A/N: Hello! Sorry for the wait – I recently was held captive by the Newtina ship and absolutely had to drop this fic to get out a few Newtina fics before I could finally get back to this. A short chapter, mostly setting up for the juicy happenings that P&P fans know is coming!

Chapter Fourteen

At the Burrow, a few months passed with no word from the three gentlemen who had so indelicately interrupted the quiet routine of Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. The silence, while disturbing at first, and the unapologetic producer of considerable female anxiety, eventually lost some of its bite and allowed them to carry on, forced cheerfulness and all, as they had been before the temporary occupation of one Netherfield Park. Luckily, much of the attention had also been directed towards the highly anticipated visit of Charlie Weasley, who had come all the way from Romania for the holidays, which allowed for a very festive distraction, indeed.

Hermione returned to the Burrow after a lesson at Moony's to the sound of uproarious laughter. A wave of warmth and the delicious, savory smell of a meat pie in the oven welcomed her once she walked through the door, brushing off the light dusting of snow from her coat.

A jovial voice boomed from the living room. "Hermione? Is that you?"

The tall, broad frame of a grinning Charlie Weasley soon occupied the doorway.

"Charlie!"

He pulled her in for a friendly embrace. He was so tall that her chin barely reached his shoulder. Charlie pulled back, smiling.

"I was afraid you'd finally buggered off to be married to some old bore," Charlie teased. "I hear you're still as voracious a reader as you ever were. How are you liking it at Moony's?"

"I am liking it immensely. Though why we should waste time talking about my lessons is beyond me - I'd rather hear about you taming dragons in Romania."

"Not much to tell," he said modestly. "Except that dragons don't take too kindly to trying to be tamed - and they've the equipment to be quite emphatic about it."

They ate supper in high spirits while Charlie was made to suffer through a barrage of questions and was, in turn, forced to tell them stories about his time in Romania. Mrs. Weasley's proud, beaming face did not falter one bit, and for once, Mr. Weasley did not touch the Daily Prophet once during dinner.

After one of Charlie's tales involving losing his eyebrows to dragonfire, Mrs. Weasley quietly cleared her throat. "Charlie, my dear, as you know, as the eldest son, you are coming to an age where taking a wife would best suit you. Surely, if there aren't any suitable ladies in Romania, you might spend some of your time here to look at more... local prospects?"

Fred and George sniggered. "Mama is right. I already can spot a few grays on you all the way over here."

Mrs. Weasley ignored her twins and continued on earnestly. "Why, even Percy's gotten himself all settled. Bill's engaged to that lovely Miss Delacour. Surely you are in need of some companionship after being all alone in Romania for so long?"

All eyes in the room landed on Charlie, the sounds of their silverware dulling to silence. Charlie, however, did not seem at all agitated by his mother's vocal concern over his state of bachelorhood - instead he seemed to find some amusement in it. Hermione was not surprised by this in the least bit. Charlie was handsome, charming, and quite accomplished. She was certain he had his own share of female attention back in Romania and was not lacking in any sort of 'companionship' at all - but such was not gentlemanly information to cheekily divulge over supper.

"If you have anyone in mind you'd like to introduce me to while I am in town, Mama," Charlie smiled, "you are welcome to do so."

Mrs. Weasley's delight was immediately evident. Her eyes twinkled with pleasure and opportunity. She clapped her hands. "Very well! Perhaps we can coordinate an assembly. That would be very convenient indeed." She got to her feet, a halo of energy vibrating around her. "Please excuse me. I must send a few owls immediately."

Mrs. Weasley promptly disappeared from the room with a swish of her skirts.

"It appears Mama has finally found someone agreeable to her aspirations in matchmaking," Ron announced, sending a teasing grin to Ginny and Hermione.

"Perhaps poor Mr. Longbottom wouldn't have had to endure such humiliation if Charlie had come home a little sooner," Fred sniggered.

"That poor Mr. Longbottom," Hermione said, "is a perfectly amiable man and happily married to a wonderful woman. There are many out there far more deserving of your jokes."

"Is that so?" said Fred. He turned to his twin. "George, I daresay - is that the bitter tone of regret I hear in Miss Granger's voice?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to hear it again to make sure."

"Repeat yourself, if you wouldn't mind, dearest Hermione. And this time - enunciate."

"Do leave Hermione alone," Mr. Weasley said with a weary look. "You lads have had enough amusement at Mr. Longbottom's expense."

"It's not as if he can hear us," George grumbled. "Despite the abnormally large size of his ears."

"Your remarks have long lost their novelty. Best to find something else to concern yourselves with. Something more productive, perhaps."

"Maybe you two ought to come back with me to Romania," Charlie suggested. "We're always short of help. Dragons don't exactly inspire many feelings of charity and generosity."

Fred scoffed. "If a Weasley is going to get eaten by a dragon, dear brother," he grinned, loudly chewing his food, "I would certainly rather it be you."

ooo

After supper, Hermione went out to the Weasley's garden to pick a few snowturnips at Mrs. Weasley's request. She knelt down and used a mild warming charm to melt some of the snow until she could see the leaves, still frosty in the moonlight.

She looked up at the crunch of footsteps to see that Charlie had come out to join her. He crouched down next to her and, fluidly grabbing by the stem of the leaves, began to pull up snowturnips.

"You are very kind to humor your mother that way," Hermione smiled, referring to Mrs. Weasley's newest diversion. "I have not seen her this excited in a very long time."

He chuckled to himself. "She means well. It must be hard to be a mother of so many children. Constantly worrying about raising them to be honorable in society and who would make them a suitable match in matrimony. She writes expertly of her motherly anxieties in every letter she sends."

"At least you and your brothers have the luxury of selection of some degree."

"And you do not?" he joked.

"Surely not, for we females are creatures of delicate response. Our beauty is only enhanced by the agreeableness of our answers."

Charlie smiled. "If that is so, then I heard you very delicately refused an offer of marriage from the Herbologist's nephew."

Despite the cold, Hermione felt herself flush from shame. "I suppose I should not be surprised Mrs. Weasley told you about that. She did not speak to me for quite some time. I was worried I had offended her perhaps indefinitely."

"You would be shocked by the proclivity this family has for scandal. This was mentioned to me in detail not from Mama alone - but from Ginny, Fred, Ron, and even my father. But do not worry. Their opinions of whom you should bind yourself to forever should not impede on your future happiness." He looked thoughtful for a moment, holding a round turnip in his hands. "Although I did hold out a hope that you would marry one of my brothers. Ron, perhaps. He is typically a great deal less ridiculous than Fred and George."

Hermione shook her head. "I could never ask that of one of your brothers. My dowry is not nearly large enough to benefit your family - and as it is, they have already been far more generous with me than they ought to have been."

Charlie was not the first Weasley to have had grown keen on the idea of Hermione marrying into the family. Ginny had seemed quite invested in it for quite a long time - until the realities of society and her family's need for financial support had finally been revealed to her in its entirety. Harry had also once brought up the idea of marrying her for convenience, but this was something Hermione felt she could not live with. Not just out of her pride, but out of principle. Along with Ron, Harry deserved to marry according to his heart, not because his poor, orphaned friend would soon grow out of a marriageable age.

Once they had picked enough snowturnips to fill the basket, Charlie took it from her and they both stood to their feet, sinking in the snow.

"If only you were less determined to live by your principles, you'd find you could have a much easier life," Charlie remarked, as they began to walk back to the house.

This she could not dispute. Hermione felt a pang in her heart, reminded of Mr. Malfoy's proposal to her at Rosings. It had been a few months now since that rainy day at the sculpture garden where she had been ambushed by his confession and had refused his hand in marriage, but she could not say with any truth that she hadn't thought of it often since. In fact, a day had yet to pass without her being reminded of it in some way, or without her thoughts having absently landed on Mr. Malfoy and the conflicted feelings he inspired in her.

A few times she had been tempted to confide in Ginny about the events at Rosings and Mr. Malfoy's letter - in a vain effort to find some outward reassurance that she had made the right decision - but doing so would have required her to reveal the true reason of Mr. Zabini's abrupt departure. Even in her most desperate moments, Hermione did not find her emotional turmoil a sufficient enough reason to inflict such pain and embarrassment on her closest friend. Thus, Hermione found herself wrestling with her thoughts and feelings of Mr. Malfoy, alone.

"You are an exceptional woman, Miss Granger," Charlie reassured her, catching onto her silence. "You deserve a man worthy of your admiration and affection." He gestured to the basket of snowturnips. "I'll take this into the kitchen. Please tell Ginny I said good night."

ooo

Mrs. Lupin had agreed for Hermione to teach a few rudimentary potions to the children, so Hermione had chosen a few simple healing potions to begin with. Mr. Sculthorpe had been generous enough to donate most of the herbs needed for their lessons, citing Hermione's interruption of a wayward cart on its way to nearly killing his nephew as even more reason to give to their cause.

"Well done, Hermione," Mrs. Lupin beamed at her, after the last of the children had left the shop after the lesson. "Remus will be glad to know the children survived their first Potions lesson." Mrs. Lupin closed the hefty catalog she had been updating with a loud thump. "Ah - speaking of my beloved husband - we have decided to close the shop for a few days this year for the holidays. We've been invited to see the collection of one of his former students - apparently he's got a few items of interest that he may be keen to sell to us."

Back before Mr. Lupin had started teaching regularly at Hogwarts, he and Mrs. Lupin had traveled far and wide to collect rare items for the shop. Those stories were Hermione's favorite to hear from Mrs. Lupin. They were always so full of color, adventure, and intrigue.

"That's wonderful. I can keep an eye on the shop while you're out if you'd rather not lose any business. It is the holidays, after all."

Mrs. Lupin waved her hand dismissively. "Surely not. You, my unsociable, bookish pearl, are coming with us."

Hermione set down the books she'd been holding. "Coming with you?"

"Yes. Remus and I have decreed it so. It's only a few days. Come as a favor to me. I'm worried I'll drown in testosterone. Or worse - get stuck sitting in the drawing room with a humorless, expensively-perfumed lady while the men are out having all the fun. And – I've heard the estate has a massive library."

"A massive library," Hermione muttered to herself. "You're positively shameless in your methods of persuasion, Mrs. Lupin."

Mrs. Lupin feigned offense. "I've already sent an owl to Mrs. Weasley. You'll be back in time for Christmas." She smiled sweetly. "If poor old Ginevra has any complaints, you can tell the girl to direct them straight to me."

ooo

A few days later, Ginny sat with her while Hermione packed for her trip with Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. In the corner, Ginny's dress had been hung up, her ribbons carefully chosen, for tomorrow night's assembly in Charlie's honor. Hermione was quite relieved to have a reason to miss the assembly - the memories it brought back to her were still too fresh, too prone to discomfort. She could tell Ginny was also less than enthused about having to attend, but Lavender had insisted on Ginny's presence on the sheer principle of saving face. News of Mr. Zabini's hasty exit had spread far and wide in the town, and everybody was keen on seeing Ginny's reaction - if not but for the mere purpose of having nothing else of importance to occupy their thoughts.

Ginny was disappointed she could not have Hermione there to commiserate with - Lavender, no doubt, would be off trying to secure her own prospects - but graciously forced an excited expression nonetheless.

"Perhaps Mrs. Lupin means to groom you," Ginny said thoughtfully, running a comb through her hair. "To take over the shop. She and Mr. Lupin are bound to have a family soon. They'll be needing the extra help."

"Perhaps. I am happy to help out in any way I can. They have been nothing but generous with me. This trip might be quite educational."

"Just don't pick up anything cursed," she said. "And do be careful. While I was in London with my aunt and uncle, they told me a few rumors of some nefarious happenings in town. A few incidents with Muggleborns and whisperings of some kind of blood purity uprising." Ginny suddenly looked worried. "I know you are quick with your wand, but you will stick close to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, won't you, Hermione?"

"Of course," she reassured her. "Do not be so worried, dear Ginny. I doubt I'll have much time apart from the Lupins. Before you know it, I will have returned here in no time to continue my unique talent in being a burden to your social life."

Ginny laughed, shaking her head. "You could not be a burden to me even if you tried your hardest, Hermione."

"You are sorely mistaken – no doubt, a forgivable offense for someone of your goodness. But I could easily put other burdens to shame with very little effort. Every night I pray you will never have to witness it."

Ginny only smiled at her, before disappointment crept back into her features. She averted her gaze. "I'd feel better about going to the assembly if I knew you were going to be there to find humor in everything. Just the thought of everyone… looking at me. Poking at my most intimate disappointment. Wondering why I wasn't good enough for Mr. Zabini."

"Do not concern yourself with the thoughts of others, dear Ginevra. We must not distress ourselves with matters we have no hope of changing. What matters is that you go to the assembly to support your brother's return, witness the many looks of longing from his many female admirers, dance with a few handsome men, and preserve the details so that you may be able to tell me all about it when I return – all so that we can both laugh at the silliness of it all together. Understood?"

Ginny grinned, her sorrow temporarily forgotten. "Understood."

ooo

The next morning, Hermione met the Lupins at Moony's, where she received a warm greeting from Professor Remus Lupin. He thanked her generously for all of her help at the shop – "I fear I sometimes must contain my jealousy for it's been on more than one occasion that Nymphadora has written that you are her most favorite person in all of the realm" – and even brought her back a few old books for her personal reading list as a gift.

After being transported by Portkey, Hermione and the Lupins found themselves standing on a desolate road. It was by no means an unpleasant area - on both sides there were thick, lush trees, and a path in the center had been worn down by years of use. There was, however, seemingly not another soul for miles.

"Is this..." Hermione hesitated, looking around.

Lupin chuckled to himself. "A few moments' of patience is required, I'm afraid. The estate is protected by numerous wards to deter unwanted guests. We're some distance from the beginning of the estate."

They turned their heads at a distant sound. A gleaming, horseless, black carriage was moving down the road towards them at an impressive speed.

"Ah, here it is. Splendid."

The carriage came to a stop beside them, raising a faint cloud of pale dirt around them. Hermione went in first, then Mrs. and Mr. Lupin. As soon as Mr. Lupin was seated, the door promptly shut, and with the jolt of movement, the carriage continued on.

"Do all your former students often contact you to sell off one of their family's old heirlooms, Mr. Lupin?" Hermione asked. From the window, the miles of trees soon turned into vast, sprawling acres of a beautifully picturesque landscape, reminding her of the impressive milieu of Rosings Park.

"No, not at all. It may very well be a shock to you, Miss Granger - but very few students take an interest in getting to know their professors at all. I cannot deny that Hogwarts has its share of exceptional students - but most, I'm afraid, are there because their families have been attending Hogwarts from its very inception. There are only a very special few that catch my attention on the basis of their ability and merit."

In front of them, large, ornate gates opened to let the carriage through to the main grounds.

"The very special few - do they all live in places like this?" she said dryly.

"Oh yes. Remus is very selective with his favorites," Mrs. Lupin winked.

Lupin laughed. "While you know I am of the same personal inclination when it comes to matters of wealth, it would not be fair to judge a person's character merely because of the amount of Galleons at their disposal."

"This former pupil of yours must transcend the disadvantages of having such comforts available to him."

"I fear I must leave that up to you to judge. You shall meet him soon enough."

The carriage came around a marble fountain and then slowed to a stop, prompting their exit by the motion of the door swinging open. Mr. Lupin helped his wife and Hermione down from the carriage, only for Hermione to find herself wordlessly stupefied at the grandiosity of what was in front of her. Why, it was even more impressive than Rosings in both size and elegance - a feat she had never even fathomed existed.

Mrs. Lupin stepped up beside her, amused by her gaping. "Don't worry, child - your words will come back to you in a moment."

Mr. Lupin led the way, walking up the steps. "Welcome to esteemed grounds of Pemberley, ladies," he called out cheerily.

"I am supposing the remarkableness of this former pupil's character extends past what his family owns," Hermione frowned, following behind. Besides the sound of the water from the fountain and the distant sound of the carriage rolling away, they were surrounded by complete tranquility – just carefully maintained, beautiful acres of land, for as far as the eye could see. This was something the wealthy could afford in excess, far from the sounds of the bustling city, or the soil-covered country: the luxury of complete quiet.

"You are correct, Miss Granger. As you know, before my professorship was made permanent, I'd been a stand-in a few years ago at Hogwarts while the former professor was on leave. He was my top student in Defense Against the Dark Arts - made extraordinary marks in all his other subjects as well, according to his professors. He graduated at the top of his class and caught the eye of many - so much so that he'd been handpicked for accelerated Auror training by the Ministry of Magic, an honor only given to very few."

"And who, exactly, is this former pupil who has managed to impress his grumpy old professor?" she asked, imagining some stiff, uppercrust aristocrat.

They reached the tall, looming doors.

"A Mr. Draco Malfoy," Mr. Lupin replied. "This is family's estate, Pemberley. It's also known as the Malfoy Manor."

Hermione's heart stopped and was suddenly startled back to life by the heavy groan of the doors opening in front of them.

Thank you for reading and please review!