Hermione took a deep breath the next morning before Apparating. Last night she had realized her friends hadn't been informed at all – about who she was now marrying, and… She almost shuddered. They were going to kill her. No way around it.

"Lav?" she said tentatively, walking into her friend's kitchen. Perhaps telling her journalist, less protective, female friend would be easiest. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. I'm just getting ready to fix up some sandwiches for lunch. Want one?"

"Yes. And you might want to make some tea. Or perhaps something stronger for yourself. I've got to tell you something."

"What is it?" She waved her wand, and took the sandwiches to the table. She turned around and got the now-finished tea. "I mean, I haven't heard from you in… what, three weeks? Ever since you said you were moving in with your real parents. How did that go?"

"That's kind of why I wanted to talk to you. I've got to catch you up on something, Lavendar."

"Ooh, are you going to let me know who you're not marrying?"

"You could say that. You see, the day I moved in, just a couple of days after talking to you, I found out who it was. My father was right," she said. "We knew him." She sighed, looking her friend right in the eye. "His name is Draco Malfoy."

Lavendar merely stared back at her. Then, she seemed to regain speech. "No. No way is that possible. They expected you to marry him?"

"For a short time. Then they worked out some terms… if we broke them, then we still had to marry." She brightened her face, knowing very well what the next question was.

"Oh. So, now what?"

"I'm getting married soon."

This time it took her five minutes to regain her ability to speak. "You… broke the rules?"

"Yes." She grinned at her. "I happen to have this as proof." She showed her friend her left hand, and the bright jewels shined back up at her.

"Oh… my… God. Dear God, you're marrying Malfoy." She grinned. "Ron and Harry are both going to murder you. You realize that, don't you?"

"Exactly why I let you know first. Please, if I die, write it in my obit that I was engaged. Just don't let on that you know who did it."

"Right," she said, smiling, still shocked at her friend's bombshell. "I still get my interview, right?"

"Of course. You can interview Draco, our parents, and me. About the adoption and the engagement." She prayed that no one would let on what the broken rule was.

As she walked out the door later, smiling, she slipped her ring into her purse, and pulled out the cell phone her Muggle mother had given her. She had bought one for Harry and Ron both, also.

"Harry? Call Ron and tell him to meet us at his mother's house. I need to talk to you all."

She had also conned Ginny into getting one, and knew that Ron had told her as well. "Ginny?" She took a deep breath. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Mum's. Why?"

"I'll be there in a second. I'll explain when we're all there. Can you get a hold of some of the rest of your family?"

"Of course. See you soon."

And, closing her phone and placing it back in her purse, she Apparated to the Burrow.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, and Harry were in the "wreck" room, as the children had once tended to call it.

"Is this about your parents?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"Partially. I'm sure you all know about my real parents, the fact I was told I had been put as bride in an arranged wedding, and that I was against it."

They all nodded. And, taking a deep breath, she dropped the big bomb. "Well, my parents and the parents of my supposed betrothed came up with an agreement. If we adhered to certain terms, we were free to go our own ways. However, if they were broken, we had to marry." She looked at their faces for understanding, and received plenty. "And, you're all invited to the ceremony."

The boys looked murderous. Ginny and her mother were wide-eyed in shock, and looked like a feather could knock them over. Mr. Weasley sat there, staring at her.

"I believe I'd better—"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Ginny stood up abruptly, and grabbed her by the wrist. Then she spoke softly. "I realize you are in danger of being mauled by my brothers and Harry, but if you run, they'll follow." Louder now, she asked sweetly. "Now, who is it that you're marrying?"

"Right." She took a deep breath. "Before I say, can they be restrained? Please?" She gestured at the fuming males. "Or, maybe, given medication?"

"That bad?" Ginny whispered. When she nodded slightly, she wondered who it was that would make them so mad.

"Actually," she sighed, "maybe I shouldn't tell anyone. Maybe you shouldn't be allowed at the ceremony. In consideration of the groom."

Ginny shook her head. "They'd crash it. You know that. Might as well get it over with."

"Fine." She cleared her throat. "Alright. Now, before I say this, I want you all to be open-minded about how people change as they get older. I also want you to remember that I am your friend. I don't want to die."

"Who is it, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Well, it… just so happens… that is… I mean to say…"

"Out with it, Hermione!" Harry demanded.

"Draco Malfoy."

Among the angry shouts of the boys, she heard "What the bloody hell!" and "I'm going to kill that—"

Oh yes. Her friends were open-minded. The male friends were shouting explicitives, not particularly caring that most of them had a mother two feet away, and the females sat, shell-shocked. Arthur was with the women, just shocked. "I think I really should go," she said, eyeing the fuming and shocked friends.

With that, she Apparated home.

As she fell onto her bed, she let out a deep sigh. She heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said. She played with the ring, without thinking.

"Where've you been all morning?"

At Draco's voice, she sat up abruptly. Her hair was disheveled from her fingers combing it multiple times since she had arrived home. Her makeup was a bit smudged, and the look on her face… well. It showed that it didn't go very well.

"I was telling my friends about this," she said, holding out her left hand.

"I take it they didn't like it too much," he said, a grin on his face. He could just imagine how Potter and Weasley had taken it.

She shook her head. "Not quite. By the way, if I were you, I'd wear a bullet and magic proof vest during the ceremony."

He laughed. "It'll be fine. I swear." He sat next to her and held her against his chest. It shocked him, though, that he was seriously thinking about… love. He didn't love Hermione… But he thought that she was letting him feel what it might be like.

And he wanted more.