Borrowed Hearts
Summary: 'You know how you like to make up stories sometimes honey? Well this is going to be just like that. We're going to pretend for a little while.'
Based on the Christmas movie by the same name.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I own the rights to neither the Harry Potter books nor the movie Borrowed Hearts
Author's Note: Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a good holiday season. Well as you can see… the story didn't get done by Christmas. But I'm continuing anyway being I'm already addicted to writing this. My new goal is to have it all done and posted by New Year's Day… We'll see how that one goes. In the mean time, Chapter 4 is up and you finally discover just what Blaise and Draco are planning! Enjoy!
One more thing… I didn't get a chance to fully spell proof this as well as I would have like but it's too late for me to right now. I'll do it tomorrow morning when I'm more functional. Until then, please don't mind any small errors.
Chapter 4: Honey, I'm Home!
"Hi honey! I'm home!"
Draco Malfoy stepped out of the parlor's fireplace and into his mansion. He walked toward the sofa where a petite blonde sat reading a magazine. He paused in front of her awkwardly as she looked up at him as if waiting for something.
"Uh… What's for dinner?" He asked.
The woman rolled her eyes and sniffed. "Ask the house elves."
Her voice was high pitch and close to a whine. Even as she spoke those four short words Draco prayed that she would stop talking.
Just then, a pale blonde headed boy ran into the room, stopping at his feet. "Dad! Can I have a new broom?"
Draco merely stared at the kid, unsure of just how to react. Luckily he didn't have a chance to.
"Ug! Stop! You're hurting me!" Blaise has been leaning back in a chair in the corner of the room, watching the performance going on in front of him. He promptly sprang to his feet, however, closing in on the group. "I don't believe you at all!"
"I don't believe you…" Draco muttered. Blaise ignored his comment and continued on.
"You guys are supposed to be a happy, loving family! Where are the hugs?! The kisses?! You're his wife! He's been gone all day! Act like you missed him! Know what's for dinner! That's what we're paying you to do!"
"And you…" Blaise turned his attention to the younger boy. "You sound like your spoiled rotten!"
"I'm playing a rich guy's son, what do you expect?!" The kid replied with a sneer.
Blaise paused, thinking about this fact for a moment. "Eh, like father, like son." He said at last.
Draco shot Blaise a death glare which Blaise once again ignored.
"Just for the record," the blonde hair woman interrupted. "My agent said nothing about dinner."
Blaise and Draco both turned and stared at her with a mixture of frustration and confusion.
"Ok…" Blaise said at last. "Let's try it again from the top."
"We need to talk." Draco said, turning back to Blaise. "Alone."
He grabbed Blaise's arm and pulled him off to the side, away from the rest of the group.
"Problem Draco?" Blaise asked innocently.
Draco glared at his friend fiercely, a habit that had become a rather normal occurrence as of late. "If you think I'm going to demean myself like this just for some deal…" Draco growled.
"Not just some deal, man," Blaise corrected him. "The deal. The deal you've been working your ass off for ever since your father told you you'd be lucky to make janitor."
Draco's mouth, which had been open in protest, promptly closed. His mouth drew set into a firm, determined line.
"Honey, what's for dinner?" He growled through clenched teeth.
Hermione maneuvered her car through the snowy streets of London. She and Josie had gone out to dinner at one of Josie's favorite restaurants and were now on their way home. They could have just as easily have flooed over but Hermione liked to show her daughter the non-magical way of things as well as the magical sometimes. The snow had looked so pretty falling through the air that she had opted for a traditional, not to mention somewhat longer, car ride tonight.
Both mother and daughter now sat singing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. Josie sat in the passenger's seat, bouncing along as they sang. She looked out the window as the snow feel, watching houses go past.
"Oh Josie, isn't the snow beautiful?" Hermione sighed happily.
Josie nodded as she continued to sing. Suddenly, her voice halted, however.
"Mommy! Stop!!!"
Hermione slammed on the brakes, looking around frantically for any sign of danger. "What? What is it?"
Josie stared out the window in awe. "Its… My… Dollhouse…" She said breathlessly.
Sure enough, on the left hand side of the road an exact replica of Josie's much beloved dollhouse sat. It had the same big stone walls and tall window panes. The lights were lit in most of the rooms revealing tiny glimpses of the wonders inside.
Without warning, Josie swung open the car door and bolted toward the house.
"Josie no! Josie wait! Hermione called as she unbuckled her seat belt and dashed off after her daughter. "Josie come back here!"
Josie ran up the path toward the big, stone house. She ran past a blonde woman and her son, both looking quite perturbed. The paused as the small blur of a girl ran past them and straight into the house they had just left.
"Draco! Forget about them! I'll find another family!" Blaise reassured Draco.
Draco shot him a look. "Oh really? How Blaise? They're not just going to walk in off the street!"
As if on cue, a small girl suddenly appeared at the open door, snow dripping from her boots onto the glistening tile floor. She spied the two men watching her and smiled innocently.
"Hello," she said, glancing over them once before turning her attention back to the house. She looked around and began to wander toward the formal dining area.
Draco stared after her, unsure of just what should be done in a situation such as this. Who was this strange girl? She seemed vaguely familiar, but he just couldn't place where.
Draco glanced over at Blaise who looked just as confused as he was.
"Josie?" A voice called softly from outside the door.
"Josie, where are you?" A dark haired woman peeked her head around the corner of the door. "You can't just go and barge into people's houses like this…"
She stepped into the foyer, and peered about. The woman was slim with chestnut brown hair pulled back loosely into a ponytail. Her hair was frizzing slightly from the wind and cold and her cheeks were flushed from the wintery night.
She froze as her eyes landed on the two men standing directly in front of her. "Oh! I'm so sorry…" She began. "She didn't realize…"
Her eyes darted back and forth between the two men apologetically. Suddenly they landed on Draco's. "We'll just get out of your way," she said abruptly. Her mouth snapped closed and her face immediately became colder.
That face… Draco knew that face from somewhere…
The woman turned and hurried across the hall to where the younger girl (her daughter as evident by their uncanny resemblance) stood.
"Josie… we have to leave…" The woman whispered to the younger girl, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder to steer her away.
"Mommy this is my dollhouse!" The little girl cried excitedly, a smile beaming across her face. She moved about, causing her frizzy mop of brown curls to bounce about.
The woman shook her head. "No honey, this house belongs to… someone else," she corrected. "We have to go now."
"No! No! This is where we're supposed to be!" The little girl said firmly. She had a look on her face that Draco had never seen in a young child before. It was the look of someone who was convinced they were right and Merlin help you if you tried to prove them wrong. Why it eerily reminded him of…
"Granger…" Draco said suddenly.
Hermione turned slightly toward Draco at the sound of her name. "Something you need to say, Malfoy?"
Where to start? Draco's mind was currently going a million miles a second, attempting to process all that was going on. Granger… Muggle born… Know-it-all Granger… was in his house currently. With a mini clone of herself none the less!
Hermione sighed impatiently. "By Merlin, miracles do happen! Draco Malfoy as been rendered mute!"
"And Hermione Granger has finally discovered the wonders of hair gel! Yes wonders never cease to amaze…" Draco retorted back, finally snapping out of his trance.
"Well, that answered my question on whether you're still as arrogant and egotistical a git as you were at school," Hermione replied, pursing her lips together. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"
Hermione took hold of Josie and began steering her toward the door.
"Wait!" Blaise cried out suddenly. Hermione paused, turning back to look at him suspiciously.
"Now that's a wife!"
Hermione and Draco both looked at him as if he had just spoken gibberish instead of real English. Hermione's stance stiffened ever so slightly.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked coldly.
Blaise stared her up and down. He checked her finger as inconspicuously as he could to discover that she wore no wedding ring. Blaise turned suddenly to Draco.
"Look at her!" Blaise cried. "She's perfect! So ordinary and… motherly! Why, she practically screams family values!"
"Oh she's ordinary alright…" Draco drawled.
Hermione shot him a death glare. "We're going now!"
"Please do!" Draco gestured toward the front door.
"No! Don't!" Blaise replied quickly. He shot Draco another look.
"You can't be serious!" Draco said incredulously.
"Do you have a better idea?" Blaise asked. "Del Campo will be here in two days!"
Draco frowned even more than he had been before.
"Think of the money you'll be making from this deal," Blaise prompted.
Draco looked as if he were going to argue some more before finally relenting. "Fine!" He growled, waving his hand in consent.
Blaise smirked and turned his attention back toward the now rather confused Hermione. "Let me explain," he began. "We need to rent a family for a couple of days to help us with a business transaction. We need someone by this Thursday and our… team just bailed on us."
The light dawned on Hermione's face as she realized just what he was saying. "You're kidding…"
Both men shook their heads.
"I wish he were," Draco muttered under his breath.
"And what if you like us, Malfoy? Is there an option to buy?" Hermione asked mockingly.
"This is serious Grang… Hermione." Draco forced himself to say her first name instead of her last. They needed her for this to work after all.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You just called me by my first name! You must be desperate!"
"You have no idea," Draco replied with a slight sigh.
The two remained silent for a moment, both staring at each other. Blaise watched on, mildly fascinated by the interaction between the two. Secretly he was hoping she would take the job if only so he could be amused by their banter for a few days.
"Well… even so," Hermione said at last. "What makes you think I would even consider helping you? We're not exactly friends you know…"
"Really?" Draco replied sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."
Blaise slapped Draco across the back of the head, silencing him and getting a chuckle out of Hermione. Blaise turned to her and smiled politely. "You would, of course, be compensated if you decide to help us out. Say… a thousand galleons?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You really think I can be bought?"
Blaise shrugged. "Hey, one thousand galleons for not even going to work? That's not bad at all!"
Hermione shook her head. "My daughter and I are not for lease," she stated firmly as she turned once more to leave.
"Two thousand!"
She paused, mere steps from the door. Turning around slowly she gazed upon the two men appraisingly. "And all we have to do is pretend to be your family? For two days?"
Blaise nodded. "Just a little family meal, some chit chat after dinner…"
Hermione turned her gaze to Draco who had remained silent through much of this. "You really think this could work? You could pretend to be married… to me… a muggle born witch?"
Draco sniffed. "Please Granger! Give me some credit! I have grown at least a little since our Hogwarts days! It's a new age and if the rest of the wizarding world can accept muggle borns as witches than so can I!"
Hermione stared at him in shock, unsure of just what to say.
"So do we have a deal?" Blaise prompted.
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "Three thousand," she said at last.
"Out of the question!" Draco responded firmly.
Hermione shrugged and turned back to leave. "I wish you luck." Her hand reached for the door.
"Ok! Fine! Deal!"
Hermione turned back around once more. "Not so fast. I have to talk with my daughter first."
Hermione bent down next to Josie and looked her straight in the eye. "Josie, listen to me…"
"Mommy! Take it!" Josie yelled.
Hermione looked up at the men, blushing slightly at her own daughter's eagerness.
Blaise smiled happily at the new couple. "I now pronounce you husband and wife!"
Author's Note #2: The greatest Christmas present of all would be to have you review this story for me…