Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every second and fourth Saturday!
—
After Draco's stunning performance at the dining table in front of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, the Malfoy heir frantically wracked his brain, desperate to plot a safe way to go and visit Lady Granger.
He knew he must at least let some time pass so as not to arouse immediate suspicion.
One day, two days…..
Three…..
Four…..
How to do it?
On the fifth day after the attack on the Grangers, Draco settled on a ploy which was so overused and blatantly obvious that it made him confident his ruse would never be reckoned.
Instead of rising at his usual time that morning, Draco remained in bed, with the curtains drawn and the embroidered duvet pulled over his face.
Close to noon, his bedroom door opened and his mother, Narcissa, peered into the darkened chamber as she called out worriedly, "Draco, darling? Your father and I missed you at breakfast this morning….Lunch is being served now, have you not woken yet? What's the matter?"
"Please stop shouting, Mother." Draco whispered forlornly from his place under the covers.
"Darling, I'm not shouting." Narcissa replied as her brow furrowed in concern while her blue eyes landed on the mound of covers that held her son, "Are you feeling alright?...Have you fallen ill?"
"Please…" Draco asked in a tense voice from where he lay, "My head is aching so badly I can hardly lift it. I can't bear noise or light….just let me rest, Mother."
"Oh, dear! I hope it's not Dragon Pox! A woeful headache was your grandfather's first complaint before the disease struck him! Do you think you have a fever?!" Narcissa asked urgently.
"No, I only need to rest." Draco repeated with a sigh as he rolled onto his back and pulled the covers down from his pale face, "Please, Mother…...if you'll allow me to sleep, I'm sure I'll recover."
"If you're not out of bed by this evening, I'm calling a healer." Narcissa informed her son with a decided frown as she closed the door to his bedroom.
The second she was gone, Draco stealthily slithered from his sheets and hurriedly dressed himself in one of his finest, black suits.
He cast an enchantment on his bed to let the covers swell where his body should be resting, leaving them undulating in a rippling motion that simulated what the folds of fabrics would be doing if he were slumbering underneath them.
As quietly as possible, Draco raised his wand and apparated away.
His visit would be brief, but sweet, he was certain of that.
Any time that Lord Malfoy had the honor of standing in Lady Granger's presence was a pleasant occasion, no matter the circumstances.
—
Draco didn't want to startle the unsuspecting family, so he was thoughtful enough to arrive just outside of the small cottage.
He was also careful to keep his occlumency shields in place as a safeguard against any prying wizard or witch that attempted to access his thoughts as his mind and body wandered.
Draco landed elegantly on his polished, black shoes, directly in the middle of a pile of leaves in the foggy forest.
As he straightened the jacket of his suit and the edge of his intricate waistcoat, he felt someone staring at him.
Draco whirled around and found himself looking into the lovely face of-
"Lady Granger." He greeted the beautiful omega with a nod.
"Lord Malfoy." Lady Granger replied politely, although her fair face was stern as she gazed back at him, "How very thoughtful of you to come and see us at last."
Draco blanched at the icy edge in her tone.
He scowled as he answered, "Forgive my tardiness, my lady, but it is by no choice of my own that I haven't visited before now. Should I have been too hasty, or should my excursion here have lacked the necessary amount of cunning, I fear that we would be unable to speak at all, as two corpses lying side by side often are."
Lady Granger's staunch frown softened a bit at that reminder and as she stared at Lord Malfoy, he saw some of the hardness leave her face.
"I do apologize for the small lodgings that have become your temporary home." Draco spoke as he glanced over at the cottage and nodded, "Unfortunately, I can't replicate the grandeur to which you're accustomed while sheltering you and your loved ones from danger at the same time."
Lady Granger drew in a deep breath and as she inhaled the delicious scent of the alpha, unwelcome tears welled in her brown eyes.
Lady Granger wanted so badly to blame Lord Malfoy, to hate Lord Malfoy, to insist that the entire attack had somehow been his idea from the beginning and that he had trapped her and her parents there of his own malicious volition, but Lady Granger's mind was clouded by grief and fear.
Lady Granger did not lack intellect.
She knew that Lord Malfoy was really only a pawn in a brutal war regime in which he had practically no control and even less influence.
She knew that Lord Malfoy's heart was not completely made of stone, else she and her parents would no longer be alive to contemplate the drastic changes to their lifestyle.
Lady Granger also knew that Lord Malfoy's scent, composed from notes of fresh apple, mahogany, and aged leather, was the most comforting thing to her in the world at that moment.
She raised her hands to her chest and looked at Draco as her brown eyes widened after she took a deep breath.
For a moment, Draco wondered if Lady Granger was going to reach out and grab him by his hand.
For a moment, Draco was silently hoping that she would, begging her to do it within the recesses of his mind.
Instead, Lady Granger ignored her instincts and pulled her lace shawl around her shoulders more tightly as a chilly breeze blew past them both.
"You shouldn't be wandering about, Lady Granger." Draco chastised, "It's not safe for you, or your mother, or your father, outside of the cottage walls."
"How dare you tell me where to go, Lord Malfoy!" Lady Granger replied with a haughty scoff.
"I beg your pardon, my lady, but I'm only trying to ensure your survival." Draco replied as he stepped closer to Lady Granger, "There's a good reason I chose this particular cottage to house you and your family."
He smirked to himself when Lady Granger took a step towards him as well.
There, in the chill of the open air, Lord Malfoy moved his cutting, grey gaze down to bore into Lady Granger's amber eyes as they stared up at each other.
Draco didn't try to hide the grin that drifted over his lips as he inhaled that intoxicatingly sweet scent that rose from Lady Granger's delicate throat and up to his nostrils, wafting all the way into his brain to enhance his most primitive wants.
Lady Granger's mouth became uncommonly dry.
Her heart raced in her chest as she stared up at Draco.
Surely, Lord Malfoy wasn't that much of a draw for her, she was only tired from being cooped up in that small cottage, that was all.
They inched closer together, closer and closer, until it came to the point where either one of them had to speak and break the unbearable silence or their lips were going to meet and it would be impossible to say what would happen after tha-
"...Conceivement charms?" Lady Granger asked.
Mortification overtook her.
Concealment charms!
She had meant to say concealment charms!
Lady Granger's cheeks immediately flushed the deep shade of red that only the truly embarrassed can achieve.
Lord Malfoy's grin widened into an all out smirk as he looked down at Lady Granger and asked, "Sorry to disappoint you, my lady, but there were no conceivement charms placed on the cottage. If you'd like to try some though, perhaps we may steal a quiet moment together behind a tree?"
Lady Granger's amber eyes widened in shock at those obscene words.
Her beautiful face curled into a horribly offended scowl as she thundered back, "Lord Malfoy! How dare you even suggest something so vulgar! I'll have you know-"
At that moment, the cottage door creaked open and Mr. Granger cautiously peered out.
Lady Granger had told her parents she needed a breath of fresh air when she had stepped out of the cottage, but they had grown concerned by her extended absence.
"Lord Malfoy!" Mr. Granger called out in a fond greeting when he saw Draco standing there, chatting with Hermione.
Draco and Hermione turned around to look at her father who stood in the doorway to the cottage.
"Hello, Mr. Granger." Draco nodded, glad that he had placed some deafening charms in the immediate area of the cottage so any conversations heard near its grounds would be garbled at best.
"So lovely to see you! Won't you come in for a moment?" Mr. Granger graciously asked his rescuer.
Draco looked over at Hermione and smirked as he asked, "Well, Lady Granger? Will you allow me to accept your father's invitation?"
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms in silent defeat as she glared up at Draco and nodded, speaking in a tone of pure vexation, "There is little I can do to stop you, Lord Malfoy."
"Very well then, my lady~." Draco replied as he turned from Lady Granger and walked towards the cottage to join her father.
Lady Granger fumed as she followed him, bristling from her own humiliation.
As he walked, Draco's wolfish grin remained on his lips while he thought about Lady Granger's unfortunate slip of the tongue.
Draco had disguised his offer as a joke, but he had truly been unabashedly serious.
If Lady Granger wanted to test some conceivement charms with him, then Lord Malfoy would be more than happy to comply.
As Lady Granger walked back into the cottage with Lord Malfoy, her cheeks were nearly apple red from her awkwardly thrilling exchange with the handsome alpha.