First things first- I own nothing. Rowling just lets us play with her things if we don't break anything and we put them back when we're done. Okay, I know this is short, but I'm not paying for double internet service, so I have to cancel my old service in the next couple of days. So I could be without service for a few days to two weeks. Eek. I have my phone service, so I'll survive, but that means no weekly posting. But I promise to keep working on the story and maybe be able to get ahead of myself again. Anyway, sorry this is sooo long. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 14

Hermione simultaneously dreaded and looked forward to shopping with her friends. They were off to muggle London and Harrods. That part excited her, the coming interrogation from Tracey about Theo not so much. She sent him a warning note telling him that soon numerous Gryffindor females would know about them, and that she doubted their abilities to keep it secret. His response arrived just after breakfast.

Sweet,

You were the one concerned about others finding out. I could care less. My only concern is my father apparating into Lucius's bathroom in his haste to cement an alliance between our Houses. Or, worse, Sirius's bedroom. Shudder. Tell them as much or as little as you want. Hope you have fun. Miss you.

Your Theo.

She smiled and tucked the letter under her pillow. Later she would find an appropriate place to keep it. Once she stored the letter she hurried down to meet her mother in the parlor the family used for flooing. Lucius waited with her to see them off. He gave Hermione a hug and kissed her forehead, then turned and embraced his wife. "Have a good day, but be careful."

Narcissa caressed his cheek lovingly. "Of course, dearest." She gestured to Hermione. "Off we go, darling." Mother and daughter flooed into the Leaky Cauldron.

As soon as Hermione emerged, Sally-Anne pounced. She hugged the shorter witch in a circle. "Come meet my mum!" She released her hold long enough to grab her hand. She pulled her along over to a middle aged woman waiting by the bar. "Mum, this is my friend, Hermione Malfoy. Hermione, my mum, Lauren Perks."

"A pleasure, Mrs Perks. May I introduce my mother, Narcissa Malfoy. Mum, this is my friend, Sally-Anne Perks, and her mother, Lauren."

Narcissa offered the other woman her hand and a dazzling smile. "How lovely to meet Hermione's friend and her family."

Mrs Perks shook Narcissa's proffered hand, unable to keep the brief surprise off her face. "Likewise. Does Sally-Anne need anything? Kathleen Dunbar, Fay's mother, helped me exchange money for her, but is there anything else?"

"No, we're taking the Underground, something Hermione assures me she has done before. Transportation and lunch will be my treat."

"I have, often."

"Kathleen thought that might be how you got there."

Narcissa smiled, "Mrs Dunbar sounds very knowledgeable about London."

"Mrs Perks looked embarrassed, "She's a muggle. She married my Douglas's best friend. We've been friend ever since."

"How wonderful. I wish I had known. Perhaps the next trip could be a mother/daughter outing." Any confusion Mrs Perks had about Narcissa's comments got pushed aside by the arrival of the rest of the group.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group departed the Leaky into the muggle world. Fay grabbed Sally-Anne's hand and began leading the group towards the Underground station, knowing the muggle world better than most of the group. Angelina and Katie followed behind closely, the older Gryffindors excited for the new adventure. Tracey kept back between Narcissa and Hermione. She seemed to be the only one nervous. Narcissa patted her back comfortingly. "Relax, dear. There is nothing to be nervous about." She offered the girl a reassuring smile.

The late morning hour ensured the crowds were at their lowest until the lunch hour at the station. Hermione swiftly purchased ride tokens and explained how to board the train. "Mind the gap." Once aboard she directed them to seats. Angelina and Katie braved standing up on the moving train, holding onto the pole for balance as the train swayed over the rails. They laughed whenever one of them would lose their balance.

Outside Harrods, Hermione gathered the group. "All right, troops, here's the battle plan. We're going to clothing shop until lunch. We'll have lunch at one of the restaurants in the store, then hit the makeup counters."

Fay clapped her hands in delight. "Is this where you yell 'charge?'"

Hermione held aloft her Gringott's card, "Charge it!" She and Fay roared with laughter. The others laughed politely, not understanding the joke.

Both girls enjoyed the faces of the others once they entered the wondrous department store. Even Narcissa looked somewhat awestruck by the sheer enormity before her. She allowed Hermione to steer them to the appropriate sections. Slowly the girls relaxed and began browsing the racks.

Angelina discovered the clearance racks of swimsuits and drew everyone's attention to the bikinis. "I want you all to imagine the reactions of every male we know to one of us wearing something like this." All of the girls laughed.

"Theo Nott walked into the pool at the sight of Hermione in hers." Tracey offered, giving her friend a sly smile. Every eye locked on Hermione as she fought not to blush.

"Right into the deep end." She tried to shrug it off.

Sally-Anne held up her hand, stopping them. "Hold on, we'll get back to Nott in a minute. But are you telling me you knew stuff like this existed and you've been holding back on us, Malfoy?"

"In my defense, Fay knew, too. How was I suppose to know she never told you?"

Fay sniffed, examining a beach wrap. "You never wanted to go muggle shopping before."

Katie stopped them before they could begin to bicker. "Stop. I want to hear more about Nott."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "He saved me from the house arrest that accidentally cornered me for ever male pureblood capable of pretending they only came over to play quidditch with Draco and Harry. We're taking things slowly, feeling them out."

"But you've snogged?" blurted out Angelina.

A silly grin spread across Hermione's face. "Yeah."

The older Gryffindor returned the hanger to the rack. "Okay, with a look like that, we're going to need the story proper. Spill."

"Over lunch then."

"Sure," Sally-Anne chirped. "Who's ready for lunch."

Chuckling at their antics, Narcissa encouraged the girls to finalize their purchases. She smiled to herself observing Hermione's more daring choices. She, herself, had bought several rather revealing nightdresses. She expected to render Lucius speechless.

As they made their way towards the chosen restaurant, Narcissa discreetly shrank their shopping bags, down to one apiece. The hostess seated them at a large round table, returning promptly once everyone put down the menus. Once they placed their orders, Tracey regarded Hermione with a feral grin. "You and Theo, let's have it. No more stalling, Malfoy."

"Everything, or just the part where we went from friendly to more?"

"More, you know what we want," Fay told her, "the good stuff."

"One afternoon we went to Stonehenge. They have a display of the circle cycling through the year. Theo bribed the attendant so we had it to ourselves for a bit. We, uh, kissed under the new moon at the end. You could see all the stars twinkling. It was pretty smooth for a first kiss."

"Damn, maybe we should be going after Slytherins." Sally-Anne told Fay.

"No doubt." She turned back to Hermione, "Anything else to add?"

She shrugged, "We hung out by the pool, which is when he saw the bikini. I snogged him while wearing the bikini to taunt Draco a little then." Hermione blushed when Narcissa laughed out loud. "More information than you probably wanted, Mum."

"I will survive, and your brother deserved it, I'm sure." The arrival of the food signaled the end of the conversation.

All of the girls adored the makeovers, each purchasing cosmetics, some more than others. Katie preferred the less is more approach, while Sally-Anne bought the works. Fay knew about makeup all ready, but not more advanced techniques of applying it. Sally-Anne swore them all to secrecy. "Lavender and Pavarti cannot be told. We barely get in the bathroom as it is, if they had more to do than a few waves of the wand I would never get in there."

"I have a mirror for my desk. I do my makeup there while they hog the bathroom."

"You really are the brightest witch of our generation." Katie laughed.

Narcissa again shrank the bags as they made their way out of the store, making travel on the Underground easier than it might have been. Once at the Leaky Cauldron she reversed the spell and ensured each girl could safely floo home. "Did you have fun, darling?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I know it's been difficult accepting your father's restrictions. But they do come from a place of love."

"I know, I really do. But I'm just as capable as the any of the boys. And if I'm in danger, wouldn't they be, too?"

"I agree. I never said his concern was completely rational." She smiled lovingly, "I..." An owl interrupted whatever Narcissa intended to say. She scanned the note quickly and swore under her breath. "Come along, darling, an old friend needs me, and I'll probably need you." She lead Hermione into Diagon Alley and down to Knockturn Alley. She shrank their bags again, stowing them in her pocket.

Greedy looks and shifty eyes followed the witches as they made their way to a rickety looking bar. "I apologize for this, Hermione. Morwen Selwyn is one of my oldest friends. She occasionally gives in to her darker nature and goes on drinking binges. She drinks away from home so the elves cannot report on her. The bartender, Joachim, owls me to get her home and sober before her husband finds out." She opened the bar door and entered. Hermione followed her.

The interior stank of stale beer and shattered dreams. A handful of witches and wizards sat scattered about the dark room drinking. Hermione eyed them cautiously. None of them seemed to take much notice of the new arrivals. Narcissa strode to the side of the bar approaching the slumped over form of a well dressed witch. She gently shook her shoulder, "Morwen."

The witch raised her head and looked sadly at her friend with clear eyes. "I am so sorry, Cissa. They made me."

"Immobulus," a deep voice came from behind them. Narcissa froze in place. The wizard shot a stunning hex at Morwen.

Strong hands grabbed Hermione's arms pinning them to her sides. The wizard began dragging her backwards. "Your behavior cannot be allowed to go on any further. The Malfoys is an old proud pureblood family. Yous can't keep being blood traitors. If your little girl is the problem, we can just remove her."

Hermione glanced around the barroom, looking for help. The bartender had disappeared into the back, the other patrons must have made a run for it when they saw the man. "Say good-bye, sweetheart."

"Good-bye, sweetheart." Hermione threw her weight backwards, knocking her assailant off balance. She slammed the back of her head into his face, enjoying the satisfying crunch as his nose broke. He bellowed in pain and released her. She stomped on his instep then spun around aiming a quick jab to his throat. As he fell to the floor she whipped out her wand. "Stupefy. Incarcerous."

She whirled back to face the bar. Hearing the commotion, the squat barkeep hurried to push through the swinging door. "Immobulus." Unable to know friend from foe, Hermione chose to hex first and ask questions later. She incapacitated him before he could finish coming through the door. He fell backwards our of the taproom. She pointed her wand at Narcissa. "Finite."

Released from her stasis, Narcissa lunged towards her daughter. "We need to go. Quickly." She began pulling her towards the door.

Hermione dug her heels in, halting her mother. "No. We need to take a second. We need to assess the situation and plan our next actions." She looked about the room. "This guy isn't acting alone. Morwen said they made her. He probably has a few accomplices looking out. I'd rather collect everyone then have to keep looking over my shoulder." She looked to the front door. "Homenum revelio." Two forms crouched just outside the door looking about. "We can take them out through the windows. Slip it open and stick the tip of your wand out." Hermione tiptoed over to the small grimy windows. Narcissa did the same. Moments later she levitated the bodies inside.

"Hermione, we need to tell your father."

"Of course we do. The only question is before or after we summon the aurors?"

Narcissa stared at her daughter in shock. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"This is hardly the first time I've been in a dangerous situation. I'm good at thinking on my feet. Most of our more daring moments have been my ideas. Now, summon Dad or summon the aurors?"

"I know I should say the aurors, but your father might recognize one of these men from the old days."

"We should alert Sirius as well then." Hermione turned and secured the doors. Narcissa floo called Malfoy Enterprises and Black Cottage. Both lords apparated there instantly. Sirius approached the bound men, while Lucius went to his family.

"We are fine, dearest. None of them had a chance to do more than frighten us." Hermione was amazing." Narcissa hugged Lucius tightly. "She never panicked. She calmly defended herself, and took down her attacker. Then she kept me from rushing into an ambush."

Sirius grinned at her over his shoulder, "That's my girl."

"Don't encourage her, Black." Lucius growled.

"Why? So she thinks she should be a helpless damsel waiting to be rescued? Screw that. Kittens should use their claws to fight."

Lucius ignored his last statement. "Do you recognize any of them?"

"No, but I've been out of circulation for awhile."

"You aren't the only one." Lucius revived them. "Who hired you?"

"Ain't talking."

"I would if I were you." Sirius told him. "The young woman you attacked is not only a daughter of the House of Malfoy, but also the Scion of House of Black." The conspirators exchanged nervous looks. "Start talking." Sirius loomed over them, a crazed gleam in his eyes.

"We don't know. We gots an owl with a bag of galleons with instructions on the job. And a promise of that much again when the job was done." He licked his lips nervously, looking from Lucius to Sirius. "We was to scare her and let her go. Nobody said she was a fighter."

"How did you break his nose, my treasure?"

"I head butted him." Sirius clapped her on the shoulder in approval.

"Are you all right?"

"Just a headache."

They returned their attention to the attackers. "What part did Joachim play in planning this?"

"Joachim?"

"The bartender and owner of this establishment." Lucius rolled his eyes.

"Oh, him. He didn't know nothing."

"Now the question of what to do with them?"

"AK them and hide the bodies?" Sirius suggested.

"Behave, Siri." Narcissa admonished. "I suppose we summon the aurors."

Hermione nibbled on her bottom lip, her mind racing down different avenues of thought. "Or we modify their memories to think their plan went off without a hitch. The mastermind wants us frightened. He or she wants us to back down from something. So, we let them think this worked. It keeps them from escalating. They think they got what they wanted for now, and that gives us a chance to search for them."

Lucius stared at his teenage daughter, stunned at how her mind worked. Sirius smirked at him. "Brilliant, kitten, simply brilliant."

"Thank you, Sirius. I would, however, like to discuss my imprisonment at this time."

"You cannot seriously believe I would let you run about by yourself after this?" Lucius exploded.

"No, but I believe I just demonstrated I am capable of protecting myself, without magic even. I am willing to agree to not go out alone, but I want the freedom to chose my companion."

"I..." Lucius began.

"That is beyond fair." Narcissa interrupted. "Lucius, she proved herself, and is agreeing that there are dangers. Hermione is being sensible about this. You need to meet her halfway."

Lucius's shoulders sagged in defeat when Sirius nodded his agreement. "Very well."

Hermione leapt forward to hug him, "Thank you, Daddy." He hugged her back reveling in the sound of the word Daddy, struggling to ignore the protective instincts protesting inside.