Beauty From Pain

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Well, I think it's lovely." Narcissa cleared her throat and patted his hand, the poised aristocrat sitting across from him once more. "When will you be seeing her again?"

"Why," Draco asked with a playful grin. "Would you like to make an appointment?"

She looked absolutely appalled by the idea, and Draco couldn't help but laugh. "Draco Lucius Malfoy, if you so much as think about putting your dear mother —"

Draco leaned back in his seat and clutched his stomach as he laughed. No part of him thought Narcissa would ever want a tattoo, but he couldn't resist watching her delicate, pureblood composure crack.

"It is good to hear you laugh." She smiled softly at him, despite his laughter being at her expense. "However, I am still insulted that I was one of the last to know about your," she gestured vaguely towards his face and arm, "additions."

"I promise, in the future, you will be one of the first to know."

Narcissa's eyebrows rose and a coy smile began to play at the corners of her lips. "In the future? So you plan on allowing Miss Granger to continue using your skin as her personal art canvas?"

For whatever reason, this caused Draco to blush faintly, and he hid his face behind a long sip of his tea. The way she said it made the tattoos seem even more intimate than they already were. When he finally got his embarrassment under control, he said, "Calling it an art canvas seems a touch dramatic."

"Is it?" She waved her hand, and a house elf appeared to remove the tea set. Narcissa smiled gratefully at it. "Do you not think Miss Granger considers it to be an art form?"

"I suppose." He frowned slightly; he hadn't considered that before. It made sense considering she had to draw the designs and, in a sense, paint them onto his skin. "Calling it art makes it seem so..."

"Intimacy comes in many forms, Draco."

Once again reminded of the previous night, Draco cleared his throat and rose from his chair. "Forgive me, Mother, but intimacy is the last thing I would like to discuss with you."

"Of course, darling." She was still giving him that damned smile. It was hiding laughter, not malicious but still frustrating because he knew she enjoyed making him uncomfortable, and she was so bloody good at it. "Do tell Miss Granger I said hello."

He told her he would, kissed her gently on the cheek, and apparated back to his flat. He needed a shower and a change of clothes before he met Hermione for dinner.

Hermione had spent the afternoon at her shop, scheduling new appointments and tactfully evading Theo's questions. She found herself smiling throughout the day at nothing in particular and frequently lost herself to thoughts of her date with Draco.

"You're doing it again."

Her gaze snapped up, and she found Theo leaning against the doorway of her office. He had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Doing what?" She knew exactly what she was doing, but she refused to admit to it.

"Thinking about him," he said. He pointed to her face and his grin widened. "You get this dopey smile on your face every time you think about him. It's disgusting."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "If it's so terrible, why don't you go home?"

"I have a better idea." Theo walked over to her desk and picked up her appointment book. He skimmed over it to make sure they were finished for the day and said, "Since you are having such a difficult time focusing on anything other than my best mate, which makes me uncomfortable by the way, why don't you go home? Having to watch you moon over him all day should be considered workplace harassment."