Disclaimer: I don't own any of the following characters. They all belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
Hermione had been planning all week. Today was going to be perfect if she had any say in the situation. She had no idea as to whether her boyfriend of three years had remembered their anniversary or not, but she most certainly had. And things were going to go her way today. No highway option.
Her work began when one Draco Malfoy left the apartment they shared to go to work at the Ministry of Magic as the head of Aurors. She had six short hours to put her plan into effect. She grabbed her coat and quickly left the apartment, dressed in muggle clothing, to go to Muggle London to shop for the perfect anniversary present.
She took the time on her walk to London to reflect on all that had happened in the past three years. After the Great Battle at Hogwarts, Draco had found her in the Great Hall with Harry, Ron, and the rest of the surviving Weasleys. She vaguely remembered being relieved that the Final Battle had come to a close and Voldemort had perished, but the thing she remembered the most was the sensation of overwhelming grief that had swept over her as she remembered all of those who had lost their lives this night. She had started to cry. Cry for all of those who had perished and those who had lost someone.
Draco had walked up to her, his face gaunt and pale. He asked to have a word with her in private. She accepted, somewhat confused as to what her enemy of seven years had to say to her. They walked out of the Great Hall into the chilly night air.
It was then that Draco spoke. "Granger…Hermione. Look, I just wanted to say that I am very thankful for you and your friends saving my life tonight. You can't even imagine. To think that I would have lost my life out there…" he trailed off.
"You don't have to thank me for anything, Draco. If anyone, you should be thanking Harry, not me." She remembered how odd it had felt to say his first name.
"I already talked to Pot..Harry. Please, just try to accept my apology for the last several years. The way I treated you was cruel and unwelcome and I know that now. I'm sorry, Hermione."
"It's alright. I understand. I treated you just as horribly. I did punch you in third year, if you recall." At that, Draco had smiled. That was the first time someone had actually stood up to him in such a way.
"Well, thank you, Hermione, for accepting my apology, and I hope that we could put the past behind us, so to speak, and maybe become friends?" He seemed somewhat nervous. Hermione only smiled.
"Sure, Draco. Truce?" She stuck out her hand.
Draco laughed. "Truce."
After that, Hermione and Draco had indeed become friends. It was only a few months afterwards that she had realized the feelings she felt every time he walked into the room. She felt like a silly school girl with a crush. A few weeks after, Draco had asked her to dinner. She had gladly accepted.
Now, it was three years later. Hermione smiled on remembering that night and the weeks that had followed. She shook her head and forcibly brought her mind back to the present and continued to shop for that perfect gift for Draco. She had arrived in Muggle London and was now walking through the streets passing shop after shop. She found one and ventured in. The store she had gone into was Circuit City. She knew how interested Draco was in muggle technology, although he tried to hide it from time to time and she had enough money to get what she wanted to get for Draco. She asked a salesman for help in finding the perfect one. She waited as the salesman rung her purchase up at the cash register. She had slightly less than four hours left to finish her plan, so she took her gift and left the store, heading for home.
When she arrived at their apartment, she began cooking the meals they had each eaten on their first date. She started with the desserts, since they would take longer. She began making tiramisu and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. She made as little noise as possible during this, because if she made any loud noises, the angel food cake would be ruined. After she had put the cake into the oven, she looked at the time. Two hours left. Right on time.
She began making Calamari with fine Italian pepper and a lemon butter sauce. That took up one hour of her time and she rushed to get the ingredients for her meal. All of the ingredients in front of her, she began making Sirloin Marsala-a grilled sirloin, topped with mushrooms and wine sauce.
Another forty five minutes later, she looked at the clock. She had exactly fifteen minutes before five o'clock, when Draco arrived home. She rushed into their bedroom, quickly changed out of her clothes and put on a black dress that rose to just above her knees. She always thought it was a slinky little thing, but Draco loved it on her, so she wore it. She put on black stilettos and a simple white gold necklace with a single diamond dangling on her chest. Giving herself the once over in a mirror, she nodded and went to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.
When she finished, she looked in the mirror again and barely recognized herself. Her poofy hair had been magically straightened, so it hung down to slightly past her chest and she had put light amounts of makeup on, a little mascara here, a little lipgloss there. She looked stunning.
She glanced at the clock once again, two minutes left. She ran to the dining room and set the table, filling both glasses up with champagne and lighting the candles floating around the room and on the table with a flick of her wand. She then proceeded to dim the lights. Hermione smiled at the romantic atmosphere of the room, and sat down and waited for Draco to come home.
'Any minute now.' She thought to herself. She looked at the clock. Five past five. 'That's alright, he's been late before.' She relaxed slightly and waited some more.
Forty five more minutes passed by and Hermione felt deflated. 'I can't believe he forgot. Typical.' At this thought, Hermione began to cry. Approximately ten minutes later, Draco walked through the door. Hermione did her best to dry her eyes.
"Damn, Hermione. What's the occasion?" Draco asked at seeing the dining room and Hermione's outfit.
Hermione's heart broke, but she did her best to hide it. "Do I need a reason to do nice things for you, Draco?" She plastered on a fake smile.
"No, I was just shocked is all." Draco smiled and sat down across from Hermione.
They ate without talking much. Draco told Hermione about his day and Hermione nodded and smiled at the appropriate times in the story, but all she thought about was the fact that he had forgotten their day. Their anniversary.
After eating the dinner and desserts she had prepared, Draco told Hermione that he was going to go out and asked her if she would grab his coat out of the closet for him. She complied and walked down the hallway sadly. She began crying to herself as she reached the closet. Opening the door, she grabbed his coat and looked up. In the rack towards the top of the closet, there was a neatly wrapped gift with her name written on it.
'He didn't forget!' She thought happily as she took the box down from the shelf. She unwrapped it carefully and saw inside that there was a dark blue velvet box. She gasped as she opened it. Inside the box, there was a beautiful diamond journey ring with a note above it. She cried as she read the words on the note:
To our past, present, and future together. Happy Anniversary, darling.
Love, Draco
P.S. Look inside the ring.
Confused, she did as the note said and her eyes grew bigger. On the inside of the ring, it said the four words that every woman wants to hear once in her lifetime:
Will You Marry Me?
She cried harder and dropped Draco's coat on the ground. She turned and saw Draco at the end of the hallway, leaning against the doorframe and watching her reaction with his traditional smirk playing at his lips.
"Yes, Draco! Of course I will!" She smiled and ran to him, tears of happiness streaming down her face. They embracedfor what seemed like years. She mumbled something he couldn't make out.
"What was that, love?"
"I thought you'd forgotten our anniversary." She said.
He smirked again. "You really thought I forgot?"
She glared at him. "Honestly? Yes. I mean, you basically treated the day like any other, save for the ring." At this, she stared down at it and smiled again.
"Well, I'll be honest with you, 'Mione, that's exactly what I wanted you to think."
She mock-glared at him. "You know, it is a damn good thing for your sake that I love you."
"Yes, love, I know. And to this day, I still cannot figure out why you would. But I'm unbelievably happy. I love you, Hermione. So much more than you'll ever know."
She smiled again and tilted her head up to look at him.
"I love you too, Draco."