its all about blood - angelrider93

Chapter 14 - A Talk With Lucius

Sunday morning after breakfast, Draco gave Hermione a tour of the Manor. Saving the library till last, he smirked at her look of awe and delight as he opened the doors and revealed the room to her gaze.

"Oh Merlin Malfoy, this is bigger than the one at Hogwarts" Hermione whispered as she moved into the library and began to browse the shelves.

"Since you're staying here for Christmas and you always call me by name in front of mum and dad, it might just be easier for us to call each other by our first names" Draco commented offhandedly, though his stomach was tied up in knots. If she refused, then it would be obvious that she didn't want their closeness to extend beyond friendship. Hermione glanced at him and blushed slightly.

"Alright Draco" she murmured before returning to the book she now held in her hands. Summoning his courage, Draco prepared himself as much as possible for her reaction to his next words.

"Can I call you Mia? Or would you prefer that I called you Hermione?" he asked tentatively. Hermione raised her eyes from the book she was perusing and looked at him intently for a few seconds, before a blush rose to her cheeks and she smiled slightly.

"You can call me Mia if you like Draco" Draco smiled and his tense shoulders relaxed in relief. Hermione noticed him suddenly relax but decided against commenting about it, instead she returned to the book she was reading. Draco watched her for a few minutes before he turned and left the library. He needed advice, and the only person he could think of to help him, was his father.

Draco found his father in his study, knocking lightly on the door he poked his head into the room and waited for Lucius to acknowledge his presence. Lucius raised his head at the light knock and saw his son poke his head into the room.
"Dad, are you busy?"

"Not at all Draco, come in" Lucius replied. Draco walked into the study and closed the door behind him, before moving to one of the chairs in front of Lucius's desk and sitting down.

"You look troubled Draco" Lucius stated carefully. He was still new at this concerned parent thing and, even though he was delighted to finally be able to be the father he always wanted to be, he was still feeling his way through it.

"I need some advice" Draco replied quietly.

"Oh? What seems to be the problem?" Lucius asked, surprised and inwardly pleased that his son felt comfortable enough to come to him.

"I think that I have feelings for Hermione, but I'm not sure what they are" Lucius leaned back in his chair and scrutinized his son calmly for a moment.

"How can I help you?"

"How did you know that you wanted mum?" Draco asked.

"Wanted her?" Lucius asked, trying to clarify exactly what his son was asking him.

"Yes, wanted her for your own"

"Ah I see, you're confused as to whether your feelings for Hermione go beyond the friendship that the two of you now share, is that it?" Lucius replied, finally understanding what his son was asking. Draco nodded.

"Yes, I keep feeling things that, as a friend, I shouldn't be feeling" he explained to his father.

"I'm assuming that you mean that you feel attracted to her as a potential girlfriend" Lucius stated carefully.

"Well, yeah. I can't seem to get the memory of the kiss we shared out of my mind, even though it was only to shock me out of my fear, I still felt a jolt through my system when our lips touched. Then last night she kissed me on the cheek when she said goodnight, its crazy I know, but I almost felt like I was floating to my room after that. I know that Malfoy's aren't supposed to float and we are never indecisive, but I just can't seem to get my mind away from those two incidents" Lucius winced slightly as his son repeated the Malfoy family rules that he had drummed into him from an early age.