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Jealousy	By : brandnewdaydawning Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 78826 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
The silence that lingered after this announcement was as cold as arctic winter. Draco fancied that he ought to see his breath in the metaphorical chill. Hermione's hand clasped in his was the only source of warmth. The days of trembling knees and desperate whining however were over so he punctuated the uncomfortable atmosphere with his most obnoxious grin, guaranteed to piss of the elder Malfoy.
He wished he had something clever to say. Usually he had a plan, but in this case the objective had shifted, and he hadn't had time to play catch up. He was too busy playing kiss face. Now he was caught with his metaphorical pants down. Thank goodness things had not progressed so much that he had been caught with his actual pants down. The thought cheered him a bit, and he took a deep breath spiced with Hermione's scent and concentrated on staying calm and centered.
He could no longer gloat about how his vision for fixing the family reputation was so much better and cleverer than Lucius' stupid idea to marry Pansy and how clinging to these outdated notions were just leaving them in the Dark Ages. He had new priorities, and all of them involved not alienating his new, dare he even think it, girlfriend.
Hermione would take a cold rundown on how good she was for his reputation personally. Clever maybe, but the girl didn't have a self-serving bone in her body. For some reason she seemed to have developed a positive opinion of him. He'd like to not remind her that all his bones were firmly stamped with the Slytherin brand.
Finally, after Draco counted sixteen throbs of his father's forehead vein, the elder Malfoy deigned to speak. "I see that my assumption of false rumors and contrived lies were erroneous. You are in fact keeping company with the Granger girl."
Apparently, Lucius had decided to just ignore the introduction to his only son and heir's girlfriend and only talk to Draco like an entitled pureblood snob. Draco wondered if his own forehead vein was throbbing. He found himself far more furious on her behalf than he would have expected.
"Perhaps you should get your news about my private life from me. Then you would know I've been exclusively seeing Hermione for a while now."
"See whomever you like on your own time, Draco. I certainly have no desire to know or hear about your conquests," His father punctuated this with a glance at Hermione that conveyed several swear words worth of censure. "However, when I start getting bombarded with owls that you've been seen traipsing all over London making mooneyes at the swot of Hogwarts, then I have to step in and do damage control."
"Damage control? What the fuck do you think I'm doing? This whole month has been nothing but damage control." Draco snarled quite venomously, taking an angry step forward. All thought of being intimidated fleeing in the wake of his unbound fury.
His father whipped out his wand, fast as lighting, and Draco found himself reacting just as quickly. He stepped in front of the girl, pushing her out of the line of fire before even pulling out his own wand. His father gaping at him in shock had Draco flushing in embarrassment. He didn't really think the man would attack a student in the middle of Hogwarts. That was so stupid. This was his father, not some random brute from the Dark Lord's ranks.
Chastising himself, he put his wand away as quickly as he had pulled it out, but the damage was done. His father wordlessly cast his patented privacy charm and insulated them in a bubble of impenetrable silence, but no one spoke for a long minute. His father was obviously reassessing the situation and deciding how to react. Draco had put himself between Hermione and his father. He'd made a choice, and it hadn't been what his father had been expecting. Hell, he hadn't expected it either. She moved up beside him again, taking his hand, as if nothing was awry.
"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt your family drama, but I do have a pertinent question," Hermione spoke up in her usual no-nonsense tone that had missing from their interactions lately.
His father turned his attention to her, blinking owlishly, obviously a little flabbergasted to be addressed in such a manner. "Do you have Draco under surveillance?"
Draco barked a laugh at his father's deadly sneer. She was so priceless. Being on this side of her unabashed interrogative nature was a lot more fun than being her target. He could understand why her boorish friends always looked so cheered. That wasn't the sort of question you asked a mere acquaintance. Not that it stopped her, nothing stopped her. She was a force of nature.
"Miss Granger, I understand Muggles may have certain unsavory customs I'm not familiar with, but surely having your own offspring tailed is not so commonplace that you would assume such behavior of a respectable wizard."
No one did condescending quite like his father. It was an artform he had perfected: voice dripping with disdain, eyebrow quirked just right so that everyone knew he thought she was a little on the daft side, backhanded insult to her background. Implied answer without actually saying whether or not he had been followed. Draco was torn between being insulted on her behalf and giving into the maniacal laughter that was trying to bubble up out of him.
"Consider yourself respectable, do you? Bold supposition to make when we are standing here, talking about owls you received tattling on your son about his lunch date. So, do you have him followed all the time, or just during the school year?"
His father's eye twitched, a dangerous precursor to violence for those who knew him well, and Draco decided to intervene before things got nasty. "He's not having us followed, we're just famous."
"Oh, come on, Draco. You don't actually believe that grown wizards and witches, people with families, jobs, lives of their own, have nothing better to do than come running to his ear with gossip about who is dating who? Seriously?"
Draco finally looked away from his father to blink at her. That exasperated fondness was a tone he'd heard directed at Potter or Weasley or dozens of other assorted Gryffindor's. The scathing imperiousness she usually directed at him was missing and he had to look at her to see if she was aware of it. It made him want to kiss her again, to hell with their audience.
His father took advantage of his dumb staring to bogart the conversation again. "Your position in wizarding society makes you prominent in the public eye! You are best friends with Harry Potter and the literal poster girl for the muggle-born agenda. Surely you must be aware that every move you make is scrutinized by the press and the powers alike. It's no surprise that I heard about your outing quite quickly. The only surprise is that you didn't expect it."
Lucius let out a cruel laugh and gripped his cane with both hands, giving her a once over that had Draco's good humor taking a hard left towards irritation. He focused a death glare on his father and willed him to pay attention to the fact that Draco was not happy about the way this meeting was going. His father was about to say something else cutting and mean, and Draco found old resentments boiling up in his middle despite his best efforts. Why couldn't the man just be cordial and polite to his girl? It wouldn't kill him to extend basic courtesy to someone he had just declared important to him.
"The rumor mill often fails, however, which is why I am here for clarification. For instance, the word on the street is that you are reasonably clever. I can see that is an overblown exaggeration. Now, if you would excuse us, Miss Granger, I need to have a private word with my son."
Hermione stepped closer to him though, and her grip became firmer. She opened her mouth to protest, and Draco could practically feel the worry vibrating off her person. It filled him with a warm glow he wasn't familiar with and a terrible understanding at the same time.
"No worries, love," Draco drawled, not taking his gaze off his father. "Contrary to popular rumor around here, my father has never so much as laid a finger on me in anger or otherwise. I'm perfectly safe."
"Are you implying that people indicate you are somehow abused at home? Who would dare to tell such tales?" His father's voice had gone deadly soft, and once that tone would have had Draco quaking in his obnoxiously expensive boots. He was old enough now to understand that this deadly fury was not directed at him, and rarely had been. Despite it all, he was loved, he knew that. Secure enough in his place to bark a harsh laugh and give his dad the unabashed truth.
"Everyone. Foul garbage like that is common place since you decided to make our name synonymous with one of the most notoriously evil wizards on the planet. Did you think that stain wouldn't spread? People think the absolute worst of us now."
That announcement left a quality of silence that Draco was unfamiliar with, and he realized he had a rare opportunity here: a moment when his father might be off balance just enough to actually listen. He turned to Hermione and gave her an apologetic smile. "I do have some stuff I need to discuss with my father. Can I meet you later tonight, after dinner?"
She searched his eyes, no doubt looking for deceit for a few seconds, before she nodded slowly. "I've got my rescheduled meeting with Snape, and you have Quidditch practice. Tomorrow will have to be soon enough."
Then she blew his mind. His brazen, beautiful, bold girl went on tiptoe and gave him the sweetest kiss goodbye in the history of goodbye kisses. As casual as if she had always kissed him goodbye, as if she'd done it a million times. Right in front of his father without a trace of shame or embarrassment.
She peeled away from him with a look for Lucius that was nothing short of devious and defiant, tipping her head ever so slightly in acknowledgement towards his father but not deigning to give him a polite goodbye in the wake of his shamefully rude treatment of her. She left him then, keeping her grip on his hand until her footsteps drew them apart enough for his arm to fall lonely at his side.
His father was speechless, as was he, and they both watched her walk away until she had turned the corner, and the click of her sensible shoes had faded. They looked at each other, and Draco found himself coloring slightly. It was one thing for your father to know you catted around a bit. It was another to have a lovely woman kiss you in front of him. He smiled then, a slow Cheshire smile that let Draco know that the mood had shifted between them.
"Quite a girl you have there, son. Let's go get a drink, shall we?"
- 18
- 19
- 20
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Jealousy