Chapter 12
A couple of hours later, when the two Malfoys arrived at her flat she went to greet them both with a kiss, but stopped short and blinked rapidly at the sight of the man standing in front of her. His appearance was unlike anything she'd ever seen from him before: it was a sight. He was dressed- very flatteringly- like a muggle. He, however, was undeterred and swooped forward, pulling her towards him with the arm not holding Scorpius and crashed his lips against hers, delving into her mouth with his tongue passionately. She got caught up in the kiss for a few seconds before pushing him away, but he didn't release his hold on her.
"Draco!" She scolded, "Scorpius is right there!"
"Oh yes, he looks so upset," he said sarcastically, and nodded toward the baby who was simply peering at them curiously, "anyway, if you're going to stand there with your mouth open I'm going to put something in it," he leered at her.
She smacked him on the chest. "You're vile! You're also wearing muggle clothes, it took me by surprise. Where did you get them?" She asked, fingering the buttons of his trench coat.
It was Burberry, she shouldn't have expected anything less, but how had he known to go to Burberry to get a coat?
"I tracked down a muggleborn who works for me and I sent her and my assistant out to buy some things. She knew which shops to go to and what kinds of things I needed, and my assistant knows what I like. This is okay, isn't it?"
He'd sent his employees out to buy clothes. Of course he had. They lived in different worlds.
She stared at him dumbly as she realized that she really wasn't concerned by that stark truth. She shook herself and grinned at him, then began unbuttoning the coat suggestively, pleased when his eyes darkened in response. But the joke was on her when she caught sight of the jeans he had on underneath. She'd already known he had a great body, but there was something about the way that he filled out those jeans that actually made her mouth water.
"I take it you approve," his voice was amused, and she tore her eyes away from his lower body, her skin flushing with embarrassment.
He pulled her closer to him.
"Don't be embarrassed," he whispered huskily and ran a hand down her spine, "I'm very glad you like what you see, I like what I see as well," his hand came to rest on her lower back, its position evocative but not quite inappropriate.
"We should go," she said, surprised by the breathless quality of her voice.
He smirked but didn't comment, just nodded, gave her the address, and preceded her into the floo. In a matter of moments she arrived in an almost empty office, presumably because it was Sunday. She, Draco, Scorpius, and a woman who was looking at them with a forced smile on her face were the only occupants. The woman, who Hermione assumed was the estate agent, was trying to appear professional but her wide eyes and the way that she was glancing back and forth between them betrayed her shock.
"Mrs. Rawlings," Draco began formally, "it's lovely to see you again. This is my son Scorpius, and this is-"
"Hermione Granger!" The woman blurted out.
Draco's eyes narrowed. "That's correct. Miss Granger is a friend, I wanted the opinion of somebody I trust. But I expect your discretion in this matter," he explained, voice cool.
Hermione didn't fail to notice the stunned look that flashed across the woman's face when Draco described her as a friend.
"Of course, I apologize, I was simply surprised. It's such a pleasure to meet you Miss Granger," she stuck out her hand for Hermione to take.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Rawlings," she said as she shook her hand.
"Well, I've had a temporary floo connection setup, here's the address in case you've forgotten," she handed Draco a slip of parchment, "I'll meet you there?"
Draco nodded and she stepped into the flames.
For the second time that morning Hermione found herself shocked and blinking stupidly at him. "Temporary?" She questioned, "Draco, are we going to look at a muggle house?"
"Yes," he answered rather defensively.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?" She cringed at the blunt question but he took it in stride.
"I have many layers, love," he murmured, pressing a kiss against her forehead, "I'm sure you have a thousand questions, but do you think they can wait until you've at least seen the place?"
His unwillingness to discuss the house over breakfast was making more and more sense, this obviously had to be seen to be believed.
"Alright, I suppose I can do that," she practically pouted.
He chuckled and stepped away from her, then into the floo. She was hot on his heels, and when she stepped out of the flames this time it was into a large, sunny living area. Hermione was no expert but the architecture appeared to be in the Georgian style.
"There's no floo room, obviously," Draco said by way of greeting, "but there is a small sitting room at the front of the house that I was thinking could be connected to the network to keep the traffic out of the main living area, at least."
Hermione just nodded and looked around curiously. Surprisingly the house was empty, it's previous owners having apparently already vacated. Just a cursory glance told her that she was going to like the place, though it was certainly grander than anything she was used to, the fact that she was with Draco Malfoy had made that a foregone conclusion.
"Leave us, I'd like to show Miss Granger around myself," Draco's voice brought her out of her musings.
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy," Mrs. Rawlings replied, "I'll just be in the garden," she bustled away.
Hermione waited until the woman had disappeared and she heard her actually leave the house before striding over to Draco and whacking him on the arm.
"Draco!" She scolded, "that was rude!"
"What?" He asked cluelessly.
"You shouldn't just order people around like that. Would it have killed you to ask her to give us some space nicely?" She hissed.
"She works for me," he sneered, "why shouldn't I tell her what to do? Furthermore, I just offered to do her job for her, all she has to do is sit in the garden and if you like what you see she'll be making a generous commission. How is that rude?"
"You're such a snob," she huffed.
"Yes," he said immediately, all teasing gone from his manner "and I won't apologize for that, it's who I am. I do always try to be fair, but I'm not sorry for having high standards. And you can't expect me to behave the same way you would in every situation, we're very different people."
She looked at him for a long moment, reading his expression and feeling rather chastised before giving him a cursory nod.
"You're right. I won't ask you to be anything other than what you are, but if I truly think you're being rude I won't keep quiet. Would it really have killed you to say 'please?'"
He sighed, obviously put upon. "I'll work on it," he promised, but in a tone of voice that made her sure this would be an ongoing battle.
He led her around the house. It was three storeys plus a basement, included six bedrooms, even more bathrooms, a dining room, several large living spaces- one of which Draco said he imagined turning into a library- a kitchen which would have made a professional chef weep with joy, and a cinema room. It was far more than two people actually needed but Hermione got the distinct impression that Draco was actually acting with restraint, and she couldn't say that the house wasn't beautiful or that he couldn't easily afford it. Though she never, ever wanted to know exactly how much he would be paying for it. Also, it wasn't like he needed to worry about keeping it clean or maintained. 'Effie would be bored with anything smaller,' Draco commented offhandedly at one point.
"What do you think?" He asked when they'd finished the tour of the interior and returned to the main floor.
"Well, Merlin, Draco it's lovely. More than lovely. Will you tell me where we are now at least?"
He looked at her smugly. "St. John's Wood."
She'd seen enough out of the windows to not be totally shocked. Then again, it was impossible enough to believe he was looking to buy a muggle house, much less one in her favorite area of London. Though she was certain that wasn't a coincidence, she'd mentioned it to him on Friday and it's not like he knew a lot about muggle London. She was both flattered and a little overwhelmed at the mounting evidence of how much he trusted her judgement. Still, she loved the house and now she knew she would love the neighborhood.
"If you let me move into the smallest guest room I promise not to be a bother and to provide free babysitting," she promised fervently, though she meant it as a joke.
He chuckled. "Are you saying you want to live here?"
"Who wouldn't?" She retorted.
He bent down and placed Scorpius on the floor to let him explore, pulled out his wand and cast some safety charms, and then made his way over to her. He placed his hand on her hips, urging her to turn so that her back was pressed against his chest, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "When you move in here it won't be into a guest bedroom," he growled into her ear.
She practically melted against his chest. She had no defense for the emotional maelstrom his words created.
Was it too fast? Her brain screamed yes and it was jumping up and down trying to get her attention. But her heart wanted her to place herself permanently in his embrace.
"Draco," she said helplessly, she could so easily become a fool for this man- this nearly out of control feeling was both exhilarating and terrifying.
He placed a sweet kiss on her neck, and she relaxed immediately.
"Shall we take a look at the garden and then perhaps have a stroll around the neighborhood?" He questioned nonchalantly, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
She took a deep breath and allowed him to distract her from her emotional turmoil. She just nodded in acquiescence. He dropped his arms and went to retrieve Scorpius and then came back over and took her hand. She concentrated on its warm weight in hers as they walked, and the soothing cadence of his voice while he further explained his thoughts on the house and garden.
The garden was everything she could have hoped for, plenty of room for Scorpius to play and a lovely terrace. It wasn't overly large, they were in London after all, but it gave the house space from the neighbors and would make placing wards to hide any magic from unsuspecting muggle eyes a simple task. The three car garage meant little to her, she could drive but she didn't have a car. She supposed it was good for storage, if nothing else, but she had a feeling Draco would end up putting it to use with its intended purpose sooner rather than later.
"So, a muggle house?" She finally asked the obvious question as they walked down the drive.
"It's your fault," he winked at her.
She considered him for a moment, confidently striding out the gate into a muggle neighborhood. They pushed the pram- which a few minutes ago Draco had pulled from his pocket and enlarged- together like they had done it a hundred times before.
"You don't have to prove anything to me," she finally said. Hadn't she been worried just days ago about this very issue? That as much as she lived in the magical world, with his upbringing that she would never be able to reconcile the way she lived with the way he did. But apparently he was light years ahead of her on the issue. Or, at least, light years ahead of what she'd expected.
"I have my own motivations, the fact that I thought you would approve is certainly one of them, but there are others."
She just looked at him expectantly.
"I've told you I want the best for my son."
"Of course," she agreed quickly.
"It has recently come to my attention that living exclusively within the magical world is not what's best for him."
"Oh?" She questioned innocently, though she was startled by the confession.
"When we were out the other night, in the muggle world, I couldn't help but notice how nobody noticed us. Nobody wondered what the Death Eater was doing with the war heroine, nobody glared at Scorpius just because he's my son. Some people even smiled at him and they looked at us like we were a normal couple, a normal… family."
Her heart ached for him, and with desire to make that idea a reality.
"And it hasn't escaped my notice that by remaining ignorant of the muggle world I am actually ignorant of most of the world. I once thought it beneath my notice but I can see how wrong I was. And I don't just want Scorpius to be free of the prejudices of my youth, I want him to experience everything that was denied me. What better way than to live in a muggle neighborhood? He- we- can learn to live easily in either world. He'll have free access to a society that won't judge him for his last name or the mistakes of my past. Once I started thinking about it, it was an easy decision."
Hermione opened her mouth to reply only to find herself speechless, but he pre-empted any response she could have come up with.
"I know this may seem extreme or premature to you, but the idea of getting out of the public eye has been one that I've been contemplating for a while. I simply couldn't imagine how I could accomplish it without leaving Britain, if not the Continent entirely. And I know that I'm grossly ignorant of muggle culture, but I hope I'm not being presumptuous in thinking that I now have someone in my life who would be willing to guide me?"
It was, by far, the most vulnerable she'd ever seen him, even taking into account the time in the apothecary the week before or even the moments that morning when he'd apparently believed that she'd misled him about being romantically involved with Harry. She was touched that he'd allowed himself to be so open and trusting with her. She knew he must be at war with his every instinct as well as all the lessons of his childhood. He hadn't been placed in Slytherin without the hat even needing to touch his head for nothing.
"Not presumptuous at all," she answered, "and the house is beautiful, as long as you really like it."
"I do," he confirmed, "it doesn't hurt that my parents would never think to look for me here, and once they have the address they'll avoid visiting," he smirked his usual smirk, but she saw fragility behind the confident expression.
He may have been financially, even politically well positioned but he'd grown up measuring success by his father's approval and he was setting plans in motion that ensured that he may never have it again. It was attractively and rather uncharacteristically brave. She decided not to insult his intelligence by questioning him further.
And she was flattered that some of this may have been inspired by her, but she was mostly blown away by the steps he was willing to take to ensure his son's happiness. As attractive as he'd been to her before it was increasing seemingly exponentially with every moment she spent with him.
"In that case I think it's a good idea. I also think it's incredibly smart and I would be happy to help you, however you need," she vowed.
"I just want you to be here," he said seriously.
"That I can do," she said, with equal sincerity.
Draco had made the final decision to buy the house almost as soon as they'd begun to stroll the neighborhood; so, he'd wrapped up his business with Mrs. Rawlings immediately upon returning to the house after their walk, and then once Effie had popped in with their basket of food, they'd departed for their picnic.
They ate, and flirted, and played with Scorpius for hours. Hermione's mother had laughed at her plan to have a picnic in London, in November, but Hermione had reminded her that there were only so many places you could take an infant, and that the entirety of the wizarding world was off limits to them if they wanted to remain under the radar. She'd defended that they would come up with an alternative plan if the weather didn't cooperate. But their luck held, the weather sided with them. It was a lovely day, made even nicer with a few subtly cast warming charms.
They talked while Scorpius snoozed on the blanket at their feet, deciding to take things between them slowly, which appeased Hermione's restless and panicky brain. They also agreed to keep their relationship quiet for the time being. While they were very much in tune concerning their desires to go ahead with it, they wanted to establish a solid foundation before exposing it to public scrutiny.
It was not uncommon for Hermione to be photographed simply strolling down Diagon Alley. Draco was also well known even if he was slightly less likely to be fodder for the press, and given their shared history, any news of a friendship between them, much less a romantic relationship, was sure to be explosive. They fully intended to enjoy the calm before the storm.
Author's note: If you think Draco is being extravagant...he is :) A couple of ideas for how I imagine this house up on Pinterest. Thanks to Weestarmeggie for beta reading but also for being my rock the past few weeks. I love you lady!
I have some things going on in my personal life. I'm okay, but it has all thrown my schedule, to say the least, which is why this update took longer than usual. Also, for those of you reading my story "An Unexpected Malfoy" I'm absolutely working on it! Thanks for your continued support, comments have been especially treasured lately! And, of course, for reading!