Just an Itch

The First Date

Narcissa stood on Bella's doorstep with her arms crossed and face set when her sister finally opened the door after five minutes of knocking. "You have to be kidding me?"

Bella rolled her eyes but opened the front door wider so her youngest sister could come in. This visit was the last thing Bella needed today. She was meant to be getting ready for her date.  "Hello to you too, Cissy. Please come in so you can continue to reprimand me for unknown reasons."

"You know what I'm here to talk about," when she saw the look of confusion in her oldest sister's face she threw her hands up, "Hermione. I'm here about Hermione. She's a student, Bella."

"Oh," Bella rolled her eyes, walking over to the bar, pouring herself a small tumbler of whiskey. This was definitely not what she needed or wanted to talk about today. She held out a glass to her sister but the blond shook her head no. "I'm well aware of how old she is. She just turned 26 if I'm not mistaken."

"A child, Bella. She's one of Draco's best friends."

"26 is hardly a child," Bella dramatically rolled her eyes and walked over to sit down next to her sister. "Aren't you the one who is always telling your ex husband that your son is an adult and old enough to be making his own life decisions," she saw her sister nod, "so by that logic alone, Hermione is also an adult who is capable of making her own life decisions."

"Whether she's an adult or not isn't the point," she sighed.

"What is the point other than besides you coming into my home when I should be getting ready just to pass judgement on me?"

"She's a student. Aren't you afraid of getting in trouble? I'm sure there must be some policy in place that frowns down upon a professor/student relationship."

"Like I told Hermione. I'm here for a good time, not for a long time. I'm not worried about school policies. If there would be repercussions, I'd take the fall and I'd see to it that nothing happened to her," she took a long drink from her glass.

"What about your reputation?"

"Cissy," Bella sighed, put down her glass and pushed her glasses up on the top of her head. "I'm not looking for either one of us to get in trouble. I don't even know if we like each other yet other than the physical attraction. I feel this pull towards her and I want to be able to see if there's something there. It's been a long time since I've felt a need to get to know someone like this and I'll be damned if I let a potential University policy get in the way of me finding happiness. Will that be Hermione? Maybe. But I'll be damned if I don't try to figure it out."  She saw her sister's face soften a little bit before she could say anything, Bella continued, "and yes I know I'm going to be 50 this year. It's a big age gap. I get that. Trust me, I know just how big of a gap. But all of that being said, it doesn't seem to bother her so why should I let it bother me?"

"Hermione's a very lovely young woman. She's spent a lot of time at our house after befriending Draco. Our family cares a great deal for her," the blond woman raised an eyebrow when her sister smirked.

"I'm not going to break her heart."

Cissy's face finally fully softened, "see to it that you don't. We like having her around." The sisters sat and talked a while longer about the exhibit and the successful first night. This was the first exhibit that Bella didn't market under Madam Rosier so she was surprised at the turn out. It was the first time in seven years that she used her own name and she was flattered by the response. It was nice to know that her celebrity isn't the only reason people come to her events. "You know," Cissy started and smirked when she saw Bella's eyes roll, "you are going to have to tell Andy." Of course her sister wouldn't let the conversation regarding Hermione go that quickly.