Sold-Chapter 12-Dining With the Malfoys

By Marmalade Fever

A.n.: The quote, "The world is a very scary place, my dear," is from a song that is played at the beginning of the Wide Window book on tape. Yeah, I really didn't expect anyone to get that one. Way too obscure. "It whirls and it twirls and outer space…"

It was very dark out once Draco Malfoy arrived at Malfoy Manor. His father had left a lantern burning at the front door for him. It was a very knock-kneed elf that answered the door and led him to the first floor sitting room.

"Draco, darling!" his mother doted, gesturing for him to come and give her a hug. She had grown feeble in her old-age. It pained him to see her looking so helpless. "No ring on your hand, I see?" she asked, inspecting him.

Instantly, Draco stiffened. "No mother…"

"Draco!" Lucius greeted, stepping into the room. The white-haired man clapped a hand on his son's back. "So good of you to join us after your stern insistence on a different night."

"It wasn't like you gave me much choice, father," Draco replied, frowning.

"Now, now, Draco. There's no reason to sound so displeased. Tell me, what were you doing out on your carpet this afternoon?"

Draco didn't let his face give him away. "I was on my way to Merman's Cross to pick up a few supplies for a potion I'm working on."

"Oh?" his father asked, polishing his spectacles. "What potion? Perhaps I could be of some assistance?"

"No need. I already finished making the drought. My walls developed some of that green mold that comes from brewing and I wanted to make a potion to clean it away."

"Wouldn't a simple cleaning spell work?" his mother asked, craning her head toward him with effort.

"No, it was especially well spread out and I wanted to ensure that it was gone for good." His parents looked satisfied with his answer.

"Tell me Draco," his father continued, "did you make any purchases at the Mudblood Auction? I did so wish to attend…"

Draco smirked. His father had been running an errand for the Dark Lord that day and had been very put off when he had missed the event. "Actually, I did make one acquisition."

"Anyone we would know?" his mother asked, though she frowned at the idea of buying a Mudblood for any reason.

"Oh yes. I happened to get the grand prize, or the booby prize, depending on how you look at it."

"Who, Draco?" His father was peering at him intently.

"Miss Hermione Granger, the biggest Mudblood of them all." Draco grinned.

"A woman?" his mother asked, intrigued.

"A woman," his father confirmed, looking thoughtful. "I can't believe she was left alive, being such an important member of the resistance, not to mention so close to the Boy. She was at his right hand during the war."

"Draco, what are you going to do with her?" his mother asked, looking confused. "Surely you have enough house-elf labor?"

"Oh no, Mother, certainly I'm not going to set her to work polishing silver. No, I'm much more interested in her mind."

"Her mind?" Apparently, his mother took this comment in the wrong way, having raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"She's one of the most brilliant witches of all time, Mother! Imagine how wasteful it would be to just get rid of her. She may still hold the key to finding Potter."

"Watch your tongue!" his mother cried, frantically. Calling Harry Potter by name was as bad now as calling He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Voldemort.

"Fine, she may hold the key to finding the Boy…"

"How is the Mudblood? How as imprisonment treated her?" his father asked, curiously.

"She's frail, but she's no where near death. She was always too spunky for that."

"Is she tame?" Mrs. Malfoy asked.

Draco smirked at the choice of words. "Depends on your definition. She did bite my hand fairly hard."

Lucius looked bemused. "Really? I would have liked to see that. You wouldn't mind if I came over and took at look at her in the morning, would you?"

"You sound as if she were a Labrador," Draco commented. "But why not? I'm keeping her in the dungeon. Mother, I don't suppose you have any clothes to donate to her? I would so like to burn the present set she's wearing."

Narcissa looked conspiratorial. "Hmm, perhaps a new set of clothing might turn your mind toward the lady?" The confused looks of the men caused her to continue. "Perhaps the grandchild I have been requesting isn't so far off? It isn't as if it's an everyday occurrence that there's a female in your house, Draco."

"Narcissa!" Lucius scolded. "How could you say such a thing! Have you forgotten whom you're speaking of? This is no upper society witch, but a thing below dirt." He turned to Draco for back up.

Draco nodded slowly. "But…"

"But?" Lucius bellowed in consternation.

"She may be below us, but she does have a very brilliant mind, none the less. Imagine the how great the product of our combined bloodlines would be! And," he added, more softly, as if afraid for his life, "she always was very beautiful as a girl."

"I don't believe what I'm hearing! Are you seriously considering this insanity? Have you forgotten her heritage?" his father huffed.

"Of course I haven't, I'm merely saying that mother is correct. If I'm to produce an heir, I can't waste my time with trivialities. It must be soon. I'll be forty years old in a couple of years, and there must be someone around to raise the child." Unwittingly, his thoughts had strayed to Evander. He was impressed greatly by the boy's cunning and good looks. If he were to have him on his side… or perhaps a younger version of him… imagine the possibilities!

His mother nodded vigorously, looking excited. His father was still looking doubtful. "Are you attracted to her, or something? You seem oddly agreeable with this foolishness. No son of mine would have given the matter a second thought."

"Fear no further, I am absolutely disgusted by her appearance. I have a hunch that she's dropped below one-hundred pounds. And then there's her eyes."

"Her eyes?" his mother asked, looking depressed once more.

"They look haunted. Looking at her is like looking at a corpse."

Just then, the knock-kneed house-elf announced that dinner was to be served in the dining room. "Father," Draco continued, as they walked, "I've been thinking about the Malfoy Marriage Contract lately. Tell me, what do you suppose would have happened if there had only been one candidate left?"

"That's easy Draco. You would have had to marry her, of course. Has all this talk of the mudblood left you considering marriage, now?"

"I was just wondering what you would have done had I been forced to marry someone of less than honorable heritage."

"Had the situation arrived, I suppose there would not have been any reason for me to object. I certainly couldn't have allowed you to die."

"And," Draco continued, as they began their first course, "what if there hadn't been one candidate, but two, and supposing I had decided to elope with the lesser one. Would you have tried to stop me?"

"Draco, all this talk of what-ifs is giving me a head-ache. But of course I would try to stop you!"

"And supposing we had been married by magic? Would you have killed the girl?"

"So long as the Dark Lord's reign could protect me from suspicions, of course! Now really Draco, why not pick a new subject? You're acting quite peculiar tonight."

"Am I Father?" Draco ate his meal in silence. His thoughts had drifted to those two odd moments in which he had felt such immense attraction to Hermione Granger. He knew it was wrong. Perhaps it was only his subconscious dwelling on Evander's story? He was sure now that the boy was telling the truth. In another time, perhaps he and Granger might be meant for one another.

His own odd behavior was starting to disturb him. There were plenty of pureblooded women out there for him to choose from. And besides this, why was he being so… nice? Why had he saved the Potter girl? Why had he gone out of his way to let Granger know that he was leaving?

Perhaps it was time to run a little experiment of his own. Perhaps it was time to give way to contrasting emotions, and discover what it was like to kiss the Mudblood.

A.N.: Wow, I liked this chapter! And I liked that last little statement, don't you? Okay, so I don't want to try and figure out how Harry won the war until after I read HBP, but I also don't want to leave all of you hanging for so long. Hmm… What do you think? Should I skip over Lily's explanation for a while and skip directly to the experiment? Some of you asked if I was planning on putting in spoilers. My answer to that is that I will just have to read the book and find out if there's anything that will affect what I write. I'm terrified that something's going to happen that will make my entire plot obsolete. I can handle minor inconsistencies, I suppose. Hopefully nothing major will be different, like all those poor pre-OOTP fics with Sirius in them. In the words of Pooh, "oh bother."