Disclaimer: Don't own anything
Author' Note: Hello! I'm Sorry for confusing everyone. This is a Dramione not a Ronmione. Sorry as well for not being able to update soon and I will answer all questions soon. I made some changes to the story to make it better. I hope.
Chapter 2:
The sun shone brightly through the window and it caused Draco to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and winced at brightness in his room. He waved his hand and the curtains covered the windows just partially, enough to let some light in. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, waiting for his brain to become fully awake.
Hermione.
He saw her face again, in his dreams. Her face, her eyes, her smile. He dreamt about yesterday's events. He saved the little girl. Merlin knew why he did, but he did. Impulse, maybe?
So, maybe the Muggle saying really was true. It's a small world. It was either that or it was fate, and the latter one was a bit unnerving, so he decided to go with the former. He couldn't think of any other explanation of why his school nemesis would be re-introduced into his so-far peaceful life. Unless she was stalking him, which was highly unlikely, no matter how much of a good-looking guy he was.
He looked at his bedside table and saw the small pink envelope and groaned. It was an invitation. He almost got away yesterday and he intended to go back to his life and forget the unexpected, and unwanted, meeting with a reminder of his past. The key word being almost.
Just as he was starting to walk away, the little girl called to him.
"Mister, wait!"
'No! So close,' he thought.
He turned around and faced the little girl. She smiled up at him and then begun rummaging through her small backpack, looking for something.
"Here," she said, handing him a small, pink envelope.
Confused, he took it and turned it over. It was a small, plain, pink envelope. He looked at the little girl questioningly.
"Open it," she said, still smiling brilliantly.
He opened it and took out the small piece of shiny paper. An invitation. A kid's birthday party invitation.
He looked at the little girl who was still smiling expectantly at him. He raised his eyes to look at her mother, who only gave him a sympathetic look. He looked at the little girl again.
'I should just say I'm busy,' he thought but the look on the little girl's face was already breaking his resolve. Could he really break the little girl's heart?
He smiled at the small child and knelt in front of her.
"I'm very busy"—the little girl's smile fell—"but I will try. I'm not making any promises though."
The little girl's face lit up instantly and she hugged him again. At a loss of what else to do, the blond just patted the little girl's back awkwardly. He looked at her mum again and she was warmly smiling at him. She then mouthed to him two words, "Thank you."
He sat up and took the small envelope and took out the shiny piece of paper once more. Sophie Granger
'Wait,' he thought. 'Granger, the little girl's last name is Granger. Why is her last name Granger?'
It was painfully obvious who the father was, the shocking color of the hair was already a dead give-away. So why was the daughter bearing the mother's last name, and not the father's?
'Hmm, intriguing…'
He returned the envelope on his bedside table and leaned back on his bed's headboard. It was Friday, he didn't have to go to his office today, because he just finished his last case, and he was meant to visit his mother today for lunch. It was still early, maybe he could still get a few more hours of sleep. He checked his clock that hung on the wall opposite his bed, it read nine 'o clock. He groaned, obviously not.
He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to start the day. Maybe a good bath will help relax him before his meeting with his mother, Merlin knew he needed it.
Narcissa Malfoy sat at the gazebo in her beautiful garden at the back of her luxurious townhouse. She gazed upon the many flowers in her garden that she took care of personally.
The day was beautiful and the roses that were in full bloom made it even more so. Their vibrant colors brought the garden to life. She was thinking of how she could make her garden just as beautiful even at night. Maybe she could put up some lights in the bushes?
She was contemplating all of this when the wards around her house signaled her of her son's arrival. The Malfoy matriarch smiled warmly as she saw her son came towards her from inside of her house.
She never thought of her new house as a home because it never felt like one. It never had the welcoming feeling that a true home possessed . The same welcoming feeling that the Malfoy Manor once had. It still brought her sadness whenever she thought of the once warm home she shared with her family and friends. The home she once felt where she was safe. The home that was defiled by the mere presence of the darkest wizard in the whole Wizarding world.
She pushed her melancholy thoughts aside as she embraced her son. 'Now is not the time for such thoughts,' she told herself.
Draco gave her mother a peck at the cheek before sitting on the chair opposite her.
"Draco, it's wonderful to see you again. I wish you would see me often," his mother said with a smile.
"I see you almost every day, Mother. My last visit was just the other day," he replied with a smirk.
"You know how lonely I feel being all alone here. I still don't see the reason of you wishing to live on your own and not with your lonely mother," she said with a small pout.
Draco let out an exasperated sigh. This was a usual discussion between them. He didn't get why his mother couldn't understand why it was wrong for a full grown wizard to still live with his mother. She would always complain about being lonely despite the many guests she had over for parties and luncheons.
Narcissa Malfoy was a true socialite and loved having people over for lavish gatherings and not once did she disappoint. The parties she hosted at Malfoy Manor was always looked forward to and always the talked about.
The young Malfoy could still remember the talks his mother would give him about his attitude towards her parties. Talks about how it was his obligation as a Malfoy to always be present, talks about how the parties could help him get to know future business acquaintances, talks about how insensitive he was towards the parties his mother spent so much time and effort to prepare, and so on and so forth.
The apparition of one of his mother's house-elves, Nina, brought him out of his thoughts. The loyal house-elf had been at his mother's side since she was a little girl, and he was grateful to her for staying with his mother throughout the war and after.
"Good afternoon, young master," Nina greeted him and gave a small bow. She then to turned to Narcissa and did the same gesture saying, "Good afternoon, mistress." She then presented them their lunch and left them after another low bow.
"I asked Nina to learn a new French recipe for us today. It's Chicken a la Diable. I heard it from a friend yesterday. How do you find it?" his mother inquired.
He took a small bite and let the flavors play on his tongue. "It's delicious. The spiciness compliments its other flavors."
His mother smiled proudly before continuing with her meal. Draco couldn't help but stare at his mother. It had been a long time since a smile would really light up her face.
The war had taken its toll on his mother as much as it did everyone else. It made her appear so much older than she really was. The stress and worry made cracks on the perfect aristocrat mask his mother always had on. Sometimes he would catch his mother crying and it would always stab his heart. Even if everyone around them thought they were cold-hearted bastards, he loved his mother more than anything.
She was the one that always stood up for him against his father. The one who helped him heal, with words filled with care and affection, from the harsh beatings of his father. The one who protected and loved him unconditionally.
Now, he looked at his mother glow with happiness and content, and felt immensely proud of himself that he could make her smile like she used to.
"Draco, darling? Are you alright?" his mother was giving him a funny look that made him realize that he was staring at her like a complete idiot. He smiled at her and nodded before he continued with his meal.
"How is your case doing?" her mother asked.
"It's done. The other party settled. They knew who they were up against and knew they couldn't win. Besides, with me as their opposing party's lawyer, I'm surprised it took them this long to figure out they couldn't win," he replied with the trademark Malfoy smirk.
"Well, I'm just glad I don't have to listen to you rave on about how arrogant your client is," her mother said with a knowing smile.
Draco's cheeks colored slightly pink from embarrassment.
"It's not like I can blame him. He had the best Lawyer in France on his side," he recovered with a smirk.
Draco was the senior partner of one of the biggest law firms in France. He was good at reading people and good with words. Although he was arrogant and an arsehole when he wanted to be, he knew how to persuade, how to intimidate and how to find weaknesses. Match this with his amazing intellect; he became one of the greatest lawyers in France and the youngest to be senior partner in the company's history.
After the two Malfoys finished their lunch, both decide to go for a walk towards the rose bushes. His mother always wanted him to bring home some flowers, 'to add a little feminine touch' as his mother would say.
Whilst walking, Narcissa went about cutting roses for his son to take home. Draco never understood why but his mother never used any magic when she handled her flowers. She preferred to do it the Muggle way which meant more hands-on handling of dirt and such. She would also always give a bouquet of flowers to her visitors when they would leave. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? The visitors bringing the flowers for their host? Women.
As she was cutting one of the roses, she accidentally pricked herself on one of the rose's thorns. She gasped and withdrew her hand. She had dropped the basket she held for the roses.
Draco withdrew his handkerchief from his coat to give to his mother. She accepted it and wiped the blood on her finger with it. She then noticed a small, pink envelope on the ground and bent down to retrieve it. Draco noticed this and groaned inwardly.
'Why did I have to bring that bloody envelope?' he mentally scolded himself for his stupidity. He didn't know what compelled him to bring the blasted thing but something in him told him that he should and now he would have to explain to his mother why he had it and that would lead to yesterday's events. He really wanted to forget about yesterday's events, not talk about it.
"What's this?" she asked as she examined the seemingly innocent envelope.
"It's nothing," he lied. Obviously it wasn't 'nothing' and mentally smacked himself for not coming up with anything smarter.
His mother opened it and read the contents of the shiny paper inside. Her eyebrows rose up in surprise. 'Interesting,' she thought.
"It's a party invitation," she stated simply.
He stayed silent, waiting for what else his mother would to say.
"Will you be attending?" his mother asked, looking his son in the eye.
He knew his mother loved parties, whether it be hosting or attending them. He also knew his mother would be upset if she knew that he was just going to ignore it. He had to choose his words carefully if he wanted to escape here without hearing another one of the Talks.
"Well, I just renewed my apparition passport and I was hoping to catch up with Theo and Blaise," he mumbled, looking away.
"That isn't what I asked, dragonet," her mother said sweetly. Too sweetly.
Shit, she just used that nickname. He was screwed and he knew it. His mother only used that name when she was really annoyed with him or when she was about to give him a Talk.
He knew he had to fix this. Quickly. Before his mother started with her speech. There was only one way.
"Well, I was going to stop by and drop off the girl's gift," he said, looking anywhere but his mother.
"Just stop by, Draco?"
Good, she reverted back to using his name. That's a good sign, it means that her temper was cooling down. Just a bit more. Time for the S-word.
"Maybe stay a while and talk to her mother. You know socialize a bit," he said, giving his mother the charmer smile.
The Malfoy matriarch sighed. 'Yes! She took the bait,' he congratulated himself. She loved socializing and he knew it was a secret weapon that he could use to please her.
She handed him back the envelope and gave him a small smile, "Give the child's mother my best."
This confused the younger Malfoy, but took the envelope back and stuffed it roughly back into his coat as if to say 'Stay there!'
Narcissa snapped her fingers and another house-elf appeared with a small pop.
"Please prepare a bouquet with these roses"—she gestured towards the fallen basket—"Oh, and wrap it in our best wrapping paper," she ordered the house-elf. "And put on one of the cards I told you about," she added as an after-thought.
Draco escorted his mother back inside her house when the house-elf arrived holding a beautiful bouquet for red, white and pink roses wrapped in red and white papers and tied together with a silver bow. The house-elf handed the bouquet to Draco and handed Narcissa a small card. She went to a small writing desk and wrote something on the card. She then placed it securely in the middle of the flowers.
Draco looked at the card but saw nothing in it. he then looked at his mother who only smiled back at him with a mischievous gleam in her eye.
"Give this to your host and be nice Draco. You were given an invitation so you should appear grateful,—"Draco snorted at that, "—and be polite to them," his mother told him sternly as she guided him to the door.
He gave his mother a peck on the cheek and nodded before going outside to disapparate.
Even though he told his mother he was going, there was no way in hell he would go to a child's birthday, let alone Hermione freaking Granger's child's birthday party.
With his decision made up, he was gone.
A/N: Please leave a review!
