AN: I'm back! I'm SO sorry for my unexpected disappearance, and I appreciate all of your sweet messages asking I was alright. I am actually doing so great, I started back at college which was a bit more time-consuming than expected and... I GOT ENGAGED! I'm over the moon, and couldn't be happier, so we took an unexpected vacation to celebrate. I'm back now, and should be able to get back on schedule with posting every Thursday. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you all have an incredible weekend!

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At some point, Draco's attention had drifted so far from his mother's descriptions of her renovation plans that he didn't notice when she stopped talking and began analyzing his appearance. Her eyes drifted from his hair, which was growing long enough to nearly fall into his eyes, and settled on his face. His expression was more relaxed than she had seen it in a long time, softer, and a faint smile was pulling at his lips. She frowned. His lips which had…

"Draco, darling, are you going to explain why your lip has that odd bauble attached to it, or are you going to continue to sit here and act like I cannot see it?"

Draco's hand immediately went to his face and brushed against the piercing in his lower lip. He had entirely forgotten. In the excitement of his night with Hermione and his thoughts of their next date, he had forgotten about the new modification she had given him. How was he supposed to explain such a muggle concept to Narcissa Malfoy?

"Am I to assume," she added when he didn't speak, "that it has something to do with the new markings on your arm?"

Draco blanched. Had he forgotten to tell her about his tattoos as well? Merlin, had he told her anything, or had Hermione taken up so much of his thoughts that he had forgotten everything else? "I'm sorry, Mother. I thought I had told you."

"You had not." Disappointment was clear in both her voice and the sharp glint in her grey eyes.

"I'm sure you've heard that Hermione opened a magical tattoo shop."

The look she gave him seemed to tell him that of course she knew and he should get to the damned point.

Rubbing the sleeve of his shirt that covered his tattoo, Draco said, "Hermione found a way to cover the dark mark, something about infusing magic into the muggle tattoo technique." Hesitating for a moment, he glanced at his mother to try and gauge her reaction. Tattoos were not a wholly unfamiliar concept to wizards as that had been the Dark Lord's way of marking his followers, but the idea that muggles could produce them was certainly new.

Narcissa was looking at him with an unreadable expression. Her gaze was calculating, sweeping back and forth between his face and his forearm. Carefully returning her tea cup to its saucer, she said, "Show me."

Draco rolled up his sleeve and held out his left arm. His tattoo was still as bold and beautiful as when Hermione had given it to him. The white narcissus flowers glowed in the afternoon sun, and goosebumps broke out over his skin as Narcissa traced her fingertip over the delicate flower petals.

"It's beautiful," she murmured quietly. She turned his arm this way and that, taking in every minute detail of the artwork spreading over his skin. "How far does it go?"

"Up to my shoulder." Draco made no move to take off his shirt and silently prayed Narcissa wouldn't ask to see the rest of it. There were several questionable bruises on his neck and chest that he absolutely did not need his mother to see. He suppressed a smirk at the memory of the night before and tried to focus on his mother's inspection of his arm.

Narcissa grew still and she breathed, "Narcissus flowers."

"Like in your garden."

The only outward sign of emotion was the slightest quiver in her upper lip. Draco knew she would immediately understand the meaning behind those flowers. Not only were they her namesake, they had been the most precious part of her garden in Malfoy Manor. His fondest childhood memories, the few that he had, took place almost exclusively in her garden. The fact that he would memorialize that onto his skin in such a beautiful way overwhelmed her with emotion.

"You trust her," Narcissa said softly. She gripped Draco's hand and brushed her thumb gently over his knuckles. "Does it hurt?"

Draco shook his head and tried to keep the emotions at bay. For years, his dark mark had ached and burned with an echo of the magic that had once claimed him. Every twinge and sting had him fearing Voldemort was still alive despite everything they had been through. To be free of that pain, of that constant fear…

"Well, I think it's lovely." Narcissa cleared her throat and patted his hand, the poised aristocrat sitting across from him once more. "When will you be seeing her again?"

"Why," Draco asked with a playful grin. "Would you like to make an appointment?"

She looked absolutely appalled by the idea, and Draco couldn't help but laugh. "Draco Lucius Malfoy, if you so much as think about putting your dear mother —"

Draco leaned back in his seat and clutched his stomach as he laughed. No part of him thought Narcissa would ever want a tattoo, but he couldn't resist watching her delicate, pureblood composure crack.

"It is good to hear you laugh." She smiled softly at him, despite his laughter being at her expense. "However, I am still insulted that I was one of the last to know about your," she gestured vaguely towards his face and arm, "additions."

"I promise, in the future, you will be one of the first to know."

Narcissa's eyebrows rose and a coy smile began to play at the corners of her lips. "In the future? So you plan on allowing Miss Granger to continue using your skin as her personal art canvas?"

For whatever reason, this caused Draco to blush faintly, and he hid his face behind a long sip of his tea. The way she said it made the tattoos seem even more intimate than they already were. When he finally got his embarrassment under control, he said, "Calling it an art canvas seems a touch dramatic."

"Is it?" She waved her hand, and a house elf appeared to remove the tea set. Narcissa smiled gratefully at it. "Do you not think Miss Granger considers it to be an art form?"

"I suppose." He frowned slightly; he hadn't considered that before. It made sense considering she had to draw the designs and, in a sense, paint them onto his skin. "Calling it art makes it seem so…"

"Intimacy comes in many forms, Draco."

Once again reminded of the previous night, Draco cleared his throat and rose from his chair. "Forgive me, Mother, but intimacy is the last thing I would like to discuss with you."

"Of course, darling." She was still giving him that damned smile. It was hiding laughter, not malicious but still frustrating because he knew she enjoyed making him uncomfortable, and she was so bloody good at it. "Do tell Miss Granger I said hello."

He told her he would, kissed her gently on the cheek, and apparated back to his flat. He needed a shower and a change of clothes before he met Hermione for dinner.

Hermione had spent the afternoon at her shop, scheduling new appointments and tactfully evading Theo's questions. She found herself smiling throughout the day at nothing in particular and frequently lost herself to thoughts of her date with Draco.

"You're doing it again."

Her gaze snapped up, and she found Theo leaning against the doorway of her office. He had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Doing what?" She knew exactly what she was doing, but she refused to admit to it.

"Thinking about him," he said. He pointed to her face and his grin widened. "You get this dopey smile on your face every time you think about him. It's disgusting."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "If it's so terrible, why don't you go home?"

"I have a better idea." Theo walked over to her desk and picked up her appointment book. He skimmed over it to make sure they were finished for the day and said, "Since you are having such a difficult time focusing on anything other than my best mate, which makes me uncomfortable by the way, why don't you go home? Having to watch you moon over him all day should be considered workplace harassment."

"Listening to you complain is workplace harassment." Hermione took the appointment book back from him and stood from her chair. Despite the teasing way he had said it, she was more than happy to listen to Theo and go home early. This made her pause. Since when was she one to abandon work to spend time with someone else.

Theo saw the way her body went still and swore he could hear the gears of her mind turning. "It's a good thing," he said quickly before she could fully begin to panic. "You are allowed to be happy and not want to spend every waking moment at work."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he held a hand up to cut her off.

"I know you are allergic to being idle, but allow yourself time to enjoy your new relationship."

Hermione thought about disagreeing with him over his use of the word 'relationship', but she knew there was no point. Blaise could probably be fooled into believing her, but Theo was far too observant and stubborn. Not that it was a secret, of course.

"Go home," Theo said again. He smiled kindly at her and held his hand out for the store key. "I'll lock up."

"Thanks, Theo." She gave him the key and kissed him sweetly on the cheek. "Don't forget to set the wards."

He rolled his eyes. "I know, Hermione."

She grabbed her coat from the back of her chair and followed him to the front of the shop. "And make sure not to lose the key."

"I know, Hermione."

"And —"

"Hermione," he groaned as he pushed her through the door and out into Diagon Alley. "This isn't my first time closing up. Stop worrying, and go enjoy an evening with your new beau. Work will be here for you in the morning."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but her smile caused it to lose all of its menace. "It had better be here in the morning."

Theo rolled his eyes again and made a shooing motion with his hands. "Have a little faith, boss."

Hermione gestured rudely at him and smiled at the sound of his laughter as he closed the door. She turned towards Diagon Alley and was considering what to do with her unexpected evening off when a shock of blond hair further down the alley caught her attention.

"Impeccable timing as always," she called.

"Only you for," Draco said as he reached her and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "What are you doing out in the alley?"

Hermione pulled him into a tight hug and sighed. "Theo kicked me out." The laugh that burst from him startled her, and she pulled back from the hug to glare incredulously up at him.

"The great Hermione Granger getting kicked out of her own tattoo shop?" He grinned down at her and tsked. "You're going soft, Granger."

"Me? Going soft?" Hermione scoffed and pushed against his chest to try and get out of his arms. "Dream on, Malfoy."

The malice that had always been carried with his surname was gone, and there was no effort in the way she was pushing against his chest. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and said, "Someone needs to send an owl to the Daily Prophet. The once fierce Lioness of Gryffindor has been tamed."

"Tamed," she exclaimed in outrage. "You could never tame me."

"Is that a challenge," he asked with a wicked grin. He lifted her up with his arms, still hugging her close to him, and spun her in a quick circle. The sound of her surprised laughter was still the best thing he had ever heard. He set her back down and smiled down at her beautiful, flushed face. Her hair was a wild halo about her head, and her eyes were practically shining up at him.

Remembering where they were, Hermione glanced quickly around the nearly empty alley. She was less worried about someone seeing and more concerned with ending up splashed across the front page of the newspaper again, but it still made something twinge uncomfortably in Draco's chest.

"We should get going," he said as he finally released her.

She looked disappointed to no longer be in his arms, but it was quickly replaced with curiosity. "Where are we going?"

He tangled their fingers together and began pulling her down the alley. "I owe you dinner," he said. "Would you like to go back to my flat or out to a restaurant?"

Hermione considered it for a moment, and a faint blush bloomed on her cheeks. He smirked down at her which only made the blush deepen. "We should probably go to a restaurant."

"And why is that?" He knew exactly what she was thinking, that going back to his flat would end up in anything but dinner happening, but he couldn't resist the urge to make her blush. It was just too easy.

"You know exactly why."

"Very well," he said. "I know just the place."

They ended up at a restaurant Hermione had never been to in the wizarding side of London. It was a bit more upscale than she would have liked, especially since she was wearing such casual clothes. But Draco assured her several times that she looked beautiful, so she didn't put up much of a fuss and let him lead her to their table.

The food was delicious, and Hermione made a mental note to most certainly return in the future. They spent the evening talking about anything and everything, and they were just beginning to discuss the possibility of desert when a voice called out behind Hermione.

"Draco, mate, fancy seeing you here."

Hermione resisted the urge to sigh and plastered a forced smile on her face. "Zabini," she greeted with fake enthusiasm. "What a pleasant surprise."

Blaise's swagger didn't falter. He rested his hand against the back of her chair and gave her his most charming smile. "Granger, darling, how are you?"

"I was enjoying a brilliant dinner," she said sweetly. "A perfectly quiet, uneventful, dove-free dinner."

He winced slightly, but he still didn't look at all apologetic for the chaos he had caused the week before. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Draco and asked, "Did you see Pansy?"

"No," Draco said with a frown. "Should I have?"

"She was here with a new wizard." Blaise's smile turned almost feral, and Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

She had seen many sides to Blaise while they were in school together, but the clever and sometimes diabolical side that she had heard whispers of was something she wasn't sure she wanted to experience. There was a keen glint in his dark eyes that made her aware of his every movement, like one would be wary of a feral animal on the prowl.

"A new wizard?" Draco was leaned back casually in his seat and looked to be unaware of the unsettling energy coming from his friend. "Are you sure he wasn't another…" He glanced towards Hermione and let the rest of the sentence hang in the air between them.

"No, this was a date." Blaise pulled out a chair from a nearby table and sat between them, much to Hermione's displeasure. He waved his hand vaguely and said, "She had on that red dress she only wears on special occasions."

Hermione frowned and said, "It's a bit odd of you to notice that."

"Blaise is overly invested in the love lives of his friends," Draco told her. He had an amused smile on his lips, but something in his eyes told her he would get rid of Blaise as quickly as he could.

She felt his foot gently bump hers under the table, and she returned his smile. "I think 'overly invested' is an understatement, all things considered."

"You two love birds ended up having dinner, didn't you?" Blaise smirked at her, and she had to resist the urge to hit him. "I'm not saying you should thank me for giving you a push in the right direction, but…" He winked at her and drawled, "You're welcome, love."

"Am I supposed to thank you for ruining my reputation at the Ministry," she retorted hotly.

"Of course not," Blaise said as he leaned even closer to her. "But I would love to help you ruin your reputation in much more enjoyable ways."

"Zabini."

Hermione was startled by the ice in Draco's voice. He was leveling Blaise with a look that would have sent chills down her spine had she been the one to receive it. His grey eyes were hard as stone, and the muscles of his jaw were clenched tight. Draco raised his whiskey glass to his lips, his eyes never leaving Blaise's, and slowly took a sip of his firewhiskey. Hermione could not figure out why, but the simple gesture was incredibly intimidating.

A quiet part of her was pleased to see him come to her defense.

"Easy, mate." Blaise held his hands up in a placating gesture and back away from Hermione. Although he was still smiling, there was a nervous edge to it. "Just a bit of banter."

The silence that fell over the table was horribly uncomfortable, and Hermione was about to excuse herself to the bathroom when Blaise finally stood from his borrowed chair.

"Well," he said sharply as he brushed invisible dust from his clothes, "it was a pleasure to see you both. Enjoy your dinner." He nodded towards Draco and added, "We can discuss Pansy's latest intrigue at a more convenient time."

Draco said nothing as he watched Blaise leave.

"Draco," Hermione said softly once Blaise was gone. "Draco?"

He finally looked at her, and his expression softened. "Sorry, love. He gets the best of me sometimes."

"That's alright." She reached across the table to take his hand and smiled. "I was finished eating anyway."

"Would you…" He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, and the way he looked at her made her toes curl. "Would you like to come back to my flat?"

She couldn't help but grin and nod. "I would love to."

Draco quickly paid for their dinner and they made their way to the nearest apparition point.

Walking arm-in-arm with Draco, Hermione couldn't resist saying, "I still think that Zabini knowing the significance of Pansy's dress is strange."

"Everything he does is strange." Draco pulled her tighter against his side and said, "I understand you are still upset about the stunt he pulled with the doves, and I am more than happy to encourage a grudge against him. However," he glanced down at her with that hungry gaze again and she grinned. "Please refrain from speaking about him for the rest of the evening."

"Gladly." When they reached the apparition point, she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and felt that familiar tug as he apparated them back to his flat.