The Reign Of Mummy
"Good morning Hermione" breezed Narcissa Malfoy happily, swooping into the Great Hall gleefully.
"What's with her?" Harry leant over to ask Hermione as she retreated up the gap between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
"What, apart from spending three hours yesterday talking about meanless junk, and telling me all about sex, and what Malfoys apparantly enjoy? Nothing, I would think."
Harry looked totally disgusted, but not as disgusted as Hermione. She was sitting peacefully on the bench, nose half buried in a long novel about anarchy with a list of comparisons to the Death Eaters sitting by her right hand. Looking up briefly she caught sight of Pansy Parkinson entering the hall and frowned slighty as she went to sit next to Millicent Bulstrode. Malfoy was up at the staff table, leaning over the scrambled eggs and talking to his mother, who kept clapping her hands in excitement.
"Man, that doesn't look good," Harry commented, seeing where her eyes strayed.
"I disagree," Dean Thomas, Lady's Man Extroadinaire, muttered leacherously, "that Malfoy chick's hot stuff."
"Eugh, Dean," Lavender, sitting next to him groaned, "she's at least fourty-nine."
"And related to Malfoy Jr," Ron commented, sitted down next to Harry.
Hermione attempted not to think about males, and why they felt the need to discuss females in front of other females, and instead helped herself to a bannana and nutmeg concoction. Her dark red shirt and vinatage jeans were comfortable and easy to move in, and a part of her was comfortable that she could outrun Narcissa if she tried to corner her again.
"What have you got first?" she asked Ron absently.
"Frees," he replied easily, "So does Katie."
"Ooooooh," Lavender replied in a sing-song voice.
"Are you going to ask her out?" Parvati, desperate for juicy gossip, leant over.
"Perhaps," Ron evaded the question, but his deep blush told Parvati and Lavender the answer they wanted to hear.
"Oh," Lavender pouted prettily, "soon they'll be no more gryffindor men left."
"What about Neville?" frowned Harry, motioning down the table to where Neville had absent mindedly sat away from his year group in the middle of some Hufflepuffs, "He hasn't got a girlfriend?"
"Hmmm," Lavender pretended to consider the suggestion, "Nooooo!"
There was silence for a moment while they all peered at Neville, who was now talking to a Hufflepuff first year about scrambled eggs.
"He is a hopeless case," Hermione sighed in defence of Lavender's damning statement.
"Yeah," Dean jumped in with agreement, "there's always me."
"Mate," Harry whispered loudly enough for the group to hear, "you're currently seeing three Hufflepuffs and a Ravenclaw."
Raucous laughter greeted this proclomation as Dean blushed berry red as his secret was let out.
"Although," Dean turned the subject on it's head, "I'd rather it was a certain Slytherin…"
The four boys let out little sighs as they watched Pansy Parkinson clout a fifth year boy across the head angrily, lips pursed tightly in annoyance. The girls rolled their eyes in impatience. Honestly, Parkinson really was just a cheap whore, wasn't she? It was sex appeal not beauty that drove the boys to her in flocks.
"Didn't know you fancied Malfoy, Dean," Hermione commented, standing up suddenly.
Lavender and Parvati giggled helplessly as Dean glared at the book-worm. She shrugged, and Harry stood up next to her before whispering in her ear;
"I doubt it's Dean he's heading over here to see."
"See you in Potions Saemus," she said hurridly to her lab partner, and almost raced out of the Great Hall. Behind her, Harry wolf whistled immaturely as Draco speeded up slightly, his robes flapping open to reveal the hint of leather trousers she knew he would be wearing – his mother had yesterday mentioned how much she liked her baby boy in leather trousers.
"Oy!" he exclaimed angrily, and she ducked into an alcove, "Granger!"
"In here," she hissed at him, waving a hand at him.
The alcove was a tight fit for both of them, but neither of them proposed moving elsewhere for fear of being seen together. A bust of Windignus the Weird watching them in puzzlement.
"She said she'd talked to you yesterday?" he asked in a whisper.
"For three hours. And believe me Malfoy, I do not appreciate knowing the colour of your favourite edible body paint!" her voice shrilled suddenly.
"Edible body paint?" Windignus asked in a scratchy voice.
"Shut up you stupid statue," Malfoy snapped irately, "she was much better this morning," he gave, he supposed, what was a weak but happy smile, "didn't mention father at all."
"Well, that's good," Hermione conceded.
"However, she wants to see more of us together," he continued, "she wants us to show her around the grounds after lessons this afternoon."
"Damnation Malfoy!" she exclaimed unhappily, "I'm meant to be tutoring Neville in charms."
"Cancel him," Malfoy said with determination, "The day after tomorrow is the anniversary of my father's untimely decease."
"Now, that is one thing I will not do!"
"Oh?"
"Admit your father's decease was untimely. Don't even pretend you weren't glad to get ride of him as well. Besides, he was about to blast me backwards into a grape pressing machine at the time."
"But you'll cancel Longbottom?" conceded Malfoy hopefully, mixing a little puppy dogs into the mixture although he knew he had already won.
"Yes, but only because your mother's, well, decent at least."
"Good Gryffindor," purred Draco happily, and patted her cheek in mock affection.
"Get off my Malfoy!" she snapped, pushing his hand away, "Go and find Parkinson or something."
"Oh, but I've had Parkinson already," sighed Malfoy as she fought her way out of the alcove's heavy curtain, "And you, well, is it true what mother told me? Celibate until marriage Granger?
"Oooooh, shut up!" she hissed in pure anger, "This is your fault!"
"Hermione?" came a call from further down the hallway, and Hermione unconciously reached up to check her hair.
Draco grinned at this action; he had seen girls doing it enough after he'd closeted them somewhere like this little nook, but he hadn't expected Granger to do it. A sudden temptation to twist the situation a little to his amusement came over him; after all, Granger had been no trouble so far had she? He reached out from the heavily curtained area, and smacked her rear end with the fingers of his right hand. Hermione leapt four foot into the air, and straight into the arms of Saemus Finnigan, who had come to meet her before Potions due to his uncertainty over tea tree leaves and their properties.
"Oh, err, hi Saemus," she stuttered, and Draco smothered a laugh.
"Hermione! Finnigan was almost surprised as Granger had been, "Tea tree oil, what are the properties?"
"Bye bye girlfriend," Draco whispered very softly, as Finnigan began reciting the uses he could remember.
"Shut up ferret face," she hissed, and Finnigan looked around startled.
"Wha'?" he said rather dopily.
"Gets rid of facial blemishes," Hermione covered smoothly.
"See you this afternoon," he murmured as he vacated the alcove and stomped past her, giving her a gentle push.
"Hey!" Finnigan protested, but Draco had swirled out of sight around the corner.
The evening was fresh and clear. The sky above the three figures was clear cold blue, and the sun warmed them only a little. Mid way through July it may have been, but warm in Scotland it would never be. There was a cool breeze chilling the lake's surface into peaks.
"It must be so hard," Narcissa said rather happily once she had judged they were far enough away from the castle, "having to keep your relationship a secret."
"Mother, you have no idea," Draco said earnestly, leaning on the edge of the wall of the tiny boathouse they were currently standing on.
"Oh sweetums," Narcissa cooed, "Only two weeks until term ends."
"A week and a half," Hermione corrected absently.
"And then we'll be free," Draco tried to insert some promise into his voice as he leaned closer to Hermione under his mother's beady eyes.
"Er, yeah," Hermione moved a little further away from him, and then noticed Narcissa's puzzled glance, "Draco, we're only a matter of five hundred metres of so away from the Lake, where anyone can walk. This is too open."
"Of course, divinity," he answered, presenting her with a pet name and pleasing his mother.
"Now tell me," Narcissa began again, a little sympathetic, "what will you do after term ends?"
The two cleverest students in the school looked at each other in horror, and thought very quickly.
"Hey! Hermione!" a loud cry burst through the group, and Hermione sighed in relief.
Ron and Harry were bounding towards them, Ron in particular looking very pleased with himself. Harry was carrying Hermione's stripey red and yellow jumper; once dusk fell it became rather cold, and dusk was creeping up on them. He nodded a greeting to the two remaining Malfoys as Ron seized Hermione around the middle and lifted her up, spinning her in dizzying circles until both felt ill. Hermione leant against Harry for support, laughing a little.
"Good afternoon boys," Narcissa greeted, clutching Draco's hand in what she thought was a grip that would restrain him from attacking Ron.
"Afternoon Professor Malfoy," Harry replied politely, giving her a largely false smile, "Afternoon Malfoy."
"In case it has escaped you, Potter," spat Malfoy unhappily, "It's evening."
"Herms," Ron asked Hermione eagerly, beginning to tug her away from the group, "what are you doing?"
"Just giving Mrs malfoy a tour of the grounds," she answered, noticing Malfoy's knuckles going white from the pressure his mother was holding his hand with.
"Oh," Ron answered a little moodily, "C'mon, this is as far as you can go anyway. Let's go back to the common room. I have important news."
"Alright," agreed Hermione, and Ron bounded ahead of them a little, like an over-anxious dog waiting to be exercised, "Bye Mrs Malfoy, bye – Malfoy."
She had winked as she said Malfoy, he noticed, and half blown a kiss over her shoulder. Man, she really was good at acting whever she wasn't startled. Narcissa waved at her a little, and the threesome were not far out of sight when a delighted roar broke the peace descending over the lakeside.
"Katie agreed to go out with me!" roared the voice of Ron Weasley, jubilantly, his voice ringing out over the still Hogwarts grounds.
"Well, at least someone's happy smoochums," Narcissa said a tad moodily, linking arms with her son and smiling at him, "Nevermind, only until the end of term."
"Mummy," Draco snapped, "I don't want to talk about it."
Narcissa looked surprised, a little embarassed, and also upset. Draco immediately felt horribly guilty, his insides twisting up a little, and he leant up to kiss her cheek in apology.
"Sorry mum," he murmured softly, "it's just so hard, y'know?"
"Of course I do honey pie," Narcissa replied, giving him a one armed hug as they leant against the wall, "And I'm so proud of you."
From over the line of trees Hermione's laughter rang out jubilantly, and Potter's barking sound of amusement. The two Malfoys stood together, and watched the lights flicker on in the windows of Hogwarts School, each consummed in a feeling of guilt they wouldn't ever voice.
Author's Note:
Thankyou so much to everyone who reviewed.
And here's the first mention of what happens after school…mark it well.
Oh, what do you think about Windignus The Weird? He's my pet charcter currently. Isn't he cute? I mean, for a bust.