December 31, 2009
The clock on the wall ticked almost too loudly for Hermione's sake. The snow that fell softly outside her window brought a blizzard overnight blanketing the city in deep snow. Hermione sat in her favorite chair next to the window, her legs curled under her, a soft blanket atop her legs. A book in one hand, a cup of tea on the table next to her. It had been almost perfect except for the loudness of the clock.
She grabbed her wand right next to her tea cup, silencing the clock. She smiled to herself and snuggled into her chair, turning her attention back on her book. A small content sigh escaped her lips as she turned the page. A piece of paper slipped from between the pages onto her lap. She shut the book and placed it down on the table next to her tea and opened the yellowed piece of parchment.
5 July, 1998
Dear Draco,
I know this is the wrong time to write to you, seeing as you're recently engaged. Congratulations on your engagement to Astoria, you make a very handsome couple and I am truly happy for you. I wish you a lifetime of happiness together. I do have a confession to make, I'm not entirely writing to you about your engagement but to tell you something with the upmost importance. I'm pregnant. You don't have to worry about taking care of it, I'm not asking for anything financial or for you to be in its life. Ron and I got engaged today too, if you can believe that. He's promised to take care of me, and this baby. I can only hope it's for the best.
Love always,
Hermione
Hermione stared at the letter for what seemed like hours after she had read it. She hadn't forgot about the letter, not entirely. It always lingered at the back of her mind and she always pushed it aside. She almost laughed at it, the way it showed itself on the deadline she made. She folded the paper back up and stared out the window watching the snow fall until the ding from her mobile woke her from the trance.
From: Draco Malfoy
To: Hermione Granger
Time: 2:52pm
Pick you up about 5, then we'll drive to my mums together.
To: Draco Malfoy
From: Hermione Granger
Time: 2:56pm
Drive? Apparition would be easier! Paris is entirely under snow.
From: Draco Malfoy
To: Hermione Granger
Time: 3:00pm
Apparition it is. See you at 5, Granger.
Hermione smiled softly down at the phone before she looked back out the window. Today was the day whether she liked it or not.
.xx.
She pulled the dress over her hips and slipped her arms into the lace sleeves. She thought it had been daring when she saw it at the shop but Emeline had said it was perfect and that the tank top sewn into the lace top looked elegant and not tacky like Hermione had thought. A black band rested at her waist separating her below the knee tulle skirt from the matching champagne lace top. She pulled on a pair of T strapped nude heels and zipped her dress up before she magicked her hair into soft curls. By the time she had finished putting on her makeup she heard a knock on the door.
She exhaled slightly and rushed out to the living room, grabbing the letter that had fallen out of her book earlier and shoving it into the pockets of the dress. She stood at the door and smoothed down her skirt before opening the door to the blond man in a black tux.
"Hey." She looked at him and smiled "don't you look fancy."
He leaned down and kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back.
"You look beautiful." He whispered as he kissed her again, tangling his fingers in her hair.
She smiled against his lips and pulled away "thank you" she pulled away and stepped back to take a better look at him "you do look quite handsome yourself, Malfoy." She walked over and grabbed her wand off the table and placed it in her pocket as well "I suppose we'll be leaving early to meet your mum since you were on the invitee list.
He shrugged and she quirked an eyebrow "while a Malfoy is always on time, Draco is not." He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing kisses on her neck.
She pulled away almost too quickly for her taste but she had to have a clear and level head for tonight, no matter what promising things were hidden behind kisses "we are not showing up late to your big New Year's Eve party just to have a quickie, Draco." She scolded.
He slumped his shoulders "fine, if you say so."
"I do." She nodded she picked up her mask from the kitchen table "do you like?" She placed it up to her face. The mask was silver and so sparkly Hermione joked to Emeline that she might have needed sunglasses to look at it. On the right side a silver ornate peacock sat perched with champagne feathers jutting out to one side.
"Peacock is a nice touch." He nodded looking the mask once over "I should mention that everyone takes their masks off half way through the night. It gets rather stuffy under them when you're trying to dance and to converse and there's a million other people." She watched as he strutted over to her and held out his arm "shall we?"
She smiled and nodded "we shall!" She took his arm and with the turn of his heel they apparated side by side, a small amount of dread filling her stomach as she remembered Ron's splinching accident years ago.
.xx.
Greyside estate was nothing Hermione had ever seen before. It was a large Crème colored building with slate grey roofing. At either end of the house two slightly domed roofs sat while in the center two of them sat looking like, to her, lampshades someone forgot to put back on top of the bulbs. It seemed to have countless windows but by the time Hermione made her way up the rest of the parkway with Draco, she had counted 47, including the tiny ornate ones at the top. The fountain in the middle of the parkway bubbled, almost as if it knew how Hermione's stomach had started to feel at the thought of facing Narcissa Malfoy.
A warm hand slipped into hers and she looked over to her left to the blond standing there. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before they both made their way up the gravel path.
She paused at the door and turned to look over at him "what if your mum doesn't like me." Her eyes searched his face almost desperately.
He laughed and kissed her quickly "she's going to love you, just like I do."
Hermione's eyes went wide but before she could respond the double doors opened to reveal Narcissa Malfoy in all her glory.
"Draco, how lovely of you to finally show up" She looked over at Hermione and smiled softly "Miss Granger."
"Its barley five past, mother." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before sliding his way into the grand building.
"Mrs. Malfoy" Hermione held out her hand and smiled back at the woman "it's lovely to meet you."
Narcissa looked at Hermione's hand and back up at her face before shaking her head. Hermione looked at the woman in front of her and panicked. She wasn't sure how to greet the woman in front of her, Draco never told her. Maybe her blood prejudice went deeper than Hermione originally thought and what if she didn't want to shake Hermione's hand. She wanted to drop her hand, and look elsewhere but she held her ground, her eyes locked with the woman in front of her.
"we do not handshake in this house." She shook her head and leaned in kissing Hermione on both cheeks "it's too impersonal" she smiled slightly and Hermione released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding "and please, call me Narcissa." She moved out of the door way and let Hermione in.
The entrance hall was almost as grand as the outside, two large staircases sat off to both sides of the room, meeting at the top joined together by the matching black iron handrails. A large chandelier hung in the middle of the room, sparkling off the marble floor.
"You have a lovely home." She looked behind her shoulder at Narcissa and smiled "I heard you live in Italy for most of the time?"
Narcissa walked in front of Hermione and paused to quickly rearrange a large floral display "I do. I quite enjoy Italy. You and Draco should come sometime, it's very romantic."
Hermione knitted her eyebrows together as she followed her "I suppose." She stared at the back of Narcissa's head, studying the elaborate French twist. The blond woman in front of her donned a large dress, the top a fitted black long sleeve that was attached to a skirt that Hermione thought looked ridiculously heavy. It was black with thick gold swirls, hitting at her ankles but fanned out in the back. She had a diamond necklace around her neck and matching bracelets on her wrists and hermione suddenly felt very under dressed.
"I do have to ask you, Miss Granger... what are your intentions with my son?" She looked at her over her shoulder, her well-manicured fingers gliding gently over the white peonies.
"I— I don't think I understand what you mean, Mrs. Malfoy."
Narcissa turned her head back toward the flowers "I think you do, Miss. Granger. I just want you to know your true intentions before you both get hurt... Again." She bit her bottom lip "I have a lot of questions for you, Miss. Granger, but I feel like they're better left for a less formal time."
Hermione opened her mouth to respond but the door opened off to her right, Draco slouching from it holding a piece of what looked like turkey.
"Oh. Hi mother, Hermione" He grinned slightly, a piece of meat sticking out from between his lips.
"Just having a bit of girl talk, you weren't harassing the staff, were you Draco?" His mother patted his cheek
"No of course not." He looked over at Hermione and she gave him a tense smile. She watched has he furrowed his brows together "I was thinking about taking Hermione to the library before the guests arrived."
"Just be back by six, Draco. You know how important this is to your father's memory." She smiled sadly down at her shoes.
"Of course." He nodded and grabbed Hermione's hand leading her up one set of the double steps and down a long hallway that housed suits of armor that turned their heads as Draco and Hermione scurried past. Draco turned a corner sharply causing Hermione to almost run into the large double doors in front of her. She briefly wondered if the extremely wealthy had double doors everywhere. He leaned on the wall by the door and looked at her "are you okay? You seem very tense."
Hermione shook her head and smiled "I'm fine! Meeting your mum, being here." She threw her hands up and laughed slightly "I grew up in Hampstead Village in a four bedroom home with a large backyard with a inheritance that was sizable enough to buy a house or something. It's all very different than what I'm used to." She smiled and leaned on the wall opposite "it's a bit overwhelming," she shrugged "one never really tries to estimate the wealth of their boyfriend, no matter how many manors or chateaus she's been in."
Draco laughed slightly "if I've ever made you felt inferior... at all... any time... I'm sorry."
She pushed herself off the wall and onto him "and what do you plan on doing to make up for it?" She raised her eyebrows, her hands resting on his chest.
"I can think of a few things but those are inappropriate so I think this Library might suffice." He opened one of the double doors and Hermione gasped as she walked away from Draco and into the room.
There was a large staircase in the middle of the room that led to the upper floor, a large fireplace sat off to one wall and the furniture looked to be very uncomfortable dragon leather. Books were stacked on top of books and the ceiling seemed to be close to the second level. It wasn't as beautiful as Draco's but it would do.
She turned to look at him and smiled "is this why you wanted to bring me here early? I could have arrived with the guests—"
"I wanted you to meet my mother first. She's heard about you but she's never formally met you. I thought it would ease the tension."
Hermione ran her fingers over the spines of the books quite like she had done at Draco's "mmm. Your mother is a lovely woman. She seems very sad." She glanced over at him before pulling a book out of its spot "she misses your father?"
He nodded "she does. I don't, not as much as she does anyway. She never agreed with his view points but went along with them during the later years to keep herself alive. I think she misses my old father, not the man he became." He went behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Do you mind if I stay here while you and your mother greet your guests?" She glanced at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace, she couldn't believe the time already "I'm sure she misses you and would love to spend some time with you before they arrive."
He let her go and shrugged, his eyebrows knitted in confusion "I'll come get you before supper?"
She nodded and smiled before watching him walk out with a glance behind him, confusion still etched on his face. She planned for much more in the library, more so how to tell him about his son, and what his mother meant.
