60. Chapter 60 (1/2)

previously on returning to his roots: chapter 59

satisfied they had had a productive day, severus and jean turned the conversation to the event taking place that night.

"i know how you feel about frivolity severus. have you made a final decision about attending the party tonight?"

"i thought we had this all sorted. we will be attending. it may be a

ief stay, but we will be attending. are you having reservations?"

"i think it will do us good to attend. you've been working very hard. you deserve it."

pulling jean to him, severus looked into her eyes. "we've worked hard. we deserve it. i can only hope it won't be a room full of twelve year olds."

jean laughed. "if it is a room full of twelve year olds, i'm sure we won't be the only ones to make a hasty exit. let's have a quick lie down to relieve our stress, then we will dress in our finest outfits to spend at least thirty minutes among the masses."

with a wave of his wand, severus engaged the self locking spell. there was no way he wanted the overly arrogant lucius malfoy to come through the doors while he and jean were relieving their stress.

/*/

at malfoy manor, lucius malfoy had reconsidered. he would be attending the party for hermione granger. she was his son's current witch after all. since it had been said many times he was an intimidating wizard, perhaps his intimidating presence at the event would scare miss granger away from his son. one could only hope.

/

returning to his roots: chapter 60

/*/

draco landed in hermione's living room calling out to his witch. he was purposely ignoring what had transpired in diagon alley. "are we all set for tonight?"

no answer.

"hermione. i've

ought lunch."

still no answer.

draco left the lunch sack on the kitchen counter before searching for hermione. the flat was empty. draco sighed, suspecting hermione was somewhere pouting and fretting. heading back to the kitchen, draco grabbed the lunch sack and apparated to his house.

draco landed in his apparition area again calling out to hermione. "are you here love? i've been by your flat. i have lunch."

hermione popped out of the study. "well hello there. lunch sounds good. i probably should have gone to my own flat, but my trust is solely in you. in addition, i have my wand. if you had shown up with some witch in tow, i would have been embarrassed, but you would have been hexed into next month."

"some witch? you do know you're barking. the only some witch i have is you."

hermione laughed as she grabbed draco around the neck. "initially, i was upset. then i thought about it. i love you. you love me. i'm not going to let ginny's emotions dictate mine."

draco pulled hermione close. "i'm glad love. cassie being in diagon alley the same time as me was a fluke. the witch means nothing to me. you might want to let ginny know she means nothing to blaise either. i also meant to offer a large compliment on what you've done for severus. i hope it leaves him as speechless as he left us when he stepped through the doors to help theo. now let's have some lunch. after that, i'd like to see what outfit you've chosen to wear tonight."

"you've already complimented me love. lunch sounds good to me. i hope you've

ought something other than salad. i'm over salad for the moment."

"no worries love. i think you'll be happy with my choices. let's go eat."

/*/

blaise was not amused with ginny's behavior, but wasn't ready to have a shout down with his witch either. arriving minutes after ginny, blaise was ready for whatever came. "i'm here love. i'm not sure what has upset you, but i want to get it sorted."

ginny stepped out of the bathroom. "there's nothing to get sorted blaise. you are here with me and i know what's what. witches who try mean nothing to me. had i taken a deep

eath, i would have realized that. i don't care about other witches. i care about you and me."

blaise gave ginny a big smile as he pulled her into his arms. "who are you and what have you done with the witch i love?"

pushing blaise down on the couch, ginny straddled him. "this is the new me. i know you love me, so i'm able to ignore the bitch witches who are trying to get into your trousers. they'll have to get past me."

blaise chuckled as he squeezed ginny. "although i'm innocent of any wrong doing, i absolutely love the new you. tonight we'll be outed as a couple. are you ready?"

"i'm ready love. for those who don't like it, they can step forward to be hexed."

blaise grinned as he nuzzled ginny's neck. "who will do the hexing, me or you?"

opening the zipper to blaise's trousers, ginny kissed him as she pushed down on his erection. "we will hex together."

/*/

the f&t pub was closed to the public saturday afternoon. seamus and dean were there to personally oversee that everything was in order for the party that evening. they had magically enlarged the entire pub to ensure there would be more than enough room for the two different sets of guests and their different sets of banners.

neither seamus nor dean was sure severus' group would need very much room seeing how the, returned to life, severus snape wasn't a pub person and probably neither were his employees. it didn't matter though, because everyone was welcome.

dean looked around and declared the pub fitted out enough for even the minister to come through.

"that it is." agreed seamus. "all this happening at the same time. magical london is moving forward quite rapidly. it's really a surprise to see hermione selling her firm. i didn't think there was anything more important to her than sending criminals to prison, except maybe trying to run draco malfoy out of london. now i know better. the rumor is…"

dean cut across his partner. "now we're dealing in rumors? you didn't like it very much when the rumor was circulating suggesting you and i were more than partners." he chuckled, swiping a cloth across the marble bar. "in fact, ….."

"alright mate, enough. i remember. i said rumor to protect my sources," remarked seamus, laughing at himself. "it really isn't a rumor. the information actually came straight from a member of severus' private group. cassie graham mentioned hermione has applied to severus' company."

"ah. miss cassie graham strikes again. that witch couldn't keep a matter private if she had her mouth hexed shut. she won't be very welcome around severus if she is speaking out of turn about his business. whatever. not my business. i still can't believe the foul man escaped death and is now human enough to attend a party at a pub."

seamus let out a snort. "careful dean. we wouldn't want anyone to hear us talking badly about one of our cele

ated guests. anyway, banners are one thing, but they don't mean severus will actually make an appearance. we shall see. i'm going home to catch a bit of sleep. i think you should too. staff has their orders. no one in here before 6:00. i'll be back by 5:30 to insure everything in order. banners will arrive at 6:30, and everything should be in place by 7:30. i'll see you later."

dean gave seamus a wave keeping his attention on the lists in front of him. "alright mate. i'll see you later. i'm going to wait around a bit to accept the extra deliveries and make sure the food prep lists are in order. if i do say so, this party might turn out to be an exceptional event."

/*/

esther had explained herself to theo on saturday morning. after they spoke, esther was on her way to becoming a homeowner. she and theo had discussed her decision thoroughly, after which, he drew up papers which would be sent to lucius malfoy with a letter of explanation. theo couldn't see lucius refusing the sale. it would be one less annoying thing he had to deal with. theo had esther sign a blank draft assuring her he would get the best price possible, and, if all went well, she would be the sole owner by the following friday. esther was chuffed. never in a million years had she thought of being well off enough to own her own home. now she not only would have a home, she would also have money to fall back on along with peace of mind.

theo was actually chuffed for his aunt. she was making rational decisions on her own, keeping herself and her house properly maintained and being a dutiful and loving aunt to declan. he was actually proud of what esther had become as well as proud of being part of her change. a quick thought flit across theo's mind. padma would have been so proud.

after their business was finished, theo explained about the party and asked esther if she would take declan with her when she went home. even though mr. casper had mentioned owling her about saturday evening, esther had quickly agreed to take declan. if mr. casper was properly interested, which esther thought he was, he wouldn't mind a quiet saturday dinner and some conversation. she had no doubt declan would keep them properly entertained if only by reading to them from his books.

/*/

before preparing to return home, esther advised declan to have cely put together an overnight bag because he would be spending the night with her.

declan loved his father and uncle, but he had put a foot wrong and would be glad to get away to give his father time to calm down. well, not really calm down. his father wasn't upset. he was more like disappointed. still, declan thought he should leave his father to himself for a bit.

"before i call cely, i'd like to check with father. it's not that i don't believe you aunty. i made one mistake. i don't want to make another."

"i understand love. it's always best to check with your father if you have doubts. why don't i have cely put your bag together while you speak to theo."

"thank you aunty. i'll just go speak to father now."

/*/

theo was in his study doing nothing more than reminiscing about his time with gloria, but quickly snapped to when declan appeared at the door.

"come in son. what do you need?"

"i've come to double check that i'll be going to aunty's house to spend the night. it's not that i don't believe aunty, but you're my father and have the last word."

theo saw exactly what was happening. declan had let his uncle

eak a rule and was now compensating. "thank you for being so forthright. however, i'd rather you abide by our rules than have to make up after. we've had our talk and i have faith in you. you may take esther at her word unless i tell you differently. please be on your best behavior for your aunt. i don't want her

inging me any bad reports."

declan let out the

eath he was holding in. "i promise to be on my best behavior. just so you know, aunty is very much like you. she doesn't allow bad behavior. i'll be taking a few of my books with me. aunty says the more i read and retain, the better wizard i will be. i want to be a better wizard just like you father."

"come here son," said theo holding out his arms and pulling declan into a hug. "i want you to know that finding you has made me a better wizard, and i'll continue to get better so i can raise you right."

declan became slightly emotional as he hugged theo back. "i'm one of the luckiest young wizards alive. i have a real father who loves me. thank you for finding me."

theo was getting a bit emotional himself and hurried his son. "go see about your night bag. aunt esther is waiting. have a good day. i'll see you tomorrow."

theo watched declan head for the hall and congratulated himself for following padma's instructions. love was so much better than hate.

rising from the chair, theo headed to his bedroom to check his closet for a navy blue basic casual suit. standing in front of the closet remembering the compliment gloria had given him about his blue eyes, theo chuckled to himself. he was actually searching for clothing that would complement his nott blue eyes. couldn't hurt.

/*/

it was coming up on 3:30, but gloria had been out and back. hoping she would be sharing more nights with theo nott, gloria had made it to the liquor shoppe to order something more significant than white wine. gloria had been embarrassed the previous evening not being able to offer theo a so-called wizard's drink. he had been the complete gentleman assuring her wine would be fine, until he took a sip. then he had

oken out in laughter telling her the wine was a bit too sweet for him. they'd both had a good laugh. it would be different if he escorted her home after the party. this night she would have whiskey and

andy available. she had also purchased a few

eakfast items in case mr. nott chose to spend the night.

"spend the night? merlin, i'm getting ahead of myself."

initially, gloria thought she might have come across too strong, but hadn't commented on her actions. in fact, he had been happy to go along. after the wine fiasco, they had chatted about life and other things before theo asked if he could kiss her. she had acquiesced and one kiss had turned into three then four. she and theo had gone a lot further, but she had called a halt before it became knickers coming off time. theo understood, apologizing for being too aggressive. gloria had been quick to correct him. he wasn't being too aggressive. he was being too aggressive for their first time together. they had shared another laugh. after one last kiss, theo reminded gloria he would pick her up at 8:15. gloria's response had been she would be ready.

gloria heard the bump at her delivery entrance. she had authorized delivery services to leave her purchases at the back door. summoning her wand, gloria opened the back entrance and guided everything to the kitchen to be put away. gloria had everything away in twenty minutes. again thinking theo might accompany her home, gloria set about making a ground beef meatloaf for sandwiches later. with that done, gloria prepared herself a luxurious bath soak and slid in.

/*/

hermione and draco spent a good part of the afternoon bouncing ideas off each other. draco hadn't even bothered to chastise hermione when she declared her preference of positions was something in severus' newly approved department at the ministry. draco knew hermione could want what she wanted, but she'd get what severus offered. if it was a position in the department of magical technical services, then so be it. until then, draco decided to let his witch chatter away rather than get into some big shout down hours before the party.

draco stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes.

hermione noticed and questioned his silence. "you're pretty quiet. tired of talking? what's going on in that mind of yours?"

"nothing is going on. just resting my eyes."

hermione let out a small huff of annoyance. "well that's a nice way to end a conversation. i think while you're resting your eyes, i'll go have a soak."

draco opened one eye to glance at his wonder wizard watch. it's 6:30. do you want to have a long soak or a shower?"

rolling her eyes because draco had a point she hadn't thought of, hermione mumbled over her shoulder. "i'll shower."

closing the one eye, draco chuckled to himself. "good."

/*/

hermione was out of the bathroom in thirty five minutes. "your turn smart arse. i may have used all the hot water. you'll have to spell it hot."

getting up from the couch, draco grabbed hermione and gave her a wet kiss. "being mean to me doesn't make me love you any less. if it's a spell i need, it's a spell i'll use."

hermione grinned at draco as she grabbed him around the neck. "good."