Tango * dramione

Chapter 29

Chapter 29: falling for you

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"You can't blame gravity

for falling in love."
Albert Einstein.

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Stage Right: Astoria, Daphne, Blaise
Setting: Ehh, does anyone read these anyway?

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"You want us to what?"

"Blaise, don't act like a dolt. You heard me perfectly well." Astoria Greengrass crossed her arms, perfectly groomed eyebrows crinkled in an exasperated way. She shot a glance over to her sister, who stared, bewildered, much like a pixie caught in the light of a spell.

"What you're asking us to do...funding the Weasleys? It goes against everything I stand for as a businessman."

"Meaning?" snapped Astoria.

Blaise was reproachful as he stole a quick look at his wife. "Meaning...going against Malfoy Industries puts me in some deep shite. They hold patents for my company as well. - And what does any of this have to do with us, anyway? This sounds like your mess."

"Blaise!" Daphne gasped, smacking him on the arm.

"What? You know it's true."

"She's my sister. Our sister. I can't believe you won't consider helping."

"No, love. I've considered it. The answer is just plain no." He folded his arms dutifully across his chest and leaned back in his seat, determined and steadfast in his ways.

But Astoria was cunning. She wasn't sorted in Slytherin for nothing.

"Let me put it to you this way," she said, leaning forward to reach for her cup of tea. "If you don't fund the Weasleys and their endeavors, I will tell Father about your little early canoodling and the overjoyous news of your bun in the oven." Her eyes narrowed as she sipped from her cup idly. "And I'll be sure to tell him just when my sweet niece or nephew was conceived. But not before placing up a thick Apparation ward to prevent you from escaping as he strikes you down with every hex imaginable." She placed her cup back on the table and smiled. "Or, you can show your softer side, comply with my demands, and I'll go along with every single lie you and my sister say in way of this pregnancy. We both know how traditional my father is. I'm sure there's enough room on his shelf above the mantle for a set of testicles displayed in a colorful jar."

Daphne grinned ear to ear, turning her head toward her husband. "I do believe she has you pinned, love."

Blaise uncrossed his arms, scratched the tip of his nose, and looked firmly down at his feet. "I s'pose if it's helping out my mate, Draco..."

"Thank you ever so much for your help!"

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Stage Left: Draco and Narcissa

Setting: Narcissa's office (or, what would have been Draco's)

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It was obvious from the way Narcissa Malfoy's eyes slanted as her son paced the floor that she was not in the mood for drawn out moments today. She sat neatly at her desk, fingers rapping along the stack of paperwork she had yet to sign, head tilted much the way a cat stared in inquiry of its prey. But Draco knew he was no mere morsel - he was the canary, dangling in front of her face just out of reach.

Still, he would not bow to her will.

"Do you have something to say, sweetheart, or do you plan to pace until you've run a rut in my carpet?"