Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling. I am merely borrowing it.
CHAPTER NINE
Draco paced in front of the floo. Astoria had come for tea, and his mother was helping her prepare for the Potters' dinner. They had been informed that it was a birthday celebration for James, and Draco had promptly tried to buy out the toddler section of Quality Quidditch supplies. Luckily, Astoria had talked him out of it in time, and persuaded him to instead get James a Chudley Cannons shirt, as well as a tiny training set of Quidditch balls.
"The boy probably has at least two of everything we got him," Draco groused as they returned home. Astoria had laughed and hit him on the arm.
"You can never have too much. I'm surprised your pampered self doesn't agree."
He rubbed the arm she hit as he thought about that moment, and smiled. They were moving forward with wedding plans. Narcissa was beside herself, having something to plan for, and a daughter to shop for. Although he didn't want to acknowledge its existence quite yet, he was fairly certain that Narcissa had started to decorate a nursery in the family wing of the manor. He shuddered. Not even married, and she was expecting grandchildren. One day, he thought. One day.
He was drawn from his head by a quiet cough from the stairwell. He pivoted on his heel, and immediately took a step back. He stumbled, narrowly avoiding the fireplace. Astoria giggled, descending the staircase.
"I take it you like?" she smiled, spinning around. It was a very proper dress, casual yet elegant at the same time.
Draco caught her arm and pulled her into him, sweetly pressing a kiss to her lips. After a moment, he pulled away, looking into her eyes. "I do not deserve you," he murmured.
She rolled her eyes, and kissed him again. "Yes you do," she breathed when they broke apart. "You do."
They stood there for a moment, frozen in happiness. "Shall we?" Draco finally said, picking up James' present and offering his arm to Astoria. She took it, and grabbed some floo powder.
Draco took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," he muttered as Astoria threw the powder into the fireplace.
Astoria smiled up at him. "Grimmauld Place!" she called. Then they stepped into the floo, and were gone.
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Astoria was perfect, Draco thought as he sat on a chair next to her and watched her laugh and chat with the ladies and gentlemen there. It was a bit of a Weasley clan gathering. The George Weasleys were there, the Ron Weasleys were there, the Bill Weasleys were there…and Molly and Arthur were there.
And Andromeda and Teddy Tonks.
Draco's eyes were drawn, again and again, to the dark-haired witch sitting upright with the toddler in her lap. She had grey streaks, but he could still see the Black resemblance between her and his mother. It wasn't hard to believe that this woman was his aunt. Which made…which made the boy in her lap a second cousin.
Something of a nephew, since he was so much younger.
"Victoire, why don't you and Teddy take the little children to the play-room?" Ginny suggested as the little girl squirmed in her mother's lap.
The girl nodded seriously, then took Teddy's hand. The two led a chain of children past what had been Walburga Black's portrait to what had been the parlor, now a children's game room.
"I hear congratulations are in order, Miss Greengrass," Ginny said warmly. Draco had spent so much of his childhood loathing Weasleys and Potter, but now, as an adult, he had to admire her skill at making people feel comfortable in her home.
"Oh, please, it's Astoria," his fiancée corrected. "And yes…Draco and I are engaged."
"I'm sure your mother is very happy about that."
It was the first time Andromeda spoke since they had arrived. Draco stiffened.
"Yes," he said, clearing his throat. "She is…"
He was interrupted by Mrs. Granger-Weasley. "A pureblood, neutral during the war…what more could Narcissa ask for?"
"I beg your pardon," Astoria said, affronted.
"Hermione," Mrs. Potter said, quietly remonstrating the woman.
"It's true, isn't it?" Hermione said sharply. "Isn't that what Potters deal in? Truth?" She looked at Harry. "'I must not tell lies', right, Harry?"
"Love- maybe now isn't the best time…" Ron said, moving to place his hands on his wife's shoulders.
Potter rubbed his temples. "Care to join me for a glass of brandy?" he invited the men into the other room. Squeezing Astoria's hand, Draco moved into the other room, looking back every few steps at his fiancée, a snake in a lion's den.
Potter shut the divider between them with finality. Closing his eyes, he rubbed his forehead.
"Sorry, mate…" Ron said. "She's…she's…I don't know what she's trying to do."
"Oh, I don't know, divide Ginny and I? Break us apart? Did you hear that 'I must not tell lies' bullshite?"
Draco looked back and forth between the two men uneasily. It seemed there was something more going on underneath the surface than he had seen.
"Is there something I'm missing here?" he asked abruptly, putting his hands behind his back.
All of the men in the room turned to face him. He felt his lungs shrivel, but refused to back down.
"Tell us what you think you're missing," Harry finally said tiredly.
"Trouble in paradise." Draco tsked. "I thought your lives were supposed to be perfect now that the devil is gone."
"Well, they're not," Ron snapped. "You tell him," he said to Harry, flopping down into a chair.
"Okay, well…I guess, the most important thing here, is that Ginny knows everything I'm about to tell you." He took a seat in a chair as well, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. All around the room, the Weasley men got comfortable, as if they had heard this story before and knew it took a while.
"After the war, you know…everything was…strange. Very strange. Because, you know, we had been fighting this monster our whole lives. Without him…well, a lot of us had trouble trying to find our purpose. We had a summer, where all of us were at the Burrow, and we were…we were grieving, and trying to find a way to move ahead. It was actually at your trial that I got my idea…I decided to take my N. E. W. T.s through the ministry, then apply to the Auror program. Ron decided to do it with me. Hermione had lost her parents…she said the memory charm was too hard to undo without risking permanent damage, and her parents were happy as they were, so she decided to leave them."
Harry sighed heavily. "She returned to school with Ginny. Returning to something she knew…all of us were scared of the big, wide, world for a while there. Ginny and I…we weren't exactly dating, but we weren't not together, if that makes sense. Both of us just gave the other a safe place. And Ron and Hermione were still circling at that point."
He leaned back, appraising Draco. "Hermione and I, we were out of touch for a while. Then one day, out of the blue, she flooed through McGonagall's floo to Grimmauld Place, crying and sobbing and having hysterics. Something about running into an old enemy being tortured by other students."
Draco flinched, looking away.
"It's not your fault," Harry said quietly. "It's not your fault. Hermione was emotional, and suddenly she was kissing me. She wanted to go farther, but she wasn't thinking straight…and for me, she wasn't Ginny. That was actually when I realized I wanted to be with Ginny, for real. I pushed her off of me, and she got mad, saying that I never appreciated her, and…she wasn't thinking straight. She went back through the floo, and I told Ron what had happened."
The Weasley bowed his head. "I'm second best," he mumbled. "She wanted Harry, but he didn't want her, so I'm second best, but I love her…so I'll take what I get."
Draco looked at him, wondering how he could be so…so…so not jealous of his best friend, who his wife had wanted.
"She wanted my name, my influence." Harry said. "A bit of a social climb, maybe. She wasn't thinking straight…"
"You keep saying that," Draco interrupted.
"It's the truth," Harry protested.
"Maybe that's the real Hermione," Draco shrugged. "I mean…looking at what happened in the other room…"
The two men looked away. "She's changed." George Weasley unfolded himself from the wall, looking at his brother and brother-in-law. "That was the beginning. Tell him the rest."
"She got…nasty…when I told her no. She told me she'd tell Ginny, and Molly, and the Auror department, that she'd say I knocked her up. I…I went to Hogwarts that weekend, and told Ginny everything. I also told her I wanted to go on a date. She accepted, and, well, here we are. Hermione doesn't know I told Ginny, but she knows I told Ron and Molly."
"And they all lived happily ever after," Draco said in a bored voice.
"Aha, there's the git we all know and love!" Ron shouted, guffawing. Draco looked at him disbelievingly.
Harry smiled. "Thanks for coming, Malfoy," he said. "Just…thanks."
"You ever want dirt on Granger-Weasley, let me know," he said nonchalantly. "I'm sure she's got some less than appropriate extra-curricular activities she won't want the public knowing about."
Harry grinned and reached his hand out. Draco shook it, and some semblance of an alliance was brokered between the childhood enemies.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dinner was tense. That was the only word for it. Astoria stayed quiet, watching her fiancée converse with the rest of the table with an aristocrat's ease. He and Ginny Potter kept the conversation going, and she was proud of him for doing that.
She had other thoughts to occupy her during this dinner.
Andromeda and Teddy Tonks.
Andromeda was quiet, feeding her grandson and dealing with him the way a parent would. He had changed his features to match hers as soon as he was handed off to her lap. Astoria wondered if he would change to match anyone who held him.
Draco hid it well, but he wanted to know his cousin and aunt, for more reasons than just making his mother happy. Astoria wanted to do this for him, but watching them, she saw that Andromeda would be hard to break down. Dinner flew past while she imagined different ways to break her down. Showing up at her doorstep, non-stop letters…none of them seemed fail-proof, especially when dealing with a woman who was raised in Slytherin.
Ginny was clearing the table, and Astoria was still stuck in her musings when she heard the woman arguing with her mother.
"Mum, no, you're a guest. It wouldn't be right."
"Sweetie, I always have done the dishes for you. Let me help you, so you can rest and keep company with your guests."
"It's fine, Mum. Here." Ginny passed James to Mrs. Weasley. "Watch James for me, will you?"
"Ginny…" Molly protested half-heartedly. But her daughter had already won, and was clearing the table. James pointed toward the playroom imperiously. Molly followed her grandson's commands, mentally preparing herself to play house for the next hour.
Astoria got up, and picked up the plates from her side of the table. Patting Draco on the shoulder, she followed Ginny to the kitchen.
The woman was coming back out to the dining room when she ran into Astoria, carrying the rest of the plates she had been planning to go pick up.
"Can I help?" Astoria asked sweetly. "I can't do much, or very well, I imagine, but I find company helps sometimes."
"Thank you," Ginny smiled at the woman. They went into the kitchen, where Astoria began to wash, and Ginny prepared to dry.
"Can…can I ask you an odd question?" Ginny asked her. Astoria nodded, making eye-contact with the older woman.
"Did…was…how did you like dinner? I noticed you were quiet," Ginny said.
"I was," Astoria admitted. "I was dealing with a bit of a conundrum. Draco wants to reunite his mother with her sister, and he wants a place in Teddy's life." She stole a glance at Ginny, wondering if it was okay for her to be telling a Potter all of this.
Ginny nodded. "Andromeda is lonely," she said softly. "She's isolated, a bit, in her old cottage. Send some invitations, then send Narcissa. If she doesn't take no for an answer, well, I think it'd be easy to get Andie to change her mind."
Astoria nodded thoughtfully. The two women watched the sponges scrub and the towel dry in silence for a few moments.
"Was there anything…off?" Ginny asked. "About the dinner, I mean," she hastened to add.
Astoria took a deep breath. "You're not close with any of your sisters-in-law," she said in a rush.
Ginny stiffened. "I'm not?" she said in a questioning tone. They were quiet a few more minutes. "I'm not," she finally stated.
"I find it hard…in a large family, everything is built in. Your brothers and their wives are your best friends, and they think you're a bit crazy when you make friends elsewhere. Angelina's nice enough, but she's good friends with Katie, and Fleur talks more with her and Hermione. Hermione…we were friends, but then she…" she stopped and looked at Astoria, who was giving her all her attention.
"Draco's heard it already, I bet. He'll tell you. Husbands don't keep much from their wives, and what they do keep a secret the wives find out anyway."
Both of them laughed at that. "If you ever needed to talk," Astoria offered, "I'll be at Malfoy Manor."
"And if you ever need to talk," Ginny countered, "I'm here."
"You just won you and your husband an invitation to the wedding," Astoria laughed. Ginny smiled.
"I'll be sure to leave the toddler at home."
The kitchen doors banged open, and Hermione came in with a determined look. "Oh, hello, Ginny, Harry was just looking for you," she said, slouching against a cabinet. "Something about James."
Ginny eased herself to her feet, and smiled tightly. "I'll go see what he needs." She left Astoria with a smirking Hermione.
"Thank you," Astoria said before Hermione could say anything.
The other woman looked nonplussed. "For what?"
"For saving Draco that day," Astoria said. "I think it's best to tell you that before you go on with whatever you plan on saying to me. I find it hard to believe it's congratulations on my wedding."
"But that's just what it is," Hermione said softly, her eyes glistening. "I remember being a bride. I hope your experience is so much better than mine was. And…" she paused, for dramatic effect. "I was wondering if you'd like to come to tea someday."
Astoria smiled blandly. "I don't know when I'll next be free, but perhaps you can be one of the first I call on as Mrs. Malfoy."
Hermione's eyes narrowed and anger flashed across her face briefly before she smoothed it away. "Of course," she said. "That would be wonderful."
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"That was interesting," Astoria said as she absent-mindedly stroked Draco's hair, his head in her lap.
"Indeed," he agreed. "Very."
"I have a game plan," she continued. "For your mum and Andromeda."
"Wonderful." He was very close to falling asleep.
"Oh, and I invited the Potters to our wedding."
"What?" he ejaculated, jolting upright. "You did what?!"
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A/N: Thoughts? I'm not so sure about the 'bitch' route Hermione has taken. Read and review:)