Minister Riddle Will See You Now

Chapter 13: Tangled Magics

Wrapped up in the blanket with Tom's strong arms around her, Hermione found it a struggle not to fall asleep. Severus and Tom were theorizing possibilities that could be behind her ailments and as fascinating as it was, she was exhausted. Being tired after a day spent doing very little was odd. It wasn't even 11 o'clock and her eyes kept closing.

"Yes, but wandless magic that responds to her emotions? Mature witches and wizards don't usually have access to that much power under any circumstances, Tom," Severus murmured over the top of a book he was thumbing through quickly.

"She's done it before. Twice," Tom argued.

"During the act of sex? Yes, a power exchange would explain that phenomenon but that doesn't answer why you are both still exchanging power or how she was able to perform wandless magic just a little bit ago when she was not at the height of pleasure," Severus argued.

She opened her eyes to see both men trading serious looks.

Tom sighed as he absentmindedly carded his fingers through her curls making them frizzy, no doubt. "You think we ought to have our auras examined?"

A beat of silence had Hermione looking at her potions professor. He was closing the book as it clearly held no answers.

"I think," Severus said slowly and with his natural dramatic pauses between them, "that you should consider the idea that you've accidentally bonded or that your magics have become twisted up in each other's."

What?!

Tom stiffened underneath her.

"I doubt that-"

"Tom," Severus warned.

Her eyes were wide open and she sat up a little on Tom's lap.

"Whatever you have done to her, it's serious and you need to make this a priority."

"You don't think that I would make her health my number one priority after tonight's demonstration?" Tom hissed.

"I think that you have a lot to consider and that the answer to the problem will require going public," Severus was firm.

Swallowing, Hermione looked away from Severus to see Tom was staring out the window in thought.

Speaking up, Hermione asked, "Is there nothing we can do to know for sure if either of your suggestions are true?"

Severus sighed. "A bond is easy to detect but I doubt that is the problem. It doesn't account for why you are having trouble regulating magic. A bond would simply be that: a bond. If your magics have fused together or twisted together, that," Severus said while tracing his mouth with a long finger, "is more likely. Twisted magic would make your regulation problems make sense. Your body would be having trouble determining which magic was your and which was his. Your body would be confused as to how much to allow you access to. That would answer why you are bursting with too much one minute and depleted the next."

Considering this, she looked at Tom who was still in deep thought.

"But," Hermione turned back to Severus. "That doesn't explain the power exchanges. Why are we still having them? That can be the only reason I'm able to light curtains on fire or shatter windows."

Severus tilted his head as he thought about her question.

"No," Tom answered. "No, they might not be power exchanges. You might be tapping into my magic in order to perform them."

Severus looked intrigued. "You've not noticed any ailments when this happens?"

Snorting in a Severus-esque way, Tom chuckled darkly. "When it happened before, I was buried balls deep inside a tight witch, out of my mind in ecstasy. I barely noticed it had happened after catching my breath. Tonight...I was doing my best to keep the glass from richochetting on us both. I'll pay more attention should it happen again."

She blushed as both men were grinning in the way men do when sharing a good secret.

Worse than witches with gossip, these wizards with their dirty inside jokes.

"How do you untangle magic?"

Both men looked at her.

She'd never even considered a person's magic to be something corporeal that could get physically tangled with another person's. It was...odd. What would cause them to tangle?

"It's something I will need to research to be sure," Severus responded.

"But you have an idea?"

Tom's fingers gripped her waist. "No!"

His reaction was fierce and his tone was cold. How could a suggestion of untangling their magic force such a reaction from Tom? If their magic got tangled together the first time they had sex...did that mean abstinence would fix it? Wyler did suggest a bit of restraint. Or, did the blood diamond have anything to do with the tangled magic? Surely they wouldn't have to destroy it?

"Abstinence is not high up on your list of things you'll do to solve the problem?" she tried not to let irritation color her voice.

"Watch. Your. Tone. With. Me!" Tom hissed in her ear. "That's twice today that you've given me attitude, Miss Granger. Don't test me when we have a problem to solve. If I have to remind you to have a polite tone with me, my method is likely to worsen your other ailments."

A gasp escaped her mouth at hearing his threat. Tom was really irritable today and Hermione wasn't sure what she thought about it. She hadn't expected him to always be tender with her or to sing her sappy love songs but she'd done nothing to earn his ire today, aside from being late.

"Let me go," Hermione demanded as she tried to stand. "You've been nothing but rude to me since I returned from my fathers. I'd rather sleep with Harry and Ginny again than-"

"What!?"

Now she'd done it. He was furious. She'd purposefully mentioned sleeping with Harry and Ginny but she hadn't expected this much anger.

She looked away from him.

"No, you will look at me and explain yourself now!" Tom hissed.

Cool fingers on her chin turned her head against her protest. His eyes were narrowed and his nostrils were flaring.

Swallowing, she sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did you mean it like?"

"You don't need to know."

"Oh, I'd say I very much need to know whose bed you have frequented since you last were in mine!"

She could sense Severus had stilled and was watching their argument.

Dropping her face a little, Hermione whispered, "I had trouble sleeping last night is all."

He didn't relax but she felt him become a little less rigid beneath her. "A nightmare?"

She squirmed. "I've shared a room with Ginny since we were first years."

Silence.

"She stayed in my Head Girl room with me last year."

Silence. Still.

"I have trouble sleeping and having her nearby makes it better."

And yet, more silence. A Slytherin tactic, no doubt and it was working on her.

"I was alone last night and I could not sleep. She...wasn't alone when I found her last night. I left right after I realized it but I had trouble sleeping."

She felt Tom exhale rather than hearing the sigh. "You can always come here. Any time."

"You didn't stay with me last night for a reason and I was trying to respect that," Hermione mumbled.

He tugged her into him. "I'm sorry. You should have said. Did you have any nightmares when you stayed with me?"

She shook her head.

"Miss Granger," Severus spoke, making them both look at him. "I apologize for speaking over your head. The solution I was referencing earlier is probably less palatable to you as it is to Tom. I'll be taking my leave to research another option."

"Perhaps you could both do me the courtesy of pretending that I am a human being, an adult witch, who can make her own decision?"

Snorting, Severus stood. "By all means, sleep with another powerful wizard to untangle your magic from Tom's but don't come crying to me when your magic simply snaps away from Tom and recoils into the new wizard as a result. Goodnight."

The floo flared green as Severus left and Hermione shifted to be able to see Tom better. His face was blank, the picture of calm.

"Do you think there's another way to untangle our magic?"

Tom's green eyes looked into hers and he smiled. A hand came up to push her hair behind her ears. "We don't need to worry about it right now. Our job is to be ourselves and to try to nail down a rhythm and rhyme to your ailments. I'll be paying attention to how I feel now as well."

He was diverting her attention away from the question she'd asked which made her think that he didn't have much faith in Severus being able to figure out an alternative. It wasn't that sleeping with another wizard was so distasteful to her it was just that she was happy with Tom. That and it had taken so long to find Tom. How would she go about finding another man she was interested in sleeping with? Let alone one that met proper qualifications for helping solve her problem.

"Is there a way to even check our magic? We might be on the wrong track and wasting time with solutions that aren't necessary," she suggested as she leaned into his fingers that were threaded in her hair along the base of her neck.

"Tomorrow," Tom promised, urging her out of his lap. "Right now, I really just want to sleep with you."

She stood and stepped away from him. His gaze slowly drifted down over her bare legs and she wondered if he was regretting his last statement.

"You should keep that jersey and wear it all the time. I like it on you," he whispered as he stood from his place on the couch.

She smiled at him and his sweet words. This was the Tom she was used to.

"I'll meet you in bed. I'm going to send in instructions to my office so I can have a lie in with you."

When Tom came to bed, she was face down in the middle of the bed, the covers pushed down to her waist. She had removed his jersey and was naked from the waist up. It wasn't that she was expecting or even in need of more sex tonight, she just really wanted to sleep with his skin against hers again.

She was very nearly asleep when she heard the door snick shut. She turned her head to face the door and had to push her wild curls out of her eyes.

"Hey," she called out sleepily.

Tom's eyes were dark as he approached the bed. "I thought you were going to wear my quidditch jersey for me as often as possible?"

Blinking up at him sleepily, Hermione grinned. "But I can't feel your skin on mine when I sleep if I wear it in bed."

He chuckled and kissed her bare shoulder. "That's a good point, Miss Granger."

Tom removed his clothes and set his wand on the bedside table next to hers. The bed dipped under his weight as he laid down on his side. She rolled to her side so that she could face him. The scent of mint was in the air indicating he'd also cleaned his mouth before coming to bed.

Her nipples pebbled as she pressed her chest to his.

"Mmmm," she breathed as she relaxed in his arms.

Lips were kissing her neck so she stretched to allow him better access.

One of his arms slipped beneath her head to act as her pillow and the other traced patterns on her hip. When he made a large enough circle that his finger trailed over her hip bone, she flexed into his body unconsciously.

He sighed. "We shouldn't. We're both tired and I think we both need to be well rested in order to do our research the next time we fuck."

Nodding her understanding, she rolled to face away from him. She felt his erection against her arse and held her breath as she forced herself not to grind into it.

Tom whispered a spell and the sheet floated up to his hand from the bottom of the bed. He tucked the sheet around her front before allowing his top arm to settle around her. Her naked back was still pressed to his chest so she didn't whine about him covering her breasts.

"Sleep, pet," he commanded.

Sleep, it turned out, was difficult to obtain when sex was off the table. It wasn't that she was unsatisfied but that knowing she wasn't supposed to do something made it more desirable.

Eventually, she was able to drift off due to her exhaustion from broken sleep the night before and when she woke, Tom was still sleeping next to her. She had turned back to her stomach and Tom had rolled to his back. His chest was exposed to the air since the sheet they'd shared had slipped down to his waist.

Closing her eyes and willing her wand into her hand, her eyes snapped open when she felt it appear. She whispered the spell to clean her teeth before carefully rolling over the top of Tom to replace her wand beside his.

He didn't wake but his hand patted the bed beside him until he found her thigh.

Smiling to herself, Hermione straddled him, keeping her weight on her knees rather than sitting on him. She allowed her hands to trail through his chest hair.

For the sake of research, she did a mental check of her health. She wasn't dizzy, light headed, nor did she see any black spots following her wandless and wanded spells. Her skin wasn't feverish and she wasn't feeling itchy. To her, that was a green light.

Deciding that Tom was deep enough asleep that she could get away with it, Hermione slid down his body, dragging the sheet with her. She settled between his knees on her own. Biting her lip, she considered her next move. Banishing his shorts magically would be less likely to wake him before she could begin her plan but that would be three spells first thing in the morning.

Carefully, she slipped her fingers inside the waistband of his shorts and slipped them down. She slid them around to his arse and tugged as gently as she could to get them down from under his backside. That left one more obstacle: his erection. It had grown since she'd begun tugging on his shorts which made her think he was awake. His face was still the same picture of relaxation so she pulled the cloth over the top of his cock, allowing it to bob a little in place.

Leaving his shorts around his thighs, she looked at his cock and grinned. Maybe waking up to getting head would make him be nicer to her today. Yesterday he'd been very...domineering, something that appealed to her intimately but not in her day to day life.

Leaning forward, she licked a stripe up one side of his length and waited to see if he would wake. When he didn't, she repeated the action on the other side. This time she heard a soft moan from his throat.

All in, Granger.

She engulfed the head of his cock with her mouth and stroked her tongue against the underside of his glans.

Tom woke up.

She heard his intake of breath and his hips flexed upward as if seeking out the heat of her mouth. She was startled but continued on with her administrations.

"Hmm, this is the perfect wake up call," Tom groaned, thrusting a hand into the back of her hair.

In response, she laved the underside of his cock before relaxing her throat and accepting more of him.

"Easy," he hissed, flexing his hip again.

She continued to alternate between stroking that spot he loved with her tongue and taking him as deep in her throat as she could.

His breathing was quickening and the hand holding her head was tightening. She wanted to grin at her success but kept going.

"Enough," Tom panted, urging her up.

She let his cock pop out her mouth and kneeled between his leg, enjoying how sexy Tom looked against his white sheets with his erection pointing at his belly. Reaching down, she tugged his shorts the rest of the way down his legs and tossed them over her shoulder before kneeling tall and removing her own pair of his boxer shorts.

Crawling up his body, Hermione straddled his waist again.

"Are you waiting for permission?" Tom huffed.

She reached behind her to find Tom's hand was already holding his cock stable for her. She raised up until she felt the tip nudge her labia. Once he was sinking in, Tom grasped her hips and pulled her down onto him fully.

She couldn't help but tip her head back in enjoyment at the delicious stretch that was the first insertion.

Together, they found a good rhythm where Hermione raised up and they met in the middle. She felt flushed and hot as Tom's thumb circled her clit.

"Gods," she moaned, losing her rhythm for a moment.

"I need. You. To Come," Tom growled at her, much closer to the edge than she was thanks to her warm up she'd performed.

"Talk to me," she gasped as his thumb stroked her just right.

"You want me to tell you want a tight, little cunt you have, Hermione? You want me to tell you how tightly your pussy grips my cock when I fuck you and that all I can think about all day is when I next get to sink into your bliss?"

"Uhh," she moaned as he thrust up harder than before.

Because she was feeling for it, she felt it the moment the bubbles started multiplying underneath her skin. Tom's hand was pushing her closer to an orgasm and she had no time to consider what spell would be best. As she felt her body tightening and then shattering in pulsing waves of pleasure, Hermione imagined the tickling bubbles of magic under her skin becoming bubbles in the air around them.

Her eyes were closed tightly as she rode out her orgasm, feeling Tom pulsing up into her with no shout or noise to announce he was coming.

A tickle on her nose had her opening her eyes before she'd caught her breath. The room was filled with tiny pink bubbles that were popping as soon as they floated down onto a surface.

A chuckle had her giving Tom a sheepish grin.

It turned out that a day off work for Tom was really just a day working from home. Hermione read the book Severus had left behind and had to agree nothing in it fit their situation. She moved on to a different book, hoping to discover a way to see a person's aura or magic.

After lunch, Tom suggested that they walk the grounds and Hermione found she was feeling itchy. When she told Tom about it, he suggested they see what spells would help. He had her use her wand to transfigure some flowers into a bouquet but she still itched so he asked her to do something around a third year spell. She used a stick to charm it to dance and the itching lessened. A patronus, Tom theorized, would make her do a 180 so he had her blast the stick in the air with a blasting spell and even that had her feeling a bit light headed.

They took a nap and he promised that he would help her prepare for shopping with Narcissa when she woke.

Tom didn't nap but he laid down with her. When she woke an hour later, he was sitting up in bed with a quill and parchment floating all around him.

"Take a bath or a shower. I recommend going through your full routine," Tom told her absentmindedly as he signed off on a parchment that popped! Out of existence as soon as he was done. "Narcissa and Melvinna are likely to be very thorough in their quest to make sure you have a complete wardrobe to choose from for the Gala."

She gulped but heeded his advice. She showered, paying very careful attention to shaving, and removing unwanted hair from her body. She used lotions too expensive for her to ever consider purchasing to moisturize her skin with. Tom either supplied his bathroom with it for guests or had Hop purchase it for her to use in his bathroom. She wasn't sure if it was thoughtful or disgusting.

Her hair she allowed Hop to help her with. She couldn't deny that it took the little elf very little effort to do and the results were unparalleled. When Hop went to put it up off her back, she wanted to protest that she'd be trying on clothes. She saw the little elf's determined look and gave him free reign. Hop pulled her hair into a low inverted French Twist. It looked amazing. If only she had something to wear that would do it justice.

Her satchel was sitting on the bed next to a sophisticated set of robes. She resisted rolling her eyes. The robes were a sapphire blue and made of fine fabric that was lightweight. When she put them on, she found the size to be almost perfect. The hang of the robes was a very nice drape that flattered her figure. Why couldn't Tom just pick out all of her clothes?

Her ankle boots were laced and she was ready to find Tom when he found her.

"Are you ready to handle the force that is Narcissa Malfoy when dress shopping?"

Shaking her head, Hermione reached for Tom and pulled herself into his chest. "Why can't you choose my gown? Why must I be subjected to shopping for clothes I cannot afford?"

Tom stiffened. "Narcissa is my...she's like my sister. She's a little like my mother even though she's only a handful of years older than me. She, Lucious, Melvinna, Abraxas...they took me in and cared for me. They are family. Narcissa will use this outing as an excuse to get to know you. I want you to make an effort."

Breathing in his scent of sandalwood and bergamot, she nodded her head. Hermione pressed a kiss to the small sliver of his chest that was exposed above the V of his open necked shirt.

"What will you do while I am gone?"

"Severus and I are going to meet and research an answer."

Of course, they would wait until she was out of the way to do the research without her.

"And what should I say about our...about...us?"

His breath was on her neck as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. She shivered and how delicious it felt.

"You should be honest. Tell no lies. Perhaps leave out a few facts that make me seem unsavory?"

She couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up out of her throat. "So you wouldn't like for me to mention that you snatched me up from the graduation ceremony and promptly fucked me so good our magic is possibly tangled up together?"

Warmth that was beside her face was absent. She pulled her head back to see that Tom was standing up straight now, and grinning at her wickedly.

"She's far too proper a lady to be told anything like that out of the blue, Hermione. Try to channel your inner Slytherin. Answer with vague, ambiguous statements that don't give away too much information. Try to say that we haven't been together for very long but you see it going somewhere. No concrete facts."

Pressing another kiss to the underside of his jaw, she hummed a noncommittal answer.

"Keep abstract and if you truly don't know what to say, tell her to ask me. She's used to me silencing people to keep my reputation as Minister free from gossip," Tom informed her.

Another kiss closer to his ear.

"If you're kind and do your best to have manners, I don't see how you could have a bad time shopping with Narcissa," Tom commented.

She kissed his ear lobe, tugging it gently with her teeth.

"That won't get you out of dress gown shopping," Tom chided her.

"It would be more fun. For both of us," Hermione suggested, her teeth still on his ear lobe.

A chuckle. "I don't doubt that but it would also possibly complicate our situation, don't you think?"

Wyler had said to limit it but she didn't see how that was helping. She felt fine now and had been all day.

"We could experiment?" Hermione suggested in a hopeful voice.

"We could but Narcissa would interrupt to look for you."

"What should I say if I have ailments?"

Tom exhaled. "Just tell her to bring you to me. Try to make it sound as if you have already seen a healer at my suggestion and that you need to see me. She'll bring you straight away and I'll think of something to say."

Narcissa Malfoy arrived through the floo at precisely the time she had said she would, looking nothing like a person who just stepped out of a fireplace had a right to. Her blonde hair was perfectly quaffed in a style that screamed poise. Her robes had to be imported Acromantula silk. Suddenly, Hermione felt like an imposter, standing next to her in nice robes and with her hair styled in a way that she didn't usually wear it.

"Narcissa, thank you for coming," Tom greeted her with a peck on the cheek.

"Of course, Tom, as if I would let you bring a date to the Gala and not make sure she was dressed properly!" Narcissa's tone was playfully scandalized but it hurt Hermione to think that she would only be well-received by either Tom or Narcissa in her usual clothes and with her curls a wild halo as was usual.

"Hello, dear," Narcissa greeted her with a hug and peck on her cheek. "You look lovely! That style hairstyle suits you very well."

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy. I appreciate you taking the time to help me choose a gown."

"Well, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to shop for someone else, now could I? It gets tiring trying to find something that I don't already own or haven't already worn and Draco is old enough to have his own opinions on what to wear. Not that dressing a young wizard can compare to dressing a young witch."

Not really sure what to say to that, Hermione smiled politely. She didn't care for being referred to as a "young witch" next to Tom but technically the terminology wasn't incorrect.

"Well, kiss her goodbye, Tom. She is mine for the evening and we have an appointment to keep," Narcissa sniffed.

Tom pulled her tight and hugged her. His hand tugged on her robes as he encircled her but his other hand pressed her into his body so she couldn't look to see what he had done.

"Narcissa," Tom called out before the witches could floo. "Please, have mercy on her? She could still decide that she doesn't want to attend the Gala with me if shopping with you becomes too much of a chore."

Laughing in a musical way, Narcissa flooed them to the dress shop.

Dress shopping with the Malfoy ladies was far more draining that it should have been given she didn't have to expend a lot of energy. True to her word, Narcissa had paid money to have the shop closed to only them for the evening. It seemed that two workers were there simply to do the bidding of Narcissa. Melvinna, who was waiting for them at the shop already, had been seated in the dressing area with a glass of champagne when Hermione was brought back there.

She was measured first. Intimately. When being measured for her school robes, Hermione hadn't been subjected to this sort of measuring. School robes and uniforms didn't require a dressmaker to know the space between her breasts. Some of the things that were measured made no sense to her but given that she had been stripped to her bra and knickers for it, Hermione was too busy blushing and attempting to cover herself. The poor girl taking the measurements kept having to swat Hermione's hand out of the way to get what she needed.

Hoping to be allowed to redress, Hermione had hopped off the circular platform the instant the tape measure popped out of existence only to be stood right back up there. Narcissa and Melvinna, who had been browsing some of the robes and gowns on the racks, had taken a seat in front of the platform as though Hermione was on a stage to perform.

Swatches of fabrics and colors zoomed around her in a circle, rotating and resting next to her body in turn. Narcissa, Melvinna, and the dressmaker discussed colors as they were presented and the young witch working for the store's dressmaker took notes of what they liked and what they did not.

Hermione could not see much of what Narcissa and Melvinna were commenting on as the mirrors had a spell on them that rendered her reflection invisible. Apparently her opinion on the color of her dress gown did not matter.

After colors were approved and vetoed, Hermione had to let different styles of gowns be draped around her body for another round of "yes" or "no" from her audience. When she'd finally modeled all the styles of gowns, she was allowed to pull on a silky gown and accept a glass of champagne.

"Sit, sit," Melvinna invited Hermione to take a seat in the rose colored plush chair beside her. "You have a marvelous skin tone!"

"Oh, thank you," Hermione blushed as she took a sip.

"Yes, it's no wonder Tom is enamored by you," Narcissa commented slyly.

She didn't respond because while part of her was pleased for having some part of her body acknowledged as attracted, Narcissa made it sound like the only reason Tom was interested was because she had a nice body.

Narcissa would not let the subject drop. When Hermione did not answer and took another sip of champagne to prolong a response while looking around the shop, she continued prodding for answers.

"Is it wonderful, Hermione? Having Tom's attention so fully devoted to you?"

Thinking back to what Tom had instructed her, she tried to stay vague. "Tom is...a very unique and wonderful man. We've not been together for long so I couldn't for sure say what it is he sees in me but I would hope that it does not merely lie underneath my robes. There are plenty of other witches with more pleasing forms that would make a better match for him, after all. Witches that would not require you two ladies to go to such trouble to help her dress, for example."

Clapping her hands in delight, Melvinna laughed. "Well, said, dear."

Narcissa appraised her silently and merely saluted her with her champagne glass making Hermione think she'd passed the first test.

In the end, Hermione was allowed to give input from the approved styles and colors and the dressmaker was to make improvements to her choices. According to Narcissa, Hermione's dress needed to be something memorable, beautiful, and worthy of a witch dating the Minister of Magic.

Her gown was styled after a dress Hermione had once seen in the muggle world. She did not mention that to the witches present as she allowed the dressmaker to shape the gown around her.

She'd started by choosing an off the shoulder and sweetheart neckline. Instructing the dressmaker that she wanted the sleeves to start off the shoulders and go to her wrists in a form fitting lace, Hermione watched delightedly as the bland beige fabric was magicked into her description.

"I want the pattern in the lace larger," Hermione instructed. "I want there to be flesh visible between the large pattern of the lace sleeves."

The lace of the sleeves was carried over in a scallop that edged the sweetheart top of her bodice at Narcissa's suggestion. Hermione smiled when no one questioned her choice in the sleeves so far. She knew most witches were trying to show off more skin these days but Hermione had never been one to think that all of her body must be on display in order to look attractive.

Her next instruction was that she wanted the dress to fit her form through the bodice and to below her hips.

"I want there to be plenty of room from my thighs down for me to walk without tripping," she told the dressmaker.

The gown started to look more mermaid-like which pleased Hermione.

"How about a bit of a train?" Melvinna suggested.

A train? Hermione wanted to tell the elder Mrs. Malfoy that she wasn't getting married but as the dressmaker complied, Hermione was surprised to see that it was a positive change.

"Not that long," Narcissa stated when the train grew to be more than five feet long. "She's going to be dancing and walking among a crowd all night."

The train shrunk to only a few feet that trailed behind her. The dressmaker put a loop on the underside of the train so that Hermione could hold it up when walking a distance. When Hermione was urged to walk around, she found that maneuvering was still difficult so the dressmaker put a slit in the skirt of the dress on one side. Now when Hermione walked, her leg poked out of the gown provocatively.

"It's too much," Hermione protested, looking down and seeing her leg on display. She already had her collarbones, shoulders and the top of her chest visible. There was no cleavage showing but the skintight form of the bodice left no imagination to the size of her breasts.

Surprisingly, Melvinna was the one to argue with her. Narcissa had been about to agree with her when Melvinna threatened the dressmaker to leave it.

"You have to show off just enough to make everyone else jealous. He's 28 and he's never brought a date. Witches will be looking for a reason to offer him something you don't have. Appearing too prim and proper will invite them. You need to make witches everywhere feel insecure about their own bodies rather than feel like they would be a better match for him."

Hermione wanted to point out that what other witches thought of themselves made no difference on what Tom thought of her but she knew that Melvinna was trying to help Tom with damage control. Because no matter what Hermione told herself, their relationship would end at some point and then Tom would be open to offers of all kinds.

Her dress was quickly finalized after that. The fabric of the bodice and skirt was not lace but it had the pattern of the floral lace all across it in a slightly shinier thread than the rest of the fabric. It gave the whole dress a matte and glossy appearance that was understated. The color was the biggest argument of the night. While Narcissa wanted to put Hermione in a wine color, Melvinna wanted a pastel purple. Hermione suggested a color like champagne but was told it would "wash her out." The girl that was assisting the dressmaker whispered something and suddenly her gown was a hunter green. No one could refute that the color was perfect. Not even Hermione, who had just graduated as a Gryffindor and had spent 7 years avoiding green.

In her own clothes again, Hermione found the coin bag that Tom must have slipped into her pocket. When she asked about paying the bill, Narcissa waved her off and told her she'd already paid for everything they had needed from the store.

She bid Melvinna a goodnight and allowed Narcissa to apparate them. When they reappeared, Hermione looked around at the alley they were standing in.

"I don't understand," she said.

"Well, I didn't think you would want my mother-in-law to help you choose undergarments so I didn't mention that I wasn't returning you to Tom just yet," Narcissa smiled politely as she transfigured their robes into something more resembling muggle fashion.

Another hour of torture in a muggle store, and Hermione was exhausted. She didn't know her size and Narcissa had to help her determine her size in muggle standards. It was awkward to decide on bras and knickers beside someone else who must surely realize that Tom would be appreciating them as well.

Thankfully, not much talking was needed. Narcissa simply chose garment after garment. Knickers of every style and color were selected. Brasiers in styles that apparently mattered were picked. Hermione argued with nothing since it seemed like the fastest way to be done. She was once again refused the ability to pay for the mountain of undergarments.

The left the store on foot with bags in each of their hands. When they were safely in the alley again, Hermione pulled out her wand and shrank the bags. Narcissa handed over the two bags in her hands and Hermione obediently shrank them as well.

"Come, let's eat. There's a decent French restaurant around the-"

Hermione was leaning against the wall, as black spots danced in front of her eyes.

"Miss. Granger?"

Shaking her head, Hermione gasped out, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

She closed her eyes as a hot, queasy feeling washed over her and she stood. She was still dizzy as she felt Narcissa link their arms together.

She followed Narcissa to the restaurant, doing her best not to stumble as the Malfoy beside her commented about her needing to eat after so much standing and drinking champagne.

Dinner with Narcissa was good. They conversed much more naturally without others around. Narcissa told her about how she took her NEWTs a month early and left Hogwarts to have Draco which was not completely unheard of as pureblood witches often married before graduating. Most pureblood wizards insisted their betrothed witch marry them as soon as they turned 17 if they themselves weren't in school to ensure that their spouse would remain faithful during the school year. Narcissa and Lucius had been in love and therefore used that loophole to marry early which resulted in her being pregnant most of her 7th year at school.

Hermione was shocked that Narcissa was so much younger than she'd thought her to be. She certainly looked 35 but Hermione had never really thought her to actually be that young. Potions and beauty creams worked wonders for older witches, she knew.

Narcissa paid the bill once again and Hermione frowned. She disliked not paying her way and it must have shown.

"Dear, please allow me to foot the bill. I promise that Lucius and I can afford it."

They walked a bit after leaving the restaurant and Narcissa told her all about how she was able to convince Lucius to try muggle food on occasion which led her to knowing of the restaurant they had just ate at. From there, she had ventured into a muggle store or two.

"Perhaps you and Lucius would enjoy the opera," Hermione suggested. "Muggle entertainment can be hit or miss but the opera is always a nice night."

When Narcissa was genuinely interested, Hermione told her about how her father had taken her to see an opera when she was 10. It had been her birthday gift. Troy had gotten her a dress and let her get dressed up and he took her on a daddy-daughter date. He'd treated her all night so that she could see how a man should treat her when she was old enough to date one day.

"I had the best time," Hermione confided.

The witches made an agreement to one day attend an opera together as Narcissa found a alley that would work for apparating from.

"Would you return out robes for us?" Narcissa asked as she watched the end of the alley. Thinking that they might be spotted apparating, Narcissa was casting a spell at the mouth of the alley to stop muggles from seeing them when they walked by.

Hermione transfigured Narcissa's dress back to how she remembered it and the black spots reappeared.

"Thank you," Narcissa said absentmindedly as she finished with the repellant charm.

"Miss- Hermione!"

She knew she was sliding to the dirty ground in the alley way but she couldn't see. Her vision was entirely black. Sweat was beading on her brow and her stomach was churning at the lightheaded feeling of a faint coming on.

"Tom," Hermione whispered as she felt around for the brick wall and tried to stand.

"Hermione! Can you hear me? What is happening to you?" Narcissa sounded panicked.

"I need to get back to Tom."

The feeling of apparition was the last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness.