PLAYING HAPPY FAMILIES

CHAPTER TEN

"Mother, do you remember when I was younger you said that when I found the one, that the Malfoy ring was mine?" Draco asked,

"Yes dear, of course" she replied,

"Well Hermione's the one" Draco said, Narcissa smiled, she stood and went over to the bureau, Draco saw her take something out of the draw,

"It will look stunning on her" Narcissa said, Draco took the box from her and put it into his breast pocket. "Draco, there is another matter that I want to discuss with you, it concerns your father's funeral" Narcissa said, he could see her eyes start to tear up.

"I know we need to, but can I come back on Saturday?" he asked, Narcissa nodded, Draco kissed his mother's cheek and apparated back to his flat, he took the ring box out of his pocket and studied it, his mother was right it would look stunning on Hermione.

The next morning, Draco met Ginny out front of the shop, he let her in and showed her around, by the time lunch had rolled around, Draco was confidant that Ginny could handle it. She had excellent knowledge of potion ingredients, he left her to manage with Annie and apparated to Hogsmeade. He saw Hermione standing out the front of The Three Broomsticks and he approached her,

"Hello, my love" he said, Hermione smiled,

"Hey, how's Ginny doing?" she asked,

"She's doing really well, she's a natural" Draco replied, Hermione smiled, Draco took her in his arms and kissed her softly "You look stunning" he said, Hermione was wearing a sapphire blue halter neck dress, that came down just before her knees, the skirt hugged her hips nicely and the bodice showed just enough cleavage without being vulgar.

"You don't look to bad yourself" she replied, Draco took her hand and led her to the lake at Hogwart's, it was a beautiful clear day and the Hogwart's squid was waving it's tentacles in the breeze, occasionally it jetted through the water spraying the students who were standing on the banks. Draco led Hermione to the weeping willow where he had asked Dobby to prepare a picnic for them, Dobby had outdone him self, there were plates of sandwich's and cold chicken, a bottle of pumpkin juice as well as wine and champagne. Draco and Hermione sat on one of the squishy pillows that Dobby had left for them. They ate the majority of the food, Dobby appeared every few minutes to make sure they didn't need anything else, and finally they were on to desert, Hermione helped herself to some strawberry cheesecake whilst Draco had a small piece of chocolate cake. Once the plates had been cleared, they lay down to have a nap,

"Hermione?" Draco asked,

"Yeah?" she asked,

"Thank you for everything you have done for me" he replied, Hermione snuggle closer to him and rested her head on his chest,

"You're welcome" she murmured. They dozed for a few hours, by the time they woke it was twilight, Hermione sat up

"I should get back up to the castle, McGonagall will be wondering where I am" Hermione said,

"No, don't leave yet, Dobby should be arriving with dinner shortly" Draco protested, Hermione smiled,

"I am so full from lunch that I don't think I could eat one more bite" Hermione said, Dobby arrived a few minutes later and laid out a three course meal for them.

"Thank you, Dobby" Draco said kindly, Dobby bowed and with a pop he was gone. Hermione and Draco ate as much as they could, after the food had been cleared, Draco stood, he offered his hand to Hermione,

"May I have this dance?" he asked, Hermione laughed,

"There's no music" she said, Draco just grinned, he flicked his wand and at once soft music filled the silent night. Hermione took Draco's hand and he wrapped his arms around her waist, Hermione rested her cheek on his shoulder. Draco smiled to himself, it fest so right having Hermione in his arms,

"You are so perfect" he whispered, "You have done so much for me, and never asked for anything in return" Hermione tightened her arms around his neck, "I don't think I could have done half the things I have done in my life, if I hadn't had you to support me, I aced my NEWT's because you believed I could do it, you encouraged me to spend four years abroad to study my passion and I know if I hadn't gone and spent time with Slughorn and all those others my business would not be what it is today" Draco paused, he felt a nervous shudder in his stomach, he pulled away from Hermione and stared into her eyes, "Everything I have, and everything I have achieved I can thank you for" he said,

"I didn't do anything Draco, you did it all yourself" Hermione whispered, Draco shook his head,

"Lily is one of the best things that ever happened to me, I spent so many years wandering who her mother was and it turned out to be you, the love of my life" Draco said, he took out the ring box and knelt down, "Hermione, you have made me so happy, I want to be this happy for the rest of my life" he paused and looked into her eyes, "Will you marry me?" Hermione's eyes widened as Draco opened the ring box, nestled in the box was a large sapphire and diamond engagement ring, it sat on a platinum band, the sapphire was slightly rounded at the edges supported by two kite shaped diamonds. Hermione took it out of the box and studied it,

"Draco….I" she paused, "Of course I will" Draco stood and took the ring from her, he slipped onto her left hand, Hermione studied it for a moment then threw her arms around him, "It's perfect" she said. Draco kissed her deeply. They broke apart, "I was thinking, on Saturday, I'd like to take Lily to meet my parents, her grand parents, do you think that would be alright?" Hermione asked,

"I think that would be a great idea, female bonding besides you are her mother you can take her wherever you want" Draco replied,

"Yeah, I just feel like I should ask, I mean you raised her" Draco kissed her again,

"I'll be with my parents all day maybe you can bring your parents and Lily back to the manor for dinner and we can announce our engagement" Hermione smiled,

"That would be nice" she said,

"Although, my mother already knows, I had to her ask her for the ring" Draco admitted, "That's a Malfoy family heirloom, passed along to every bride in the family, I'm not sure how old it is but if you look on the inside of the band it magically inscribes the couples initials, so when Lily gets engaged she will wear it and so on" Draco explained,

"It's a beautiful ring" Hermione said, admiring it again.

"I suppose, I should get home" Draco said, Hermione pouted,

"Just stay here" she said,

"I think it's going to get a little chilly and I only brought a summer cloak" Draco replied,

"No silly, stay with me I my quarters tonight" Hermione said, Draco grinned,

"Alright" he agreed, they walked hand in hand back to Hermione's quarters. Once inside they were met by McGonagall who spent several minutes gushing over Hermione's ring. Finally they made it back to her room. They crawled into bed, Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione and she snuggled in closer to him,

"Good night, my love" he said kissing the top of her head,

"Good night" she replied, through a yawn. A few minutes later, they were fast asleep.

Yeah, yeah I know it was incredibly short but I ran out of ideas, initially I wanted to have the proposal at the end of the chapter and leave a little cliffhanger on what her answer was but I thought that having him propose while they were dancing was a better idea. Ah well, anyway thank you to all who have reviewed, your reviews make my day. Until next chapter which will go up wither tonight or tomorrow, click the button and let me know what you think also any suggestions on what should happen for their wedding which will be another few chapters away because I am going to have a few little twists somewhere in between.