Chapter 11
The End of the Mark
Draco woke slowly the next morning, smiling to himself when he felt Hermione in his arms. He looked at her face, lying on his right shoulder. He thought she looked so beautiful and peaceful in the morning. I can't believe she loves me back, he thought to himself. Thinking of their love for one another made him suddenly think of his arm.
He shifted to look down at it and wanted to weep with happiness. He shook her very gently, "Hermione, sweetie, wake up!" She mumbled a little, so he shook her again. "Hermione, you have to see this!"
She opened her eyes. Seeing the huge smile on his face, she asked him, "What is it?"
He lifted his arm up for her to see. "You cured me. The Mark is gone!" She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest, and hugged him.
"We did it! I'm so happy for you, Draco." She pulled back and kissed him, both of them tasting the salty tears of joy that streamed down her face. Ending the kiss, Draco reached up and wiped them away.
"I love you so much, Hermione," he said as he took her hand and brought the palm to his lips for a gentle kiss. Looking over at the clock on the nightstand, he gasped and shot out of bed. "We have to hurry—it's eleven thirty and the tailors will be here soon for our costumes for the ball!" he said as he hurriedly pulled on his boxers. "I'll call Lucky to get us a quick breakfast together while we take our showers. Hermione hastily got out of bed as well, grabbing her robe from the floor and pulling it on. Draco gave her a quick kiss before she disappeared into her bathroom.
"Lucky!" Hearing the pop behind him, he turned to the eager-to-please house-elf.
"Yes, sir, what can Lucky be doing for you, sir?"
"Would you please make a small breakfast for Hermione and me as quickly as possible? We have some people coming in half an hour to help us with the costumes for the ball we're going to have. While we're getting ready, keep a watch out on the fireplace in the main sitting room. If we're not downstairs when they arrive, make them comfortable until we appear, and let us know when they get here."
"Yes sir. Lucky will get breakfast for you right now, sir." Lucky popped out of the room and Draco headed to his own bathroom to take a shower.
Fifteen minutes later Hermione came out of her bathroom just as Draco walked into her room, wearing a handsome green bathrobe over silver and green pajamas.
"What do we need to wear for the fitting? Should we get dressed or stay in pajamas and robes since we have to undress anyway?" she asked as she tried to finish drying her hair with a towel. Giving up, she muttered a drying spell and use her wand to finish the task as they both sat down on her little couch and started to eat the small breakfast that Lucky had left on the table for them.
"I think we should stay in bathrobes. We can lead the tailors up to our bathrooms for the fittings since we have those big mirrors in them," he replied.
"Well, I'm going to lock my bathroom door. I want my dress to be a surprise," she said. Just then Lucky popped into the room.
"Miss, sir, they have arrived. I is making them comfortable with tea and biscuits while they wait for you. But they is seeming impatient," he said.
Draco stood up and said, "Please show them upstairs. We'll both be in our bathrooms. Bring the tea and biscuits with you when you show them up."
"Yes, sir. Lucky is going now," he said, and popped back out of the room.
Draco pulled Hermione in for a quick kiss and hug. "Just remember I'm paying for the dress. Make it however you want. I don't care what it costs, okay?"
"Okay. See you in a while," she said before she gave him one last kiss and headed for her bathroom. She Transfigured a pedestal to stand on before the large full-length mirror. She turned around when she heard the seamstress enter the room. Smiling, she walked forward and held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Hermione. Thank you so much for coming."
The lady smiled at her greeting and shook Hermione's hand. "Yes, yes, a pleasure, I'm sure. If you'll please stand on the pedestal and take off your robe? You can leave your undergarments on. My name is Mrs. Lindsey. While you undress, perhaps you'll tell me what style and colour of dress you were thinking of. Then I can produce an arrangement of fabrics. If you're not sure what you want, I have several books of my own designs you can look at."
Hermione started to undress as she described what she wanted. "Well, I was thinking of a formal ball gown. I don't want too much cleavage revealed. I'd like it to have lots of detail. We're going to wear masks, so we need to design one of those, too. As for coloursI'd love to have something that was a smoky blue. Do you have any fabrics of that colour?"
"Certainly! I can produce any colour you want with a special spell. What kind of detail did you have in mind?" Mrs. Lindsey asked as she opened a case and started enlarging bolts of smoky blue fabrics.
Thinking for a moment, Hermione said, "Well, I think I should like the dress to sparkle a little. Maybe with some kind of crystals?"
Smiling, Mrs. Lindsey approached Hermione with a book of designs, a notebook and quill Levitating beside her. "Well, dear, here are some patterns I think you might like. We can tweak any of them to make it perfect just for you, of course. First, let me just write a little note to my husband, Mr. Lindsey. We want to make sure he knows the colour of your gown, so you and Mr. Malfoy will go together nicely. We don't want you to clash," she said smiling. Mrs. Lindsey cut a few pieces of very slightly different smoky blue fabric and pinned them to her note with a simple description of the style of dress Hermione wanted. She then said a quick spell, and the note and fabric samples popped out of the room, presumably on their way to Mr. Lindsey.
Turning back to Hermione, she said, "Now then, dear. Have you noticed anything that catches your fancy?"
Hermione smiled at her and showed her the sketch that she liked most. It was a strapless gown with a beautiful ball-style skirt that was gathered in bunches with crystal jewels. The bodice sparkled with a flower-like motif fashioned from the small, sparkling crystals. The back of the dress had a small extension—not quite a train, but it still touched the floor, and would drag a little behind her as she walked and danced. Hermione looked up and said, "This is perfect! Do you think you can make it in time for the ball? It's going to be this Saturday night."
Mrs. Lindsey, pointing her wand at the notebook as the quill made notes on the dress, said, "Of course, dear. I can have the dress done by Friday morning. I'll deliver it myself, so that we can make any last minute adjustments. Now, let's get the basic structure of the dress going. It shouldn't take but twenty minutes or so and then I shall rush on out of here and get to work. What kind of mask do you want?"
With a thoughtful look on her face, Hermione replied, "I'd like one that covers only my eyes. Maybe you can outline the mask with the same kind of crystals that will be used on the dress."
Smiling at her while making more notes, Mrs. Lindsey said, "That sounds lovely, my dear. What exquisite taste you have." She put the quill and notebook back into her case and started fitting the fabric with her wand. Once the dress was magically stitched into shape, she asked Hermione to take it off.
"Good! Now you can get dressed. I suggest you get a pair of shoes that can be magically dyed to match your dress. I don't typically do that sort of thing myself, but I would be willing to help if necessary. Once you buy them, you can just have your house-elf deliver them to me, and I shall bring them on Friday as well, shall I?"
"I'll do that. Thank you so much for your help, Mrs. Lindsey." Hermione led the seamstress out of the bathroom and they walked into Draco's room. He was just buttoning up a dress shirt, having already changed out of his costume and into regular clothes. Together, he and Hermione walked Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey to the fireplace and bade them goodbye.
When they were alone again, Draco turned to Hermione. "Well, that went quickly. We have an hour and thirty minutes until the party planner gets here. I need to go to Diagon Alley and pick up a few things. Would you like to come with me?"
She replied, "Yes, I need to pick out some shoes. We could split up to get our errands done faster, that way we'll make sure we're back in plenty of time for our appointment with the party planner. Let me go change really quickly, oky?"
"Sounds like a plan. Meet me in my study; we'll Floo from there. I need to grab some funds from my safe." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and headed off to his study while she went to get dressed. Ten minutes later, she walked into the study just as Draco was closing the painting of his mother that concealed his safe.
Noticing her, he walked over and took her hand to lead her to the fireplace. Throwing some Floo powder into the flames, they stepped into the fireplace. Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione and said, "The Leaky Cauldron!"
They started to spin, and moments later they stepped out into the taproom of the Leaky Cauldron and headed to the back wall that led onto Diagon Alley. Draco tapped his wand onto the bricks in the proper sequence—three up, two across—and they walked into Diagon Alley. Promising to meet up in an hour, they headed off to run their separate errands.
Draco went to the post office first. He paid for an owl, and tied the letter to its foot. "Take this to Mr. Harry Potter, please. Don't leave him until you get a reply." The owl flew off to deliver the letter, which requested a meeting with Harry and Ron for tomorrow night.
He then headed for the most renowned jewelry store in the Wizarding world, Nicholas Bindle's Fine Designs. He took a few moments and carefully picked out a set of jewelry with which he intended to surprise Hermione on the night of the ball. The necklace had four princess-cut diamonds that were beautifully matched and framed by round diamonds. The pendant was suspended from the chain by three more round diamonds. The perfect one-carat stones were set in platinum. There was a pair of matching earrings, half the size of the necklace. He asked the salesman to box them while he headed over to the display of engagement rings. Now that he knew Hermione loved him, he never wanted to let her go. He planned to ask her to marry him very soon.
He found the perfect ring moments later. It was a princess-cut diamond with two pear-shaped trillions on the side, set in platinum. Draco asked to salesman to wrap up the ring as well. He walked out of the store and called for Lucky. When the house-elf popped up, Draco handed him the bag. "Please put this bag on the very top shelf of my closet, all the way to the left side. I don't want Hermione to find it."
His mouth a round O of delight, Lucky said, "Oh, yes, sir."
Once Lucky left, Draco headed back to the entrance to Diagon Alley and sat down on a bench to await Hermione. She walked up to him about twenty minutes later, struggling with several awkward shopping bags twenty.
"Did you find everything you needed?" he asked her.
Handing off the heaviest bag to him, she said, "Yes. I got my shoes and a few other things that I needed for the ball." Pleased with themselves, they walked into the Leaky Cauldron and Flooed back to Malfoy Manor.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter... I've been busy writeing my other fic, sorry for the long wait... Will try and update more often lol. Please read and review! hugs