"What the–" Blaise was cut off as he was unceremoniously shoved inside a broom cupboard. He identified the perpetrator as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and grinned. "A broom cupboard, Hermione? I know I'm sexy and all that, but do restrain yourself."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Shut up. I need you to discreetly alert Ron to stay back after the party. I think we have a lead on the blood."

"Merlin," Blaise breathed. "Okay, sure. Why me though?"

"Lavender doesn't exactly like me," Hermione bit her lip, looking annoyed. "She's likely to make some sort of scene if I ask Ronald to stay behind, and if what I'm thinking is true, we can't risk alerting any of our guests about the fact that we've got a lead. Someone might put two and two together."

"Fine," agreed Blaise, a hint of concern in his voice. "You think it's someone we know?"

"Unfortunately," said Hermione quietly.

Blaise paled slightly. "Fuck."

"I know," Hermione nodded, turning. "We should go back to the party before anyone else realises we're missing."

"Just hang on for one second," said Blaise, closing his fingers around Hermione's wrist to stop her. "One thing real quick before we go back out," he lowered his voice to a whisper.

"What?" asked Hermione, leaning closer to hear him.

Without warning Blaise reached out and tousled Hermione's curls hopelessly. "There," he grinned mischievously. "Now you look more like someone that's been inside a broom cupboard with me. Can't have my reputation ruined now, can we?"

"You're an arse Blaise," said Hermione, though a second later she grinned back. "Malfoy is going to slaughter you."

"Draco will only be jealous because he hasn't gotten any," shrugged Blaise, unrepentantly. "Getting Hermione Granger into bed is a task even Draco Malfoy can't accomplish."

Hermione flushed and dropped her gaze.

Blaise's eyes widened. "Holy shit," he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "You shagged Draco!"

"Shut up," Hermione slapped his arm, her cheeks flaming.

"All this time I've been feeling sorry for Draco, and it turns out that you've been going at it like rabbits behind our backs," Blaise continued, laughing.

"We have not been going at it like rabbits!" Hermione hissed, smacking Blaise harder. "It was a one-time indulgence… like chocolate mousse."

"Chocolate mousse, eh?" Blaise teased. "That sure is every man's preferred description of his sexual prowess."

Hermione leaned back against a bucket and sighed exasperatedly. "You know what I mean," she shrugged. "My parents were dentists –uh muggle tooth healers," she amended hastily. "As a child I loved chocolate mousse, but I only ever got to eat it on rare occasions. It's the same concept with sex. Now is not the time for us to be shagging all the time, we do still have a homicidal sociopath on the loose."

"I know," Blaise sobered up. "Don't worry too much Hermione, we'll catch him."

Or her. "Let's hope we manage it before too much damage is caused," said Hermione seriously. "We should get back out before people start to miss us."

They walked back out towards the gardens and slipped almost unnoticed into the throng of pleasantly intoxicated guests. Draco caught Hermione's eye, narrowing his own grey ones speculatively over her rumpled hair, and Hermione gave him the briefest of nods before she surreptitiously attempted to flatten the mass of curls.

Mercifully, the evening was winding down without any lasting awkwardness. In between firm protests from the three children –that they were not in fact remotely sleepy, even as their heads dipped over the volcano of wrapping paper around them– the guests started saying their goodbyes, Apparating away in groups of twos and threes. Hermione noticed Ron and Lavender deep in conversation in one corner of the back gardens, and firmly turned her back on them, hoping that Lavender wouldn't kick up too much of a fuss.

"Great party," Audrey gushed to Hermione and Draco while saying goodbye. "All the decorations look simply wonderful."

Draco slung his arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Granger wanted us to have an overweight old man dressed in red giving out presents," he teased, smirking.

"It's very authentic," Hermione defended. "Muggles have stories about Father Christmas. I cannot believe you talked me into having a Christmas themed party without him."

"Nutter," Draco mouthed to Audrey and Blaise –both of whom fought to keep a straight face– before turning to Hermione. "You come up with some insane ideas sometimes Granger, you're lucky that I lo–" he broke off suddenly, his cheeks faintly pink. Fuck.

"I'm lucky that you…?" Hermione asked, uncomprehending.

Draco cleared his throat nervously. "You're lucky that I look so good." Great save Draco, now she probably thinks you're an idiot.

"You're an idiot," Hermione playfully hit his arm. Stupid rapidly beating blood-pumping organ, for a second I thought he might actually tell me he loves me. Should have known that he'd come up with something like this.

Audrey gave them a knowing smile. "Well, Blaise and I should be off. Thanks for a lovely evening."

"You go on ahead babe," said Blaise easily. "I promised Juls I'd tuck him in and read him a story."

"Seems to be the night for ditching your girlfriend," said Lavender icily, as she and Ron walked up to them. "I'm off too, I'll see you later Ron."

"Bye Butterfly," Ron whimpered apologetically, rubbing her arm soothingly. "I'll be home as soon as I have a quick word with Harry."

"Convenient," Lavender hissed scathingly, before she turned on the spot and Disapparated. The remaining guests –Blaise, Audrey, Harry, Percy and Vanessa– stood in awkward silence.

"Well, I'll head back now," Audrey hugged Hermione and Draco briefly. "Thank you for having me."

"I'll escort you back home," Percy offered quickly, eager to leave the awkwardness. "Thank you Hermione, Malfoy. I'll see to it that Audrey gets home safe, Zabini."

Blaise clapped Percy on the back. "Thanks, mate. Good to see you again."

Vanessa waited until they had Disapparated before she rounded on Hermione. "Is there something going on with the case?"

"No, why?" Hermione responded uncomfortably.

"I just assumed," Vanessa arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "Considering that you are having the three Aurors present at the party ditch their girlfriends and stay back."

"Potter has been residing at the Manor, remember?" Draco interjected smoothly. "Weasley wants to have a word with him, and Blaise promised Juls he would tuck him in."

"Isn't that what your parents are doing?" Vanessa replied, pointedly looking towards the Manor.

Draco shrugged. "It takes a while for Juls to fall asleep."

Vanessa gave him an oddly perceptive look. "He didn't seem to have any problem at the party, but I can take a hint. I'll be off then, Hermione, great party."

"Bye Vanessa," mumbled Hermione, feeling inexplicably guilty as she hugged her friend goodbye. "I'll see you at work on Monday."

"No girls' night this Sunday?" Vanessa questioned.

Hermione felt her heart thud. "I don't think so. Pansy is busy and Ginny starts training again on Monday, so she will probably be packing."

Vanessa gave Hermione a long, scrutinising look. "Fine. See you Monday."

"Thank Merlin," Draco muttered, as soon as Vanessa Disapparated. "That was awkward."

"Let's get this meeting over with shall we?" Ron grumbled, as they headed towards the Manor. "Lav is already pissed off at me, so I probably shouldn't dally at Hermione's house much longer."

"She's married," growled Draco, as they piled into the living room. "If your girlfriend is too thick to understand that Granger is unavailable–"

"Stop calling my girlfriend thick!" Ron scowled deeply.

"Enough," Harry interrupted testily. "We're here to discuss a development in the case. Can we stick to it?"

"Good idea," said Hermione gratefully, as they all seated themselves around the dinner table. "Now I know you've all said to me that there's no way to increase the quantity of blood in the wizarding world, but I just realised that there is a way to do it in the muggle one."

Blaise frowned, as he conjured up a fresh scroll of parchment. "I don't think it's the same thing Hermione," he said doubtfully. "Blood magic is very specific."

"Hear me out," Hermione raised her hand. "The Polymerase Chain Reaction is a fairly recent method to increase blood and to do DNA testing–"

"DNA?" Draco broke in. "What is that?"

Hermione gave a long suffering sigh. "I can't get into an advanced course of genetics right now. Let's just say, we all have our individual DNA, which has its functions in the body. A PCR is used to increase quantities of DNA from very small samples, such as a little bit of skin, or a single strand of hair…"

"Or a drop of blood," Harry finished for her, nodding. "So you think that the person performed a PCR on your blood?"

"It's very likely," Hermione confirmed. "It would've been the best way to get a tiny amount of blood without either of us noticing. With magic on their side too, they could've easily improved the functioning capacity of the PCR to generate as much of our DNA that they needed. I doubt that many wizards would have looked into whether blood magic worked with muggle methods of increasing blood, especially since the PCR hasn't been around that long."

Ron dropped his head on to his parchments and sighed. "So you're suggesting that blood magic works on DNA and by increasing the DNA from the blood, they managed to fool the potion into thinking that the right quantity was added?"

"It's entirely possible," defended Hermione.

"No offence Hermione, but it sounds like a long shot," Blaise said tiredly, massaging his temples.

"But it's also the only idea we've got," Draco pointed out. "Without Granger's theory, we've got absolutely no new leads and the murderer is still out there. Shouldn't we consider every possibility?"

Harry and Ron simultaneously gagged at the expression on Hermione's face as she looked at her husband.

"Thanks Malfoy," Hermione said earnestly, her eyes shining. "I know it might sound a bit out of the box, but if there is a muggle-born witch behind this, it really isn't that far-fetched."

"Hang on," said Harry, picking on the end of his quill. "Muggle-born witch? Do you have a suspect in mind?"

Hermione hesitated for a brief second before nodding. "I think it might be Vanessa."

"What?" the four boys cried in unison.

"But she's– she's your friend!" Ron sputtered.

"And she was one of your bridesmaids," Harry added, shocked.

Hermione miserably surveyed her nails. "I feel like a terrible person for even considering it, but it might be possible. Think about it, Vanessa is muggle-born, and I've talked to her about muggle biotechnology several times."

"Surely not," Draco stated, looking dazed.

"Hermione," Blaise started kindly. "Knowing about muggle birotelnology isn't evidence of anything other than the fact that she likes to read up on the muggle world."

"Biotechnology," Hermione corrected impatiently. "That's not the only thing, though. Vanessa was there when Valmont was Confunded, and I've seen her confound a muggle drunk that was hitting on her."

Draco rolled his eyes. "And you've never confounded anyone?"

Harry started to cough something that sounded suspiciously like 'McLaggen', but stopped hastily when Hermione threw him one of her fear-inducing glares.

"That's not the point," snapped Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Vanessa is a charms expert, and she could easily have tampered with the decorations at work."

"Listen to yourself Hermione," Ron interrupted, shaking his head. "This is a mental suggestion, even for you. We're looking for a cold blooded murderer, not the Ministry receptionist."

"She's been around every single time there's been a Portkey that took us somewhere!" Hermione replied hotly. "Our wedding, the Ministry Ball…"

Harry rubbed his brilliant eyes exhaustedly. "Hermione, everyone we know was at your wedding–"

"It doesn't explain what happened to Vaisey," Blaise objected, cutting Harry off. "He was Portkeyed away too."

"The bombs at our wedding and the ones in Diagon Alley show that there is a muggle-born behind this," Hermione protested.

Draco placed his hand over hers gently. "Alright, Granger, you've made your point. We'll keep an eye on Vanessa, but until we have solid evidence there's nothing more that we can do."

Hermione looked as though she was going to argue some more, but fell silent. "Fine. That's fair I suppose. So long as we all keep an eye on Vanessa, we should find something sooner or later."

"On that note," Draco gave everyone significant looks to stop contradicting his wife. "We should get to bed. We have another big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"That's right," said Blaise briskly, rolling up the parchments. "I need to get back and work on the housewarming preparations with Audrey. We'll have a proper discussion about all this on Sunday. For now, it's getting late and we should all get some rest."

"You believe me, don't you?" Hermione suddenly asked Draco, as she sat at her vanity and brushed the tangles out her hair.

"I think your idea has some merit," Draco replied diplomatically from the bed. "But I also think that we need a lot more evidence before we can act on it."

Hermione put down her hairbrush and sighed. "I suppose so."

"Stop worrying so much," said Draco firmly. "And come to bed, your hair is fine."

"Really now," Hermione grinned, momentarily forgetting the case. "I think this might actually count as the first positive thing you've said about my hair… ever."

"People change," Draco smirked, as Hermione slid under the covers. "Little Draco didn't appreciate the fine aesthetics of what you were hiding under your Hogwarts robes all those years."

"Little Hermione didn't do much appreciating either," said Hermione, as Draco wrapped his arms around her. "She couldn't see past the carrot coloured hair of her best friend."

"For the sake of all that is magical, please do not talk about Weasley in our bed," Draco groaned, as Hermione settled against him. "Almost any other topic is preferable."

"Really?" Hermione asked. "Because I did want to ask you some questions about something else."

Draco sighed softly, his breath warm against her ear. "About Juls?"

"If it bothers you we don't have to talk about it," Hermione backpedalled.

"No it's fine," Draco assured her, inhaling the faint perfume of her curls. "I assumed you would have more questions. Go ahead."

"Well," Hermione bit her lip, as she sorted through her thoughts. "Who else knows the truth about him and Aurelia?"

"Only a few people," said Draco, linking his fingers through Hermione's. "Mother and Lucius do, naturally. As do Goyle, Blaise and Pans."

"Pansy knows?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Draco nodded, his silky hair brushing against her cheekbone. "Of course. There is no way that one of my best friends would've bought that I got married so quietly that I didn't tell her, and managed to hide my 'wife's' pregnancy from her. Besides, I needed a few people to back up my story and to pretend to have been at the wedding."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Also, my dad's cousin Insignia knows," Draco added. "She's the one that helped us come up with another identity for Aurelia. My dad's side of the family was French, but his great-grandparents settled in Wiltshire. My grandfather was French, but my grandmother was English, so they never moved back to France. My dad's cousin married into the de Nazelle family in France and was the one that 'accidentally' leaked the identity of my bride to a reporter after a few too many drinks."

"I'm surprised that Lucius was fine with adopting a muggle-born grandson," said Hermione cautiously.

"He didn't have much choice in the matter," said Draco darkly. "But I think that mother's acceptance helped. She fell in love with Juls as soon as she saw him."

"Wouldn't someone from the de Nazelle family realise that Aurelia's identity was false?" Hermione asked, trying to fit the pieces together.

Draco shrugged. "We always said she was a distant relative, and the family is so large that not all of them know each other. If anyone ever asks, we decided to say that she never had a formal debut into society because she was already engaged to me. It helps that my aunt Insignia spread that she had met Aurelia a few times at family gatherings, and no one was rude enough to suggest that they didn't remember her."

"That was nice of her," Hermione commented.

"She's very close to mother," Draco offered. "I think that when they were younger, my mother helped Insignia in some way and so Insignia was only too happy to repay the favour."

Hermione turned over to face her husband. "Will you ever tell Juls the truth?"

"No," said Draco sharply, leaving no room for argument. "It was Aurelia's dying wish that I never tell him that I wasn't his real father. Even though I've raised him, I cannot go against what his own mother wanted."

"I wasn't going to judge," clarified Hermione, as she softly kissed him. "I was just curious that's all."

"Thanks," Draco whispered against her lips. "I know that a lot of people would disagree about never telling Juls who his real father was, but if that's what Aurelia wanted, then that's what I will do."

"You're a good man Draco," said Hermione sincerely. "Don't let anyone let you think otherwise."

When Hermione stepped into the living room of the Manor the next afternoon, for a second she was convinced that she had accidentally Apparated into an upscale boutique. Everywhere she turned, hung pleats of elegant silks in the most beautiful colours she had ever seen. The remnants of the research on PCR that she had been doing at the national library flew out of her mind as she admired the bolts of expensive fabric.

"Hermione!" Narcissa got to her feet and swept across the room. "You're home at last! Where have you been all day?"

"Just had to do a spot of research," Hermione evaded, as she kissed Narcissa on each cheek. "What's going on here?"

"Surely you remember Monsieur Hockford?" Narcissa nodded towards the tiny dressmaker, who was almost entirely buried under swathes of sapphire fabric. "He was kind enough to drop by with some silks. Now that Lucius is home, I'll need new sets of robes for when we entertain our friends."

"How do you do Monsieur Hockford," Hermione acknowledged politely. "Lovely to see you again."

"Mrs Malfoy," Hockford nodded, critically taking in Hermione's simple white robes. "Will you be ordering any new sets yourself?"

Narcissa clapped her hands together. "Oh yes! It'll be such fun. Come, look at this emerald silk Hermione."

Hermione allowed herself to be dragged from bolt to bolt, trying to suppress the building panic inside her. Narcissa had been so happy lately that neither Hermione nor Draco had the heart to tell her about Lucius being released as bait. Spots danced in front of Hermione's eyes as she forced herself to keep breathing and ignore the wave of dread that was threatening to drown her. Just as Hermione was certain she was going to pass out, she noticed the folds of silver that Narcissa had thrust into her hands. The iridescent fabric shimmered seductively, the colours shifting from pale silver to a stormy grey.

The same beautiful stormy grey of Draco's eyes.

Calm washed over her as her breathing evened. Draco. They were in this together, and everything would be fine. It just had to be. No matter what circumstances life threw at them, the Malfoys had a knack for landing on their feet. And she was a Malfoy now too. Everything would work itself out.

"This is beautiful," Hermione murmured, running her fingers over the silky fabric as it pooled around her lap. "What an unusual colour."

Narcissa gave her a knowing smile. "When I first got engaged to Lucius, I too developed a sudden affinity for silver-grey," she turned towards Hockford before Hermione could sputter a defence. "We'll take this one, is there any chance you could fashion robes out of this before tonight? My daughter-in-law has a social engagement to attend."

"Only for you," replied Hockford, as he rapidly divested Hermione of the silvery fabric. "I'll send this to my assistant straight away."

"Thank you," said Hermione coolly, relishing the return of her self-control. "Where are the boys, Narcissa?"

Narcissa narrowed her eyes slightly, as she pretended to survey a rich scarlet satin. "Lucius and Juls are in the back gardens, Draco is closeted in his study," she replied, her voice unnaturally high.

"I'll go check in on him," Hermione offered, reading between the lines. "I'm sure that if I don't stop him from working, he'll be in there all through lunch," she raised her voice slightly to ensure that Hockford overheard. "Ever since his office burned down he's been under a lot of pressure to make sure he still meets all the deadlines."

"You'd think he would want to spend time with his father," Hockford commented snidely. "I remember a time when Master Malfoy followed his father around everywhere. I must say, I was surprised that the young master left so quickly once Mr. Malfoy came to select his robes."

Hermione forced a laugh. "That's my husband, the workaholic. Would you believe, Monsieur Hockford, that we haven't been able to get enough time away from work to go on our honeymoon yet? Isn't it practically shameful?"

"Admirable that he is so dedicated," Hockford conceded. "He is the first Malfoy to be working in a rather long time, is he not?"

"But our Hermione is a workaholic too," said Narcissa smoothly. "The old ways work for Lucius and I, but the younger generation is more ambitious. If it keeps them happy, then Lucius and I see no need to force the old ways on to our children."

"A good match they are then," said Hockford finally, looking surly at the lack of gossip.

Hermione stiffly smiled her thanks. "Excuse me, I'll go take lunch with my husband now. Thank you again for the robes."

She walked away quickly before Hockford could make any other comments, and made her way to Draco's study almost in record time. She knocked quietly and slipped inside to find Draco curled up on his favourite armchair, a glass of Firewhiskey in his hands. A magnificent bejewelled chessboard was spread out in front of him, the pieces pacing up and down the polished mahogany table.

"I'm home," Hermione announced softly.

Draco turned, a genuine smile lighting up his features. "Where were you all morning? I woke up and you were gone."

Hermione shrugged off her cloak. "I went in to muggle London, to go to the national library. I was doing some research on PCR, but I didn't come up with anything that would be useful to us. What have you been doing all day?"

"Potter and I were playing chess, he only just got called in to work," said Draco, gesturing to the chessboard. Some of the pieces harrumphed in response, clearly annoyed by the loss of attention.

"Did anything happen?" Hermione asked in alarm, freezing.

"No, no," Draco hastened to reassure her. "I didn't mean to worry you. He got called in to finish some paperwork since Blaise has the day off to prepare for tonight. I think Weasley went in too."

"Oh yes that's right," Hermione settled herself down in Draco's lap and snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. "I ran into Audrey and Blaise at Diagon Alley. Blaise is taking me to some more ring shops tomorrow –assuming we all survive tonight that is."

Draco groaned. "I think we dodged a Horntail's breath last night, but somehow I have a feeling that we won't be so lucky tonight."

Hermione shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe we'll finally get lucky."

"Oh really," Draco smirked, sliding a warm palm along her thigh. "You want to get lucky, do you? I think that can be arranged."

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Hermione smacked his hand away lightly. "It's two in the afternoon!"

Draco nibbled her ear softly. "I'm definitely not doing my job right if you think it's too early for sex," he whispered against her neck, as he trailed light kisses along her shoulder. "I think we should rectify that."

Hermione moaned as wet heat pooled between her thighs. "Your parents are home…" she protested feebly, even as she arched her back in response to his ministrations.

"Silencing charms," Draco reminded, as he kissed his way down to the creamy globes of her breasts. "I've waited so long to touch you again," he murmured, as he cupped one aching breast. "To smell you," he continued, inhaling lightly as he buried his face in her fragrant curls. "To finally taste you…"

"Oh no," Hermione breathed, as his fingers inched towards the evidence of her arousal. "Not that."

"Why don't you want me to go down on you?" Draco questioned, as he licked a pebbled nipple. "I promise you that you'll enjoy it."

Hermione moaned as his lips found hers. "I've never done that before," she confessed, between kisses.

I don't blame you, love. I wouldn't want the Weasel burrowing down there either. "I bet you taste like fine champagne," Draco hummed silkily, as his hands skimmed her hipbones. "And that you'll feel just like silk against my tongue."

"Stop it…" Hermione demurred, feeling almost feverish with arousal. "Faces don't go…there."

Draco's hands stilled as he threw his head back and laughed. "You're one of a kind, Granger. I don't think I've ever met anyone nuttier."

"Isn't that romantic," grumbled Hermione, as she straightened her robes. "I think I preferred the claptrap about it tasting like champagne."

"I bet it does," Draco purred, reaching for Hermione again. "Let me have one little taste."

In a trice Hermione had twisted herself out of his grasp. "No way," she insisted firmly, colouring. "Seeing how you have all this energy to burn, I think our time would be better spent duelling. We do need to be on top of our self-defence right now."

Reluctantly, Draco gave in, recognising the element of truth in her words. Sometimes, it was easy for him to forget that their marriage had been brought about by the act of an unknown enemy, one that was still at large and bloodthirsty. He watched Hermione with a hint of admiration as she went through her paces of makeshift wands, going from the thinnest to the thickest. Given the speed of her progress, Draco wouldn't so much as bat an eyelash if Hermione suddenly started to channel her magic through a wooden stump. They practised fiercely, their spells flying so fast that the room was filled with blurs of colour. They were joined by Harry shortly before five o'clock and spent another three quarters of an hour duelling in turns.

Hermione allowed herself the indulgence of a hot fragrant bath before they were due at Blaise's. As she stepped out of the perfumed water, a pool of silvery robes appeared on the marble countertop next to the claw-footed bathtub. Hermione ran her fingers over the whisper-soft fabric, revelling in the luxurious feel. She muttered a quick drying charm and slipped the sleek iridescent silk over her curls. The robes settled over her body, enveloping her like shimmering mist. With every step she took, the dress relented into undulating ripples, the shifting colours designed to mesmerise. Hermione closed her eyes as the image of Draco slowly sliding the dress off her shoulders came into her mind almost unbidden. She shivered slightly and reluctantly forced herself to focus on bundling her hair into a French knot.

"Damn Granger," Draco whistled, as Hermione emerged from the bathroom. "You sure know how to clean up good." Can't wait to get you dirty.

"You're not too bad yourself Malfoy," Hermione grinned, as she took in his black silk dress robes.

Draco twirled a free tendril of her hair around his finger. "Maybe we should pick up where we left off this afternoon…?" he smirked

"Boys," Hermione muttered, as she neatly twisted out of his grasp and picked up her beaded clutch. "We need to be at Blaise's soon to save Audrey from his mother, remember?" Stupid, annoying, devastatingly sexy smirk!

"I know," Draco grumbled, putting on his shoes. "How did we let ourselves get talked into having dinner with Blaise, Oriella and Audrey?"

"Because we're good friends," said Hermione firmly, pushing Draco out the door. "And good friends help each other out, like how Harry is going to help Narcissa get Juls ready and bring him to the actual party later."

"Bloody Gryffindors," muttered Draco, albeit extremely softly.

"Blaise, darling, why didn't you invite Pansy to have dinner with us too?" Oriella asked, daintily spearing some salad leaves onto an ominously gleaming golden fork.

"Sorry," Blaise scowled across the expansive dinner table, pushing his own salad around his plate. "Maybe next time."

Oriella delicately swallowed a tiny mouthful of salad. "Our Pansy is such a talented young witch," she informed Audrey, whose grey eyes darkened almost imperceptibly. "She works with magical creatures, you know."

"How wonderful," said Audrey politely, stabbing her plate with a bit more force than necessary. "I'm a bit scared of animals myself, so I admire Pansy's courage."

"Blaise loves animals," Oriella notified the table.

Audrey frowned slightly. "He never mentioned that."

"He's sitting right here wanting to stun himself," Blaise muttered in undertone to Draco and Hermione, who hid their smiles behind their napkins.

"We have a rather large collection of magical animals at our Manor," Oriella continued, a slightly malicious smile lighting her features. "Perhaps you would like to come see them some day?" she challenged. "After all, Blaise does love his pets."

"It'd be my pleasure," Audrey managed through gritted teeth, her knife flashing as she viciously chopped a tomato in half.

Draco leaned closer to Blaise. "Why the bleeding hell would you put two witches on a table filled with sharp objects?" he whispered.

"Have you seen their talons?" Blaise whispered back. "The knives have got nothing on them."

"Can't you try smooth things over between your mother and Audrey?" Hermione questioned softly.

"No way," said Blaise instantly, shaking his head. "Wild Hippogriffs couldn't drag me into the middle of this battle. I like my testicles firmly attached to my body, thanks."

"The fact that the head Auror is too cowardly to intervene between his mother and his girlfriend just fills me with confidence," Hermione mumbled to Draco, just loud enough for Blaise to hear.

"Oi," Blaise protested, as Draco chuckled. "A wise wizard picks his battles."

"So, which of you was responsible for decorating the house?" Oriella questioned, running her sharp gaze over the impeccable cream and gold dining room.

Blaise reached out and squeezed Audrey's hand. "It was mostly Audrey," he stated proudly.

"It's certainly… different," Oriella elegantly patted her blood-red lips with the napkin. "But clearly Audrey has some interesting tastes. That is quite a shade of red hair you've got there, my dear. Must be quite a strong charm to keep it that colour."

Audrey tossed her copper ringlets defiantly. "It's all natural."

"Why, how perfectly flamboyant," exclaimed Oriella, fluffing out her own hair. "I prefer a solid dark colour myself –I think it looks more sophisticated. But then again, you're young. You don't need to worry about being sophisticated."

"Ouch," Hermione grimaced under her breath.

"That one definitely goes to Oriella," Draco agreed in her ear.

"You're right," said Audrey evenly, deftly slicing her cucumbers. "It'll a long time before I'll have to worry about that."

Draco whistled quietly. "And she's back in the game."

Blaise kicked Draco under the table. "I invited you both to be buffers and diffuse the tension, not to sit here and get entertained by my misery."

"This coming from the guy too cowardly to step in himself?" Draco muttered back, jostling Blaise good-naturedly.

"And to think, there are still three bloody courses to go," Blaise groaned almost inaudibly, banging his head against the table.

"Really, Blaise," Oriella snapped, raising her voice slightly. "Do try sit upright at the dinner table."

"Sorry mum," Blaise mumbled, glaring at Draco and Hermione who were both shaking with suppressed laughter.

The next two courses were like watching a duel, albeit one fought with knives, forks and impeccable manners. Neither Audrey nor Oriella was willing to back down on the thinly veiled insults, and Blaise's feeling of wanting to Avada himself increased exponentially with every passing course. It was with an inaudible sigh of relief that Draco and Hermione watched the dessert plates appear in front of them.

"You really need to help solve matters between your mother and Audrey," Hermione whispered to Blaise, as an assortment of desserts appeared onto the table. "What's your plan? To have us follow you around whenever they are in the same room for the rest of your life?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Considering how unbelievably helpful you two are being, I'm beginning to seriously consider asking Pans to be the buffer next time…"

"Great, not only is the head Auror a coward, he's also mental…" Draco muttered to Hermione.

"What would you three like for dessert?" Audrey broke into the mumbled conversation, gesturing towards the platters of food.

Blaise winked at Hermione. "She'll have the chocolate mousse," he said, passing her a delicious bowlful. "She absolutely loves it."

"Thanks," Hermione said, flushing.

"And what would you all like to drink with that?" Audrey asked, as Draco and Blaise helped themselves to the cheese tray. "We have some dessert Elf wine or champagne."

"I'll have the champagne," said Draco, also winking at Hermione.

Heaven help. "Dessert wine for me, thanks," said Hermione pointedly, glaring at Draco.

"Are you sure darling?" Draco smirked. "You're missing out."

Damn that stupid sexy smirk. "I'm okay with that," Hermione replied, kicking him under the table.

"If you insist love," said Draco, suggestively lapping up a stray drop of champagne from the rim of his flute.

Hermione resisted the urge to follow Blaise's suit from earlier that evening and slowly bang her head against the table.

A/n: Hello you all! I'm back in action! Apologies for the lack of updates, I've been too busy dealing with annoying real life problems such as moving out from the house I shared with my ex and such. I hope I haven't lost all of my readers, and a very huge thank you to everyone that is still sticking with this story. It really is shameful to go a month and a half without updating.

The next chapter will be up very soon now that I'm all settled in to my new place and actually have regular access to my laptop/internet. I hope the plot advancements in this chapter make up for the long wait.

In other news, I'm now twenty-one! Hurrah! I had an absolutely fantastic birthday in spite of everything that's been going on lately.

As always, reviews make me smile. I'd love to hear which parts of the chapter/dialogues any of you particularly liked. Hope you enjoyed this chapter ^.^