Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter & co. - just write what could have been.

AN: Reviews keep me going - please leave your comments, thoughts, etc.! :)

Shout out to my beta, A.

I really enjoy reading you all's comments - even if it's short! Please continue doing so, thank you all [& hearts ;]

Chapter Thirty-Eight

His mother was avoiding him, Draco was certain of it. Draco scowled at his reflection in his childhood mirror, glancing down at his appearance, he was wearing a pale blue polo with the first two buttons unbuttoned. He rolled his sleeves carefully so as to not let his mark show and tucked the shirt into the dark navy trousers, the black loafers the most comfortablehe could wear in his mother's home. Technically his home too, but Draco had no desire to move back into Malfoy Manor. For now, the French manor where he resided was home enough. Draco's silver chain could be seen from underneath his shirt; he had hoped this would give him luck and soften his mother for what he was planning on discussing with her this afternoon. Draco had been trying to have a one-on-one lunch, dinner, breakfast – whatever at this point – with his mother for the past couple of weeks after his brief discussion with Theo. He had debated against it for two and half days before he finally relented; Theo wasn't daft, he suggested talking to his mother would help his current Granger situation, perhaps Theo was right, he would speak with her. Despite how disastrously the idea seemed to him. Draco did not expect his mother to understand his feelings for Granger – primarilya muggleborn in his mother's eyes. However, the feeling of despair, of possibly losing the only witch, besides his mother, he genuinely liked was worse than the potentially catastrophic conversation between Lord Malfoy and the Malfoy Matriarch. Draco was going to speak to his mother today. Yet, his mother seemed to be too busy for him. While he and his mates still dined with her every week, she was often not home or busy speaking with someone on the silver mobile she had recently purchased. Draco hadn't even gotten a chanceto ask why the sudden interest in muggle technology before Theo noticed. To which the Malfoy matriarch responded, 'one must keep up with the times, Theodore'. Draco rolled his eyes then and now. I'm her only child for Merlin's sake! What did she have to do that wasmore important than speaking to me? Draco couldn't help but frown at the thought of being ignored by his mother. Upon arriving at the Wiltshire manor, Ellie had informed Draco as soon as he flooed in that Narcissa was indeed home and in her wing; Draco wasted no time. He had even worn her favourite colors today to try and gather her attention – no matter how little she was giving him. Leaving his room, he sought after his mother. The task of locating Narcissa Malfoy was harder than he anticipated, after more than eight minutes of searching. He had checked her study – she wasn't there; she wasn't in her tearoom, she wasn't in her suite's foyer, and she wasn't in her gardening room. Frustrated and pink cheeked, Draco called out amongst the blooming roses,

"Ellie!"

The old elf dipped her head at the sight of Draco again.

"Young Master needs help?"

Ellie's deep voice asked.

"Where is my mother at?"

Draco asked, trying his best not snap at the elf despite feeling irritation. He felt like he was going through a wild goose chase and for his mother of all things! He was already anxious with the anticipation of the conversation let alone the frustration of having to seek her out.

"She's in her potions room, young Master."

Ellie said simply and popped away. Draco groaned and walked back upstairs to his mother's potions room. He hadn't been there in ages and it was strange to him that his mother was occupying the space, but Draco had other pressing matters. The ancestral portraits watched and gossiped as Draco turned a corner to his mother's potions room. While most doors of the Manor were wooden, the potion's rooms wereusually a more studier material. However, Draco stopped short before the door as he couldn't help but to stare at a young Lucius Malfoy. Draco tried to ignorethe knot forming at the base of his throat staring back at his doppelganger. Draco was silent. After a bit of staring match, the young Lucius raised an eyebrow at Draco before disappearing, leaving the green background empty. He had forgotten what his father looked like. He had forgotten his mother had a handful of portraits – ones she had commissioned, and ones Lucius had given to her after the death of his mother. This was an inherited one. Draco felt odd seeing his father – albeit a younger version of him. Before he could think of the matter longer, his mother appeared as the door opened as if someone had come to collect her from her room inside.

"Draco, darling! What brings you here?"

Narcissa's voice brought Draco back from his thoughts about his father. Before Draco could peerinside the potions room, his mother closed the stone door promptly. Not before Draco caught hints of myrrh which only confused Draco more. His mother looked immaculate as usual and that snapped Draco back into his train of thought. She wore a frost-colored pantsuit, the top imitating an oxford shirt, and slip-on white shoes that reminded Draco of muggle nurses. While she was still pristine looking, Draco couldn't help but to notice this was the most casual he had seen his mother.

"Mother, I missed you."

Draco truthfully said, leaning down to kiss the apple of her cheeks. Narcissa smiled warmly at him and placed a hand to his chest, the other caressing his cheek. Draco couldn't help but to lean into her touch; she was his mother, she loved him, and he loved her. He let that earnest feeling settle in him – he needed it. She smelled of apples and roses which wasn't unpleasant, but the apples were new. As a child, his mother's scent was fresh – roses, freshly cut grass, and sometimes mint. He wondered briefly if she had changed her perfume. His mother was becoming more of a mystery by the minute.

"I shall make you miss me more if I receive such affections from your fond heart."

His mother said softly. Draco couldn't help but to chuckle at her before pulling away from her caress.

"Can we talk?"

He asked before his nerves got to him and before she left him. Narcissa's blue eyes shifted before she nodded.

"Of course. Meet me in my drawing room while I freshen up."

She instructed, letting her hands fall from him as he nodded. He glanced back at Lucius' portrait, finding his own gray eyes staring back at him. Draco internally flinched before turning around and heading to this mother's teal drawing room. He wasted no time, ignoring again the gossiped whispers his blasted ancestors said.

"Wonder what they are going off to?"

"The Black wife was too soft on the boy! We should have offspring by now!"

"Abraxas' boy barely says a word too."

Waiting for exactly four minutes, Narcissa walked in to sit beside the chaise lounge he had chosen to sit at. Besides her stylish pantsuit, she donned on her engagement ring and changed into simple white heels. She was a vision in white.

"Mother, I need to ask you something."
Draco forced himself to ask. He could feel his heart thumping against his chest, his blood pressure rising with every passing second. While his occlumency shields were up, Draco was still nervous. Only the worst thoughts passed through when it came to asking his mother about Hermione Granger. Narcissa patiently waited, one hand on her lap and the other over the chaise. She seemed the picture of calm and collected, but that could all change with one question from her son.

"How… do you feel about… Hermione Granger?"

Draco asked slowly. Something shifted in his mother, only years at her side was he able to tell, but he couldn't figure out if it was good or bad. She gradually straightened herself out and one delicate eyebrow rose, she asked,

"What ever do you mean, darling?"

Salazar's balls, Draco swore. She wasn't going to make this easy. Again, Draco didn't know if this was a good or bad sign.

"I mean exactly that, mother. How do you feel about Hermione Granger?"

Draco asked. Narcissa shrugged one shoulder, her bun keeping her fair locks in place.

"What does it matter what I think of Miss Granger, Draco? She isn't my associate."

Narcissa drawled.

"Unless you're asking for PR reasons, then, she's a good choice to be seen with publicly."

She continued. Draco wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose but chose to roll his eyes instead.

"Mother, that's not what I am inquiring about."

Draco almost whined, clasping his hands together to squeeze them.

"Then explain, Draco, what you are questioning about. I don't see why you need my opinion about Miss Granger when you've made it clear you make friends with whomever you want and you'll date, or not date, whomever you please."

Narcissa said. Draco sighed; she was right, he had basically told her to butt out on all aspects of his friends, associates, dates, etc. And while this wasn't the time for her to actually listen, he couldn't fault her for doing so.

"I…"

Draco faltered when his mother's eyes pierced him, but he continued,

"Want to court her. I'm asking for your opinion because I have feelings for her, mother."

Draco confessed. Immediately, Draco felt a relief thatlifted from him but that did not stop the suffocating feeling that followed and waiting for his mother's response. She was anticlimactic. She did not move, she merely blinked. Draco felt like an eternity passed before his mother smirked at him, patting his knee.

"Court away, my dragon."

Narcissa Malfoy said as if discussing what kind of tea she wanted before dessert before she stood up.

"Now I have to finish this pesky potion brewing, darling, but I'll see you tomorrow for dinner."

Narcissa said and in less than five seconds, she was gone once again. Draco stared at the blasted teal door for ten seconds before collapsing against the plush surface. His heart was racing.

"Circe's tits, that woman is going to be the death of me."

Draco whispered to himself before the realization dawned on him. Slowly, a smile crept onto his face as he looked up at the pale silver ceiling. His mother had approved, his mother had approved of his thoughts about Granger. The feeling Draco was undergoing was just as good as a forgo potion.

.

.

.

"Adelaide, make sure the invitations are sent out tomorrow morning before noon. We're running behind on them being delivered."

Blaise said to his new, very lovely, very tight-skirt-wearing assistant before removing his eyes from her bum as soon as she turned around. It wasn't as if Blaise was harassing the witch, she had come onto him hours after she was hired, and who was Blaise to resist a posh witch? Today she was wearing a black, pencil skirt which hugged her lithe figure rightly so and a matching black V-neck sweater. The sweater was one size too small, but Blaise had no complaints as Adelaide's breasts were almost obscenely spilling out – almost. Blaise himself was wearing a cotton, crème-colored V-neck that hugged his torso nicely and showed offhis toned arms with dark gray slacks and faux crocodile oxford shoes. He had accessorized with his usual gold jewelry. The copper haired witch smirked at him before nodding once.

"Of course, Mr. Zabini."

They were both standing near the doorway and Adelaide put one foot in front of her. This caused her knee to move in between Blaise's legs and her chest touched his own. Merlin thank heels, Blaise couldn't help but to think as he unconsciously leaned into the sweet smelling witch.

"Anything else I can do for you, Mr. Zabini?"

She said airily, her cinnamon breath fanning over him like an Amortentia fume. Her dark red lashes fluttered while her eyes stayed on his lips, her own pouting ever so slightly. They were the only two in Blaise's office for the time being. Blaise's thoughts turned wicked. His left hand stroked the smooth fabric of her skirt before grabbing ahold of her ass, pulling her close to him as she squealed at the motion. Both of her hands roped their way to clasp behind his neck as she pulled him close.

"I can think of a couple more things, Adelaide."

He whispered to her. Blaise was planning to snog her senseless before more carnal desires took hold of him. The taste of cinnamon on him, one hand already full, and the other finding its way in her curly locks; Blaise's tongue was dancing around with hers before they both heard an, 'Oh!', and he jerked away. While Blaise was a fan of office sex, he wasn't big on voyeurism. Blaise's hands dropped back to his side as he straightened up, but Adelaide did not move. The radiant face of Ginny Weasley stared in shock before her gaze turned into a glare and icily saying,

"Wrong office."

Adelaide took that as confirmation to pull Blaise back in, but he roughly pushed her away, murmuring,

"Be back."

To the surprised witch and began his pursuit of Ginny. Blaise's usual calm front cracked as his thoughts ran wild in his head. The loudest one being, what in the bloody blazes is she doing here?

"Ginny!"

He couldn't help but to yell after her, the hot summer wind hitting him before he tried to see where she had gone. His current office was in the last building in a cluster of office spaces in muggle London. It wasn't hard to locate him if one knew who they were looking for and he had specifically chosen the last building for quick apparation from the alley. He had hoped Ginny hadn't already left. Thankfully she hadn't apparated yet but despite Blaise's many calls after her, she didn't turn. Making use of his longer limbs, Blaise sped up towards her and grabbed hold of her forearm before she could disappear. Her long, red hair was flowing nicely over her, dressed in a dark blue bodysuit styled for exercise with matching sneakers. The smooth material hugged her nimble figure and perky breasts along with her toned arse. Blaise wanted nothing more than to kiss her instead of the previous witch his lips were on now seeing her, but he was reminded of the situation they were in when he caught Ginny's glare.

"Bugger off, Zabini!"

Ginny snapped, ripping her arm away as she turned to glower up at him. Blaise was momentarily lost for words, seeing the hurt look on the younger Weasley's face. The last time he had seen her was when they were parting ways the morning after the coupling; she was smiling then, a tad apprehensive as neither had intended of staying the night, but certainly not angry. Certainly not livid in the way she was in the alley.
"Why did you stop by?"

He automatically asked.

"It was a mistake."

Ginny quickly replied.

"You walked into nothing."

Blaise couldn't help the need to explain. He didn't owe her one, he thought they had parted on good terms. He wasn't opposed to repeating what they had before – today if he had his way. Ginny crossed her arms over her chest.

"Right."

She offered sarcastically.

"Are you bothered by me snogging someone else?"

He said, changing his tone, shifting the tone of the coming argument. He smirked at her as he leaned down towards her. He was flirting with her as his way to stop the public feud, especially when he didn't want to fight in the first place. Flirting with someone usually worked well with his targets, but not with Ginny Weasley. Instead of flirting back, she groaned out loud, almost sounding like a growl, hands in the air out of exasperation. Blaise's smirk left his lips and confusion spread over him.

"I'm not."

Was all she said. Blaise's brown eyes bore into hers, emotions running through her that weren't congruent with what she was saying. Blaise reached for her, but she turned away, out of Blaise's grasp, and dissapparated. Blaise suddenly felt very sympathetic towards his platinum blond mate in the dealings with Gryffindor witches.

.

.

.

.

Theo was certainly not high in the middle of the day in Wizarding London. No, that would be out of the question for such a noble son of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Theo snorted to himself as he walked merrily through the semi-crowded pathways of Carkitt Market. He was quite content with the mixture of Forgo he had confiscated from Draco ages ago and the marijuana he was secretly growing in his garden – not that it was outlawed in the wizarding world, just frowned upon. While the sun was high in the sky, there was nothing a cooling charm couldn't cure lest the sun spoilt his outfit. He was wearing a light, three-piece suit, but if it wasn't for magic, he'd probably soak through it. Both slacks and jacket were navy with a gray tee underneath. Currently, walking amongst the wixen community with a silly grin on his face is where he spied a certain brunette coming out of Eternelle's. Theo was less interested in what she was holding than her red-rimmed eyes. Perhaps he wasn't the only non-sober one out midday. With a smirk, he began walking towards Astoria Greengrass. Finally reaching her, she paid no mind until he was practically smirking besides her.

"Oh! Theodore, you startled me."

She yelped, clutching at her heart with her occupied hand. Both of them coming to a halt, Theodore raked his eyes over her figure, admiring her put together outfit. He was a sucker for a stylish witch. Her hands were covered in small, green lace gloves; she wore a dark green, tweed short skirt with a matching French jacket, a pale vanilla camisole peeking out. Her long locks were pulled high into a ponytail, and she supported small, gold studs on her ears. She wore white heels, making heralmost an inch taller than him.

"Apologies, Tori. Didn't mean to scare you."

He drawled, winking at her. She stared at him, befuddlement crossing her pretty face before Theo's smirk slowly began fading away. He had mistaken her blood stained eyes for inebriation; she was not, she had been crying. Fuck, Theo cursed inwardly.

"Are you drunk?"

She whispered before he could apologize for his previous statement.

"No, I'm high."

He responded truly and softly. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his curls as he closed his eyes. The sensation felt good, and it bought him time. Inhaling deeply, enjoying how he felt and didn't want to ruin his moment by talking to a sober person, Theo opened his eyes to see Astoria observing him. He certainly had intruded on her when she least expected it.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were also in a similar state."

He said before turning his body to leave.

"Give your family my love, Tori."

Theo said flippantly. Theo would have walked away and continuedon his merry way to wherever Nimue took him if Astoria's free hand hadn't caught onto his arm. He looked down at the gloved digits before staring back towards her, eyebrows raised.

"Indulge me."

Her pink lips said and Theo was sure he had smoked too much. Surely, shewasn't asking, not for what he was thinking. It was out of the question for such a noble daughter of Greengrass to ask him for such accommodations.

"Please."

She said, holding on tighter. Theo couldn't help his wicked smirk; holding onto his beech wand and less than a second passed before he apparated them back to his home. They landed just outside of his greenhouse, in the garden room. Both the greenhouse and the accompanyinggarden room were wrapped in glass; the glass twinkled in soft yellow light, charmed to do so even if there was no sun outside. There wasn't a table, as Theodore was still remodeling, but there was a giant, L-shaped sofa that took up most of the room. There werealso no plants around and it looked minimalist at best.

"Wait here."

He instructed the inquisitive witch before going into the warm greenhouse for more bud. The yellow shaded panesdisappeared as he entered, making sure to close the glass door behind him. Native plants, magical plants, and exotic plants all seemed to be growing from random sized pots, all in random order, but Theo quickly made his way to the angular shaped plant. Smiling at the smell it exuded. He quickly prepared a small, glass pipe next to it to be of use. Soon, he came back to an awaiting Astoria. She was still standing where he left her, and Theo could tell she was nervous. She tried her best to not fidget under his gaze, in his house, but Theo could tell from her mouth she was chewing on the inside of her cheeks. One of his other brunette friends had a similar tick. He held out the glass pipe.

"Ready?"

He asked, smirk still on his lips. With a nervous lick of her lips, brown eyes peering at him, she nodded. The white glass was positioned on her mouth and Theo nonverbally lit the weed ablaze. Inhaling a little too deeply for a greenie, she exhaled and then a coughing fit ensured. Theo chuckled before treating himself. He inhaled slowly, but just as deeply as she had.

"Oh my gods!"

Astoria exclaimed, coughing once more. Theo winked at her while he calmly exhaled. After a couple of seconds passed, Astoria broke the comfortable silence.

"Adrian broke it off with me."

She whispered. Theo had the good grace of letting his smile drop off his lips. Assuming she had meant Adrian Pucey, Theo nodded once. Even though he knew nothing about Astoria and Adrian Pucey, he could still offer her some sympathy. Especially if he was the reason why she was crying while he had assumed she was partaking in an enjoyable activity. Last time he had even thought of Pucey was at Potter's birthday party and Hermione becoming extremely uneasy in his presence. Theo wondered if that conversation had anything to do with Astoria and Pucey's ex-relationship – the thought was fleeting.

"Daphne practically pushed him to it, but he did it all the same."

She continued. Theo couldn't help but to roll his eyes at the name of his ex-fiancée. He had known Astoria and Daphne since they were children; he understoodwhy Daphne sought the approval of her parents, but if Pansy could cut off her family, Theo was sure Daphne could too. He didn't understand why Daphnehad to push her baby sister to follow her heels particularly when she clearly didn't want to. Theo remembered the conversation he had with Daphne as she spoke on behalf of Astoria – really for herself, not for her sister.

"They're wankers."

Theo offered, inhaling the still lit plant in the pipe. He ignored the heating of his cheeks when Astoria beamed at him. Bollocks, he cursed again as he exhaled. It had been a while since Theo had the company of the opposite sex that wasn't someone he was enamored with or someone he saw as a sister. He cursed his lack of social skills since one smile from the younger Greengrass could make him blush like a schoolgirl. Theo couldn't deny that Astoria wasn't pretty, but a smile from her shouldn't have garnered anything but a smirk or smile back. Astoria then giggled and Theo couldn't help but to join in, ignoring his previous slight embarrassment. Caught off guard by the sudden sincerity Astoria exuded – unlike Daphne, unlike Pansy.

"Complete arseholes."

Astoria agreed before taking the conduit from his hand and participating again in theunnoble act.