Summary: Seven years after graduation, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny meet again in a Hogwarts reunion. A terrible secret of Hermione is revealed and Ron learns not to underestimate his friend.
Disclaimer: I own nothing...
A woman of about 25 sat quietly on an expensive, fluffy yellow armchair, deeply absorbed in her book. She lifted a loose brown curl over her ear, humming slightly as she continued the activity. The morning sun shone through the grand windows, sending streaks of sunlight into the room, lightening her bright, warm cheeks. She smiled, innocent as an angel's, as she read an interesting part, her white teeth gleaming in the sunlight. She lifted up her head, her hazel eyes travelling around the grand bedroom, from the beauteous king size bed in the middle to the antique dresser at the corner.
Her eyes rested on an exquisite clock on top of the mahogany dresser. She let up a surprised cry, destroying the scenery.
'Oh no! It's half past ten already! The reunion starts at eleven!' she exclaimed, snapping her book shut. 'Draco! Wake up! We're going to be late!'
Hermione Granger flew at the bed next to her, rocking her husband forcefully.
'What,' said her annoyed husband, Draco Malfoy. He groaned and turned to the other side.
'Wake up! It's half past ten already!'
'It's just a reunion. It doesn't matter if we arrive late,' he said, pulling his covers higher.
'It matters to me! Get up and change!'
'Today's Sunday! Leave me alone!'
'No! You wake up this instance! I am not going to be late for my own reunion,' she said, with a warning tone.
'Right. You go to the reunion. I stay at home,' he mumbled before dozing off.
'I can't believe we're wasting so much time on this,' Hermione said as she snatched the covers, tossing them to the far side of the room.
Unwillingly, Draco sat up. Cursing his wife under his breath, he got out of bed lazily, earning another scold from Hermione.
'Listen carefully! I'm giving you fifteen minutes. I want you ready in the hall at ten-fifty. Don't be late!' she said before slamming the bedroom door shut.
He made his way to the wardrobe. Wham! He cursed again as his head hit the bedroom door.
Draco searched his wardrobe from top to bottom, determined to find a perfect dress robe for the reunion. As his father had told him, Malfoys are presentable, pleasurable, and gentlemanly at all times and should always be in the centre of attention, no matter how small or unimportant the occasion is. He was definitely not going to wear those out of style dress robes, like Potter or Weasley probably would. He was superior to them. He succeeded a while later; smirking as he saw the sparkling black velvet dress robe he once wore to the Yule Ball in his fourth year. He carefully pulled it out of the glamorous neat wardrobe to prevent it from getting wrinkled, and laid it neatly on the bed.
'Shoes,' he said as he proceeded to search for the perfect shoes. He opened the shoe cabinet. To his utter surprise, there were only 30 pairs of shoes inside, 15 pairs missing.
'Stupid house elves,' was the first thing that came to Draco's mind.
However, he had no time for blaming. A look at the clock told him cruelly that he had only three minutes remaining. Cursing under his breath, he carelessly picked out a pair of black leather shoes.
'My hair!' he said, as he finished dressing up. How could I totally forget about my hair? It's the Malfoy symbolic feature!
He rushed to his bathroom, scrambling out bottles of shampoo and hair products. He cared not about his wife at the moment. It's his hair that's the most important thing in the world! He took fifteen long minutes, washing and combing his hair tidily, applying all sorts of hair products. He heaved a sigh of relief after the process, and got ready for the shouting he was going to get as he walked downstairs.
Hermione was speechless when her husband strolled casually downstairs. The nerve of him! How could he walk casually when he's twenty minutes late!
'What the hell did you do with your thirty-five minutes!' she said, ready to start an argument.
'That's none of your business.' His words came out in a monotone.
'It's none of my business? I demand to know! I bet you were in bed sleeping, or devoting your time to your precious hair again.'
'Have you finished blabbering yet? We're already ten minutes late.' He tapped his wand impatiently, staring at the clock.
'No, I ha-'
Her words were cut short as Draco seized her arm, apparating the both of them to Hogsmade.
Hermione was amazed at the beautiful scene before her. Hogwarts today hardly looked like an ancient castle. She could see that it was decorated specially for today's occasion.
There was snow on every inch of grass. White, fluffy snow was falling down, landing softly on trees, grass and on people's coats. The frozen lake laid nearby, its surface crystal blue. The trees in the forbidden forest had snow on the tops, with ice crystals dangling from their branches. A small, cool breeze passed by, brushing past their leaves, sending bits of snow scattering into the air.
They walked along the path, and saw the spectacular sight of the castle. The golden castle stood out in the scene, with its walls hung with colourful decorations. There were flags on every tower, and a big, attracting banner 'Welcome Hogwarts Alumni' just above the entrance. Dragons soared through the air, as fireworks cracked in the sky.
They walked past the row of house elves on the side of the entrance and proceeded to enter the great Hall. People were in crowds, chatting excitedly and embracing each other. Hermione felt as if she was in her sixth year again, having lessons and living happily with her friends in this castle. Old memories flashed back to her, her experience with the troll, her adventures with Harry and Ron, the defeat of Lord Voldemort. How she missed her friends! She couldn't wait to meet them!
Her husband, however, was less interested by the reunion. He let his eyes travel around the hall lazily. This was another stupid reunion. He couldn't understand why people were so happy and excited. He sneered as his eyes passed the two crying Hufflepuffs, wrapping their arms around each other. Pathetic. He then caught a glimpse was a group of people in a dark corner, clearly not fitted with their surroundings.
Not planning to stand in the middle of the hall on his own, he decided to walk to the Slytherins. At least they're not as sensitive and shallow as the Gryfindors. He sighed. Today was going to be a long day.
'Hermione,' He tugged her arm. 'I'm going to the Slytherins.' He said in her ear.
Hermione nodded.
He walked off with his head held high, his black robes swishing elegantly behind him.
'Hermione? Is that you?' said a familiar voice behind her.
She turned around, her eyes gleaming with delight as she recognised her three best friends.
'Harry! Ron! Ginny!' she gasped, excitement shown on her face. 'I'm so happy to see you!' She hugged each of them tightly.
'So are we,' said Harry with a big smile on his face.
'I missed you so much. How could you not contact me after graduation? We haven't seen each other for five whole years!'
'Sorry Hermione.' Ron ruffled his hair, making it messier than before. 'We were busy.'
'Never mind. I was just as busy. Anyway, tell me about your lives!' Her voice trembled with excitement. 'Harry you're the newest seeker in the Blazing Lions. You married Ginny two years ago and you two now have two kids.'
'Hermione! You're brilliant!' said Harry.
'I do read the newspaper every day. What about you Ron?'
'I'm an Auror and…' He suddenly stopped, his eyes focused on the spot behind Hermione.
'Ron?'
'Pumpkin pastries! My favourite!' Ron, the food-lover, made a dash for the refreshment table.
'Ron still hasn't changed a bit. He's still as immature as before,' complained Ginny. She rolled her eyes as Ron came back, his plate loaded with biscuits and crackers.
It was until that moment that Ron realized that Hermione was wearing expensive clothes.
'Blimey, Hermione,' he said, amazed. 'Your clothes seem expensive! What's your job?'
'Wow!' Ginny cut in, her eyes fascinated by the silk on Hermione. 'Your clothes are really expensive! Shoes from Ella Deborah and this blouse from No Secrets and this dress! That's the newest fashion! How did you afford all these clothes? Did you marry a rich man or something?' Her eyes gleamed as she studied each of the clothing carefully, tracing her fingers along the fabric.
'It's nothing,' Hermione replied lamely, trying to hide her wedding ring.
'Nothing! This dress costs at least fifty thousand galleons! I have wished for this dress for so long. It's so beautiful.'
'You know, Ginny. If you want new dresses, ask me for some. I've got so many dresses that I can't fit them all into my wardrobe,' she said, putting an end to the subject.
'Oh really? Thank you so much!' Ginny hugged her tightly.
'Harry.' Ron nudged Harry who was standing next to her, grinning at the pair. 'Isn't that Malfoy over there?'
'Wha- Oh.'
'Why is he here?'
'Of course he's here! It's a class reunion, remember?' Hermione answered his question agitatedly.
'Hermione are you all right? You sound so strange,' asked Harry with a sceptical look.
'Of course I am. I was just carried away,' she said, noticing her slip of tongue. She said with such a calm tone that they all believed her.
'So Harry. You reckon he's married?'
'Of course, there's a wedding ring on his finger.'
'Of course Draco's married! I was at his wedding!' said Hermione without thinking.
'You were at his wedding? And since when did you start calling Malfoy 'Draco'?' asked Ron. Behind him, Harry was looking at Hermione with a suspicious look.
Hermione tensed as she realized her slip of tongue. Well, that wasn't far away from the truth. Mentally scolding herself, she searched her mind for a cover, but her mind seemed to stop functioning. Avoiding the questioning gazes of Harry and Ron, she said, 'I was talking about my cousin Draco. He got married a week ago.' Hermione, that was a lame answer.
'You have a cousin called Draco?' asked Harry, unbelievably.
Hermione smiled weakly.
'I've never heard you mention him before.'
'Well, we're not really related…' she replied, praying for the conversation to end.
Her prayers were answered as Draco Malfoy, with his long platinum blond hair and piercing grey eyes, strode over to them.
'Potter,' he greeted.
'Malfoy.' He returned the greeting.
'I believe you are fine?'
'Certainly.'
Hermione smiled. They were finally acting civil towards each other after seven years of hatred. The war had certainly changed a lot of people, including them. Ron, however, was red with anger upon the sight of his rival. Next to her, Ginny had to use all her might to strangle him.
'Well, good day to you, Potter.'
'Good day.'
They shook hands and nodded towards each other.
'Hey Malfoy!' said Ron, just as Draco was going to leave. 'Still the muggle hater, are you?' He made to tease him, but failed. The wizard's face remained as expressionless as ever.
'Ron!' said Hermione. If there was one topic Draco hated, it was the topic on muggles and muggle-borns.
'No.' he replied calmly. 'I'm not.'
'No?' Ron was fighting the urge to laugh. 'I thought you treated muggle-borns and muggles as if they are nothing but a piece of filth.' He continued teasing him, merely for fun.
'I did. But I don't. The war changes a lot of people, Weasley,' he said in the same calm tone.
'You don't? How funny. Prove it.'
Draco was enraged by his words, but kept his face blank. He was not going to get angry because of stupid Weasley's words.
'There is no need for me to prove it, Weasley. I do not intend to play one of your games. I came just to tell you I wasn't the Draco I used to be in Hogwarts.'
'So, you're just too cowardly to admit that you hate muggles?' asked Ron, forcing Draco to answer the question.
'Ron! Stop it!' said Hermione. Ron merely ignored her.
'Do not call me a coward when you are more one yourself,' he said, his tone clearly rising. 'And I married a muggle-born, for your reference, which happens to be your best friend, Hermione Granger.'
The whole hall that had been listening to their conversation snapped silent. Harry, Ginny and Ron stared open mouthed at the two. Ron dropped his plate, the sound of breaking china echoing through the hall. Of all people he could marry, why did he have to choose Hermione?
Draco smirked, amused at the scene they had caused.'Hermione, let's go get some drinks,'he said.
She nodded, and wrapping her arm around Draco's, the two walked over to the refreshment table, leaving the guests in utter shock.
fin.
A/N: Please review! Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Also, thank you all the reviewers for your support. You have no idea how much it means to me.
P.S. This story is an extract from the original draft. The remaining contains the Weasley twins and a food fight. Tell me if I should write a sequel