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Later that day Draco wrote to Hermione about the magical community in Cinque Terre and asked her if taking her and her parents there would be a good idea. She was thrilled and had a ton of questions about the place but Draco refused to answer any of them. He said it would ruin the surprise if he told her. He did however recommend a restaurant that they should try for dinner.
After a short walking tour that had been the only planned part of the itinerary the Grangers had, they had spent the day waking along the marina and finally headed to the recommend restaurant for dinner.
"The food is lovely… you should thank Draco for his recommendation" Helen said
"I will… " Hermione smiled "Mum… have you had the chance to think about that sailing trip the boys mentioned?" She asked
"Oh yes… Helen please come along, it's a family vacation, it will be fun!" Richard coaxed his wife
"You've never been sailing Richard, you just read about it a lot… What if you break their boat?" Helen said
"We'll fix it with magic mum…" Hermione said "besides if the tent I stayed in with the Weasleys for the world cup is any indication, this boat is going to be pretty amazing…" Hermione finished
"Where would we even go?" Helen asked in her final frail attempt to stay on land
"Well, Draco was telling me there's this magical community at Cinque Terre. A hidden town amongst all those towns… I was hoping we could go there… he won't tell me much about it except for the fact that he's sure you both will love it…" Hermione said in a rush…
"Come on Helen… it might be fun, besides don't you keep saying we know nothing about our little girls new world..." Richard said
"fine… " Helen said conceding
"Great!" Said Hermione and her father together as shook hands under the table conspiratorially
—
The next day at the crack of dawn the Grangers were welcomed by Draco and Blaise at the hotel lobby in a very fancy sedan. They drove down to the pier and were welcomed by an elegant wooden sailboat that looked just the right size for the 5 of them. As they descend into the cabin below to keep their bags, Helen was expecting a small space with couple of beds and maybe a loo. But, She was blown away!
Magically enlarged on the inside, was a massive space with a table in the center and private cabins on the side. There were 3 cabins. A large well stocked and equipped kitchen space on the side opposite the cabins and what looked like a deck to steer the boat with magic in case of an emergency. There seemed to be another level below this one. Blaise explained that that was where the staff and the engine were. Draco led Hermione and Richard down to meet the sailors who as it turned out could work the sails as well as working with wands. Between the small engine over the rudder and hull was a space for the staff to eat, and bunk beds to sleep on the right side. But the left side was an end to end viewing window giving a gorgeous view of the underwater life. Richard was in heaven and safe to say successfully impressed.
Apart from the five there was a staff of 4. One chef, a captain and two sailors to help sail and steer the boat with magic. Draco assured Richard that they would sail most of the way and that magic was only a precaution becuase one could never be too careful. Hermione had a ton of questions herself about every thing from the charms used to the licenses and legal ramifications of it all. Blaise and his Captain (who was also a wizard!) Helped answer all her questions. Meanwhile Richard and Draco were on the deck learning how to sail. Helen was watching in fascination as the Chef used household spells to wash, chop and stir all the while discussing the menu with her.
It was turning out to be a lovely day. They enjoyed a light breakfast and a hearty lunch just before they arrived at the port of Cinque terre. Their little party enjoyed a lovely walk around the port area and took a train to Vernazza. Blaise and Draco were the unofficial tour guides and filled with facts about history and culture about the place. As night fell, Blaise led Helen and Richard towards the boat so that Draco and Hermione could enjoy a stroll by the beach.
"This is nice…" She said
"Your parents are lovely… Mum would have loved them" Draco said
"You think so? Despite all the…. You know…"
"Fanatic blood purity?"
"You have to admit that's all you talked about for the first 3 years that i knew you for…"
"Yes, and I'm sorry… for all of it… It's mostly my father. It's not because he means it like that, it's because… well…"
"What? You can tell me…"
"Well, I've been told that we're cursed. Apparently a few generations before my Great Grandfather, the then heir of the Malfoy family was rather promiscuous. He ended cheating on his wife. She used blood magic to curse the entire family line. The curse doesn't allow for more than one pureblood heir and of course any illegitimate children die before they can turn one. My father and his father before him have searched for years for a way to break the curse. They even tried adopting a magical child but that didn't work either. The child that was adopted died because of the curse. My parents tried for years to have a second child but despite my father and mother claiming their familial magic and using blood wards to unite, nothing happened. It took a great toll on my mother's health. Coming from a large family like the Blacks she was a little heartbroken... She loves me but wishes I had siblings..."
"You realise your curse says nothing about half bloods or muggle borns right?" Hermione said
"What do you mean?" Draco said
"I mean, what if you were to have a child with a muggle or a muggle born that would make the child a half blood. Who knows, maybe you could have a whole brood of half bloods. I'm not very sure how curses work but technically speaking, this would be your best bet." Hermione said logically
Draco had stopped walking and Hermione was a few steps ahead of him. She turned as she realised "What? What happened?"
"You… umm…" Draco said "You make sense… but…"
"But what? You 'society' is too snooty to believe the possibility that muggles who apparently 'steal' magic from you guys can actually help solve your problems. Come on…"Hermione chuckled
"No.. you're right… that's exactly the problem… I mean even if I presented this to my parents my father would never agree to it… like never…" Draco said seriously
Hermione realised that suddenly they had moved away from idle conversation to a serious discussion "Well… in that case, I'm sure there must be some precedent we can look up for this… You know… I'm sure your ancestor didn't just create a curse out of thin air, it must have existed and someone must have undone it… so maybe we look for that…" Hermione said
"Ya…" Draco said pensively "that could definitely be done… I wish I knew where to start looking…"
"The settlement we're going to tomorrow, there must be a library there?"
"There is…" Draco said with a smile "But I doubt it'll have the kind of stuff we're talking about…"
"Why? Do they not have families there? There must be some lineage record, something…"
"Nice try, but I'm not telling you anything about tomorrow. Come on lets get back to the boat before we're missed and your father goes from loving me to hating me…"
"He doesn't love you…"
"yet…"
"Huh?"
"He doesn't love me yet… he will once he sees what I've got for him… "
"Draco Malfoy what did you do!"
"Nothing…" Draco said as he ran from her and she chased after him
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