Getting in Deep

Hermione was standing in her apartment, in a beautiful new red dress, that was classy and fit her almost perfectly. Draco was standing next to her wearing a nice new black suit. He looked over at Hermione and attempted a smile. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She answered. They were about to go to Malfoy manner, Narcissa had insisted upon the pair of them coming to dinner.

"It's not too late you know. We don't have to go." Draco almost seemed more nervous than Hermione. She reached out to him and held onto his hand, giving him a pointed look.

"We've talked about this. No backing out. Let's go." Draco nodded, and looked at Hermione apprehensively before spinning them off to Malfoy Manor. They landed inside the main entrance to the house and were instantly greeted by a perfect Narcissa Malfoy. Draco didn't drop Hermione's hand, but angled his head towards her.

"Mother." He greeted.

"Draco." She smiled. "And Hermione, it's nice to see you again. I've had drinks prepared in the sitting room if you would care to follow me." Hermione felt stiff, the atmosphere was so…tame and controlled that she could not believe she was in the presence of a mother and son. The manor was splendid, all marble and floors and grey walls. The mood of the house was kind of dour, but it was very grand nonetheless. Draco led Hermione over to a loveseat where they sat opposite Narcissa who was sitting on the other side of the coffee table.

"Thank you for having us today Mrs. Malfoy. I was happy to get the invitation." Hermione tried her best smile.

"Well when my son is spending so much time with a girl, I must get to know her. You are different than anyone else Draco has taken an interest in." She commented, not smiling back. Hermione felt uncomfortable and not sure what to say. Draco sighed beside her.

"I was not interested in those girls. You made me see them." Narcissa's face melted a bit.

"You know it was for your own good angel." She turned back to Hermione. "You seem to be good for him though, I've not seen him this happy before. I must admit I was surprised though, to hear you were dating my son. In times before you were not so amicable towards each other." Her gaze was piercing.

"Well people change. I know I have, I know Draco has. If the war didn't change people I don't know what will." Narcissa almost seemed taken aback by Hermione's answer.

"Indeed." They sipped on drinks a little awkwardly for the next ten minutes or so, when a house elf popped into the room and bowed.

"Dinner is served miss." It squeaked out.

"Thank you Chip." Narcissa rose, and Draco stood, bringing Hermione with him. They walked into the next room over, where a surprisingly intimate table had been set up. It was round and the three were seated close to each other. It was towards the end of dessert that Narcissa said something pretty surprising. "Hermione, I really want to apologize to you. For everything that happened to you last time you were here. For my sister's actions and how our skewed outlook on life almost cost you yours." She sat silently for a moment. "Draco, would you mind terribly leaving us for a moment?" Draco raised an eyebrow and looked over at Hermione who nodded that it was okay. Draco stood and left the room, lingering for a couple of moments in the doorway. Once he had gone Narcissa looked over at Hermione her eyes appraising. "I know how you and Draco started seeing each other." She said. "I know that he was afraid of what you would do when you found out it was him. You didn't react the way I expected." She put her chin on her fist and looked thoughtfully at Hermione.

"I was unsure of how to react. Draco was a constant source of grief for me growing up. But over dinner that night I saw that he was so different from the boy he used to be. Everyone deserves a second chance don't you think?"

"As someone in need of many second chances, yes, I do. I actually want to thank you. Draco suffered horribly because of the mistakes that Lucius and I made. When people see that you can forgive him…it helps more than you could ever know. I may not be the warmest person around, but I do want you to know that I am thankful to you. I think we should probably re-join my son." She grinned and rose from the table. Hermione did the same and they walked back into the sitting room that they had come from. They had an after dinner drink, where conversation flowed a bit easier than before dinner, and then it was time to go.

"Thank you so much for a wonderful evening Narcissa." Hermione grinned as they were leaving.

"The pleasure was mine, please come back again soon. Draco you make me sad when you don't keep in touch." She said reproachfully. Draco looked at the ground and sighed.

"Sorry mother, I will owl you later this week, okay?" Narcissa nodded and then held her arm out to her son, who stepped into them and gave her a brief hug. "Goodnight son. Goodnight Hermione." She smiled at Hermione as Draco stepped back. Draco and Hermione said their goodbyes and Draco apparated them to about a block from Hermione's place. She raised an eyebrow at him. "I just wanted take a little walk in the moonlight with you." He grinned. Hermione couldn't help the responding smile that appeared on her face. "You and mother seemed to get along well tonight." He commented.

"Is that your way of asking what we talked about when you weren't there?" She asked with a grin. Draco shot her a look, but nodded his head. "She just wanted to know what made me give you a chance, and she thanked me." Draco's eyebrows shot up.

"She thanked you?"

"Yes."

"Wow. That is kind of honour. She doesn't thank people for things often." Hermione smiled.

"Mothers will do almost anything to keep their children happy." Hermione squeezed the hand that she was holding onto.

"I don't know what I was nervous about. Tonight went well." Draco said as they arrived at Hermione's building.

"It did, and if I have anything to say about it, it might get better." She bit her lip. Draco grinned. He kept his hand placed in hers until they got into her flat and then he drew her towards him and captured her lips with his.

AN: This chapter took a little longer than anticipated and it's not the longest, so forgive me! I've been having some terrible block. Didn't really get any feed back from the last chapter. So please please review! Thanks for reading! :)