Okie Dokie i finally rescued this chapter from my pc and have been working on it non stop (between uploading Choosing a Path) I did lose the tail end of this chapter and couldn't reconstruct it as well as the original was so i hope you all like it.
It might be a small while before i will get the next chapter out as i have a couple of one shots that are half finished and stealing all the writing mojo in my brain so i need to get those out of the way first before i can wade through the recesses of my mind and fish out the next chapter of this story.
I hope you all enjoy it.
Disclaimer: i own nothing to do with Harry Potter.
Chapter Twenty One: The Last of the Holidays
As Snape had predicted, a howling blizzard greeted the residents of Malfoy Manor when they awoke on Boxing day. A fire was roaring in the TV room and the six of them were snuggled in by 9am as Hermione placed the first of the Star Wars movies into the DVD player and began. What followed was a full day of eating, snuggling and general merriment as the six of them relaxed and watched the marathon of science fiction. Some of the Elves came in to watch the movies, while others preferred to continue with their jobs. By the time the final movie finished it was late in the night and Snape decided to stay and head back to Hogwarts in the morning. Blaise, with much coaxing from Hermione and Draco decided to stay for the rest of the holidays.
The 28th of December found the three teenagers and two adults sitting at the breakfast table when a letter arrived with a Hogwarts owl.
"What is it Lucius?" Narcissa asked her husband after he had read the letter.
"Albus has decided to host a new years eve party for all the students and their families, it was our invitation" Lucius replied with a smile.
"Are we going dad?" Draco asked.
"Of course!" Lucius replied immediately. Shortly after he replied, two more owls swooped in. One landed in front of Blaise and the other in front of Hermione. Blaise opened his and grinned.
"Its just my invitation, I'll definitely be going" he stated. Hermione was still reading her letter that had arrived with a small grey owl.
"Is that your invitation Mia?" Draco asked as she placed the letter back in the envelope. Hermione shook her head.
"No it was from my parents. They received Dumbledore's invitation and are coming to the party!" she was grinning happily.
"That's wonderful Hermione! I would love to meet your parents" Narcissa smiled.
"Mum said that she was looking forward to meeting all of you as well" Hermione replied. Draco gulped.
"All of us?" he questioned nervously, knowing that Hermione had written to her parents the day before and told them that they were now dating.
"Don't worry Draco, mum and dad will be fine, there's nothing to be nervous about" Hermione reassured her boyfriend who had turned a slight shade of green.
"What makes you think I'm nervous about meeting my girlfriends parents?" he asked indignantly.
"The slight green tinge for one" Hermione stated simply.
"Alright so I'm a little wary, but I have a damn good reason to be!" he defended himself.
"What reason is that Draco?" Lucius asked his son, secretly amused. He himself remembered his nerves when he had met Narcissa's parents for the first time.
"Well, I was a total and complete prat to her for just over five years! I'm sure she would have told them about that!" Draco stated with a grimace.
"Yes, but that wasn't through your own making" Narcissa pointed out with guilt.
"You weren't to blame either mum!" Draco stated fiercely. "You did what you had to do to keep your family safe! If I was in the same position I would have done the same thing!" Draco added.
"Its ok Draco, I explained it all to them in my letter and they understand what was done and why. They are actually impressed with your turnaround and are looking forward to meeting, in dads words 'the boy who was finally able to drag his little girl out of all those musty books!'" Hermione grimaced. Blaise laughed heartily and Draco managed a small chuckle at that.
"Is your dad the overprotective type Hermione?" Blaise asked with a sideways look at Draco, who glared at him in return.
"Dad? No he's more of a happy go lucky guy! Mum calls him an eighteen year old in a forty year olds body" Hermione answered laughing.
"He sounds pretty cool then" Blaise stated.
"Yeah dad's the greatest. I think the funniest thing I remember about dad is when he got lumped with the job of telling me about the birds and the bees, apparently mum and dad drew straws and he lost! His way was putting a book on my bedside table and telling me to read it, then if I had any questions to ask him or mum" Hermione laughingly told them, though with a hearty blush. Lucius and Narcissa laughed, each remembering their own dilemma with that particular subject.
"The most mortifying thing for any parent is trying to approach that subject when their child reaches the right age" Lucius agreed.
"Dad don't you dare tell them about how I found out!" Draco warned with quite pink cheeks.
"Draco it was more embarrassing for us than it was for you!" Narcissa exclaimed, she too was blushing. Hermione, always quick off the mark, knew what had happened and grinned.
"How old was he when he caught you two at it?" she asked candidly, surprising everyone with her bluntness. Lucius and Narcissa grimaced, though even Lucius had suspiciously pink cheeks. Draco frowned.
"I was twelve, and it was the most disgusting sight I have ever seen! I swear that I'm scarred for life!" he admitted with a disgusted look.
"We hadn't expected him home for another couple of hours, and when he walked in on us, he turned and bolted as fast as he could to his room. It was quite an intense discussion between the two of us as to who would go and give him 'the talk' but eventually I won and Lucius got the job" Narcissa explained.
"Yes and I still haven't forgiven you for that yet either Cissa! Never will the details of that talk go any further than Draco and myself!" Lucius retorted.
"I'll say! It was the most humiliating conversation of my life!" Draco deadpanned.
"I was lucky! They got my elder cousin to talk to me about it" Blaise grinned smugly.
"My father gave me a lecture, I felt like I was in school" Lucius grumbled.
"Andromeda talked to me about it, since she was several years older than I" Narcissa smiled fondly. "I was the only one who knew about her romance with Ted before they eloped" she added.
"If your parents are so outgoing, where did your tendency to be shy come from?" Blaise asked curiously.
"Oh! I'm not shy really! But after I got my Hogwarts letter I wanted to know as much as I could about wizarding society, so when McGonagall took me to get my school supplies, I bought all the books I could find on the subject and read them all! Of course they all said things along the lines of how this was taboo, or it wasn't good manners to talk about that etc, so I curbed my nature to fit more snuggly into the world I was about to enter. I knew that I would be somewhat of an outcast, being muggleborn, so I wanted to learn everything I could to fit in, unfortunately in my quest to show everyone that I could do the same things as they could. I came across as a bit of a show off and a know-it-all. I keep reading now, because I'm hooked, I just want to know all that I can about the wizarding world, its fascinating, and unlike anything else in the world" Hermione explained.
"Is that why you study so hard?" Draco asked curiously, intrigued with this insight into his girlfriends mindset.
"Yes and no, I've always done well in school, and always wanted to learn as much as I could. Even before Hogwarts, I wanted to study to become a doctor, so I was determined to be the best that I could be to achieve my goals. I naturally studied hard to get the best marks I could to do so. When I came to Hogwarts, it rubbed off on me and before all that stuff with Voldemort flared up again, I was going to become a healer. Then I sort of wavered between that and an Auror for a while, and finally decided to stick to my original choice of healer" Hermione answered with a shrug. Lucius and Narcissa shared an understanding look between them, both had been wondering the same thing about their son's girlfriend.
"So, don't take this the wrong way, but were you a bookworm before you came to Hogwarts?" Blaise asked carefully, not wanting to offend her. Hermione smiled and shook her head.
"No, that's why dad made the comment he did, he's been hoping that something would come up that would pull me out of my books, so honestly Draco, relax, you have nothing to worry about with dad" Hermione answered, turning and smiling at her boyfriend.
"I'll relax after I've met him and I'm still in one piece" Draco replied soundly. Blaise grinned mockingly.
"Well at least you only have her parents, and not older brothers to worry about" Draco shot him a smug look.
"Unlike you, if you get the girl you want!" He stated slyly. Blaise scowled at him. Lucius and Narcissa just looked confused, whereas Hermione perked up with a grin.
"Finally admitted that he likes Ginny did he?" she asked Draco. Blaise's jaw dropped. While Narcissa's and Lucius's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"How did you know?" Blaise demanded, then he turned to his fellow Slytherin with a glare. Draco raised his hands in surrender.
"I swear I didn't say a thing!" he pledged innocently.
"Oh honestly Blaise, its bloody obvious that you have a thing for her, I noticed it when we were talking about Ginny when Draco and I were caught under Cissa's mistletoe" Hermione stated, unconsciously using Narcissa's nick name. Narcissa turned to her husband and grinned in delight at the name. Lucius smiled at her and nodded, also pleased that Hermione now felt comfortable enough around them to use the nick name.
"How could you notice that? I barely said anything!" Blaise protested.
"True! But what you did say was telling enough" Hermione replied.
"How so?" Blaise queried.
"Well for a start you stood straighter whenever her name was mentioned. All your questions centered around her and how you thought she had a thing for Harry. You wanted to know what she wanted in a guy. And you blushed when the kiss under the mistletoe was mentioned" Hermione replied promptly. Blaise groaned and dropped his head onto the table.
"Blaise, you should never try to put anything past the most intelligent witch of our year! She'll catch you every time" Draco intoned wisely.
"Won't stop you from trying though! Will it Draco?" Hermione retorted.
"Of course not! Have to do something to keep you guessing!" Draco stated simply.
"Honestly! The two of you are worse than Harry and Ron!" Hermione snorted.
"Hey!" both boys protested. Lucius and Narcissa laughed at the look on the two Slytherins faces at being compared to the two Gryffindors.
"Alright, so what are your plans for today then? Since Albus is holding this party your holidays here have been cut short by three days" Narcissa said slightly sadly.
"I was hoping that I could use your library so that I can begin to work out my case against my Aunt and Uncle" Blaise replied bitterly.
"Of course Blaise, If you need any advice just come to me" Lucius answered.
"That would be great! Thanks Lucius" Blaise responded.
"And you two?" Narcissa asked Hermione and Draco.
"Don't know yet, but I'm sure we'll think of something" Draco replied " Although I thought that perhaps since it's a fairly nice day that Mia might like to take a walk outside and see the rest of the gardens" he added at Hermione's suspicious look.
"I'll be in that" Hermione agreed with a smile at Draco.
"So tell me Mia, why did we watch episodes 4, 5 and 6 of the star wars saga first?" Draco asked once they were wrapped in cloaks and walking around the grounds.
"They were the first three made, it builds up the suspense of finding out that Vader is Luke and Leia's father first before telling the story of how he turned to the dark side" Hermione explained. Draco linked their hands and guided his girlfriend towards the hedge maze.
"I think dad enjoyed those movies as much as the rest of us did" he commented with amusement.
"He can relate to them I suppose" Hermione replied.
"How so?" Draco asked.
"Well, in the movies, Anakin turned to the dark side to save his wife and family" Hermione began.
"Yeah…and?" Draco prompted.
"Well didn't Lucius join the death eaters to save his wife and family?" she responded. Draco thought about it for a moment.
"True, but he was a spy, so he wasn't really on Voldemort's side" Draco pointed out.
"I know, but he could relate to the sacrifices that Anakin had to make to secure the safety of his family" Hermione finished.
"Well, when you put it like that then yeah I can see your point" Draco admitted. "They were great fun to watch though! I enjoyed them, it was awesome!" Draco grinned as they made their way to the marble fountain in the middle of the maze and sat down on the edge.
"You can see why they are my favorites, I have all the books too and they are even better than the movies, they have far more information and detail" Hermione stated excitedly. Draco laughed.
"Trust you to have the books Mia!" he teased. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oh you!" she groaned and smacked his chest. Draco laughed then swooped down and covered her lips with his. When they broke apart, Hermione looked up at him impishly.
"Are you going to use that tactic everytime you want to shut me up?"
"What tactic?" Draco asked feigning innocence.
"Kissing me" Hermione retorted, knowing full well that Draco knew what she was talking about.
"More than likely" Draco answered readily with a smirk.
"You're impossible!" Hermione huffed.
"I know! Its part of my charm" Draco responded smartly.
"You have charm?" Hermione shot back with a mock surprised face.
"Hey!" Draco scowled before he lowered his head and captured her lips with his. After a short time they broke apart and Hermione looked at him.
"I suppose you do have a modicum of charm about you" she admitted impishly.
"I captured you didn't I? Wouldn't have been able to do that without something in my favor other than my looks" Draco stated seriously.
"Modest one aren't you" Hermione grinned.
"I try" Draco replied softly as he again captured her lips with his.
So there you have it, not alot going on but setting up for future chapters.
and Yes before anyone askes me in a review, My dad gave me 'the talk' the same why Hermione's dad did, thats how i got the idea. It was very embarrassing. And yes unfortunately what happened to Draco happed to mme as well...........gag................
Read and Review and i hope you enjoyed this chapter, please no flames.
Angelrider93