Beltane Night
X: Hawthorne

The twig snapped under one of the young men's foot. Hermione's head quickly snapped upwards searching for the sound. Ginny had gone quiet and slowly the young men started to step from behind the trees—she slowly realized that they were being surrounded by them. The sun was shining through the trees, illuminating the young wizards.

The scene was almost angelic. It looked like it was out of a pre-Raphaelite painting.

"Ginny, I think the women have set us up," she whispered to her friend slowly.

"I would have to agree," Ginny had whispered back to Hermione and they both slowly rose from their crouched position over the flowers and mushrooms that had been growing. Within the logs and under the mushrooms hid young fae who were curious about humans. Their small glowing lights were dimmed by the sun. Their basket filled with different kinds of sweet smelling flowers and fungi.

"Oi—you gave us a heart attack!" Millicent yelled out from their right towards the boys.

They laughed and one called back, "I doubt we could do that to you Mill— OW!" Goyle screamed out in pain.

"Have some respect Goyle!" Nott slapped his friend on the back of the head and it echoed through the magic filled forest.

"Listening to your feet crack everything on the ground makes me think you aren't as fit as you all think. How would some of your old houses like to see their chasers, seekers, and beaters out of shape?" Ginny retorted back.

"I don't know about them, but you bloody hell didn't hear me walking," Malfoy laughed. Hermione was taken back by his laugh—he seemed almost light in the way he was speaking. His demeanor was different. She didn't almost didn't recognize him with the carefree expression on his face as he was surrounded by his friends.

"We may not have heard you, but I'm sure the animals did. Your hunting may be off—good luck with that tonight. Your feet are louder than a Trolls," Hermione taunted back. She had a look of shock on her face after the words left her tongue, having implied that they would have a harder time finding a maiden to accept them.

She shared a look with Ginny for a moment.

Before she could say another word she picked up her skirt and turned on her heels and ran away. Her body was functioning on the rush of Adrenaline that was pumping through her veins. The Noise around her died down and she could hear her heart beat rapidly as she saw others dashing past her and out of the forest.

Her bare feet dug into the earth as her heart pounded in her chest. Her hair was flowing behind her and she gripped the fabric of her dress tighter as she made her way half across the field. Warm hands slowly wrapped around her waist as one crept forward around her stomach pulling her back against them. She was twirling in air by the time she blinked and her hands gripped at the arm around her stomach.

Hermione was stuck in that moment for what felt like an eon. She noticed that his cold breath against her neck felt like biting into a peppermint patty—cool and refreshing. He had soft and sparse hairs on his arms. Her back was plastered to his chest and her legs were swinging with him.

Turning her head to the side, she blinked slowly a few times before focusing on Draco's crisp blonde hair and sharp jaw.

"Shit," he mumbled as he slowly let her feet fall back to earth. She clung to his arm while her head was still spinning and he supported her. It took a few mere seconds for the world to stop spinning, but her heart was pounding in her ears making her feel light headed.

"Draco, that was—"

"I'm sorry, I guess spring got the better of me," Draco quickly apologized as he stepped back from her after she turned around to face him. Hermione could see the other couples out of the corner of her eyes going through the same motions as them. While other girls got away quicker and some men didn't feel like chasing for that long.

"You're almost like a deer, you moved so fast and I didn't think anyone would catch me," Hermione replied while ignoring his apology.

"Granger, I think you're starting to fancy me. First my beautiful face and now are you trying to say I'm graceful and quick?" Draco teased and they slowly began walking back towards the house—and the actual festivities with the older adults.

"Me? Now maybe you did really hit your head. I guess all deer's are born clumsy and fall down a few times in their lives. Let's not make fools of our self, Malfoy," Hermione dismissed with a hard red blush that crept over her cheeks. She looked over at Ginny who was hand in hand with Harry as they raced together towards the alter.

She couldn't help but think this was all new to Harry too, but he had Ginny to help guide him and share it together. Hermione was envious of that, and then she was brought back down to earth.

"Granger, I didn't mean anything by it—you have that look on your face again," he sighed.

"I'm not upset at you, just the circumstances—not everything is about you Draco Malfoy! I ignored your apology, simply because there is nothing to apologies about," she huffed and leaned down and plucked a small daisy from the ground, "here," she said. She placed the daisy in one of the holes of his shirt near his chest along with the cord that kept it closed. It really did remind her of Mr. Darcy's shirt from the famous scene after he walked miles to tell Elizabeth he was in love with her.

"Now you look like you really belong here, especially when you wear such dark clothes—this is a joyous occasion after all," Hermione smiled with her nose in the air.

"Such a know-it-all. We need to get you to Mother before she thinks you've been dragged off into the woods and eaten by a pack of wild hippogriffs," Draco motioned for them to walk faster and his hand hovering over the small of her back.

The crowd was rambunctious and the smell of booze and food was heavy in the air. Most made way when they saw Malfoy walking through and Hermione was able to get to Narcissa quicker than she would have on her own. There were witches and wizards there that she didn't recognize, many from other countries and even continents of the world.

"My Darlings, look at you! You both look so wonderful" Narcissa shouted happily from next to Lucius and a few wizards that Hermione didn't recognize.

"Thank you, Narcissa," Hermione smiled. When Narcissa approached her she placed her hand lovingly on her shoulder and squeezed tightly. Then Hermione looked deeper at Narcissa and understood—these were not good wizards.

"Draco, you and your father have some business to take care of. I want to return to my party—if it is not taken care of then I shall do it myself," she ordered harshly before kissing her son on the cheek. Hermione was almost afraid of her—almost. She gripped Narcissa's hand tightly and the two traveled through the dancing guests and children running around.

It took minutes for them to speak to one another as they removed themselves from the tense atmosphere.

"They will not cause you harm or any other muggle-born here," Narcissa stated as she took a glass from one of the servers and quickly brought it to her lips.

"Who are they?"

"That's Avery Jr. and my brother-in-law. Rudolphus Lestrange. Bella knows that she is not allowed at these events, we have appearances, but her husband is rather pushy. I'm surprised I haven't used any unforgivable on him. His manners are abhorrent," Narcissa spat with distain.

"I see…" Hermione trailed off.

"Why don't you go and take these to the alter?" Narcissa asked and gently pushed the basket of flowers from one of the tables into Hermione's hands. Hermione nodded and turned away from her to move towards the Alter.

She wasn't sure how to react to Narcissa, she almost seemed frightened by her own guests. She walked halfway there when a small boy latched himself onto her leg.

"Teddy!" she yelped in surprised and quickly leaned down to scoop him up and rest him on her hip as she walked towards the Alter still.

"Mione! Look! Look at what I can do!" he shouted at her and she placed the flowers at the base of the alter and wrapped her other arm firmly around Teddy so she could watch him.

"What can you do sweetie?" she asked sweetly. In seconds his hair was slowly changing from his dark hair, like Remus, to a beautiful blue color—almost the color of one of the flowers she had picked. He was a metamorphmagus like his mother.

"You are very talented," she replied and kissed him on his blue head, "I hope if I ever have a son that he will be talented like you," she smiled.

"Me?" Teddy asked in awe.

"Yes you! You are the brightest child I know," Hermione grinned and looked through the crowd to see Remus and Tonks dancing, but she could see Remus look over ever few seconds to make sure he saw Teddy.

"How would you like to dance?" Hermione asked him.

"Okay," the boy responded shyly. Hermione put him down and took his hand in hers as she brought him closer to his parents and slowly began dancing with him to the loud and up beat music. They both twirled around and laughed as the other would make a mistake. The silly dancing continued into three songs.

"May I cut in?" she heard Draco's voice behind them. He slowly emerged from the crowd of dancers parting them and stood next to Teddy and Hermione.

"You'll have to ask Teddy," she replied decidedly, "try to convince him."

Draco crouched down in front of him and put out his hand.

"I'm your second cousin, Draco. Do you think I could steal Miss Hermione for a Dance? I'll bring her back," Draco asked and Hermione was impressed. He was charming even with children.

"I don't know," the little boy put his hands up in the air and shrugged.

"Oh come on Teddy, don't keep the poor man waiting!" Tonks told her baby boy when they danced past him.

"Okay," he said in a small voice and Tonks and Remus picked him up so that he would be held between them as they danced. Hermione had seen that between parents and children many times—mainly at weddings and events like that. They made their child feel included.

When they were finally out of earshot Draco wiped the fake sweat off of his forehead, "that was hard work trying to ask you to dance—no more suitors like that. The kid will wear me out. He drove a hard bargain," Draco said sarcastically.

"Next time you'll have to bargain with Harry or Ron, so stop complaining," she told him. He pulled her near to him and supported her arms and began to dance with her. It was neat and calculated, she could tell he took dance classes—a tradition in most pureblood families.

It felt easy to them, the music flowed freely through them and he led her around the grassy dance floor. Their feet digging into the ground as they turned and then he would swing her away from his body to turn her multiple times.

The others their age were slowly invading the dance floor. Pansy had latched herself onto Blaise Zabini's arm. Hermione could tell she was already drunk on the wine and having a blast as she moved with uncertainty and not the usual grace that Pansy was known for.

Ginny was slow dancing with Harry in the middle of the floor, most likely whispering sweet nothings to each other. They were one of those couples, but Hermione didn't blame them. Things were slowly becoming more tense in the wizarding world despite he-who-must-not-be-named not coming back. There was still a high possibility and after his followers had tried once to bring him back, the chances were even higher.

Hermione then noticed that Neville and Luna were dancing together and he was improvising as she danced something that probably wasn't even native to England or Scotland. She wanted to giggle and then her attention was back at the man staring at her.

"What?" she asked insecurely.

"Nothing, you look good Granger," Draco replied nonchalantly.

Hermione furrowed her brow and bit her lip in confusion, "where is the real Draco Malfoy and who are you?" she laughed.

"Don't take the compliment then, makes no difference to me—like I told you it's the spring air. It does funny things to wizards," he told her and twirled them around the dance floor. She felt like she was on a cloud of air, it could have been the charmed force that was under her feet or maybe just the feeling she had when dancing with him.

It was all new and exciting, but at the same time she felt huge reservations about the feelings. She didn't have time to even figure out what it meant.

"May I cut in?" she turned to look at Ron and was startled.

"Ronald," she said slowly.

"Can I cut in?" he asked again.

Hermione looked from Draco to Ron for a few moments before nodding her head, "of course." She let go of Draco and put her hand in Ron's. Her other arm stretched out without thought as Ron led her away and Draco was slowly losing contact with her hand until her finger tips fell away from his. He ran his fingers through his pale hair and shook his head before stalking away from the crowd. Hermione looked for him, but didn't see anything after that as Ron talked about Quidditch and his plans for the future. Plans that he was hinting she would be part of.

In the middle of his ramblings she was suffocating, "Ronald!" she shouted to get his attention and it gained the attention of a few people around them.

"What?"

"Do you know that I love you?" she asked him.

"I love you too," he replied—clearly to her missing her point.

She sighed and pulled him away from the dance floor and towards a more secluded area near the maypole. Only a few of the girls were dancing and swinging the beautiful strips of color around it, intertwining it.

"I love you Ronald—but not how I used too. If you had told me in fifth or even sixth year that you loved me back instead of snogging lavender I would have been head over heels. I did have a crush on you and then I learned to be just your friend Ron. I value us more than anything. What we have? It would be ruined by a relationship," she pleaded with him.

"What if you're wrong? What if this is exactly how it's supposed to be?" he asked her.

"After tonight, we'll know then—okay? If it's you then we'll give it a shot. This is only supposed to be a one-time thing anyway. We aren't supposed to actually form relationships with our partners—at least that's how it used to be. Just if it's not us then please just be my friend Ron," she asked him.

"Always," he promised her and pulled her into a bone crunching hug.

"Off of me you brute! You'll ruin my dress," she teased him and then took his hand in hers and pulled him towards the may pole.

Ginny, Hannah, and Luna were getting theirs ready and passed the strip of blue to Hermione. When the music started up again the girls danced and intertwined with their ribbons while the men stood around them clapping in rhythm with the songs. She found herself laughing and soon the girls were moving closer together as the ribbons became shorter. Hermione and Ginny became tangled together and both fell to the ground laughing.

"What are you two doing, we have drinking and dancing to do!" Lavender yelled at them happily as she lifted her cup and clanked it against Padme's.

"How about dancing, but without all the wine?" Ginny whispered in Hermione's ear. The girls giggled and slowly stood up and brushed their dresses off.

"Harry!" Hermione waved him over and when they saw Ron walking towards them Harry asked her to dance. She hadn't danced this much since the Yule ball and she went with Victor Krum. Even then she hadn't danced and twirled around like this—it was just in pure joy and hardly formal.

"Are you excited?" She asked Harry.

He chuckled for a moment, "don't you mean beyond nervous where I might throw up?" He asked her.

"You can't be that nervous, you've had more time than me to prepare for this," she scolded him. He just shook his head and pulled out a small band from his pocket and showed it to Hermione.

"You—You. No, you aren't going to—you are! Oh, Harry I don't even know what to say," Hermione slapped a hand over her mouth. She felt tears brimming on her eyes. Her best friend—her brother was getting married.

"Don't tell anyone," he told her and quickly placed the ring back.

"I thought you were going to wait until after," Hermione whispered back as they resumed dancing.

He nodded his head, "I'm going to propose during—I know I'll get her. I can't wait until after. We live in a constant state of fear and I can't let another day pass by without her knowing that I want her to be Mrs. Potter," he told her.

"Harry! I'm so proud of you—she'll love it," Hermione sniffed and pulled him into a tight embrace. They swayed from side to side for a few moments as she buried her face into his shoulder. The reality of what was happening was setting in finally. They were all moving on, but things still didn't feel right.

"You know it's going to happen soon," he whispered to her as he cupped the back of her head.

"I know—I'm scared. I'm not scared for me though, I'm scared for you," Hermione confessed.

"The brightest witch of our age is scared for me? Well now you have me worried, before I was just a bit nervous," Harry joked and she nuzzled her face tighter against his shoulder.

"We'll do it right though? We'll figure it out together—we're family," she urged him as she withdrew her face from his shoulder and red angry tear marks stained her face. Harry was never good with women, and one crying in front of him would have frightened him if it wasn't Hermione. He brought the pads of his thumbs up to wipe her tears. They had stopped dancing in the middle of the floor and everyone twirled around them.

"We'll finish this together," he brought his hands down to hold hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She felt guilt, she should have been the one to reassure him. Their relationship was close—to those who didn't know them it would have looked like a romantic interest. It was not that they had never thought about it. Harry could remember his slight crush on Hermione in the first year and that crush turned to awe and in that he found a friend. With that friendship he found a companion and that companion turned into familial love. The only woman he loved more than her was Ginny.

They understood each other though, they were the only family they had and if he could legally change her name to potter and officially make her a sister he would have. Hermione knew that.

"We're going to ruin the party and Narcissa will never forgive me," Hermione laughed with tears still in her eyes.

"No, she would. Come on, I see someone who wants to dance with you. I cannot believe I'm about to hand you off to Malfoy, but I am," Harry shook his head in amazement.

"Malfoy, I need to go talk to Ginny—mind keeping her entertained?" Harry called over to Draco who was standing on the outskirts off the crowd.

"Sure Potter," he called back and walked towards them.

Harry quickly pulled Hermione's forehead to his lips and gave her a chaste kiss, "If this Git gives you trouble, call me," He told her seriously as he left her to go find Ginny. Draco wandered over and quickly picked up her arms and wrapped his one arm around her waist.

"He calls me a Git, but you seem to be crying from him—typical Potter," Draco scowled.

Hermione pinched him, "He didn't make me cry—the circumstances that we were talking about did. Things aren't going to be the same Malfoy and you know that," she resorted to calling him Malfoy again.

"If you think I'm ignorant to that Granger than you don't deserve that silly title Dumbledore and the Minister gave you," he bit out.

Hermione could feel one of their age old fights coming on again, her temper was slowly boiling over the edge. Everything that had happened to them and after having to deal with Ron and the talk with Harry. She wanted to release her rage on someone.

"Why you pompous little prat, I think that you know a fight is coming on but you're ignoring it!" she hissed out at him.

"I hardly call having to deal with Death Eaters Ignoring it—we do protect you the best we can. The Death Eaters want you dead because of your blood. The only reason Bellatrix hasn't tortured you till you went mad is because my father and I—"

"Your father and you what?" she asked surprised.

"My father has high enough rankings in the death eaters that they won't touch you," he snapped at her, "don't you ever think why you haven't been targeted yet? You're Saint Potter's best Mudblood friend. We have Death Eaters that are just salivating at the mouth to get to you—but we don't let it happen," he told her.

"I knew they wanted me dead, but how active are they?" she whispered to him.

"More than you and the order will ever know. If you want the Dark Lord dead—you'll have to let the Death Eaters do their work in order to kill him or good. It wouldn't have been so terrible for them to have brought him back during the Tri-wizard Tournament. We would have been done with him then," Draco said lowly.

"Draco you need to tell the Order this," Hermione replied quickly.

"No, you know who is feeding them information already—things need to happen in order for this ticking time bomb to end," he implored.

"I still thi—"

"Granger, I know what you think. Think ahead of what you're thinking—think on the bigger scale. The only way Saint Potter is going to kill and rid the world of Voldemort is if he's alive and has his own body," Draco told her.

She wanted to punch him in his pretty face again for being right this time. She wanted to be rid of him—but the only way to do that was to let him have his own body again. The scowl on her face was enough for Narcissa to walk over with strips of Ribbon.

"No more serious talk, you two always debate about things and it ruins the atmosphere—go put your wishes on these and tie them to the Hawthorne tree!" Narcissa ordered and shoved the strips of Ribbons into their hands and handed them a quill.

The subject was effectively dropped. Hermione still didn't know what to think but at the foot of the old Hawthorne tree in the back yards that was filled with wishes and wants—she couldn't help but find peace there. She wrote each of her wishes on the corresponding strips.

Just for this day the war wouldn't touch them, she wouldn't think any more on it because it was their day. It was their day for something normal, even if it was to celebrate a Wizard tradition—that was her normal now.

She felt peace and calm go through her as she and Draco did not speak a single word, but they helped one another tie their strips of ribbon to the tree's branches. Today was not the day to fight, but tonight was the night she got to live.

A/N: I will be updating this more frequently. Things are doing a lot better in my house and I now have more time to actually write. Also You might see that my username has changed-that now reflects my actual tumblr username and it makes things a lot easier for people trying to find me