily.
Today, Haley was with the Potters; Draco had to take care of some business at work. Getting dressed quickly, he prepared himself to make a rare appearance at the office, where he was hoping he wouldn't run into his father. He intended to get in and get out as quickly as he can, hoping to take care of whatever crisis that was happening in less than a couple of hours.
Dressed impeccably in a black suit with an emerald green tie, Draco picked up his briefcase and apparated to the office. The scene was one of bustling workers: phones (yes, phones) ringing off the hooks, employees running here, there, and everywhere, and desks piled high with papers. The amount of papers that were flying around would suggest that Draco ran a newspaper, but on the contrary, it most certainly was not. One of the administrative assistants spotted Draco and called to him.
"Mr. Malfoy, thank goodness you're here."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at Draco, wide-eyed and completely caught off-guard that their boss and CEO was actually in the office.
Draco rolled his eyes." Everybody get back to work." He walked over to the employee that had called him and tried to figure out what the situation was. Opening the door to his office, he was surprised to find that the light was already switched on and there was someone sitting his chair, playing with a ball that had been on his desk.
The chair swiveled around and presented none other than Lucius Malfoy.
"Crap," Draco muttered under his breath. "Father! What a… yeah, um what are you doing here?"
"Well, I thought that I would just come and check on how the business is doing. See if my son is actually working." Lucius said with a big smirk on his face.
"Yes, well, I'm here and the business is doing fine. Thanks for asking, you can go now." He said with slight annoyance. "And get out of my chair."
"Draco, come now, is that really the way to speak to your father?" Lucius said, pretending to be hurt. Yeah, right.
"Father, I am a very busy man as I'm sure you know, and I really must get to work. Can you please get out of my chair?" He said, gritting his teeth.
Lucius got out of the chair. "Fine, but that's not the only reason I came by. Your mother and I want you to stop by the manor after work."
"What? Why?" Draco scoffed.
"Because, we haven't seen our son in a very long time. We would like to spend time with you."
Draco's eyebrows were raised very, very high. "You two want to spend time with me? I don't believe it."
"Okay, so your mother wants to talk to you. Same difference." Lucius said, waving his hand around.
"Get out," Draco said with a disgusted look on his face.
"Fine, but I will know when you are leaving the office, so there is no way of getting out of visiting your mother." With a swish of his cloak, Lucius Malfoy was gone.
Draco put his head in his hands and sighed. "I really don't need this right now. I don't even want to know why Mum wants to talk to me."
"Talking to yourself, mate?" A voice asked from the doorway, amusedly.
Draco looked up to find Blaise standing there, smirking. "Come in and shut the door, Blaise." He said tiredly. "How does everyone know that I'm here today?"
"Lucky guess. So, I saw Papa Malfoy a few seconds ago. What was that all about?" Blaise asked.
"He wanted to invite me to visit the manor today after work."
"Ah," Blaise replied, as if in comprehension.
"I wonder what they want."
"Well, it can't be good if your parents want to talk to you." Blaise said.
"No. Really?" Draco said sarcastically. "How'd you figure that?"
"For all you know, they'll be telling you that you've been betrothed to some foreign witch who really isn't very pretty but your parents need the marriage to build up their reputation again."
Draco's eyes widened. "No. No way in bloody hell." He glared at Blaise. "You really know how to make a guy feel better, you know."
"Well, yes, I do possess that gift," Blaise replied, pretending to brush off some dust from his sleeves.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Get out, you git!" He threw something at Blaise.
Blaise ducked before the object could hit him. "Okay, okay. Look I'm sorry. I just came to see how you were doing."
"I am definitely not fine."
Draco shook his head and rubbed his eyes, not wanting to deal with work and not wanting to face his parents. "Stay here and keep me entertained, will you?"
Blaise shrugged. "I got nothing better to do. Hermione's kicked me out of the office."
"Oh, crap, I should probably call her and tell her that I won't be able to pick up Haley from Potter."
"Yeah, you probably should. I actually think she's in a meeting right now, so you'll have to leave a message." Blaise watched as Draco dialed Hermione's number.
"Hi Gr-Hermione, it's me, uh, Draco. I'm not going to be able to pick up Haley today from the Potters. My father dropped by and he wants me to stop by at the manor. So, if you have any issues just call me back on my cell, or if I don't pick up, on Blaise's cell. I'm really sorry, once again. Er, I guess that's it then. Bye." Draco hung up the phone.
"I should probably postpone this as much as possible so that I don't have to meet with my parents. I mean, this isn't that urgent."
"Yeah, I agree." Blaise said.
And with that, the two put their legs up on the desk, leaned back, and relaxed.
DMHGDMHGDMHG
At 5:00, Draco decided that he couldn't put off going to his parents house any longer. He packed up his briefcase and locked his office door from the outside before stepping into the fireplace to Floo to the manor.
As soon as he arrived, he dusted himself off and was surprised to see the sitting room completely deserted.
It was still light out, so he figured that his mother must be outside in the gardens drinking tea or sunbathing. He put his briefcase down, and snapped his fingers for a house-elf.
One appeared right away, and bowed as soon as she saw Draco. "Yes, Master?"
"Where is my mother?"
"In the gardens, sir." She said, her head down.
"Thank you. Back to your chores." He dismissed her. Just as he did, his cell phone rang. It was Hermione.
"Hello?"
"Malfoy! I got your message. Are you there right now?" Hermione asked immediately.
"Yeah, I just got here." He replied. "Why?"
"Do your parents know about Haley?" She asked sounding worried.
"No, actually I was thinking I would tell them tonight."
"Crap," she muttered. "Okay. I really don't like this, but please don't tell them anything that would put her in danger. If need be, don't tell them that I have to take care of her too."
"Okay, I guess I won't. But why?"
"Because, what happens when they find out that you have to share guardianship of her with me, a Mudblood? I don't think they would like that a Muggleborn is raising your goddaughter, or Theo's daughter."
"Don't worry. I won't say anything to compromise the two of you. I know how to handle my parents." Draco looked up and saw his father coming inside. "Look, I've got to go, my father's seen me. I'll be home in a couple of hours."
"Okay, thanks Draco. I really appreciate you calling me to tell me that you wouldn't be able to pick up Haley."
"Yeah. No problem. I'll talk to you later." Draco hung up the phone and greeted his father as he entered the room.
"Father," Draco said.
"Draco, good you're here! We're in the garden."
Draco followed Lucius outside. There were two people sitting near the pool, lounging on a couple of chairs.
"Mother?" Draco said hesitantly.
Narcissa Malfoy took off her sunglasses. "Draco, darling! It's so good to see you!" She stood up to give him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "How have you been, my darling?"
"Fine, mother. How are you?"
"I'm wonderful, darling. I've been missing you, though." She said, pinching his cheeks.
"Mum, I am not a child anymore."
"Oh, darling, I know, but you are still my son, and I shall show you affection in any way that I please." Narcissa said.
Draco rolled her eyes. "Of all the ways to put it," He grumbled. "Who's your guest?"
"Oh, yes, darling, this is Olivia Brenin. Her parents are good friends of ours." Narcissa said, but exchanging a meaningful look with Lucius. "She's visiting from France."
The girl stood up from her chair and took off her sunglasses. She was tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and had the body of a model. She stuck out her delicate hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," He said, shaking her hand. Any other time, he would have been appreciating the view in front of him, but he couldn't think about that right now.
"You must stay for dinner, darling," Narcissa said to Draco.
"Oh, but, I don't think-," Draco started.
"Marvelous. Dinner should be ready in a bit. Let's go in." Narcissa said, clapping her hands together.
As they settled into the living room, Narcissa and Lucius shared a look.
Lucius cleared his throat. "Uh son, there's something we need to tell you."
Oh great, here it comes, Draco thought.
"Basically, what we wanted to say-,"
"You and Olivia are engaged!" Narcissa blurted out.
"WHAT?" Draco yelled. Blaise had been right. He had been right that his parents would announce a betrothal, but not so much about the ugliness part of it.
"Oh, dear, it's not that bad. She comes from a very good family." Narcissa said, kind of worried. "This was agreed upon during your childhood."
"I can't even think about this now! I mean, I have a child to take care of! I'm not going to just change her life so drastically. She's only a few months old!"
"A child?" Lucius asked, standing up. "You never told us about this!"
"Draco, dear, what are you talking about? You got some girl pregnant?" Narcissa asked, looking at him worried, almost as if she didn't know Draco anymore.
"No, Mother, I did not get someone pregnant. She's my goddaughter. She's Theo's child."
"Theo's child? As in Theodore Nott?" Lucius asked, surprised.
"Yes, he passed away, remember?" Draco asked, angrily.
"Who's the godmother?" Narcissa asked, narrowing her eyes. "Or are you taking care of the child by yourself?"
"The godmother…is a friend. And her identity is none of your business."
"It certainly is," Lucius said angrily, "especially when you have a fiancée here!"
"Whom I met all of two seconds ago!" Draco roared. "I need to go!" He took his briefcase, and stepped into the fireplace.
Narcissa turned to Olivia. "I am so sorry about that."
Olivia had a smirk on her face. "Don't worry. I can get him to accept this marriage with open arms."
A/N: There it is! Another little twist. I hope you liked! Please review!!! I'll try to update again in a couple of days, but after that, I'll only be able to update like once a week!
Happy New Year to everyone!!
