A/N: Let's go back to the beginning.
One year earlier
Hermione was late. Oh, Ginny was going to be pissed. Hermione ran around her parent's home, throwing articles of clothing every which way to find something suitable to wear. Today, Ginny had requested Hermione come to a meeting with the, in Ginny's words, "wizarding world's best wedding planner". Ginny had gone on and on about how important it was. Hermione had agreed but had completely lost track of time in the pages of a new novel. Hoping she didn't forget anything, Hermione threw her hair into a high ponytail before grabbing her wand to apparate.
She soon found herself outside Harry and Ginny's flat. She knocked on the door, wincing at the thought of the girl's temper. After quietly knocking for a mere second, the door flew open to reveal Ginny, already in a fit, "Hermione Jean Granger! Where the bloody hell have you been?"
"Sorry, Ginny."
Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled Hermione roughly into the living room, "We need to go. Now. Hold onto my arm."
Hermione grasped Ginny's elbow as she felt the familiar sensation of being tugged at her navel. When the pair apparated, Hermione looked up and a flood of shock and bewilderment came over her. Standing in front of them was a magnificent manor. Ivy climbed up the whitewashed walls and the front doors were ordained with gold snakes that glimmered in the sunlight. Hermione desperately hoped Ginny had accidentally landed them here.
Hermione turned to Ginny, "What the hell are we doing at Malfoy Manor, Ginevra?"
"Shush, Hermione. You know they have been different after Voldemort's defeat and even more so after Lucius' death." Ginny gave her a look telling her to behave before reaching out a hand to knock on the door. Immediately, it swung open to reveal a woman in the most elegant robes Hermione had seen. Her long blonde hair was pulled back from her face and her eyes roamed over them.
Introductions ensued resulting in Narcissa leading them towards the sitting room. Ginny and Narcissa were engaged in small conversation while Hermione tagged along behind them. Portraits whispered insults along the way but Hermione was unconcerned with their taunts. She could only fixate on the room that they were headed towards.
"Where did you get the sword?" Bellatrix yelled in her ear as she placed her under another Crucio.
Hermione writhed in pain, feeling like a knife was thrusting in and out of her body. The curse lifted and Bellatrix's wicked smirk was the only thing Hermione could see. She watched, too weak to move, as Bellatrix leaned over her. Hermione let out a blood curdling scream as she felt her flesh being torn.
"Please, please! We found it!" Hermione's mangled voice begged between screams.
Hermione snapped out of her reverie when Narcissa announced they had arrived, "Please take any seat you'd like," she said in a tone so formal it made Hermione uncomfortable. Hermione sat next to Ginny on a small loveseat that she didn't recognize from her last visit. As Ginny and Narcissa continued with business, Hermione forced herself to look only into her lap. She fidgeted and forced the unease down back into her stomach. For quite some time, Hermione went unnoticed. That was until Narcissa addressed her, "I've taken to calling for some tea. Would you like some as well, Ms. Granger?"
Hermione briefly acknowledged her desire before resuming her uninterested stare. Soon, she heard the doors opening behind her. She immediately assumed that some unpaid, unfairly treated house elf would soon be placing the tray on the small table between them. Instead, a shockingly pale hand laid the tray down. She followed the arm until she locked eyes with him. His eyes were still a shocking gray but his hair was quite shorter than the last time she recalled seeing him. She dropped her gaze into her lap after a brief hello to him, one that he didn't return.
He left and memories of Bellatrix consumed her. She had forgotten that she was here to contribute to the planning of the 'wedding of the century'.
"Hermione had a few ideas about where the wedding should be held," Ginny prompted. She and Ginny had this conversation days ago and Hermione had come up with the idea. At the time, Hermione was under the impression that the wedding planner could ask for them. She knew now that Ginny told her to bring it up to the planner because Mrs. Malfoy was the planner. Ginny didn't want to ask, a surprising statement considering how loud and blunt she was. Hermione realized that Ginny sneakily set her up.
Hermione sighed, knowing that Ginny wouldn't leave until she brought it up, "Well, Mrs. Malfoy, I recently learned about a garden that was quite beautiful and quite famous. The setting would be magical in the winter and I thought it would be perfect."
Narcissa held a twinkle in her eye that would rival Dumbledore's. "Which garden?" she asked.
Hermione blushed and stammered, "Well, uh, it would actually be, um, your garden." The blush bloomed across her face and up her neck when Narcissa didn't answer right away. Hermione wondered if she had been to bold to ask. Finally, the beautiful woman picked up her cup of tea. Right before she was about to take a sip, she spoke with a slight smile, "Great minds do think alike, Ms. Granger. You and I will be the perfect team." She finished with a wink and Hermione was speechless. She let a small smile escape as Narcissa and Ginny redirected the conversation once again.
Hermione relaxed and was lost in thought when she looked up to see a large, ornate chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. Her lips turned into a small circle when she remembered why she was so tense in the first place. This chandelier was quite similar to the first one. Snippets of memories circled through her thoughts. Bellatrix holding a knife to her throat, Dobby crashing the chandelier, and the water rising to his chest as Harry screamed for help. At that moment, she found she missed Dobby more than anything.
She blinked back tears and she could feel someone's stare on her. She turned to see Draco watching her. Breaking the gaze, Hermione looked back into her lap, wishing the meeting would end soon. Not a moment later, the girls turned to look at Draco who had cleared his throat. They waited expectantly.
"Mother, why don't we go have a firsthand look at the gardens. I'm sure Granger would appreciate it."
Narcissa held a quizzical look directed towards Hermione then realization clouded her face. "Oh, my dear. I'm so sorry. This was so foolish of me. This is our reception room and I wasn't thinking straight. I've been so busy with the beginning preparations."
Narcissa Malfoy gently pulled Hermione to face her, "I never want to upset you and I understand you are far above our measly apologies. I want you to be comfortable and don't you ever think you can't say anything to me."
Hermione didn't know what to expect but it certainly wasn't that. She gave a sheepish smile and just nodded, allowing Narcissa to lead her. Ginny looked shocked as well, never knowing exactly where Hermione's torture had taken place. Before Hermione could soothe Ginny's rising guilt, they were distracted as they entered one of wizarding Britain's most famous gardens.
It was even more beautiful than Hermione expected. A warming charm was cast throughout the area and Narcissa explained the techniques to keep the freezes from harming her winter flowers. As she tuned out Narcissa's explanation and examples of her snapdragons and English daisies, Hermione fell back to speak with a lurking Draco.
She walked up to him and blushed, "Malfoy, thank you for what you did back there. I thought I was going to go crazy if I had to stay in the room for another minute."
His face was devoid of emotion but something flickered in his eyes, "Why would I do anything for you, Granger. You were talking about holding the ceremony in the gardens and I made a rather reasonable suggestion. One that any person of reasonable intellect would make."
She nodded her head, suspecting that his actions weren't out of concern for her. "Well," she continued, "I do appreciate it anyway. Whether intentional or not, I definitely needed to thank you."
They both turned to see Ginny and Narcissa watching them, curiosity splayed across their features as they turned to join them.
"Hermione, Ginny, thank you for the meeting today. I will owl within a few days to begin preparations and receive more details. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me." Narcissa smiled, simultaneously losing her indifferent demeanor while retaining her regal composure. Hermione felt a growing affection for the woman.
They were led to the front drive. The two girls were about to disapparate when Draco called out to Hermione, "You're welcome, Granger."
"I wouldn't call it reasonable intellect, Malfoy. Simplistic is the word that comes to mind actually." She gave a smirk to rival his own, grabbed onto Ginny's arm, and disapparated.
The twinkle in Narcissa's eyes never left.
Hermione returned to her parent's house alone. Her parents were gone on holiday and wouldn't return for another week. Ginny had to go meet some friends up for lunch and Hermione declined Ginny's offer to come. It was Saturday and Hermione had nothing to do. She flipped through the programs on the telly for awhile before deciding she wanted to go out. She needed some more books and wanted to stop in at Flourish and Blott's.
Upon entering her favorite store, she began to peruse the new titles. Walking between the rows, she grabbed any book that looked interesting before heading to the back to sit down in a secluded spot. When she finally decided which ones she wanted to buy, she realized she had to get the first book in the series before she cashed out.
She returned to the shelves and let her fingers graze the spines, reading each title to try and find it. She sighed, quite disappointed that the first book was not there. She was putting the second book back as she heard his voice again, "Have you read the first one?"
She turned to see Draco Malfoy looking at her. When she noticed he was speaking to her and expecting an answer, she fumbled, "Uh, no, I was actually just looking for it but they are all gone."
He smirked, "Ah, I've beaten you again, Granger. I just bought the last copy."
She rolled her eyes, "I'll just have to ask them to order another."
"I'll just owl you it once I'm finished."
She stepped back, suspicious. At her calculating gaze, it was his turn to roll his eyes, "Granger, I'm offering to let you borrow a book. It's not like I'm asking you to lunch."
Her face flushed, "Sorry, Malfoy. That'd be great if you would send it when you're finished." He followed her up to the counter and waited until she paid for her other books. She turned around to thank him once more but he spoke, "So, how about it, Granger?"
"How about what?"
He smirked, "Lunch?"
He left her speechless once again and his victory smirk infuriated her. Finally, she offered a sweet smile, full of sarcasm, "Sure, Malfoy. But I get to pick the place and you're paying."
He nodded his head in assent and let her lead him into the crowds, through The Leaky Cauldron, and into Muggle London. She stopped only when she saw the large golden arches.
"I am not going in there, Granger. Not with all those commoners and filth."
"Shut it, Malfoy. You agreed to let me pick."
He looked up at the menu and ordered for them both. Hermione sipped her water as they waited. "How have you been doing, Malfoy?" she asked, desperate for conversation to erase the tension in the air.
He shrugged, "I'm doing fine." His response eliminated any other attempt at furthering the conversation. She huffed in annoyance. Her suspicions started to rise again and he watched as she tried to calculate the numerous, dastardly reasons he would ask her to have lunch with him.
"You think too much. There is no good reason I asked you to lunch," he spoke, answering her unasked questions. She huffed in annoyance again and led them to a table.
"Don't they clean here?"
She suppressed giggles at his disgusted expression and promptly threw a chip at him, "Calm down. It's only McDonald's."
"Don't embarrass me, Granger. Even in this dirty, muggle establishment I have a reputation of class to uphold," He spat out, his easy demeanor vanishing. The giggles she once fought turned into anger.
"Are you insinuating that I don't have class, Malfoy?"
He smirked, "Take the comment as you please."
"You stupid git," she muttered.
"Annoying, Muggleborn bookworm who ruins lunch," he muttered back.
Her irritation rose to dangerous levels. Not wanting to cause a scene, because that would be 'classless', she stood up and stormed out of the restaurant. Following the path back to the Leaky Cauldron, he caught up to her, laughing, "You were always too easy to rile, Granger." She just glared at him before continuing her pouting.
He grabbed her by the wrist, "Granger, stop acting so childish. You should never let someone so easily manipulate you." She looked up at him and glared.
"I will not allow you to tease and mock me! I can't help it that you're bipolar! Damn it, Malfoy!" She pouted like a child who was forbidden to eat ice cream. He let her anger subside before opening his snarky mouth once again.
"So, lunch tomorrow?" He questioned, knowing this would set her off again. She stepped back and threw him a look that could kill.
"Never again, Ferret," she spat, turned around, and continued to stomp her way home. As she was about to turn the corner, he called out, "12:30, tomorrow, same place!" She didn't respond; but that didn't mean he didn't see the small smile appear on her face before she disappeared from his view.
Draco Malfoy laughed his way home.
