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Tempest Winds
Chapter 6
Draco
Draco yawned loudly, knowing his mother would wear a displeased look, her lips pursed at his rude display.
"Really Draco," Andromeda Tonks admonished in a tone Narcissa Malfoy would be proud of, "I would appreciate a modicum of the decorum I know you were raised with."
Draco rolled his eyes and took a sip of tea as he nibbled on toast.
"Yes, well, I was up quite late," Draco grit out, remembering the Muggle Studies practice exams and work he was tasked with by Granger.
"Yes, I don't believe I heard you take to your bed until this morning," Andromeda said sympathetically.
Draco only munched his toast in annoyance.
"Good morning, all!" Ted Tonks greeted as he walked to the stovetop for a cup of tea.
"Good morning, darling," Andromeda said, levitating his plate to the table.
Ted sat down and said, "I understand we have a special guest tomorrow, you must be quite excited Draco."
Draco looked up in confusion, wondering if he meant Granger, the bane of his daily existence and sleepless nights.
"Your mother has been cleared to visit tomorrow if today's exam and lessons go well," Andromeda informed Draco, smiling as she forked eggs into her mouth.
Draco felt himself choke slightly on his tea and asked, "Really?"
Andromeda gave him a small smile and said, "Of course, you have worked hard the past few weeks with Miss Granger and will hopefully test out of Muggle Studies today. If you pass your exam to move onto Ancient Runes, then I don't see a reason to keep her from visiting."
Draco felt a swell of excitement fill his chest at the idea of seeing his mother.
"Well, I am off," Ted said, gulping down his tea, donning his lime green healer robes.
"It's still rather early, dear," Andromeda said, frowning at his half eaten breakfast.
"I am to check in for early rounds with the interns, my love," Ted said regretfully, pecking her forehead and nodding once to Draco.
Andromeda sighed and sipped her tea, grabbing the Daily Prophet and flipping through it.
"What time will Mother be here?" Draco asked, trying to determine what his day would look like.
"I believe she is coming mid morning," Andromeda said, "I could write her and change the time if you prefer."
"No, mid-morning is fine. Shall we meet here?" He asked.
"Unfortunately, due to the court order, the meeting needs to be supervised and outside of Malfoy Manor. If you prefer someone other than myself or Ted to supervise, you may meet wherever you wish with your mother in the company of Officer Lang from the Office of Child and Family Welfare."
Draco reflected on that, considering what his mother would prefer. If they couldn't meet at the Manor, it would have to be in public. His family had been splashed across the headlines since his father's arrest, Draco's removal from his mother's custody, and the return of Lord Voldemort and his known support from the Malfoy family.
"I think my mother would prefer meeting here in private, without the court representatives," Draco said, placing his silverware on the plate, finished with his breakfast.
Andromeda nodded and said, "I assumed the same."
The pair sat in silence, both considering the upcoming visit from Narcissa Malfoy.
"Hermione will be here soon," Andromeda finally said, glancing at her wristwatch.
Draco nodded and stood with his dishes, grabbing Andromeda's as he passed and went to the sink to wash.
He felt her eyes on him as he worked, wondering what he was doing wrong this time.
Draco finished, glancing at the clock above the door and said, "I need to grab my laundry from the line and fold them before Granger arrives."
He vacated the kitchen before his aunt could voice his errors.
Draco walked outside the small cottage, strolling to the clothes lines. He stood, watching the clothes blow in the breeze, the summer sun warming his face as he angled his face towards it. He closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the stream behind the house flow by, where further downstream children splashed in it, laughing. It was a pleasant, wholesome sound.
Draco opened his eyes, knowing he needed to get to work.
As he pulled the clothes from the clothespins and folded his clothing, he smelled the freshness that wafted up. Surely it wasn't the soap that made it smell so good. Maybe it was the breeze and the sun sinking into the fabrics or the fact that he knew the effort it took to clean them, but Draco far preferred the scent of the clothes he folded now to the luxurious scents he became accustomed to as a child.
"Is there any better scent than clotheslines dried clothing?"
Draco spun, one of his shirts in his hands as Hermione observed him from the back doorway.
Draco looked down at his shirt, before folding it and dropping it with the other neatly folded items.
"I am just about to finish this up, I won't be long," Draco said, grabbing another shirt.
He assumed Hermione went to go inside and prepare for his lessons, so he was surprised to see her hand reach for a pair of trousers from the line and begin folding it.
"What are you doing?" He asked bewildered.
"I am helping you," she said as if he was simple.
"Why?"
"Why ever not?" She retorted, tossing the pants into the basket before reaching for one of his undershirts.
"I don't need your help Granger," he spat.
"It doesn't matter to me if you need it," Hermione said, "But I am offering it all the same."
Draco watched as she folded his shirt, wondering why she was so determined to help him. It was curious that with everything his father had done over the summer, after how he had treated her, that no only was she helping him with school, but now she was folding his-
"For fuck's sake," Draco growled, snatching his boxer-briefs from her hands, "I don't want your help, how's that then?"
Hermione only smirked and put her hands on her hips.
"They are just knickers, Malfoy," Hermione said, chuckling, "Nothing I haven't seen before."
Draco glared at her and then dropped his briefs in the basket before reaching for his sheets.
Hermione grabbed at the other end and he sighed before they mirrored each other's arm movements to fold the sheet.
"Why are you the way you are?" Draco asked in an annoyed voice.
Hermione was quiet and then asked, "Why are any of us the way we are? It's a combination of genetics, our family, our culture, how we are raised and something that is just us and how we see the world."
"It's never a simple answer with you," Draco said, taking the sheet and putting it in the laundry basket before grabbing the other sheet with Hermione.
"Don't ask complicated questions if you want simple answers," Hermione responded.
Draco and Hermione folded the large sheet then each took a pillow case and folded in silence.
As Draco dropped the final pillow case, Hermione said, "It's so beautiful out here, why don't we do our lesson out here instead of in the kitchen?"
Draco glanced at her, then nodded once.
She smiled and walked inside to grab their school materials while Draco went towards the stairs to put his laundry in the room.
He glanced over his shoulder to watch Hermione walk into the kitchen. Her hair was long, her shiny curls bouncing with each step. Before he understood where his gaze was leading him, Draco found his attention drawn to her bum and long tanned legs.
Draco shook his head as he stomped up the stairs, trying to squeeze the thoughts from his mind. What the fuck?
Logically he knew she was very fit and attractive, but she was the exact opposite of what he was looking for in a witch. And she was a mudblood. So no matter how perfect her bum was in those denim shorts, or how long and smooth her legs looked, he would need to train his eyes away.
Hermione
Hermione read her copy of Advanced Potion Making, occasionally making notes in her notebook, looking up every once in a while to check on Draco's progress for his Muggle Studies exam. They had reviewed this morning after folding the laundry and Hermione hoped to Morgana he passed.
She couldn't do anything else to foster an appreciation for Muggle household, mechanical and technological advancements.
Draco caught her looking, but then refocused on his booklet with a scowl on his face.
This morning, when she had seen him working in the yard, folding laundry, she felt a pull in her abdomen as the muscles in his arms worked. It reminded her of Viktor's arms and all the pleasure they brought her not so long ago. It sure felt like a long time ago.
She shifted in her chair, shivering in the warm sunshine on the back patio where they were working. Hermione couldn't believe how much she craved intimacy since she left Italy. It was like her body had been switched on and had a living, restless need coursing through her veins.
She glanced back up to see Draco's eyes on her again, his gaze oddly intense. She took a sip of her lemonade and focused back on her work, trying to fight the blush she felt.
Hermione felt the breeze and felt relief as it ruffled through her hair. She grabbed her hair tie from her wrist, wrapping curls up in a loose knot on top of her head and securing it with the tie.
The breeze on the back of her neck felt good and she stretched her arms before turning her page and settling back in.
Draco tossed his quill down and Hermione looked up and asked, "Done?"
Draco glanced at her before nodding his head once and lifting an eyebrow at her.
She collected his booklet, saying a small prayer that he had passed.
About halfway through, Andromeda appeared and set some sandwiches and fruit down on the table and pulled out a chair and joined them.
"How did you find it Draco?" Andromeda asked as she handed him a plate.
Draco just shrugged and said, "Fine."
Hermione kept grading as Andromeda served up herself and Hermione plates. As she continued she felt two sets of eyes on her.
They weren't eating. Hermione looked up and said, "I am just going to finish this, please enjoy your lunch."
Draco dug right in and Andromeda looked at him in exasperation before she grabbed a piece of watermelon off her plate and ate it.
"Well, you passed," Hermione said, smiling in relief as she set the booklet aside.
"Thank Merlin!" Andromeda exclaimed, smiling and standing from her chair. She walked around the table and hugged Hermione, "Thank you for your help. I know it wouldn't have happened had you not stepped in." Draco's expression immediately became annoyed at Andromeda's praise for her part in his success.
Hermione smiled in amusement at Draco's attitude, but genuinely responded to Andromeda, "You're welcome."
They both looked at Draco expectantly, who set down his lemonade, and rolled his eyes, "Yes, thanks Granger for teaching me this rubbish."
Hermione just smirked and shook her head.
"Andromeda, may I borrow Noctua to send this to Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, lifting the test booklet.
"Oh I can do that," Andromeda offered, "Oh and before I forget…"
She patted her apron pocket and pulled out a letter, "A very handsome Eurasian Pygmy-owl found you here. If you slept here, I would have to charge you rent."
Hermione smiled and looked at the letter, her face flushing again as she recognized the penmanship.
"Everything okay?" Andromeda asked, smirking knowingly.
"A friend," Hermione said.
"Potter or Weasley?" Draco asked, scoffing as he popped a grape in his mouth.
"Neither, not that it's any of your business," Hermione said.
Draco grinned, noticing an an opening for riling her up.
"A Eurasian Pygmy-owl?" Draco continued, "Those aren't that common on English soil."
Hermione looked up at him, annoyance clear on her face.
"Eat your lunch, Draco," Andromeda encouraged, sensing a change between the two teens.
Draco took a bite of his sandwich crust, his eyebrows furrowing as he worked something out on his own.
"I believe that breed of owl is common in Eastern European countries…like…Bulgaria," Draco said, connecting the dots that Hermione hadn't wanted him to connect.
"Shut up," she snapped, her face flushing as she pulled apart her sandwich and took a bite.
"You are pen pals with Viktor Krum still?" Draco asked scathingly, "How the hell did you manage that?"
Hermione remained quiet as Andromeda said, "I am sorry I even brought it up."
"It's alright, Andromeda," Hermione said, "I am not ashamed of my friendship with Viktor."
"Of course you're not, he's a world renowned athlete," Draco scoffed, "The question is what he sees in maintaining a correspondence with you."
Hermione grit her teeth and said, "Malfoy, I am warning you."
"Is there a plan there Granger?" Malfoy said, his voice full of antagonism.
"Draco," Andromeda said, her tone warning.
"Woo him between your virginal sheets, dose him with love potion, maybe…steal his magic?" Draco taunted.
"What?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"Enough, Draco, now!" Andromeda snapped.
Draco fell silent, chuckling to himself as he took another sip of lemonade.
Hermione inhaled and exhaled a heavy sigh, a frown on her face as she stood and said, "You know, I think I am done for today. Thank you for the lunch Andromeda."
She stalked through the back door, trying to understand why she had gotten so upset at Draco's prodding.
She paused and inhaled deeply as she prepared to go through the floo. She didn't like floo traveling while she was upset.
"Hermione," Andromeda said, coming through the back door, "I am so sorry, again. I shouldn't have even brought it up while we were at lunch."
Hermione turned, ion haling and trying to calm down. It wasn't Andromeda's fault that Malfoy was a Tosser and used any excuse, even one as innocent as a letter from a friend, to antagonize her.
Hermione offered Andromeda a small reassuring smile, "You couldn't have known. That's just how it is between us, if not worse."
"It's awful," Andromeda said, "I wouldn't blame you if you decided to stop being his tutor."
Hermione looked down and considered that. Giving it up. But she remembered Dumbledore's request. She remembered him saying Draco was at a crossroads. Hermione felt foolish for allowing Draco's immaturity to make her lose her composure. but she also resented Dumbledore for putting her in this tough spot.
"No," Hermione said, determined to see this through for Dumbledore, "Draco doesn't understand, but he will soon enough and I am hoping what we're doing here will help him make the right decisions. Dumbledore has hope for him, so I won't give up."
Andromeda watched her and both of them sighed as they both found themselves stuck in a situation of saving Draco Malfoy, even though it wasn't in their best interest and unpleasant and frustrating as hell.
Hermione looked up at the ceiling of Andromeda's living room. She then looked down at the floo powder she didn't even remember gathering in her hand. She looked at the decorative bowl that held the sparkling green powder and looked to Andromeda once more.
At Andromeda's impressed assessment of her, Hermione dropped the handful of powder back into the bowl and asked, "Once more unto the breach?"
She didn't expect Andromeda to know Shakespeare, but was delighted to see her smile in response and respond, "Charge!"
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