Hermione
She woke up in his bed, sleepy and perfectly relaxed. He was behind her, one arm around her waist while the other rested behind her head. It all felt hazy and soft in the early morning light. She felt sheltered and warm in his arms. She snuggled into his warmth, sheltering from the abnormally cool morning. Her body felt loose and relaxed and she felt better than she had in years. Draco smelled like a spring rain, like a new beginning, and she felt totally at peace.
A large slam sent them both rocketing out of bed. Hermione tried to tumble of the side, but the intruder was too quick, the door opening as she teetered on the edge. Draco sighed dramatically, the arm that had been reaching for her relaxed, even though the hand on his wand didn't even twitch.
"Blaise, get the fuck out." She groaned, flopping back into bed and tugging the sheet up to her neck. She wasn't exactly decent, no corset and all, and Blaise Zabini sure as hell wasn't going to see her like this.
"What a way to speak to your betters!" Blaise gasped over dramatically. She rolled her eyes.
"Get. Out." She repeated slowly. Blaise just smirked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the open doorway. He was in dark robes, distinctly rumpled but unfazed.
"I liked you better when you were meek." Blaise sneered eyeing her with distrust. She rolled her eyes again and turned over, burying her face in Draco's perfectly soft pillows.
"She was never meek." Draco argued, the voice was muffled by the sheet that he had pulled over his head, the coward.
Blaise scoffed.
"What time is it?" Hermione asked warily, if she had to get up right now she might just have to blow it off and face Minerva's wrath when it came.
"Five… ish?" Blaise shrugged.
"Why are you even awake?" Draco groaned dramatically, even as his arm reached around her waist.
"I never slept." Blaise shrugged, looking whatever the suave and aristocratic version of bored was.
"Why?" Hermione asked blearily. Sleep was good, very good, she wanted more of it herself.
"Don't ask." Draco and Blaise said in unison.
"Then why are you here?" Hermione demanded with a huff.
"I had a question to ask your girl." Blaise explained.
"Blaise, get the fuck out." Draco snapped, pulling her back into his arms. She went, reluctantly though not that reluctantly because he was warm and she liked warm almost as much as she liked sleep.
"No really… I'm pretty sure the bird existing to ruin my life is a servant and I'd bet you know who it is." Blaise guessed, stepping into her line of sight and meeting her eyes. She closed them very deliberately and rolled over, facing Draco.
"Why would I know?" She asked casually, she pressed her cold nose to the soft cotton of his under shirt. She didn't necessarily remember him stripping off his out layers but she assumed that it happened at some point.
"Astoria's keeper, Minerva's trainee, you seem very tapped in." Blaise announced stubbornly. He was right but that didn't mean that she had to like it.
"Why did everyone but me know about that?" Draco asked, smoothing down her hair. She shrugged and ignored how nice that felt. This was all rather lovely actually, except for Blaise.
"You've been a little distracted." Blaise reminded him. Draco rolled his eyes.
"How do you know it's not Daphne?" She asked curiously, resting her head on Draco's chest.
"Too childish, plus I'm pretty sure that she doesn't give a damn." Blaise theorized.
"Well you're not wrong about the latter." She admitted, smiling.
"So who is it?" He pushed, as if she would or could answer. Ginny would murder her without hesitation.
"C'mon Blaise , she doesn't know who it is." Draco groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Of course I know who it is." She corrected, a little affronted.
"Huh?" Draco stuttered.
"Like he said, I'm tapped in." She admitted. It was job to know everything that was going on, even if she wasn't succeeding so often lately.
"So who is it?" Blaise demanded firmly.
"I'm not telling." She rebutted firmly.
"What?" Blaise sputtered, absolutely shocked that she was refusing. Good, it was probably a very positive thing if Blaise Zabini heard "no" more often. That much she could agree with Ginny on totally.
"Mione, she's ruining the poor boy." Draco pleaded on his friends behalf and... yeah, not gonna work.
"You have your secrets, I have mine." She reminded him pointedly.
"Really?" Draco asked watching her with calculating eyes.
"Really." She nodded firmly.
"Fine." He shrugged, pressing a fond kiss to her hair.
"I could order you to tell me." Blaise threatened. Draco tensed.
"I'd eviscerate you." He threatened before gently running his fingers through Hermione's hair. Her eyes drifted shut.
"Drake!" Blaise whined like a small child being denied a sweet.
"Get out Blaise." Draco answered dryly, his eyes never leaving her.
"He calls you Drake?" Hermione observed, smirking a little. Draco rolled his eyes.
"You just noticed?" He asked in disbelief.
"I've been distracted." She answered, smiling at him.
"You two are disgusting." Blaise chimed in.
"You were not invited." Draco reminded him.
"No but apparently you'd be into that." Blaise sneered and whoa, it was way too early for that revelation. She wasn't even sure how she felt about that particular issue, and it definitely wouldn't be Blaise, that's for certain.
"Excuse me?" She demanded, leveling a stern glare at the blond. He rolled his eyes.
"Thanks Blaise." Draco groaned, the sarcasm dripped in the air.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Hermione questioned slowly. She wondered if she sounded as dangerous as she wanted to.
"Remember that secrets thing we were talking about?" He asked, grinning, the little shit. She felt her eyebrows shoot up her forehead.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that this secret should involve my input." She suggested.
"Oh definitely." Blaise chimed in very helpfully. He was just a super helpful person.
"Not yet, I'll let you know if it becomes an issue." He warned, kissing the top of her head again.
"I hate when you give directions like that." She complained half heartedly.
"You love it." He teased, laughing, and wow, yeah that was the L word, that word that they definitely shouldn't be talking about this early. Not that he was using it that way, he was just joking around, right?
"I do." She agreed too late with a grimace. Omega tendencies were a blast.
"And that would be my cue to leave." Blaise cringing, edging out.
"Wait! You do know that this isn't what it looks like right?" Hermione demanded, suddenly it was incredibly important that Blaise not think she and Draco slept together, not yet at least. Not that Blaise should be told the moment that they slept together, because that was none of his business. It was just, they hadn't, you know, done that yet. Not that they definitely would, she wasn't sure, she didn't know...
"Of course of course, you two just drifted off reading Bible passages to each other." Blaise suggested, smirking.
"Funny. And you can't tell anyone about this." She warned. Forget Draco, she would eviscerate Blaise himself if this got around.
"Trust me, I'm aware." Blaise assured her, shooting Draco a dark look, and okay, maybe she didn't have to give this speech after all. He finally left, slipping out the door, and Hermione settled in to at least try to get a few more hours of rest, if she couldn't get actual sleep, before she'd inevitably have to set off to accomplish her long list of things to do for that day. Oh, if only she could just stay here.
...
After a brief pit stop to her room, Hermione was hurrying to Astoria's when she had to skid to a stop in the middle of the hallway, faced with the terrifying duo of Lords Greengrass and Malfoy. She carefully kept her eyes trained to the ground as she dipped into a low curtsy.
"Go on." Lord Greengrass encouraged gently.
"Wait." The order came hard and fast and Hermione froze. Lucius circled her, studying her face with unnerving eyes. She carefully focused her gaze on his feet. Lord Greengrass cleared his throat, carefully drawing the attention back to himself.
"Tell me, Ezra, do you mark your slaves?" Lucius asked, his voice cold and clinical. She felt his wand lift her hair, as if he was expecting a painful brand burned into the back of her neck, as if the shackle on her wrist wasn't enough.
"No, I find that it makes resale more difficult. I prefer to keep it traditional, no tattoos." Ezra answers coolly. Lord Greengrass had always been more reserved, had never really interacted with Hermione for longer than necessary, but he was still a good man, still fair and honest.
"I see…but you really should consider piercings." Lucius pushed. Hermione had to focus very carefully on her breathing to keep from flinching.
"Oh?" Ezra answered coolly.
"A permanent reminder with beading and engravings to brand her as yours which can easily be transfigured if you want to sell her." Lucius explained, a terrifying kind of hunger in his tone.
"I see the appeal. I assume Nott has already implemented this." Ezra answered craftily.
"Of course, the man can't resist trends." Hermione could hear the grin in Lucius's voice. No one like Lord Nott.
"I guess I'll have to wait and see then, if the trend passes." Ezra replied noncommittally. At least Hermione could be mostly sure that she wasn't going to get pierced any time soon.
"The last girl I rented had one, it was very satisfying seeing the emerald green on her skin." Lucius shared lecherously. Hermione cringed against her will. Lucius paused his circle and she froze, very, very carefully staring at the floor and trying to think about nothing. Her very, very treacherous brain wouldn't let her let go of the idea that she might not totally mind wearing green sometime, for his son, for Lucius's almost engaged son. This was definitely not the time for those thoughts. What a trainwreck. "Consider it." Lucius advised. "You may go now." He instructed firmly. Hermione nodded and scurried away as fast as was socially acceptable.
...
Draco
Draco rose slowly, stretching as he got the joints in his shoulders and neck to pop. He observed the empty half of his bed with distaste, but understanding. She was busy after all. He had a pleasant day ahead, a leisurely breakfast, a morning lesson with Severus and the afternoon to himself. It was shaping up to be a good day, as long as he didn't have any surprises. Something told him that he wouldn't be that lucky.
Hermione
Hermione prided herself on knowing everything that went on at the Greengrass Estate, but the Manor, goddamn Malfoy Manor, refused to let her figure out what was going on. Each corner she turned she was faced with a new surprise that she had to deal with. Today, that came in the form of a shapely brunette stretched across Astoria's couch the moment she opened the door.
"Hello?" She asked timidly. Astoria and Daphne were nowhere and sight and the only person left was the very unamused Pansy Parkinson.
"Daph's not back from her tea and Tori's still in bed." Pansy announced easily. "Who are you again?" She demanded. Hermione had to take a deep breath because she had known Pansy for years. The girl was Daphne's best friend and it's not like Hermione was new around here.
"Astoria's handmaiden." She answered easily, heading for the door to Astoria's room.
"Oh yeah, thought I recognized you. Don't tell Tori I'm here just yet, I want to surprise her."
"All right then." Hermione agreed hesitantly, moving into Astoria's room quickly. Astoria was just a puff of bright blonde hair exploding out from beneath pink satin sheets.
"Hey, Tori it's time to get up." She announced. Astoria groaned, even though this was one of the few mornings that she had actually slept in.
"Too early." Astoria grumbled.
"It's almost ten." It's not like Hermione had been awake for five hours and had already had multiple awkward interactions or anything. "And you have a visitor."
"Draco?" Astoria groaned melodramatically, lacking any glimmer of excitement or her previous anxiety. That was probably a bad sign, but also not an Easter egg she willing to miss with right now.
"No, a friend, who still hasn't learned my name again, by the way." Hermione rolled her eyes, setting up Astoria's vanity to start the morning routine.
"Pansy!" Astoria gasped, shooting out of bed. Hermione shrugged noncommittally, that was close enough to honoring their agreement right? "Ugh." Astoria groaned, flopping back onto her bed heavily. "Guess I won't be seeing Daphne for the next few weeks."
"Yeah, probably not." Hermione shook her head. Whenever Pansy showed up, Daphne disappeared, the two really left Daphne's room frequently blowing off appointments and commitments and not letting anyone intrude. It drove Katie up a wall.
"I should probably greet her at some point." Astoria sighed, slowly sliding out of bed. Hermione wrapped her in a silk robe easily as she walked to the dresser.
"Probably." Hermione agreed as the other girl settled, pursing her lips unhappily at the mirror.
"After I get ready." She decided.
"Works for me." Hermione allowed easily, pulling Astoria's hair off her face. Astoria closed her eyes automatically as she brushed powder over her face. She opened her eyes as Hermione swapped it out with a little rouge, brushing the color along her cheek bones. Astoria's eyes fell shut again as Hermione lightly lined them with kohl. When she opened, her blue eyes look fuller. Hermione smiled as she handed as she handed Astoria a light pink lip rouge. They younger girl applied it easily as Hermione brushed out her thick tresses.
"I'm thinking the blue today?" Astoria suggested, Hermione nodded, quickly rising and guessing the light gown Astoria was thinking of. It was soft chiffon that floated easily over Astoria's head when she stood. Hermione made the final adjustments, pulling the hem just right and with a sigh, Astoria announced that it was time to enter the trenches.
She pushed open her door easily and greeted Pansy with a smile that looked like it hurt from Hermione's angle. Pansy rose simply, her maroon gown falling out into a large circle around her.
"Tori!" Pansy gasped, "It's been too long." She announced, and the girls hugged stiffly.
"Clearly" Astoria agreed. "You're so brave, most people would wear such a dark color in August but you've never been one for convention, have you Pans?"
"As if I'm the only one, embarking on such a… unique… blue with your complexion." Pansy tittered. Astoria laughed as if it was a true compliment. The claws were certainly out.
"Tea?" Hermione offered hopefully.
"That sounds lovely, thank you Mione." Astoria answered gratefully.
The two girls settled onto the couches easily as Hermione hurried to pour their tea. Astoria took hers with just a splash of milk and three spoonfuls of sugar. Pansy took hers dark and bitter, like her soul.
"How's the engagement proceedings going Tori?" Pansy pried.
"Just fine, though it was a surprise, we all thought you and Draco would end up together." Astoria answered sharply as Hermione handed her the tea. "Don't you two have a history?" Wow, Hermione didn't think that Astoria knew about that, had worked hard to make sure that Astoria didn't remember that.
"We all spend far too much time together, I don't think there's anyone in our social strata that doesn't have a history." Pansy answered diplomatically, and sure that was kind of true, Pansy had a history with almost everybody. Not that Hermione cared, she wasn't exactly in a place to judge, but it made her kind of notorious among most of the well to do. "It must be so much better to start fresh." Pansy finished with a smile, watching Astoria with crystal sharp eyes. She leaned forward, showing focus, but not jealous. No, there was something else going on here.
"I owe it all to Hermione." Astoria grinned, gesturing for the maid to come over. She hesitantly crossed to Astoria's side as she took her hand. "She's the most amazing, supportive chaperone. She makes it all so much more comfortable. I don't know how she does it." Pansy turned those hawk eyes towards Hermione and smirked.
"Me neither." She agreed; the look in her eyes made Hermione very, very nervous.
…
Draco
Draco's mother corned him at the breakfast table which was just rude frankly, nothing ruined a good toastie like his mother worrying about his love life. He was mid sip of tea when she sat down beside him.
"You're failing." She told him with a disturbing amount of nonchalance.
"At what?" He asked with the same degree of boredom. It wasn't like this was a new conversation. If she thought his father's message wasn't getting through, Narcissa would often try to mediate. By taking Lucius's side and gently berating Draco, rather than Lucius's much less gentle berating.
"I never should've let you read so much as a child." She announced, an interesting angle he had to admit, even if it's relevancy was up for debate.
"Excuse me?" Draco asked, bewildered as to what her point could possibly be.
"You're father said it was foolish to let you read so many stories, that it would make you soft, but I didn't believe him. I suppose I should've." Narcissa explained sadly and then sipped her tea as if that was a normal thing to say to her son.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Draco responded, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"An arranged marriage isn't a death sentence." His mother assured him for the millionth time.
"I'm well aware of that." He snapped, expressing his anger by tearing off a piece of his toast with his teeth. She was ruining a perfectly good breakfast.
"You'll grow comfortable with each other, she'll make you happy." His mother lied, another repeated phrase she liked to use.
"No she won't." Draco answered because there was no possible way for Astoria to make him happy. He thought of Hermione in his bed that morning, how right that had felt and realized there was no way he could even manage fake happiness anymore, not since he had truly experienced it for the first time.
"No, but you'll find other ways to make yourself happy, ways that won't involve the family jewels." His mother answered plainly and drank some more tea.
"Mother!" He choked on a piece of toast. It was one thing for Lucius to know about him having sex, the man was disgusting and frequently flaunted the slaves he'd borrow or rent. It was an entirely different thing to have his mother bring it up. As far as he was concerned he was conceived immaculately.
"What? It's the truth." She shrugged, her voice even. He could feel color rising on his face and had a strong desire to slam his head on the table repeatedly. Maybe it was possible to knock himself out.
"I can't believe that I'm having this conversation." He announced to the world, the galaxy, the cosmos, all of it that was conspiring to destroy him.
"You and Astoria just need to spend more time together, with less pressure." His mother assured, patting his hand gently.
"I really don't think that's" He started to protest but she had already stood and left/ I guess he should just cancel the plans he had for the day or week or lifetime.
…
Hermione
That afternoon, it had cooled off and Lady Malfoy had a brilliant idea for tea out in the gardens. Of course, by the time the masses had arrived, the plants had been temporarily relocated via some very complex herbology charms, and a large field had been cleared while a large white tent had been set up to keep most of the sun off of their delicate complexions. She didn't envy the grounds crew today. Because it was intended to be a casual affair, seating arrangements were religiously established, and each couple was forced to maintain a chaperone. Hermione, as per usual, had the amazing luck of watching over Draco and Astoria. Pansy on the other hand was entrusted with ensuring that Blaise and Daphne didn't do anything uncouth. Normally, Pansy would be the last person to be trusted with this sort of thing, but Blaise and Daphne had about as much heat as a block of ice, so it was generally assumed that it would be fine. Plus Hermione was seated right next to their table too.
Suddenly Pansy was talking dramatically over the clang of many people having tea all at the same time and squeezing Hermione's shoulder.
"These glasses are disgusting." She announced, snatching up the obviously pristine cups and making her way to the small bar the Weasley's had set up in the garden. "Hermione and I will get new ones." Hermione rose, shooting Draco a terrified look as she went, he cringed, and then immediately turned back to Astoria and continued charming her, which Hermione had successfully managed to block about by listening to Pansy chatter on up until that point.
They both went to the bar and had a scowling Ron hand them new glasses, but when Ron left to take care of someone else, Pansy rounded on her.
"You're the one." She announced with certainty, leaning forward to whisper to her. Hermione leaned back and frantically glanced around to make sure that no one was listening.
"The one what?" Hermione stopped, dropping the polite façade just as easily as she could adopt it.
"You're the one who tamed Draco." Pansy declared, grinning like a shark. Hermione froze, her blood running cold.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hermione hissed angrily. This was not good, definitely not good and especially not the right time.
"He's watching you right now." Pansy explained, when Hermione turned, because there was no way he really was, Pansy smacked her arm. "Don't look! Do I have to teach everyone in this manor how to hide a secret."
"What does that mean?" Hermione demanded.
"You'll see eventually." Pansy grinned conspiratorially before taking her tea cups and floating away. Hermione looked up at the white tent and imagined that she could see whatever deity was obviously trying very hard to make her life a living hell. Then she imagined flipping them off and that did make her feel admittedly better.
A/N: So there are a lot of moving pieces in this one plus some fluff to keep us all happy. I've decided I'm going to go back to the questions, it honestly makes me feel like the chapter is more rounded out when I highlight the key points at the end and if it's not your thing feel free to skip them, no worries.
How do you think Hermione will find out when she learns about THAT secret? ;) ;) nudge nudge
Isn't Lucius the creepiest?
When do you think Hermione will wear emerald?
How do you guys feel about Pansy and what do you think she'll do now that she knows who has "tamed Draco?"
Do you think Narcissa will feel the need to meddle some more?
Whose side are you on in the most passive aggressive pf cat fights, Astoria or Pansy?