When they got home from shopping, she gave him the promised tour of all of the odd apparatuses in her home. But Hermione was a cruel woman and she demanded that he guessed what each apparatus did.
It was quite an embarrassing endeavour.
Though her amusement and laughter did make it a little more tolerable. He could afford to lose some pride for his goal.
"You know," she told him thoughtfully. "I wish some of the appliances worked as you imagined and not how they truly do. A teleporting box! How I wish we could just walk right through the telly."
"The telly," Draco began almost shyly. "May we watch something?"
"Of course!" she gleefully replied.
And just like that, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy spent the entire night on the couch watching telly, munching on snacks and sharing a bottle.
It was fantastic!
But somethings do not last forever. And their night of classic films was one of those things. Inevitably, their bodies grew weary from lack of sleep and then later on, the sun had to rise again.
The next morning Hermione found herself surrounded by a warm cocoon. She was so very comfortable. But she slept on the couch last night while watching movies with… Draco.
Her breathing hitched and she wondered if she could dislodge herself from him without a fuss. But his arm was wrapped tightly around her and other parts of his body were pressed firmly against her back. She wondered if she could simply just stay here indefinitely. It was so comfortable and comforting. She missed… she had been lonely.
"Good morning," the man behind her mumbled.
Hermione scrambled as quickly as she could out of his arms and onto the floor. She stood up embarrassed and tried to straighten her clothes out while not turning into a beet.
"I… Oh I'm..." she wasn't quite sure how to recover.
Draco looked at her nonchalantly and scrubbed his face with his hand before staring almost sadly at her. "Hermione," he began. "I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable. But it has been so long and I simply enjoyed the comfort of your embrace. You are beautiful, soft and kind… and I took advantage. I will try to hold myself back."
"Oh…" she sighed. It seemed that recently that was all she could say to him. Then she came to her senses. "Breakfast?"
"Of course," he recovered as if nothing was said between them and sat up lazily.
She couldn't help but wonder why everything he did was so alluring and made her head spin.
"Yes," she added unnecessarily as she left the room dazed.
"I demand to use the… the toast browner!" he called out to her in good humour. This seemed to relax her a bit as she shook her head and let out a nervous chuckle.
After breakfast, they decided to spend the day visiting friends and family. While he tried not to show it, it was clear that Draco was worried about his mother who, he told Hermione, had not replied to his owls.
Narcissa Malfoy sat in the library, as usual. But this time, Harry chose to join her. After reading a psychology text a few days ago, he was now a qualified armchair psychologist.
He looked at her blank gaze for a moment and shifted uncomfortably in his chair, wondering how on earth he was to begin speaking. Perhaps he should have read more than one chapter.
"Mrs. Malfoy…" he began. But no signs of life in her eyes. "Narcissa?"
She older woman stared straight at him and smiled.
"Are you our new tutor?" she asked.
"Tutor?" he questioned. "No I'm… I'm Harry Potter."
"Potter…" she trailed off for a while but her eyes seemed to refocus and she seemed quite present. "Dear me. I was just reliving a memory." She sighed. "This place brings back memories of my youth."
"Good memories?"
"A mix," she admitted sadly. "But some I think you might be quite interested to hear about your godfather and even one about your father. So…"
And so the story went about how baby Sirius Black had once turned an eight year old Bellatrix's hair frizzy and it has never been quite right.
Harry could not stop laughing.
It was at this moment that Ginny let Hermione and Draco into their home.
"Oh don't mind Harry," she welcomed her guest in. "He finds childish pranks hilarious. I hope he still feels that way when little Potter here comes along."
"Congratulations Mrs. Potter," Draco told her politely.
"Please, call me Ginny, and thank you!" she said cheerily. But her tone changed as they walked towards the library. "Draco, if I may call you that." He nodded. "I feel that I must let you know, your mother is not at her best. We have tried our best and if this continues we'd…"
"I understand," he sighed dejectedly. "Azkaban has done damage to her mind. But please, please do not send her away. I'll find a way to repay your kindness…"
"No, no," Ginny stopped him short. "I simply meant that we would like you to decide what the best course of action would be. As you are her son. But we are happy to have her here."
Hermione was already ahead of the two and knocked on the door, "Harry, Mrs. Narcissa, good morning."
"Good morning dear," she greeted politely. "Is my son with, ah! Draco how good it is to see you!"
It was clear to everyone in the room that the Malfoy's care deeply for each other. Draco immediately leaned down to hiss his mother's cheek before taking her hand gently.
"I hope you are well," he wished her.
"Much better now," she smiled pleasantly at him.
"We'll be in the kitchen," Harry mumbled. "Tea! Yes we're going to make tea and when you are ready, you can join us."
"Thank you, Harry," Narcissa told the man gratefully.
Hermione's eyes lingered on the lithe and light haired man who knelt by his mother. It was clear how much he loved her and how much he was suffering. It was heart wrenching to watch him suffer.
"What happened to her?" Hermione asked softly as they left the room.
"Her mind is broken," Ginny replied sadly. "She is losing track of where and when she is."
"Perhaps writing about her story would help her," she offered lightly and that was the end of the subject.
"Have you heard from Ron?" Harry asked almost urgently.
"Yesterday," she told him but did not add that she would be visiting him later. She knew there was tension between the boys. "He owled me. He's been busy I think."
"I wish he'd owl," Ginny fussed over the tea. "It's like ever since Harry and I got together, he's been distancing himself from us."
"He wasn't too happy that I was corrupting his little sister," Harry countered. "It makes sense."
"I think maybe he's just busy," Hermione mumbled to the couple. Then she changed the subject. "By the by, a cousin of Draco's is about to be our fourth sponsor!"
"That's wonderful!" Ginny grinned.
"Who?" Harry asked cautiously and curiously. He didn't want some random and potentially dangerous prisoner out.
"Theodore Nott?" Hermione asked if they knew him.
"He was in our year," Harry nodded remembering him. "Smart guy. We partnered up in charms. Very quiet though."
"Who's smart?" Draco asked as he walked into their sitting room.
His mother who followed chided him, "Draco, don't interrupt conversations."
He looked sullen but Hermione quickly carried the conversation forward. "Mrs. Malfoy, tea?" She poured some and then some for Draco whose fingers lingered on her a little too long. This was not unnoticed by the other three occupants in the room.
"We were just talking about Theo," Ginny began the conversation. "Nott."
"Irma wants to sponsor her," Draco added for his mother.
"Oh dear sweet Irma," she reminisced. "Such a shame the family shunned her. She was a true Black daughter though and through, if not a little too idealistic and enthusiastic."
"How interesting," Hermione grinned. "She changed her last name in french."
"Yes," Narcissa nodded agreeing with her. "She did so when she moved to Canada. But as a child she used to simply be Irma Black. Before she left us."
"She live with you?" Harry questioned.
"At the manor," Narcissa said almost regretfully. "She was a child on the wrong side of the sheets. Our house elves raised her in the service quarters."
"Oh…" Ginny mumbled sadly.
"She is a very well-adjusted woman," Hermione assure them.
"You mean and a bully," Draco pouted humorously.
They continued to chat amiably until lunch time, when Hermione excused them for a lunch meeting. Draco noticed that she did not say with whom. He was quite curious at this development in their friendship dynamic.
But this was all forgotten when they headed to Ron's flat in the crowded muggle London. If Draco thought he was imbedded in muggleness, then Blaise was drowning in it.
Then a thought occurred to Draco. Maybe he had competition for Hermione's affection.
"Is this… a date?" he asked her curiously. "If it is, I can make myself scares and take Blaise."
"What?" Hermione asked almost appalled at the idea. "No. In fact… well can you keep a secret?"
And of course, like any good Slytherin, he nodded.
Blaise was distracted. They were having Hermione and Draco over for lunch. He mostly worried that Draco would spill the beans about his sexual preferences. But he was also a little agitated about the idea of being on a third, or was he the fourth, wheel on Ron and Hermione's date.
When the doorbell rang, Ron walked quickly to greet their guests while he set up the table.
"Hermione, Malfoy," Ron greeted them like old friends.
"Thank you for having us," Draco spoke up. "I'll leave you two to catch up." He said before making a beeline for Blaise. He had some interesting news for the poor sod who frankly looked miserable.
"Hey Draco," he was greeted with what enthusiasm Blaise could muster.
"You alright?"
"This place is too bloody fantastic," he sighed sadly. "That's the problem!"
"Seriously?" Draco asked a little appalled. "Why?"
"The atmosphere," Blaise told him. "It's like a soft warm blanket in the middle of winter. But I know soon the cold will seep back in."
"Quit being so poetic," Draco sighed. "I've got things to tell you."
But before he could, the other two joined them and they had lunch which Blaise made. Hermione was thoroughly impressed and Draco reminded himself to learn from his friend.
During the meal, Draco realised something very interesting. He was the holder of some very sensitive information.
And by the end of their meal, he had decided to take pity on Blaise. After all, it was his idea that now gave him such a nice and pleasant home.
"Blaise," Draco spoke up as they ate desert. "Hermione and I were at The Café and I could have sworn I saw Jack there."
"Jack?" Blaise's voice raised an octave and his eyes widened almost comically.
"Yeah, you know," Draco continued. "The bloke you were seeing…"
"Seeing?" Ron asked curiously.
"Briefly," Blaise mumbled. "Please excuse me."
And with that Blaise left the room and an uncomfortable silence fell onto the room. This silence made it hard for anything to continue. Furthermore, Ron seemed too distracted to even make conversation.
Hermione and Draco left not half an hour later.
"Draco…" she chided him. "That was uncalled for."
"Sometimes you must be cruel to be kind," he mumbled.
"… did you just quote?"
"It's a catchy song," Draco defended.
Once their guests left, Ron began to fret and worry about Blaise. Draco was a twit.
He went upstairs to know on Blaise's door but the man didn't reply, so he slowly pushed the door open to find Blaise packing what little he had into a suitcase.
Blaise turned up to look at him sadly and wiped his eyes quickly.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked dumbly.
"Packing," he stated simply. "You don't have to say anything… I know. I apologize for keeping it from you."
"What for?" Ron question confused and a little sad.
"I know how homosexuality is regarded in wizarding society," he replied defeated and slammed his case closed.
"I mean why are you leaving?"
"Do you not want me to?"
"Not really," he told him candidly. "I like the breakfasts and lunch and dinner. Oh and don't get me started on Hermione if she catches wind of you leaving."
"That's it?" Blaise questioned aghast.
"That's it," he concluded. "Oh and if you bring anyone home, silencing charms, please and thank you."
"I… I… Thank you!" Blaise grinned and lunged himself at the redhead and gave him a tight hug.
If he were looking at Ron's face he would have noticed the man turn a few shades redder than usual.
A/N- Hi again. Thanks to the lovely reviews and here is another chapter. I think this will be all for tonight. Stay tuned for preditable happy endings and fuzziness.
HAve a great night!
