Two months flew by as the women continued their weekly date nights. In their explorations of Muggle London, each of them showed the other places they had found that had delicious food. Talking and getting to know one another completely, while working on getting past traumas from the war, they came to terms with what they felt they needed to get out into the air sooner rather than later.
Hermione dove head-first into research for answers on her current case, while Narcissa continued to toil away at perfecting her newest potion creation. After another wonderful night of good food and excellent conversation, they started walking to a safe place they could apparate from. Hermione sighed and rubbed the back of her neck deep in thought.
"Mia, you've been sighing all night. What is on your mind, dear?" Narcissa asked.
Hermione looked up in surprise and guilt. She smiled apologetically at the sweet omega. "I'm sorry. The current assignment I've been working on has me at a loss for answers. I've used up all my resources on the matter and have turned up things that are neither helpful nor informative," she groaned in frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping to help the headache that came with thinking about this assignment.
"Perhaps not all of your resources, dear. You haven't asked to use my library for research material, and for the record, the Black family library is one of the oldest libraries and holds the largest collection of magical books known to Britain. Even Hogwarts and Malfoy Manor pale in comparison," Narcissa said as she smirked at the excited look on Hermione's face at the mention of books, only to have the look quickly shift to that of neutrality.
"Gods, knowing the Black family, I can only imagine what that library could hold, but I can't look too eager about it. Otherwise, I'll never hear the end of it from this woman," Hermione thought to herself. "I didn't want to impose upon you since this relationship is still new. It seemed rather rude of me to just ask you if I could raid your family's library for work purposes, or any reason, for that matter," Hermione blushed lightly as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"You're not imposing, dear. I'm offering the use of my library to you whenever you wish. Although, we'll have to register you with the wards before you go in, but that is simple enough to mend," Narcissa said with a genuine smile at the alpha.
"Would you be opposed to me coming by sometime later this week? This assignment is becoming urgent and I have run out of leads or information on it at this point," Hermione asked with a nervous smile as she took hold of Narcissa's hand and placed a soft kiss to her knuckles.
Narcissa fought the urge to swoon right there on the street. "Salazar's balls, this should not be so damn effective. I've fought off stronger thralls than this, and she's not even trying to sway me. Merlin, what is this power she holds over me?" Narcissa nodded as she fought off the blush that was slowly creeping up her chest and neck.
"I would really appreciate it if you'd owl me when you are available," Hermione smiled sweetly.
"As an alternative, what if we take our Friday date night to the Manor so that neither of us has to upset our schedules anymore than is necessary," Narcissa suggested.
Hermione nodded in agreement as they reached the apparition point. "I look forward to it. Until then, Cissa."
As they reached the apparition point, she took the blonde's hand once more and kissed her knuckles gently before they both disapparated home.
The week passed by rather quickly for both women. Work for Narcissa was consumed with finding new methods to quicken the process of making well-known potions. Whereas Hermione was busy with assignments other than her "Merlin Project'', which was what she had begun to call the headache. That was her reason for raiding Narcissa's library.
When Friday finally did arrive, both women were excited to see each other and to get away from their offices, even if it meant that they were still researching their respective subjects. A change of atmosphere was better than nothing at this point.
Narcissa flooed into the Ministry, took the elevators to Hermione's department, and strolled with purpose up to the receptionist. She smiled politely at the woman. "Hello again, Anna. Is Hermione available?"
Anna smiled and nodded. "Yes, Madame Black. She's in her office." She began to stand up to go and get the alpha in question, but Narcissa stopped her by holding up her hand.
"No need to get up. I know where her office is. I'll go and get her myself. Thank you, Anna. Have a good weekend," Narcissa said as she walked past the assistant, not waiting for a response. She knocked on the door before opening it, walking into the office with a smile on her face only to have it fall away rather quickly at the scene of Hermione having a heated argument with a brunette beta.
"You can't just apparate into my office whenever you bloody well want, Katie! We are not in a relationship anymore! We broke up, and that's not going to change anytime soon!" Hermione said in aggravation.
"You decided that we didn't work, Hermione! I thought we were happy! You never gave me any indication that you weren't until you told me that you no longer wanted to be together. I just don't understand what happened that you no longer wanted to be with me!" Katie yelled.
Hermione heard the knock and looked over as Narcissa walked in, freezing in the doorway. Hermione quickly pulled her into the room and closed the door so that the muffliato spell went back into effect and no one had to hear the never ending argument that seemed to be a continuous problem for the alpha. "I'm so sorry you have to see this. Please don't leave, I'll get rid of her soon," Hermione whispered to Narcissa who nodded in understanding as she wore a mask of indifference, keeping true to her pureblood upbringing as Katie sneered at her.
"Why the hell is she here?!"
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes before turning back to Katie. "Unlike you, Katie, Madame Black has an appointment that was discussed prior to five minutes ago. So if you don't mind, I have work to do which does not involve you. Please leave my office now!"
Katie's face started to turn tomato red with anger. "We're not done talking about this, Hermione! I deserve to know why you ended things without even explaining yourself. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me to my face. So she can just bugger off, for all I care!"
Hermione growled low in her chest which caused Narcissa to shiver slightly. "Katie, the reason I broke it off with you is because I don't love you anymore, and couldn't see a future with you. Is that what you want to hear? Fine. I've said it! We weren't working, and instead of dragging things out, I ended things so that we weren't miserable together until it was too late to leave. I broke things off with you because I was trying to save us from situations like this, but apparently this was inevitable, since you insist on holding on to feelings that I don't share," Hermione spoke with conviction and purpose to get the point across.
"I don't believe that. We were good together. You were just traveling too much to realize that, and I know that if you were around more, you would see that. I know that if you would just stay with me, we could be happy together. I love you, Hermione, and I know you love me too. I'm not giving up on us just because you can't see how good we are for each other," Katie grabbed Hermione's hands as she spoke.
"Oh, I'm the one who was never around was I?! I distinctly remember that you were never home any more than I was because you were off playing Quidditch for the Harpies more often than I was gone on assignments. But yes, it was me who was never around! In the year that we were together, neither of us were around for the other. Never mind the fact that you want things that I can't give you!" Hermione growled in frustration at having this argument again.
"I told you that it didn't bother me that you couldn't give me children because of your condition, and that we could look into adoption until we could find a way to fix your... problem," Katie said in a more soothing tone as she tried to caress Hermione's cheek with the back of her hand.
"There is no cure for what is wrong with me! I've tried everything and you know it! We are done! I'm tired of having this same argument over and over again. We're not compatible anymore because we want different things in life!" Hermione yelled as the temperature in the room suddenly became colder while Hermione removed herself from Katie's grasp. She growled lowly and menacingly before her magic started to swirl around her, unseen, as she pulled it to her hand. "We're done, Katie. That's all there is to it; now if you won't leave of your own accord, then you leave me no choice," she raised her hand in a motion to snap her fingers.
"What are you going to—" She snapped her fingers and Katie was gone.
She sighed and slumped into a nearby chair. She leant over her legs, rubbing her temples in an attempt to fight off the migraine that had formed. Narcissa walked over to her slowly and touched the hand on Hermione's temple softly. Hermione took a deep breath, blew it out, and relaxed at the blonde's touch.
She looked up at Narcissa. "I apologize for having subjected you to that ugly display. Honestly, I don't understand why she won't let it go. We weren't even together that long, because of how our careers worked out. We could only see each other maybe once a month, and half the time we just fought over the same things, as you've just seen. She feels I should be a stay-at-home alpha so that she can continue her career, but not let me do the same. It's frustrating to constantly have the same fight over and over again."
Narcissa smiled sweetly at her. "I understand completely. I had a similar fight with Lucius on numerous occasions," Narcissa sighed at the memory of the last time she talked to Lucius.
Hermione groaned in frustration and rubbed at her face before looking back at Narcissa once more. "I have a slightly odd, embarrassing request. You are more than welcome to say no, but your scent and presence is so calming and soothing—"
Narcissa leaned down slightly, placing a finger against Hermione's lips to stop her ramblings. "Make your request dear and we'll see what I say."
Hermione's eyes grew large at the touch of the finger, but nodded when the finger was taken away. "Would you sit in my lap and let me hold you for a moment till I calm down?" She looked at Narcissa with pleading eyes, causing Narcissa to look at the woman in surprise for a brief moment before her face shifted into a genuine smile and nodded.
"I think I can do that," She moved to sit sideways on Hermione's lap, wrapping her arms around her neck; as soon as she was situated, Hermione quickly wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling her close and nuzzled into her neck. Hermione rubbed her nose against the unclaimed pheromone gland that sat at the junction of her neck and shoulder, inhaling the mixture of eucalyptus, jasmine, and parchment.
"Thank you. I know we haven't really been this affectionate before and I don't have a problem taking things slow, but it was the only way that I could think of to calm my body and magick down. I'm sorry if this is pushing you to do things you're not ready for I just—"
A soft hand cupped Hermione's jaw, stroking her cheek soothingly before lifting her head slowly. "I agreed to this. You haven't done anything that I am uncomfortable with, so why not take the time to just relax and center yourself so that we can get on with our evening of something far more enjoyable," Narcissa said softly with a sweet smile.
As Narcissa looked into those tantalizing eyes that swirled red, she felt the now-familiar sensation of warmth behind her own eyes, which she has attributed to them bleeding gold.
Hermione's eyes began to dilate as she licked her dry lips. "Cissa, can I kiss you?" she asked in a low, desirous rumble.
Narcissa's eyes glazed over slightly at the heady scent of excited alpha and was so distracted that she almost missed the question. "Yes, please," She answered as she leaned down to Hermione. She was met halfway by soft lips and a strong hand to the back of her neck, pulling her down further into the alpha.
The kiss was soft, sweet, and slow. Nothing frantic, needy, or rushed. A subtle rush of electricity sparked between the two as they held each other, fingers lightly playing with the baby hairs at the nape of a neck, nails scratching softly against skin at the back of a head. They sat there for a moment, slowly kissing and getting to know one another without pushing it further than necessary. After what felt like an eternity, they broke apart, panting as they looked at each other. "That was intense. Did you feel that?" Hermione asked as she moved her hand from behind Narcissa's neck to stroke up and down her back, instead.
Narcissa nodded and blinked a few times to clear her head of the fog. "We really should look into these symptoms because I'm getting the impression they mean something important."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "Good thing we're going somewhere that we can look into something like this then, eh?" She asked, grinning up at Narcissa who chuckled softly.
"You are correct in that regard."