Happy Memorial Day to those in the States. I'll post Ch. 29 & Ch. 30 today for the holiday!
Nearly 300 favorites! So nice of folks!
Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter, I'd settle for Fred & George - but I don't own them either.
Now - a party at Fred & George's house!
Chapter 29
Hermione stood in front of her now overflowing closet, wearing her underclothes, fresh from her shower, wondering what she should wear to the party. She decided against a dress or skirt. Her experience with the Weasley twins had taught Hermione it was smart to wear very sturdy, versatile clothing. Her eyes fell on a pair of black leather leggings and Hermione grinned. She pulled on the long leather, which was skintight, and paired them with a long, loose white tank top with black swirls along the scoop neckline. Hermione found a pair of very high stilettos, which she preferred lately. They were black faux crocodile. She pulled her hair up into another ponytail, tucked her wand into the side of her pants, grabbed her black clutch purse, and went to find Ron and Harry.
The boys were in the drawing room, talking quietly about the line of adult toys the twins were working on. Neither wizard had experience with any kind of toys and wondered exactly what they would do.
"I am sure you could volunteer to be product testers," Hermione giggled, making them jump. Both blushed.
"Yeah, yeah," Harry stood, still a little pink. "Let's go to the party."
They Flooed directly over to Fred and George's place. The Floo was in the office, behind the store, and the twins had a large two-story apartment upstairs. All of them had been over countless times and were very familiar with the layout. Hermione was the only person besides the twins, and Lee Jordan, that knew how to get into the workroom laboratory on the third floor. Fred and George's bedrooms and a bathroom were up there as well, but the lab took up well over half the floor. Hermione had been worried they would accidently blow themselves up in their sleep, so she set protective charms around the lab, in addition to the security ones the twins had.
The trio made their way up to the second floor, which contained the twins' living room, dining room, kitchen, and a small library. The space was very open. Only the library was really a separate room, but even that had glass doors. It was only just eight o'clock, and there were already a good number of people there. Hermione saw the twins of course. George was passing out drinks that Fred had poured. She saw Luna, Neville, and Cho Chang talking with Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell. Hermione and Ron went over to talk to them while Harry joined Fred in the kitchen area to get them all drinks.
"Hello, Ron! Hello, Hermione." Lee smiled. "We were just talking about the shop Katie and her mother are opening."
"Oh? I hadn't heard," Hermione responded.
"Yes, we got a nice little place off Diagon Alley," Katie explained. "We are going to sell clothes and toys for babies and little kids. I think we've worked out some pretty neat charms for products that people will like. We have clothing that is stain repellant, and some outfits will grow with the child for a year."
"Wow, that sounds great, Katie," Harry said joining the group, handing Hermione and Ron each a butterbeer. "I know where I am going to shop for Teddy from now on."
Katie was not the only one starting a new venture, now that everyone was free to live normal lives. It turned out that, like Luna, Neville was going to return to Hogwarts – but unlike Luna, Neville was going back to apprentice under Professor Sprout to become a Herbology Master. Cho had decided to study to be a Healer and Alicia was enrolling in the Auror Academy, which excited Ron. Lee was a busy man with investments all over. He was heavily invested in Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, as well as a few other endeavors. He reminded Hermione of Lucius in a way.
As they all caught up, more people kept arriving. Ginny and Percy were both there. Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil showed up with Terry Boot and Michael Corner. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas came, as did Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, and Hannah Abbot. There were also a bunch of people Hermione did not know well, but recognized from Hogwarts as upper classmen.
Hermione was having fun circulating around the party. There were a few questions about her fiancés, but not too many. She just answered them simply and honestly. No, Lucius was not evil – Yes, sometimes she wanted to smack Draco – Yes, they had tons of money – No, her sex life was nobody's business.
Hermione was talking animatedly with Eddie Carmichael about an article in the latest Journal of Advanced Arithmancy, when she noticed Marietta Edgecomb had arrived and was glaring daggers at her. Marietta's parents had sent her to stay with relatives in America as the war escalated, but she had just returned. Hermione ignored the witch. Sure, Marietta was on the receiving end of one of Hermione's jinxes – but it was not as if Hermione targeted her specifically. The jinx would have affected anyone who had broken their promise.
"Hermione," Marietta said, coming up to her and Eddie. The other witch wore her reddish curly hair, with long bangs to hide traces of the jinx still on her forehead.
"Hello, Marietta," Hermione said politely. "I understand you were over in America. Did you enjoy it?"
"You owe me an apology," Marietta insisted, ignoring Hermione's question. Eddie was silent and just looked back and forth between the two witches.
"For what?" Hermione asked.
"You know what you did to me!" Marietta hissed. "You can still see it on my face. It is fading extremely slowly."
"I didn't do anything to you, Marietta," Hermione sighed. "The jinx was set for anyone who betrayed us; it was not made for you specifically. You made your choice, and it is your lot to live with the consequences, like the rest of us."
"You think you're so wonderful don't you?" Marietta asked snidely. "Well, you aren't as great as you think you are. You are talking about Arithmancy at a party, you little know-it-all swot. Do you think that is going to make Eddie here interested in you? I bet you still don't even have a boyfriend."
Hermione realized that Marietta had not heard the news of her relatively new attachment to the Malfoys, given that the other witch was out of the country until recently. Hermione just sighed. Marietta had always seemed a bit silly to her, especially for a Ravenclaw. She was always giggling with Cho, and obsessed with boys when they were in school together. Hermione liked talking about Arithmancy, party or not.
"While Eddie is a great guy, and I would be happy to go out with him if he'd ever asked me, I am currently otherwise engaged," Hermione reported. She noted that Eddie puffed up a little bit. He was a smart, nice looking wizard. Hermione was pretty sure he was in a monogamous relationship with Justin Finch-Fletchley, but it is always flattering to hear that people find you attractive. Marietta just harrumphed and rolled her eyes.
"Who would…Holy Merlin, what are they doing here?" Marietta was looking past Hermione, obviously distracted in the middle of her sentence.
Hermione turned to see a group of Slytherins coming in the door. Of course, her eyes immediately went to Draco. He was with Blaise, Theo, Marcus, and Tracey Davis. Draco looked sexy as hell in dark jeans and a green shirt that pulled tightly across his chest. Hermione imagined pulling that shirt off and using it to tie his hands together, so he would be at her mercy. She would then be free to bite and lick those pectoral and abdominal muscles she knew were hiding under that shirt. Hermione was wrapped up in her mini-fantasy, and sighed as she stared longingly at Draco.
"Oh, that's rich," Marietta laughed – well more like cackled. "The perfect little Gryffindor Princess wants the Slytherin Prince? And you called me a traitor. What would all your friends think about you and Malfoy?'
"They'd be fine with it," Hermione answered a bit testily. She did not appreciate being pulled from her sexy Draco daydream.
"You don't have a shot with a guy like that," Marietta scoffed. "You are a mousy little bookworm, no matter how many pairs of leather pants you've got stashed in your closet."
"I think Hermione is very pretty," Eddie interjected. He was a very nice wizard. Hermione assumed he noticed the dejected look that flashed across her face, ever so briefly. She did not care one whit what Marietta thought of her, but the witch did strike a bit of a nerve regarding Hermione's insecurities. "Hermione could get any number of wizards!"
"She better not," Draco interjected, as he grabbed Hermione around the waist and pulled her into him. He had made a beeline for Hermione as soon as he saw her.
"Oh, I didn't mean…" Eddie started to flounder.
"I know," Draco chuckled. "You aren't wrong. Hermione could get any number of wizards. She looks especially wonderful tonight. It is a good thing we snapped her up when we got the chance. Miss me, Kitten?"
"I just saw you this afternoon," Hermione smiled, sliding her arms around him. She forgot Marietta was even there. Draco leaned down and gave her a good, solid kiss. His lips were soft and strong, letting Hermione relive part of her daydream from a moment ago.
"Let's get me a drink!" Draco said after he stepped back, although he did not relinquish his grasp.
"Sure," Hermione laughed before turning back to Eddie, and by default Marietta, who was standing next to Eddie. "We must finish our discussion about vector analysis and linear extrapolation sometime, Eddie."
Eddie smiled and nodded. Marietta just stood, slack jawed, while Hermione showed Draco to the kitchen for a drink. Draco's Slytherin cohorts had beaten him to the drinks.
"Ah, you have found our lady," Blaise exclaimed, kissing the back of Hermione's hand.
"Not ours, mine," Draco pointed out, shoving Blaise aside playfully.
"I said ours because Hermione is an honorary Slytherin," Blaise laughed. "All Malfoys are Slytherin and she will be a Malfoy."
"No need to make that face, Kitten," Draco chuckled at Hermione's slightly sour look at the idea of being a Slytherin.
"We aren't all bad," Theo smiled, handing Blaise a drink. Hermione laughed at Theo. Marcus and Tracey came over too, each with a butterbeer. Theo was right, they weren't all bad. Hermione stood with Draco and the other Slytherins catching up. Theo told them about the law school he would be attending. Several firms had approached him for apprenticeships, but he had not chosen one yet. Tracey had an entry-level job with Magical Law Enforcement working in the supply department. It was actually a more interesting job that it initially sounded. Tracey would work on supplying Aurors with everything they needed, from surveillance items to protection amulets to detainment tools. It sounded like Tracey would have to be creative.
Draco called Ron over and introduced him to Tracey. The three of them got to talking about the Auror Department. Blaise and Theo were engaged in a conversation with Lee Jordan about various investment opportunities, including the adult toy line the Weasleys were starting. Hermione was right; Blaise had invested. Lee was working on product development, which started a slew of very off color sex jokes. Hermione rolled her eyes and wandered away from the group. That was the problem with hanging out with so many boys. Not that girls did not make sex jokes, Hermione just thought girl's jokes were funnier - but that made sense, since she was a girl. She was so wrapped up in trying to figure out the variable that differentiated sex jokes males told, versus those females told each other that she was not looking where she was going.
"Oof," Hermione ran right into a wall of man. She started to apologize, but then saw who it was and groaned.
"Never could resist me, huh, Granger?" Cormac McLaggen smirked, causing her to roll her eyes for a second time in just a few minutes. They had gone out on one date back in school and Cormac thought Hermione was desperately in love with him ever since - despite all evidence to the contrary. Apparently, her turning him down for more dates and telling him she just wanted to be friends meant she was playing hard to get. Hermione wondered how he would interpret her getting married to other wizards.
"Cormac, hello," Hermione nodded, stepping back from the very large wizard. "How have you been?"
"Excellent," Cormac smiled. "I have a position in the Department of Magical Games and Sports now. I am in charge of some pretty important projects."
"Good for you," Hermione smiled politely. "I remember how much you liked Quidditch in school."
"Things sure have changed since school," Cormac said, running a fingertip down Hermione's bare arm. "I remember how much you hated Malfoy in school."
"Hate is a strong word," Hermione shrugged, moving slightly away from Cormac's hand. "We were on different sides, but now there are no sides."
"There is still a few days before your wedding for us to have some fun," Cormac said lowly, leaning toward her. Hermione wrinkled her nose at the thought. Then she looked around for Draco to make sure he was not in hearing range. Nothing disrupted a nice party faster than a duel.
"I already have plenty of fun with my fiancés," Hermione said clearly, taking a step away from Cormac. "I am not in need of any more wizards."
"Come on, Hermione, everyone knows you are being forced to get married. And you've always had your eye on me," Cormac chided, stepping toward her and again running his finger down her arm. Hermione assumed he thought she was playing hard to get again.
"I really have not," Hermione sighed, exasperated with his narcissism. She did not want to have to jinx him to keep him away, but she would.
All of a sudden, Cormac yelped as if he had been stung. Eyes watering, he started furiously rubbing his posterior.
"What in Merlin's name was that?" Cormac demanded.
"It was a warning, mate," Marcus Flint said, tucking his wand back into his pocket as he stood next to Hermione. He crossed his large arms over his broad chest and Hermione thought he looked like a bodyguard for a moment. "Keep your hands to yourself."
"What's it to you?" Cormac demanded still rubbing his arse.
"Hermione here is an honorary Slytherin, seeing as how she is soon to be Lady Malfoy," Marcus said sternly. "Also, she's the witch of one of my best mates. You are just lucky Draco did not see your lame attempts to come on to his fiancée, or you'd have something worse than a little sting."
Hermione giggled involuntarily. She could not help it. The look on Cormac's face was priceless. She just knew, however, that he would use Marcus' interference to bolster his idea that she really did want him because, despite her verbal protests, she was not the one to jinx him. Cormac would say she was playing coy and hard to get, when Marcus stepped in before Hermione could agree to Cormac's suggestions.
"Cormac is lucky alright," Hermione said, mustering her best evil grin. Between Lucius and Severus, she had plenty of examples of that scary smile. "You saved him Marcus, but not from Draco - from me." She turned back to face Cormac. "I am not interested. Apparently, my saying it outright was not clear enough. Cormac, you seem to be immune to subtlety. As I am sure you both have heard I have needed to teach a few errant witches... lessons for trying to interfere with my relationship. I have no problem teaching similar lessons to wizards."
Cormac had paled considerably at the end of Hermione's little speech. Marcus looked as stoic as ever, but Hermione could swear she saw his lips twitching, as if he were suppressing a smile.
"I do thank you, Marcus, for preventing Cormac's rather unsettling lesson from happening," Hermione continued. "I hate to hex my fellow Gryffindors, even when they deserve it. I also didn't want to disrupt the party, as my hexes don't tend to be...gentle."
"Anything for you," Marcus nodded seriously, though now Hermione was sure she could see mirth dancing in his eyes. He reminded her of an ancient Roman Centurion for some reason. Maybe it was the way he seemed to be guarding her. Marcus turned to position himself directly between Hermione and Cormac, effectively shutting Cormac out of any further discussion. "I wanted to take a moment to thank you."
"For what?" Hermione wondered. She noticed over his shoulder that Cormac had wandered away.
"For asking Viktor Krum to talk to me," Marcus replied, looking down to his shoes. "I really do love Quidditch and want to play professionally, but it all seemed so complicated. Viktor gave me the names of a few trustworthy managers to interview. He also spoke very honestly and frankly about what I should expect and consider. He offered to stay in touch. I owe you a favor."
"I am so glad he was helpful," Hermione smiled. "But you don't owe me anything, Marcus - that is what friends do."
"But we aren't friends," he pointed out looking up, brows furrowed.
"Aren't we?" she asked.
"I guess we can be," Marcus conceded after a moment of thought. "I am not used to a person doing a favor without expecting something in return."
"Lucius and Draco say I am too Gryffindor-ish. That's the kind of thing we do," Hermione laughed. "Of course, Harry says I am too helpful, even for a Gryffindor. I wouldn't be able to rest knowing that I could have been helpful to someone, but wasn't. I know Draco values your friendship, and it will also make him happy that you are happy - if that makes sense."
"You care for Draco, then?" Marcus asked. As he asked the question, he looked over at Draco talking with a group of folks, gesturing expansively as he told some story or another. Hermione thought Marcus looked wistful, but could not be sure. She led Marcus over to an unoccupied bay window in the Weasleys' living room. It was fractionally quieter and more private there. The apartment was a good size, but was packed with people drinking, talking and laughing. Hermione hopped up on the seat, tucking her legs underneath her, and patted the bench next to her. Marcus sat down a bit stiffly. Hermione wondered if he was really not used to people being kind to him.
"I do care for Draco and Lucius," Hermione shared. "It's a bit surprising, given our history, but it is the case nonetheless."
"Surprising is putting it mildly," Marcus smirked, leaning back and looking a bit more comfortable. "Draco has always been a good mate."
"You care for Draco, too," Hermione stated simply. Marcus' eyes widened and he held his breath for a moment. Hermione's suspicions were confirmed. Marcus loved Draco, probably more than Draco knew.
"I don't have many friends," Marcus finally said, looking across the room at the platinum blond Slytherin.
"I can't imagine why," Hermione said honestly. Marcus snapped his head around to look at her critically. Hermione could see how her comment could be insulting if said in the wrong tone, but she was serious. Marcus looked to be a bit of a brute, all big and muscle. He was quiet, which could lead people to assume he was dumb - but Hermione could see intelligence and sensitivity in his eyes. She imagined that he was utterly loyal, probably to a fault. Marcus' narrowed gaze relaxed and he seemed to realize Hermione was honestly curious.
Marcus quietly told Hermione about himself. When he told her that he knew how he came across to people, Hermione wandlessly and silently cast a Muffliato, so no one else could hear. His father was a great brute of a man, who valued physical strength and the ability to dominate others. This directly applied to his wife and son, whom he dominated through emotional cruelty and physical punishment. Marcus' life was not light-hearted or easy. Hermione reached out and held his hand.
Going to Hogwarts, Marcus had a chance to watch people being kind and friendly, but he did not know how to join in. People assumed he was as brutish as his father, given his size and his father's reputation. Not knowing how to dispel them of this notion, Marcus let people assume whatever they wished. There were a few people that were not afraid of him and did not treat him like a thug - Draco Malfoy was one of those people. Hermione smirked, stating that Draco thought too well of himself to be scared by another student. Marcus laughed and agreed. It was Draco's quintessential Malfoy assumption that he was untouchable - this was before Voldemort's return of course - that let him treat Marcus like he was just one of the guys.
The summer before his final year at school, Marcus' father beat him so badly he was in a coma for a week, all for failing to win the Quidditch cup. His father refused to let his mother take him to St. Mungos, so she had to heal him as best as she could. The incident was the last straw, however, for the normally meek, gentle witch. As soon as Marcus could function on his own, his mother went after his father. She was not naturally powerful and nowhere near as physically strong, but Magnus Flint disappeared without a trace. His business partners called in Aurors to question Marcus and his mother, but all they found was a confused young wizard and a sickly looking, mousy witch.
Over the year, Marcus' mother got sicker and weaker. Marcus frequently had to leave school to attend to her. Even when he was at school, he could not concentrate on his studies, not that people expected him to do well anyways. At the end of his seventh year, Marcus' mother passed away and Marcus failed all his exams. Hermione squeezed his hand with hers, wiping away her tears with her free hand. He must have felt so alone.
Over the summer, as he was going through his parents' things, Marcus found several books containing very dark magic. There were notations in the margin in his mother's neat, elegant handwriting. She used a series of dangerous spells to amplify her magic and destroy her husband, at great cost to herself. The dark magic she let loose essentially devoured her over time. Healers may have been able to halt the progression, but then she would have had to admit what she had done. Marcus was shocked, but a part of him was proud of his mother for doing what he never had - standing up and fighting. He resolved at that point to never let another person make him do something he did not want to do. Sometimes in school, he had fallen into the role of thug to appease the other Slytherins, but no more. Not knowing how to interact with people, Marcus focused on Quidditch and schoolwork. Some of his friendships fell away, but a few friends persisted - including Draco.
"Did you know that I love Harry?" Hermione asked the wizard when he had finally stopped speaking. She was still holding his hand, unnoticed by the party whirling a few steps away from them.
"You're in love with Potter?" Marcus asked a bit confused and a little horrified.
"No, I'm not in love with him - I love him," Hermione laughed looking across the room at her friend. He was clearly trying to play peacemaker as Seamus, Ron, and Draco argued over Quidditch. Ginny was glued to his side, to her dismay. Hermione sighed - sometimes there was no talking to that witch. "He is my best friend in the whole world. There is nothing I wouldn't do for him and he would do the same for me. I don't know how much you know about Harry. Most people know he was raised by his Muggle side of the family before Hogwarts. What most people don't know is how awful those people were. They were horrible. They abused him, neglected him. It was as if they went out of their way to make him feel unloved at every turn. Even after Hogwarts started, he had to go back to those people every summer for years. I hated it."
Marcus nodded, eyeing Harry speculatively. Hermione knew that many people felt alone in their troubles, although very few actually were.
"Harry always says things that I appreciate," Hermione continued. "He says that some people are just dealt a crap hand in life, but that it is still up to them how they play the game. He says families are not necessarily the people you were born to or the people who raised you, but family can be whoever you choose it to be. I always liked that."
Marcus just kept looking across the room at the guys talking. Hermione saw the wetness pooling in the corners of his eyes though. If he loved Draco even half as much as she loved Harry, then it was a whole lot.
"I'm glad you love Draco," Hermione went on holding his large hand with her two small ones now. "We all need to love and be loved in life."
They sat in silence for several minutes, watching the crowd, Hermione holding Marcus' hand in her lap.
"Where the devil is Flint?" Draco shouted as he began to look around the room. "He can settle this asinine argument."
"Side with you you mean," Ron scoffed.
"I think he is over there cuddled up to Hermione," Seamus laughed pointing to them sitting in the bay window before he drained his pint glass in one swallow.
Draco looked over at them, brow furrowed. He did not look angry or suspicious, just confused - especially when he noticed Hermione holding Marcus' hand. Hermione held on to Marcus, squeezed his hand with one of hers and waved at Draco with the other. She had a big beaming smile that made most of the other people looking her way smile, without even thinking about it.
Draco made his way over to them, followed by Ron and Harry.
"Are you two plotting something?" Draco teased.
"Always," Hermione chuckled. "I was just telling Marcus here how happy I am that you have a friend like him. No matter which team he chooses to play with, I hope we see him often."
"Of course," Draco smiled easily, as if it were a given that friends never drifted apart or away from each other. "We'll get season tickets for whatever team he decides to join."
"I am so glad," Hermione smiled. It was clearly simple for Draco. Marcus was his friend and Marcus would always be his friend. There was no question. His getting married and Marcus going off to play Quidditch professionally would not change any of that.
Fred and George's party continued into the wee hours, despite it being a Monday night. People drank and laughed. There was a scuffle here and a disagreement there, but the twins had a knack for defusing situations. Hermione had a lovely time. She, Draco, Harry, and Ron did not drink that much since they had been fall-down, pass-out drunk the night before. Everyone knew that if you took Hangover potions too often, they would start to lose effect and no one wanted that. Most other people at the party got pissed, though. Soon, Hermione was starting to yawn. She needed to get some rest if she was going to show Pansy Parkinson around Harrods the next day.
"I think my time is up," Hermione said, leaning against Draco.
"Want to go home?" Draco asked, pulling her into an embrace.
"I think I will, yeah," Hermione reported. "I can Floo back to Grimmauld Place. You can stay and have fun if you like. I don't want to ruin the party for you."
"Don't be absurd," Draco scoffed. "The fun is wherever you are, Kitten."
Hermione and Draco said their goodbyes to their friends. Draco's were nods and the occasional slap on the back, while Hermione gave out hugs and kissed cheeks. She included Marcus in her affectionate goodbyes, causing the big, stoic wizard to smile and Draco to raise an eyebrow.
"What happened with Marcus?" Draco asked as soon as they were out the door and headed toward the Floo.
"Nothing happened with Marcus," Hermione replied. "We had a lovely chat though. He talked a bit about himself, his family."
"Marcus doesn't talk about himself or his family," Draco pointed out as they stood in front of the Floo.
"Well, he did to me," Hermione shrugged. She did not want to give away all of Marcus' confidences. It was not like the information he told her was secret, but Hermione still did not feel comfortable giving a play by play about their conversation. She stepped into the Floo and looked back at Draco. Before she Flooed home she winked and said, "Don't we have other things to do tonight than talk about Marcus?"
Next - Private time with Draco and a day with Pansy!
