Astoria sat in front of Narcissa as they took a break from their shopping. “Oh, it’s so great to be out with you, Narcissa. I’ve been itching to come out of my flat - living alone is so suffocating.” She explained with a deep sigh.
“I can say the same to you, too, Astoria. Oh, ever since … Draco’s father passed it’s been hard on me. But I’m glad I’m able to come out once in a while and it’s all thanks to you.” Narcissa smiled warmly.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Astoria said, frowning as she set her cup down. “It must be so hard for you to live all alone.”
“Yes, well, I’ve … learned to get used to it. Besides, I can finally decorate the house the way I want to.” She joked with a forced chuckle. “Oh, it’d be so great if I could have you as my daughter-in-law.” She stated wistfully with a sad smile.
Astoria grinned, blushing as she looked down. “Well, I’d be honored to have you as my mother-in-law. But, Draco should marry the person he loves.” She said, lifting her head up hesitantly. “And since he loves Hermione--”
Narcissa scoffed as she shook her head. “Ugh, I don’t like her. I don’t see her with my Draco - meeting through a one night stand! Ha! And they way she treats me - absolutely no respect.” She creased her eyebrows with disapproval as she pressed her lips firmly together. “I just wish I could get rid of her somehow.”
Astoria’s eyes widened as her ears perked up. She smiled, but quickly hid it as she cleared her throat. “Well, I do have … a plan.”
“Hm?”
“I don’t know if you’ll like it,”
“Oh, honey, do tell.” Narcissa leaned in eagerly, lending Astoria her ear.
“Well, I’ve been thinking and maybe …” Astoria whispered her plan into Narcissa’s ear with a smirk playing on her lips.
“Oh, that’s brilliant, Astoria.” Narcissa grinned from ear to ear as she leaned back out. “That sounds perfect,”
---
Draco sat on the couch anxiously as he stared at the wall in front of him. He yawned and stretched, occasionally taking a quick look at his phone. “Stop it,” He whispered, ripping his eyes off his phone. He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck with a frustrated sigh. He rose from the couch and walked over to the kitchen, getting ready to make himself breakfast. Whistling and keeping himself busy, Draco began to cook some waffles. Time to time, his whistling would stop when he looked over the counter at his phone to see if it lit up with light. It didn’t. Not once, not ever.
“What are you doing, mate?” He suddenly asked himself, waiting for his waffles to cook. He glued the palm of his hands onto the counter, leaning over as he thought to himself. “No, why are you waiting for her to call or text you? No, you don’t care. You don’t give a rat’s arse whether she calls you or not.” He told himself with conviction and passion, nodding as he scoffed. “I’m ridiculous - Draco Malfoy does not wait for a girl’s cal--” He heard his phone ring and immediately dropped everything, running over to his phone in a blink of an eye. He excitedly looked at his phone and his heart dropped. It was just spam mail. “I need to get rid of this email account, I don’t even use it.” He stated bitterly, throwing his phone back on the couch.
Draco furrowed his eyebrows, letting out an aggravated shout, pulling his hair. He groaned, staring at his phone one last time before walking back to his waffles. “Why isn’t she calling me back? Wait, does she expect me to call her first? I mean, I will - I just, it’d be nice if she initiated it first.”
---
Hermione stared at her phone, laying in her bed idly as she let out a sigh. “Stop it, Hermione. You’re being ridiculous.” She reprimanded herself, tossing the phone beside her on the bed. “Just stop thinking about him, sleep some more.” She muttered as she buried herself deep under her covers, shifting in her bed continuously.
An eternity passed but really, only a few seconds passed before Hermione suddenly sat up in her bed, throwing the covers off of herself. She quickly took a look at her phone and groaned, collapsing back down on the bed. “Why isn’t he calling?”
A thought popped into her head. “Wait, does he want me to call him first?” She asked herself and grabbed her phone. “Fine, you know what? I’ll call first.” She said, calling Draco’s phone . confidently. She fixed her hair as she waited nonchalantly. But the second she heard the first ring, she hung up, throwing her phone away from herself. “Shit.”
“No, I’m not calling because …” Hermione sighed, getting out of bed. “I am busy today. Yeah, I’m busy and I don’t have time to wait for his ca--” Her cellphone blew up with her ringtone and she jumped back on the bed, grabbing her phone and looked at the screen. He was calling. Hermione fixed her hair, sitting correctly on the bed as she cleared her throat. After a few deep breaths, she picked up. “Hello?” She answered with the most gentle voice she could muster.
“Granger,” Draco’s husky voice said from the other line.
Hermione jumped right back into her bed, kicking her legs up with joy as she screamed internally. “What do you want, Malfoy?” She asked, completely composing herself to remain calm and indifferent. “I’m busy,”
“Doing what?” Draco asked on the other line.
“With work,”
“Well, I just wanted to call because …” Draco stood in the middle of his living room, rubbing the back of his neck. Shit. He didn’t think this far into it. No, why did he have to lie? They were adults now, he wasn’t some teenager. He should just say the truth. “I called because I wanted to talk to you,” He finally said after a few moments of hesitation.
“About?” Hermione asked feeling her cheeks turn red.
“I just wanted to hear your voice.” Draco clarified, his eyes widening at his sudden boost of confidence - or temerity.
“Wh--”
“I’m just kidding,” He quickly cut her off with a forced chuckle. “Oh, did you actually think I was calling because of that?” He asked, the words flying out of his mouth before he could stop them.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something but shut it, groaning inwardly. She was stupid to think he even meant that. “Ugh, I don’t have time for your silly games, Malfoy. Goodbye,” She said, hanging up and tossing her friend carelessly on the bed. She sat in her bed for a long time before getting up with a sigh. “To think I thought he actually meant it!” She shouted, walking into the bathroom.
Draco stared at his cell phone and sighed, putting it into his pocket. “Well, great. You screwed up.”
“I go to the loo for two minutes and when I come back, I see Draco Malfoy acting like a teenage girl.” Pansy Parkinson scoffed as she leaned against the wall, giving him a look. “Oh, this is new territory.” She said with a wide grin, walking over and sitting next to her fiance on the couch.
“You should’ve been here a moment ago, he was talking to himself and he looked absolutely mad. He was pacing around and --”
“Shut up,” Draco snapped at Blaise, tossing an apple his friend’s way. To his dismay, Blaise caught the apple and took a bite out of it.
“You actually love Granger, huh?” Pansy asked, crossing her arms across her chest with a frown.
“Uh,” Draco gave Blaise a look and nodded. “Yep, totally in love with her.” He said, focusing on the waffles.
“You know, I’d call BS on that statement but seeing as though you were pacing around the place waiting for her call - I think I can assume you’re actually telling the truth. Unfortunately, I hate to admit it, but I guess you love her after all. I mean, I thought you were crazy when you first told me about you and her, but now - I think I can believe it.”
“Gee, Pansy, thanks for the unwanted approval.” Draco said with sarcasm dripping for him voice as he shook his head, walking over to the couple with a hot plate of waffles. “Eat up, and get out of my flat.”
“Oh, why, is Granger coming in?” Blaise asked with a smirk, winking at his friend.
“No,” Draco said with a sigh, sitting down. He took his phone back out to check if he had any texts or missed calls. Nope, none.
“Maybe we should get those things,” Pansy suggested to Blaise, pointing to the weird muggle contraption in Draco’s hands. “What is it called? A cell phone?”
“Yes,” Draco answered, nibbling on a waffle.
“We should get one. Is it easier to communicate with? Faster than an owl and everything?” Pansy asked with curiosity.
“Much faster, you’d be surprised. Speaking of surprise, why are you so suddenly curious about these muggle contraptions. You always detested things from the muggle world.”
“Well, I’m keeping my eyes open for some new things.” Pansy shrugged it off as she sighed. “Now that I know that you and Granger are actually in love, I think I need to spend some time with her. I think we need a girl’s night,”
“Oh bloody hell, no.” Draco and Blaise quickly said in unison resulting in Pansy scoffing.
“Why? What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Draco clarified with a small chuckle. “You’re going to scare her away. I like her, I want her to stay by my side.”
“Oh, please, I just want to befriend her.”
“Babe, maybe that’s not the right thing to do.” Blaise whispered to her carefully with a shake of his head.
“What? Am I scary?”
“No, maybe … overbearing?” Blaise asked, quickly looking away and eating his waffles. “These are good,” Blaise said with a grin, changing the subject.
“Right? I’m a pretty stellar cook, right? You believe me now,” Draco said pompously with a smug grin.
Pansy glared at them with a sigh. “I need to find some new friends,”
“Oh, leave Hermione out.”
“Whatever, I’ll do whatever the hell I want. I just think it’s fair if I befriend my best friend’s maybe-soon-to-be-wife. Have you met with Potter?”
Draco stopped chewing as he thought about Harry. “No, I haven’t seen him since forever. Do I have to?”
“Of course!” Pansy shrieked with a duh-what-do-you-think-look.
“Well, I met with her parents and they love me. Hermione’s already met my mother - and she’s warming up to her. I think we’re good, we don’t need to add friends into this.” Draco replied nonchalantly with an easy smile on his face.
“You’re hopeless.”
“Hopelessly devoted to my one and only Hermione Granger,” Draco teased as he grinned at Pansy.
“Oh, kill me now.” Pansy grumbled as she bit into the waffle.
---
Hermione hugged her friend as she smiled, pulling away. “Congratulations, Harry, I’m sure you’re so excited to have a little baby on the way.” She said, handing her friend a box of cake. “I know it isn’t much, but don’t worry, I’ll be sure to spoil that little munchkin when it’s born.”
“Thanks, Hermione. I’m actually so nervous. I’ve never done this before.” Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Hermione chuckled as she shook her head. “Oh, Harry, every couple expecting its first born is always nervous. You’re not the only one, so just remain calm. It’s natural for you to be so nervous.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He said with a sigh. “You know, I defeated Voldemort and I went hell and back to destroy those horcruxes with you and Ron but … what if I can’t even change my child’s diaper?” He asked, anxiety swimming through his eyes. Speaking of eyes, she could tell they were weary and they were dark bags underneath his eyes to show it.
“Harry, you need to stop freaking out. Your child is still an egg, as we speak. What are you going to do when Ginny starts showing a bump!” She teased her friend, reaching into her purse. “I’m so glad I brought this. This is for Ginny but I think you might need this more than she does.” She said with a chuckle, handing Harry a baby book.
“You’re a life saver. What would I do without you?” He asked, hugging Hermione once more.
“Oh, you’d be long dead.” Hermione stated with a smirk, pulling away from the hug. “Now, do you two think you could come out and have dinner with--” Before she could finish, her phone chimed, for whenever she received a text. “Oh, hold on.” She said, pulling out her phone and checking the message.
“Oh, you’re using it again?” Harry asked, pointing to the cell phone. “Are you using it to communicate with your parents? Yeah, that’s probably a lot faster and more convenient. Tell them I said hi,”
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, reading the text from Draco. “Uhm, actually this is from Draco.” She revealed, lifting her eyes up to meet Harry’s. “Darn, there’s an emergency. I need to go, but I will definitely be sure to treat the new expecting parents a meal and I’ll tell my parents you said hi.” She said quickly, waving goodbye and running out the door.
Harry stood in his spot with a confused look on his face. “O-kay.”
“Was that Hermione?” Ginny asked, walking out of the bathroom. “Where did she go?”
“She said there was an emergency from Malfoy.”
“Oh.” Ginny shrugged and stared at her husband. “Well, since she’s gone …” She began, wrapping her arms around Harry’s neck. “How about just a date between you and me. It’s been a while,”
“I’d love nothing more than a date with my gorgeous wife,” Harry grinned from ear to ear, wrapping his arms around her waist and planting a kiss on her lips.
---
Hermione grumbled, taking out her keys to Draco’s flat. “What the bloody hell? He’s absolutely barbaric.Telling me what to do - why does he always have it his way? When will I ever get a chance to have a say in anything?” She asked herself, shoving the key into the keyhole and violently turning it. She opened the door and took out the key, carelessly throwing it back into her purse. She opened the door and walked in with a groan. “What the bloo--” Hermione gasped, mouth agape with surprise. “Narcissa, so nice to see you here.” She said awkwardly, widening her eyes at Draco with a what-the-hell-look.
“Yes, so nice, Miss Granger.” Narcissa greeted the brunette with her usual cold smile. “Please, have a seat next to Draco. I have something I want to tell you,” She said, turning back around to smile at her son.
Draco sat on the couch directly across from his mother with three tea cups set on the table. Hermione quickly walked over and sat down next to Draco nervously. Narcissa examined the two with steady eyes and took a long sip of her tea. “I think I may have … made a mistake the first time we met, Miss Granger.” She started, setting the tea cup down. “I shouldn’t have judged you so harshly and I admit, I was acting inappropriately.”
“Mother, what are you trying to say?” Draco asked nervously with a hint of impatience. Hermione shook her leg frantically as she grabbed the cup, gulping down the tea to calm her nerves.
“I wanted to apologize for my rude behavior towards Miss Grang - no, Hermione and I’d like to say that I approve.” Narcissa said with a nod, smiling warmly at Hermione. “I approve, I want you two to get married.”
Hermione’s eyes immediately widened as she choked on her tea while Draco turned white as a sheep.
---
Oh did we all forget about sweet sweet Astoria? Bc she’s coming, and she’ll hang around for a while. :) i love you all, please don’t hate me. the next few chapters will be asdgkljbla. don’t know if that’s good or bad but welp, who knows? Every relationships have their ups and downs and I’ll tell ya - dramione’s roller coaster is about to take wild turns. Nah, I’m kidding. Maybe. It’s confidential information. We’ll see. But hey, I hope you liked this chapter! everything gets a little more exciting with drama! :D