Disclaimer: Of course, these lovely characters do not belong to me. I do borrow them for my idea.
Thank you to all of you kind followers and the reviews. I'm so happy to have read some new names there.
Researching
June 2005
Narcissa stopped in her tracks when she set eye on her son and Hermione. She knew that the latter had wanted to come over to help with the research, but that had been before she had left for an event at the Greengrass estate. With a wink of her wand, she let a small tray float to a nearby table, contemplating whether she should interrupt the pair.
Obviously, she was a fan of what she got to witness here, but she knew the reality and Ronald Weasley would hit soon enough. She glanced back at the pair one last time before she charmed the tray to add a cup and to float over when needed and left the library to order all elves to stay as far away from the room as possible.
It wasn't for another hour before Draco finally steered. His neck hurt. He had fallen asleep sitting up on the couch. The stupid couch who seemed to put him to sleep a little too regularly lately. The book he had been reading had slid to the floor. He rolled his shoulders to please his muscles, but it didn't do much. It was then that his eyes landed on his companion, who seemed much more comfortable curled up next to him. Her head rested in his lap and one of her arms was wrapped around his legs like she was holding onto a giant teddy bear. He sighed quietly, brushing back the loose curls that were covering her face.
This was bad and it got worse every time she showed up at the Manor. It had been weeks now since he had added those dumb feelings of affection for her to his mental list of things the bind did to him. At least he told himself that the bind was at fault since there was no way Draco Malfoy would fall for Hermione Granger. Although he had not mentioned that to her, as she was not only still somehow his wife, but at the same time very much legally married to the Weasel.
With a wave of his hand, a scroll flew up to him, to give him something to do that was not watching her sleep. At this point, they were confident in the spells they were planning on handing to Shaklebolt to perform on them. After Hermione's talk with her husband back in April, they had started with figuring out the legal chaos. It turned out, while the bind was not lifted, the legal documents were still considering them very much divorced and her married to Weasley. He had ignored the feelings of annoyance and jealousy.
It did put her a little bit more at ease. After they had started their research on the bind, he had consulted the libraries in his friend's homes and taken the books back to his own to have her help study them. There were volumes on volumes that were available on the topic, but it was tedious to apply to their specific case. Pureblood marriages weren't supposed to be broken off that much became clear.
And the one thing he had not expected was the affection he started to develop for the witch. During their first study session, he had made very much a point of his old teasing on various topics. When she had come back for the second time, she had been in a bad mood because of some newly pregnant friend or relative of hers and so he had cut back on the teasing again. Only that he never really started it up again.
It was this moment of thinking things over when he realized his hand had mindlessly been drawing circles on her back. He pulled away staring at his hand, trying to decide what to do with it. Thankfully, Granger began to steer. He could feel her go from completely relaxed to stiff when she realized whose legs she was hugging and sat up abruptly.
"Sorry."
"Good morning to you too." He tried his grin and then stretched a little more now that she wasn't fixing him to his position on the couch anymore. He ignored the deep blush on her cheeks. The tray levitating over from one of the other tables proofed more than helpful for that. He glanced at the contents, realizing his mother had put it together for him.
She only did that once a year. Fresh croissants from France's best bakery, fruits, his favorite tea all prepared by her rather than an elf. His eyes wandered to a little wrapped box, wondering what she had gotten him. He grabbed for his croissant and took a bite, before gesturing for Granger to do the same.
"Are your elves bribing you into more vacation time?"
He looked at her in confusion, too absorbed by his thoughts and breakfast to fully comprehend what she was going on about. She rolled her eyes, before lifting the small box and holding it up to him.
"Mother's birthday presents."
"It's not Narcissa's birthday." He gave her his, you can't really be that thick and the brightest witch of your age look but didn't respond. He blamed just waking up for her long reaction time.
"It's your birthday." She blushed, before setting the box back on the tray. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Does it matter?" He grabbed a few of the strawberries before leaning back on his seat. Draco hadn't cared for his birthday in years. Well, he had when Lucia had forced him to go out but other than that he really hadn't since his early years in Hogwarts.
"I would have gotten you something."
"Why?" He glanced at her.
"Well," she trailed off, apparently going through the options for answers in her head. He was still somehow her husband, they spend a lot of time together, she basically was his mother's best friend. The list could go on for a while. "it's a nice thing to do."
Not quite the sophisticated answer he had expected. He chuckled, before getting up from his spot and stretching more.
"I have some friends coming over tonight, but I assumed Weasley wouldn't take well to the idea of you joining and him coming along sounded even more unreasonable, so…" He trailed off, as he walked to one of the windows and looked into the bright morning.
"We are invited to meet Harry's new baby tonight." He rolled his eyes before abandoning the view and walking back over to the sitting area.
"Isn't that baby a few months old by now?"
"He had health issues after being born and so nobody was really allowed to visit. Harry even took time off work to minimalize the risk." Albus had been born prematurely and with more health concerns than anyone had imagined. She had read his file at the hospital but hadn't been in charge of his care. She only knew the Potters had basically lived at St. Mungos for a month, before taking him home and cutting the rest of the world off from them until now.
"I see."
"It's too bad, I'm sure I would have enjoyed a night surrounded by snakes." He looked over and saw a grin matching her teasing tone. He gave a small smile as a response, doubting very much that she would have felt welcome under the teasing presence of Blaise and Theo, not even to mention the girls who probably would have a blast gossiping about her style for weeks. Some things simply hadn't changed since Hogwarts.
"Well, I should get going."
"Don't want to make Weasley jealous, do we now?" He fell in step next to her, as they left the library. She simply shrugged.
"He was at work. Some raid. He probably won't be home yet."
"Who was the raid on?" There had been rumors that the ministry was going after one of the minor estates of the Notts, leaving Theo a nervous wreck.
She stiffened next to him and struggled to keep the light tone.
"I don't know."
"He doesn't tell you every detail of everything?" Draco had expected her to argue that it wasn't his business and that she wouldn't share sensitive topics with him, but instead, she seemed to tense even more.
"No." She sensed the sharp edge to her voice, regretting it immediately. Instead of acknowledging it though, she grabbed for the pot of floo powder and prepared herself for leaving.
"I'll consult McGonagall and Flitwick on the spells we agreed on and let you know." She threw the powder. "Happy birthday Malfoy." And then she stepped in calling out for her home. Her reaction to his question had him confused. Back in school, those three had told each other everything, maybe a little too much and so it was weird to him that she wouldn't know something silly like this. He was still staring at the fireplace when his mother walked out of the drawing-room.
"Were you able to find some more spells that could be useful?"
"Yeah." He closed his eyes and drew in a few breaths, before turning towards his mother. He could see a sparkle in her eyes that he didn't like. She must have carried the tray to the library herself and seen them. This was a great conversation starter for her. He was certain that she would start playing matchmaker any second now.
"It's okay, you know?"
"What is?" He knew he shouldn't ask the question.
"To like Hermine." He sighed and started walking back towards the library. "You are a good guy and certainly a great match for her." Of course, Narcissa Malfoy didn't give up just because he walked away. She was a few steps behind him.
"Have you invited her to your party tonight?"
"She and her husband have a prior engagement." He glanced at her when he mentioned Weasley. That git still existed and somehow, he, Draco Malfoy, had managed to successfully reunite them.
"We could invite her to our brunch on Saturday."
"Why?"
He was surprised that she seemed to be lacking an answer. His mother never lacked an answer, never had. He finally stopped walking and turned to her.
"Why would I invite the girl whose life was destroyed by some maniac marrying her to me, when she wanted to be with someone else, to my birthday celebration?"
"We like her." There was no specification on the "we". She seemed to know the thin ice she was on, as her voice was lacking some of her usual confidence. He sighed.
"Listen, I know you are fond of her and that's great. She did sacrifice a lot to keep you company, when I couldn't, which I still owe her for." He took another breath in. "But she is married and trying desperately to stay that way. This bind ruined her life and for some odd reason things with Weasley seem to work out right now, so please stop fixing things that will break others."
Draco was relieved to hear that she didn't follow him back to his room. Had she, he would have probably ended up telling her that he wanted nothing more than that dumb marriage to fail. Weasley was a git, one who deserved credit for trying to make things right, but a git.
He didn't hear from Hermione for a few days, which gave him time to sort through his own things. First, he had to store away those awfully affectionate feelings for Granger. His next step had been to buy a property on the southwest coast of England and starting to design a cottage for the space. There were still few to consider hiring him in England and he had no draw to leaving the country now. So, most of his works were the preliminary drawings for Bianchi, which he later handed off to a project manager. Having something to oversee, even if it was for himself, was a good change of pace.
His third, and most shocking step to Narcissa, had been to ask Daphne Greengrass out. He had known the witch since they were little and somehow always expected that it was either her or Pansy he would be married off to. But after the war, nobody seemed too keen to get things arranged with someone who had to spend time in Azkaban. Daphne herself didn't seem to mind, but her parents weren't initiating anything. In fact, his own mother was still rather unwilling to speak to him and so he was glad to avoid her for a few hours and escape to Grangers place. While he wasn't particularly fond of the space, she occupied with Weasley, he wanted to test a theory on his unwanted affectionate feelings. Therefore, it had been his suggestion to bring the books and hold this meeting at her flat.
If he were right, he should be able to work out the final bits of the unbinding charms, without mulling over the potential goodness their relationship would have. When he stepped out of the fireplace, he was surprised to find a sour-looking Ron sitting on the couch. Did the git have a job?
"Weasley, long time no see."
"Whatever."
They stood in silence until Hermione came around the corner.
"You are here." The smile on her lips, made Weasley's face even sourer, if possible. Draco glanced between the couple and only gave a small nod.
"Well, I cleared up the table over here." She pointed towards their dining table, and he walked over placing the books and notes he brought. Ron didn't move and he could feel her tension.
"I brought the books you requested." She gave him a small nod and grabbed one of them, apparently determined to simply read. A good strategy, only that Draco didn't know what he had to look for, without hearing the new results.
"What did McGonagall and Flitwick say?"
"Oh right." She glanced back over his shoulder, where he knew her husband was still seated. "Well, they think we should consider the time this has been in place now. Especially when it comes to the house magic and Roks." She cleared her throat. "Apparently the longer the bind is in place, the more my magic gets woven into anything Malfoy."
He could swear that Weasley was trying to glare a hole into his back, but he didn't turn.
"Alright, so you probably should start with this book instead." He pushed another one over, which he had recently studied for their project. "Chapters 30 onward."
She watched him as he sat in one of their chairs, pulling another book towards him, before arranging his notes and quill. Her eyes went back over to her husband, who still frowned at them. She sighed, before opening the book to the recommended chapters. Her eyes still not quite focused.
"He is going to do this the whole time I'm here, isn't he?"
"It was your idea."
"Just testing a theory."
"What theory?"
He withdrew without answering her question. When she looked up, he was quite determined to appear as if he was reading. She caught Ron's glare again and closed her eyes.
"Why don't you make us all some tea, Ronald?"
Her tone should make clear that it wasn't a question but something she wanted him to do. He would still watch from the kitchen, but at least he would have a little distraction as well. When he began to move, she let out a small breath and refocused on her book, finally comprehending more than a sentence at a time.
