Hello lovelies. :)

After the dinner plates had all vanished, Hermione sat back in her chair and surveyed her dining companions. She had been confused at first when Draco had introduced her to their table mates, as they seemed to be the most hodgepodge group of prior students there, with exception of Gregory Goyle's wife, Matilda. On Hermione's left sat Draco followed by Gregory, Matilda, Daphne Wood (nee Greengrass), her husband Oliver, Terry Boot, and then on her Hermione's right side was Terry's husband Cormac MacLaggen. They made up Draco's "circle of trust" as he'd called it when he'd introduced Hermione. Throughout dinner, the friends had regaled Hermione with tales of how they'd met their spouses as well as how they came to be among Draco's most trusted friends.

The easiest connection for Hermione to wrap her brain around had been Daphne, what with her being Astoria's sister. Truth be told, Hermione was very much in awe of the stunning blonde sitting across from her. When she had first decided to update her appearance, it had been Daphne's multitude of pictures scattered throughout the society pages of Witch Weekly and the Daily Prophet that had inspired her the most. Here was an example of a woman her own age who was also a wife and mother (of five children no less) that still managed to look flawless in every way, though it was probably easy for Daphne, being a professional quidditch player's wife. She'd been surprised when she had realized that ice queen she remembered from her school days had married the likable Gryffindor and quidditch star.

"She damn near hexed my bollocks right off!" Oliver had said in his lilting Scottish brogue. The whole table erupted in laughter. "There I was, staring down the wand of the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on, and suddenly I remembered her as a Slytherin, so she's got to be on Old Voldy's side, right? Before I can even think to raise my own wand and stun her, she casts a nonverbal expelliarmus, and off goes my wand into her hand. Then before I can even blink, she shoots off a hex, and I think 'Well, this is it' but the spell sizzles right past me and hits this death eater who'd been sneaking up behind me! To this day, I have refused to ask what she did to them."

Daphne giggled. "It wasn't that bad, Ollie! It was a-"

Oliver shook his head at her. "I don't want to know! Anyways, the blue-eyed minx tosses my wand back to me and says 'We can debate about it, or we can go kick some death eater ass!' then grabs my arm and leads me into the fight. She saved my life so many times that night."

"That's amazing," Hermione said.

"You think so?" Daphne asked, turning to Hermione. She nodded in answer. "That's lovely to hear from you, Ms. Granger. I credit you with my learning to fight."

"Me?" Hermione was baffled. She truly couldn't remember herself and Daphne ever exchanging even a passing hello, let alone defense tips. They hadn't even shared Defense Against the Dark Arts together.

"Don't rack your brains so hard," Daphne teased. "You'd never have known it. I don't think I've told anyone other than Oliver. It all started after fifth year, that summer when our O.W.L. results came in. Actually, no further back than that. I'm not sure what Draco has told you about pureblood upbringings."

Hermione shook her head. "He hasn't told me anything. I've done some research over the years however."

"Well, that's a start," Daphne said. "I'm sure you know that my sister and Draco had an arranged marriage? I too was pledged to marry another pureblood wizard."

"I never knew that," Draco responded, obviously confused.

"Hmm, yes." Daphne took a long sip of her wine, and Hermione saw Oliver reach over to take Daphne's hand. "In the wizarding world, expectant parents find out the sex of their baby at the same time they find out they're in the family way. It's a simple spell, and you can decline that information if you wish. My parents, upon hearing the news of having a daughter, signed a magical contract that same afternoon, pledging their unborn daughter to Marcus Flint."

Greg made a disgusted face. "The guy with the horrible teeth?"

Daphne chuckled. "The very same."

Hermione looked back and forth between Oliver and his wife. "So what happened?"

The beautiful blonde shrugged. "Sadly, Mr. Flint died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Or not so sadly, depending on how you look at it, as he was in death eater robes."

"So, not so sad." MacLaggen stated. Hermione rolled her eyes his way.

"True, I wasn't very sad at all when I heard the news." Daphne smiled. "I'd already decided that come hell or high water, I'd find a way to be with Oliver, and with Marcus' passing, we were able to elope three months after the battle. But I'm getting off topic. From the day I was born, I knew my fate would be as a pureblood society wife, and all of my training was aimed at that. I was taught how to run a house; cleaning charms, transfiguring clothing, things of that nature, and it showed when I got my marks on my O.W.L.s. I couldn't even advance in basic subjects like potions or herbology. It really hit home for me when I saw my rubbish score in Defense. There we were, on the cusp of war, and I could barely perform a disarming charm."

"Well it was no wonder," Hermione scoffed. "None of us learnt a thing from Umbridge."

"Ah, but you did somehow," Daphne stated. "And that got me thinking. We'd all heard the rumours of your little army, teaching yourselves Defense right under Umbridge's nose. So, I did the only thing I knew how, and begged my parents to hire me a tutor. Of course though, the tutor they found me taught me nothing of the sort, so I went to all of the bookstores and collected every Defense and dark arts books I could find. I practiced so hard, and began teaching Astoria as well. You see, Pureblood relationships, especially arranged ones, are often fraught with mistreatment from the men, and I'd be damned if my baby sister or I would be taken advantage of. Sorry Draco, but you were quite different in those days."

"No offense taken," Draco mumbled, though Hermione could tell he looked very tense at the implied accusation.

"When I got back to school sixth year, I kept up with my own lessons. It was hard. I couldn't practice in my dorm room, Pansy wouldn't have anything to do with me learning Defense. Tracey was interested, and a handful of others. Luckily, Astoria made a, well, a friend of sorts from your lot, Katie Bell. She helped quite a bit. Taught us all kinds of new spells, and even got us into that room your group used to practice in during fifth year."

"Katie, yes!" Hermione grinned. Katie had been a member of Dumbledore's Army, and a chaser for the Gryffindor quidditch team. "She was such a lovely girl. You know, Oliver, I always saw the two of you hitting it off. No offense, Daphne, you're lovely too."

"Katie?" Oliver scrunched up his nose. "Sorry, but that's gross. She's pretty much my sister."

Daphne laughed, as well as several others at the table, and Hermione felt as though she were missing out on a joke.

"Um, Hermione, Katie and Astoria-" Draco began, but Daphne cut him off.

"Draco! That is not your place!"

"She already knows," Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Daphne stared at him, appalled. "You told her?"

"Circle of trust, remember?" he answered, and turned back to Hermione. "Katie and Astoria are together. They have been since Hogwarts."

"Oh," Hermione said, then, "Ohhhh! Together together?"

Draco nodded.

"Wow, I never would have guessed." Hermione looked at Oliver. "And that's why you said Katie's your sister? Well, that makes sense, she would be then, yes. Okay. I think we're all on the same page. Someone please change the subject, so that I can stop rambling now."

Draco laughed, and pulled Hermione in close to him with the arm he'd draped across her chair.

"I know," he beamed. "Goyle, tell Hermione here how you and Matilda met. She'll get a kick out of that."

"Oh yes, please!" Hermione nodded eagerly. "I'd love to know more about you as well, Matilda. Were you homeschooled? I don't remember you from Hogwarts."

"Please, call me Tilly," the handsome woman responded in her posh voice. "No, I wasn't allowed to attend Hogwarts. You see, I'm what you people call a Muggle."

Author's Note: Thank y'all for not giving up on me! Once again, this chapter was so difficult to get started for some reason. I knew what I wanted to write, but just not exactly how to get there. Lots of deleting and editing went into this chapter, and I truly hope you enjoyed it. Now, we have a couple more chapters of getting to know Draco's so-called "circle of trust". They're a pretty eclectic bunch, aren't they? I really want to tell you their backstories before we get back to the festivities and many more familiar faces will come out to play. Once we leave the ball, we'll start revving up the Dramione action, so be patient. I'll give you lots of little teasers beforehand though. By the way, for those who have messaged me and told me how much they did not care for Ginny in the last chapter, I'm sorry. I don't like her much either, but there are reasons, I promise, and yes they will come to light before too long. :)