Previously in Chapter 20 / Unmei no Kizuna

At around 11:00 pm, Draco was planned to see the Grangers back to the airport and to their house by their car.

Just as Draco was bidding goodnight and farewell to the family of three, Mr Granger took Draco's hand.

"Draco, you are a nice young man. I appreciate the level of caution you treat my daughter with. You have my consent to make some arrangements, which your parents will explain to you. As from tomorrow, Hermione will come to spend the rest of her summer in the manor. I want you to know, wizard or not. If you do something funny to my beautiful daughter, I will kill you with my bare hands, kid!"

That- meant?

"Draco, the portkey…" Hermione called and he was transported back to the manor on that note.

Chapter 21 / Arrangements

Draco blinked his eyes several times, looking straight ahead and not seeing a thing. What was that again? Oh, too many information to fit into two seconds. First, he said that Hermione was going to spend the rest of her holiday with them, in the Manor, starting from tomorrow. Which was wonderful. Then he said he would kill Draco with his bare hands, wizard or not. This was the first threat he had received directly. But the most shocking aspect was, he said they have his consent. To make arrangements? What arrangements? What -

"Draco!" Lucius practically was poking his nose, apparently trying to drill a hole.

"What, dad!" he snapped turning his head to the side, finally showing a sign of life.

"Where did the word "dad" come from, recently?" Lucius asked making a funny-confused face.

"I don't know, it should have rubbed on me from Hermione…" Draco said with a still irritated tone. "Sorry, I'll be careful from now on, father." he added, calming his nerves.

"I actually don't mind." Lucius said, turning his back. "I was trying to get a reaction from you for the last five minutes. I was worried. Did something happen on the way back, son?" Lucius asked. Then he finally really looked around himself, taking in the details of the room. He and his father were alone in the living room, perfect.

"Dad, actually something happened." then he explained Mr Granger's words to him. "I see you are not surprised." he ended his little speech with.

"Not really, no." Lucius simply stated, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Well, are you planning to enlighten me, just yet?" Draco said impatiently.

"Well, son, we have talked a little while you and Hermione left for the garden, you see… The Grangers' are quite an open minded family. They even listened to all the details of the working mechanism of Kizuna. Well, long story short, they want us to organize all necessary arrangements for Hermione's stay here and in your common room in Hogwarts. They also left the arrangements and timing of your actual engagement to us." Lucius explained shortly.

"You mean to say we have their consent?" Draco was blinking with a blank expression. "Just like that?"

Lucius took hold of both his shoulders, forcing him to look up into his eyes "Don't 'just like that' me son! What you pulled out tonight was not something your average teenager could pull. You just left us adults no excuse to object. It's as simple as that. Any reasonable person could see clearly that the care you two show for each other is something too strong, even some adults are incapable of such affection. The way you two individually do everything in your power to protect and support the other, it's just inspiring. Have confidence and lets plan this thing."

"Thanks, -pause - Dad!" Draco was in pieces and back up in a matter of minutes. He was having difficulties believing that this was actually, real. "I need sometime to gather my thoughts, I will be back with the necessary arrangements in the wards. What time will mom go to get Hermione to the manor tomorrow?"

"10 am, as always…" Lucius said. "why?"

"I need to get to gringotts, get an engagement present for Hermione, prepare a nice place suitable for a first date and be back, by that hour. Tell mother to buy some extra time for me, would you?"

"Sure, son. But, may I suggest…" Lucius paused considering still "what would you say if I'd let you give the Daisy to her?" surprised, Draco looked at his father.

"But father, that is…" Lucius shook his head to both sides.

"No one is more suitable to wearing it. Besides, it is meant to be passed through to your bride!"

"I know, but it's a wedding gift, not an engagement gift…"

"Do you plan on breaking the engagement?" Draco responded instantaneously!

"Never!" Lucius smiled softly.

"Than I can't see any reason not to let you give the most powerful and beautiful heirloom of Malfoy house to her now. You must have realized by now how she is really capable to get into trouble quite easily… It will help us be at ease."

"Are you sure, father, the Daisy has ancient magic engraved into it. Are you one hundred percent sure it's safe?"

"Yes, I had the runes checked, by the ministry, by Severus and by some kid Bill was it, he's researching runes in Bulgaria. they all told the runes engraved into the Daisy were protective and reproductive runes, not even one dark magic… it makes sense, it was created to protect your great great great grandmother and has served well for generations." Draco sighed closing his eyes.

"It is just not quite believable since it was handed down to me by Abraxas… Nothing good ever comes from him, you know it dad. Have they checked anti-muggle/anti-muggleborn curses too?"

"Now that you mention it, I don't know."

"Let's check it by noon tomorrow. I will collect the Daisy from Gringotts anyways and have another gift prepared just in case." Draco looked at the older wizard whom he respected so much. "Thanks, dad." he said, awkwardly hugging him.

"I think I'm getting used to this 'dad' thing, son." he said, patting Draco's back while smiling into his hair. "off you go to your chamber now. I bet you are exhausted. Also, I want you to prepare a guest list too… You know, for the party. Don't exaggerate it though." he said pushing the boy towards the exit. "Good night son!"

"Good night dad!" he said, wearing a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Dobby swings his arms, left and right… Leeeeft and riiiiight. Wait Dobby, wait. Dobby should no sleep. No sleep Dobby." then Dobby heard the doorknob twist with a scratching sound. Hopping up from where he sat, Dobby bowed low.

"Master is welcome back. Dobby prepared bath for master. Master should rest properly. Dobby will bring hot chocolate too.."

"Hello Dobby, " his master was apparently worn out. "Thank you for all your support today. If it weren't for you and Missy, I wouldn't be able to arrange all those by myself." he took his tie and the cloak off.

"Dobby is honored to serve master."

"I'm not master, Dobby. I told you to call me Draco." he said as he was unbuttoning his shirt. Dobby could hear the lack of energy in his voice.

"Master Draco is too nice to Dobby. Dobby is happy master has mistress to look after him now." which earned an honest smile from the blonde…

"Yes, I guess you are right." Dobby watched as his master took a deep breath, swinging his head back then when he looked back ahead, he undressed the rest of the way and thrown himself into the bath with a splash. Within seconds Dobby brought his master the hot chocolate he prepared. "you always know what I need, don't you Dobby." he said.

"Dobby was born to serve his master. Dobby knows what his master needs." Draco nodded his head twice.

"What do I need now, Dobby?" Draco asked, looking straight into Dobby's eyes. Dobby felt challenged, intrigued to a level that up till now he only felt when dealing with Master Lucius.

"Master needs to relax and rest. Master needs to be well rested and ready for tomorrow." Dobby said easily.

"Why are you always so good with these things… It should come as an instinct, but I seem never to be able to recognize what my body is demanding from me anymore." Dobby frantically shook his head, causing his ears to slap each of his cheeks.

"Master thinks so much. As much as Master is occupied, Dobby will take care of him." he blinked his gigantic eyes innocently.

"Thank you, Dobby." his master said so casually, yet sending jolts of joy to the little creature's heart. Then he submerged himself into the warm water.

Draco woke up the next morning very early feeling all charged up. He threw himself into the cold water coming from the shower… Feeling all refreshed and ready to face the hectic day waiting for him, he realized that Dobby already brought breakfast.

After taking a few quick bites and getting himself dressed in day clothes, quickly scribbling down Harry Potter, Severus Snape, his cousins, and the Grangers into the guest list, and in another parchment , the necessary revisions on the wards, handing them to Dobby tobe given to his father; he headed to the fireplace to floo himself to the Diagon Alley.

Once he was there, he went straight to Gringotts, while he practically hated the creatures, the place has been a safe castle of the Malfoy family for generations. He was informed that the Daisy had been transferred to his personal vault for some time now. He went straight in, a long road trip it was since he had the vault owned by Abraxas Malfoy, previously. It was a pretty well guarded one. He went in, took the jewel, adoring it for a second only and putting it directly into the box he had prepared, taking two pouch full of galleons, then heading straight out.

His next spot was a little restaurant located at the outskirts of the district, which usually was unrecognised by the hectic crowd. He pushed the door open and a wonderful smell and atmosphere welcomed him immediately. A well dressed waiter came straight towards him.

"I am sorry young mister, but our restaurant is not open yet." the man stated. Draco smiled to the man.

"Actually, I am here to see Mr Spraw... "

"Oh, please pardon my rudeness, right this way, sir."

The waiter led the way and Draco followed him to an office. The men behind the large desk was at his mid forties, his hair started to get bald near his forehead but despite, he had a cheerful aura.

"Oh, Draco! What a surprise! It's been such a long time since I last met you! You've become such a fine gentleman!" the man said with a sincere smile, holding his hand out for him to shake while walking from around the table. Draco took his hand and shook it calmly.

"Indeed, Mr Spraw. Almost three years now. We had a celebration dinner in here with my parents, when I received my Hogwarts letter. Perhaps, father and you should arrange more meetings to keep up to date with each other." the older smiled warmly.

"Perhaps you're right. So, what brought you here at this early hour, Draco?" he asked.

"Actually, I need a favor to ask. Tonight, I would like to book all your tables for a very special occasion. I know it's extremely short notice but, it is very important. I wish to know if such arrangement is possible." the Owner gave Draco a troubled look.

"Draco, we do have quite some reservations for tonight, already. If we cancel them, it will come with consequences…"

"Are there any government employees amongst those whom have a reservation?"

"No, but-" Draco silenced the man raising one finger.

"You remember that you owe my father a favor, don't you Mr Spraw?"

"I do but-" he once again, interrupted the man.

"I will pay for your loss, in fact, for each table in the restaurant… But in exchange, I demand top-notch service, security and confidentiality. I want no employee near the table for longer than exactly necessary to serve food and take order. Prepare some non-alcoholic beverage suitable. I will send you how to decorate the place, later. So have everything ready by 6pm. I'll get going now." with that he rose and without even a glance back, he walked out of the office and the restaurant, leaving a very puzzled adult behind.

He walked back to the Diagon Alley to floo himself to his next stop. With the help of green flames he entered a small shop full of beautifully designed jewels. The shopkeeper smiled broadly upon seeing the boy.

"Draco! What a surprise! I wasn't expecting you for another month. How's Narcissa doing?"

"She is doing fine, thank you. But I'm not here to ask a gift for her, this time." Draco said wearing a charming smile.

"Oh, and?" the witch encouraged him to proceed. He took a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"I want you to design this, please." the witch took the parchment from him and examined the precise drawing. It was a cuff bracelet with an elegant gold base which in the middle held an averagely sized emerald which had to be cut deliberately in shape of a teardrop. Around the emerald, he placed little rubies and diamonds in one line.

"But it is beautiful, Draco! I will gladly have it ready by tomorrow morning."

" No, I need it in two hours, Tati."

"No way! What's with the urgency, young Malfoy? You usually prepare such gifts months prior… It will put me in serious trouble."

"It is for an occasion which came out as a surprise even to myself. I need your help, Tati, it's so important to me."

The Witch smiled warmly to the boy. "Alright, but I warn you, I will charge extra…"

Draco smiled mischievously "Is three times of normal enough?" Draco watched as the brown eyes of the witch enlarge with surprise.

"Why do you even have such sum of money, I will never understand the doings of the Malfoy family…" she shook her head as if to rid the thoughts off of it. "sure it'll be enough. I'll have it delivered to the manor within two hours."

Draco tossed the pouch full of galleons to her then turning to grab a handful of floo powder and disappear in the green flames.

The last time Narcissa felt this uneasy was before she gave birth to Draco! It was illogical. She felt her insides tighten as she waited for Draco to return and tell her what to do. She had Missy prepare her some Jasmine tea, hoping it will help soothe her nerves a little.

She heard the familiar swooshing sound coming from the fireplace, causing her to immediately turn around to face her son.

"Draco!" she cried with a voice a pitch higher than intended.

"I'm home." he announced, getting rid of the little ash he had on his clothes.

"Welcome, dear." Narcissa greeted him.

"Mother, you look tense!" Draco said wearing a stony face himself.

"Look who's talking… you don't look wonderfully relaxed yourself, my dragon!" she said, adoring her little boy while he made a face.

"Really, mom! Pet name calling at a time like this?"

"Yes, really. Anyways, how did it all go? I have seen the letter and list you left us and your father told me about the Daisy too." Draco nodded.

"Is there any word from father regarding the daisy? He was supposed to check if it's safe for Hermione, " he paused a second, looking troubled "safe for a muggle born…"

"He is still out and about." he had a serious expression. Nodding once.

"I'm having Tati prepare a back-up gift in case we cannot confirm it. Also I have talked with Mr Caunty as well. Tonight, I will take her to a proper date. The restaurant will be ready. I also exchanged some muggle money too. I will need it. So the plan is, when you two come to the manor, we will have some tea and discuss everything. Then I will take her out to muggle London. We will have dinner and then come back to the manor. The transportation is no problem, we will be using floo and muggle taxi. I plan to be back by nine in the evening." Narcissa pleasantly nodded.

"What do you plan on wearing?"

"Since we will be going to muggle London, I need something proper to that setting. I heard suits were usually appropriate for such occasions. So I'll transform my midnight blue ropes… What do you think?" he asked nervously.

"I think it's brilliant. I'll suggest Hermione to wear something proper, too." she smiled to her son. "I can't believe you've grown so much in such short time… Come here!" she said, taking him into her arms. Draco returned her hug, albeit protesting verbally.

"Come on mom!" he said.

"I like how you ditched the word 'mother' at least when we are alone… It warms my heart when you call me mom." she said.

"It was the influence of grandfather I suppose. I can't believe I am happy to have lost him. Sometimes I ask myself if I'm a bad person for being happy that he is dead." he said, nuzzling his nose in the crack of Narcissa's neck.

"My Dragon! You are not a bad person for being relieved that he is no longer able to torture us… If he were alive, he wouldn't let Hermione anywhere near you. He may have even harmed her." Draco pushed her shoulders, to look into Narcissa's eyes with burning rage.

"I would never let him! Never!" he exclaimed with determination in his eyes.

"Calm down, Draco. He is no more…"

"Sometimes, it is hard to remember! You sure remember all too well the hell he put you through, mom! I can't ever forgive him! Never!" He exclaimed, caressing his mother's cheek. Oh, this boy!

"I'm just glad you didn't become the person he wanted you to."

"Me too, mom!"

He watched as Narcissa disapperated from the garden. He returned into the mansion. Sighing a little while climbing the stairs up to his chambers. He still had a date to organize. He made call one of his team member, who was a muggleborn and was raised in London to take some tips. It wasn't easy to ask such recommendation from his subordinates. But he had no idea how to organize those things, so he had a little help. He was just about finished, when Dobby popped out to announce Lucius's arrival.

"Father." Draco called him, hurriedly making his entrance to the living room.

"Draco, I'm back." Lucius called him, taking his blue eyes away from the scenery of their front garden. He looked tired.

"And? What happened?" he asked with a worried expression on his face.

"I have first called Severus, of course. He told me that he hadn't thought about checking if it was safe for a muggle or muggle born to wear. We had -though I doubt it will last long- fight. It was tiring. I can't believe he didn't check it!" he said, exasperated. "Although, the Weasley guy did… He said as hard it is to believe, it was safe for even muggles." Draco let out a long sigh of relief and threw himself onto the couch, in a crooked way.

"What about the wards?" Draco asked. "Have you adjusted them yet?"

"Some of it… Although, I will have more time while you two are out and about, to make all the adjustments. Don't worry, Draco. You know we love her as much as we would have loved a daughter. She will be well protected."

"I don't doubt you, father, it's just that, I feel the unstoppable need to control anything… but I'm relieved, I will be able to give her the Daisy! I really like it!" he said, a small smile creeping "It's gonna look stunning on her!"

He was ready at precisely 10:55. Everything was programmed perfectly and he was all dressed up and groomed, ready to welcome his girlfriend on the front garden, since they were apparating in.

With a somewhat loud popping noise, two silhouettes appeared in front of his eyes. They were precisely on time. He looked at her. She was beautiful, as she always was. But apparently, today, some effort was put in. Her hair was in a romantic half-updo, she was wearing a pretty dress and kitten heels. Draco even recognized a little touch of lip gloss. When he saw the creep of blush on her cheeks, he realized that he was staring at her. He approached to her with steady steps.

"You look stunning." he said, smiling a little. Watching as the blush on her cheeks deepened, she raised her eyes up from the floor, to look shyly into his eyes.

"You are not bad yourself." she remarked, looking him up to down once again. Draco reached to take the trunk and Vermillio's cage from her.

"Let me help you with those." the way Hermione was looking into his eyes, was making him dizzy. She had no idea how everything she does was affecting him.

"Oh, of course. Thank you." Hermione said, handing him the trunk. She smiled to him.

"Let's get inside." Narcissa said, watching the exchange with a loving smile, from where she stood.

P.S.: My lovelies!

I was having a vacation in Antalya -south of Turkey- this past week. I happened to have a kind of poisoning, thanks to lack of professionalism of the chefs -trainees everywhere at this time of year-. I was hospitalized for a whole night and then sleeping a whole day! It became a nightmare for my husband and I apologize to him!

Anyways! I have been typing on my phone throughout the vacation, as much as I could. But, probably it's still 3000 words or something. It's Friday now, so the initial publishing plan of this chapter was Sunday and then I will start my boring hell of a job, back. ( I honestly hate it! So, a little caption from my life!) But as you can see, it's Tuesday now… So, behind the schedule. Sorry!

I hope you'll like the chapter. This one is written in too many pieces -which I don't do, usually. I type at least 2000 at once- so it may be a little rough to read, maybe. And maybe a little too emotional.

Sorry for the long note. I hope you enjoyed!

Loves, as always.

B.T.A.