Malfoy's Mistress

Chapter Two

"Excuse me, sir, the Malfoys?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Draco and Pansy Malfoy," Cross told her, reading off a file. "Now, I know there was a lot of contraversy during the war of which side the two were on, but both have been proven innocent after they joined the order prior to You-Know-Who's downfall. It shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

"Um, well..." Hermione stammered, not sure of how to reply. She hadn't really talked to Malfoy since sixth year at Hogwarts, but even after Malfoy had joined the Order, he still wasn't very pleasent to her. However, the extra money couldn't hurt and she really didn't want to let her boss down.

"You really have nothing to worry about. I've met the couple myself and they're very pleasent, a little self absorbed, but pleasent none the less." He said.

"I guess it wouldn't be too big a problem." She finally answered, hoping that her two former classmates had matured over the years.

"Wonderful!" Cross exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "I'll owl them right away and tell them we've got our best healer on the job." He then gave Hermione a big smile and walked her out of his office.

*

Draco Malfoy was sitting in his private study at Malfoy Manor, a glass of brandy in one hand and the Daily Prophet in the other. His life had been the best it had ever been since the end of the war. He'd turned himself into the Order after Dumbledore's murder, becoming the youngest spy for the light in history. It turned out he played the part well, eventually making up for not killing Dumbledore and becoming part of the Dark Lord's Inner circle. He sent messages to the members of the Order, telling them where Voldemort was, where he was heading and what he was planning next. Eventually, Potter finally came to his senses and decided to kill the snake bastard, and, thanks to Draco, he knew his location.

There had been a lot of publicity about the Malfoys after the war ended. His father had made a run for it, and when they'd finally caught him, he put up a fight so they'd been forced to kill him. The grief had nearly driven his mother mad, she'd loved his father so much, even though she had never agreed with his beliefs. Draco, however, had stood his ground when the Aurors had come for him. Few people knew he'd joined the Order, so he'd been forced to stand trial, luckily the Order had gotten him out of it.

As soon as the war had been declared officially over, Draco had proposed to Pansy Parkinson, his long time girlfriend. The two had married in a private ceremony, then moved into Malfoy Manor with Draco's mother. The two had been married for two years, and they'd finally decided it was time to start a family. Well, actually, Pansy had decided it was time.

It wasn't as if Draco didn't want a family, he wanted desperately to have an heir so the family line would continue, but it just wasn't the right time. Growing up, Draco had always gotten the impression that his father hadn't been ready to be a father, and now he knew why. Draco liked staying out drinking with his friends, he liked working late and just passing out the minute he got home, and he definately liked going away on his 'business trips' to exotic countries where the women wore close to nothing and could do things to him he'd only experienced in his wildest fantasies. He wasn't ready to give that all up, but he knew that, if he and Pansy were to have a child, he'd have to stop it all and become a father.

A small tap on the window brought Draco out of his thoughts as a barn owl with a letter attatched to it's leg pecked at the glass. He rose from his seat and opened the window just enough for the owl to crawl through, but the bird simply held out it's leg. Draco took the letter then shooed the bird away, not wanting it to mess up his desk. He then opened up the letter and read it carefully.

Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that we have found a suitable healer to become your private healer during the period we discussed during out meeting. She is the best healer we have here at St. Mungo's and I'm sure you will be very pleased with her. Healer Granger will arrive this Monday at your manor with her belongings. I hope you are both both well,

Sincerely,

Rupert T. Cross

St. Mungo's Hospital

Draco read the letter over and over again, not believing his eyes. Granger? As in little miss goody-two-shoes, Gryffindor Princess, Potter loving Granger? This couldn't be happening, he just could not have that insufferable know it all inside his house. He just couldn't, he would not allow it.

"Erma!" Draco shouted, followed by a house elf in a dirty rag appearing infront of him.

"Yes, Master Draco?" The elf asked, bowing before her master.

"Fetch my wife, and quick!" He told the elf, receiving another bow before it disapparated.

Draco was fuming as he paced about his study. Who in their right mind was assign Granger as his private healer? He'd said he wanted the best that money could buy, and that was definately not her. He'd wanted an attractive blonde with a good body, maybe someone he could have some fun with when Pansy couldn't perform her duties anymore. But with Granger, that was completely out of the question.

Pansy appeared in the open doorway moments later, dressed in a long green silk robe. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, giving Draco the impression she'd been getting ready for a bath.

"What's the matter, baby?" Pansy asked, walking into the room and putting a hand on his arm. Draco didn't answer, just shoved the letter in her face for her to read. He watched as Pansy's blue eyes widened at the end then looked up at her husband, her face in a sneer.

"Granger? As in Hermione Granger, top of our year?" She asked him.

"How many other Grangers do you know?" Draco replied, frustrated.

"I thought you told them we wanted the best?" Pansy inquired, rounding on him.

"Of course I did! Obviously he thinks she's it." He told her in a growl.

"Well, I want the best, Draco. And if that means we're gonna have to deal with that mudblood for a few months, then that's what we're going to do." She said, crossing her arms.

"Are you serious?" Draco asked. "You're actually considering having Granger live in our home?"

"And why not? Don't I deserve the best?" Pansy said, her face in a pout.

"Of course you do, Pans, but-"

"But nothing Draco. I am your wife, so I get the final say in who will be looking after me once our child is conceived, and I say we're going to have to put up with her. I'm a Malfoy, and Malfoys only get the best." Draco rolled his eyes. Pansy had been talking like that ever since the wedding, as if she'd been dying to her whole life.

"Fine, but don't get all mad if I start working more overtime." Draco growled out before storming out of the study, leaving his wife staring after him.

*

Hermione apparated just outside the wards infront of The Burrow. The entered around the back where picnic tables were pushed together, plates and silverware placed infront of each seat. She could smell Molly's cooking coming through the kitchen windows. She walked in through the back door.

"Hermione!" Came the shouts from the stairs where Fred and George were running to meet her. Both embraced her like family before pulling away and giving her the once over.

"So, how's pulling babies out of women going for you?" Fred asked with a smile.

"It's going great since all you Weasleys are my patients." She told him honestly. Every Weasley had insisted as having her as their healer for all their pregnancies.

"Where's Alicia and Katie?" Hermione asked the two.

"They're upstairs." George replied.

"Probably talking about how amazingly handsome we are." Fred finished for him with a wide grin. Just then there was a thud from the fireplace in the living room, signalling the arrival of someone else.

Hermione, Fred and George went into the other room to great the new arrivals, but were pushed out of the way when a red head ran passed them, a hand over her mouth. Moments later, Harry came through the fireplace, stumbling but keeping his footing while holding one year old Ronald. Hermione spelled the soot from his clothes them embraced him.

"Where's Gin?" Harry asked, setting Ronald down on the floor. "She went through just before me."

"She just ran to the loo." Hermione told him, pointing in the direction Ginny had ran. Harry muttered a thanks and then made his way over to the bathroom to comfort his wife. Hermione picked Ronald up and gave him a hug while he giggled and smiled.

"And how are you?" She asked the raven haired baby who replied with a smile.

"Did I hear my grand baby?" Asked Molly, coming into the living room with her arms outstretched. Hermione handed the baby over to her as he motioned for his grandmother. The older women hugged the child close to her with a smile across her face before taking him into the kitchen with her. Molly always loved having baby Ronald be her personal taste tester.

Another loud crack came from outside as Bill and a very pregnant Fleur entered into the kitchen. Molly hugged the two warmly as they fussed over Ronald then hugged Hermione, Fred and George.

"How's baby Monique doing?" Hermione asked, indicating to Fleur's 8 month pregnant belly.

"She iz doing very well, but is kicking me terribly." Fleur replied, rubbing her stomach.

"Don't worry," Hermione told her with a smile. "One more month and you'll have a beautiful baby to take care of."

At that moment, Alicia and Katie Weasley (formerly Alicia Spinnett and Katie Bell) came down the stairs. Alicia was holding her and Fred's son, Andrew, and Katie was holding her and George's son, Alexander. Both babies were two years old, two of the first babies Hermione had helped bring into the world.

"Hermione, you look amazing!" Katie exclaimed, hugging her.

"It's so nice to see you." Alicia said, joining in on the hug as the two toddlers ran around the room.

After a few minutes where everyone exchanged hugs, Molly ushered them all out into the yard where she placed the food on the picnic tables.

"Now, I don't want any of you touching this food until your father gets here." She told them all.

"Charlie not coming this week?" Ginny asked as she tried to settle Ronald down.

"No, I'm afraid he couldn't get a portkey in from Romania, but he said he's coming next week for sure." Molly replied, swatting Fred's hand away from the potatoes.

After everyone was seated, a familiar pop echoed through the cool air. Molly instantly stood up to greet her husband as he walked through the back gate.

"Awful day today was," Arthur told his wife as they neared the tables. "A couple of people decided it'd be funny to call in a fake Death Eater threat, had to punish three teenagers, thought they were right funny til they were caught."

Once Arthur had greeted and hugged everyone individually, he took his seat at the head of the table, signalling time for everyone to dig in.

It never ceased to amaze Hermione everytime she came to the Weasley's weekly family dinners how normal and relaxed they always seemed. The parents looked like naturals with their children, and the couples all looked so happy. She always felt left out at these family dinners, being the only one not actually related or married into the family. It wasn't as if they pointed this out, Molly and Arthur always said she was as good as their daughter, but it was hard to feel like part of the family when she was unmarried and without children. At least when Charlie was there she wasn't the only one alone, but it wasn't much better.

Hermione's thoughts were cut short when the usual talk of what everyone's been up to that week began.

"Bill, Fleur, anything exciting happen this week?" Arthur asked, starting at the other side of the table.

"Well, we're nearly finished Monique's nursery. All we have to do is agree on the colour of the carpet and it's done. Right now it's red and pink split right down the middle." Bill answered his father.

"Fred, Alicia, how bout you two?"

"George and I are actually working on some new items for the store, so we've been pretty busy there." Fred told him.

"We're planning on having them up for sale by next month." George informed his father.

"Hopefully the two of you aren't planning on bringing these experimental items here again, I'm not really into having another rubber duck explode in my face." Arthur told the twins sternly, a hint of a smile on his face. He then turned to Harry and Ginny. "Harry, Ginny, anything new?"

Ginny and Harry exchanged a look, holding each others hands and trying to conceal their smiles. "Well, we went to the healer today and we found out the sex of the baby." Ginny said.

"Well, don't keep us waiting, tell us!" Molly exclaimed, eager to hear the sex of her grandchild.

"We're having a boy-" Ginny began.

"-and a girl." Harry finished. Molly imediately stood up and ran over to her youngest and her husband, embracing both of them. Fred and George pat Harry on the back while Bill stood up and shook his hand. Alicia, Katie and Fleur all congradulated Ginny with hugs and Arthur just sat there with a smile on his face, loving the fact that his family was growing.

"Congradulations, the both of you. I was wondering when we'd see a set of twins again," Arthur told them before turning to Hermione. "Anything interesting happen this week, Hermione?"

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She knew she was going to have to tell them sometime, she just hadn't realized it would be so soon and all at once.

"I-I got a job offer." She said quietly, hoping that if no one heard her they'd just assume she hadn't said anything.

"What!?" Ginny half shouted, her and Harry being the only two who'd heard her.

"What did she say?" Katie asked.

"She got a new job." Harry answered as Ginny just stared at Hermione.

"But you can't get a new job, we need you for our child!" Fleur exclaimed, holding her large stomach.

"It's not a permanent thing, it's just going to be five days a week," Hermione told them all. "So I can still see you and Ginny on weekends."

"And what if the babies don't feel like being born on a weekend?" Ginny asked, holding on to Ronald who was trying to shove his face in his pudding.

"I'm sure someone else could fill in or I could get out of what I'm doing. I'm still going to be your healers, but if it's not an emergency it'll have to be on the weekend" Hermione said, feeling overwhelmed.

"And what iz so important that you can only see us on weekends?" Fleur questioned, all eyes now on Hermione.

"I got an offer to become a private healer for a wealthy couple who are trying to have a baby." She answered.

"Hermione, that's great!" Harry exclaimed. "You've been wanting to be a private healer for a year now." At this statement, everyone seemed to settle down, but Fleur and Ginny still didn't look too pleased.

"Good for you Hermione, when do you start?" Arthur asked her.

"Tomorrow actually. It's kind of short notice, but the couple's paying a lot of money for me so I really had no choice of when." She told him.

"Have they told you who the couple is yet?" George asked.

"Um, yes, I'm not too happy with who they are, but I didn't find out until after I'd already accepted and it would be rude to turn down the job right after I'd said I'd do it." Hermione said, wanting to let them all know that bit of information before finding out who she would be a private healer to.

"Stop babbling and just tell us!" Fred urged her.

"Yes, enough of this suspense." George agreed.

Hermione took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "It's Draco and Pansy Malfoy."

The yard fell unusually silent, only the three kids made any noise, trying to break free from their parents' holds.

"Malfoy?" George repeated.

"You can't be serious!" Fred joined in.

"You actually going to wait on the Malfoys hand and foot?" Ginny asked.

"Don't you remember how they treated Dobby?" Harry said. "You'll be no different."

"Well it's not like I have much choice!" Hermione argued with him, deciding it'd be better to take one on at a time. "I've wanted a job like this so badly, I can't just throw away an offer like this because of a school grudge."

"Grudge? It was more then a grudge! Hermione, Malfoy enlarged your teeth so big you had to miss classes!" Ginny reminded her.

"That was years ago, we've all grown up and matured, perhaps they have too." She offered, but no one bought it.

"Yeah, right. He's grown up alright, probably working to become the next Dark Lord." Fred snorted.

"I bet he's already bought himself a bunch of followers already." George chimed in.

"Fear me or else I'll pay someone to crush you!" Fred did an imitation of Malfoy pointing down his wand at baby Andrew, who burst into tears, thinking he was serious.

"Honestly Hermione, you have to find a way out of it. You'll never survive." Harry told her. She was about to argue when Arthur, who'd been silent the whole time, cleared his throat loudly.

"Everyone, Hermione is a grown woman who can take care of herself. Malfoy proved to be very valuable towards the end of the war, I assume you all remember quite well how much good his information did us. It's Hermione's decision to accept or refuse this job and we should all respect her choice and keep our mouths shut." Molly nodded her head in agreement as Arthur stared anyone down who looked like they'd argue. Hermione gave Arthur a small smile in thanks as everyone began to chat and eat their dinner.

After the food was all gone and the kids were off running around the yard, the couples began to say their goodbyes as they headed off back to their homes. Hermione reluctantly said goodbye to what she'd come to know as her family, promising to be there the next Sunday with stories of her new position, then apparated to her empty flat on the edge of Diagon Alley.

Once in her flat, Hermione placed her purse on the counter and walked into the spare bedroom where she kept her books. The room was rather small, mostly due to the bookshelves lining the walls, but Hermione always saw it as cozy, a room where she could just relax.

Hermione sat down at her desk where a piece of parchement and a quill were waiting, just as they always were. It was like clock work for her every Sunday after the family dinner. She didn't really organize what she was writing, just letting her thoughts fall onto the paper. She wrote for nearly half an hour, although it seemed like only a few minutes. When she was finished she read over the letter, being sure nothing was left out. She then folded the parchment, placing it in an envelope and slipping it into her pocket. As she was leaving, she grabbed her cloak from the chair and walked out the door.

Since there were wards on the building, Hermione had to walk a ways away before she could apparate. Once she had left the boundaries of the wards, she turned on the spot and closed her eyes, feeling as if all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. When she felt the spinning stop, she opened up her eyes to find herself at a small kissing gate infront of a large cemetary. A sign above the gate read 'Weasley'.

Hermione opened the gate and walked into the cemetary, the sky turning a crimson red as the sun set. She walked through the rows of headstones to the very back where a single headstone stood, nearly hidden by the larger ones. The headstone was small and battered looking, with a stand beside it holding a thick, leather book. The headstone read:

'Ronald Bilius Weasley

Date of Birth: March 1st, 1980

Date of Death: January 19th, 1998

"Heroes are not created, they are born"

-Alexander DeCosta'

Hermione traced the name carved into the stone, tears falling silently down her face as she kneeled on the wet grass. She stood up slowly, never taking her eyes off the words and removing the envelope from her pocket. She then opened the large book and placed the elvelope inside. Instantly it disapeared, seemingly dissolving into the book. After a few moments words appeared on the once blank pages, looking as if they were burned into the book. Not feeling up to reading the memories and well wishes from others who'd visited Ron's grave, Hermione closed the book. Bending down, she picked up a single blade of grass, transfiguring it into a flow and place it at the foot of the grave.

Wiping the tears from her face, Hermione took one last look at the grave and turned away, dreading the day she had ahead of her.

To Be Continued...

Okay, so right now I'm half asleep && it's 2:30 in the morning, but I wanted to get this posted before I have to work tomorrow, so sorry if the replies to the reviews aren't that great. So yeah, thnxx goes out to:

-paigeey07, happy to hear youu like it.

-reirei, hope youu like this chapter.

-crissy, yeah, that's basically this fic in a nutshell, but there's a lot more to it.

-princesspeach, I'm happy youu like it so far. I would answer your questions, but that would spoil the surprise.

-Clare1984, glad to hear youu think so. Don't worry, I plan on continuing my other stories.

-cole, happy to hear that.

-stag, you're going to have to just keep reading to find out.

-0o0itzNiteLite, happy to hear youu like it so much. Here's your update.

Alright, so I guess you've all convinced me this story is one worth continuing, so if I keep getting good feedback, I'll continue. Anyways, please R&R, as I love reading about how much people like my stories. Plus, it gives me good motivation to continue.

Much Love...

XXX

Xx-.k.a.y.y.-xX