A/N: I apologize if this chapter came later than usual. I have another active story, one that I'm preparing for and one that I've taken down and am currently editing. Plus real life demands, so it's sort of hectic. I'm currently working on the new chapter so don't worry, the next update won't take long. :)
Also, here's a shoutout to my sincere reviewer and virtual friend ForensicGeek2! xoxo
"Sterilescere, Draco?" Blaise asked incredulously.
"Your voice isn't loud enough, Blaise. I'm sure there are a couple of people at the end of the hall who can't hear you properly." Draco scowled at him.
"Muffliato" Blaise muttered impatiently, pointing his wand at the closed door.
"Why not just a protective spell?" Blaise asked.
"I don't know, Blaise_" Draco shrugged "_she might find it a bit odd if I used a protective spell when we're supposed to be trying for a baby, don't you think?" he smirked at him.
Blaise muttered an insult under his breath before speaking "Why not a contraceptive potion, then?"
"Too risky." Draco replied "For starters, I can't be sure that I can make her drink it every time. What if she just doesn't feel like drinking anything at all? Do I force her to? It would be too suspicious; she's not stupid." he explained.
Draco had spent enough time considering his options. He refrained from explaining the sort of physical chemistry he had with Hermione to Blaise. The idea of planning ahead every time they had sex seemed absurd for Draco. Too much calculations and practicality for something that was supposed to be spontaneous.
Then came the problem of depending on house elves to add the potion to her drink. What if they added too much? It could leave a permanent effect on her. Of course Sterilescere was a dangerous potion to deal with, but it was his plan and if somebody had to take risks then it was him.
"I still think you shouldn't use it twice." Blaise insisted "One dose should give you enough time, or have you lost your touch?" he snickered
Draco barley stopped himself from biting the first offensive retort that came to his mind. "How are things going with your flambeau?" he asked.
"You really need to stop calling her that." Blaise said with a grimace.
"Well, she got..big after the pregnancy so she's starting to look like an inverted triangle." Draco said, thoughtfully tilting his head to one side.
"Draco..." Blaise warned quietly.
"Her hair looks like a flame so when you put the images together she does look like a flambeau." Draco continued, ignoring his friend's warning.
"Dracooo.." Blaise threatened slowly.
"And her fiery attitude only enhances the metaphor." Draco smiled in amusement. His smile faded as the desk he was resting his hands on flew across the room. He glared at Blaise who looked back at him coldly.
"You should be thankful I never told her about your...metaphor." Blaise said, his voice laced in censure.
"I am utterly petrified." Draco mocked.
"You should be. Pregnant women are scary. I'd pick hunting down a Hungarian Horntail over dealing with a livid Ginny anytime of the day." Blaise admitted.
"Is it really that bad?" Draco asked seriously.
"Well..the Horntail was obviously an exaggeration." Blaise said "But sometimes it isn't. I mean, with a dragon you know what to expect. With Ginny, you never do."
"I thought by now you'd know her better." Draco said. "Obviously, I'm not the one who lost his touch." Draco gave a victorious laugh as he crossed his legs.
"I thought so too. But her mood sways from one extreme to the other in the blink of an eye." Blaise sighed in frustration, ignoring Draco's provocative remark.
He busied himself with lifting the desk up and returning it back in front of Draco. Living with Ginny for the past months was an ultimate test to both his patience and his wits. She had been maintaining a defensive attitude for too long, their fights were almost childish.
The pregnancy wasn't helping with her mood either. He secretly envied Draco for being able to decide when to become a father rather than have it thrown at him.
He hoped that by now he would be able to get Ginny out of his system. She was everything opposite to his type. A redhead when he preferred blondes. A smart-arse with an opinion on everything when he was perfectly satisfied with dating mere pretty faces who rarely ever posed a mental challenge. But what infuriated and thrilled him the most was her boldness as opposed to the meek shyness he usually sought in women.
Nothing about Ginny met Blaise's requirements in a woman except maybe how she looked. Still, he found himself drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
Leaving her wasn't an option anymore for him. He had lived with a long string of step-fathers and he didn't plan on letting the same happen to his child. When he finally comes he'll be raised between two perpetual parents, Blaise thought with a determined look on his face. He glanced up at Draco to see why he was suddenly silent and he saw him closely inspecting a wand, trying different spells with it.
"What's wrong with yours?" Blaise inquired.
"It's for Hermione, not me." Draco replied distractedly as he pointed his wand at the coat stand that stood in the corner of the room. He flicked his wand and the stand transformed into a long snake, taking the same mahogany color as the stand. The snake started gliding towards Draco with an air of hostility. He waved his wand again and restored it to its original state.
"Don't you thinks it's too risky to let her have a wand?" Blaise questioned Draco's decision.
"Probably, but she has to have one sooner or later." Draco replied as he secured the wand carefully inside a wooden box.
"Then maybe you should work on increasing the protection over the Manor." Blaise suggested.
"It's not a prison, Blaise. I'm not holding her captive. She's supposed to be there willingly." Draco said.
"What if she runs away?" Blaise asked.
"Then I'll have a closure." Draco shrugged, feigning indifference.
"Good afternoon, gits." Theodore Nott slammed the door carelessly behind him as he threw himself at the chair opposite to Blaise's.
"Afternoon already?" Draco frowned as he glanced over his shoulder at the clock on the wall behind him.
"Sooo, Blaise, how's your torch?" Theo grinned at his friend.
"A flambeau, Theo. A flambeau." Draco corrected with a false serious tone as he stood up to leave.
"Fucking prats." Blaise hissed. "Careful not to fall on the stairs like the barmpot that you are and break your neck." he smiled innocently at Draco.
"So I walk through the door and you just jump off your seat to leave? What am I? Your ex?" Theo sneered at Draco.
"No, even my exes aren't that clingy." Draco smirked at Theo.
"Where are you going?" Theo asked.
"Home." Draco replied simply.
"You've been spending too much time at home lately, don't you think?" Theo remarked tentatively.
"And you have a problem with that because..?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrow at Theo.
"I think you've stayed single for too long." Theo admitted.
"You're starting to sound like my mother." Blaise remarked with a disgusted grimace.
"I'm serious." Theo frowned at Blaise.
"Yes because we all know how celibate Draco has been." Blaise scoffed.
"That's not what I meant. I meant he should try letting things go further than bed." Theo explained.
"Like..the couch?" Draco cocked his head to one side and looked up.
"Or the dinning table." Blaise suggested
"Or the floor" Draco said.
"Or the kitchen..too much house elves, though." Blaise said thoughtfully.
"Or the broomstick cupboard." Draco added as if he just remembered it.
"The broomstick cupboard!" Blaise repeated with an incredulous laugh.
"The novelty of it could be very refreshing. But I won't recommend it if you're not into confined spaces" Draco said matter-of-factly.
"What sort of people could possibly be into confined spaces?" Theo frowned in bewilderment.
"The world is full of sick people, Theodore." Draco replied dramatically.
Without allowing Theo any further arguments he left the office in long strides. He never had a chance to tell Theo about Hermione. He was away on a mission when Draco found her and when he came back neither of them had time to talk. Yet, he knew he should expect a much more forceful reaction than Blaise's understanding one.
Hermione felt like she was imprisoned in the Malfoy Manor. And the worst part of it was that she had willingly put herself in that situation. She woke up this morning and Draco wasn't in the house. She spent most of the day in the library, navigating through books. Then hunger started poking at her stomach. When she woke up, a house elf prepared breakfast for her but apparently they didn't serve lunch until Draco was back.
She knew she could simply ask any of the house elves to prepare a meal for her but she wasn't comfortable enough around the house to treat it like her own. She didn't even know whether the elves would take orders from her or not.
When she finally saw him standing by the door she almost cheered joyfully. He looked at her with a puzzled expression and she realized that she probably looked awkwardly happy.
"Did you have lunch yet?" he asked. Hermione shook her head in response.
"Alright, join me for lunch then." he offered and Hermione mumbeled her approval.
"You were..famished" Draco remarked in amusement as he watched Hermione help herself to a second serving of jacket potato. Hermione chocked on her food and started coughing. He pushed a glass of water into her hand and she drowned it instantly. She held her knife in stabbing position for a minute, looking up at Draco.
"That was rude; I'm sorry." he apologized, fighting back a smile that threatened to provoke Hermione even more.
"I had breakfast really early and haven't eaten anything ever since." she explained
"Why didn't you have lunch earlier?" Draco frowned in confusion.
"I..didn't realize how hungry I was until you came." Hermione tried to sound as convincing as possible.
"I remind you of food?" Draco raised his eyebrow at her quizzically "Well, it's definitely not the sort of hunger I want to evoke in you but it's a good start." he grinned widely as he saw her choke for the second time, her face turning a bright shade of red. He wasn't sure whether it was a result of embarrassment or she was having difficulty breathing.
Hermione raised her hand to her throat. She glanced at the glass to find it empty. Draco followed the direction of her gaze, he reached for her wand and refilled the glass with water. As Hermione drank some water, she couldn't help but think how dependent she was on Draco and it irritated her. She needed at least a fraction of her independence, she needed a wand.
"You said you would get me a wand." Hermione reminded him as she set her plate aside, her appetite suddenly lost.
Draco took out the wooden box from his robe's pocket and placed it in front of Hermione. She opened it and held the wand carefully, instantly feeling it trembling with power. She missed having a wand so much that she felt her eyes glistening with tears. It was only when she held a wand once again that she realized how strong was the bond that formed between a witch and her wand. This wand wasn't hers and it can't fully replace it. But Hermione was determined on making the wand recognize her as her new master even though it felt a bit too powerful in her hands.
She excused herself saying she was going to have a shower and headed back to her room. Draco watched her as she left and he noticed she was still wearing her own clothes. Well, she could hardly wear the clothes you bought her! Draco scolded himself sternly. He went to his mother's room and started searching her clothes, hoping that he could find something suitable.
Hermione showered quickly and put on her bathrobe. She placed some of the clothes Draco had brought on the bed. She started trying to transform them into more suitable clothes. There was a knock on the door and when she told whoever it was to come in, Draco walked into the room.
"Putting the wand to work so soon?" Draco asked as he watched what she was doing.
"The clothes you bought weren't masculine enough for me so I decided to work on that." she said indignantly, lifting her chin up.
"That was a juvenile move." Draco admitted "You don't have to transform them. I don't usually shop for women's clothes but I could ask your friend to buy you some until you can leave the house and buy some on your own."
"Ginny?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded in response.
"You..talk to her?" she seemed to find the idea unbelievable.
"No, but I do talk to Blaise." he replied
"It's alright. It's a good chance for to practice using the new wand." Hermione explained.
"Well..I brought you a night gown but you it looks like you don't need it now." he said, as he put a navy blue night gown on the bed. Hermione grimaced at the thought of wearing something that must have belonged to one of Draco's girlfriends. It felt like if she did, she would be degrading herself into just another one of them.
She decided to ignore the night gown's existance. "I never thanked you for the wand...so, thank you." she said sincerely. For the first time Hermione was feeling purely grateful to Draco regardless of his intentions.
"No problem." Draco smiled briefly "You seem so fond of that bathrobe." he remarked.
"Up till now it's the only thing I feel comfortable wearing aside from my clothes." Hermione shrugged, turning her attention back to the clothes in front of her.
"It doesn't look so comfortable to me." Draco's voice came from behind her. Hermione turned around to face him.
"It is." she insisted, as she clutched the knot that tied the robe around her waist tightly.
"You're being too uptight for somebody who was barking mad at me for not finishing what I started the other night." Draco challenged. He slid his hand through the tight folds of the robe. Hermione shivered when cold hands glided around her waist, resting at the small of her back and pulling her closer.