Chapter Fourteen; New Clothes, dinner and compliments
It didn't take long for Narcissa to change, since she had already decided on her outfit while Hermione had been sliding into her borrowed dress, all Narcissa had to do was slide into her dress, having already put on her shoes and chosen jewellery.
Narcissa had decided to wear a black velvet, floor length dress with a wide and slightly plunging neckline and long sleeves that finished in a hard point along her middle finger. To accompany the dress, she was wearing high silver heels and a thick silver necklace in the shape of a snake that appeared to wrap around her neck once, the tail hooking around a part of the body to hold it in place and the head hanging down to rest just above her breasts.
Narcissa stepped out from behind the screen once she was fully dressed, to find Hermione standing in front of the full length mirror next to the table, twisting and turning her body so that she could see the entirety of her dress. It was a beautiful dress, the off the shoulder sleeves were a light silk which hung down Hermione's arms a little way. The top of the dress and sleeves were a deep, blood red, and as the dress grew longer the colour faded to black, so that the hemline that trailed a little along the ground was a pitch black.
To go with the dress, Hermione had picked out a single, delicate gold chain bracelet, a pair of small golden hoop earrings and a gold necklace with a small pendant which held a ruby and rested just above her breasts.
"Do you like it?" Narcissa asked Hermione, causing her to jump a little. Hermione turned and smiled.
"I love the dress. Thank you for letting me borrow the dress and for everything else, Narcissa." Narcissa smiled in response to Hermione's genuine sincerity. Narcissa didn't hear gratitude very much in this household, although she had been hearing it from Draco more often since he started seeing Hermione.
"Ready to go to dinner?" Narcissa opened the door for Hermione, watching as Hermione's red dress swirled gracefully around her legs and black strappy heels.
As the pair walked along the dark hallways together, Narcissa apologized to Hermione. "I am sorry for how my husband treated you, I promise he will be much more polite during dinner." Narcissa paused and sadly added on, "If he chooses to speak to you at all."
"It's OK, Narcissa. It's much better treatment than what I received when I was last here." Hermione spoke matter of fact, but Narcissa winced.
"I am sorry, Hermione." Hermione shrugged, her face closed off, so the two walked in a silence for a few moments.
"If you'll accept it, you can keep everything you're wearing, as an apology of sorts." Narcissa was unsure of herself, a little afraid of the young woman's refusal, but to her great surprise, Hermione turned to Narcissa, and gave her a shocked smile.
"Thank you. If you truly do not mind?"
"Not in the slightest, child. Feel free to take them. It all suits you much more than it ever suited me!" Narcissa and Hermione shared a wide smile.
"So, Hermione, I have read your novel about how Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord, but I have a couple questions, if you don't mind answering them?" Hermione was surprised by Narcissa's question, but nodded anyway.
"I'll answer to the best of my knowledge."
"I understand that you, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were all friends during your school years, and you are even now. But how could you trust the two young men, even when they were hurting you or not treating you like a friend?" Narcissa wasn't being rude, she was genuinely curious, and Hermione had a suspicion that maybe Narcissa was asking for advice on her own life at the same time. Hermione spoke slowly, thinking about how to word her answer properly.
"Well, more times than I could count, I put myself in their shoes. Harry was stressed about his future, all the obstacles he had to go through with Voldemort as well as school and girls. Ron had less major crisis', but he was overshadowed by his brothers and his best friend all the time. I understood why they reacted the way they did, and I simply did my best to help them be the best they could be, no matter what." Here Hermione paused, biting her lip.
"I helped them because they helped me, even if they didn't realize it. They accepted me for who I am, and they treated me like a person, not just a nerdy bookworm. They brought me out of my shell, and made me happier than I ever could've imagined. I love the pair of them as brothers, and I wouldn't change it for anything. I couldn't find two truer friends anywhere in the world." Hermione smiled at her feet, so she missed Narcissa's thoughtful expression.
She has such a caring, patient heart. But she's strong, too. Hermione doesn't see it, but she's so good for my son. If only Lucius could see it too … Hermione deserves a real chance with him.
Narcissa was pulled out of her thoughts when a doorman addressed her.
"Mrs Malfoy, whom is this accompanying you?" the young man was holding the doorknob, ready to open the door and announce the two women, his attention on Narcissa, but he was clearly watching Hermione out the corner of his eye.
"This is Hermione Granger, Samuel." Samuel's eyes widened – everyone knows Hermione Granger's name just as much as they know Harry Potter's these days – and he gave a small bow to the women before turning and opening the doors. As he did so, Narcissa stepped closer to Hermione, taking her arm and whispering.
"Just a heads up, the woman who my husband approves of for Draco will be attending, but don't worry about her, you will be perfectly fine, just follow my lead. And don't stare at Draco too much, we wouldn't want all the attention to get to his head." Hermione started giggling and Narcissa lead her through the doors at the sound of Samuels announcement.
"Announcing the Mrs Narcissa Malfoy and her guest, the renowned author, Miss Hermione Granger." Hermione was giggling so much that she didn't realize Samuel had announced the two ladies. Glancing up Hermione found herself in an extremely large and elegant dining room. All the furnishings were of dark wood and the decorations were a mix of green and silver.
Narcissa lead Hermione to the dining table, which was as wide as the ones at Hogwarts and long enough to seat thirty people comfortably. The room was huge enough that the table sat in the centre of the room and there was still enough room for at least three more tables of the same size to sit comfortably, with beautiful portraits of landscapes and buildings lining the walls.
Two servants stood at attention, each holding a chair out for Narcissa and Hermione. As the two took their places at the table, Hermione finally noted that she and Narcissa were the last two to arrive and everyone else was already seated.
"Nice of you to join us, ladies." Lucius Malfoy greeted the pair smoothly, his eyes not quite meeting Hermione's, which was what she expected from him. Lucius' eyes travelled around the table as he continued speaking, "Now that everyone is here, dinner can begin." With that he waved forward a butler who was standing at a set of double doors behind him; the butler then disappeared into the doors behind him.
"He'll be telling the elves to begin sending up the food." Narcissa whispered into Hermione's ear. "Tonight is a three course meal, with entrée, main and dessert. Just like at Hogwarts, the food will be laid out in front of us and you pick and choose what you like." Hermione nodded to show she'd understood, she would've smiled but she was too nervous.
"So, Lucius, are you going to introduce me to everyone?" The ministry worker had spoken up, and Hermione glanced up to find the ministry man's small, hazel eyes were fixed firmly on her, causing her to blush and look back down again as Lucius began the introductions.
"Everyone, this is my guest, Mr Humphries. He was one of the first, and most dedicated, to assist in the rebuilding and reorganising of the Ministry once all of the Dark Lords followers were weeded out. He is now right hand man and advisor to the Minister." Hermione had heard of Mr Humphries, everyone had.
He had been a popular choice for Minister at the recent election, he was good looking, incredibly well groomed, very rich and smart. But he had declined, insisting he was happy with his job as advisor, the job of Minister going to an overly eager but extremely hard working Terry Boot. No one trusted or particularly liked Terry, but after three years of the wizarding world running smoothly under his power, no one really had any complaints anymore.
"Mr Humphries, on my right this is my wife, Narcissa, and her guest Hermione Granger. Next to you, is my son, and only child, Draco, and next to him is his guest, Daphne Greengrass." Hermione's eyes flicked up to look at the girl in mild alarm.
Mr Lucius' chosen wife for Draco, is his ex-wife's sister?! Poor Draco … that's just not right.
Hermione turned to look at Draco, where he was slouching in his seat, glaring at a painting behind his mother, his mouth in a very straight, very angry line.
Just as Mr Humphries was about to say something, the food appeared on the table interrupted him. There was a scraping of plates and clinks of cutlery as everyone piled their plates and began eating.
For the entrée, everyone was mostly silent, only speaking when asking Samuel to refill their drinks. But once everyone had filled their plates for the main meal, Mr Humphries spoke to Hermione.
"Miss Granger, am I correct in thinking that you are the same Hermione Granger who wrote Harry Potter versus Voldemort – How the Dark Lord was defeated as well as Behind the Curtains?" Hermione cringed inwardly, she hadn't planned on talking during the dinner, but she couldn't just ignore him, even though she didn't like the way he was looking at her. Like she was a piece of meat, or a prize to be won.
"Yes, that's me, Mr Humphries." Mr Humphries gave Hermione a small smile of appreciation.
"I must say I found Harry Potter versus Voldemort rather enlightening, butI can't say I've read Behind the Curtains. Care to tell everyone what it's about?" Hermione blushed deeply, trying to figure out how to tell him politely that it was a romantic novel where the sex scenes contributed to the story line more heavily than the sweet romantic scenes did. But Draco beat her to the punch, talking directly to Mr Humphries.
"It's about a couple in love who face the challenges of their lives, both in and out of the bedroom, learning about each other, their separate families and how to work through the difficulties of any relationship." Everyone around the table stared at Draco.
"What? I read it, so what? It's a world famous book, I was curious." Draco glanced around the table before staring at his food. Hermione noticed sadly that Draco made eye contact with everyone sitting at the table except for her. His eyes completely missed her, like she was invisible.
It was silent around the table again as everyone continued to eat, Hermione eating slowly as she fought hard with herself to resist even one look in Draco's direction.
It doesn't matter how amazing he looks tonight in his suit, you're acting like a silly school girl! But you're a dignified, well known author, so show some control, Granger!
Dessert came and went similarly, with Daphne and Narcissa talking to each other about trivial things, including Hermione and Draco where they could. Hermione spoke when spoken to, she replied quietly, honestly and politely but Draco barely spoke a word, trying to brush everyone off and always glaring at his plate. Lucius and Mr Humphries talked quietly the entire time, discreetly watching the others at the table.
Once dessert was cleared from the table Daphne rose from her seat, excusing herself and explaining that she wanted to get home to her parents, as her mother was sick and she wanted to check in on her. Draco offered to walk her out, so together the pair left.
Lucius and Mr Humphries sat talking to each other, so Narcissa leant over to Hermione; "Well done, you handled yourself beautifully. Have you done this before?" Hermione shook her head. "Did I really do that well, Narcissa?" In response, Narcissa smiled widely before standing up and excusing herself to go to the bathroom. "I'll be right back." She promised Hermione before walking out, leaving Hermione with Lucius and Mr Humphries.
At that moment, Lucius and Mr Humphries stood and excused themselves from the table to go talk business in Lucius' study. Lucius' left immediately, but Mr Humphries lingered, walking around the table to Hermione, where he took her hand, kissing it gently and spoke to her. "It was a pleasure to personally meet you, Miss Granger. Maybe one day we can go out for dinner and get to know each other on a more personal level. You can always find me at the Ministry."
Hermione was speechless, she had no idea what to say to an offer like that! But Draco had returned in time to hear the offer and saved Hermione from replying once again, his old, familiar cold drawl lacing his words.
"Mr Humphries, surely you are far too old to attempt courting Miss Granger. A man of your stature probably shouldn't been seen or heard attempting so scandalous." Mr Humphries straightened, releasing Hermione's hand and turning towards Draco, his back to Hermione, but his voice turned cold as he spoke to Draco.
"My apologies, Mr Malfoy. I wasn't aware you were protective of Miss Granger. I was under the impression you didn't like her and you were dating Miss Greengrass." Draco's eyes narrowed as he walked over to stand next to Mr Humphries, his body facing Hermione in clear view so she could see him, but his angry eyes focused on the older man.
"I am not dating Miss Greengrass. Actually, tonight was our final dinner of sorts. We decided we did not wish to date. And it does not matter how I feel about Miss Granger, while she is here as my mothers' guest, she is under my care and protection also." The two men stood there in front of Hermione, glaring at one another, their fingers twitching towards their wands in their pockets. Hermione bit her lip, her fingers also twitching towards her own wand, when Narcissa returned.
"Oh." Narcissa stopped dead at the sight in front of her. "Mr Humphries, do you need someone to show you the way to Lucius' study? I wish to speak to my son and Miss Granger, if you don't mind me taking them away from you." Hermione was impressed by how calmly Narcissa spoke, and how quickly she found a way to calm and separate the two men.
I suppose this isn't the first time Narcissa's had to calm an argument between two men before.
Mr Humphries huffed and replied to Narcissa as he walked out the door. "No thank you, Mrs Malfoy. I know my way." After he left, Narcissa jumped into action.
"Right, you two, come with me. Now. No arguing Draco." Without even checking to see if the two were following, Narcissa walked back out the room. Hermione's eyes were focused on Draco. He didn't look at her as he turned his body away from her and went to leave to follow his mother, turning and finally facing Hermione as he reached the door.
"Are you coming, Miss Granger? I can't continue to protect you if you stay here on your own." Hermione shook her head and stood up so she could follow him.
Draco walked next to Hermione as they followed Narcissa through the mansion. As she watched him out the corner of her eye, Hermione began to argue with herself in her head.
He's close enough that I could reach out and hold his hand. Would he refuse me if I did? I want to so badly.
But I'm angry at him for leaving me! And yet I can't ignore this feeling I get whenever he's around me … Like my heart is singing and soaring. I'm happy and at peace when I'm around him. The world feels like a good place.
But I'm mad at him for leaving me. I need to explain that to him. But how can I when I feel so alive and happy with him?
I don't know what to do!
Hermione didn't realize that, while they were walking, Draco was watching her from the corner of his eye, like he had been all night.
When they arrived at Narcissa's study, Draco held the door open for Hermione and kept his eye on her as she seated herself on the love seat. Narcissa then spoke up; she was standing just in front of the doors and addressed the pair with a business like tone.
"Right. Hermione, you did wonderfully, I promise. Draco, I know you broke it off with Miss Greengrass, I've already calmed your father on that subject. Now the two of you need to talk. And you are not to leave this room until you have sorted out absolutely everything. Am I understood?" Hermione was surprised, but grateful. She nodded her thanks, but Draco was a little more vocal.
"Mother! We are adults, we don't need you to lock us up in your study and-" But Narcissa cut him off.
"Apparently you do, Draco, since Hermione had to come looking for you, and you barely left your bed." At that Draco hung his head in shame. "You will talk everything out, and I will see you when you are finished. Peggie will get you anything you need." With that Narcissa walked out and closed the door behind her, the clunk of the lock seeming to echo through Hermione's head.
It was silent for a long time, until finally; "So … Where do you want to start?"