"Seriously? Albino peacocks?"

"Obviously."

"Conspicuous consumption, much?"

"My family? Never!" Draco drawled sarcastically, giving Hermione a slight smirk.

"Well, they certainly make a statement." She conceded.

"And what would that be?"

"That your mother misses you while you're away at school and deals with it by buying a flock of gaudy animal replacements."

"What? I thought I was a ferret." He teased.

"Well, as far as appearances go-" Draco scoffed "- but metaphorically and symbolically, you're much more of a peacock. They're much more flamboyant. And the fact that they're albino just cinches it." Hermione finished with her trademark know-it-all air.

"Rubbish. My mother did not buy a flock of albino peacocks to replace me."

"When did she get them?"

"Sometime during my first year, I believe."

Hermione snorted back laughter. "Oh, Merlin, that completely confirms my hypothesis as to why she got them in the first place."

"What do you mean, reason? She's insanely rich and likes to show it, what exactly is the mystery here? Don't you think you're putting to much thought into this?"

"Draco," Hermione chided, "she bought them your first year. When you first left. Think about it."

Draco froze momentarily before realizing what she was getting at. "Oh. Crappp. Seriously? Albino peacocks?"

"My sentiments exactly."

"And what sentiments would those be?" A sweetly cold voice said from behind them.

Hermione spun around quickly to face the owner of the voice, but upon seeing her tried to erase all signs of having been startled.

"Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione said in a polite voice she usually reserved for teachers, "I was commenting on how much I adore your albino peacocks." She smiled with a false sincerity.

Draco raised an eyebrow slightly at the possible implications of that phrase.

"What, Granger, does this mean you adore me? Seeing as I am the peacock according to your 'hypothesis'? Don't tell me you're going to go out an get a flock of your own now, because-."

Hermione silenced his whispered commentary with a quick elbow to the stomach as she shushed him though her toothy grin she was directing at the elder Malfoy.

Narcissa noted this interaction carefully, and responded in the oh-so-Malfoy fashion of raising an eyebrow before courteously inviting them in.

"You must be miss Granger." She said with a scrutinizing eye, gauging Hermione's reactions.

"Of course. Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Malfoy." Hermione said, refusing to be intimidated by the older woman's stare.

"It's always such a pleasure to have Draco's schoolmates visit."

"I can only imagine." Hermione replied sarcastically, imagining having Crabbe or Goyle visiting being anything but a pleasure. Draco caught the undertones of sarcasm and judging by the momentary twitch at the corner of his mother's mouth, Draco assumed she didn't miss it either. Not that she ever missed much.

The small party took off at a quick pace without much ado, on the long and arduous journey of crossing the mansion to get to the dining hall. Yes, they had an entire hall to eat in. This was the Malfoy house, after all. And the walk to even get to it was a formidable one.

Draco followed a short distance behind the two women, not wanting to get caught in the tension, but unable to leave Hermione alone with his mother, and run screaming from the awkward situation as he wished.

"Wa-was that the, um, the library?" Hermione stammered breathlessly as she slowed her pace, staring back at the large double doors the small group had just passed.

Draco mentally slapped himself on the forehead. Leave it to Hermione to act like a lovesick fool the moment she catches sight of a book.

Narcissa's eyebrows rose several millimeters in surprise. The doors to the library had only been open a crack, and they had been walking at a brisk pace. Draco's hypothesis was that Hermione had developed the ability to smell large quantities of books, so that she could detect libraries without actually seeing them. A helpful skill for know-it-alls.

"Yes, of course." Narcissa replied in her usual cool tones, hiding her surprise. "It has numerous books that you couldn't even find in Hogwart's library."

"Really?" Hermione responded, sounding more like her usual self and less like her know-it-all persona that came out when she talked to teachers or about something she read in a book.

"Yes, I've been working on adding to the Malfoy collection ever since I first married. The library has always been grand, but I felt like it was lacking in… diversity." Narcissa paused momentarily, but continued. "It has nearly doubled since I first arrived here."

"I've always thought a variety in subject matter is what makes some collections better than others. That is one of the downfalls of the Hogwarts library, a lot of the selection is limited to subjects that are covered in classes."

"Oh, yes, I felt that way as well when I went there…"

Draco stared in wonder as his mother chatted amiably with Hermione, as if they had been long acquainted and were comfortable enough with each other to debate such things as book collections and the standards of Hogwarts' library, all the earlier iciness and tension forgotten.

Draco didn't even know his mother read books. He chalked this up to just another thing he learned from Hermione.

"Oh, yes. Here we are- the dining hall." Narcissa opened the large doors with a grand sweeping motion to reveal a banquet hall large enough to house and feed a small army.

Hermione's jaw hit the floor. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Because even in the wizarding world, that probably wouldn't be a good thing.

"Holy shit." She muttered a bit more audibly than she meant to.

"Yes, we get that a lot." Narcissa nodded knowingly, not at all upset by Hermione's profanity.

…

Hermione blushed as she set down her silverware nervously. "Excuse me for my language, I didn't mean to be so blunt, but-"

"There isn't really a better way to put it is there? He does have a bit of a sick up his ass at times. I think it's a Malfoy thing." The last part she whispered conspiratorially across the overlarge table.

"Would you two quit speaking about me as if I'm not here?" Draco bemoaned childishly.

Hermione smirked at him, though his mother acted as if she had not heard him at all, and continued with her theories on the Malfoy bloodline.

"Honestly, it's as if they're bred that way. But us women learn to loosen them up a bit, eh?" Narcissa said with a wink. "I'm sure you know all about that."

"Mother." Draco interrupted in a futile attempt to silence his mother's embarrassing rant.

"Oh, Draco. Despite what you may think, I was young once too, and I know what goes on in Hogwarts. When your father was your age I could barely keep my hands off of him-"

"Mother!" Draco tried fruitlessly, once again.

Hermione choked back a laugh by gagging slightly on her salad.

"And I'm sure that you and miss Granger know exactly what that's like. I can sense the …tension between you two-"

"Mother!"

"I'm if I wasn't here right now you two would be-"

"Mother! Please!"

"-the couches around here are large enough, I made sure-"

"I don't need to hear this!"

"Not that I'm complaining, really. I'm quite looking forward to grandchildren, and in all honesty, the sooner the better. You two make such a wonderful couple."

The two teenagers stared speechlessly as the older woman took a polite sip of her drink, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just been said.

…

Hermione and Draco ambled down the silent corridors of Hogwarts on their way back to the Slytherin commons in a heavy and awkward silence.

Hermione cleared her throat in an attempt to break the silence. "So…"

"Umm…"

"Yeah."

The two looked in opposite directions.

"So your mom wants us to do it."

"Yeaah."

"Like rabbits."

"Something along those lines."

Hermione stared at the ceiling as Draco focused intently on the floor.

"Well my fear of her cursing me into oblivion has somewhat receded."

"She was oddly fond of you, I must say." Draco mused darkly, as if some evil plot was afoot.

"She's nice." Hermione stated simply. "Though I must admit, I am now frightened of her for entirely different reasons."

"I, for one, am thoroughly traumatized." Draco agreed.

Hermione stopped mid-step as a though came to her.

"Draco…" She said in a stern voice. Draco knew that tone of voice. He flinched.

"Draco, why does your mother have the insane notion that we are going to have kids? Get married? Is this just some quirky personality trait? Wishful thinking?" Hermione frowned. "It just dosen't make sense- she went from calling me your schoolmate to planning how many children we would have, all in one evening. Don't you think that's odd?"

Draco stared blankly out of a dark window. "Hasn't the weather been cold for this time of the year? Don't you think?"

She paused. "Don't change the subject, Draco." Hermione stared at him intently. "Is there something you're not telling me?" She questioned in a sickeningly poisonous voice.

"Uhhh…"

She raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"

"Yes." Draco cringed and turned away from her. " And very."

…

Narcissa daintily folded her napkin after the meal, and cleared her throat. "Miss Granger, would you like to see the library? There's a section that I've just started, and I think you'd very much like it."

"Yes! Thank you!" Hermione smiled brightly as she followed Mrs. Malfoy through the large corridors of the Malfoy mansion.

She briskly led Hermione to a small, unmarked corner of the impressive library and gestured to a motley collection of books.

"They're all muggle works. I've worked hard to collect them, they've been very difficult to come by."

Hermione smiled as she looked at shelves full of books that ranged from classic children's books to self-help books for people who can't find a date and a book on the history of naval warfare. It was a diverse, and admittedly random collection, to be sure. Though Hermione did notice a remarkably large section containing nothing but what looked like some fairly trashy romance novels.

"It would be a great help if you could let me know what I'm missing out on, if it's not too much trouble."

"I would love to recommend a few things." Hermione said distractedly as she scanned the extent of the strange collection. "You seem to be missing a lot of what are considered the classics, you don't even have any Milton, Shelly or…

As soon as Hermione disappeared from view behind a stack of books, Narcissa yanked Draco behind a shelf, so they were out of Hermione's view and cast a silencing spell.

"She doesn't know, Draco."

"Wha?"

"You haven't told her! She doesn't see how serious this relationship is!"

"B-but…"

"I can tell that this connection runs deep, Draco. No matter how much you may deny it, or wish otherwise, I can see that the link between you two cannot, and should not, be broken. She needs to know this as well."

"I don't-"

"Has she been reading your thoughts?"

Draco blushed. Narcissa smiled at his reaction.

"You trust her, Draco! Even with the connection you forged, your mind wouldn't let her enter so easily if you two weren't already so deeply attached, even on a subconscious level." She looked fondly at her son. "I always knew it would be her, or at least I hoped you'd have the sense and the balls to get her, and not just settle for Pansy. Hermione's too good for you, though." She added in rather ponderous afterthought.

"What are you talking about? 'You always knew'. How could you have? Hell, I still don't believe it."

"You mentioned her in nearly every letter you ever sent home, dear. You were fairly obvious."

"Well, yeah, but it was always along the lines of 'bloody Granger beat me on another bloody test' or 'bloody Granger bloody pisses me off'."

Narcissa sighed nostalgically. "It was cute, your little obsession with her. You mentioned her even more than you did Harry Potter."

Draco scowled. "That's not called obsession. It's called a rivalry. Hatred."

"There's a thin line between love and hate."

"That's so cliché."

"With good reason." Narcissa said with a wink. "Now, tell me. What exactly is your current relationship?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you 'friends with benefits' or are you going steady or what?" She said with a business-like air.

"Mortal enemies." Draco conceded with a serious expression.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow in question. "You two seemed awfully chummy earlier for mortal enemies, obvious sexual tension aside."

Draco stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I believe we may have called a truce earlier, I'm not sure. The last few days are a bit hazy."

The elder Malfoy sighed wistfully. "Ahh, such is young love."

Draco imitated Dobby in banging his head against a nearby bookshelf. "You need to stop reading those muggle romance novels, Mother. They're destroying your mind."

He stopped the self punishment for a moment, and the library fell eerily quiet. Draco stared intently at the expensive rug from some place exotic that covered the floor. The Malfoys had to have the best, of course.

"She doesn't like me." He breathed so quietly that it was barely even a whisper, his voice finally reflecting the seriousness of this conversation.

"What?"

"I didn't tell her because she doesn't like me. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her life with me. She can't even stand spending a few days near me." He looked into his mother's eyes slowly. "I didn't want to tell her that I have ruined the rest of her life. Her chances for happiness."

Narcissa wrapped her son in a full embrace like she hadn't done since he was young.

"I know your father and I haven't been the greatest of parents, and that has effected you greatly. But deep down you're better than anyone gives you credit for, even yourself. You aren't going to wreck her life, Draco. She's saving yours."

"So what do I do?"

"Talk to her."

…

Hermione flipped through one of Narcissa's trashy romances, laughing incredulously. The book contained the overused 'opposites attract' plot line. The two mortal enemies discovered they weren't all that different, and predictably fell in love, got married, had 2.5 kids and a white picket fence and all that jazz.

And, obviously, had great sex. In great detail.

"How cliché. Like that ever really happens." Hermione scoffed as she tossed the book fairly carelessly back onto the shelf.

"Hermione Granger mistreating books? I never thought I'd see the day." Draco said slyly as he leaned on the shelf behind her, his arms crossed and an unreadable expression across his face.

"If you can call that a book." Hermione scoffed as she stood up with a little help from the blonde.

Draco raised an eyebrow in question, but decided to ignore her cryptic comment.

"Anyways, Mother asks your forgiveness, for she had a sudden bought of exhaustion and had too retire to her room."

"Ah, a messenger boy, are we now?"

Draco grimaced. "So it would seem. Anyways, that wasn't all she wanted me to tell you."

Hermione smirked. "Really? You have more messages for me?"

"She made me swear to tell you that one, she'll see you soon." Hermione's eyebrows shot up. That wasn't an invitation, clearly, but a statement of fact. "And secondly, she wants us to have a spring wedding."

Hermione's jaw was on the floor. Literally. She had tripped and fallen over, and was currently lying on the floor in a complete state of shock. She coughed unattractively loud, and not in the dainty manner that Mrs. Malfoy had mastered, in order to get air back into her lungs. She finally managed to hack out a reponse. "Really? That's all she had to say? Nothing important?"

Draco grimaced. "I was hoping that last one was a joke, but with Mother you can never be sure."

……

Author's Note:

Sorry about the over-a-year-long break.

Yeah…

But I'm going to try and actually finish this story.

Hopefully.