A/N- Thank you to my betas Nina and Ku'upio for their hard work on this chapter and also to KomeKozzy425 for being amazing. And of course a humongous thank you to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited this story! It wouldn't be what it is without everyone's amazing support!

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Chapter Twenty Four

"Draco, darling," Narcissa called as her son approached.

Blaise and Theo had promptly disappeared after their bonding ceremony, dropping the vow on the floor at Luna's feet before turning away and rushing through the halls. Theo came back a little bit later looking thoroughly shagged before he admitted, in a very embarrassed tone, that they had no idea which room they should be using for the night.

Hermione laughed appreciatively and told them they can pick any room they wanted as long as they stayed away from the portrait of the drunken knight, because that was her and Draco's room. He turned and ran away so quickly that Draco couldn't help but to chuckle. He could remember very clearly how he was able to feel Hermione's lust on top of his own and how driven he was to have her repeatedly.

Hermione stayed in the castle while he went to fetch his parents from the gate. They'd shared lunch with Neville and Luna in the old Divination classroom, of all places, because of Luna's insistence that there was a large nest of Blibbering Humdingers infesting the tower. Hermione listened to the two newcomers talk about their plans for recruiting new members to their side. Once Narcissa and Lucius were bonded and had chosen a room, Neville would come down from hiding in the Room of Requirement – it just seemed like the best spot for him at the moment, since not many people were aware of its existence.

"Mum, Dad!" Draco approached and opened the gates to allow his parents entrance.

"How is everything going, my boy?" Lucius asked as his son closed the gates again and began walking up to the castle.

"Great."

"Where's my daughter-in-law?" Narcissa asked.

"She's waiting in the castle," Draco said, annoyed that it seemed like he'd have to explain again that she was slightly injured.

"I can't wait to see her," his mum admitted, but didn't ask any more, much to Draco's relief.

"We have a pretty big surprise for the two of you," he said as they approached the castle. He was a lot more nervous to tell his parents that they were about to be bonded than he was in telling his friends.

"Ah, Hermione's pregnant already?" Lucius asked knowingly.

"What? No! Merlin…"

"What's the surprise then?" Narcissa asked, disappointment evident in her tone.

Did everyone just happen to forget we're in the middle of a war? Draco asked himself, amazed that it seemed like everyone wanted his wife to be pregnant.

"Hello Lucius, Narcissa!" Hermione said from the top of the staircase they were ascending.

"Hermione," they both greeted, smiling at the girl. "My son tells me that you've arranged for a surprise for the two of us?" Narcissa asked, reaching out and touching Hermione's shoulder lightly as she leaned in to buss a kiss to her cheek.

"We do. Now, don't be upset, but the last time we had dinner with the two of you, Lucius, you expressed your desire for this to happen. Since we weren't able to be there for the congratulatory dinner over obtaining the Minister post, we thought this would be our way of letting you know how happy we are for the two of you."

Narcissa looked nervous and Lucius' eyebrow twitched slightly in question.

"Follow me," Draco said, leading the way into the entrance hall of the castle, where Luna was once again standing with the bonding sash. "We've found a neutral who would love nothing more than to be the one to bond the two of you."

"Bond?" Lucius asked, turning to his son in shock.

"You said at dinner that you've always wished to be bonded to mum and since it's such an amazing thing we decided that we would arrange for it. You're really missing out, Dad, because it's honestly one of the best things that's ever happened to me."

"We're going to be bonded?" Narcissa asked, and Draco began to doubt their plans. It had to work though, his parents needed to be freed from Tom's control.

"It's so wonderful, Narcissa, and we do truly feel like the two of you are missing out. Loving your husband is one thing, but to be bonded and feel that reciprocated love every moment of every day is one of the best feelings in the world. If it wasn't so wonderful we would really never expect you to go through with it, but we really hope you'll just trust us."

"I'm hardly wearing the right outfit for a ceremony, Hermione."

Draco knew they'd won.

"Let me just do a little bit of transfiguration then, Mum, and you'll be ready. It won't take but a moment."

Narcissa turned to Draco and he quickly changed her blue robes into a stunning white gown that complimented the woman before him perfectly.

Lucius let out a breath and for the first time Hermione was able to witness how truly in love the couple were.

"Don't forget the vows," she reminded. Draco dug into his pocket and removed the parchment before passing it on to his father.

"Read this exactly, both of you, for your vows. They were so perfect for Hermione and me that we'd be honored if you'd share them with us."

"Of course," Narcissa breathed, tears already beginning to blur her vision. She'd never expected her son to be so thoughtful and do something this wonderful for her and her husband – Hermione really had a way of pulling out the best of him.

/

"Glad that's over with," Draco admitted as he sat down for dinner with Neville, Luna and his wife. "I've already had Tiptop leave the journals in Blaise and Theo's room, so whenever they wake up from their little nap I'm sure they'll read them. Whenever they're done with them Tiptop will take them to my parents' room so they can be informed about everything that's going on as well."

"Sounds perfect," Neville said, reaching for another dinner bun.

"Thank you so much, Luna," Hermione gushed. "You're really a lifesaver."

"Don't mention it," the blonde replied airily. "I'm sure I'll be performing quite a few more of these ceremonies as the days go by. After dinner I'm going to break away from you all and find some supporters. Neville's going to the Order, but since I've never been a member I'm not cleared to be there."

"Who are you hoping to recruit?" Draco asked the strange blonde girl curiously. If she wasn't a part of either side of the war it would be hard for her to find anyone, in his opinion.

"There are plenty of neutrals that I'm sure would take your side if they knew what was happening. I understand that I have to keep it quiet to ensure no Death Eaters hear of it, because if they do then we'll die, but I have my ways."

"I bet you do," Draco said under his breath.

"I know of at least a few Order members who would be willing, but Hermione, I'm truly worried about Ginny. If she hears the whispering that I'm sure is already spreading around because of what I've already said then she's as good as dead."

Hermione's face paled.

"Fuck, Neville. I didn't even think about that. You should find her and bring her here immediately, if you can wait Luna?! I know this seems rushed but I'll figure out a way to get her married to you, Neville, if you still want to do it, of course."

"I will," Neville said, his cheeks reddening. That's when Hermione realized that maybe Neville already had feelings for Ginny.

"Didn't you take her to the Yule Ball in our fourth year?" Draco asked suddenly, seemingly reading Hermione's mind.

"Yes," he said with a dip of his head.

"Neville," Hermione said quietly, her hands reaching out to his. "You've always had feelings for her, haven't you?"

His cheeks were flaming so red that Hermione was surprised she couldn't feel the heat permeating from them.

"Yes, I have, but she was interested in Harry until a few years ago and everything was just so fucked up the last few years that I didn't have a chance to tell her how I feel."

"Please go find her," Hermione whispered, clenching his hands. "Find her and bring her here immediately so we can ensure that she's safe."

Neville nodded, avoiding eye contact with anyone else at the table.

"I think I can say we trust you enough for me to allow you access to the grounds, as well," Hermione said nicely as Neville stood up. Hermione held her hands in the air and altered the wards so that Neville would be able to apparate in and out of his own free will and she could stop going to the gates to let him and out. If he did anything to make her trust waver, she could change the wards back just as easily.

Luna gasped.

"You just did that wandlessly!"

"Yes," Hermione said, her face heating up a little bit. "Another benefit of bonding with your husband or wife is that your powers are shared between the two of you, making you a little bit more powerful than you'd be on your own."

"Amazing," Neville said, watching her.

"You can apparate in and out for now, Longbottom," Draco said, pushing Hermione's plate closer to her and grabbing her attention.

"Good luck," Hermione called as Neville turned on the spot and disappeared from the room.

/

Hermione was standing in the Great Hall with Draco and Luna, trying to figure out how they were going to find more elves who weren't under Tom's thumb to manage the castle and feed all of the recruits they'd hopefully have by the end of the week when Theo burst through the double doors and ran straight for her.

Draco looked up at the commotion of the doors opening and took one look at Theo's face before immediately shoving Hermione behind him.

The man was positively livid. Blaise came crashing through a few feet behind his husband and began running as hard as he could, taking Theo down only feet in front of Draco and Hermione. Luna stood back and watched curiously, her expression saying that this was going to be nothing more than a good show.

"Get off me!" Theo shouted, trying to wrestle Blaise away from him so he could get back to his feet.

"No," Blaise yelled back. "You aren't going to be pissed at Draco and Hermione for this! It isn't their fault. They found out by accident and I'm glad they've decided to show us everything!"

"They could have… You could have warned us!" Theo screamed turning angry eyes to his friends. "You let us walk into this with no knowledge of what we were going to see!"

"We couldn't tell you," Hermione said in an angry voice as she stormed out from behind Draco. He was trying to hold her there but she wasn't having any of that. "If we told you before you were bonded, you would have died, Theodore Nott, and that was obviously what we were trying to avoid!"

"Would have died?!" he asked, his voice pitching up a little bit. "How would we have died?"

"Think about your vows to Tom, you moron! We found out about this because our vows were able to override the ones he made us take! We knew then that since we weren't struck down on the spot that we'd have to be careful and do everything in our power to make sure no marked Death Eaters found out about any of it until they were bonded and had taken the same vows that we did."

Theo looked like he'd lost his will.

"Greg and Vince," he said sadly. "If we'd figured this out sooner… they'd still be alive."

"Yes," Draco agreed as he reached for Hermione and held her to his side tightly. "They would be, but thinking like that isn't going to do us any good. We can't change it, Theo. We just need to fight against the causes that killed them."

"There are so many people that need to be saved from Tom's clutches, but there's no way to do it unless they've been bonded?"

"Not that we know of," Hermione said, her chin rising slightly. "We've been wracking our brains but haven't come up with a single idea that would do it, but please, if you know of anything don't be shy."

"I don't know," Theo answered.

"I have to warn you," Draco said after clearing his throat. "You're going to begin dreaming once all the potion and poisons are out of your system. They aren't pleasant and they aren't actually dreams – Hermione and I have both had to run to the bathroom upon waking a few times – but they're the true memories of everything that has happened while we were out on missions and raids."

Hermione sniffled suddenly and turned her face into her husband's chest. It was still hard for her to think about how she'd killed a few of her former friends so ruthlessly.

"Is it that bad?" Blaise asked, watching the girl's actions.

"It's worse than you can even imagine."

"We're going to have to have a meeting of some sort after my parents read the journals."

"Your parents?"

"Oh yes, my parents were bonded earlier this afternoon, a few hours after you and Theo."

"So you're just going to make everyone get bonded?"

"If that's what it takes we will. But we have lots to discuss after our group grows a little bit bigger."

"I'd say we do," Blaise said, staring at Hermione. Her pain potion must have been wearing off because she was suddenly hanging onto Draco a little tighter than she had been just a few minutes before and the shadows and tightening of her eyes was a dead giveaway.

Draco shot Blaise a look and picked up his wife so that her legs went around his waist. He carried her to the closest table and sat her down gently, reaching into his pocket and producing a vial of potion.

"This is the last dose I can take today," she told Draco with a shaky voice. "I think I've been too busy and it's causing the potion to wear off more quickly than usual."

"You really need to take it easy," he said softly as he uncorked the vial and handed her the small bottle.

"There's no time to take it easy," she said brusquely, plucking the vial from his fingers and downing the potion in one.

"Are you going to explain this us?" Theo asked, sounding upset as he watched his friend take a pain potion.

"Later," Hermione said dismissively. She was going to continue but heard a commotion in the entrance hall of the castle. "Ginny," she breathed, standing up and rushing from the Great Hall.

"You need to control her better so she doesn't get even more hurt," Blaise said, gesturing to his friend.

"Control her?" Draco asked, his left eyebrow raised. "Have you met Hermione?"

A sudden peal of laughter from behind them caused them each to jump and turn around quickly. Luna was standing there laughing at Draco's comment, surprising them because they'd each forgotten about her presence completely.

"Control her," she repeated, still laughing to herself as she passed the men.

Theo looked at Draco in surprise and the blond shrugged his shoulders before they turned to follow her from the Great Hall and see what Ginny Weasley was going to do.

"Remember to not give anything away while we try to convince her," Draco told his friends. They each nodded and realized they had no way to make Ginny want to bond with someone she wasn't even dating.

"Hey guys," Ginny said with a wave as the men all trouped out of the Great Hall. "Can't say I'm surprised to see you here, it's not like you go anywhere without Draco. Would someone care to tell me why I'm here and what Luna's doing in the castle?"

"Luna is a Justice of the Peace," Hermione said slowly, her hands wringing together in front of her.

"For what?" Ginny asked, confusion drawing her eyebrows together.

"For… well, you see…"

"Hermione?"

"Neville came to us a few days ago and was going on and on about how much he cares about you, Ginny. He said ever since the Yule Ball he's had feelings for you,"

"Hey!" Neville shouted, his cheeks lighting up with embarrassment, but Hermione ignored him and ploughed on.

"And I know this is going to be a complete shock, but he was going to propose to you tonight. Once Luna heard of the plan she thought she'd do one better and show up here to marry you guys. You know how these things go," Hermione said, waving a hand in front of herself as if to say, 'this happens all the time!'

"Hermione," Ginny started, seconds before bursting out into laughter. "I'm sorry," she said breathlessly after a few moments. "That sounds completely crazy, Neville, I know we had… uh… relations, once, but that doesn't mean I want to marry you."

"What!?" Hermione asked, completely thrown for a loop. "You fucked him?" Ginny reddened and bit her lip.

Draco knew for a fact now that he could make this work, old Pureblood traditions demanded certain things be handled a specific way and he was hypocritical enough to use it to their advantage.

"Ginny Weasley," he started in a smooth voice. "You're a Pureblood, as is Neville, and you both know that once you've slept with someone it's only proper that you wed! How long ago did this happen?!"

"Three years," Ginny said, at the exact same time that Neville said, "A little over a month ago."

They both turned to each other in shock, never for a moment thinking that the other one would give a different answer.

"Three years?!" Draco asked, "You only would have been fifteen years of age, young Miss. Weasley! Did Neville take your purity?"

Ginny's face was beginning to flame but Hermione had a feeling that Draco was going somewhere with his line of questioning so she kept her mouth shut and let him do what he was going to do.

"Yeah," she mumbled, looking embarrassed and maybe even a little bit chagrined. Hermione realized that at some point she had to have cheated on Harry Potter in order for them to swing that coupling.

"Well then the choice is simply completely out of your hands," Draco said suddenly, looking like a stern parent. "You both know as well as I do that when a Pureblood witch has had her purity taken the only thing to do is get married and try to not be too ashamed of your actions. You've both managed to stay out of that situation for years, but considering that you've just had sex again a few weeks ago, you're better off to tie the knot and push the embarrassment away."

"If you want to go by that line of thinking then you clearly should have married Parkinson years ago, Malfoy," Ginny spat, getting annoyed pretty quickly about the fact that Draco was trying to force her to get married.

Draco twisted his face into one of confusion so expertly that Hermione figured if she weren't bonded to the guy she would have bought what came out of his mouth next, too.

"Rumours, Ginevra. I hadn't slept with Pansy, or anyone else for that matter, until I married my wife. Everything that was said was done so to stroke my ego and make me feel better about the fact that I hadn't had sex. You need to do the right thing, Ginny. You've slept with this wizard time and time again, and Merlin, what if you're pregnant?! You slept together only weeks ago, could you imagine the ridicule you'd receive from everyone if they were to realize you were pregnant out of wedlock!? What would your mother say?"

Hermione could see Ginny's resolve breaking down fairly quickly and she had to wonder if the red headed girl in front of her could actually be pregnant. Her face had lost its red tinge fairly quickly and she suddenly looked rather pale. Hermione turned her attention to Neville and was shocked to see that he also looked very unsure all of a sudden.

Her guess was that they'd forgotten to use any form of protection on their last little tryst.

"For fuck's sake, Ginny! Are you pregnant?!" Hermione shouted, unable to control herself when the realization hit.

Ginny looked trapped and turned guilty eyes to Neville, who was looking shocked.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said before promptly bursting into tears. This was obviously not how she would have wanted Neville to find out, but the man didn't look upset at all – in fact, he looked to be shocked with an undercurrent of joy in his eyes. "I was going to tell you but every time I wanted to I'd chicken out. Draco's right, though, if we don't get married our child will be persecuted, never mind what everyone would think about the two of us."

Draco and Hermione glanced at each other and smiled – this was just too perfect.

"Well luckily for the two of you we have a Justice right here! I'm sure you could even convince all of us to tell a little fib and say you got married a month or two before you actually did."

"Really?" Ginny asked, hope alight in her eyes. "You'd do that for us?"

"Of course we would, Ginny," Hermione answered as she pulled her friend in for a hug. No wonder Neville had been so worried and so adamant that Ginny needed to be removed from the situation as quickly as possible. He may not have known that she was pregnant but he had feelings for her that went deeper than a little crush considering they'd slept together on more than one occasion, and even though the group only knew about two times it had happened Hermione was willing to wager that it had happened plenty more than that.

/

"That worked out well," Draco said later that night while they were snuggled in their bed.

"It did but I must admit I'm a little bit worried about Ginny. How is she supposed to raise a child while there's a war raging?"

"She stays at the castle and tries to stay out of it. That's the only thing I can see working."

"Hopefully she'll agree…she's not one to stay out of a fight. She'll read the journals in the morning and everything will change even more for her. I hope she can handle it all."

"Neville has to leave tomorrow in order to get on with the recruiting, Luna already left, Blaise and Theo have calmed down and accepted what's happening… if everything continues to move along this smoothly we'll be laughing."

"I'm nervous about your parents' reactions about the journals."

"Me too," Draco admitted, holding Hermione a little bit tighter. "I didn't expect Theo's reaction to be so negative; it was surprising. Hopefully my parents can take it well, they've been involved in this a lot longer than anyone else."

"I guess we wait and see," Hermione mumbled, trying to fight off sleep. "I need to start brewing potions tomorrow."

"I'll help," Draco assured her, picturing all the supplies he'd bought. They'd be able to make hundreds.

"You'd better," she managed to get out before falling asleep.

Draco chuckled and pressed a kiss to her temple before he followed her into a deep sleep.