Ch.8: Operation Otter
Draco opened the window, letting in a large owl straining under the weight of the package it carried.
The letter attached was addressed to "Mr. Draco Malfoy" in slanted letters, and Draco hurriedly untied the delivery from the owl's leg. The owl nipped his hand, and he tossed it a bit of the biscuit he had been eating, opening the envelope.
Mr. Malfoy,
I have forwarded to you a record of the contents of your mother's safe at Gringotts. I ask that you peruse its contents and decide how best to deal with your inheritance in a timely fashion. It would not be wise to leave the contents of the safe under your mother's name for too much longer. Best of luck!
Albus DumbledoreDraco unwrapped the parchment enclosing the heavy book and let it fall to the table in front of him with a thump.
The book was bound in black leather, with the initials NB embossed on the front in the same script as the key. He opened the book, and his mouth dropped open.
No wonder his father had not wished Draco to see this money. Clearly, at least half of the Malfoy fortune had come from Narcissa. Looking at the bottom of the row of figures, he saw that, on the event of Sirius Black's death, Narcissa had come into a tidy sum. As one of the remaining members of the Black family, part of the Black fortune would have gone to her on Sirius' passing.
Although this might have delighted Draco a year ago, now he was struck with sadness for Harry. He decided to have that money transferred to Harry, who he felt was more deserving of the Black inheritance than he was.
The next section contained a log of all the heirlooms that were housed in Narcissa's safe. Draco's eyes widened further at the list of expensive jewelry that took up several pages.
He shut the book after several more minutes, shocked.
All his life, his father had threatened to disown him and leave him penniless. Three months ago, it seemed his father had fulfilled what had often seemed and empty threat. But now, thanks to his mother's generosity, Draco was extremely wealthy.
He didn't know what on earth to do with this money. He couldn't possibly spend all this money in his own lifetime on himself, that much was certain. His eyes fell of the table where Hermione had left he Charms book open before running off to the library an hour ago. He smiled slowly, and then pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.
It was a start, at least.
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Ginny had squealed loudly as she read the note that now lay at the foot of her bed. She then proceeded to dive under her bed, and emerge several moments later, bits of dust in her hair.
Clutched in her hand was a copy of that fall's Pandora Cosmetics catalogue. Her fingers trembled a little as she opened the glossy book.
After all, who wouldn't be excited to know that they were 'welcome to spend as much as necessary in order to accomplish our goal'? She thought excitedly, remembering that the note had added that to order anything for herself, if she wished.
As Ginny flipped through the catalogue of the most exclusive line of magical cosmetics, she marked pages with a flick of her wand.
Ismene's Locks…Smoothing Soothing Crème…Phaedra's Sun: Skin Brilliance…Apple of the Eye colour…
Ginny smiled widely as she transferred her markings to the order form, gulping slightly at the total. Well, he said to spend as much as needed. And Hermione does need it.
She added a small pot of "Pandora Box", the lip treatment that had made the company famous, for herself. Draco had said she was welcome to anything she wanted, but she felt guilty ordering anything to large or expensive.
Several minutes later, she watched the owl fly out of the owlry, hoping that the delivery was as speedy as promised beneath the photograph of the beautiful smiling witch on the back cover. She had told Draco to meet her at five. It was already three thirty. Realizing that this was not enough time, she wrote a hasty note to Draco, and sent it off with another of the tawny school owls.
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At 7:15 that evening, Draco staggered into the common room, weighted down by the rather large, extremely heavy package Ginny had handed to him several minutes before.
He repeated the instructions she had given him for the evening. Operation Otter, she had called it. He had to admit that it was a clever name, taking Hermione's Patronus into account.
Having made it into his room, he dropped the package unceremoniously onto his bed and set about opening it.
His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the sheer number of items the package contained. Bottles, pots, and tubes of all sizes were crammed into the parcel, and he began to pull them out, hiding them in the wooden chest at the foot of his bed.
"Ismene's Locks" he muttered to himself, looking for the bottle Ginny had instructed him to disguise as a plain bottle of shampoo.
After several minutes of digging, he finally located two bottles of the stuff at the bottom of the trunk.
Figures. He thought, I put the item I needed away first.
He sat down on the bed, and looked at the fancy label on the bottle.
Ismene's Locks: For hair as beautiful as a Grecian Princess
Enriched with herbal extracts for a heavenly scent, and deep conditioning potions to instantly revive dull hair…
Now with Sleekeazy potion to tame unmanageable locks!
The bottle proclaimed the last sentence in large golden letters.
Draco smiled, and then tapped the bottle with his wand. "
The bottle expanded slightly, settling on a plain brown plastic exterior with the words "Shampoo" printed in plain black lettering.
Just then, he heard Hermione dumping what sounded to be a ton of bricks on one of the tables outside. He smiled, knowing that she had finally returned from the library.
He strode casually out of his room, calling a greeting down to Hermione, who smiled up at him in return. He felt his insides go warm in the glow of her smile.
Draco shook his head. He was on a mission. This was not the time to have a pleasant chat with Hermione, no matter how nice it would make him feel.
"I'm off to have a shower," he announced before shutting the bathroom door behind him.
After a quick shower, Draco looked at the bottle of shampoo Hermione always left on the ledge in the shower.
He poured a bit of it into a small bottle Ginny had provided him with, which he concealed in his discarded robes, then preceded to pour the rest of the bottle down the drain. He then set the bottle, tipped over, on the floor of the shower.
Stepping back to admire his handiwork, Draco smirked to himself. Perfect.
He slipped into his nightclothes, and exited the bathroom.
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Hermione looked up briefly from her Charms homework at the sound of Draco's voice.
"Hermione, I'm awfully sorry. I feel just terrible." Draco said sorrowfully.
"Sorry for what Draco?" She asked in a distracted voice.
"Well," he said, "while I was in the shower, I accidentally knocked over your bottle of shampoo. The top must have been loose, and all the shampoo came out."
"Really? That's odd. I thought I had been very careful to tighten the lid last shower. I had done the same thing the other day. It was my last bottle too." She said. "Well, never mind, it's not a big deal, I'll order more tomorrow."
"Oh no! Hermione, I feel so bad about spilling it. You have to let me replace it," He said earnestly. Everything is going exactly according to plan, he crowed inwardly.
"If you'd like," Hermione said, already buried in her homework once more.
"Alright!!" he said in an excited voice. "I mean…yeah cool. I might have something in my room you could use, actually."
Hermione looked at him strangely at his overly excited reaction, but shrugged it off as another of his "strange" moods.
Draco fairly danced upstairs and grabbed the bottle of Ismene's Locks. He sat on the bed fidgeting around. When enough time had passed to account for him looking around for a shampoo, he got up and walked to the bathroom again.
"I found some! I'll put it in the shower for you." He called to Hermione.
She nodded absently.
Draco smiled at her bookish ways, at the same time excited to see if this shampoo Ginny had purchased would actually do anything to tame Hermione's wild hair.
Realizing how foolishly he must be acting, Draco composed himself before walking down the stairs. He sat down at his own table, not particularly wishing to do homework. Instead, he doodled listlessly on a sheet of paper, watching the clock, as well as Hermione.
Finally, at 9:30, she shut her book.
"Well, I'm going to pop into the shower quickly before we have to do Rounds," she said to him.
Draco could barely contain his glee.
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"It's just amazing, that stuff you gave me! My hair feels so…smooth! The last time it felt like this, I had slaved away at it for hours with Sleekeazy Potion!" Hermione continued to rave to him.
Draco had to look down to hide his smile.
Hermione's hair fell in soft, controlled waves to just past her shoulders. She had tucked it behind her ears, and he could see the soft line of her jaw that had originally inspired him to start Operation Otter.
Ginny would be so excited.
"You know," he offered, "You're welcome to keep the stuff. I can't use it in my hair, it's too fine for the stuff."
"Really?" she said happily. He nodded.
"Wow, thanks a lot, Draco!"
Just then, they heard a muffled giggle from behind a gargoyle. Hermione and Draco peered around it to see Ginny locked in a passionate embrace with a 6th year Ravenclaw.
Ever since Harry had left her the year before, Ginny flitted from boy to boy, refusing to settle down with anyone, in case Harry changed his mind. Still, she was a very pretty girl, and as she put it, 'There's no use joining a convent just to wait for Harry to come around.'
Hermione coughed loudly.
The two students sprung apart, the boy turning red in the face.
"Alright you two. That's quite enough. Ten points from each your houses," Draco said with a smirk.
Ginny looked at Draco with a "tell me!" expression on her face, then hung her head a little, and then said, "Sorry."
Hermione pursed her lips slightly.
"Hermione, why don't you walk the boy back to his dorm. I'll make sure Ms. Weasley gets back to Gryffindor Tower safely." Draco said, turning and walking away before she had a chance to respond.
Ginny trailed after him, catching up as she turned the corner.
"It certainly took you long enough to discover me. That Jason kisses like an overexcited puppy. I've been waiting to hear how Operation Otter went.
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Ginny opened the bottle that Draco presented her with and sniffed at it.
"Just as I thought. This stuff doesn't to a thing for your hair. Its a wonder Hermione's hair hasn't fallen out, using this rubbish." She said with a laugh.
She and Draco had paused around the corner from the Fat Lady to catch up on the evening's events.
Draco smiled, remembering how Hermione's hair had fallen in soft waves that framed her face, and once again felt the odd warm feeling in his stomach.
The he noticed Ginny smirking at him.
"I think, Mr. Malfoy, that you are not tell me your true motives for this little transformation." She laughed.
"What?" He said in confusion, "I'm helping a friend out."
Ginny merely winked at him, before flouncing off around the corner.
What in blazes was she hinting at? Draco thought with some irritation as he headed back to his dormitory.
A/N: For those who aren't sure: Ismene is the beautiful sister of Antigone in the Oedipus plays.
Thanks for all the reviews, you guys! It really encourages me to keep writing, and make my updates timely. Hope that this last installment didn't seem too out of context. It does have a greater purpose in the story than the usual "make Hermione into a pretty girl so that Draco will fall in love with her."
x-Lazart-x and AerinAlanna: I'm so glad you guys like the story! Hope to see you back here soon! J
For everyone else, let me know what you think! Good, bad, in between? Let me know! Feel free to ask questions too, I'll answer them as best I can without giving too much away.
Elizabeth