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When they finally moved Draco out of St. Mungo's, the press was absolutely ridiculous. They wouldn't let them take two steps outside the front door without bombarding them with questions. Since Draco could hardly speak, Hermione did most of the talking. He had come a long way, though; his speaking was about normal after three days of potions from St. Mungos.
Hermione had thought she would be able to take care of him, but with everything going on at the ministry, she was hardly home. Draco had elected to stay at her place, and it was nice to come home with food on the table. He heated up food that had been dropped off, but nuances.
His parents were also helpful, as were hers. Between both sets, they never really wanted for anything. She could tell Draco was getting antsy doing nothing at her apartment and only running meetings through owls. He liked being busy, and he didn't like waiting for her to get home.
Three days before the gala, he was finally given the go ahead by a healer to go back to work, and Hermione had only seen him when he crashed back into bed. He was weeks behind, and he had many investments to keep up with. As far as she could gather, he had been to the Middle East, all parts of Europe and a quick trip to Asia all in the amount of a week.
The morning of the gala, Draco assured her he would be back in time to pick her up so they could meet there. However, halfway through the day she received an owl that said it would be impossible and he would meet her there.
She was slightly annoyed, but she understood.
"Hermione?" Ginny called, walking into her apartment. Ginny looked fantastic. Quidditch season was wrapping up and she was finally going to get some time off. Ginny looked amazing in a maroon beaded cocktail dress. Ginny almost never wore floor length gowns, saying they made her look short.
"How can you walk in those heals?" Hermione asked her,
"Well, I have to level with Harry somehow," She argued, smiling at her friend, "You haven't put your dress on yet?" Hermione was standing in one of Draco's button downs. All her proper underthings on, but her dress wasn't on yet.
"I was doing my hair and makeup and didn't want to get anything on it," She said, walking out of the room.
Hermione put her dress on in her closet, it was a wrap. She then slid into her heals that were as deathly tall as Ginny's.
"Damn, 'Mione," she said,
"You sound like Ron," Hermione accused and Ginny laughed. The dress dipped deep into her chest to just about the end of her sternum. The printed gown fell all the way to the ground, but it slit all the way up to the point where Hermione thought it was boarder line inappropriate. But screw it, she was Hermione Granger and she was going to wear a dress that she looked damn fine in it.
"Draco is going to love you," Ginny assured her,
"He told me he loved me," Hermione confessed, and Ginny squealed,
"Oh, I totally won. George owes me fifty galleons!" Ginny said excitedly.
"What?"
"I bet George fifty galleons that he would say that he loved you before the fall Gala. And I was right!"
"You two need to stop betting," Hermione said, and Ginny laughed,
"Come on, we are already late," Ginny encouraged, taking her out into the kitchen.
"Harry! I didn't know you were here," Hermione said when she saw him eating at her table.
"I came with Ginny, we should go—you have your wand,"
"Yes," Hermione said dryly, of course she did. She was being offered up as bate, of course she was going to have her wand.
"Then let's go," Harry said, offering up his arm to Ginny and then Hermione.
The gala looked beautiful, but Hermione couldn't miss the aurors every six paces apart. The long red carpet to the gala was back and the reporters would not stop taking photos. So many of them were asking Harry and Ginny when their wedding was, Hermione hoped to slip by without a question.
"Hermione!" A reporter yelled, not so lucky after all, "Where is Draco tonight?" It sounded accusing, like they were about to get mad at Draco for not being there. A soft hand on her back made her smile and she turned to face him with a smile.
"I am sorry I am late," His voice still a bit raspy as he stepped closer, "You look gorgeous," He said.
With his hair perfectly kept and his black dress robes, Hermione was drooling, "You clean up well," She said,
"You are drooling," He teased,
"I do not drool," She retorted, and he smiled.
"Mr. Malfoy! How are you recovering from your accident?" A reporter asked,
"Well, thank you. I have a wonderful nurse," He said, winking at Hermione and the reporters laughed good naturedly,
"What have you heard of the Harry and Ginny wedding?" A reporter asked,
"That we are invited," Hermione replied, and there was a chuckle. Draco had his hand around her waist and was gently pulling her away.
"A kiss for the camera?" Someone asked.
Hermione knew that Draco did not like to indulge in such things, so she shook her head before moving away to follow him.
"Don't want a kiss?" Hermione asked him with a smile,
"I don't like to share," He responded, kissing her chastely before walking toward the gala.
"Come on," Hermione said.
The evening was going smoothly, which put Hermione on edge. Every second she expected someone to come around the corner.
"Shall we dance?" Draco asked,
"I thought you would never ask," Hermione said, taking his hand.
Dancing with him now was almost as heart racing as it was the first time. He glided along the dance floor, and she never fought his lead. She thought he probably had her a little too close, but it was all right with her. When the dance was over, he kissed her.
"Shall I go get us drinks?" He asked, and she nodded.
He swept off and she went to go find Harry and Ginny.
She felt a wand pressed to her back.
"Come with me, Ms. Granger," The voice said.
"Wrakspur?" She asked, "What are you doing?"
"A favor for a friend, now go," He insisted, and she walked forward and away from everyone else. She kept on trying to look to get someone's attention, but no one seemed to be looking. He pushed her down one of the abandoned hallways and slowly the music faded and the sound of people talking went away, "Hands where I can see them," He growled, "Now where is your wand?"
"Here," She said, pointing at her dress where a hidden pocket had her wand. Her mind was whirring, trying to come up with something. She kept looking around for something to use, but the plain black marble held nothing to use as a weapon.
He grabbed her wand and threw her against the far wall. The hex he threw at her made her feel like she got punched in the gut. She fell to her knees, sputtering when another hex was thrown and she fell to the ground. Her breathing felt off, every breath hurt.
"Ms. Granger, I am glad we get to officially meet," The man that stepped out of the shadows was haggard. Having met Bellatrix, Hermione didn't have to use her imagination to see how they fit together. He looked just as crazy. She pulled herself to her feet.
"Rodolphus," She said, stepping back and away. She had to keep them distracted. She knew her friends and Draco would see that she was missing soon. If she kept them talking, they would find her, "Why me? I thought Draco would be the target,"
"He still is one," Rodolphus said, playing with a knife, using it to clean his fingernails, "But after the incident at the Quidditch match, I want you dead for interrupting my work,"
"Uncle, so glad you could make it," Draco said, this voice was one that made Hermione's blood run cold.
"Draco, step back or I will hurt her," Rodolphus said, an edge to his playfully light voice.
"Go ahead," He said flippantly, his expression bored
"Draco," Hermione whispered, Rodolphus turned to her and threw a hex that made her rebound against the back wall. Her head cracked against the wall before she crumpled to the ground.
"I thought you had fallen for the dirty mudblood," Rodolphus said, apparently Draco had not flinched because Rodolphus was looking at him with an appraising glare.
"I have a chance to embarrass one of the Golden Trio, Uncle. I wasn't going to risk exposing myself in front of a full stadium of witnesses," Draco said, and Hermione moved to get her hands underneath of her to pull herself back up and face her attackers. She would not be caught not facing them in some way. She would be defiant until the end if necessary.
"Your family always did prefer—softer—methods," Wrakspur wheezed,
"We prefer devious ones," Draco corrected, his eyebrow raised as if he thought of Wrakspur as something lower than dirt.
Rodolphus still looked uncertain about Draco, and Hermione was on the verge of tears. Her heart breaking as she stared at Draco. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be true.
He looked at her with a smirk and back to Rodolphus, "I doubt you are going to take her jaw off—what is the plan for her?"
"I was going to take her innards out," Rodolphus hissed, his knife swirling in his grip, "Just to see if mudbloods bleed red,"
"There are much better ways of ruining this filthy little mudblood," Draco said, walking to her, pulling her so where she was sitting up. Rodolphus stood next to Draco.
"Auntie Bella's handy work," Draco said with a laugh, pointing at her arm.
"She was always—creative," Rodolphus said as he backed away from the two of them, trusting Draco. Hermione couldn't see anything in his eyes, no hint of remorse.
"Draco," She whimpered, she knew she sounded pathetic and she hated herself for it.
"I didn't know you had it in you, Draco," Rodolphus said, pride in his voice.
"I was chosen by the Dark Lord," Draco growled, giving Hermione a shove back, "You doubt his choice?"
"Never," Rodolphus whispered.
Hermione looked down and saw Draco's wand was in her lap.
He was wandless.
He had given her his wand.
It was an act, to stall to get the aurors in place.
She took a deep breath.
"Now all we need to do is go after Harry," Draco said, and suddenly all hell broke loose. Spells were thrown from every which direction. Hermione was able to get up and get to Draco.
"Protego!" She shouted, covering the both of them before managing to immobilize Wrakspur from leaving. Draco's wand worked surprisingly well in her hands and she managed to get her own wand back and give Draco back his as spells flew.
Draco didn't say a word, but a powerful spell came from his wand and knocked Rodolphus over. In seconds, aurors were all over him.
"Hermione, I am so sorry," Draco said, turning to her
"I'm sorry," She said with a sob, moving toward him. He pulled her tightly into his chest like he couldn't get to her fast enough. His heart was pounding as she leaned into him, holding him tightly.
"Why are you sorry?" He asked her,
"I'm sorry I believed you," She said, and he gave a relieved chuckle, pulling her back so he could hold her face in his hands. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," He swore to her,
It was silent for a moment between the both of them.
She kissed him so hard it was bruising. His hands were wound tightly in her hair. She pulled away before it got too heavy, pressing her forehead against his.
"I love you," She whispered,
"I love you," He replied, pulling her closer to him.
"Alright you two, we got to get a move on," It was Ron who came over dressed in his auror robes.
"Where to?" Hermione asked,
"We need to debrief you,"
"Now? I want to go back and enjoy my party—I paid for my ticket and I want another dance," Hermione said,
"And giving her your wand was not part of the plan," Harry said, walking up, "You could have been bloody killed,"
"I had to give her some sort of sign," Draco said, "My uncle is good at legilimency. I am surprised he couldn't read my mind from the beginning—I was prepared for that,"
Harry smiled softly, looking at him, "Love does that, it is how Snape protected his mind from Voldemort, it is how I protected my mind. It is how your mother protected her mind from Voldemort. Love is the most powerful weapon in the world,"
Hermione smiled thinking that Harry sounded like Dumbledore, grabbing Draco's hand as Draco nodded at Harry weakly.
"Speaking of which, I am going to go find my fiancé. She was moving Rodolphus down to the cells to await his trial,"
"You let her do that?" Ron asked,
"I don't let her do anything. She wanted to drag his sorry ass, I wasn't going to say no," Harry said, looking at his best friend like he was crazy, "Have you met your sister? When is the last time you told her no?"
Ron laughed reluctantly, looking back toward Hermione, "I am happy you both are alright, 'Mione,"
"Thanks Ron," She said politely, "Now can I go back and enjoy the party?"
Hermione was tucked into Draco's side as he drew patterns on her naked back. She could tell he was deep in thought.
"Where are you?" She asked him, and he looked back down at her,
"Thinking about how I don't want any trouble for a good long while. I have had enough of it for a lifetime," He said, smiling.
"Draco," She encouraged him to elaborate a bit more,
"I was terrified I was going to lose you. I was—I realized you were missing and I got Harry and the aurors, but you were already with him. We figured out that it was Wrakspur who let him through security so we thought there were only a few places Wrakspur would take you to feel comfortable.
"I—I went with Harry and we could hear you two talking. I heard Wrakspur get your wand—and then I heard my uncle. And I knew what I had to do. Harry was against it at first, but then he realized it was the only way to get someone in there to protect you.
"I was scared of you dying, and then I realized then that if I—if I said the things I had to say to get Rodolphus to trust me, I might lose you. I thought then that it is better that you would be alive than not at all. And I—I got into my same mindset I did when I was with the Dark Lord and I walked into the room.
"And I said terrible things," He ran his fingers through his hair, "I hate saying the word mudblood and I was scared that my shaking would give away—would show Rodolphus I was fake. And I could hear you thinking. I could hear you thinking it couldn't be true, that I wouldn't. And in that split second, when you questioned me. I thought I lost you either way. And I couldn't—I couldn't risk it. So I risked everything—I risked your life to show you that I love you and I shouldn't have done that. It was so selfish of me—
"Draco," She cut him off, "It wasn't selfish. Or, at least, not in the way you are thinking. You deserve to be happy, you have more than earned it. And I should have had more faith in you. I feel awful because I believed you. I have gotten to know you so well, and it took—it took a word that I hate to shake my faith and I am sorry I didn't believe you. I am so sorry," She whispered, kissing his chest. Draco moved and slid down so that he was staring at her.
"How about this," he said, his hand holding her one side of her face as the other pressed against her pillow. He wiped away a few stray tears, "How about I forgive you for not believing in me, if you forgive me for risking your life,"
"Draco, it is nothing to forgive. I do not begrudge you at all,"
"And I do not begrudge you," he said,
Hermione nodded, and smiled through her tears, "Well then, I forgive you,"
He smiled, "And I forgive you,"
He leaned in and kissed her slowly and sensually. His put his hand on her naked back and pulled her close to him. And her warmth invited him in.
Dramatic ending, or not too dramatic. Only a few chapters left! I am excited to be wrapping this one up, please review. I beg and plead because it is the only thing I can do.
