Ch. 26

Narcissa and Lucious had brought the dishes out with them and set them on the table. They were covered so Hermione couldn't see what they were.

When Draco uncovered one he started to explain to her. "Some of these dishes are centuries old family recipes, I hope you like them."

"Centuries old, and you still had them?" She asked, amazed.

Draco just looked at her blankly "…yeah…"

"But that's pretty amazing, isn't it?" His reaction seemed odd to her.

"Not really, pure blood families can trace their roots back for a thousand, sometimes fifteen hundred years…" he replied.

She nearly choked on the water she was drinking. "Fifteen hundred years!" she looked at Draco and then his parents with shock that they didn't share.

Draco handed her a napkin, "Are you okay?"

She worked to compose herself and grabbed the napkin. "Yeah, thank you." She was thinking about her family tree and realized she might be lucky to trace it back over the last two hundred years. She was starting to understand why some families were protective of their pure blood status.

"As I was saying," he began again, "these are from old family recipes. This is Yorkshire pudding, that's a Bedfordshire clanger, and here's a blueberry cobbler." Everything smelled delicious.

She couldn't believe he was that good of a cook. He had only cooked for her one other time and although it was good she had no idea that he possessed this much skill. She was speechless for the second time that night.

As everyone dished up and they began eating and the table was quiet again. "This is wonderful Draco," she commented after her first few bites. He smiled at her and continued eating.

She wanted some conversation so she didn't have to eat in silence, "Narcissa, how did you and Lucious meet?" she asked.

Narcissa took a drink and waited before she answered. "I had known Lucious most of my life, we first met when we were children."

Lucious scooted his chair forward a little. "Our parents both wanted to preserve their pure blood lines so at an early age we were intended for each other. I think you might call it an arranged marriage…" he explained.

Narcissa was surprised her husband shared any information at all since he had been so tense with Hermione as a house guest.

Hermione's eyes became wide and then returned to normal. She wasn't sure what to say to that. "I never would have guessed. How did you first react when you met each other?" she pressed.

Narcissa smiled, "I thought he was…sweet, and definitely cute." She looked over at her husband. "Some things don't change."

Lucious lightly smiled at his wife's comment but didn't want to talk about his feelings for her in front of Hermione. After what his wife had just said, he didn't feel like he could escape it. "I felt…lucky. Lucky that someone so beautiful and smart would want to be with me." He looked down at his food as he spoke.

Narcissa looked back over at Hermione, "See what I mean, sweet." She echoed.

"No, I'm just being honest," Lucious said as he continued to look down but grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of it.

Narcissa looked at Draco. "And what about you guys. I know how you met, earlier, but how did you guys…" she trailed off.

"Fall in love?" he finished her sentence.

Hermione looked back at Draco. Neither of them had talked about the moment when they knew they were in love. She was curious to know his answer. He looked over at her and smiled.

"You go first," he said to her.

"I thought you were going to go!"

"No, you."

"Okay, fine. Well, I think it was when I asked you to go to Hogsmead with me and I thought you would say no; I started to get a little nervous. I didn't know then what that feeling was, but when I look back on it now I think it was the start." She was blushing as she finished and also looking down.

"I knew it," he said in an arrogant way.

She gave him a skeptical look. "Yeah right, I didn't even know it at the time."

"We went to the three broomsticks and after that fire whiskey you kept looking at me…in a way you hadn't before. I suspected you might have liked me." His tone was self satisfied.

"Well how did you know it wasn't just the whiskey?" she asked playfully.

"Because I see how you look at me now," he said in a low voice. "But I wasn't sure at the time."

"What about for you?" she asked.

"It was when you exploded that pumpkin all over me before Halloween. You slipped and hit your head and got hurt pretty bad." His voice was quiet as he remembered her being hurt and how he debated whether to carry her or not.

Hermione remembered the details she had heard Madame Pomphrey talk to Professor McGonigal about when she was still in the hospital wing and how Draco stayed by her side.

"Well, I knew that was the beginning…"

"You took such good care of me," she said as she reached out for his hand. They both looked at one another and looked away again smiling.

Both his parents couldn't deny the chemistry Draco and Hermione had between them.

Draco changed the subject. "I've got a few errands I need to run tomorrow, but would you mind keeping my mother company?"

Hermione did a double take for a minute because she didn't understand why she couldn't go with Draco but didn't want to appear to be rude to his mother. Her kindness was starting to cause Hermione to like her against her better judgement.

She caught Narcissa's glance and returned it with a smile. "Sure," she said in her best confident voice to hide the confusion she was feeling.

Narcissa smiled to herself and looked up at Lucious who didn't return her smile. He hadn't been in on the conversation that Draco had earlier with his mother.

After dinner Draco and Hermione were finally able to be alone. His parents went to bed and they both sat by the fire in the front room, Hermione sitting on the floor as Draco laid his head in her lap.

"Why can't I go with you tomorrow?" she asked now that they were alone.

"I have some errands to run, plus this will give you a chance to see how to cook. It shouldn't take you long to pick up on. I still can't believe you don't know how," he laughed at her.

"I'm glad I can make you laugh," she said as she leaned down to kiss him. He reached up and put his fingers through her hair and lightly held the back of her neck to keep the connection.

Hermione started to get up to move closer to his body and as she did Draco's head hit the floor.

"Ouch, why did you do that?!" he asked.

"I'm so sorry," she tried to go back to the seated position but Draco held the back of his head and sat up.

"How sorry?" he said as he faked a sad face.

"I can't believe you! Did that even hurt?"

He stood up and as he did Hermione did too. "Not that bad," he said as he smiled. Then he reached for her and pulled her close to him and kissed her again. "I just wanted to get closer, and I love that look you get on your face when I drive you crazy."

Hermione gave him another incredulous look and pushed him away, slightly laughing.

They were making so much noise laughing that Lucious came out of his room to tell his son to keep it down. As he rounded the corner he saw his son holding Hermione and laughing and kissing her, and he saw the smile she had for his son was nothing like the contemptuous glances she always saved for himself. Unescapable was the thought in his mind that he would have her as a daughter in law one day. He went back the way he came and back into his room.