Chapter twenty-five: Doing something about it
Adalie and Draco stepped into the Burrow's living room. Adalie was dressed in a stunning, tight, silver dress, which neckline plummeted so far that it was almost too much. The dress only came up to around her upper thigh. Her short black hair was styled in cute little ringlets around her perfect, beautiful face. Her greyish blue eyes were sparkling with excitement as she looked around. She was easily the most beautiful girl in this room. People seemed to notice them, but no one really paid attention to them. It was like they wanted to ignore them.
Hermione felt like her lungs were collapsing in on themselves. She could hardly breathe. She saw Adalie look over at her and tilt her head to the side, a taunting smile on her lips. Draco was there also, although he was wearing a black tux with a white tie. His blonde hair wasn't slicked down, as it usually was. It was spiked up. Even Hermione had to say he looked handsome. Hermione turned to Ginny, who'd seen them also.
"What are they doing here?" Hermione asked in her ear, keeping her eyes on Adalie, who'd spotted Ron, but wasn't making a move yet. Maybe her last talk had actually worked on her.
"I don't know. I don't know who invited them." Ginny whispered back. She seemed as lost as she was. Hermione looked at Draco and Adalie. They didn't seem to move at all. They just stood there until Dean and Seamus came over to talk to them.
"Hermione! Can you bring the punch bowl out, dear?" Mrs. Weasley's voice broke into her mind. She quickly saw her as she turned around. She cleared her throat, which had closed and, when she realized she couldn't talk, she just nodded and escaped to the kitchen. She shut the door behind her and looked around, having a well-deserved panic attack. She paced the linoleum, her flats making no noise on them. How was she going to keep Ron's eyes on her now? Adalie looked stunning! How was she going to do this?! She was going to lose him!
She heard the door open. She spun around and saw Draco standing there. Her heart, which was galloping hard in her chest, slowed down a tad.
"Hi Draco. What would you like?" Hermione asked when she was ready. Draco had his hands in his pockets. He looked at her with a blank look on his face and he shrugged.
"Nothing. You just seemed upset. That's all. I came to see if you were all right." Draco said indifferently. Hermione was somewhat confused.
"...Since when do you care about whether I'm all right or not?" Hermione asked suspiciously. Draco walked forwards a bit, his face thoughtful.
"I dunno, Granger. I just wanted to see whether I could do something to help." Malfoy told her. Hermione watched him. She recognized that look on Draco. He looked like a snake again: a snake going in for the kill.
"...Okay, Malfoy. I know why you did what you did. I know why you helped me get out of the Ministry. Ron told me all about your gallant efforts to right the wrongs you did to us in the past. But that's over now and, frankly, I don't understand why you're still hanging around." Hermione told him. Draco looked at her, seeing her strength and hearing her harsh tone but he was distracted. He walked forwards again, just a few steps.
"I'm still "hanging around" because I don't want to go back again, Granger. I don't want to go back to being my father's little minion if a son. You understand that, right?" Draco asked, his tone sly. Hermione arched an eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked harshly. Draco was a foot and a half away now and wasn't showing any sign of backing off. Hermione, instead, took a couple steps back but just ended up hitting her back off of the sink. She looked at Draco as he came forwards again.
"I mean that aren't you tired of being a minion? A side-kick? Second best?" Draco asked.
Hermione froze. Second best. Her dreams. Her thoughts. Did he think she was second best, too? "...I don't know what you mean." Hermione lied, looking at him with firm eyes. Draco stepped ever so closer.
"...I think you do, Granger. You were always second best, weren't you? Aren't you tired of being used for your intelligence?" Draco asked. Hermione felt his cool breath on her face. She couldn't move. She felt her heart start to race again. He was much too close. "Well, I can change that." Draco told her. Hermione couldn't think. Her mind was spinning.
"...How?" she asked him breathlessly. Draco measured her expression before he spoke.
"...By being mine." He said smoothly. Hermione felt her face drain of color. "C'mon Granger. You don't have to live like this. You don't have to sink to these idiot's standards. You're better than that." Malfoy told her. Hermione couldn't believe her ears.
"What?! Malfoy, you hate me. Why are you doing this?" She tried to get away from him but he blocked her.
"Because you deserve better than this." Draco said simply. "C'mon Granger. Think about it: if you were mine, you wouldn't have to work a day in your life. You could have all the books your brainy heart desires. You can be free of anything that might hold you back." Hermione looked at Draco with big eyes.
"What is wrong with you?! You know I'm in love with Ron." Hermione said, her voice higher than usual. Then, without a warning of any kind, Draco leaned down, grabbed Hermione's face and kissed her with passion.
Hermione felt a jolt of shock, then revulsion. She struggled against his strong hands, pushing at his chest, her eyes wide open. Finally, she managed to push him backwards. Draco stumbled back, trying to find his balance. When he did, Hermione came forwards and slapped him hard across the face. Malfoy's head snapped to the side violently, the sound ringing sharp in her ears. After a moment of heated silence, Draco looked at Hermione with the loathing she'd seen when they were little.
"You're a fool for loving him, you know. You'll both end up in disaster." Malfoy hissed, getting in her face. Hermione stood her ground, looking right into his eyes.
"If I'm a fool for loving him than I guess that makes me his fool." Hermione said to him, staring him down. Draco glared at her and stepped back. He turned around and left, slamming the kitchen door behind him.
Hermione stood there for a moment, trying to get herself together before she went back outside. She remembered the punch bowl and brought it out with her. She hoped Draco and his wacko cousin had left but they hadn't. They stood in the corner of the room, whispering to one another about something.
In Hermione's absence, Bill and Fleur had arrived. Bill looked charming in his blue dress robes and his ginger hair pulled back in a ponytail and Fleur looked stunning, as usual, in a gorgeous light blue dress that complimented Bill's outfit quite well. Hermione couldn't quite manage to return the smile and wave they shot at her, but she nodded and hoped she looked like she was smiling as she went to put the punch on the food table. The room was bustling with conversation and laughter but Hermione was far too busy with her thoughts to even think about trying to talk to anyone.
An hour or so passed. The party was still alive. Many people had stopped to talk to her about anything and everything. Hermione tried to focus as best she could on what they were saying but soon after they talked to her, they'd move on to someone else. To make matters worse, Ron hadn't come to talk to her yet. He had been flooded with people talking to him and she just couldn't get over there.
Adalie had now gone over to Ron and was making conversation with him. Very flirtatious conversation at that. Hermione felt hatred bubble in the pit of her stomach but before she was about to leave the conversation she was having with Hagrid about Hippogriff feathers, she saw Ron meet eyes with Harry. She saw Harry subtly nod and Ron looked at Adalie. Hermione craned her ears to hear what their conversation was about.
"-And we could go play Quidditch after. How does that sound?" Adalie asked. Ron didn't even look at her.
"Will you excuse me for a moment please?" Ron said to her, brushing past her. Harry started to move as well, ending up in the middle of the living room where there was lots of space. Harry pulled out his wand and put the tip up to his mouth.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Could you all please come around us for a moment." Harry's magnified voice said. Everyone looked over and started to move towards them, making a circle around Harry and Ron, giving them enough room. Bill and Fleur joined them in the middle of the circle as well. Hermione made her way towards them curiously, exchanging a confused look with Ginny, who did the same.
"Thank you all for coming," Harry said, stowing his wand away. "Now, you all know you were invited here for a reason. Let's get to that reason, shall we? Firstly, Bill and Fleur have an announcement for everyone." Harry and Ron backed off for a moment to let Bill and Fleur take the floor. They held each other's hands as they smiled at everyone.
"Well, as you know, Fleur and I have been married for over a year and we have some exciting news to tell you all." Bill said. He and Fleur exchanged a beaming smile before they turned to the crowd again and said it both at the same time.
"We're pregnant!"
The crowd erupted into clapping, hollers of congratulations. Some people came to give them hugs, including Hermione, kissing them both on the cheek and giving them congratulations as well. Bill and Fleur looked like the happiest people on earth. Hermione hoped that she and Ron might look like that one day.
"Alright guys! Congratulations to Fleur and Bill on the arrival of their first baby!" Harry said. He looked at Ron, who came forwards. "Now. Ron and I have something else to announce. Ginny and Hermione, would you please come forwards?" Harry invited. Hermione blinked as everyone turned to look at the two of them. Ginny felt her pinch her arm and Hermione went through the crowd to stand in front of Ron and Ginny in front of Ron. The crowd listened intently. Harry smiled and looked at Ginny.
"Ginny, when we were little, and I met you on Platform Nine and three-quarters, I never thought we'd be where we are today. I never thought that you'd grow up to be the amazing, talented, beautiful woman we all see here today. We've gone through so much in the last seven years and we've come out of it stronger than ever and I'm hoping that we'll have another seven years, and then many more to celebrate that together. I love you so much." Harry was beaming. He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at Ron who looked at Hermione and smiled.
"Hermione," He grinned widely. "As Harry said, I never thought we'd be where we are today but I think that because of different reasons. I thought that we'd have murdered each other already." Everyone laughed behind Hermione, which made her blush and smile. "We didn't exactly see eye to eye when we first met. Actually, we've don't see eye to eye on most things now." The crowd laughed again, all of them knowing this was true. "But, we grew up and the things we once had rows over are now nothing but memories and bloody hell, those were some good memories." Ron laughed, which made everyone else laugh too. Hermione giggled at Ron. "We've come through some of the roughest times in our lives already and I'm sure there will be more but as long as I have you by my side, I know I'll be alright." There was a tiny "Aww" from the crowd. Ron looked directly into her eyes, as though no one else was in the room and continued. "You're the most stunningly beautiful, amazing, talented and smart woman I know and you're the only one for me. I love you." Ron said with truth in both his eyes and voice. Hermione mouthed "I love you" back, smiling brightly. Ron looked at Harry and they grinned at one another.
"We both love both of you so much, so, we finally decided to do something about it." Harry said. Then, they made identical movements. Harry and Ron reached in their cloak pockets and both extracted a small box and then, at the same time, they both got on one knee. The crowd made noises of excitement and Hermione finally realized what all this was about. She covered her mouth as she stared at Ron's face, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Ginerva Molly Weasley?" Harry said, flipping open the lid of the box to reveal a gorgeous shiny engagement ring. Ginny had started to cry now too, in total shock.
"Hermione Jean Granger?" Ron said, opening the lid of the ring case, revealing a silver ring with rubies and diamonds in the top: the exact description of Hermione's dream ring. Hermione was shaking from head to foot, tears running down her face. Harry and Ron looked at their girlfriends and said the most magical words Hermione and Ginny would ever hear at the exact same time.
"Will you marry me?"
Hermione stood there for a moment, not able to speak. She was so overcome with emotions that words could not come to her lips. Ginny seemed the same way. Finally, both girls nodded, Hermione half sobbing and Ginny half laughing as they flung themselves into their men's arms and kissed them both as everyone clapped, whooped and hollered at the top of their lungs.
Hermione kissed Ron full on the lips for a moment before she pulled back and laughed as Ron pulled the ring out, also crying and slid it on her finger. Hermione examined it for a moment before she kissed Ron again as Harry put the ring on Ginny's finger. Hermione and Ginny got up and crashed into one another, hugging and laughing as the crowd clapped. Hermione kissed Ginny's cheek and she returned it.
"We're going to be sisters!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly, tears running down her face. Hermione smiled as she laughed, wiping tears off her own face and hugged her again, so incredibly happy. She knew that she could conjure a perfect patronus with this memory right here. She turned back to Ron as the crowd of people came to hug her each individually, congratulating her and covering her in kisses. Hermione laughed as talked with everyone, seeing so many smiling faces. Then, she saw two that were not smiling: Adalie and Malfoy. Malfoy looked like he'd just swallowed a Dungbomb and he was about to throw up, whereas Adalie had the most furious, I-could-kill-someone-right-now look on her face. Malfoy was the first to break out of that facade and he grabbed his jacket and walked out. Adalie took one last look at Ron, then glared at Hermione and left too, shutting the door behind her, leaving the only trace they were there being the cold gust of wind that followed. Hermione felt a soaring sensation in her soul. She'd done it. She'd finally done it! Ron was finally hers. She'd never have to worry about Adalie ever again!
Hermione turned around to see Ron coming up to her, walking away from Harry and Ginny, who were still being congratulated. He beamed at her and pulled her into his arms so they could share the most perfect kiss the world has ever seen.