Sitting at Draco's kitchen table, Blaise swigged on a bottle of beer as he watched on in amusement while his best friend tried his hand at cooking. Draco had a cookbook propped up on the kitchen bench, while pots and pans surrounded the confused blond. There was also food littered all over the benches as Draco tried to get to grips with the instructions in the book.
"I give in," Draco announced with a sigh. "These instructions make no sense. You need to speak some sort of special language to understand what the book is saying."
"I still don't get why you're trying to cook," Blaise remarked.
"I've already told you, Hermione is coming over for dinner."
"I get that part, but what's with the cooking yourself?" Blaise questioned. "Are you trying to kill her?"
"No, I'm trying to impress her," Draco muttered, turning back and surveying the scattered ingredients, wondering if he could still salvage dinner.
"Ah, I get it," Blaise chuckled dirtily. "Tonight's the big night. You're hoping to get lucky."
"Don't be so crude, Blaise," Draco ordered, shooting his best friend an unamused look over his shoulder.
"Wow, you really like her, don't you?" Blaise questioned with a smirk.
"I do," Draco admitted as he yet again abandoned his futile task of cooking and sat down opposite his best friend.
"Although I still can't believe you haven't slept together yet," Blaise remarked. "How long have you been seeing each other?"
"It's hard to say," Draco replied with a shrug. "We had that first date months ago, but then we were both busy and barely saw each other for weeks."
"Yeah, but you've been seeing each other pretty regularly since the launch of Red Diamond," Blaise pointed out. "And that was what, three weeks ago?"
"Which is really not that long at all," Draco argued.
"It is if you have as much sexual tension as you and Hermione do," Blaise snorted. "I can't believe one of you hasn't snapped and pounced on the other one. In your shoes, I would have been in there weeks ago."
"Yeah well, I'm not you, Blaise. Hermione and I are taking our time in getting to know each other."
"Well do it while naked, it's much more fun."
Draco rolled his eyes as Blaise as his own gaze once again drifted to the mess in his normally pristine kitchen. "What am I going to do? I have no idea how to turn this mess into something edible."
"Get a house elf to whip you something up," Blaise advised.
"You mean the Malfoy house elves who are no longer at my disposal?" Draco questioned with an arched eyebrow. "Besides, I don't think using elf labour is the ideal way to impress Hermione. You know that she's against House Elves being used as slaves."
"You may have a point there," Blaise conceded. "But I still think you need to find an alternative to cooking for her. Giving her food poisoning isn't going to get you into her knickers."
"Blaise," Draco warned in a low voice.
"Sorry," Blaise apologised with a chuckle. "But that is the aim tonight, isn't it? You want to do the deed?"
"If it happens, I wouldn't be complaining," Draco admitted.
"Of course you wouldn't. No red-blooded wizard complains about sex. Especially with a witch like Granger. She's pretty hot these days."
"Hands off Blaise," Draco warned, well aware that his best friend was always on the prowl for good looking witches.
"Yeah, I know, she's yours," Blaise laughed.
"Don't say that where she is, she'll kill us both," Draco chuckled. "Hermione is pretty independent, so I don't think she'd appreciate being called mine."
"Even if the thought of her being yours, turns you on?" Blaise teased.
"Blaise," Draco warned again, deciding his best friend was definitely pushing his luck. "Either help me with dinner, or sod off."
"I can't help you cook, but I can offer an alternative."
"Please don't say it's asking for Theo and Pansy to send over one of their elves," Draco muttered.
"No, we've decided elf labour is off the menu," Blaise retorted. "I have another suggestion. You've got time to nip to a fancy restaurant and pay for a take-away dinner. You can then pass the meal off as your own work."
"The restaurant idea is a good one," Draco admitted with a nod of his head. "But I don't think it's wise to claim credit for the meal."
"Why not? Witches love a wizard who can cook," Blaise said. "It's not the first time my culinary skills have wooed a witch."
"You mean your deceitful nature helped you get some action," Draco retorted. "Lying isn't going to impress Hermione. Okay, so she might be impressed tonight, but when happens when we keep seeing each other and she realises that I can't cook?"
"Who cares, by then you'll have impressed her with your skills in the bedroom," Blaise replied with a casual shrug. "She'll not dump you because you can't cook."
"I'm not taking that risk," Draco declared. "Honesty is going to be the best policy. Now can you do me a favour and nip out and grab me a meal while I try and tidy the mess here and get ready for tonight."
"Italian, alright?" Blaise asked as he got to his feet and shrugged on his jacket. "I know a lovely place just around the corner and I happen to be friendly with one of the waitresses. She'll ensure I get quick service."
"Are we talking restaurant service, or other services?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"If I'm lucky, both," Blaise replied with a wicked grin as he headed off and left Draco to clean up the mess he'd made in trying to cook.
Thankfully magic proved a godsend to Draco, and despite the mess he'd made, the kitchen was soon back to its usual spotless state. With the kitchen sorted, Draco headed off for a shower. By the time he emerged, Blaise still wasn't back so he began to get dressed. Although even with magic it still took him considerably longer than it had done to clean the kitchen as he was a perfectionist and wanted to look his best for Hermione.
In the end, Draco was still fixing his hair when he heard Blaise arrive back. When his best friend poked his head into the bedroom, he revealed he'd left the food in the kitchen for Draco to sort.
"Good luck and have fun tonight," Blaise called, giving his friend a jaunty wink and a wave as this time he left his friend's penthouse for good.
Finishing up with his hair, Draco wandered into the kitchen to sort out the food Blaise had procured for him. Putting the tiramisu into the fridge for later, he placed the lasagne on the kitchen bench along with some fresh garlic bread and charmed them to stay warm. Even Draco's culinary capabilities stretched enough for him to whip up a salad to accompany the meal and he'd just set the table when the floo sounded to signal he had a visitor.
"Draco," Hermione's voice called from the small room where the floo was located.
Making his way towards the floo room, Draco greeted his girlfriend. He then gave her a quick tour of the penthouse before they returned to the kitchen, where dinner was waiting.
"Wow, you didn't have to go to so much trouble," Hermione remarked as Draco pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge.
"I have to admit, it's not homemade," Draco said, handing her a glass of wine. "I did try and cook, but it was a disaster. I couldn't even understand half of the instructions. So instead of poisoning you, I decided to get some take-out. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," Hermione replied. "I would have done the exact same thing. Try as I might, I just can't get to grips with cooking. Even magic doesn't really help much."
"Luckily Blaise had an in with the Italian around the corner and saved the day," Draco said as he began to dish up the meal.
"Are we talking an Italian restaurant or an Italian witch?" Hermione asked. "Because with Blaise, I'm never quite sure."
"He's friendly with one of the waitresses at the restaurant apparently," Draco replied with a laugh. "Whether she's Italian, I have no idea."
"Somehow I think Blaise is the sort who can charm witches of all nationalities."
"He can that," Draco agreed with a nod. "Although perhaps we could find something more interesting to talk about than Blaise. I spend most of my days with him, so the last thing I want to do is talk about him when I'm with you."
"I'm sure we can find something else to discuss," Hermione replied with a flirtatious smile.
"I'm sure we can," Draco agreed, smiling back at his girlfriend.
With the topic of Blaise put to bed, the couple spent the next hour enjoying their meal and chatting about their lives. Hermione told Draco all about the latest cases she'd been handling, while he kept her up to date with how the club and new wine bar were doing. They then moved on to talking about friends and family, and finally the subject of officially meeting each other's friends was raised.
"You would really have dinner with my best friends?" Hermione checked as she and Draco finished their dessert and taking fresh glasses of wine, relocated to the front room.
"I would," Draco replied. "If we're going to be together, I can't avoid your friends forever. Besides, I know some of them and have no issues with them. I get on well enough with Potter and She-Potter, and the twins are great fun."
"Firstly, it might help matters if you use Harry and Ginny's first names. I don't think Ginny would appreciate being called She-Potter."
"How about Red?" Draco asked.
"What's wrong with Ginny?" Hermione questioned.
"It's strange," Draco admitted. "I never thought I would address a Weasley by their first name. Or Potter for that matter."
"You never had any problem switching to using my first name in seventh year," Hermione argued.
"That was because I fancied you," Draco retorted. "I don't fancy Potter, his wife, or any other Weasley."
"Even so you can learn to use their first names," Hermione insisted.
"I can try," Draco reluctantly conceded. "But you're not going to expect me to be able to tell the twins apart, are you? That, I could never manage."
"The family still struggle with that, so no, I don't expect you to keep the twins straight," Hermione answered. "Although there is someone we've yet to mention. You might know Harry and get along with him these days, but there's still Ron to contend with."
"Ah, Weaselbee," Draco sighed. "Does he still hate me?"
"He will if you call him Weaselbee," Hermione frowned. "I'll be honest here, I don't ever see you and Ron becoming bosom buddies. However, he's promised to make the effort and try and get along with you."
"The least I can do is make the same promise," Draco interrupted. "You won't get any trouble from me, Hermione."
"Good," Hermione replied with a smile. "So what about your friends? Will they accept me?"
"You already know Blaise approves," Draco answered. "Vince and Greg are both pretty easy going and aren't likely to kick up a fuss. Theo's also pretty laid back, so he should be fine."
"And what about your female friends, I notice you've yet to mention them," Hermione remarked. "I know Pansy's never liked me, and won't it be awkward with Daphne considering you spurned her little sister?"
"Daph lives in France," Draco informed his girlfriend. "Maybe we could have a weekend away one time and arrange to have dinner with her. And I can promise you the Astoria thing doesn't matter to Daphne. She knows exactly what her sister is like, and she knows what it's like to follow your dreams rather than live the life your parents have picked out for you."
"And Pansy?" Hermione prompted as Draco stopped to refill their wine glasses.
"Pansy is very traditional," Draco admitted carefully, not wanting to badmouth one of his oldest friends. "She likely thinks I'm making a mistake defying my parents and dating a muggleborn, but at the end of the day, she's my friend and she won't create waves. Besides, with any luck she'll be too concerned with welcoming Wilhelmina into the world."
"Wilhelmina?" Hermione questioned, assuming that Draco was referring to the baby Pansy was due to have. She'd seen her at Red Diamond's opening and she'd looked ready to pop then.
"Mina for short," Draco replied. "Just don't mention that to Pansy. She hates names being shortened. I think Theo is going to wait until she's officially named before revealing the shortened version of her name."
"If she hates shortened names so much, why pick names that can be shortened?" Hermione asked.
"To be fair, I don't think she's picked up on the fact it can be shortened," Draco admitted. "She was just desperate to avoid Winnifred so that the name couldn't be shortened to Fred."
"Or Winnie," Hermione snickered. "Oh god, I can just picture it now. Winnie the Witch."
"I'm missing a joke, aren't I?"
"Sorry, it's a muggle thing. When I was a kid there were books about Winnie the Witch. I used to love them," Hermione explained. "I just think it would be hilarious if Pansy named her kid after a muggle book character."
"That would be funny," Draco admitted with a chuckle. "However, Winnie is no more and Mina is on her way."
"Before or after I meet them?" Hermione asked. "I don't want to burden Pansy if she's about ready to pop."
"She is about due, but she's been complaining about being ready to give birth for months," Draco said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I pity poor Theo, he's had nine months of hell. It makes you think twice about having kids."
"You've thought about having kids?" Hermione asked with a teasing smile.
"I'm talking way into the distant future," Draco replied. "Besides, kids are hardly on the horizon right now."
"No, for that to happen, sex has to be involved."
"Really? I had no idea," Draco gasped with a laugh. "And here was me thinking sex was all about pleasure."
"I like the sound of that," Hermione purred as she placed her wine glass down on the table and leaned closer to Draco. "How much pleasure are we talking?"
"Enough to make you beg for more," Draco returned in a low voice as he also deposited his wine glass onto the table and focused on his girlfriend.
"That is quite some promise," Hermione whispered. "Can you live up to it?"
"Try me and see," Draco replied, licking his lips in invitation.
Accepting the invitation, Hermione pressed her lips against Draco's. From there it didn't take long for the temperature to rise and clothes to be shed. The couple did make it to Draco's bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake, where they collapsed onto his king sized bed and spent several hours getting to know each other a bit more intimately.
