Chapter 8

A Little Change

Hermione had a restless night and woke feeling groggy. Draco's revelation had bought back all the feelings she thought she'd managed to get over. It wasn't that she wanted Leo back or a family with him but hearing that he was carrying on his with his life, starting a family and doing all those things with Draco's ex-wife was a bit of a kick in the teeth.

She got ready and forced herself to stop wallowing in self-pity. She had to be top of her game today as it was her first sitting and it was with Draco. And Luca! She was excited to meet him.

She arrived in the yard before them and waited patiently, her mind running through what she needed to do today.

"Miss Granger."

She heard Draco's voice behind her and turned round to see him heading across the yard accompanied by a young man.

"How are you today?" Draco asked. He hadn't asked her this before and she wondered if this was his subtle way of finding out how she'd handled the news from last night.

"I'm good, thank you."

Draco pushed his son towards Hermione. "This is Luca – this is Miss Granger."

Luca was a tall boy, slim but not thin with fair hair. He had some of Draco's features but the similarity wasn't startling. He was handsome though with a gorgeous smile that he gave willingly to Hermione.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Granger," he said, his voice already that of a man.

"Hello Luca," Hermione shook his hand and smiled warmly at him. "Your father told me you want to make a career of dragon training?"

"Yes, I'd like to," Luca nodded enthusiastically. "Obviously I have a unique opportunity to learn here." He waved his arms around.

"Let's get going then," Draco called, in his impatient way.

Hermione chatted to Luca on the carriage. He wasn't shy, he answered her confidently enough but she could tell he wasn't the boy who would be vying to be the centre of attention. She guessed that Draco's children would be attending Hogwarts, and after Luca confirmed it, she asked what he thought.

"I love it," he said. "I don't want to leave."

"What year are you in?"

"I'm in 6th year."

Hermione did a quick calculation in her head and realised that Draco must have met Eva, got married and had Luca within a very short time of leaving Hogwarts. She couldn't imagine that at all! The boy who looked so bewildered and not sure of his place in the world had become a husband and a father so soon afterwards?

"Max and Aria aren't as keen as me about school," Luca said. "But I guess I wasn't when I was their age."

"Are they a lot younger than you?" Hermione was enjoying getting this information – without having to actually ask for most of it.

"Max is just 14 and Aria is…" Luca turned to Draco at the front of the carriage. "How old is Aria now?"

Hermione wondered how much of the conversation Draco had heard but he must have heard it all by the way he answered.

"She's 12 and both of them need to take school a bit more seriously."

Luca pulled a face then smiled sheepishly. "She can be a bit annoying," he said.

"I'm sure Miss Granger can handle a 12-year-old girl," Draco said. "She used to be one after all."

Luca rolled his eyes at his father's attempt at humour and Hermione smiled at him. It sounded like she was going to meet all the children! She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or not but she was glad nevertheless.

They arrived at the rockface where she was going to paint Draco and Mavis and while they waited for Pippa and Toby to bring her along, Hermione set to work sketching the outlines and proportions of the scene.

When she did arrive, Mavis was very well behaved. She obediently sat down by Draco while Hermione drew her in this position before Draco, Luca, Pippa and Toby, all stirred her into flight and then tried to control her as she circled above them.

Hermione had to work quickly and she knew she was barking orders but it had to be done and between each order she kept saying "Sorry, to be demanding."

Mavis had landed again and was starting to look restless so after a few more minutes of perfecting her face, Hermione thanked them and said she was happy to work with what she had.

Luca went off with Pippa and Toby to return Mavis to her enclosure and Hermione asked Draco to pose in various positions while she decided what would look the best.

"I think it would look amazing if you were looking up at Mavis as she took off – rather than in full flight, I can draw her leaving the ground and you looking up at her," Hermione said as a half question, half decision. She put her sketch pad down and approached Draco who look slightly nervous.

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked with mock nervousness and Hermione laughed.

"I'll be gentle, I promise," she joked.

"You were pretty scary giving your orders out," Draco pointed out and she grimaced.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's just I have to sketch so quickly; I have to be bossy."

Draco was smiling at her. "I know," he said. "It's impressive and terrifying"

She moved close to him and posed his arms in various positions and he complied without complaint. She was concentrating on what would look the best so being in such close proximity to him didn't register. That was until she directed him to look up and without thinking she gently moved his chin a little to make it look more natural. Suddenly, she became very aware just how close they were, how she was touching him, particularly his face and how nice he smelt. His skin was perfect, his lips formed a perfect pout without him trying and he had the longest eye lashes she'd ever seen.

"I think this is perfect," she said, more to cover up being slightly flustered than the actual need to say anything. "I'll go over there and check." She went to step away but realised she hadn't asked the most important question. "Oh, sorry I meant to ask if you feel comfortable? Will you be able to hold this pose for about ten minutes?"

Draco was like a statue, not moving an inch and when he answered her, he spoke between gritted teeth, obviously scared to move.

"It's surprisingly comfortable," he said, sounding ridiculous and Hermione was suddenly overcome with mirth. He looked so funny, not daring to move a single muscle, not even his mouth and she couldn't stop the giggles. She knew this was not professional and also extremely risky, given Draco's unpredictable nature but she couldn't stop herself. She put her hand over her mouth and took a deep breath but she was still chuckling.

Draco moved from his position to look at her. "What?" he asked. "What's funny?"

Hermione gulped, trying to keep control of herself. "Sorry…sorry," she said. "It's just that you don't need to stand so rigidly, you can move to keep comfortable," she couldn't get the words out as she chuckled again. Draco's face told her he realised she was laughing at him and she wasn't sure how he was taking it until she saw his lips curve at the edges.

"You can move you face and blink," Hermione explained. "And you definitely don't have to talk 'like this'," she said the final two words in the same way Draco had, not moving her lips and through gritted teeth. This set her off in another fit of giggles and she saw Draco's smile widen until he was chuckling too. They then set each other off again just by looking at each other and for a few moments they both struggled to get control of themselves.

Hermione lowered herself onto a rock, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Once she had calmed down a little she looked over at Draco, who was also sat on a rock.

"I really have to apologise," she offered and she meant it. She really would not and could not have done that with any other client, no matter how much she wanted to. She knew she had let herself give in to the laughter because it was Draco and because they knew each other. "That was not professional at all and I wouldn't dream of doing that with a client usually." She looked over at him. "I really am very sorry."

Draco was leaning his arms on his knees, looking at her from beneath his fringe. "It's perfectly okay – I laughed too," he said, quietly.

"It was Hermione laughing at Draco," Hermione said. "It wasn't Miss Granger laughing at her client."

Draco was staring at her intently and she felt her throat go dry. She couldn't read him at all – his moods and reactions were impossible to judge. His next words answered her question and shocked her at the same time.

"It's rather nice being with someone who thinks of me as Draco rather than Mr Malfoy, to be honest."

Hermione was sure her jaw must have dropped open before she managed to hide her shock.

"My former self was a little arse with an obnoxious attitude but at least he had an attitude. At least he felt so strongly about something."

Hermione listened to him talking about himself in the third person and realised he was voicing what she had thought too. He was a different person now – it was as if all his emotions had been switched off.

"Well, he was a little jumped up jerk and although I know what you mean, I much prefer the Draco sat in front of me now," she said this kindly as she did actually feel sorry for him. She knew it must have taken a lot for him to confess this to her, she guessed their hysterics had triggered it and she was glad.

"This Draco, the one that's sitting on this rock hasn't been around for a while," Draco said and Hermione frowned, trying to work out what he meant. "The one you met 48 hours ago, he's the main Draco around here." He was still resting his arms on his knees, his head looking down at the ground.

Hermione bit her lips together, now understanding what he was trying to say.

"The one sat on the rock seems really nice," Hermione said. "I think he should visit more often."

Draco looked over at her and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, he's a nice chap," his smile widened and Hermione grinned back at him.

"A nice chap?" she joked about his term of phrase and he gave another small chuckle. She sensed he had said all he wanted to, maybe more than he wanted to, so she stood up and pointed towards the rock. "Ready to resume your position?" she asked.

Draco nodded and stood up to. He went over to the rockface and put himself into the pose perfectly. Hermione picked up her sketch pad and set to work.