Stormy Weather

Hermione stared up at the grand gothic manor rising above them and gasped. "Wow. I've never seen anything like that." Hogwarts was really more impressive, but it was a more public place, and didn't have the dark, almost gloomy look to it that Malfoy Manor did. Draco didn't seem all that impressed, but she wasn't surprised. It was his home after all.

Once they got inside, Draco looked around, casually handing his cloak to the house-elf that had let them in and smoothing out his robe at the same time. "Mother and Father should be around here somewhere."

Scarcely had the words passed his lips before his name was called from somewhere above, and Narcissa Malfoy appeared at the top of a high set of stairs. "I'm so glad you both came." She wafted downwards, moving as lightly as a ghost though she was quite obviously very solid.

"Thank you for the invitation." Hermione remembered her manners as she inclined her head a little in greeting.

Narcissa nodded slightly. "My pleasure. It was the least I could do."

Draco stepped up a little. "Should I show Hermione to her room?" His mother smiled lightly.

"An excellent idea, Draco. She's been put in the blue room next to yours."

Hermione wasn't quite certain, but she thought she saw a faint grin on her boyfriend's lips. It was one of those there and gone again expressions that crossed his face every so often, and she had learned that usually meant something interesting was going on. Just what it might be here she didn't know, but it was probably different.

He led her through several corridors, up and down stairs, and in directions so dizzying she couldn't have found her way through them on her own with or without magic. Draco walked through it as easily as if it had been a common hallway in a Muggle home. He paused in front of a dark blue door and looked at it sharply. "Open up!"

On noiseless hinges, the door obeyed, and the two of them entered. Hermione glanced around, fighting to keep her jaw from dropping as the real wealth of the room came into view. She had read quite a lot about wizarding architecture, but she couldn't name everything here; there was just too much of it.

"I hope you like it." Draco told her. "The door should respond to you; guest rooms are spelled to answer to the proper guest or a Malfoy."

"It's beautiful." She turned in place, trying to get all of it in at once, and failing miserably. This was beyond wonderful. She turned when Draco called her name. "Yes?"

Draco was standing by a dresser, and as she joined him, he pulled out his wand and tapped the third draw down, just a few inches from the end. The chest pulled aside at once, revealing a passageway beyond it.

"Where does that go?"

The silver-haired young man grinned. "I'll show you." He guided her down the surprisingly dust free corridor until they reached a solid brick wall. Draco tapped one of them with his wand, causing it to fade away. Beyond it was a room decorated in silver and green.

"Let me guess, your room, right?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded, and she shook her head. "You take your house colors seriously, don't you?"

He didn't look all that bothered by what she said. "It's a family of Slytherins. What did you expect? What about your room at home?"

"Purple."

There was a quick shake of silvery hair. "Not my favorite color." He ran a hand across the green upholstered side of one of the chairs, leaving no doubt what his favorite was. Hermione chuckled a little.

"I painted it to match the lilac outside my window." It had been the first thing she'd seen in the morning for years, and once she'd started going to school at Hogwarts, it had taken months to get used to not seeing it. She glanced over at Draco and smiled a bit, putting one arm around him, noting his own smile. "I like your smile." It appeared so rarely it was definitely worth noticing.

A knock interrupted the quiet moment, and a voice came from behind the door. "Master Draco? Your father wishes you to know that dinner is in thirty minutes."

"Very well." Draco raised his voice just enough to be heard, and hoped the maid would leave now. He had more interesting things in mind than listening to one of them.

His wish wasn't granted, however. "Is Miss Granger in there with you?"

"Yes, she is." Draco wasn't going to lie in his own home.

"Thank you. Are there any messages for your father?" The maid wondered. Draco informed her there weren't, and they could hear her leaving at last.

Hermione looked around a little. "I should really get ready." On the way there, Draco had told her about how formal his family tended to be when it came to dinners, especially with the family. It wasn't quite 'dress robes' style, but a bit less: a very tiny bit.

"So should I." Draco showed her out through the passageway and closed it behind her once she was safely on the way. She carefully dressed in the nicest robes she had with her, brushed out her hair, and headed out into the hall. Draco was already waiting for her, a flicker of a grin as he looked at her. "You look incredible."

She blushed ever so lightly. "I hope this is suitable for your family." Or at least Narcissa. Lucius' opinion only mattered to her insofar as it affected Draco himself. The younger Malfoy extended his arm to her.

"I think it will be." A slightly wider smile flashed across his face, then arm in arm they headed down to the dining hall, Draco looking about for his parents at the same time.

Narcissa came over towards them, smiling softly. "You look beautiful, Hermione." She herself was garbed in a pale blue set of robes that went perfectly with her hair and light eyes. Hermione nodded politely.

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy." She was amazed to see that here, in her own home, Draco's mother had lost that pinched look to her face she'd had when Hermione had first seen her. Harry had mentioned once it made her look as if she were smelling something awful, but here she looked much more normal. It was a definite improvement.

"Please, have a seat." Narcissa motioned them to the chairs, taking one at one end of the table for herself. Lucius was already seated on the opposite end, erect, stern, and forbidding as always. With a wave of his hand, the meal appeared on the plates before them, and they started eating.

Once their first hunger had been satisfied, they did what all people did, and dealt with the real portion of any meal: talking. "Your father and I are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow." Narcissa informed Draco. "The two of you are more than welcome to join us."

Draco looked slightly curious. "What are you going for?"

"Various things we're low on." Narcissa looked just the slight bit shifty-eyed, and he figured they were also going to drop in on Knockturn Alley. "Let us know at breakfast if you will join us."

Her son nodded slightly, though if he'd been asked right then he would've much preferred to show Hermione around those portions of Malfoy Manor that guests could see. The conversation turned to other things then, such as how the situation at school was and what Lucius had been doing with the family business and what they planned on getting the next day.

"While you're in Knockturn Alley, I'll get the robe repair kit." Narcissa shook her head. "The house elves never get the right ones anymore since we lost Dobby."

Lucius snorted something that might have been 'Potter's fault' but Hermione wasn't close enough to him to be certain. She wouldn't have been that surprised, though. Narcissa glanced back at the children. "Perhaps we should let the children get some rest. They have had a long trip."

"You may go." Lucius barely spared them a glance as he waved them away. Draco didn't wait around for anything else, just grabbed Hermione by a hand and guided her up the stairs. Narcissa watched them go with a fond gleam to her eyes.

"Ah, to be young and in love again." She chuckled softly as Lucius just looked slightly nauseous. She hadn't expected anything else from him.

Draco kept hold of Hermione's hand as they walked up the stairs, more from necessity than anything else. "These things are a lot like the ones at Hogwarts at times. If you're not a Malfoy, you can wind up in some of the strangest places. Like a pit of acid."

Hermione blinked slightly. "Lovely home you have here." Before he could say anything else, she went on, "You didn't seem too thrilled about going to Diagon Alley tomorrow."

"I'd prefer to show you around the manor." Draco told her as he put an arm around her and guided her towards her borrowed room. "It's really fascinating. What do you think of things so far?"

She glanced curiously at him. "Of how things are going or what do I think of the house?"

"Both."

Hermione thought for a few moments. "So far, things are going very well. Your father's being civil towards me, at least. That's a good thing. And the house is beautiful." Both of them fell silent, Hermione staring down into her fingers for a few moments before speaking again. "Draco, we've never talked to each other about what happened."

"I know."

She took a long breath, forcing the words out. "Maybe we should?" He looked as if he were a little reluctant, then nodded, necessity winning out over everything else. "Maybe we should change first, then talk?" Draco nodded as he got up and headed quickly for his own room. Hermione changed into a long, loose shirt and leggings, then lit a fire in the fireplace and sat down in front of one of the large pillows in front of it, waiting for Draco to come back.

That must be him now. A knock sounded just as she started to pull her hair into a ponytail. "Come in." Instead of Draco, his mother entered, and Hermione quickly got up. "Hello, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Are you enjoying your stay here?" Narcissa wondered. Hermione nodded quickly; there hadn't been much not to enjoy so far. "I'm glad. Draco hasn't brought anyone home before. I trust you're recovering from all that's been happening?"

"A little." Hermione admitted. "We had planned on talking a little tonight about it."

Narcissa nodded. "Good. Is there anything that we can do to make your stay a little more comfortable?"

Hermione blinked; Narcissa wasn't what she'd thought, but she hadn't expected a question that sounded like she was staying at a Muggle hotel! "Not that I can think of."

"If there's anything, please let me know." Narcissa glanced around casually, then smiled as Draco entered past her. "I'll have the house-elves get a snack ready for you for your talk."

"That is kind of you." Those were definitely words Hermione had never thought would pass her lips to Narcissa Malfoy.

"It's the least I can do." The thin woman told her as the two younger folk settled on the pillow before the fire. "I'll leave you two alone. Do behave yourselves...somewhat, at least."

Draco's pale cheeks flushed just a touch. "Thanks, mother." As she left, the door closing firmly behind her, he looked over at Hermione. They both knew what was coming. Hermione stared into the fire for a moment or two, then looked at him.

"The last spell isn't a life threatening spell. I have to relive what I went through, every night, until I either get over it, or I go mad." She stared back into the fire, her mind wandering over what had happened already. It hadn't been very pleasant finding out this was the way to deal with it. It was the first time in all of her years at Hogwarts she'd considered doing something permanent to a book that wasn't reading it. But what was, was.

Draco took her hand in his gently. "I wish that I could help you with it."

"You can." She told him. "Just be there for me." He nodded a little and she leaned over to kiss him softly, enjoying the contact. Part of her was amazed at how comfortable she was with him, especially given his actions for most of the time she'd known him. If she hadn't known she wasn't under a spell, she might've suspected it, the turnaround for both of them had been so fast.

A slight pop signalled the arrival of the snack, though no house-elves were visible. She was a little disappointed; it might've been nice to have a chat with them and see if any of them were as disaffected as Dobby had been. Maybe I can find the kitchen and see if any of them want to trade news or something. Dobby would probably want to get news of his old home, if nothing else.

She looked over at Draco, meeting his pale eyes, then gripped his hand a little tighter. "Want to talk?" A nod was the answer. "What do you want to know?" She was fairly certain she knew already, and she was proven right.

"Why you did it."

"I didn't want them to hurt you. They would've killed you, really."

He didn't take his eyes from her face. "And they almost killed you." Something about that bothered him.

She had a question of her own, now. "Why didn't you go when I told you to?"

"I wasn't going to leave you. Your life was in danger, too. More than mine right then." Draco looked away, his pale cheeks tingeing to red as he came close to admitting he'd been acting far more Gryffindor-ish than Slytherin just at that moment. Hermione said nothing as she reached over to pick up a cracker. This was going more or less as she'd assumed it would. He wasn't going to admit to more than she was right now.

"I was told they cast a spell on you," she recalled. "What did they do?"

He snatched up a few crackers and bits of cheese of his own. "Just the Cruciatus." He said it as if it were something he'd experienced on a regular basis. Quite blasé about it, actually. Hermione shuddered just at the thought. Descriptions just couldn't do that justice.

"You recovered, though." She reminded him with a kiss on his nose. "What else would you like to know?" Hermione watched him quietly for several minutes as he chewed his snack, swallowed, and stared into the fire, his eyes thoughtful, until he looked back at her. "Did you think of something?"

"Do you regret any of this?"

She looked back into the fire. It was really quite fascinating after all. All the events of the last few months ran through her memory swiftly before she said anything. "Only one thing." She smiled just a bit. "When we were caught our first time." She leaned over to kiss him softly, not able to get enough of his sweet lips. He kissed back deeply, until she pulled away. "We shouldn't..." That could get them into more trouble than either of them wanted right now. "Do you want to know anything else about what happened?"

"Is there anything else?"

Hermione shook her head. "I told you everything in the hospital wing." It had hurt badly enough saying it then. Reliving it now really wasn't on the agenda.

"How did you feel?"

One word sufficed. "Terrified." She clenched her fists; the memories surging back viciously. "I hated that feeling. I hate what they did to us." Her voice choked with sudden tears. "Why? Why did they do it?"

Draco's warm arm folded around her, and she curled into him. "Don't think about them anymore. There isn't anything else they can do, and even if they could, we wouldn't let them." He smiled gently down at her, a reassuring tinge to the unusual expression.

"You have a nice smile."

He chuckled. "You've said that before."

"Because you do." She touched it lightly. "I never saw it before we started dating. Not like that. It was always the smirk before." She laughed as he gave one of his best smirks, then pulled his head down to kiss him more sweetly. "I know we can't do anything else, Draco...but will you hold me tonight?" He nodded slightly and she leaned closer to him. "Thank you." She accio'd an afghan from the nearest chair and wrapped the two of them up in it before closing her eyes. In a very few moments, both of them were sound asleep.

"It does a mother's heart good to see her son happy with some one." Narcissa murmured as she and Lucius peered at the two of them from the doorway. She closed the door silently before heading to her personal garden, Lucius striding alongside of her. "Why can't you be happy for our son, Lucius?"

"If he'd made a better choice, I would be." The pale-haired man growled, his cane tapping along sharply.

Narcissa sniffed. "He's happy. What better choice is there?" She was not overly surprised when he listed off several Slytherin pureblood females. "Most of those have boyfriends. Two have girlfriends. And don't even get me started on Pansy!"

"I did hear that her only qualification was that it breathe." Lucius muttered ever so softly, and she nodded.

"Exactly. Hermione is a strong girl, and someone who might be able to survive if something like what we went through happened to them. She saved our son's life and from what you said, barely survived. If that doesn't prove her feelings for him, nothing ever will. And I doubt that he will ever give her up."

Lucius's lips twitched coldly. "Perhaps. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You might try getting to know her. You never know, she just might be your future daughter in law." Narcissa enjoyed needling Lucius like this. "Your father didn't like me, after all, and now he does. I hope history repeats itself. It does have a way of doing that, you know."

"We'll see." Lucius didn't look all that eager for it to happen again.

"True. Neither of us can see the future." Narcissa took her husband's hand gently. "Let's not worry about it for now. There are much more fun things to think about." Then she proceeded to show just what she meant. After all, they didn't have to worry about being caught.