A/N: As soon as Lose Control wraps up, I will be posting this one 2x a week :)

alpha love to honeysweetcutie

forever unbeta'd

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TWENTY-TWO

Three Words, Eight Letters

Hermione stood in front of the mirror for what she was sure was the tenth time, though if she was going by Draco's count, it was the thousandth. She smoothed down the front of her dress, reminding herself again that she needed to do something other than the thank you text she had sent Pansy when it had arrived via courier the day before. Aside from the dress, Pansy had included a few accessories and suggestions for hair and makeup. Hermione had spent the rest of the afternoon looking at tutorials to make sure she could replicate something Pansy would be proud of.

The dress itself was simple, but still elegant enough to be worthy of the Malfoy's presence. Draco and Theo had both done their best to assure her that Narcissa and Lucius would love her no matter what she wore and they weren't expecting her to dress to the nines. Regardless, she wanted to make a good impression. And the little black midi dress with a high scalloped neckline and little cap sleeves seemed to the do the trick. She attempted to tame her hair, but the best she could manage was to tie it off to one side. For makeup, she kept it simple with neutrals, mascara, and a pop of red for her lips.

And before she could second guess the bold color choice, Draco was dragging her away from the bathroom and out of the flat. "You look great. It's just dinner at my parent's place, Granger," he said as Theo handed her clutch. "And you've already met my mother."

"I know," Hermione said with a sigh as she stepped into the hall.

Draco grabbed her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles as Theo locked the door. "She's already told me she likes you and she can't wait to get to know more about you."

"I just want it to be perfect," she said, her gaze sliding to Theo. "For all of us."

"It will be," Theo assured her, his hand finding the small of her back as she turned to walk towards the lift.

Hermione had been fine at the start of the week. She had gotten along just fine with Narcissa and was looking forward to dinner, but as the week progressed, her anxiety rose. She knew it was natural, that, like Draco had said, officially meeting his parents meant this wasn't casual anymore. They weren't just flatmates that shared each other's beds. They weren't just three adults experimenting with their sexuality or having threesomes because they were taboo and trendy. What they had was significant. Real.

Yet, she continued to let her nerves get the best of her no matter how much either of them tried to calm her down. She urged them to distract her on the way there by talking about anything other than family. Mostly, they talked of work, something that didn't necessarily help either considering they were talking more to each other than to her. It was too easy for her to tune them out and let her anxiety commence.

As the town car approached the part of town that was reserved for magazine covers and Hollywood backdrops, Hermione's heart rate increased. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered as they pulled up to a gated entry.

"You knew I came from money."

"It's one thing to know and another to see it," she said, staring wide-eyed out the window as they passed mansion after mansion. She swallowed hard when she realized they were only getting larger as they drove further in.

As strange as it was to take in, nothing could compare to the sight of so many people being dropped off in the circular driveway with a fountain in the center. "I thought this was supposed to be just us?" Theo asked, his tone conveying the surprise they all felt.

"It was," Draco said with a frown as he got out and held out a hand for Hermione to take.

"What is it now?" she asked as Theo took his place behind her.

"Knowing my mother, it's probably some sort of charity thing."

"Narcissa does love to show off," Theo mused, offering his arm for Hermione to take.

Draco gave a half smile and then placed a warm hand on Hermione's other arm. "I'm sorry it won't be the dinner we thought."

She smiled back at him and took a deep breath. "Actually, this is doing wonders for my nerves. Playing hosts for whatever this is will keep the attention off of the woman dating their son, right?"

"Unless she plans on showing you off to everyone."

Hermione's head turned to sharply towards Theo she thought her neck might kink. "Not helping."

He grinned and gave a quick shrug. "My bad."

She rolled her eyes and looked from the house, a term she used loosely, to Draco. "Before we go in there, are we telling them it's just us or…"

Draco looked at her and then up at Theo who only shrugged again. "It's up to you, Mate. I'll understand if you're not ready for that yet."

"If it was just the dinner it was supposed to be, I would have," he said, a hint of bitterness in his tone. "But the last thing I need is for it to blow up in our faces." He raked a hand through his hair and smiled at the both of them. "The last thing I want to do is have the snobs in this social circle painting us in a negative light for something they know nothing about."

Hermione exchanged a glance with Theo and they both nodded. He leaned in to place a kiss to her cheek and then stepped away from her. "I agree. These people can be very two-faced," he added.

"Great. Can't wait to meet them all," Hermione muttered with a smirk as she took Draco's arm.

"I promise my mother isn't like that."

"And your father?" she asked.

He sighed and turned to give her a sly smile. "He's the worst gossip of them all." And with that, he began to walk towards the door, dragging her with him.

It wouldn't have mattered if they were there for five minutes or five years, Hermione knew the Malfoy Manor would always be impressive. The sheer amount of items handed down through the ages reminded her of museum. The history of Draco's lineage alone had her itching to learn more; to see just how far back he could trace his name. But that was something she would have to learn another day. One where Draco brought her here without a charity event going on and she was free to roam.

But that wasn't to say she didn't learn quite a lot that night. The more she milled around, striking up conversation with the other guests, she learned quite a bit about Draco and his parents. She learned that they came from old money and that they had kept their wealth steadily increasing with each generation. It seemed that having an ambitious work ethic was a Malfoy family trait and it made Hermione smile. She also learned a bit about Narcissa as well. That she had come from a wealthy family of her own. Hermione filed that information away to ask Draco more about later. Just like with everything else new and exciting, once she had an in, she wanted to know everything there was about it.

However, nothing she learned could have prepared her for actually meeting his parents. Especially Lucius Malfoy. She had spotted him from across the room, mistaking that all too familiar platinum blonde hair for Draco. Had he not been standing next to her, she would have mistaken him easily. "Is that shade of hair color a family trait?" she asked, looking up at Draco.

He looked up, scanning the crowd and smirked when his eyes rested on what she presumed was his father. "For the males, yes," he replied.

"And the females?"

His face pinched slightly as he gave it some thought. "Not sure, really. Female offspring are hard to find in our lineage."

"Really? Have you ever thought to look into-"

Her inquisitive side was shut off as the Malfoy's stepped up to them to introduce themselves. Officially. "Mother, lovely to see you," Draco said, pulling her into a small embrace and kissing each of her cheeks. He simply inclined his head at his father and gestured between him and Hermione. "Father, this is Hermione. Hermione, this is my father, Lucius."

Hermione could only stare with wide eyes as he took her hand and brought it to his lips in greeting. "My wife has been telling me good things since her run in with you earlier this week. It is good to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Hermione said, awestruck by how similar his features were to Draco's. "You have a lovely home."

"Thank you," he said, shifting his gaze behind her. "Nice to see you again, Theo. How are things?"

At that, Narcissa stepped forward and took Hermione's hand, leading her away. "Let's let them talk business for a minute, shall we?"

Hermione gave Theo and Draco a glance over her shoulder before she and Narcissa disappeared into the crowd. "This is quite the party," Hermione heard herself say, trying her hardest not to wince at how lame it sounded.

Narcissa's laugh was just as tinkling now as it was when she had heard it the first time. "My sincerest apologizes for the turn of events. I had forgotten I was hosting tonight when I invited you for dinner." Hermione bit her tongue at the urge to snort; Narcissa Malfoy didn't seem the sort to forget anything. "I assure you that next time it will just be dinner."

"Do you host a lot of these charity events often?"

"Once or twice a month," she replied as she grabbed two glasses from the tray of the nearest server, handing one of them to Hermione. "Lucius works for as a private investment banker, so I often find myself helping companies host their own events. Keeps me busy since Draco moved out."

The words that came pouring from her mouth were a surprise to both of them. "If you ever need some help, I have some free time on my hands."

Narcissa lit up and placed a hand on her forearm. "That would be splendid. In fact, I have another one coming up two weeks from now to raise money for the underprivileged."

"Sounds perfect," Hermione said, sipping at her glass, wishing she could down the whole thing. But as she looked around, her gaze settling on Draco and Theo across the room with Lucius, she felt a bit more at ease. Taking a deep breath, she asked Narcissa more about the current event and smiled at the acceptance Draco's mother gave her

She spent most of the evening with Narcissa, meeting a slew of people she would never remember the names of. A handful of times she crossed paths with either Draco or Theo, and once with Lucius. That conversation had only lasted a few minutes and when it was over, she wasn't sure if he liked her or if he thought she wasn't good enough for his son. Something she still hadn't decided on when she ran into him again after coming back from the loo.

"Draco tells me you were in publishing until recently."

She cleared her throat and gave a nod.

"Was that something you always wanted to do?"

Hermione mulled it over and sighed. "I always knew I wanted to do something with books. I wasn't expecting to get the job when I interviewed for it years ago since I had no experience at the time, but I did. I worked my way up to what I was when I left."

"Draco did tell me you spend more time reading than anyone he's ever seen. Has he told you about the Malfoy library?"

Hermione nearly forgot how to breathe. "The what?"

The way Lucius smiled was eerily similar to Draco's. He turned on his heel and beckoned her to follow with a nod of his head. "We have an entire wing of the house dedicated to library. Some of the works stored here are as old as the Malfoy line itself. Some of my ancestors had an affinity for collecting rare books as well. Some of which have been loaned out to various museums throughout time."

Hermione shivered and bit down on an undignified snort. If Draco had only told her about his family library from the get-go, she was pretty sure she would have jumped him right then and there. As it was, she followed Lucius with an excited bounce in her step. She tried to picture it, but short of the library in the Beast's castle from her favorite childhood movie, she couldn't fathom something of what he described.

And when he opened heavy wooden doors and gestured for her to step inside, Hermione nearly fainted.

The library was two stories high, had wall-to-wall shelves that were full, and several seating areas. There was one massive fireplace directly across from the doors and little glass cases interspersed that housed the rarest of the rare items.

She was ready to move in right then.

Lucius gave her a tour, one that left Hermione's head spinning as she salivated over how well organized the space was. "You may borrow whatever you'd like."

"Are you sure?" she asked, staring at him with childlike wonder.

"Call it intuition, but I believe my collection would be better suited in your care than in the hands of any collector." She returned his wry smile with a shy one and inclined her head in thanks. "Have you ever considered working for a book dealer?"

Hermione shook her head. "Never crossed my mind."

"I know a few. I could set up a meeting for you to discuss it with any one of them if you would like more information."

"That would be amazing, Mister Malfoy. Thank you."

"Lucius," he corrected, his features softening. "I'll send Draco to fetch you soon," he added and tipped his head before taking his leave.

Alone in the library, Hermione couldn't help but let out the little scream of excitement behind her hand as she warred with herself over where to start first.

Hermione wasn't sure how much time had passed from being show the library to the moment Theo and Draco found her sitting on a couch surrounded by dozens of books. However, judging from the sigh of relief from both of them as well as Theo's muttering of, "Should have known," she ascertained it had been a fair bit of time.

After a brief moment of expressing their mutual worry over her disappearance, they informed her that the event was winding down and it was time to go. With a heavy hearted sigh and a promise from Draco that they could come back another day, Hermione went about putting the books back in their proper places. All except for the one that she planned on taking home.

It wasn't until they were in the car after saying goodbye to their hosts from the evening that Hermione cracked open her book. "Oh no," Draco said, plucking it from her hands. "You just spent over an hour in a library unchaperoned. Your eyes need a break."

She snorted, but didn't make a move for the book. "Please, I could read for a week straight with barely more than a nap and I would be fine." They both grinned at her, but she looked at Draco with a narrowed gaze. "Why didn't you tell me about the library?"

"Because then you would have wanted to see it and that would have meant meeting my parents earlier."

She gave a nod and smiled at him. "Despite it not being the night we thought, I think it went well."

"I agree," Theo said, reaching for her hand from his place beside her. "They both adore you."

"Narcissa for sure, but I'm not sure exactly where I stand with Lucius. He doesn't hate me, but-"

"But nothing. That library is his pride and joy. He used to only let me in there on occasion and he never left me in there by myself."

Hermione couldn't help but smirk a little at the jealousy in his tone. "I thought he said it was a Malfoy collection?"

"It is," Draco muttered. "Though I imagine I won't set foot it unsupervised until I'm the head of the family."

Hermione grabbed his hand with her free one and gave it a squeeze. "He even offered to set me up with a book dealer about a job."

Draco brought her hand up so he could brush his lips over the back of his hand. "He must like you if he's planning on introducing you to Mister Riddle. I've never seen my father cater to anyone the way he does to that man."

Hermione beamed at that, glad that she had the approval of both his parents and a potential job lined up. "Meeting my uncle will be far less fabulous," Theo said after a moment.

"I'm still looking forward to it," she said, giving his hand a light squeeze as well. "And eventually I'll reintroduce the both of you to my parents."

"Only when you're ready," Theo said, smiling softly at her.

"I'll never be ready to tell them," she admitted. "But it doesn't matter who knows what or what they feel about it." She took a deep breath and looked from Theo to Draco. "All that matters is what we feel and…" She took another deep and let the words come out. Words that she had been sitting on for a few weeks now. "I love you."

Draco's eyes widened and he tightened his grip on her hands. She turned her head back to Theo. "Both of you. You don't have to say it back, but I-"

"I love you too."

Hermione's grin widened as they both said it at the same time. She let out a breath of relief and pulled her hands from theirs in favor of moving to kiss them each in turn. As she thought it would, the kisses turned into heavy petting and by the time they arrived home, they were all in desperate need of release. And they spent the entire night chasing after it.