Chapter 8 - Saturday Surprises

A week had passed since Hermione had Nick had moved into the Manor. Hermione was well aware of the fact that she'd missed a whole week of work but frankly was not bothered in the slightest. She knew her boss would understand once she told him about moving and the time it took to "settle in". Malfoy, surprisingly, had been somewhat civil, except for that one incident. Hermione suspected it was mainly to keep her from running away.

Their life at the Manor so far had become more of a routine. It seemed that all they did was get up in the morning, eat, Draco would go to work, Nick would play in his room, Hermione would read a book or explore the Manor, and then Draco would come back home between five and six, they would all have dinner and go to sleep. This happened every single day and frankly Hermione was bored. She would return to work after the weekend, but she did not know what to do until then. She thought of visiting her friends, but that would mean explaining the situation she was in right now, and she wasn't ready to do that just yet. She loved Ron and Harry to bits, but at times they could be a little overdramatic.

The familiar ring of the bell that alerted them someone had apparated into the Manor told her that Draco was back from work. Hermione counted to twenty and as predicted there was a squeal of "Daddy! Your home!" and she knew Draco had reached Nick's bedroom. She counted to fifteen this time and just as she finished saying the 'teen' on that last number, Draco walked into their bedroom, supporting Nick with one arm as he hung from his neck and in the other hand holding a shiny black briefcase. Like said before, it was a complete routine.

"Hello Hermione." He greeted before setting his briefcase down and throwing Nick into the air and catching him with both hands.

"Hi." Hermione replied trying to ignore the way his well-defined biceps became evident through his expensive robes as he caught Nick.

"Daddy, Daddy, guess what. I put a castle in our city today, it looks just like Hogwarts." Said Nick, laughing as his father continued to bounce him in the air.

"Did you now, well I'll see it later when I read you your bedtime story."

"YAY!"

"So, what did you do today?" Asked Draco turning to look at her.

"Oh, nothing much, just read and colour-coded my wardrobe." She answered.

Draco looked at her as though she'd grown an extra head. "Why the hell did you colour-code your wardrobe?" He said, incredulously.

"Don't look at me like that, I was bored. I'm so glad I'll be going back to work on Monday."

At this, Draco almost dropped Nick and looked at her with, if possible, even more shock. "What do you mean? You can't work."

"What do you mean? I can't work?"

"Because Malfoy women do not work." He said simply.

"I am not a Malfoy woman, nor do I ever plan on being, so I will work if I want to."

"But you don't need to work. I make enough money for the both of us." Said Draco as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Just because I'm living with you, doesn't I'm going to start living off you. I will earn for myself thank you very much." Hermione almost yelled.

"But why? I don't care if you're living off of me. I'm willing to give you whatever you want as long as you and Nick live here. Why put in the extra effort when there's really no need of it?" He said it as more of a statement, but Hermione replied anyway.

"Let's just say that I like the satisfaction of knowing I actually earn for myself, that I'm not just a gold-digging..."

She didn't finish what she was going to say as she realised that Nick was still in the room.

"Who's going to judge you, Granger? It shouldn't even matter to you what others think."

"'Look Malfoy, I happen to enjoy working. Yes, I'm not like other women, or women you are used to. And yes, I may sound crazy to you. But whether you like it or not Malfoy, I'm going to work. Merlin knows it's probably the only thing that will keep me sane, living here." She said with an air of finality.

Draco didn't say anything. He knew it was no use, after all this was Granger he was talking about. The stubborn bitch! Did she not understand how much this effected his reputation? That he would be the laughingstock of the community if people knew that a woman living with him, probably the richest man in Britain, worked to earn her own money. He'd find a way out of this mess later. For now, he had to stay on Granger's good side because he knew that if given the chance, she would leave the Manor right away with Nick and he, Draco, had fallen too much in love with his son to let that happen.

The next morning came with a few surprises. First, Nick woke up crying after having a nightmare in which the Frooley Monster had kidnapped him and locked him in a volcano. It had taken Hermione at least half an hour to calm him down and to make him believe that it had only been a dream. Then when Draco had finally woken up and come to see what all the fuss was about, he had slipped on a toy truck that he didn't see due to is drowsiness and fallen face flat, blood spurting from his nose. Both Hermione and Nick had been in hysterics while Draco rolled around on the floor, moaning in pain. Eventually Hermione had enough heart to help him up and clear up his blood nose, though the scene kept replaying in her head constantly and she would burst into uncharacteristic giggles making Draco scowl.

The biggest surprise of all came when the trio had been sitting in the garden they first ate in, enjoying a rather delicious breakfast. As Draco reached over the milk jug to grab a muffin, Chinko the house elf came up to him, bowed deeply before saying:

"Master, Chinko is here to tell Master that his mother is here waiting for him in the main lounge. She is saying that you is needing to see her right away and that you is to not to make excuses because you is not speaking to her for a whole month."

Draco stood up so fast, that the milk jug toppled over, spoiling the rest of their breakfast. He stared incredulously at the house-elf before turning to Hermione. "Stay here, I'll be back." And with that he began heading towards the Manor. He realised that the warning he had given Granger had been completely useless as he saw his mother making her way towards him through the glass double doors. He stood rooted to the spot as his mother approached him and pulled him into a tight embrace, placing a kiss on each of his cheeks.

"Draco, my love," She greeted, looking him up and down. "It has been a long time. Are you avoiding me son?"

"It's good to see you too mother, and no, I am not avoiding you. What on earth gave you that impression?" Draco replied, trying as hard as possible to divert Narcissa's attention from the breakfast table where Hermione and Nick were sitting stock still.

"Well in case you haven't realised my dear, it has been almost a month since I last saw you and even then, we didn't get to spend much time together. I've decided that-"

But Draco never found out what she had decided as she stopped talking upon spotting Hermione and Nick at the table over Draco's shoulder. She stared wide-eyed at the two and then turned to look at her son wearing the same expression. Draco wished nothing more than to sink into his perfectly manicured lawn. Explaining this to his mother was going to be very difficult. To his horror, Hermione stood up at that exact moment and walked up to them.

"Good morning, Mrs Malfoy, I'm Hermione Granger. I don't believe we've been properly introduced before." She said, holding out her hand. It was true, the only time Hermione had seen Narcissa was at the World Cup back in the summer before fourth year, they had not spoken on that occasion.

Narcissa did not take her offered hand, she simply stared at her. Finally, she spoke, and her words were directed at Draco, "What is all this Draco, is there something you're not telling me?"

"Well... erm well you see Mother..." Stuttered Draco not knowing how to explain.

His mother did not look happy, she gestured for him to follow her inside. Hermione watched them go and then went to sit back at that table, feeling somewhat offended that Narcissa had treated her like a garden hedge by not accepting her greeting. Who was she trying to kid, of course she treated her like that. She was a freaking Malfoy; they were all the same. Sighing she looked up to see Nick sitting there a bewildered expression on his face. She smiled and motioned for him to come and sit in her lap, which he did, and the two of them waited to see what would happen to Draco.

"So, you mean to tell me Draco, that this girl turns up four years after you have not seen her at all, claiming she is the mother of your child when you remember no involvement with her, and you believed her?" Asked Narcissa incredulously.

"For the last time mother, she did not "turn up". We ran into each other and no, she didn't tell me, I used Legilimency to find out who the father was. She's not a gold-digger mother as you are claiming her to be. This is Granger we're talking about mother; she is not that type of girl. And besides, I saw a memory of the night that Nick was conceived, that is proof enough." Said Draco sternly.

"But Draco it doesn't make any sense, why would she not tell you. Surely she knew you had a right to know."

"Mother, don't you remember anything I told you about Granger when we were at school? We absolutely hated each other. What happened between us was a mistake. Do you really think she thought I had the 'right to know' if she was completely regretting what had happened. I don't think so."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Narcissa huffed, collapsing onto the couch putting a hand to her head.

"Look, Mother, please don't ruin this. Nick is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, even if I do have to share him with Granger. But seriously, I want to be a good father and I have a lot to catch up on seeing as I missed a whole four years of his life."

"I know you've always wanted a son Draco, so no, I'm not going to ruin this for you. But you need to understand the impact this will have on our reputation when word gets out."

At this Draco went and sat next to his mother on the couch. He rubbed a hand over his face and said, "I know mother, but that's a risk I'm willing to take."

Narcissa smiled at her son and kissed his cheek. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she got up and began walking out of the living room. "I think I'm going to go over there and apologise for my behaviour earlier; I think it completely shocked the girl."

Grinning, Draco got up and followed his mother.

When they reached the garden again, Narcissa did in fact apologise to Hermione who acted as though it had not affected her at all. Then they all sat down and continued breakfast (Chinko had cleaned up the mess from earlier) and made small talk. Though she did not admit it to anyone, Draco's mother was starting to like Hermione. She was intellectual and had the ability to hold up a proper conversation without complimenting her every second sentence. What pleased her most was that she was different from all the girls that Draco was known for dating and Narcissa was finally starting to believe that her son could in fact settle down, and she, Narcissa, would help him get there no matter what. Smirking to herself in a very Malfoy-like manner, she sipped her Earl grey tea watching as Nick tried to convince Hermione that having more than two chocolate chip muffins was completely healthy.