A Slip of the Tongue
by Sienna

Chapter Two: Of Rants and Ramblings

Draco turned around slowly, and stared at his mother.

"What?" he asked quietly.

Narcissa did not know whether to pretend it was a joke, or look smug, or to admit it had slipped out. In the end, she opted for her usual calm, soothing, motherly voice, and simply carried on as if she had never said anything.

"Anyway, dear, about the dinner on Saturday, you will attend. That's all." Motherly duties or not, she knew when her only son was about to blow, and Narcissa was a clever woman. She nonchalantly reached out and plucked the first book she touched out of the many bookshelves in the extensive Malfoy library, and was just about to hasten out of the library (Malfoy women never run, they hasten), when she felt her son's hand on her arm.

Uh oh.

"What did you say?" he asked again, his voice even quieter than it had been before.

"The dinner. On Saturday? Be there at seven. Oh, I smell the turkey burning! Must dash, honey! See you then!" Narcissa hastened like she had never hastened before and breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the library door behind her, thankful that Draco hadn't attempted to stop her.

Obviously, Narcissa Malfoy did not cook. She was a Malfoy, after all. What was the point of employing several house elves if one had to cook? She could cook, but she just chose not to. Malfoys – and Blacks - excel in everything, and Narcissa was no exception.

Cooking wasn't the main issue at present, though. Narcissa did not pay Hermione Granger to go out with her son. She didn't even know that they had been dating, which was why she'd asked Nina for help with the set up in the first place. It was only the day after Draco had met Maria and she'd practically thrown herself at him that he'd finally confessed to his mother that he had been going out with Hermione Granger.

Narcissa had noticed that Draco had been behaving rather oddly for the past, oh, year or so, and she'd thought he was lonely. He wasn't, of course, but she'd never seen the Draco-in-love before, and so, being the kind, motherly soul she was, she had tried to make her son feel better. Draco-in-love's behavior wasn't like anyone-else-in-love's behavior, so how was she to know, mother or not, what he was feeling?

Draco was never normal (he was a wizard, for one, and a Malfoy, for another) so his behavior was often extremely out of the ordinary. Ever since he was a small child, Draco was used to getting what he wanted. When he didn't get what he wanted (which was very seldom), however, he would throw tantrums, and sulk, and do other things which usually resulted in his parents getting him whatever he wanted. So he was, er, quite spoilt. But he was a Malfoy, (and an only child) so this didn't really matter.

Anyway, it had taken Draco a good year and a bit to get Hermione to finally go out with him. As per usual, he had sulked a lot, thrown a lot of tantrums, plotted, schemed, and even attempted bribery as well as blackmail, before Hermione had eventually agreed to go on that fateful first date.

Narcissa had no idea why he was behaving so oddly. She didn't know what it was that he was doing in his room (thinking up sappy letters and poems that he would never admit to writing, even under torture), leaving the Manor at strange times (so that he could sit on her doorstep and beg, which was also another thing he would never admit doing), or doing any of the bizarre things he had done during that period.

She was sorry to say that her actions had caused a great many problems (for herself, mostly) and her Malfoy-and-Black pride would not allow her to admit to Draco what she had done. (Which, if you think about it, is rather silly, but who are we to challenge Black-Malfoy's? But if you think about it thoroughly, Narcissa's decision in not telling Draco would be wise, because, Draco being who he is, would obviously find a way to use her mistake to get his way in everything, and what mother would stand idly by and let that happen?)

However, the problem at hand was that she had told Draco that she had paid his girlfriend to go out with him, which wasn't true, but he seemed to believe her. What was she going to do about it? This is why Malfoy (and Black) women never lose their tempers. The results are potentially problematic, for all parties involved.

A/N: Read and review, guys. Thank you to Boogie and Shocks 19 for reviewing. I love you both.. hands out Honeydukes gift vouchers
I hope you guys like this. It's my first attempt at a non-oneshot, although that isn't any excuse for it to suck, I guess.
Please tell me what you think of it. Even if you hate it and think it's completely pointless and stupid- at least it's an opinion.
Thanks.

xx
sienna