.

*** PotionChemist ***

This is for you.

This is for taking the time to help me when we didn't even know each other,

and to say thank you for not being one of those people who scare me ;)

What a joy this friendship has turned out to be, and what a privilege

it has been to find another person I collaborate so well with.

Enjoy your birthday, my friend.

Also, I got the band back together for this one.

coyg_81 - the most amazing, funny, and insightful Alpha reader I have the privilege of working with.

And the pictures she makes for me are simply gorgeous xx

LaBelladoneX- Beta extraordinaire, who constantly reminds me that commas aren't confetti,

and whose ideas bring me back to centre when I wander off.

And since she added some pretty words to this, she also gets a writing credit xx

CHAPTER 1

"Excuse me?" Draco leaned over the table, "What did you just say?"

The chatter around him became a dull buzz in his ears as his father's words sunk in. Lucius had insisted that they meet for lunch, which was unusual since all of their meetings were held in his office. His paranoia was legendary; even clients who offered lunch meetings were refuted. In Lucius' opinion, everyone was suspicious and all conversations should be held with the utmost secrecy.

It was ridiculous, of course, since the confidentiality agreements that he had everyone sign when they were employed were airtight and the threat of a lawsuit hung in the air if his rules were not followed to the letter.

But it was now perfectly clear as to why they were at a restaurant; he had chosen a public place so Draco wouldn't make a scene.

The smirk on his face was familiar — Draco had grown up looking at it every day — and he wanted to kick his father under the table as Lucius leaned back in his chair. "I said, Marcus will be promoted to CEO."

Draco gripped the edge of the table, his fingers digging into the wood with such force he was sure his fingerprints would be a permanent addition. "Marcus? This is ridiculous, Father. Why are you doing this? The entire company is mine. You have told me so since I can remember."

Lucius shook his head, his eyes casually examining his manicured hand. "There has been a change of plan."

"Change of plan!?" Draco barked, not caring that they were in public. "Are you joking? I work my arse off for you and you're just going to hand the company to… to Marcus?"

"Why would you think I would just hand it to you?" His father's lip curled into a sneer. "You aren't worthy of it."

Draco almost choked. "Worthy? Worthy, Father? What the hell does that mean? I'm a Malfoy, for fuck's sake. I'm your son."

"You're not worthy of being my son. You're not the Malfoy I raised," Lucius looked at him with such distaste, as if his son was a complete stranger. "The company you have chosen to keep is a blight on the family name."

"The company I keep?"

"You've been keeping company with Granger." Lucius almost spat the name at him and slid several photos across the table.

The pictures were of Draco and Lucius' greatest competition, Hermione Granger. She was the metaphorical thorn in his father's side, the young woman who was taking the antiques world by storm.

And Lucius Malfoy hated her.

The fact that she dealt in antiquarian books — something Lucius looked down his nose at — burned him. He thought books to be irrelevant, a complete waste of time, that there was no money in them, but Draco knew better. The money she was making from first editions alone would have been enough to give his father a heart attack. And little did Lucius know that the pictures on the table were of him meeting her to make a deal for a client that Draco almost lost owing to the fact that his father refused to deal in books.

Draco picked up the photos, looking at them closely. Clearly taken with a telephoto lens — his father's paranoia almost making him laugh.

The first two pictures were from three weeks ago; one showed him entering her shop, the other of him leaving. Draco had never met with her previously, had only known of her success. And he was loathe to admit it, but he'd been nervous as hell. With absolutely no reason as it turned out.

She had been a breath of fresh air, and was delighted to assist.

The next pictures were from the previous week. She had insisted that she take him to lunch. A deal brokered together was something to be celebrated, she had said, not to be simply discussed in a stuffy office.

Raised in a world where business was not discussed outside the office, Draco had been taught that no one was to be trusted and had the fear of disloyalty drummed into him. Cut-throat ruthlessness and cunning was what he'd been taught, and it was vastly different than how she had been.

Hermione was more than happy to discuss their deal in a busy restaurant. She'd laughed and smiled, even going so far as to greet him with a hug and a kiss on his cheek. She had insisted that she pay — something that his stiff and proper upbringing would not allow — but she had told him to hush and stop being so archaic.

He smiled at the pictures, they had been two of the most entertaining and insightful business meetings he had ever experienced. So, when he met his father's face, Draco's smile widened into a grin.

"Well, Father," he began smugly, flinging the photos back across the table. "The half a million pounds I brought in last week was all thanks to that woman." He stood and buttoned his jacket. "Jeffery Carlson was chasing a book for his wife. A very expensive, very old book. And since you refuse to deal in books, and since I didn't want one of our best clients to walk away from us, I asked Hermione to help me out."

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Hermione." Draco placed his palms on the table and leaned forward. "Maybe you should stay focused on business, Father, rather than spending your time focusing on what I'm doing outside of the office."

"Outside... the… the office?" Lucius stammered, his face growing red with anger. "Are you seeing her behind my back?"

Draco's heart stuttered — Shit, that wasn't what I meant — but he managed to hold his composure. He smiled. "Seeing her, Father? No, I'm not just seeing her. It's so much more than that."

He turned and walked away, knowing that his father would be fuming. Also knowing that after all these years, he was done working for him. Stepping out into the dull afternoon and turning his collar up against the cold wind, it hit him.

What the hell had he just done?

"What the hell did you do?"

Blaise was sitting next to him at the bar. Draco hadn't returned to his office after his lunch meeting, calling his assistant to cancel his afternoon, and then calling his best mate to drown the remainder of the day with him.

Draco pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, dragging them heavily in circles. "My father is a fucking arsehole."

"You say this like it's something new," Blaise said dryly. "But that doesn't explain being in a pub with you at two o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon."

Draco dropped his hands from his face, waiting for his vision to clear before he spoke. "My father has announced that he is handing the family company to Marcus."

"He's your cousin, so technically it's still in the family."

"You're not helping." Draco nodded at the bartender, waiting for him to fill the glasses before explaining. "My father has decided I'm not worthy of his company. In fact, I believe he told me I'm not worthy of being his son."

"Shit," Blaise's cursed, swallowing half his drink in one go. "What the fuck happened?"

"He had someone follow me last week. I had a meeting with Hermione Granger regarding a book for a client. A half a million pound book."

Blaise let out a low whistle. "Books are that expensive?"

Draco nodded. "Apparently the rare ones are. Why Lucius won't deal in them is a mystery."

"Can he even read?" Blaise asked and Draco snorted.

"Maybe that's it," Draco chuckled and then shook his head. "I'm quitting tomorrow."

Blaise pressed his fist to his mouth, his eyes watering as he tried to swallow his drink. "Wh-what?" He spluttered.

"I can't work for him any longer," Draco shrugged. "He can disown me if he wants, I've had enough."

"He'll disown you alright." Blaise had an expression of pure shock on his face. "Are you sure this is wise?"

"Positive. I've worked my arse off for him. I make millions each year, yet he finds fault in everything I do." Draco tapped a single finger on the mahogany bar. "It all ends tomorrow."

"And the plan after tomorrow?"

"Well…" Draco scratched the back of his head, "that's the other issue."

"I'll repeat my earlier question, what the hell did you do?"

"The photos my father had, the ones of me and Granger…" Draco winced, "I may have inadvertently let my father believe there was something going on between us."

Blaise's jaw dropped. "Ah, is there?"

"No," Draco assured him, "but when I hand him my resignation, he'll no doubt suspect that there definitely is, and most likely have me followed."

"Does it matter?" Blaise signalled for another drink, "I mean, if you quit, you quit. She doesn't have to be involved. Unless…"

"Unless, what?" Draco deliberately avoided his friend's gaze.

"I think this woman made an impression on you." Blaise tipped his glass towards Draco and grinned. "And in only two meetings."

"No… well, yes, she definitely impressed me, but not in the way you think." Draco kept his voice even. Blaise had been his best friend since he could remember, and knew him all too well to fall for any bullshit. "She runs her business so differently from everything I've ever been taught. She smiles and laughs, she talks to people like money isn't the most important thing. And she has a shop, for Christ's sake, a shop that's like an Aladdin's cave of treasures, not a bland, sterile office. It's the world we should be living and working in, but my equally bland and sterile father believes the most important thing in business is to be cold and calculating. Clearly he's wrong."

Blaise nodded slowly. "Wow! She's made a very big impression on you."

Draco groaned as his friend continued, a glint of amusement in his dark eyes.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"Why not? If you're quitting your job with Lucius, that opens an easy dialogue with Granger."

"Maybe, but I have no doubt Lucius will do everything in his power to let her think I'm just using her to get back at him."

Blaise hummed in agreement, and then looked thoughtfully at him. "There's an easy solution."

"And that solution is…?"

"Tell her the truth." Blaise smiled at him as if he'd just solved the question to the meaning of life. Draco rolled his eyes. "No, seriously, mate. Hear me out. Beat Lucius at his own game. Go to her, tell her you've quit because your father is an arsehole and had you followed. Tell her how much Lucius hates her, how much you like her. Honesty. Try it."

"I know nothing about her," Draco shook his head. "She could be married for all I know."

"Wait." Blaise held up his hand, shaking his head slightly. "This woman is your competition and you've never Googled her?"

Draco shook his head. "We don't trade in books, so there was no need, other than to know she's someone of interest in the antiquities world."

"Lucius has obviously kept track of her though." Blaise remarked, and then grinned. "Was she wearing a ring?"

"No… ah, I mean… I don't know."

Blaise laughed, "I know you checked. You're completely smitten."

"No ring doesn't mean squat," Draco scowled. "She could have a boyfriend."

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

Draco exhaled slowly. "The truth?"

Blaise nodded. "The truth."

Draco's phone vibrated on the coffee table but he didn't even glance at it. Every few minutes for the last two hours it had been doing the same thing. His father had tried a dozen times to contact him, and Draco assumed when that didn't work, Lucius had dragged his mother into his game.

He'd stayed at the pub with Blaise until they were both significantly buzzed and then put himself into a cab. Slumping into the seat, he watched through the window as the city slowly crawled by, the pleasant buzz from the scotch dissipating with every minute that passed.

His father was an arse. He always had been. Strict, unfeeling, businesslike at all times. Draco had been raised as an employee, not as a son. He couldn't remember a single time Lucius did anything with him that didn't involve antiques. He was obsessed, and it never mattered how much money was made, Lucius Malfoy always wanted more.

And Draco always assumed he wanted the same.

Despite his mother's misgivings, he went to work for his father as soon as he'd gained his business degree. Lucius had insisted that he start at the bottom — no favouritism — although Draco had proven his worth within the first few months. But now, those misgivings were coming to a head.

His mother had always tried to subtly dissuade him from following his father's footsteps and Draco never understood why. But she had been living with Lucius's paranoia for years and he now knew she didn't want him ending up the same.

But there was no real choice.

Draco knew he wouldn't be permitted to work anywhere else. The family business was where Lucius expected him to be, and had always told him that he would one day be in charge. So his father's announcement at lunch was a kick in the guts that truly hurt.

And now his mind was set. He would take great pleasure in handing his notice to his father. He even looked forward to the yelling that was sure to accompany it. Lucius would be furious, but he didn't care. The photos had been the last straw. Lucius wouldn't have even known where Draco was going, and yet, he'd had him followed. Any trust Draco had in his father was gone the second he saw those pictures.

"Arsehole," Draco announced to his empty living room.

How dare he!

What type of father has his own son followed and then assumes the worst? The man was beyond paranoia. He was almost psychotic.

Hermione had been the opposite. She had been more than willing to meet with him, to help him out. Her business wasn't her entire life. In fact, they'd spent barely ten minutes of their lunch discussing the book she had procured for him, instead she asked about him. What he did for fun outside of work.

And his response had been miserable.

The realisation that he had next to no life away from work was embarrassing. That he had let his father dictate his life even more so. His life had become routine. One or two nights a week with Blaise in a pub, otherwise he was home, sifting through work files.

She hadn't seemed particularly surprised by it. But maybe she had already known him. Despite her friendly nature, he knew there was a shrewd business woman beneath the facade. There had to be for her to be making waves in the way she was.

She'd probably looked him up as soon as he contacted her, probably before that. She would know her competition, or in his case, lack of. She would most likely already know about his father and the ruthless way he went about business. She probably knew Draco was as pathetic as he was.

And how right she'd be.

"Fucking hell." He groaned and sat up from his prone position on the couch as the phone vibrated again. He reached out and picked it up. "Mother."

"Draco!" Her voice was shrill. "Thank the stars. Where have you been? We've been concerned."

Draco rolled his eyes. Concerned. Not "out of our minds with worry," just concerned.

"I'm fine, Mother," Draco said mildly. "I felt ill after lunch with Father, so I didn't return to the office." He paused. "But you probably already know that. I'm sure Father told you he had me followed."

She didn't reply immediately. He hated putting his mother in this position. She was always the mediator, stuck between them, trying to keep the peace.

When Narcissa finally spoke, she did so carefully. "Draco, darling, if you're ill, you should take a few days off, give yourself some time to… breathe."

"I plan to, Mother." Draco pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "I'll be taking quite a few days off."

His mother made a humming sound, and he knew she instantly understood his meaning. He hated to tell her this way but it was what he had to do to keep her out of it.

"You do what you need to do, Draco," she said carefully. "Take care of yourself."

"And you need to do the same, Mother," he said quietly, knowing she would have to deal with his father's wrath.

"Oh, darling, I always do."

Draco pressed end on the phone and smiled. His father might be cunning and ruthless, but his mother was sly and shrewd, and Lucius would need to be careful or she would quit too.