Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my imagination and whatever else is in this story that doesn't make sense. I was inspired by another romance novel i read and J.K. Rowlings wonderful world. Enjoy!
Chapter 14
"Wrapped so Pretty"
They entered the first archway together, hand in hand. Through a second, larger arch off to the left Hermione could see a beautiful bed of long-stemmed white roses. Further along she was struck with wonder at a dazzling estate. The castle wall was covered in english ivy with a rough and heavy growth with an occasional white blossom appearing here and there; all together it looked like a multitude of pearls had been delicately laced throughout a thick and gnarled greenish cloak. At first sight one could only imagine that the wall of vines must have crept through the castle stone walls with growth over many generations. Blazed pinks and golden yellows stood married together in a distant garden of the further courtyards. It was a paradise that made her smile.
Draco lead her up a stone stairway that appeared to be built long ago. As she passed the first few steps a metallic plate she read was so worn she could vaguely follow the writing. Hermione read the name of Sir Knight something, in the center there was the figure of a woman wearing a pointed, battered hat and with her wand she tended to a garden.
Hermione wondered how many house elves did it take to tend to such an enormous courtyard. One person surely couldn't manage all of it alone.
"Wild as the devil and twice as bad." Draco shouted and dropped Hermione's hand running towards a servant woman just ahead of them.
Hermione saw the woman place her hand above her eyes to block out the sun. She smiled and began to laugh as Draco ran up and gave her a huge big hug.
The lady then peered around Draco's back, squinting against the bright sun and scowl at Hermione, who was just standing there. Hermione tilted her head in surprise to see that the woman was not a servant at all. The two walked over towards Hermione together.
"And who might this little tulip be." Narcissa asked her son and gave him a playful pat on the arm.
"Mother, this is Hermione." His voice gave a firm note. "My wife. You do remember her I'm sure. The girl that fought alongside Harry Potter. Well we're married now."
His mother stared between the both of them, her smile slowly fading from warm and pleasant to coldly forced.
Until this evening, Hermione hadn't realized just how noisy living in London was. Now she could here the crack of a twig and the sounds of a raven somewhere in the distance. The moist scent of the approaching winter.
She stepped directly into a large room, with an old stone fireplace grand enough for ten men. It was a curious combination of old and historical furniture, mixed with new and tasteful ones. A rich thick woven carpet held every earthy color under the sun, which in turn matched the elaborate tassels that were nearly the size of her head, and they held back the window's curtains.
Draco was not with her, he had gone in search of his father.
Narcissa was in the room waiting. Arranging her selections of freshly cut flowers.
"How old are you my dear?"
"I'm -I'm twenty-four," said Hermione nervously and stepped further into the room.
Narcissa looked up, with a straight face, then continued to arrange her bouquet. "A bit young to be a mother wouldn't you say."
"I beg - I mean you must be mistaken, I'm not-"
"Of course you are….why else would you and my son marry so hastily. I'm a bit upset with Draco, he knew I always dreamt of giving him a wedding suited for a king."
Hermione was quiet.
"Did he instruct you to say, such a horrible thing?" Narcissa asked. She knew the girl was with child.
Again Hermione said nothing, she merely lowered her eyes and looked at all the lovely colors in the rug beneath her.
"My son is smart about some things and dumb as a troll when it comes to others. I take you've learned he doesn't put up with much foolishness?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, I know."
"That's a hard trait he learned from his father, but he needs a little foolishness in his life." Narcissa looked up at Hermione. "I'm afraid I'm no longer made for that sort of thing, I used to be when I was a younger, but not anymore. When I heard that you two got married I knew…. He'd gone and followed in his father path… once again."
Hermione tilted her head towards the older witch with a questioning look. "Of course our situations aren't the same at all. Sometimes this life makes me forget, that I grew up dirt poor." Narcissa said with a laughed. "So many witches in London swore I laid out to a trap for one of the most prominent wizard in town. Our families wealth comes from my marriage Draco's father. Before Bellatrix and I were of age; Our father Cygnus and my deranged Auntie Walburga had all but squandered away our family's wealth and our greatest possessions in their fool hearted attempt to show the Black's family loyalty to Tom Riddle as he rose to power." Narcissa let out a cold stiff laugh. "Borgins and Burkes would have gone under decades ago if it weren't for my father batering away heirlooms that had been a part of our family for centuries."
Narcissa gave a wink. "But I caught Lucius all the same, Draco was the bait." Hermione didn't find the conversation humorous, in fact it made her feel sick again. So Draco was the second generation of Malfoy men trapped into a marriage by a pregnant witch.
Narcissa stopped talking and broke a new smiled as her son walked into the room.
Some time had passed and the three of them sat down together in the garden, beneath one of the shade trees. Time ticked away and Hermione found herself beginning to relax. This place was so wondrous to her, she couldn't help but feel as if she had found some missing part of herself here in Narcissa's garden.
"Hermione Jean Malfoy," Narcissa called her full name, and lowered her teacup to the table. "I want you to promise me something."
Whatever Hermione was feeling had faded away the instant she heard herself being addressed for the first time by her full married name. Hermione was angry with herself for not having the courage to tell his mother that she only wanted to be addressed by her maiden name.
"Hermione Malfoy, I want you to promise me right now that you'll look out for Draco like a wife should, and that you'll think about the wellbeing of your family before you think of your own from this day forth. Your a mother now."
Hermione took a deep breath, she didn't want to say any such thing, and she struggle with hiding it, she had come to like his mother and didn't want to upset her. "L-Life is complicated. That's a hard thing to promise."
"Well of course it is complicated," she snapped at her with a tone that reminded her of Mrs. Weasley. "You didn't think being married to a Malfoy would be as easy as Yorkshire pudding did you?"
"No but…"
Narcissa stretched out her hand over the garden table and encased Hermione's stroking her new wedding band. "Do what I ask of you. You promise me right now, before me, your husband and the heavens. That you'll look after and love him like a wife should, and that you'll both remember what created the love you two share now. You two must share a little one together, its a great joy, but it can also be a great heartache in the years to come."
Under the pressure of her clear grey eyes, Hermione's resistance was dissolved.
"I will…we will try" she vowed.
Narcissa closed her eyes and smiled. "Draco Malfoy, I want you to promise your mother, that you'll look after Hermione .. and that my grandchild..."
"Mother she's not ..." He protested slightly but it died in his throat, there was no need to lie. Narcissa reached out and grabbed the hand of her son, holding it tightly.
"Promise… before me, your wife, and the baby and the heavens. That you'll look after her and love her like a husband should, and that you'll always think of her well being before your own from this day forth."
His mother pursed her lips with shut eyes and waited. Hermione turned her head away…. looking down at the grassy hill tops in the distances.
"I promise…I will." he vowed. Hermione turned her head to look at him. His face was stern, and she couldn't read what was going through his mind.
Narcissa smiled and opened her eyes, she kissed her son's hand and then Hermione's. "You will see my dear, these Malfoy men always think they are too good for anyone, but we'll show them different won't we?. .. It takes a special witch to take on Malfoy for a husband. I should know, I married his father.
"Now go away," Narcissa said after a long evening with them both, "It's not proper for a young couple to hang in the house with an old hag."
She shooed them on their way an hour or so later, after he'd given her a tour of his mother's estate they were on they're way back to the pentagram when Narcissa's voice stopped them. "Hermione …don't you wear a stitch to bed, not even in the dead of winter, go to your husband the way your maker made you sweetheart. Stark naked. -Keeps a man from straying." Narcissa gave a wink, which made Hermione blush pure scarlet, she couldn't summon a response to such advice. So she only waved goodbye. Draco pulled her hand down from her waving as his mother closed the door.
His voice was hushed-like as if, he thought someone other than her might be listening. "And why did you tell her that you'd come back whenever she likes? I brought you here because I had to. You're not spending anymore time with my mother Hermione."
She hissed back. "I already told her that I would come back. How do you suggest I get out of it then?"
"You're the genius, figure something out." he whispered.