Title: What You Don't Know, Can't Hurt
Summary: Blaise asks an owed favor and Draco complies. What Draco doesn't know is that Blaise's intentions for a certain girl will end up being the girl Draco wants for himself. Will conflicts arise? You betcha!
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter and Co.
A/N: Yeay! Thanks a lot for the reviews guys! Sadly it out did my other story, ahaha. But anyways, I know I'm posting this too soon but I did it because I'll be really busy this week and I don't want to keep you guys waiting forever. And another reason is because it easies a few of your wondering mines about the issue between Draco and his mommy!
sex4u, I'm glad that your last name is the same as my made-up character, lol.
HermioneMalfoys1, I choose that name out of the blue, mainly because I was thinking about what happened to Disney's the Doug show. It doesn't air over here anymore so I was like hmm…and pop came the name of my character. The last name was random too so, yeah no crushes or anything, I guarantee. lol
lorett-returned, thanks for taking the time to read my story and reviewing. I also wanted to say, post your next chapter for It Had To Be You already! lol
Who ever was wondering about what Blaise said to Hermione at the Inn it was suppose to be something stupid like "yeah, your body" Since it was an unfinished sentence, Word replaced the your to a you're. It was nothing that much of a big deal anyways, aren't you glad Douglas shut him up before he made a fool of himself?
To all the others who I can't mention due to my rush, I'm just as pleased with your reviews as well. And to anyone who gets angry with my short chapters, I made this a bit longer. So hopefully that will please you.
Chapter 4: Strictly Business
A small crackle could be heard within the large drawing room. In seconds a short stubby man dressed in green robes materialized. The matching hat with a white feather attached to the side came off due to the high temperature of the room. It felt like the manor was purposely heated to create beads of sweat to appear down the sides of his face. And it had. Another peculiar thing about the house was how dark and disturbing it appeared. No source of light was available except for that of the fire in which he had used as transportation.
But he was no fool when it came to this place for that reason he had two ministry body guards awaiting him right outside the doors. He chose to use the Floo Network because unfortunately the manor had an anti-apparating spell. He slowly viewed the delicacy of the room that was filled with dark colors. He stared at the paintings along the walls that gave a slight animation and character to the room. One in particular was a mirror like portrait above the fire place of the very woman he had come here for. And in that very moment, she decided to present herself. She glided through the large oak entrance doors dressed in a black material robe with green rubies circulating her neck and wrists as well as the stitching of the robes down to her feet. If he didn't know any better, he would have estimated that the robe cost a pretty gallon.
"Hello Cornelius, what pleasure it is to have you here." She greeted. The woman's voice was smooth, low and dark; emphasizing her pale skin, grey eyes and black ensemble. She generated an eerie presence that matched the heated dim room.
"Good evening, Mrs. Malfoy." Cornelius Oswald Fudge replied. He didn't move a step as he watched Narcissa Malfoy move around the room until she came upon the black leather couches. On the coffee table lay a tray with two tea cups and she picked one up for herself.
"Care for a drink?" She asked as she watched him charily.
"Oh, no, no. That's quite alright. I rather get to the point of this uh…late meeting" He responded agitatedly.
"Very well." Narcissa said grimly and placed her cup back down on the tray. "This meeting is about my son, Minister."
"Of course, how could I have not guessed?" He said. "We do not have any leads on your son, yet." He added.
"Why not?" She gritted. "I gave you all of his friends' locations, all of his possessions that you can track him down with. Why haven't you found anything?" She commanded.
"It isn't as easy as you think. Your son is far cleverer than you perceived him to be. He had casted a distracking spell on all of his possessions as well as the ones that he had taken with him and he is not staying with any of his friends."
"So what are you going to do? Shall I take matters into my own hands?" She asked, irritated. Her eyes bore into his own and he stepped back and rested one hand on the shelf over the fireplace. He truly hated this woman. He didn't give her any respect other than the one that was for show. Something about her company made his skin crawl. Although she had proved to be not involved in her husbands doing's as a death eater, it didn't change the fact that the entire Ministry kept their eyes on her. There was something slightly odd about her. She was not a force to be reckoned with.
"His disappearance is for the Ministry to handle, not you Mrs. Malfoy." Cornelius answered.
"And how will you handle my son's disappearance?" She asked coldly as she looked him over from head to toe.
"You say he took the Gringotts key. Until he uses his account there, we have nothing to do but wait. He will have to use it eventually and when he does, we will be able to track him down." He explained.
"I see." Narcissa replied and stood up from her seat. "If that is all you have so far, you may leave. The next time I speak with you, it better be a lead to my son's whereabouts." She didn't look back at him as she left the dark room.
Cornelius watched her, annoyed but at the same time startled. The woman was an eerie witch. He had a feeling she was threatening his life as well. What he couldn't understand was her lack of remorse for her son's absence. Other women would be weeping for days on end. It was one of the things that he noticed when she first came at night into the Ministry reporting her son's absence. She wasn't hysterical but she was very demanding.
Cornelius shook his head sadly. Once a Malfoy, always a Malfoy, he thought to himself and watched her walk out of the room. The moment she glided past the overly large portrait of herself, Cornelius Fudge could have sworn he was seeing things. But it was too late to pinpoint what he thought he saw because Narcissa left the room. But he did think about it for a second. The portrait that had mirror-like rims didn't show her reflection. Maybe he had too much Fire Whiskey the other night and it must have affected his eye sight.
After rubbing his eyes, he took the same root back through the fire to get to his office.
At the Zabini Mansion…
Draco entered the living room and plopped on the arm chair. He rested his hand on his head and gave a loud sigh. Tonight had been a long and hectic night. He was beginning to hate his late night prowls no matter how much he needed the practice. He could still smell the stale smell of dry blood on his clothes. He had to take a shower and change soon but not until his guest appeared. He just hoped that Blaise would not come home so soon because he had business to take care of that was not meant for anyone's ears but his own.
He silently waited in the room for fifteen minutes when finally the fireplace changed color and began making static like noise. Draco grabbed a cushion and placed it underneath his knees once he reached the front of the green glowing fire. A face came into view. It pleased Draco for a second but then noticed the despondent expression on the man's face.
"What's wrong, Nott?" Draco asked.
"Sorry dear boy, it's going to take longer than we have planned." Harold Nott replied. His rugged face showed a slight pity for Draco and that only made Draco's eyes dilate in anger.
"Longer? No! Didn't you say you had connections? What good use are you if you don't use it?" Draco said harshly. Nott may be a wanted death eater and Lucius's best-friend but Draco couldn't care less if he raised his voice at him. He was smelly, tired and sick of all the waiting.
"Of course I have contacted him but he is a very busy man, Draco. It will take much longer than expected for him to come to London." Nott replied unaffected by Draco's rudeness.
"How long?" Draco asked.
"I believe you might have to stay a bit longer with the Zabini's and this might mean you can't use your fortune until—" Nott carried on but Draco abruptly interrupted him.
"For fucks sake! Tell me how long I have to wait!"
"A months time maybe two the most, sorry boy." Nott answered.
"Are you kidding me? Please don't tell me this is like some early April fool's joke! I can't hide away from my mother that long." Draco replied.
"Don't you think I know that?" Nott stated. "But we can't do anything but wait. You'll just have to try your best to be patient, not show yourself to the public and continue your practices, you hear my boy?"
"Yes, of course." Draco said miserably.
"Good." Nott said.
Draco didn't like the way Nott was treating him. He disliked the man with a passion and only respected him because of his father. If Nott was trying to take the father-figure for Lucius, Draco had a thing or two to say about that. To make it clear this was strictly business and nothing else, Draco said. "This had better be worth the wait and the money I'm giving you. For all I know you could be fucking around with me."
"We've been through this before Draco. I want to help you get rid of her as much as you do. Believe me boy; the money is just an added bonus." Nott replied smugly then disappeared from the fireplace. Draco rolled his eyes and walked out of the living room to get cleaned.
Along the way to his personal bathroom, he couldn't help but pray that he was doing the right thing. As much as he wished that things were the way they use to be before his father was sent to Azkaban, he knew he had to face reality one way or another. He was torn between the love for his mother and the deed he must commit in order to save himself. Draco never had to face such choices before in his life and now it was all that occupied his mind.
After he took a quick shower and changed into something casual, he went in search for Blaise who he hasn't seen all day. Draco checked Blaise's room and found no one there. Maybe he was in the Game's Room, so with that in mind Draco went off to the second floor. Half way down the steps, Draco came to a halt. He was hearing voices and one of them sounded like Blaise's.
"Quidditch game with the guy's tomorrow. Remember." Blaise was saying.
"Yeah, I won't. Talk to you tomorrow or something and don't let that girl get to your head." The other unrecognizable voice replied.
"She's not getting to my head. Would you just drop that subject?" Blaise replied a bit irritated.
"Whatever, later." The other answered.
Draco heard the front door of the manor close and he made his way over to the balcony of the stairway to see who it was. But it was too late because Blaise was making his way up the stairs. Blaise caught sight of him and came to a stop.
"How long have you been standing there?" Blaise asked suspiciously.
"Enough to hear that you like a girl." Draco replied with a shrug. He didn't find it interesting anyways so he didn't know why Blaise stared at him oddly.
"Right. So where have you been?" Blaise changed the subject.
"Around and you?" Draco asked.
"No where special." Blaise answered.
It seemed like none of the boy's wanted to tell the other of their whereabouts for that day and they settled on going to the kitchen to grab something to eat before they headed off to play games in the Game Room. In their silence, they both reached the kitchen and received a meal from one of the house-elves and a bottle of whiskey. Both Draco and Blaise were social drinkers but tonight it seemed they both wanted to take their minds off their tangled lives.
After a couple of sips from the burning taste of whiskey, Blaise set his goblet down. "I have something to confess."
"Confess?" Draco laughed. "We aren't even drunk yet and you're already willing to confess your life's sins."
"Just shut up Draco and listen." Blaise replied.
"I'm all ears." Draco said with a swing of his goblet and another sip.
"I like this girl."
"Oh really, I could have sworn you liked guys." Draco said rolling his eyes.
"Will you just shut up? Anyways, she's not exactly an easy type of girl to get and I need your help to get her." Blaise continued.
Draco laughed for a short time and set his goblet down as well. "What can I possibly do? Give you pointers on how to fuck her?"
"Not exactly, she's not the fucking type."
"The plot thickens." Draco said with a smirk.
"Can you be serious for a minute here?" Blaise asked irritated.
"Okay, don't get your freaking knickers in a twist. Go on." Draco said amusingly.
"It's not a choice in whether you're going to help me because you owe me big time anyways." Blaise added as a matter of factly.
"Come on!" Draco exclaimed. "I have a lot of problems and girls are not one of them right now."
"It's not like this girl is for you, she's for me. I want you to just advise me on what to do."
Draco stared at Blaise for a few seconds and noticed that his blue eyes did not have a glint of mockery. Blaise was serious about this girl and reluctantly Draco complied. "Fine, Zabini. You'll get your lessons. But this is a one time thing. She better be the one you want to marry because I'm not going to do it again."
Blaise gave a chuckle. "Got it."
A/N: For those reviewers who wonder about Blaise's interest in Hermione and how it came to be, it will be revealed later on I promise! As for what is going on between Draco and Mr. Nott is for you to guess and for me to let you know when the time comes. Oh, I know I'm evil, sorry!
Oh to get you guys all active behind those screens, I decided to give a little poll.
What should the next chapter be on?
1. Draco and Blaise.
2. Hermione, Harry and Ron.
3. Narcissa and whoever else I want there.
4. Douglas and the Slytherin gang.
5. Dumbledore and Snape.
Whichever is chosen the most, I will favor. I know people want to see Hermione and Draco action but if I don't get the story on a foundation it will be just like all those other stories you guys end up not wanting to read any more. But I promise once their time comes, it will be really good. Mwahahah…choke. Water!