Disclaimer: I am not and therefore never will be J.K. Rowling; and as such the story I shall post consists of my own plot, and borrowed Characters from J.K.
Chapter 6: Nightmares, Tours and D.I.Y
24th April 2011: 3.26 am
Draco woke with a start, unsure of why he had awoken. Glancing at his clock he noted the time was 3.26am. Sighing, he rolled over onto his right side so that his back was to the door. A noise sounded that he hadn't heard in twelve years, causing him to sit bolt upright.
Draco grabbed his 10" Hawthorn wand with a Unicorn hair core off a side table and leapt out of his comfy king size bed. Swinging open the door he noticed a light on at the end of the other wing followed by two shadows underneath the door. The door opened to reveal a very alert Lucius Malfoy, whose wand was pointed out in front of him, and a slightly scared Narcissa Malfoy using her husband as a human shield.
That's when the noise was heard again, a whimpering noise, coming from the guest room, much louder than the original.
Slowly walking towards the door, Draco was cautious, unsure if he should proceed. If this experience was going to be anything like the ones at Hogwarts, Draco needed to be on high alert.
Hermione Granger at nineteen was a hard contender with the amounts of both offensive and defensive spells she knew, so a thirty plus year old would potentially be deadly.
As he came level with the room next door to Hermione's guest suite, Scorpius' room door opened, revealing the young man in question in a thoroughly sleep deprived state, his hair askew sticking out in all different directions with red rimmed eyes.
The quartet of Malfoy's congregated outside the guest suite with renewed alertness. "What was that noise?" Narcissa Malfoy queried, looking at her only son expectantly.
"Probably the Mud-" one look from his wife stopped Lucius mid sentence.
The sound became clearer; a high pitched scream followed the whimpering, sending chills up the spines of all those present. "It's a nightmare or rather a memory if it is what I think it is." Draco stated looking back to the door his face having paled even more.
Tightening his grip around his wand he took one more cautious step towards the door, leaving him within two foot of the threshold. "I need you all to go back to your rooms," Draco stated, not turning from looking at the door. When no movement was heard he turned back to his family, "Please, this could become dangerous."
"I'm not leaving Draco," his Mother said defiantly. Draco knew that once her mind was made up it was near impossible to deter her from her cause, much like her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, had found many years ago.
Narcissa had requested Severus Snape's help in looking after Draco during his task set by the Dark Lord. With her husband incarcerated in Azkaban, Narcissa had nowhere else to turn unless she changed sides, which would in turn be sentence her whole family to death. Bellatrix had tried and tried to prevent Narcissa from seeking the Potions Master out, but Narcissa had been stubborn having continued with her mission regardless of her sister's interference.
Draco also knew his father would rightfully stay by his wife's side; as Pureblood tradition stated, so Draco resigned to just addressing his son, "Scorpius you go back to your room, you don't have any protection for this."
Draco pointed his wand to the doorway muttering a quick "Protego Totalum" spell, a shield charm that would protect those outside the door from whatever came out. He began turning the door knob, but paused, turning to face his parents. "Mother, Father, I ask that you place your own shield charm around yourselves should mine fail, and that if you do proceed into the room, be on guard." Muttering a modified shield charm taught to him by Hermione for around himself, Draco opened the door fully.
The modified "Protego" charm was devised so unlike many other shield charms, this could absorb the attack rather than reflect it, thus making it safe to use in battle fields among comrades and foes.
Hermione was prone in a ram rod shaped position on the bed, the covers cast onto the floor around its base. She looked as if she was strapped down. Her face screwed up into that of a grimace before her back arched off the mattress, and she let out a blood curdling scream harsh enough to give any listener a ringing sound in their ear for hours. Luckily the "Protego" spell would protect Draco's hearing over a certain number of decibels.
When Hermione's back settled back on the bed Draco made sure his shield charm was still active, and seconds later numerous coloured lights careered towards him aimed at differing sections of his anatomy.
A red light of an "Expelliarmus" charm hit the shield on level with his hand and Draco knew that without his shield he would have smashed into the wall opposite the door; much like he did the first time he ever walked in on Hermione having a nightmare.
The next spell to hit the shield was a white coloured light; Draco's memory told him that it was a full body binding curse and that following next would be the red coloured stunning spell. The spells were interrupted by another anguished cry from Hermione as she once again arched off the bed, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.
In quick succession, a burst of bright white light aimed for Draco's crotch area, beginning with a stinging hex, a bat-bogey hex taught to Hermione courtesy of Ginerva Weasley, and a jelly-legs jinx all hit the shield, causing it to finally give in. Being prepared, Draco ducked and rolled to the safety of the left hand side of the bed, using the beds depth as protection.
Once the spells had stopped coming, Draco slowly raised himself into a kneeling position at the side of the bed. Gently, he placed his hand on Hermione's arm; whispering her name "Hermione?"
Hermione's body still looked as if it was still strapped down, sweat poured down her head as if she had been in a sauna. Tears also stained her cheeks and were congregated in the corner of her eyes.
In Hermione's mind she was back in a blacked out room within Malfoy Manor, being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix was throwing Cruciatus curse after Cruciatus curse at her pinned down form, asking questions and questions about how the Golden Trio had acquired the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, when the most curious thing happened. She began smelling an exotic smell; new parchment, freshly cut grass as well as a scent that Hermione couldn't quite place, followed closely by a white shaded figure coming into the blackness of her eyesight; she couldn't see who it was but she could no longer feel the pain exerted on her by the Cruciatus curse.
"Hermione?" the figure spoke.
"It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!" she screamed at her.
"Hermione?" the voice asked again as a pressure formed on her face, bringing her out of the memory.
The pressure on her face was Draco's thumb as he attempted to wipe the tears away. Bringing her hand up to his, Hermione opened her eyes, "Draco?" she croaked slightly, "What are you doing here?"
He glanced up and grey eyes locked with chocolate brown, causing Draco to just stare. Only when she squeezed his hand did he answer, "You were having a nightmare…" he paused, "Woke the whole house up."
She blushed due to embarrassment as she took her hand out of his, turning away from him. His brows furrowed. He had meant it as a light-hearted joke but she seemed to have taken it the wrong way. "I didn't mean it that way," he tried to explain.
"Save it Malfoy… I'm sorry to have disturbed your much needed beauty sleep, you can leave, and I'll put up silencing charms," she turned further away from Draco.
"I don't want to leave- I have to explain, I was trying to lighten the mood." He attempted to grab her shoulder to roll her over but she shook it off.
"Making a joke at my expense? Great! Like I haven't had enough of that my whole life?" she said sarcastically.
Draco stared at the back of her head as if attempting to make her look at him. When she didn't, he sat on the bed where she still didn't turn towards him. "You still suffer from nightmares?" he asked, adjusting the subject.
"I would have thought that was quite obvious!" she snapped.
"I meant that I thought maybe you would have got over them by now."
"No" she answered simply.
He grasped her shoulder slightly harder than he intended in order to make her look at him, causing her wince slightly. "Please just look at me."
She allowed him to turn her over and what she saw in his now mercury grey irises made her recoil; he looked hurt and sorrowful. Never had she truly seen Draco Malfoy up close and personal, or without a sneer, smirk or a blank, emotionless face and it scared her.
"Can I do anything to help?" he asked as she continued to stare at him.
Hermione stared back at Draco for a few minutes before he rubbed his neck, his nervous tick, and she blinked breaking the spell she was seemingly under. "What?"
"Is there anything I can do to make you able to have a good night sleep?" Draco asked again, though he hated to have to repeat himself. He held back a retort, unlike he usually did to his subordinates.
Hermione looked up at the ceiling before stating quietly, "There's only two ways I seem to be able to get a decent night sleep." He nodded in order for her to continue, when she brought her eyes back down to his, "The first option would be drinking a Dreamless Sleep Potion..."
"I am sorry, we don't have any. I could make some up but it will take at least an hour and I'm sure by then you'll have either fell back asleep or be fully awake." He smiled sadly, "What's the other option? I'll help anyway I can."
Once again she turned her sight back to the ceiling, 'If only you knew,' she thought sullenly. "It's embarrassing," she said quickly and quietly, causing Draco to have to strain to hear her. She was about to repeat herself when Draco spoke.
"If it's something to do with Weaselbee and his anatomy I would rather not know."
She shook her head quickly from side to side, "Not Ronald specifically."
"Ah, so it is something only a man can give you? Is it long? Well in my case it is." He stated, chuckling slightly at his own joke.
A look of mortification and utter disgust appeared on Hermione's face, "No not that," she stuttered.
"Don't be embarrassed-"
"No!" she shouted "You don't understand… if you can't be serious, leave!" she shouted, tears of frustration spilling out of her eyes as she pointed to the door.
"What?" Draco asked confused about the sudden turn of mood, "I was once again just trying to lighten th-"
"The mood, I know… once again picking the most inopportune time to make a joke and once again at my expense. So to save myself face and you breath, you can leave, I'll put up a silencing spell and we can all get back to sleep."
"I truly am sorry," he said sadly, 'Merlin all I seem to be doing is apologising to her.'
"I'm not sure I can accept your apology Malfoy. I find it embarrassing that I still have nightmares about what happened thirteen years ago at the hand of your Aunt and you make a joke about it, so really, leave," she pointed to the door. When he didn't make a hair breadths way towards moving, she turned over onto her side hoping he'd somehow get the point and leave her.
Draco sighed, breathing heavily through his nose and clamping the bridge with his fingers, all of which were signs of impatience, or used for calming him. He looked towards her, "I'm sorry for making a joke at your expense, it was wrong and childish, I'm sorry for upsetting you." He grabbed a hold of her left hand at her side. "Will you accept my apology, and tell me what I can do to get you to have a comfortable nights sleep?" he pleaded as he gently rubbed his calloused thumb over her smooth supple hand.
A Malfoy was never known for being reduced to a pleading tone, it was just unnatural, that someone of their calibre that high up in social standings had to get down on their hands and knees to beg for something. If the woman laying on the bed before him was anyone other than Hermione Granger and just any other Muggleborn, they wouldn't have even heard this tone, but since all those years ago Draco had strived to be accepted by her.
Hermione quickly wiped away the tears before turning back around and nodding towards Draco, who looked at her intently, waiting for her to explain to him how he could help.
"I tend to not have nightmares ifsomeoneiswithme," she rushed out.
Draco leant forward so she could feel his breath on the shell of her ear "What?"
"I said it helps if someone is with me." It may seem a strange truth, but while Hermione was being tortured, nobody had been with her, so the memory became associated with loneliness, therefore, when she could feel someone nearby during the nightmares, her mind comprehended it to not be real and allowed her to escape the trappings of her mind.
"You want me to sleep with you?" he asked, being completely serious, but him being a Malfoy, made Hermione immediately go on the defensive.
"See, I knew you'd be like this," she pulled her hand away from him.
"Like what? It was a-"
"The old Malfoy- having a sarcastic retort, when I'm trying to be completely serious," she answered his question, not even giving him a chance to state his next comment.
He was in no mood to argue with her as it was now four o'clock in the morning and he was tired and irritable so he simply succumbed. "Okay fine, I'm sorry. No more smart comments will leave my mouth. Now move over."
She moved over to the far right side of the bed, as Draco stood to close the open door.
Sometime during Hermione and Draco's chat, the senior Malfoy's had gone back to bed giving them some privacy to which Draco was pleased because chances were that his Father wouldn't have heard of his uncharacteristic pleading to a "Lowly Mudblood" in the words of Lucius.
Once the door was closed, Draco shuffled back to the bed carefully pulling down the duvet to allow him room to get in. As he lay down he could hear the rhythmic breathing of Hermione as she slumbered peacefully.
Draco lay there admiring the back view presented to him of Hermione, and he found himself intrigued. For a woman who, to the best of his knowledge, didn't and never had participated in any sports, still maintained a fit body, a petite frame, but not too much as to be mistaken for someone half her age. Her physique was good not as good admittedly as some models or the air heads Draco had been out with, but that gave a certain appeal to the blond.
Many women threw themselves at Puddlemere United's "Quidditch Superstar", flicking their hair, batting their eyelashes and such, and Draco had picked many of them since his wife died to satisfy certain needs, but none of them have the ability to maintain his interests for more than two "dates" and most certainly didn't have the required characteristics of a potential Malfoy Wife. They talked about all the things they think he wants to talk about; how good he is at Quidditch, how they are going to vote for him for "Bachelor of the Year", how rich he is; or what they want to talk about; their hair, how much they paid for their clothes etc., causing Draco to have to drone out their rather pathetic rambling noise.
While they all have the looks perfect to be holding onto the Malfoy heir's arm, they lacked the stability for him to let them go while he talked business with associates or Quidditch with his friends or if they were there, they either didn't participate or their input made no sense to the conversation, at which point he sent them off to get a drink. And this is what annoyed Draco the most; he was always right even when he was wrong! He never got a retort back, a witty comment that made him smirk and have that look that shouted, "That's my girl!" They were robots designed to look good but have no hidden talents.
A lesson taught to Draco by his father showed what a true Malfoy bride must have as desired qualities, the epitome of which was Draco's mother. His father listed the qualities needed; proud, all Malfoy's must be proud no matter where they came from. Loving, protective and loyal; all Malfoy's must be loving towards their family and seriously loyal and protective to their friends and especially their family, sticking up for them no matter how dangerous situations become.
But what exactly was it that intrigued Draco about this particular Witch? Which one trait of hers stood above all else and made him change his view? That was one thought Draco would need to think upon over a scotch on the rocks.
Slight movement from Hermione in her sleep caused Draco to stop staring, lest she realised he was doing so. Turning over so his back was to her, Draco soon fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of his lost love.
-DMHG-
Draco awoke with a start trying to roll over to the left of his king size bed, when he found that his right arm was pinned by an unknown force. He quickly opened his eyes. Glancing down to his arm pit, he realised he wasn't in his king size bed, because snuggled closely and using his arm as a pillow, was a mass of bushy brown hair. Draco immediately knew the owner and it brought back memories from the previous night.
Shame over came Draco as he remembered his tipsy advances on the brunette and it brought a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew that if he was slightly more inebriated, his mind wouldn't have been able to slow or stop his body and the consequences would have been dire.
Those actions may have also caused his father to become disgusted and potentially disinherit him altogether. Draco's father had instilled in his son, a Malfoy trait that was of great importance, especially to Draco's personally. Rule number one within the handbook of behaviour of a Malfoy under the 'Women' chapter was this; "Rape is not tolerated by any member of the House of Malfoy- no matter the circumstances." His father had explained that Malfoy men have been seen as sex God's among peers and the general public for as long as they lived, and as such had to act accordingly, e.g. they don't force themselves onto people, people are always willing participants.
Draco later decided he didn't want to be what the Death Eaters stood for when he realised exactly what that was; murder, rape and torture. That was what, in Draco's opinion, caused his father to loose a little faith in Lord Voldemort. Lucius was fine with the torture and occasionally the murder, but the raping was an absolute no-no.
Hermione moved slightly in her sleep causing Draco to come out of his reflection and also succeeded in making him aware of their positions. Hermione's body was turned onto its left side so she was facing him, her face tucked slightly into the side near the arm pit. Her right leg was also tucked in between his legs. Her movement had caused her bent knee to brush his groin making Draco suck in his breath in fear of groaning, but Draco was unable to stop the blood rushing south.
Her right hand was placed lightly on his taut stomach while her left was between them with her thumb resting slightly on his nipple. Draco's left hand having gone unnoticed before, was caressing her lower back in tiny circular movements. When Draco consciously stopped the movement Hermione moved again in her sleep, closer to the warmth he was exuding causing her knee to once again brush his groin and her left hand moved making the nipple harden.
Draco bit his lip to stop yet another moan he was sure to produce, until he could taste a metallic taste within his mouth. Deciding that to keep his sanity and possibly his male anatomy, he would have to pry himself from Hermione. Despite the moans of protest coming from the brunette he trudged on.
Carefully removing his left leg from the top of hers he managed one appendage, sliding his right leg from under hers he managed the second with only a slight change of her breathing. But as he tried to pick her right hand off of his stomach she reacted. In attempting to roll away from her grasp, she ended up above him. His breathing hitched and as if on cue her eyes opened to a view she will never forget.
Because beneath her, was a half naked Draco Malfoy.
All women have a dream to wake up next to a handsome hunk of a man and Hermione Granger was no exception; especially considering the fact that for the past twelve or so years she, had woke up to Ronald Bilius Weasley, a man who she had come to love more as a brother than a lover and one that had failed to keep at a job for more than three years since he had left Hogwarts without any N.E.W.T.S., and who also refused to have life goals or ambitions of his own. These were some of the reasons Hermione and him were incompatible.
Before Hermione's body reacted in order to get off of Draco ,she found herself speaking. "How… how did we end up like this?"
The look of confusion made Draco smirk. She had no memory at all of this so far, so until she did, he decided he'd have a bit of fun, "Well last night you woke me saying you had something to show me in your room, I said it could wait until the morning but you were adamant I had to see it there and then. Naturally I became intrigued so I followed you, when I got here you jumped me… and I mean jumped me, we had wild passionate sex… three times," he emphasised the number with his fingers. "You just woke me now for round four."
Her face went from confusion to utter horror throughout his story, changing from a light pink to a beetroot red in colour. Draco could no longer hold back the laughter, it came off in waves and Hermione, if she wasn't thoroughly pissed, would have agreed that it had a melodic sound to it. As it was, she aimed a punch at his shoulder and another at his abdomen, the force from which hurt her hand more than his stomach.
She finally glanced down to realise that he was as naked as she thought he was, almost as naked as the day he was born, bar the fact he was wearing a pair of green silk boxers.
Still laughing, he rolled them over so he was on top, though his considerable weight felt more like a feather above her. "You should know I prefer to be the one on the top," he whispered into the shell of her ear, sending a shiver down Hermione's back. The shiver caused her to unconsciously, once again, seek the closest source of heat which was Draco. Arching up, she became aware that he was quite aroused. Blushing, she flattened her body to the bed and looked up into his grey eyes as if afraid of what was to come.
Draco couldn't take his eyes off of Hermione's 'plump kissable lips' and as if in slow motion his mouth began lowering towards hers, and hers lifted towards his, meeting in a slow supple kiss until it became more heated, fireworks went off in the back of each of their minds.
Hermione's hands had a mind of their own as they moved from her sides to his neck, her right combing through his 'soft' platinum blond locks, her left remaining around his neck. Draco's arms couldn't move as they were holding him up so that he didn't crush her smaller frame.
As they surfaced for breath, reality kicked in for Hermione and she unhooked her arms and began pushing at his chest, mortified at what they had been doing. Draco continued to nuzzle at her neck, waiting for her to catch her breath, until she spoke the words that completely shattered the spell they were under; "Draco, stop."
His head stopped moving and he lifted it so he could see her. Her eyes were now a caramel colour due to arousal, but he could see the hidden fear in them. Reluctantly he moved so that he was no longer above her, and then turned away from her as he rubbed his hands down his face. When he turned back she had covered her negligee and body with the bed duvet.
"I should go and get ready," she said breaking the uncomfortable silence that had covered them. He simply nodded as she pulled the duvet off the bed to hide herself.
"You shouldn't hide it…" he stated as she got closer to the bathroom. She looked back confused. "Your body… don't feel insecure about it. Weasley truly is an idiot to give you up, any man would be proud to have you on his arm." She smiled sadly as entered the en-suite.
Inside, she looked at herself in the reflection of the mirror; her eyes like a panda's due to the mascara having run, a severe case of bed hair and she could see the slow blush spreading out along her cheeks.
She had just initiated a kiss with Draco Malfoy and as much as she knew, she should thoroughly regret her actions. She had a small niggle within her that enjoyed it and would much rather do it again, than climb into an empty bed or kiss Ronald Weasley again.
Running some water into the basin, she continued staring at her reflection, her index finger coming up to brush along her lips where a slight tingle was still going through them from his kiss. 'The single most pleasurable pleasure I have had in years. Who would have thought it would come from Draco Malfoy.'
Cupping her hands under the water, she brought the handful to her face to rid it of any remaining sleep, and clumps of her make-up. She then shed the green silk negligee she was wearing and stepped into the shower.
-HGDM-
Hermione finally stepped out of the bathroom some forty minutes later. Her hair pristine, loose but manageable, wearing her own clothes from yesterday having been washed and ironed by the house-elf had been waiting for her when she exited the shower cubicle; the size of which would take up at least three quarters of her bathroom at home. She sniffed at herself; the shower gel in the bathroom having had no real smell when she first used it, came alive with the smell of fresh fruit her usual smell when mixed with water. Naturally, she was curious how exactly that had happened. 'Obviously some spell work' she summarised, though there was no label on the bottle to indicate where it had come from so she was unable to get some for her own use. 'I'll have to ask Draco'
Finally looking around the room she realised Draco was no longer around, his wand having gone from the bedside table and the bed back to its immaculate state from when she first arrived. And that's when she noticed it; a piece of folded up parchment resting on the pillow Draco had slept on.
Waltzing over, Hermione picked up the parchment and walked out onto the balcony as she read the note; the first thing she noticed was the elegant handwriting that she remembered from Hogwarts.
Harry and Ron both had rather scruffy boyish handwriting that required one to decipher it to be able to read it, smudged occasionally where they rushed or food smudges in the case of Ron. However, Draco's scrawl was much easier to read, never a speck wrong or a cross through a word. Truthfully it was impeccable.
What the note said made her frown;
Dear Hermione,
I truly am sorry for my behaviour yesterday as well as my actions this morning, I let my body control me and I put you in an awkward position, I hope we can move forward in our continuing meetings.
D-
P.S. Breakfast will be served in the same room as yesterday, should you struggle to find it, call Miffy and she will surely be able to accompany you to the correct room.
Hermione re-read the letter over and over, 'It sounds like he regrets this morning. "Continuing meetings?" that sounds formal.' As much as Hermione knew she shouldn't, she felt hurt by his letter's content.
-DMHG-
Needless to say, Hermione managed to locate the dining room with relative ease. When she got there the Malfoy's were all there, minus Lucius. Draco sat in the seat opposite to that in which Hermione was seated the previous day, and where she decided she would sit today. Draco kept trying to make eye contact with her as she sat down, but she ignored him, concentrating on the food in front of her instead.
Unlike the house-elves serving them like yesterday, the food was already available in front of them; racks of toast, with a choice of spreads, sausages, bacon, hash browns and scrambled eggs as well as a container of baked beans all sat in the middle of the table. Jugs containing the usual different types of fruit juices were available along with tea and coffee, each of which was placed in the centre.
She could feel Draco's eyes on her as she began eating the sausages she had placed on her plate, but continued to ignore him, instead deciding that if she was speaking to someone else, it wouldn't look as obvious that she was avoiding him.
"This food," she indicated the food around the table, "Is really nice, Mrs Malfoy." She turned to look at the woman to her left.
Narcissa looked between her son and their guest and noticed he seemed to be staring at the other witch. "Well thank you but I cannot take the credit, the house elves are exceptional at what they do."
Years ago Hermione would have never thought she would be hearing Narcissa Malfoy commending a house-elf on their work, as it was it was still a surprise but less so.
"I have got to admit they have been doing a lot better since Draco made them have holidays. They seem to love to be back serving us," the older woman smiled, actually smiled, Hermione was gobsmacked.
"It's good that a family as old as yours actually changed before the law was passed, you made many other families follow your lead, and so there wasn't many people going against it when it was in discussion to be passed."
The conversation seemed to die down after Hermione's statement, the occupants of the room simply content to continue eating.
"Grand-mere, is it okay if I be excused? Amando is due round soon, he said he didn't want to go to work with his mother, and his father is off to Italy on business. Father said it was alright that he came around."
"You'll have to ask your father, Scorpius." The boy looked expectantly towards his father who simply nodded so that he could leave.
Once Hermione was finished with her English breakfast she picked a few slices of toast off the racks and noticed they were still quite warm. She looked down the table for the jam and noticed it in the most inopportune place; out of her reach right near Draco. Without looking up she called to him. "Hmm, Draco can you pass the jam?"
He glanced at her through his eyelashes before picking the small pot up and passing it to her. As their fingers touched they both felt a slight bolt of electricity connect them, making them both look towards the other but as soon as their eyes met Hermione looked away. Saying a small thank you, she looked down to concentrate on her slices of toast.
Half way through Hermione's third and final piece of toast, Narcissa spoke again; "If I remember correctly, I said I would give you a tour of the manor Ms Granger, so if you will pardon me, I shall go and change into suitable clothes." That was obviously an excuse on Narcissa's part, as the clothing she was currently wearing was more than suitable to give someone a tour of a house.
Narcissa left the room, leaving only Hermione and Draco present. The silence soon became tense and you could literally cut through it with a knife, until Draco broke it; "Is there a reason you are ignoring me?"
"Ignoring?" she asked sceptically.
"Avoiding then? Why?" he paused, "Is it something to do with this morning?" he paused again, "I left you a note; did you not get it?"
She finally lifted her sight to his "Oh I got it" she snapped giving up attempting to finish her slice of jam toast, "Were you truly that disgusted that you kissed a lowly Mudblood? That you couldn't even say relationship but would rather say meetings?"
"What? You think I left this morning because I kissed you? No, I left this morning because…" he trailed off not explaining himself. "As for the 'continuing meetings', what would you have thought had I put relationship? Probably that you were one of many that Draco Malfoy had 'conquered' or was currently 'conquering'. I don't think of you like that." He walked round to the other side of the table to the seat his mother had vacated.
"Your self-esteem has dropped because of what Weaselbee has done, I don't want to rush you into anything, if your heart isn't in it" he stated softly.
Hermione didn't say another word as she continued to wonder why he didn't finish his answer as to why he left.
"What are you going to do about him? Weaselbee I mean." She shrugged. "Are you planning to tell Potter and Potterette? What about your daughter?"
"I'll tell Harry and Ginny when it comes out. I'm going to look at staying at the house my parents had when they moved back to England. The couple who were renting have just moved out."
"You're not going to seek them out? They'll want to know."
She shook her head, "You plan to go through this on your own?"
She nodded not even pretending she wasn't going to, she heard Draco sigh "If you're going to say that your here for me, don't. We both know you really don't care, you only invited me here because you feel obligated because of what I did for you after the war; you really shouldn't feel indebted to me."
Draco was stopped from answering as his mother re-entered the room. "How about we start this tour?" she announced, unaware of the conversation she had interrupted.
"That would be lovely Mrs Malfoy," Hermione said as she stood up from the table. She cast a look at Draco, "If you'll excuse me Malfoy, I have a prior engagement."
"Why don't you join us Draco?" his mother asked sincerely.
Draco looked from his mother to Hermione, "I'm sorry mother, I have some business to attend to." He leant over to kiss her cheek. "Hermione," he leant over to kiss her cheek, but not before whispering, "We will talk about this later." With that, he walked out of the dining room.
-HGDM-
The manor's first floor housed the usual rooms; the reception hall, drawing room, sitting room, dining room, cloakroom, hall, the music room, kitchen, travelling room; where the floo system operated, a living room and a rather big ballroom.
Narcissa had explained the third floor consisted of Draco and Lucius' studies as well as a library that she would allow Hermione to explore at her own leisure. The second floor was all bedrooms according to Narcissa; 12 bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
The pair walked through the dining room in order to reach the patio, "And this is the patio. Summers out here are really nice, you should come to the manor then, I find it very relaxing. A good book and the sun are the perfect combination." 'A woman after my own heart,' Hermione thought.
She smiled once again, grabbing Hermione's arm before leading her towards an out building. The building in itself was just like the manor in the sense that it had the same style brick work, but instead of the slate roofing, this building had a pitched glass roof. Once they entered Hermione realised why an ornate indoor pool became visible as you entered. A moving statue of mermaid jumped in an out of the pool while the tiled sea-horse swam through the water from tile to tile.
"Narcissa, this is… lovely" Hermione stated, running her hand along a statue of a dolphin at the steps into the pool, causing it along with its twin situated on the other side, to spurt some water out of their blowholes before diving into the water.
"Thank you," Narcissa answered as she began walking to a door in the back. "This is where my husband and Draco spend a lot of their time together." The room looked larger than it should have from the outside and an encompassed all gym equipment Hermione could think to have, from weights to treadmills to trampolines.
Pointing to the big expanse of matted area, Hermione asked, "What's that for?"
Narcissa shook her head, "That is the duelling mat," Hermione gasped slightly. "Lucius trained Draco on the use of a wand, both defensive and offensive spells."
The colour drained from Hermione's face. Seeing this, Narcissa decided to clarify, "Not the unforgivables if that is what you are thinking. They also use it for simple self-defence, wandless and hand to hand combat."
They exited the room back into the pool area and Hermione noticed a sauna room as well as a cold-plunge tucked in the back before she was whisked away to yet another building, which she immediately recognised as an equestrian paddock, though it was considerably taller.
Once inside, she realised it was a lot taller than the average one. Sand covered the floor proving it was an equestrian area, but the goal post situated at either end confirmed it to double up as a Quidditch field.
"Draco insisted we had one stating that flying in mid-air with Muggles possibly seeing was dangerous, not to mention a neighbour has a helicopter and Draco was almost scalped during his third year."
Hermione had to laugh at that fact; the possibility that Draco would have had to attend school without his famous mop of hair, covering it up with a toupee only for it to fall of into a potion due to Crabbe or Goyle made her double over.
After Hermione's laughter finally subsided, the pair began walking back towards the house. Standing on the patio was Lucius Malfoy, a scowl on his face as he signalled his wife over said a few things in her ear before she walked back to where she had left Hermione.
"It seems my husband requires me, am I alright to leave you to discover the rest of the gardens on your own?" Hermione nodded. "Good, good the orangery is that way," she pointed to the opposite side of the house than the building housing the pool, "As is the maze and peacock garden." Hermione nodded as she surveyed the area.
Mrs Malfoy spun around her dress robe, swaying slightly before walking off with her head held high, so unlike Hermione.
-DMHG-
Meanwhile
Draco stood, pacing his office come study, 'What am I going to do with that stubborn witch?' he sighed. His pacing rarely helped him make decisions but at least allowed his nerves to be settled or allow him to come up with a rational plan.
A light bulb suddenly went off in his head- 'Of course why didn't I think of it before.'
Grabbing a handful of floo powder, he chucked it into the flames of the fire in his office and the flame turned green. He stuck his head into the heatless flames, calling his desired destination.
Two minutes later a shaggy black haired mop appeared at the entrance of the room, wand in hand and a dressing gown thrown on haphazardly. "Hello" the man called in a slightly gruff voice.
"Potter, get your arse over here now!" Draco warned.
"Malfoy what are you doing here?"
"Is Potterette about? And Weaselbee better not be nearby."
"No Ron's not here, Ginny's upstairs though, why?" Harry was starting to get agitated.
"I need a favour," the blond asked.
A/N: There we go, Chapter 6 of Enough
If anyone want to see what I based the Malfoy Manor on, search for Midway Manor in Google it's in Bradford-on-Avon.
Love as always,
Scorpio219 x.x.
A little spoiler: Lucius took Harry's distraction as a chance to accio his wand back to his hand and then suddenly …
A green light erupted in the room and Harry Potter, the boy who survived the Killing Curse twice, dropped to the floor, motionless.