The Apple of My Eye
Summary: Diego is Hermione's son. He doesn't have a father. While playing at the park, he meets a very nice man called Draco. Hermione is unaware of her son's new friend. Then one day, she spies him sitting on the lap of a man she never wanted to see again.
Disclaimer: It's surprising I know, but I don't own anything.
Chapter 4:
When Hermione got home that day, everything looked normal. Diego and Bess were watching TV together. There was a bowl of chips on the kitchen counter. She knew that a few minutes ago this bowl had been on her precious carpet, being consumed by the two apparently innocent faces watching TV. So, if everything was normal, why did her gut say that she was being kept in the dark about something?
It was probably something trivial, so Hermione shrugged it off and joined them in front of the TV. Though her eyes were glued to the screen, her thoughts were on Dan. She was surprised that they had gotten so close to each other after only spending a few hours together. She promised herself that she would take it slowly. She felt someone sit next to her and saw that Diego had moved from the floor to sit beside her.
"Hi honey," she said, "how was your day?"
Diego just shrugged. Ever since he had promised Bess that he wouldn't tell his mummy about Draco, he had felt weird. He wanted to shout out to the world that Draco was his best friend, but he couldn't.
Sensing that Diego's mind was troubled, Hermione just pulled her son to her side and said nothing. She knew her son well. All he needed was a comforting presence and she could give him that.
Bess watched the mother and son out of the corner of her eye. Her heart felt heavy. She was going to meet Draco Malfoy the next day. Hopefully, Diego would lose interest in the man and they all go back to their lives normally. But in her heart of hearts, Bess knew that wasn't going to happen. She knew that their world was soon going to be turned upside down.
Draco was exhausted. His day had been extremely hectic. But it had reaped its fruits. For that at least he was thankful. Now, he was lying on his bed in his boxers even though it was only six thirty in the afternoon. He wasn't planning of actually sleeping yet, but his back needed rest. He didn't want to become a cripple at such a young age.
But somehow, he felt that the day had not been complete. He had a nagging feeling that it was because he hadn't seen Diego. He kept cursing himself for becoming so attached to the kid. He was twenty-two and Diego was only five and a half. It was wrong. Draco didn't even know the kid's mother. What if she disapproved of their friendship?
With these thoughts in his mind, Draco drifted off to sleep.
He had to see Diego again. Otherwise he would not be able to sleep. Inside, he knew that the kid felt the same way he did. He drove his car to his street. He had no idea which house was Diego's, so he just drove up and down the street.
A house, three buildings away from the park, caught his eye. It was a normal-looking house in this affluent suburb. It was pretty. It was a big two-storey building with a big, well looked after garden. His gut told him that this was the house. He stopped the car and got out.
Slowly, as if in a trance, he walked up the stairs to the front door. He peered through the stained glass on the door. He could see three figures. One big one and one small one were sitting on a sofa. Another big figure was sitting on the floor. He knew that the small figure was Diego.
He raised his hand to the doorbell. But before his fingers could touch the button, he found himself in a sort of limbo. There was no ground or sky. All around him was some sort of smoky-white cloud. In the distance, he could see a woman with medium-length brown hair. He couldn't see her face. She was clutching the hand of a small child. The child was crying and calling his name. He realised with a jolt that the child was Diego. He tried to rush over to him, but he couldn't move.
The woman began shouting. "Stay away from him Malfoy! Don't you dare come near my son or I will kill you with my bare hands! You're nothing but a filthy bastard!"
Diego cried even harder. Draco tried to speak, but no sound came out. He was totally immobilised. The woman's voice was familiar, but he couldn't match a face or name to it.
Suddenly, an elderly woman appeared. She shook her head disapprovingly. He wasn't sure who she disapproved of. With one more pitying look at both him and the woman, she walked over to Diego and pried him out of the woman's hand. She led him away, talking softly to him. "It'll be okay darling. Let them sort it out. It'll all be okay."
Together, Diego and the old woman walked out of sight. But just before losing sight of him, Diego turned around and looked one last time at him and his mother. With a little wave, he turned back to the old lady and walked with her into the distance.
He stared after them until he heard a whizzing noise. He looked in the direction of Diego's mother. Flying towards him was a jewelled knife. Before he could react, it plunged deep into his heart.
Pain shot through his body and red filled his eyes. He looked back at the lady. She had disappeared. He was alone. Then, as if an angel had flown to his side, Diego was holding his hand, telling him to relax. Behind him was the child's mother. Fear seized him. Would she hurt him again?
No. She was different now. "Show me your face," he requested to her.
Slowly, she lowered her face to his and smiled.
It couldn't be. But it was. He gasped in shock and bolted upright.
Draco opened his eyes and realised that he was back in his bedroom. The dream was still vivid in his mind. But he couldn't remember the face of Diego's mother. He strained himself and tried until his head started hurting. What did this all mean? Was it a warning of some sort?
It was now eight thirty. He decided to have dinner and then maybe go back to sleep. Draco felt quite confused. He wanted to have the same dream again so that he could see who Diego's mother was. She seemed so familiar. But on the other hand, he didn't want to experience it again because Diego's obvious distress in the dream tore his heart to pieces.
Downstairs, Draco sat at the large dining table. It seated up to thirty people and it had been used many times over the past few centuries by the Malfoy family for various functions. His parents had decided to move to Scotland, where they had a holiday mansion because it was more relaxing there. Malfoy Manor, Malfoy Inc and all the other assets owned by Lucius had been passed on to Draco.
He had considered many times just selling the estate and buying a fancy apartment somewhere. After all, he didn't live with anyone so the place was way too big. But the heritage of the house – and the memories, held him back. How could he just sell a part of history? True, most of it was dark, but it was his family. So Draco lived alone with two house elves to keep him company.
A few minutes later, Tinkle, one of his house elves, brought him his dinner. He breathed in the aroma of the freshly cooked lasagne. Suddenly feeling ravenous, Draco shovelled the food into his mouth. His dream kept entering his mind. It was so strange. He forcefully pushed it out of his mind. If he was going to do so much thinking, he might as fell do it on something useful.
After his meal, Draco entered his study and began looking at the Wakefield deal. If he could snag this – and he was certain he could – it would be the most profitable deal his family had made in almost a century. One thing he knew for certain was that his father would be very proud and that meant a lot to him. Throughout his childhood, his father had wanted him to be the best at everything but for some reason Draco would always pull in second. Whether it was Quidditch, where Potter was the star or in his school work, in which the prissy little mudblood would excel. What made his father even more disappointed was that neither Potter nor Granger were purebloods.
Turning back to the deal, Draco perused his notes and the articles he had collected to make sure that there were no catches. Daniel Wakefield was growing old and wanted his son Daniel Jnr to take over. Dan Jnr, who had been living in America until very recently, had no intention of taking over the family business. The business dealt with the relocation of dangerous magical animals. Dan thought it was stupid.
When Draco had first approached old Wakefield for a take-over deal, he had slammed the door in his face – literally. He wanted the business to remain in the family. Through various social contacts, Draco had learned that his son, Dan Jnr, didn't want the business. So, Draco, being the persistent charmer that he was, had made a personal trip to America to discuss things with him.
It had worked. Dan was more than willing to give away the business. But he didn't want his father to know so he had promised to hand over the business as soon as his father had passed away, which wouldn't take very long as the old bastard was terminally ill had was at that very moment immobilised at St Mungo's. He had been given two months to live. Normally, Draco would have felt some sort of compassion towards such a sick person, but he had an intense disliking of the man.
Through this deal, Draco had been in constant contact with Dan and they had forged a strong friendship. In fact, Draco had been the first person to see him once he had moved to England – and his reasons had nothing to do with the deal. Was it a crime to pay a visit to a friend?
Draco was startled out of his thoughts be the presence of another person in the room. Turning around, he was surprised to see his father standing at the door with a sour expression on his face.
"Father! What a pleasant surprise!"
Lucius just scowled. "Would you mind telling me what these are?" In his hands were the pictures Diego had drawn him.
"Oh fuck!"
Hermione was singing in the shower as she got ready the next morning. She applied her make-up more carefully and made sure that her hair looked respectable for a change. She hadn't been so happy for a long time. She was so happy that she didn't realise that her son was still miserable about something.
Diego, who was still feeling depressed felt even worse when his mummy came bounding down the stairs looking prettier than usual singing a song he had never heard before. Why was she so happy? Feeling confused, he was silent throughout breakfast and when Hermione kissed him goodbye, he didn't hug her back.
When Bess arrived, she found him curled up in a ball crying his little heart out on the kitchen floor.
After many hugs, kisses and a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows, Diego's sobs had subsided. Bess studied him over her coffee. He was truly miserable and she knew that it was because he was forbidden to tell his mother about Draco. If she hadn't made him promise not to, he probably wouldn't have told her anyway, but Bess had to make sure that things didn't get too sticky too soon. And this had made Diego feel like walls had been placed all around him.
Bess felt tears build up in her eyes. It wasn't fair on him. He was still a baby. The world is so unfair, she thought bitterly.
Diego spent the whole morning just watching TV. Although his eyes never left the screen, he never actually saw what was going on. He just watched the reflection of the clock on the screen, waiting for four o'clock to arrive.
Hermione walked into the office with a spring in her step. Today she was going to spend the whole day on paper work. And paper work had never looked so exciting before. You know why? Because Dan was going to do it with her!
When she walked into her office, she was surprised to see that Dan was already there, sorting out various files. He looked up at her when he saw her arrive and flashed another smile. "Hi there, boss."
"Hi there, partner," Hermione corrected him. "Why have you started so early? It's not even nine o'clock."
"I know," he grinned again, "but I just thought that if I finished all this annoying paper work quickly, then I could take my very attractive partner out for lunch."
"Smooth Wakefield, very smooth."
"I know I am. So, what do you say about…Oh, shit!" Dan cringed. How could he have forgotten?
"What?"
"Well, actually Hermione, I, uh, can't take you out to lunch because I've got a prior arrangement to meet a friend of mine," he looked a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, right. Um, I wouldn't want to stop you from meeting her." Hermione silently cursed herself. How could she have been so stupid to think that a guy like Dan Wakefield wouldn't have a girlfriend?
"No, no! Hermione, I'm not meeting my girlfriend. I don't have one," he met her eye as he said this and made her blush. "I'm meeting my best friend. He's a guy."
"Oh…" was all Hermione could say. She felt really stupid. Finally she said, "Who's your best friend?"
"Oh, Draco Malfoy."
Hermione was stunned to say the least. Draco Malfoy? As in Ferret Face? Dan's best friend? "Draco Malfoy is your best friend?" she asked disbelievingly.
"Yeah, do you know him?"
"Know him? I went to school with him for seven bloody years!"
Dan smiled. "Great! Why don't you join us for lunch then? I'm sure he'd love to see an old school friend."
"Are you crazy?" she hissed. "I swore that I would never see his filthy face again and I intend to do exactly that! We hated each other at school. He called me a filthy mudblood and my friends and I called him Ferret Face."
Dan was confused. "Draco doesn't look like a ferret."
Hermione was about ready to explode. "I know he doesn't!"
"But…but…you said…"
"Just shut up! I don't want to talk about him. He makes me want to tear his bloody head off!"
Dan was now very confused. What had happened to the cool, vibrant Hermione Granger he had fallen in love with the day before? "I'll go get us some coffee," he said, desperate to escape from her in her anger.
When he returned a few minutes later, Hermione had calmed herself down.
"Look, Dan, I'm really sorry…" she began.
"Hey, no worries."
"No, let me explain. You see, I don't go crazy like that unless it's got something to do with Malfoy, because he's special…"
Again Dan interrupted her. "Special? Do you two have a history or something?"
Hermione cringed inwardly. She really had to work on her wording. "No. He's special because no one else makes me so mad."
"Ah…" now he understood. "Um, Hermione, you don't mind if I'm friends with him do you?"
"No." She actually did, but she didn't want to lose Dan just when she had found him.
They worked the rest of the morning in silence, talking only when necessary. But the lack of words didn't mean there was a lack of communication. They would keep flirting with their eyes.
And James Whiting watched it all with a smile on his face.
When Dan returned from his lunch with Draco, he found Hermione sitting idle in her office, having completed all the paper work.
"Hey there partner," he said.
"Hey there boss," she corrected.
"Boss? Just this morning you were my partner."
"I know," Hermione said smugly, "but I got a promotion."
It was true. When Dan had left, James Whiting had approached her about the promotion he was supposed to have given her the day before. She had requested, however, that her place on the team be given to Dan instead. Working on the Warren Darkins case was going to be very time-consuming job and she felt like she had been neglecting Diego in the last couple weeks. In the time she would save, she would spend more quality time with him.
Dan was thrilled about his place on the team. It was a very high profile case. He had heard about it even in America. He noticed that Hermione had not asked him how his lunch had been. He now understood why. She and Draco hated each other. He had asked Draco about her.
Draco, who was usually very warm towards him, became cold and distant when she was mentioned. Dan had absolutely no idea exactly why they hated each other so much, but he was wise enough to know that it would be suicide to mention one's name while in the other's presence.
Before he knew that Hermione and Draco were enemies, Dan had been prepared to tell Draco that Hermione was the girl of his dreams. But now, he wasn't sure how to tell him, or how he would react.
Draco was in a bad mood. There were two reasons why.
One: His father had grilled him about Diego, and once he realised that Draco knew absolutely nothing about the child's family, he had forbidden Draco to ever see Diego again. Of course, Draco was going to see him, but the fact that his father had just barged into his room and grabbed the pictures off the walls was annoying. Why did he always try to run his life?
Two: Dan Wakefield had started talking about that damn mudblood, Granger. Why? He had absolutely no idea. But it was sure as hell annoying. And he had the nagging feeling that Dan had some feelings for her too. Poor guy, he thought. He had kept badgering Draco about why the two hated each other with a passion until Draco had snapped and hit the table so hard with his fist that his plate of pasta had flown off the table and onto the floor, causing the entire restaurant to turn and see that had caused to famous Draco Malfoy to throw his food around.
Now, an owl tapped on his window. He read the letter and groaned in frustration. It was from Summer, demanding him to accompany her to a family function so that she could announce to everyone that she had managed to hold on to the one and only Draco Malfoy for more than a month – a feat no other girl had ever managed.
He threw the parchment in the bin and barked at his secretary to get him a potion to relieve his head ache.
Why was it that when people decided to annoy him, they all decided to do it at the same time?
Diego was still lying on his stomach in front of the TV when three o'clock rolled by he had only gotten up to have lunch and go to the bathroom.
By that time, Bess's stomach was in knots. She was very nervous to meet Draco Malfoy. She tried to keep an open mind on him – she hated being biased, but she couldn't help it. Whenever she thought of him, she thought he was an evil git who was good for nothing. In fact, part of Bess didn't want to see him at all. She wanted to forbid Diego to ever see him again, but the rational part of her told her that was a stupid thing to do.
By three thirty, Bess was considering having a few glasses of wine before going to the park.
"Shall we go to the park in fifteen minutes?" she asked Diego.
Diego just nodded, still staring straight ahead at the TV screen. He pulse quickened. He didn't know why he felt so nervous about Bess meeting Draco.
It suddenly occurred to Bess that Diego had been meeting a grown man at the park for eight days and no one had known a thing. Most children would have been boasting about a new friend to anyone who would listen, but Diego hadn't. Though Diego didn't know anything, he obviously felt something. This worried Bess deeply.
As they set off to the park, they held hands. Diego led the way to the bench by the pond. No one was using today. They sat there and waited. Both of them stared at Bess's wrist watch.
Five minutes to go.
Tick, tick…
Three minutes.
Tick, tick…
Two minutes.
Tick, tick…
One minute.
Tick, tick…
They both looked up at the same time. Nothing. All they saw was children playing and couples walking along the path, hand in hand.
Tick, tick…
Two minutes past.
Tick, tick…
Then they saw him. He was walking along the path towards them. He was wearing a navy suit with a white shirt unbuttoned at the top and a loose, slightly patterned red tie.
The first thought that entered Diego's mind was, He's here!
The first thought that entered Bess's mind was, My! What a handsome young man! Then she mentally kicked herself. I mean, what a bastard!
Draco was running about five minutes late. It wasn't his fault. The amount of traffic on the roads was ridiculous! His father disapproved of him driving a car, in fact, his father disapproved of anything muggle. That was one of the factors in his retirement. Many muggle devices were now being used in the wizarding world, like mobile phones and computers.
Draco loved his car. It was a silver Mercedes Sports Coupe. He loved driving; it was quite soothing for him. Not quite as good as a broom, but close enough.
As he made his way down the path, towards the bench by the pond, Draco suddenly felt very self-conscious, like he was going to a press conference where what he was wearing and what he said were going to be major factors in the outcome of the event.
As he rounded a corner, the bench came into view. Sitting there was Diego. Curiously, there was also a woman sitting next to him. He drew closer and saw that the woman was too old to be Diego's mother, but you never knew these days – people did all sorts of crazy things. For some reason she seemed familiar, but he didn't know why. He was certain her had never met her before. Maybe he had seen her on the streets somewhere.
Then he realised that the woman was watching him. The self-conscious feeling came over him again.
"Hi," he said nervously.
The woman just stared coldly at him. Diego, on the other hand, bounded over to Draco and threw his arms around his waist. "Hiya, Draco!"
Draco hugged him back and then pulled him up so that he was carrying him. "I've got you something."
Diego's eyes lit up. "Really! What is it?"
Draco put a hand in his pocket and came out with a large, round lollipop with bright swirling colours. "I thought you might like this."
Diego was so happy that no words came out of his mouth.
Draco took this as an opportunity to joke around a bit. "I guess you don't like it," he sighed, "I'll just have to throw it in the bin then." He moved as though to throw the candy away, but Diego grabbed it out of his hand, while at the same time throwing himself around Draco's neck.
"Thank you, oh, thank you, Draco!" the little boy squealed in delight.
Draco just laughed and hugged him back.
Bess watched the whole exchange, a bit shocked. She had never expected that Malfoy would be so…nice…and…well…caring. She now looked at the man in a different light. No longer was he just a monster, he was now a man who had captivated Diego's heart. Now that she had seen this nice side of him, Bess trusted herself to talk to him without first clawing his eyes out.
"Diego!" she chided, "you can't just take gifts like that! What have you given Mr Malfoy?
Draco turned to her and smiled, pleased that she wasn't going to stay hostile. "Please, it's Draco. And don't worry. Diego had given me plenty of gifts."
"Oh, has he now? What exactly is it that he has given you?"
"Well, he's quite the artist. He's given me six or seven little drawings, two of which are pinned up on the walls in my office."
"What about the other four or five?" she asked.
"Those are on the walls of my bedroom."
Bess could feel herself warming up to him. "And pray tell why you've got the drawings of a child you met but a week ago pinned onto your walls?"
Draco set Diego down and grinned sheepishly. "It kinda hard to explain."
"I'm a good listener so you can try me."
Draco could see that the old lady was not going to give up on him anytime soon so he said, "How about we grab a bite to eat while I tell you?"
Diego was all for the idea and pleaded with Bess to allow them to get something to eat. Laughing at Diego's face as he pleaded excitedly, Bess relented.
They bought sandwiches at the deli across the road from the park and talked and talked. Draco tried to explain why he felt so close and attached to Diego to Bess, while she listened intently.
After eating, the three of them went back to the park and went to the jungle gym, which Diego happily played. After constant pleading from Diego, and a few playful nudges by Bess, Draco too joined Diego on the equipment
Then, as was the now the custom for the two boys, they bought some bread and went to the pond to feed the ducks.
They finally parted at five-thirty. As Bess walked home with Diego, her mind was in turmoil. She really liked Draco. But it wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be a bastard!
She was startled to see that Hermione was home, but it was five-thirty after all. She would have come home from work a half hour ago.
Inside, Hermione was playing muggle music, which was strange because she never did that. At the moment, Britney Spears' voice was belting out of the speakers as Hermione sang with her.
"You drive me crazy!"
Bess laughed at her off-key voice. She laughed even harder as Diego attempted to sing with his mother. He failed horribly as he didn't know the words.
Fortunately, Hermione didn't ask too much about what they had done at the park. To make sure that Diego didn't let anything slip, Bess stayed for dinner and left only after he had gone to bed.
As she drove home, she wondered how long Draco's friendship with Diego would be a secret from Hermione.
Wow! That's my longest chapter yet! And I can't believe I got 99 reviews! Whoop! Whoop!
I haven't got time to respond to all my reviewers now, but I promise that I will in the next chapter.
I'll try and update once a week and I know that I should have been writing Unfortunate Fates instead of this, but I couldn't help it. My head's just full of ideas for this fic!
Till next time,
A vision of violets
