Thanking heartily;
Shivvv
Cinna16
SaruDM
Mihika
MaronTodai
ChelseyJ
Daisy Seary
CinziaTwut
gimarkley2013
Head For The Gate
For their encouraging reviews!
I'm glad you'll enjoyed their reunion!
.
.
.
CHAPTER 15.
.
.
.
"Mr. Malfoy, you were discharged five hours ago. Is there anything I can help you with?" Delinda asked.
"Hmmm. That depends. What's your name beautiful?" Draco turned on his charm.
Delinda blushed; the fact that a handsome but annoying Quidditch player had just called her beautiful didn't go unnoticed by her.
Maybe he's not that annoying. She thought, smiling at the man who had been lounging around in the waiting lounge for no apparent reason even after discharge.
"It's Delinda." She answered.
"What a floral name, Delinda. I'm delighted to meet you, in my fully awake state." Draco said.
Delinda blushed further.
"Thing is Delinda, I'm waiting for my Healer. I need to speak with her. You won't happen to know where she is right this moment, would you?" Draco asked.
"Umm. Mr. Malfoy, she has other patients. There were a few patients she had to attend to. She should be done within this hour." Delinda answered.
"Is she done for the day then? Or does she have a night shift?" Draco asked.
"Oh she's done with her shift already. She was so busy with your case that she didn't have the time to see her other patients in the morning. So she's rescheduled their appointments." Delinda replied.
"So she'll go home after?" Draco probed.
"Yes."
"And where would that be?" Draco tried.
"Her home? I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy. That's classified information. We cannot reveal the address of any of our staff members unless they authorise it." Delinda promptly said.
"Is that so? That's utterly saddening you see. Does that mean I can't have your address too?" Draco asked.
"Oh mine... It's just that Mr. Malfoy it's .. Actually that would not be a problem since I would be allowed to give you my own address." Delinda flustered.
"That's great then. I'll tell you a secret Delinda, only if you promise to help me." Draco whispered, elbows on the table and his body leaning towards the receptionist.
Delinda was getting even more flustered and she had turned quite red by now.
"Uh whatever you say Mr. Malfoy."
"Draco please. Okay Delinda, you see, the staff here has helped me so much. I'm healthy today because of you all. I just want to show my appreciation. It would be really kind of you to give me your, Katherine's and Hermione's address. I only want to send flowers. I promise." He said the last two words very softly.
Delinda was shocked. At Draco's forwardness and also by his request.
Surely it would be okay to give him the addresses just this once. He only wanted to show his appreciation.
And besides, it seemed like Healer Weasley knew him. So she wouldn't mind.
And it was almost impossible to say no to the grey silver pools that were his eyes.
His dishevelled longish blond strands got in front of his eyes sometimes, but that just added to the appeal.
Snap out of it Delinda! This guy is.. was a patient. Besides, he's much older than you.
But he's so good looking.
He's just flirting harmlessly. He doesn't mean anything.
So what? Anything to lighten up the drab hospital environment.
Sigh. Do what you want.
I think its okay. It can't be that bad.
Don't tell me I didn't warn you.
Be quiet.
Draco snapped his fingers in front of the receptionist's eyes.
She jerked out of her reverie and shook her head to rid her off the internal debate she had been having with herself.
"So?" Draco said expectantly.
"I umm... Only this once Mr. Umm Draco. But if anyone asks I didn't tell you anything."
"You got it. Don't worry." Draco smiled as he pocketed 3 parchments out of which he really wanted only one.
But either way, since he had promised, he would send flowers to the other two also. They had been nice.
"So you say that Hermione won't be done for another hour?" Draco confirmed.
Delinda nodded.
"Good." Draco said. "Now won't you be a dear and tell me where the nearest florist is?"
.
.
.
"Hmm. This should be it. Trust Hermione to locate a completely muggle neighbourhood to settle in. How the hell does she do magic here?" Draco mused as he looked up at a tall building.
He walked in and asked to see someone who could help him out with renting apartments here.
He was directed to the manager on the 3rd floor.
Thanks to his quidditch which required him to travel often and also thanks to Hermione who had successfully removed any muggle prejudice from his mind, Draco had learnt basic muggle ways and he wasn't daunted by the idea of using the elevator on his own to reach his required floor.
He promptly made his way to the cabin titled building manager.
"Hello. I'd like to meet the manager please."
"Do you have an appointment?" The lady at the table asked.
"No. But I'd like to rent an apartment here. It's with respect to that."
"I see. Luckily he's in and unoccupied at the moment. If you'd kindly write your name down here I'll get back to you. Please feel free to sit down. "
"Sure."
The lady took the piece of paper with his name and disappeared behind a glass door.
Draco opted to keep standing. He turned to see a thick book on the table which turned out to be a photo album of sorts.
The pictures were still. Muggle album. He thought morosely. Who shoots still pictures? What's the point?
Nevertheless, he picked it up and started going through it.
They were snaps of various rooms.
After going through some 15 snaps he realized they were probably photos of the apartments in the very same building.
The houses seemed nice.
Hermione had chosen well.
Just then, a balding but immaculately dressed, middle aged man came out followed by the secretary.
"Hello Mr. Malfoy is it? I'm Curtis Logan. What can I do for you mate?" He said extending his hand.
Draco shook his hand and said. "Thank you for meeting me on such notice Mr. Logan. I've heard that this building rents out flats and I'm very interested in procuring one. Is there any possibility that I can have one at the soonest?"
Curtis Logan flashed a wide smile and said, "Of course Mr. Malfoy. That's what we do. Luckily there are 3 flats that are unoccupied as of now. We have flats for rent only on floors 4 through 8. The rest are all flats which are under ownership. Two flats on the 4th and one on the 5th floor are empty. They are completely furnished. I could take you to see them right now."
Draco didn't really care how the flat was. But if he didn't take interest in checking it out, the manager would probably get suspicious. Besides, he couldn't believe that there was a flat empty on the 5th floor. That was Hermione's floor!
"Sure. I want to take a look at the one on the 5th floor."
"As you wish. Gina, hand me the keys for 503 will you?" He asked his secretary.
"I like it. Can I have it for a month?" Draco asked.
"Of course. We prefer at least 6 months but this flat has been empty for so long. I'll have Gina draft an agreement and you can shift anytime this evening." Curtis said.
"That's great. If you could tell me the cost, I'll pop into a bank and get you the money when I come to shift in." Draco said.
"Sure Mr. Malfoy."
So Draco left the building and returned to wizarding Sydney. After a few directions, he managed to find a bank and exchanged some galleons for local muggle currency. He exchanged extra in case he'd need some more since he lived in a muggle area now.
An hour was almost up and Hermione would probably be returning soon.
He wondered what she would think when she wouldn't find him at the hospital.
He paid the manager and got his own set of keys.
He opened the windows wide and carefully removed Paris. He had shrunk her so as to avoid walking into the muggle lobby with an owl.
He made her to her normal size again and wrote a letter telling his coach that he was not going to join them on their way back to England and that he was continuing to stay here for the break.
Now all he had to do was to wait.
.
.
.
He kept waiting to hear the elevator chime, signalling the arrival of an occupant of the floor.
But no one entered the floor for a long time.
Maybe she has her fireplace connected to the floo. It makes sense. In case of emergencies.
He decided he could not wait any longer.
He grabbed 2 mugs from his new kitchen and crossed the hallway to 501 which was her flat.
He knocked. And waited. He knocked again.
Then he spotted a bell next to the door.
He rang it. And waited.
Bloody hell Hermione. Are you home? Or not?
Just as he was about to turn back, the door opened.
Hermione's jaw slacked as she saw him standing in the carpeted hallway, 2 mugs in hand and a fine smirk on his face.
"Coffee? Neighbour!" He asked with a wide grin on his face.
.
.
.
.
Thank you for your response to their meeting finally!
Draco won't give up will he?
What do you'll feel about Draco moving in?
Will she be annoyed or amused?
Hope you liked this chapter!
Thanks for reading!
.
.