Chapter 6.
"Yes, oh Draco, of course I will! I love you!" She clutched him to her and kissed him lovingly. Their passion escalated, and just as Hermione began to gasp and want more of Draco above all else, he pulled away. He chuckled and smiled his beautiful smile and Hermione got caught up in staring into his liquid silver eyes, and he whispered "Excellent!" into her ear. It was what she had nervously anticipated all these months, Draco's proposal her and Draco were finally getting married! The engagement ring was the most beautiful (and awfully extravagant) item she had ever seen. It was a splendid thing, with six large, sparkling diamonds, arranged in a sort of flower pattern, and the diamond in the center was a brilliant magically-conjured turquoise color. The stones were set elaborately in white gold, bright and shiny. On the inside, the words "To the future Mrs. Hermione Jean Malfoy, I love you more than anything in this world or the next" were engraved in tiny glowing letters that should've be impossible to read, but were forever burned into Hermione's mind, along with the memory of Draco murmuring the sentiment into her ear, his voice silk smooth. And then, she remembered, he had held her tight against his chest, kissed her hair, and stroked her back as she cried with joy.
Being the detail oriented individual that she was, Hermione began planning every trivial thing having to do with their upcoming early June wedding. It was take place in the Great Hall, with the entire school present. Hermione, at first, resented this, but Dumbledore insisted that the whole school must witness the beautiful day. Eventually, Hermione became so immersed in smaller details of the celebration, she learned to accept and even be proud of the number of witnesses to her and Draco's confirmed love.
Ginny and Luna took Hermione dress shopping. On the night of the proposal, Draco had presented Hermione with, not only the glorious ring (and the even more glorious declaration of his love for her), but also a lavish sum of money meant for her dress. "Although I'd take you in dishrags, I can't imagine how you could possibly be more stunningly lovely, so I am excited to see what this yields!"
Out of guilt at Draco's generosity, Hermione picked a simple V-neck halter dress that was priced slightly lower than the more elaborate ensembles, confident that she could magically embellish it to her (not to mention Ginny and Luna's) liking. Ginny and Luna felt no guilt, they were only giddy at the prospect of spending a large sum of "Malfoy's money". Hermione chastised them and turned down countless grand, overpriced gowns, refusing to even try on most of them.
Back at Hogwarts, Ginny, Luna and Hermione spent hours magically "redesigning" the simple dress. Ginny suggested bringing the hem up, and when she demonstrated her thoughts, Hermione blushed scarlet and quickly vetoed the idea. She had been raised conservative and hated showing too much skin. The other girls, however, INSISTED that the neckline be lowered "just a tad". They convinced Hermione of this when she reluctantly tried on the dress. She had to admit, she looked amazing, and the neckline wasn't so terrible. The creative trio also added a red sash with a bow under the bust line of the dress (Hermione had to hod on to her Gryffindor pride somehow, the girls had given her incredulous looks when she suggested charming the sash dark green to match her fiance's accessories (tie, pocket kerchief, et cetera). A lace layer was placed over the silk of the original dress, giving it an airy look. The finished dress was a thing of beauty, and Ginny courteously conjured a sparkling tiara, filmy veil, and white shoes. The shoes made Hermione endlessly nervous as she considered the dangerously high heels. Ginny assured her she would make her practice walking in them so that she wouldn't fall on the way to the alter.
Draco's wedding attire consisted of a lovely (and very expensive-looking) gray suit that matched his mercury eyes, dark green accents and a stark white shirt underneath. His dress shoes gleamed black. The first time Hermione viewed him dressed like this, she could barely contain herself. Desire won, Draco's shirt ended up thrown across the floor and the lovers were locked in a passionate embrace, Hermione's hands explored Draco's smooth chest and back longingly. His hot, sweet tongue probed inside her mouth, and she kissed back, nipping playfully at his lower lip, setting a small moan free on his lips. As always, as their desire peaked, they pulled away, always stopping when they wanted most to continue. Despite various Hogwarts rumors concerning Draco's past love life, Hermione found that his virtue was pure,
Numerous times Draco had tried to persuade her to show him her wedding ensemble, he was dying to see it. His methods of persuasion, she decided, should be made illegal, placed on the blacklist of some pre-marriage rulebook. His eyes burned into her when she looked at him. He pleaded and begged. He whispered his desperate pleas in her ear in his silky, seductive voice. When words failed, he resorted to physical contact. Draco pressed soft, open mouthed kisses up and down Hermione's neck and jaw, He licked along her collarbone and kissed the hollow at the base of her neck. Draco held her softly around the hips or waist, and moved his hands downward or back to her bum when he felt the argument was close to won. She, however stunned, was determined to uphold tradition, and did not submit, though her body told her trite things like a dress didn't matter at the moment. Every time, she would pull away reluctantly from his delicious kisses, smile, and shake her head, and Draco would shake his head back, give one last attempt to persuade her with his eyes, and say "Oh well, next time then." And Hermione would smile because she knew "next time" was coming soon.
As the wedding neared, Hermione began to get on Draco's case about his share of the wedding details. He surprised her one night while they cuddled, and he said "I'm going to ask Potter to be my best man, that's alright with you, right love?"
Well of course it was alright with her! Her question was, would it be alright with Harry? She felt very guilty about neglecting her earliest friends at Hogwarts, and she could tell they felt alienated by the obscene amount of time she had been spending with Draco. She then realized Draco was actually waiting for a response, his beautiful, quizzical stare broke her reverie.
"Oh, sure, of course it's all right! That's wonderful Draco! But i have to say, I'm very surprised!"
"I figured you would be," he said, chuckling "and as much as I don't care for Potter, Crabbe or Goyle wouldn't exactly be an adequate replacement, now would they? And surely you understand my aversion to Weasely? Therefor, Potter seemed the best candidate. And I figure he will accept, for your sake at least."
"Good luck asking him," Hermione said wonderingly.
"Something tells me I won't need luck as much as you think" he said, sounding rather self confident.
The following day, in the hallway after Potions, Draco and Hermione approached Harry and Ron. The boys nodded cordially in Hermione's direction, even smiling, but their expressions hardened a bit as they turned back to Draco.
"Potter, I have a favour to ask you" Draco said confidently.
"And what would that be, Malfoy?" said Harry incredulously, a wary look in his green eyes.
" I would like to request that you serve as my best man at the wedding, and I implore you to accept, for Hermione's sake, and honestly, mine as well. My alternatives are Crabbe and Goyle. Surely you see my predicament."
Harry thought a moment, picturing a bumbling Crabbe messing up the wedding party by tripping, or burping in the middle of the vows. For Malfoy, he laughed at this, but he imagined Hermione's mortification if something of this sort happened at the wedding she had so meticulously planned. He pitied her.
"Alright Malfoy, I'll be your best man, see you at the wedding." Harry said seriously and somehow nonchalantly at the same time.
"Thank you--Harry." Draco said.
With this, Harry said a friendly goodbye to Hermione, motioned to Ron, who nodded also, (he was still a bit sour over the whole thing) and the boys turned about face and left.
"Well, that went well, I would say."
Draco and Hermione walked calmly to their next class, not saying much, both felt that something large had just been accomplished.