Chapter 9
Blaise flooed into the Zabini Manor, finding his mother waiting for him as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace. He smiled, embracing her.
"Good morning, Mother."
Tazia tsked, stepping back to look him over and straightened his robes. "I can't believe you're leaving again," she sighed. "It seems like you just arrived from Singapore."
"That was nearly four months ago," Blaise pointed out wisely.
"I know, I know," she replied sadly.
"Has the Minister visited lately?" Blaise asked with a knowing smirk.
Tazia lighting smacked her son's arm. "I don't appreciate your implication," she sniffed, smiling as she sat them both down.
"So he has," Blaise smiled triumphantly. He paused for a moment, his expression shifting as he became serious. "It's good to know that he'll look out for you when I'm not here. Especially if anything happens..."
Tazia turned to him sharply. "Don't say such things, mio figlio. I have trained you, and you will not fail. You know how to maneuver Italia, it's in your blood. Just be careful."
"Still..." Blaise trailed off, but shook himself. "I will be fine. I've survived enough of la famiglia-"
"Our family is child's play, compared to the Medicis." Tazia cut him off sharply. "You are certain you can trust your partners?"
"Yes," Blaise answered with conviction. Tazia frowned at Blaise's confidence.
"How can you be so sure?" Tazia asked him pointedly, demanding greater justification.
"Well, I have been in contact with Draco frequently for most of my life, and we both know he was not marked. His loyalties have always lied with his family, and of course the closest of his friends," Blaise explained. He stood closer to his mother, grabbing her hand.
"You know we would both be dead if Draco had not convinced Mr. Malfoy to distract the Dark Lord from our neutrality and faithlessness."
Tazia nodded, sighing. "I know we can trust Draco, but I have always been unsure of Narcissa. We have never really understood each other."
"But I'm not working with Mrs. Malfoy," Blaise pointed out.
"You're right, mio caro," Tazia smile thinly. "I just hope her influence over him has waned. Or that her interests coincide with yours. What of the Granger girl? Is she really the heroine everyone portrays her as?"
Blaise snorted. "I had the privilege of working with her in a few projects during our Hogwarts days. She is truly the genuine, nosy, and compassionate know-it-all everyone believes she is. She's an open book, forgiving to a fault. She'd sooner die than betray her friends. And I intend to befriend her."
"Good," Tazia said with finality and satisfaction. "Then you will not have to watch your back as closely. Just remember what I taught you. You know how dangerous it is."
"Yes, Mother," Blaise affirmed. Tazia nodded stiffly, frowning slightly.
"You mentioned before about a scientific consultant, no?"
"Oh yes, I forgot. The Minister is currently in the process of evaluating the candidates we've named."
"I will ask Kingsley to thoroughly vet his final candidate, then," Tazia said thoughtfully. "And I will do my own investigation before I give the final go-ahead."
"Grazie, Mother," Blaise smiled.
Tazia looked at her son sadly. "You can trust Zia Cerelia. Maybe Cugina Allegra. But no one else. You'll have to screen Zio Enzo and Zia Emilia yourself. I have not seen or contacted them since your father's funeral. Pay them at least three visits when you're there. You know what to look for."
Blaise nodded, looking at his watch. "I have to go; I had to move the debrief to this morning before our departure. I'll be in touch."
Tazia embraced her son once more. "Protect your partners, too."
"I will," Blaise promised. "Ti amo."
Tazia smiled, kissing her son on both cheeks before letting him go, worry lines creasing her handsome face.
Ginny groaned as she heard shuffling around in the kitchen, groggily feeling for her wand on the nightstand. Finding nothing, she forced her eyes open, smirking in triumph when she located her wand and cast a muffling charm on her door. In the following silence, she relaxed, tossing her wand back onto the nightstand and falling back into her pillow.
And then Ginny's eyes flew open, for she had just remembered that today was the day that Hermione was leaving.
She scrambled out of the blankets and out of Hermione's guest room, pulling on a jumper since mornings were still fairly cool. She approached the kitchen, hearing Hermione and presumably Nessa's voices.
"Good luck with everything, sweetheart," Nessa said earnestly as she hugged Hermione. "You're simply going to stun all of the Italian men. They won't know what hit them."
"Hermione?" Ginny croaked, her voice still adjusting from her sleep. "Are you leaving already?"
Hermione pulled out of her hug with Nessa and turned to her. "Yes, my debrief is in ten minut- oof!" Hermione grunted as Ginny crashed into her with a bone-crushing embrace.
"I'm going to miss you so much," Ginny mumbled into Hermione's wild hair, which she hadn't yet calmed into a bun for her usual business attire.
Hermione was a little shocked, for although she and Ginny were fairly close friends, they had never been, as silly as it sounded, best friends. That title had been always reserved for the boys. And yet, Ginny was acting as if they were. Hermione supposed that since she wasn't exactly best friends with either Ro-, Weasley, she mentally corrected herself, or Potter, that Ginny and Nessa deserved the titles in their place. "I'm going to miss you, too," Hermione returned. Perhaps Ginny and Nessa would become closer than acquaintances in the next few months, seeing as they had begun spending more time together recently.
Ginny reluctantly let go of her before her eyes widened. "Oh! George mentioned that he had a treat for you," she said hurriedly before dashing off to another corner of the flat, rustling in her purse for something.
"If you've gotten a full bag of free Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes merchandise," Nessa groaned jealously.
"I thought Slytherins were obligated by duty to boycott their store," Hermione teased.
"Please," Nessa laughed. "Any sane Slytherin who hated Umbridge donated anonymously to their business. I guarantee you that Malfoy and Zabini have probably done so as well."
"Really?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. "I'll ask them myself."
"Five galleons that both of them have, three if at least one of them has," Nessa raised her eyebrows.
Hermione scoffed, shaking her head. "You know I don't gamble."
"Come on," Nessa goaded. "If you think you know them so well…"
"Fine, I'll take you on for the five galleons, but not the three. I don't know Blaise that well. Instead, I'll bet you the three on the fact that Malfoy has definitely not donated, purchased, or supported the Weasley business in any financial way," Hermione caved.
"Done," Nessa grinned, mirth in her eyes.
"Here you are," Ginny returned, slightly out of breath and shoving a massive bag in Hermione's face. Hermione's eyes widened as she peered in the bag, where there were at least fifty miniaturized decoy detonators, peruvian instant darkness powder, jinx-off suits, daydream charms, U-No-Poo, and all manner of explosives and other jokes. They had clearly been shrunk down to fit in the bag, and Hermione wondered if she shrunk the entire bag down again, if all of the products would shrink down to the size of molecules.
"Why has George given me so much?" Hermione gaped at Ginny. "He's losing on so much potential profit-"
"He said you might need it - never know what you might run into in Italy or if you need a good laugh." Ginny shrugged. "I reckon it'll be handy if you're ever in a tight spot with the Slytherins, or if you need to make a few friends beyond the British bozos you're living with."
Hermione grinned. "I'll owl him my thanks. You two ought to come visit me sometime before I come back."
Ginny and Nessa looked at each other briefly. "Sure, I'm in," Ginny smiled.
"I'll see when I have time, and we'll work something out," Nessa answered. "Now that you're gone, Hermione, the cases have been going a whole lot slower. Louis was even speaking with the Minister about hiring you back on a higher salary. The Minister refused of course. You're needed in Italy."
"What case are you lot working on?" Hermione asked.
"Brian's stuck with some idiot has decided to claim they are the last remaining member of the Gaunt family, and so should inherit everything that was once Salazar Slytherin's. Luckily, I'm working on some immigration law with an illegitimate child of the Raviskilovs. It's an interesting situation - there might be some legal claims and actually some criminal punishments depending on how it turns out," Nessa smiled.
"That sounds like fun," Hermione smiled. "Perhaps even more fun compared to the Meriontos."
"Oh, nothing can beat that or St. Mungo's," Nessa grinned.
Hermione laughed. "St. Mungo's is in its own league."
"That it is," Nessa agreed.
Hermione looked at the clock on the wall, a gift from Molly. Unlike the Weasley family clock, however, this one actually told time.
"It's time for me to leave," Hermione said softly.
Ginny choked back a sob. "Owl me frequently, okay?"
"Absolutely," Hermione promised, still slightly shocked but a little pleased by Ginny's emotional state. She and Ginny had definitely grown closer through the destruction of both their long term relationships, and maybe it was this closeness that was inspiring a side of Ginny that Hermione hadn't seen before.
With one last hug to Nessa, Hermione shrunk the remainder of her luggage and flooed to Ministry.
Blaise greeted Draco and Hermione as he unlocked his office door. "Apologies for my tardiness," Blaise frowned. "I was saying some final goodbyes."
"It's all right," Hermione reassured him, smiling. Draco nodded to Blaise in understanding, having said his goodbyes to his mother the previous night.
Blaise walked towards his desk, opening up the files that he had already laid out neatly. "Everyone packed?" Blaise asked. Both Draco and Hermione nodded. "Good. What have you two worked on thus far?"
"As you suggested, we covered the British laws in regards to Medici Pharmaceutical's operation freedoms. Specifically, we came up with several convincing reasons why they should pursue the legal avenue of filing originator claims and establishing themselves as a British corporation through the Ministry. There were details specifically about liability, taxation, and international responsibilities," Hermione answered, handing a formalized folder of hers and Draco's discussion notes.
"Excellent. Did you find anything useful in the texts I owled you for the Italian system?" Blaise asked as he turned through the pages she had handed him.
"They were very helpful, yes," Hermione responded. "I am still familiarizing myself, and have not discussed anything with Malfoy yet about the Italian business laws. I'd still like to do some additional research once we arrive to make sure I miss nothing."
Blaise nodded. "Perfect. Once we have our scientific advisor, you will also work with her or him in regards to experimentation laws."
Hermione nodded, when Draco spoke up. "Have we any word on the interviewing process from Shacklebolt?"
"He has approved all of our potential candidates and will be in touch with them starting next week to interview them. Hopefully, we will have an advisor join us by the end of the month," Blaise informed them.
"I highly doubt that they'll be joining us for at least two months," Draco snorted. "If how long it took to put the three of us is any indication…"
"The sooner, the better," Hermione sighed. "But I have to agree with Malfoy on this one. Knowing the sheer lack of efficiency in our bureaucracy… I'd agree with that estimate, if not longer."
Draco eyed her, surprised she would actually voice her agreement and support.
"I'm afraid there is nothing to be done, on that front," Blaise accepted. "Our portkey leaves in a few minutes - we should walk down to portkey departure platform. We will be arriving immediately in the British embassy, which is located in Venice. We'll have to go through a few customs, but after that, we have another portkey scheduled to bring us to Pisa. Once we are there, I will side-apparate us to the villa."
"All right," Hermione smiled, before realizing something. "Where's Pansy? Isn't she coming to Italy with us?"
"Yes, she should be waiting outside the door. She is not allowed to partake in any of the negotiations, so there was no need for her to come to our debrief," Blaise explained. "Are we good here then?"
Draco and Hermione nodded, and then followed Blaise out of his office so he could lock up. Like Blaise had predicted, Pansy was leaning right outside on the opposite wall, examining her black manicure that perfectly matched her dark leather jacket and bright red miniskirt.
"Hello darling," Blaise grinned as he leaned in to kiss her.
'My smoochie-woochie," Pansy smiled when they broke for air. Draco and Hermione looked at each other uncomfortably - for once, on the same page. "Are we ready?"
"Absolutely. Shall we?" Blaise offered his arm to Pansy, who took it before turning to Hermione and Draco.
"Draco dear, good to see you," she smiled widely. "Hermione."
"Pansy," Draco returned slowly, and Hermione merely nodded.
"Well, what are we dawdling about for?" Pansy simpered. "I actually want to go to Italy."
"Let's not keep the lady waiting," Blaise chuckled, and Draco and Hermione followed them to the departure hall. Both grimaced at the incessant clicking of Pansy's suede black shoes, decorated with a ridiculous amount of spikes on the six-inch heels.
Once they had finished maneuvering their way through the British embassy and customs, the four took yet another portkey to Pisa. Walking out of the Pisa mayor's portkey landing, Blaise offered the arm that wasn't occupied by Pansy's slobbering to Draco and Hermione in order to side-apparate them to his villa.
The four stumbled slightly following the apparition, and Pansy clutched his arm tightly. "You know how much I hate side-apparating," she hissed, digging her nails into his arm.
"It couldn't be avoided, I'm afraid," Blaise explained apologetically. "Welcome to mia casa," Blaise said to his guests, spreading his arms wide.
Draco looked over the view appraisingly, before nodding to Blaise. "Your family has always had excellent taste."
Hermione's mouth had fallen open as she took in the majestic villa in front of them. On either side of the gray marble pathway that led to a grand, two-story home with beautifully designed arches were gardens that had been trimmed neatly to perfection, stretching on for as far as the eye could see. The ocean view, clear as crystal behind the villa, rippled slightly as the wind brushed against it. Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "It's gorgeous," she whispered.
Pansy scoffed, looking down her nose at Hermione. "It's adequate, but I wouldn't expect the likes of you to be able to tell the difference."
"Pansy," Blaise warned.
"Bad habit of mine," she sniffed, before flouncing towards the centered archway that framed the ornate front door. The large walnut wood had delicate carvings depicting various scenes from Roman and Greek mythological stories. Hermione had barely begun to pick out the tale of Ariadne and Theseus when she was ushered inside.
"Come," Blaise gestured for Draco and Hermione to follow him as he led them into an enormous foyer, set with glazed terracotta tiles that spread to a staircase on either side. Hermione placed her hand on one of ornate wrought iron railings, admiring the graceful grapevine handiwork that traced up to the landing overhead.
"Dalia, Pepe, e Fragola!" Blaise called, and three house elves appeared in front of him.
"Bentornato a casa," the middle house elf, Pepe, greeted. "Come possiamo servire padrone e dei suoi ospiti?"
"Per i nostri ospiti, si prega di parlare inglese," Blaise instructed them. "Pansy, dear, Fragola will be taking care of you. Draco, Pepe. Hermione, Dalia."
Pansy nodded. "Take my luggage to my room," she sniffed at Fragola, who accepted her purse and apparated away. Draco did the same, without a second thought.
"Blaise," Hermione said uneasily as Dalia looked up to her with wide eyes. "I don't need a house elf."
Dalia looked affronted. "If Miss Hermione would prefer other help, Dalia can arrange it."
"No, that's not what I meant," Hermione protested.
Pansy rolled her eyes as she saw Hermione awkwardly bending down to Dalia's level, who was now shaking with embarrassment. "You're offending her," Pansy barked. "Dalia, take Hermione's luggage from her pocket and set up her room."
Dalia narrowed her eyes at Pansy. "Master has not assigned me to assist you. I take my orders directly from Miss Hermione."
Pansy scoffed. "Glad that elf isn't mine," she commented snidely.
"Pansy," Blaise warned, but Hermione clenched her fists.
"I should think she shouldn't be in anyone's possession!" Hermione snapped back.
Dalia stood strong, though everyone could tell that she was beginning to well up. "Dalia is sorry for offending Miss Hermione. Dalia will do her best to correct her grievous offense, though Dalia does not understand what she has done incorrectly."
"Hermione-" Blaise started.
"You haven't done anything wrong!" Hermione cried to Dalia.
"Granger-" Draco began. Pansy was doing her best to keep from laughing, but decided she could care less. Her obnoxious laughter filled the room, providing background for Dalia's voice of confusion.
"Then why does Miss Hermione insult Dalia with homelessness and freedom?" Dalia sniffled.
"Insult? I meant no such thing," Hermione tried desperately to comfort Dalia, who was on the verge of tears. She further squatted to Dalia's level and touched her shoulder, which was the worst thing she could have done; Dalia promptly burst into tears.
"HERMIONE-" Blaise shouted.
"GRANGER-" Draco yelled, trying to get her attention.
"WHAT?" Hermione shouted, frustrated as she wrapped Dalia's shaking body in her arms.
"Stop touching her," Blaise commanded in a low voice. "To house elves, that is the worst punishment. It means they have been so unprofessional in their service that we had to use physical means in order to communicate to them."
Hermione released Dalia slowly, who began to finally calm down. Draco scoffed before turning on his heel and departing the foyer. "As you explain Granger's latest social blunder, I'll be out on the veranda."
Pansy pursed her lips. "I'll join you, Draco," she smirked at Hermione's current state before following.
Blaise knelt down to Hermione who had ended up on the floor. "Dalia, would you explain to Hermione why her words unintentionally caused you offense?"
Dalia sniffled, wiping her eyes on her small cotton apron. "M-m-iss Hermione suggested Dalia be fired and o-owner-less… which means Dalia has done s-something h-horrib-bly wrong," Dalia hiccuped.
"Oh no, Dalia, I didn't mean that at all," Hermione said softly, starting to reach out before pulling her hand back as she remembered. "I meant that I believe no elf should have an owner or be a slave. Hold on," Hermione paused as she processed Dalia's words. "Did you say fired?"
"Y-yes," Dalia answered.
Blaise touched Hermione's shoulder. "I employ my elves, give them a home, educate them. The Italian system is different."
"Are you telling me that Dalia could quit any time she wants to? That she's being paid? That she could be a banker, or a healer if she wanted to?" Hermione asked, flabbergasted.
"Dalia chooses to serve the Fair and Honorable House of Zabini," Dalia said proudly. "Dalia's mother was an accountant. Dalia's father also served the Fair and Honorable House of Zabini."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I misunderstood," Hermione sighed, contrite. "Where I'm from, house elves are enslaved and abused."
"You assumed Master to enslave and abuse Dalia?" Dalia asked, frowning in offense once more.
"It was a horrid assumption, and I am so sorry for insinuating anything like that. You too, Blaise," Hermione apologized.
"It's simply a misunderstanding," he smiled. "Dalia is happy to help you, and she would be very sad but understanding if you didn't want her help, right Dalia?"
Dalia nodded, straightening out her flowery dress and composing herself.
"I would be very happy if you would bring my luggage to my room, please?" Hermione asked kindly, pulling out her shrunken luggage.
"Dalia would be happy to do so for Miss Hermione," Dalia smiled, apparating away.
"I'm so sorry," Hermione turned to Blaise. "I suppose this should be a lesson to ask before assuming."
"It's all right, you just didn't understand." Blaise pulled her to her feet. "Shall we join the others on the veranda?" Blaise offered his arm.
"I'd like that," Hermione smiled, taking his arm.
AN: Hello everyone! Sorry for the much longer update than normal, but this will more likely be the future update speed, as I am only beginning to work on the next chapter now. For those who are unfamiliar with Italian, Zia and Zio mean Aunt and Uncle, respectively. Cugina is cousin. Aunt Cerelia and Cousin Allegra are on Tazia's side of the family, and Enzo is Blaise's father's brother. Emlia is Enzo's wife, just as an FYI. We'll be meeting them soon!
Thanks as always to the new followers, favorite-ers, and reviewers. Shout especially to those that are already proving to be wonderful editors and discussion partners - Hoshiakari7, Honoria Granger, Roni2010, Weeka1313, EverlastingTrueRomance, MagnoliaOrchard, and Lukas 10.
Keite - sorry for not yet PM'ing you - I think if you're using the new Fanfiction app for Android phones, it isn't giving me an email notification. I didn't realize until today that you had left such a thoughtful review, but expect a PM coming your way!
Thoughts on Ginny's emotional state? I have some plans for Ginny, and I'm curious to see if any of you can predict what will happen. How about the interaction between Blaise and Tazia? I thought it might be an interesting comparison - Blaise and his mother versus Draco and Narcissa. Hermione now is in the snake's nest… we'll see if she'll survive. I have to say, having Hermione live with not two, but three Slytherins is going to be an interesting time. Any requests for things they'll do to her, or that she'll do them? She does, after all, have a whole bag of Weasley goods… :) Let me know in a review below!