Chapter Three: The Unanswered Question
Author: alina290
Beta: akashathekitty & dormiensa
A/N: None
“Mother! The answer to that question is none of your concern.”
Still unwell from his carnival experience, Draco slowly stood up from his sitting position to tend to Hermione on the remnants of their coffee table. Looking only at Hermione’s injured elbow, Draco began working on it while telling her, “You’re a train wreck, Granger. Two left feet prone to crashing into my handsome direction. It’s a wonder to survive making tea every morning. Now, move it slow and easy for a while, and if there is pain take two of those…?” Draco asked Hermione looking at her.
“Aspirins. There is still lots more you need to learn about the Muggle world, and your bedside manner could stand improvement,” answered Hermione.
“Well, now that that is done, Draco, answer the question! Are you or are you not a virgin?” his mother insisted. She felt she as well as Hermione deserved an answer. After all, she gave birth to him and had ‘dedicated’ a whole week to his birth. Lucius had been a boar about calling on the Healer every single day of that week while being insulted about his manhood. My poor Lucius.
Still feeling quite queasy, he rose slower than he’d knelt previously. He was not about to give an answer to that particular question.
Hermione repaired the table to sit on and staunchly looked straight into Draco’s stormy gray eyes. “Narcissa, I’d dare say that your son no longer is a virgin. Besides that, Madame Centis was quite clear on her Prophesy,” she told his mother, mimicking the fake fortune teller’s accent:
Virgin Malfoy womb
Be filled that which is hollow
Unicorns guard thee
Narcissa looked from one to the other, steadying herself with as much decorum as she could muster, and ordered them both to follow her to the Manor immediately.
Stunned by her harried reaction, Draco and Hermione rose from their sitting positions, but did not follow. They both saw enough of the Manor between the uncommonly tedious and mandatory Dîner de Dimanche, the unveiling of up-to-the-minute criticisms courtesy of Lucius, and the continued probing of their ‘uncouth bourgeois’ living situation.
Draco felt woozy as he surmised his mother’s objective. “No, Mother, we will not be travelling to the Manor today. You will explain what you know or think you know here. This conversation will not be held anywhere else; this is non-negotiable.”
In a show of support which threatened to topple their usually contentious and heated-in a strictly platonic sense, of course-relationship, Hermione literally stood by Draco. “Narcissa,” she said, “I was merely teasing Draco because of his gluttony and am not in the least worried that the Prophesy is true. If you ask me, it’s hogwash. Divination is and will always be something to laugh about and get people to think they have something to look forward to or find a reason for the situation they might be experiencing. It’s not something to believe in. Unless you’re Harry.”
Narcissa, not feeling the least deterred, changed tactics. “Well, if you absolutely doubt this Madame Centis, then why did you bother going? Why was it something you entertained if you are sceptical? Dubious origin aside, I insist that it should be investigated to preclude any missteps about this so-called Prophesy.”
“I took him to a Muggle carnival; visiting the Gypsy’s tent is complusory, Narcissa. I could foresee additional research if there was viable evidence to suggest that Draco is carrying the next Malfoy heir. However, men are incapable of being impregnated, so he can’t possibly be with child,” Hermione emphasised through clenched teeth.
Fighting the oncoming headache with a deep breath and closed eyes, Narcissa responded, “I was so looking forward to trying out this new spell that I’d read in The Quibbler about male pregnancy. Draco, would you humour your mother and at least let me give it a go, for old time’s sake?”
“Absolutely not, Mother! The Quibbler is full of fictitious information; I have no idea why you read such rubbish.”
At the mention of a spell, Hermione spoke up, “Do you happen to know the spell from memory?” Giving Draco a sideways glance she noticed that even in sickness he rolled his eyes at her gullibility. But, a new spell meant something more to learn, and Hermione Granger would never pass up such an opportunity.
“I am glad that you at least, want to try. The spell is easy enough, it is: Gravidanza Uomo Rivelare. The wand movement takes a little longer to master. They’re a bit tricky. I shall leave you two to it and send a diagram of it by owl. I will be impatient to learn the results. That is, if the spell even works,” Narcissa cautioned and exited their disreputable, shared flat.
Continue or ToC
Beta: akashathekitty & dormiensa
A/N: None
“Mother! The answer to that question is none of your concern.”
Still unwell from his carnival experience, Draco slowly stood up from his sitting position to tend to Hermione on the remnants of their coffee table. Looking only at Hermione’s injured elbow, Draco began working on it while telling her, “You’re a train wreck, Granger. Two left feet prone to crashing into my handsome direction. It’s a wonder to survive making tea every morning. Now, move it slow and easy for a while, and if there is pain take two of those…?” Draco asked Hermione looking at her.
“Aspirins. There is still lots more you need to learn about the Muggle world, and your bedside manner could stand improvement,” answered Hermione.
“Well, now that that is done, Draco, answer the question! Are you or are you not a virgin?” his mother insisted. She felt she as well as Hermione deserved an answer. After all, she gave birth to him and had ‘dedicated’ a whole week to his birth. Lucius had been a boar about calling on the Healer every single day of that week while being insulted about his manhood. My poor Lucius.
Still feeling quite queasy, he rose slower than he’d knelt previously. He was not about to give an answer to that particular question.
Hermione repaired the table to sit on and staunchly looked straight into Draco’s stormy gray eyes. “Narcissa, I’d dare say that your son no longer is a virgin. Besides that, Madame Centis was quite clear on her Prophesy,” she told his mother, mimicking the fake fortune teller’s accent:
Virgin Malfoy womb
Be filled that which is hollow
Unicorns guard thee
Narcissa looked from one to the other, steadying herself with as much decorum as she could muster, and ordered them both to follow her to the Manor immediately.
Stunned by her harried reaction, Draco and Hermione rose from their sitting positions, but did not follow. They both saw enough of the Manor between the uncommonly tedious and mandatory Dîner de Dimanche, the unveiling of up-to-the-minute criticisms courtesy of Lucius, and the continued probing of their ‘uncouth bourgeois’ living situation.
Draco felt woozy as he surmised his mother’s objective. “No, Mother, we will not be travelling to the Manor today. You will explain what you know or think you know here. This conversation will not be held anywhere else; this is non-negotiable.”
In a show of support which threatened to topple their usually contentious and heated-in a strictly platonic sense, of course-relationship, Hermione literally stood by Draco. “Narcissa,” she said, “I was merely teasing Draco because of his gluttony and am not in the least worried that the Prophesy is true. If you ask me, it’s hogwash. Divination is and will always be something to laugh about and get people to think they have something to look forward to or find a reason for the situation they might be experiencing. It’s not something to believe in. Unless you’re Harry.”
Narcissa, not feeling the least deterred, changed tactics. “Well, if you absolutely doubt this Madame Centis, then why did you bother going? Why was it something you entertained if you are sceptical? Dubious origin aside, I insist that it should be investigated to preclude any missteps about this so-called Prophesy.”
“I took him to a Muggle carnival; visiting the Gypsy’s tent is complusory, Narcissa. I could foresee additional research if there was viable evidence to suggest that Draco is carrying the next Malfoy heir. However, men are incapable of being impregnated, so he can’t possibly be with child,” Hermione emphasised through clenched teeth.
Fighting the oncoming headache with a deep breath and closed eyes, Narcissa responded, “I was so looking forward to trying out this new spell that I’d read in The Quibbler about male pregnancy. Draco, would you humour your mother and at least let me give it a go, for old time’s sake?”
“Absolutely not, Mother! The Quibbler is full of fictitious information; I have no idea why you read such rubbish.”
At the mention of a spell, Hermione spoke up, “Do you happen to know the spell from memory?” Giving Draco a sideways glance she noticed that even in sickness he rolled his eyes at her gullibility. But, a new spell meant something more to learn, and Hermione Granger would never pass up such an opportunity.
“I am glad that you at least, want to try. The spell is easy enough, it is: Gravidanza Uomo Rivelare. The wand movement takes a little longer to master. They’re a bit tricky. I shall leave you two to it and send a diagram of it by owl. I will be impatient to learn the results. That is, if the spell even works,” Narcissa cautioned and exited their disreputable, shared flat.
Continue or ToC