Ambition's End: Before the Altar
Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine. The characters, setting, and everything else belong to JKR.
****
Hermione dragged herself into work the next day. She was absolutely exhausted. The press conference had lasted hours. The reporters there had asked question after question. In their zeal for more information, they had even started repeating questions in the hopes of gleaning additional tidbits. She was grateful she was able to snag a lift for herself this morning. With how tired she was, she wasn't in the mood to answer any more questions to start off the day.
But all in all, it had gone off exceptionally well. Hermione had managed to control everything in order to paint herself and Draco as the real heroes of the evening. The story they had used had been more true than not—that Draco was the first one to be suspicious after he was arrested by Givens for saving his fiancée's life and that Hermione had used her contacts in the Wizarding World to investigate where Draco could not.
Kingsley had also been given his due; Hermione emphasized several times the important role Kingsley had played in the trap they had laid for Givens. There were several reasons for her doing so, but the most important one was that she wanted to buttress his position as Minister as soon as possible. Inevitably grumbling would start, fingers would be pointed, and blame would be laid upon Kingsley for picking Givens to lead the Aurors in the first place. Hermione needed stability in the Ministry for her to make any head way in improving the Wizarding World, and the last thing she wanted was for her known ally to have to resign over the whole mess.
However the press had gravitated towards the young couple, captivated by the romance between the two of them. From the few headlines she had seen that morning, they were being hailed as the true heroes of the whole affair. Which again was more true than not.
Hermione yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. She really didn't feel like working today. However she wanted to put a few hours in before taking all of next week off for the wedding, and she knew she also had to do some damage control with her co-workers. The oracles had been heavily damaged as a result of all the curses and hexes Givens had thrown her way. She grumbled to herself as she remembered how Draco had simply rolled over in bed when she had tried to wake him up that morning, saying something about how he was starting his weekend early. It must be nice, she thought, to be the boss and not have to worry about what your co-workers think! I guess I should be grateful though that the illusion over them held. That way no one else knows what the oracles truly are.
A bell rang as the lift reached her floor. The doors opened, and Hermione stuck her head out to see if she had a clear path. No one else was present so she quickly made a beeline to her office. She could only marvel at her luck. First there had been no one at the side entrance she had used, and then she had managed to score an empty lift. Of course, when she thought about it, her luck had really started yesterday when their plan had gone off without a hitch. She hoped that meant good things for the wedding—that the wedding would also be problem-free.
Once she was safely ensconced behind her desk, she was able to relax. She stretched her arms out in front of her, flexing her hands, and then got to work. Hermione had several administrative tasks that she wanted to finish before taking her time off. She bent her head over her table and got down to the business of getting her affairs in order.
Methodically she went through her tasks, one by one. She only paused when a knock on her door signaled yet another visitor. Most of her co-workers were friendly enough, asking if she was well enough to work today and the like. While Hermione was quite sure that none of them were happy about what happened to the oracles, they didn't ascribe any blame to her for she was merely trying to defend herself in the face of a blistering attack from the former head Auror.
However, there were some who were not so kind. After one particularly vehement row with an Unspeakable who thought Hermione should have died before letting any harm come to the oracles, Hermione had had enough. She promptly hexed the fool out and cast the strongest locking charm she knew on her door. She had wanted to play nice and all, but she wasn't going to be able to get her work done with too many screaming arguments like that.
Which was why she was currently ignoring the maniac pounding on her door.
Hermione put her quill down and then sighed. She was starting to get a headache. "I guess some people just can't take a hint," she said ruefully. She picked up her wand. "Oh well. I guess I should have cast a silencing charm in the first place."
However a voice rang out before she could cast the spell. "Hermione Granger! I swear if you don't open the door this instance, I shan't be responsible for the actions I take next!"
Hermione blinked in surprise. That was Katie, she realized. She leapt up from her seat and crossed over to open the door. Behind it stood her friend, looking thoroughly put out. "Well it's about time," said Katie. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"
Hermione shook her head. Standing to one side, she waved for her friend to enter her office. Closing the door once more, Hermione turned to face Katie, who was still fuming. She immediately apologized. "I'm sorry," she said. "I completely forgot to tell you that I moved."
"Yes, well that would've been good to know," Katie said with a roll of her eyes. "I went over to your flat this morning to see you before you left for work so we could go over the schedule for next week and what not. Since you so conveniently locked your floo, I had no choice but Apparate to your front door. And what do I find? An absolute circus! I swear the whole place was crawling with reporters and photographers."
Hermione winced. So that's why I didn't run into any reporters this morning. I got here early, and they were probably all still staking out my flat and Draco's old place too, hoping to catch me there. Hmm...that's one unintended benefit to moving to our new house sooner than planned. I'll have to thank Draco for that later. Don't know how I'm going to get home though. They've all probably moved on the Ministry by now though.
But Katie's rant was not yet finished. "So after I extricated myself from that mess, I came over here, figuring that I would just have to corner you in your office. Unfortunately I wasn't the only person who had that idea. When I got here, I found the Department of Mysteries to be on lock down with no visitors allowed. If it weren't for Padma passing by, I don't think I would have ever got past security." Katie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I am sorry," Hermione repeated. "I mean, it completely slipped my mind to tell you about my moving and all. It was a spur of the moment decision, you see, and…well I had other things on my mind."
Katie raised one eyebrow knowingly. "Other things, you say? I am certain you did."
Hermione flushed. She knew what Katie was implying, but she wasn't going to bother correcting that assumption. She decided to switch topics. "So you needed to see me for something?" she asked.
Katie all but groaned. "Where to start?" she muttered, flopping down into an open chair.
That wasn't a good reaction. Hermione returned to her seat, thinking that it might be best for her to hear Katie's news sitting down. Her stomach churned with worry as she wondered what could be wrong. It was probably something with the wedding, she decided. No wedding ever went smoothly.
"Well there are several things, as you might have surmised. I'll start with the one thing I absolutely cannot forget. I hope you haven't made any plans tonight, because you already have some."
"I do?" Hermione tilted her head, perplexed. She rarely if ever forgot her schedule, but as far as she knew the only she had planned for tonight was a long soak in the tub.
Meanwhile Katie giving her a look full of disbelief. "You know your wedding is next week, right?" she prompted her friend.
"Of course." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I hope I wouldn't forget something as important as that."
"Which means that this is your last weekend as a single witch—" Katie rolled her hands forward and spread them out in front of her.
Suddenly Hermione got it. She snapped her fingers. "Oh! That's right. You told me you were planning some sort of hen night."
"Yes, yes. Though our plans have changed. Originally I was going to take everyone out to this club I know, but I don't think that's such a good idea any more."
"Sorry," Hermione said.
"Don't be. At least not for that." For a moment, Katie's mood became somber before brightening once more. "But in any event, there's been a last minute change in plans. Come over to—" She stopped and looked critically at Hermione. "Never mind. If I told you to come over after work, you would probably head back home first to change. Which is a risky proposition because you might get distracted by…other things."
"Katie!" Hermione blushed bright red. "I would not!" she declared, thumping her fist against her desk.
"Maybe, maybe not. I'd rather not take the chance. So I can just come and get you."
"I plan on getting off early today," Hermione said. "I think I've earned a short vacation and all."
"Indeed you have, but you're still working," Katie pointed out. She sighed. "But fine. I do have other things to do aside from stalking you all day, I guess. Just let me know where you live now so I can come over to drag you to your own party in case you're running late."
"In Unity Square," Hermione answered.
Katie raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I didn't know that it was open now."
"It's not. Ours is the first house finished, and so we're the first to move in." She frowned. She didn't think Katie could find the place. There were many wards on the house that kept away unwanted visitors, and they were all attuned to Draco. She would have to ask him to modify the wards to allow Katie access, something she should have done earlier. Hermione made a mental note to speak to Draco about that the next time she saw him.
"So no neighbors? That must be nice," Katie said with a wink, causing her friend to turn red once more. "All right. So be at Grimmauld Place at six tonight. Ginny's told Harry that she's kicking him for the night—"
"Now that's cruel. Where is he going to go when he's off duty?" Hermione asked. She was willing to bet that her best friend was currently dealing with the fallout from the day before, but eventually he would be allowed to go home and get some rest. She wondered where he was going to sleep tonight. Most likely at the Burrow, she supposed.
Katie continued on as though she hadn't heard her. "—And so that's where we'll all be. Ginny and I thought there was no better place to keep prying eyes away. That's all I'm going to say about that. Well aside from noting that I'd really like to not have to come and find you again."
"Understood," said Hermione.
"Great!" Katie chirped. "Moving on to the wedding itself. I've been absolutely deluged with owls begging me for invitations since last night."
"That's a moot point, isn't it? Seeing how we're already at capacity and all," Hermione said.
"Well we could ask Solaris is they could expand the room, increase the catering order, and the like. It's short notice and all, but I think all the vendors would do it for you. For an additional fee, of course. It'll be expensive, but if there were people you wanted to add…."
Hermione shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. It's just too last minute. Besides I don't want to deal with the fit Narcissa is certain to have if I unilaterally add to the guest list without requesting her input."
Katie's eyes widened. "I hadn't thought of that," she admitted softly. "It's just as well, I guess. Less work for all of us if we just tell everyone no. All right then. Last thing. I've had several owls from the Prophet, each more desperate than the last, begging for a spot at the wedding. Which quite confuses me because I thought we had already set aside press credentials for them."
"Oh. That." Hermione bit her lip. "That was something else I should have told you about."
"Oh dear," said Katie. "That does not sound good."
"I had their credentials pulled," said Hermione. "It was after a run-in with Rita Skeeter, you see. She mentioned something about the Prophet not covering the wedding since we didn't submit the announcement in time so I thanked her for telling me that so I could redistribute their spots."
"Is that so?" Katie leveled a stern glare at her friend. "Hermione. I hate to tell you this, but you have to have the Prophet there. Think of all the problems that will arise if you don't. They'll make absolute pests of themselves trying to get in, and security has enough on its hands already."
"You're right. They would try to bug the place." She grimaced. If that happened, then Skeeter would be certain to skewer in the paper the next day. "All right. Restore them. But if you can somehow keep—"
"Skeeter out? Seeing how she's the cause of this misunderstanding, I doubt they'll want her there. But that's everything for now." Katie stood, and Hermione did the same.
"So I'm to be at Grimmauld Place at six tonight, right?"
Katie nodded. "That's right. I'll come hunt you down again if you don't. I'll see you there," she said with a wave.
"Wait!" cried Hermione. "How long is this party supposed to last anyway? Is it going to take up the entire evening?"
Katie chuckled to herself. "Oh Hermione. That's just so…so like you." She grinned broadly. "And no, not the entire evening. The weekend's more like it." And with that she dashed off.
Hermione sat down back in her seat. "The entire weekend?" she repeated. "That can't be right. Katie must have been joking. Yes, she must have been." However she wasn't entirely convinced of that fact. She hoped she was right. She just couldn't see how they could spend the entire weekend at a party. Pushing those thoughts asides, she went back to work, determined to get back home as soon as possible.
****
Hermione set her wand down, finished with putting on her make up. She looked at herself in the mirror with a critical eye. Since Katie hadn't volunteered many details about what they would be doing this evening, she had thought it best to go with a simple set of black dress robes. She smoothed her hands over the soft fabric and twirled around, happy with the way the robes accentuated her figure. With her make up and clothing perfect, the only left for her to do was her hair. She would just keep it simple, she decided. Putting it up in a French twist was the easy and elegant solution.
"Do you have to leave now?" Draco asked plaintively from behind her. Hermione spared him a glance and then hid a smile before going back to dealing with her hair. He looked just like a puppy whose favorite toy had been taken away. He was adorable when pouting—that was probably the reason why he was so spoiled.
"Yes, I do," she told him. "It'd be very rude for me to be late to my own party."
He grumbled and made a rude gesture, not at all pleased with the situation. "But can't you just tell them that you overslept? They would understand that, wouldn't they, considering the night you had? And it wouldn't even be a lie! We could spend the entire time in bed," he suggested.
Hermione let out a sigh. "It's tempting," she said. "But Katie's promised to hunt me down if I don't show up and so—"
He was unimpressed by her reasoning. "She couldn't find you. The wards wouldn't allow that," he said flatly.
"Thanks for reminding me about that, darling."
He was all hopeful eagerness. "Does that mean you're staying?" He waited for her answer with bated breath.
"No. Just that I would like the wards to be modified to allow my friends access. Katie definitely needs to be able to come here, seeing how she's helping me with the wedding and all, and it would be nice for Harry and Ron to be able to drop by. So I'd be much obliged if you could change that." She pursed her lips together. "Though I'd much rather be able to change the wards myself," she added.
"You will be able to do that after the ceremony and all," he informed her. "As soon as you're officially my wife, all the magic embedded in our home will answer to you as well."
"That's good to know. But that doesn't help me now. Could you at least let Katie—"
"Fine, fine," he said grumpily, crossing his arms.
She smiled brilliantly up at him, then stepped towards him. Standing up on her toes, she kissed him. Eagerly he responded, his hands coming up to cradle her head as their mouths fused together for a deep, passionate kiss. After they parted, he smirked at her. "So you're staying, right? Because you know there's more where that came from."
"Again, that's tempting. But I'm afraid you would wind up being disappointed in the end. I'm so tired I'd fall fast asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow."
"Not if I'm there," he swore fervently. "And might I add that it's not my fault you decided to go to work today. You should've stayed home, like I did. It would've been the sensible thing to do. I shouldn't be punished for your lack of sense."
"Except that staying home today would have meant that I'd have to go back to work on Monday to clear my desk," said Hermione. "And stop complaining so much. I'll have you know that I've taken the next month off so we'll have plenty of time to spend together after this."
That seemed to do the trick. His eyes lit up with glee as he digested that bit of information. "The entire month? And here I thought you only took the next week off," said Draco.
"That was originally the plan, since at the time I was still worried about Givens. But since he's no longer a problem, I thought I might as well take a longer holiday. I've not had a break since I started working at the Ministry," she explained.
"Excellent," he said. "I suppose I shall spend my evening alone then plotting what to do once I finally have you to myself. So you'll be back tomorrow morning?"
"What time is it?" Hermione asked. She didn't wait for an answer, instead turning around to face the clock. "Oh dear. I better hurry before Katie decides to make good on her promise and hunt me down and drag me by my hair to Grimmauld Place." She dashed to the bed to grab her purse and then back to the dresser to pick up her wand.
But Draco was fast on her heels. "Hermione!" he cried. "Don't think I don't know that you're trying to avoid the question. Just when do you think you'll be back anyway?"
Hermione paused. She had to give him some sort of answer before she left. The last thing she wanted was for the party to be interrupted by an irate Draco. "Tomorrow….maybe," she hedged.
Both of his eyebrows shot up. "Maybe? So you mean you don't know?"
"Well Katie did say something about making a weekend of it. I don't know if she was joking or not, so tomorrow if you're luck and Monday if you're not. But whenever that will be, I'll see you then. Bye now!" Before he could protest any further, she Apparated away.
She arrived in front of the door at Grimmauld Place. She knocked on the door and then settled back on her heels to wait for someone to answer it. She didn't have to wait long.
"Hermione!" cried Ginny happily upon seeing her friend. "You're here! Come in, come in!" She waved her hand for Hermione to come inside.
"Where else would I be?" Hermione asked as she stepped through the doorway. "Please tell me that I'm not too late, that Katie's not gone off searching for me."
"You're just in the nick of time." Katie appeared at the end of the hallway. "I was about to head out."
Hermione heaved a sigh of relief. "Good," she said. "One thing though. When you said that this party would last all weekend…you were just joking, right?"
Katie and Ginny exchanged a glance.
"Oh no. Don't tell me you were serious? You can't be. I can't imagine spending the entire weekend partying, especially not when I'm already so tired to begin with. And besides I've not even brought a change of clothes."
"Should I put her out of her misery or should you?" asked Ginny.
"Go ahead and be my guest. It was mostly your idea and all," Katie replied.
"The party's only tonight," said Ginny. "I wouldn't have kicked Harry out of his house for the entire weekend."
"Thank goodness." Hermione let go of the breath she had been holding in.
"But after tonight, the two of us have a special trip planned for you. That way you can relax before the madness of your wedding week sets in," Ginny continued. "And don't worry about your not packing anything," she added with a saucy wink. "I've got that covered. That's one of the advantages of having a robes-maker as your best friend."
"Particularly one who already has your measurements," said Katie. "Now come on then. We've kept everyone else waiting long enough. Let's go. It's time to get this party started."
****
Draco scowled across the table at the empty chair that belonged to Hermione. She had yet to return from her party, and he was beginning to regret ever letting her go. I can't believe she was serious about not being back until Monday. What am I supposed to do with myself until then? he grumbled mentally. Last night was bad enough. I had spent the entire day anticipating just how we'd celebrate when she got home, but no she had to make other plans that don't include me.
Draco knew very well that he was being unreasonable, but he couldn't help it. He was rather jealous that she was getting a party while he was not. The worst part was that he had no one to blame but himself. Theo had wanted to plan something for him, but Draco had nixed the idea. He hadn't thought it wise for a bunch of pure-blood wizards to wander around in search of a good time when a murderer like Givens was still on the loose. He supposed he could owl his friend and insist on being taken out some place tonight, but he didn't feel like doing that. Especially as Theo was certain to tease him non-stop about missing Hermione.
Which was unfortunately true. His friend had always had excellent aim. Draco did miss her. He had tried to distract himself all day by making plans on how to spend their extended honeymoon but to no avail. He simply did not know how he would manage to amuse himself until she came back. He wasn't about to visit his parents; they were certain to be unsympathetic to his moping about. The same could be said about his friends. Slytherins weren't known for their compassion. Draco hated to admit it, even to himself, but he didn't know what to do without her.
And then there was the issue about what she was doing at the moment—or rather the fact that he didn't know what she was doing. Normally that didn't bother him. They had their own lives, after all, and he knew he could trust her. But still his mind boggled over the idea of a three day hen party, and he didn't like the suggestions his overactive imagination came up with regarding how they would pass the time.
It was going to be a long weekend.
****
Hermione waltzed through the doors late Sunday evening, happy to be home. The spa weekend that Katie and Ginny had treated her to had been lovely, but she had missed Draco. I hope he wasn't too bored, she thought. He must not have missed me too much though, seeing how he's not here to greet me. She pouted for a minute over that fact. But then she shrugged her shoulders and shoved her annoyance aside. She had left him behind, after all, so she could understand if he was peeved at her. She grinned as she thought of all the ways she could coax him out of a bad mood.
But before she could do that, she would have to find him. Hermione started to wander about, not having memorized the layout of the house still, poking her head in each room she passed to see if he was there. He wasn't in the kitchen or his study or the library. Finally she found him in their bedroom, curled up on the bed and fast asleep.
She eagerly bounded towards him but then paused. Hermione knew she was acting like a silly little girl, the way she couldn't help but admire how handsome he was. She sighed happily. She was one lucky witch.
Gently she sat down on the bed beside him, so she wouldn't disturb his sleep. She watched over him for several long minutes. Draco looked so peaceful asleep. She reached out a hand and briefly brushed his eyelashes before cupping his cheek.
That woke him. "Hermione?" he muttered, still half-asleep. "Is that you?"
"Yes," she said. "I missed you." She bent over to kiss him.
His eyes shot open. Grumpily he turned away, leaving his back to face her. "Have fun?" he huffed crossly.
"Would've been more fun if I had you." She laid down on the bed beside him, but he continued to ignore him. Hermione sighed. She turned over on her side so she could watch him once more.
"I'm sorry," she said. "For leaving you behind. I should've told Katie to include you as well, that we'd have our parties together. But I had forgotten that she was planning one in the first place and so—" She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. He made no reply. She sighed again and wondered how long he was going to stay upset with her.
Suddenly he flipped back around and faced her. Reaching out an arm, he pulled her to him. She snuggled against him, burying her head in his chest, happy to be close to him once more. He rested his chin on the top of her head and said, "No, darling. What you should've done was owl your regrets and spent the night with me."
Hermione didn't want to argue the point. "But I'm here now. Surely that counts for something," she said.
"You really know how to make a bloke feel wanted." Though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was pouting.
She smiled. She pressed her hands against his chest, her inner girl squealing at how firm he felt. Hermione licked her lips once and then kissed his chest. Slowly and lovingly she worked her way up, leaving marks as she went. He groaned in response and shifted so that she was on top of him, allowing her better access. "But I do want you," she said in between kisses. She tilted her head up and brushed her lips against his. She teasingly traced her hand up and down his thigh. "Let me show you how much," she said.
"You do that," he said huskily and that was all the invitation she needed to dive down and show him just how deeply she was in love and lust with him.
****
The young couple took breakfast in bed the next morning, both of them exhausted from their activities of the night before. Draco was sending the trays away when an owl flew in and deposited a letter on his lap. He quirked an eyebrow before opening it. A pensive expression appeared on his face as he read it.
"What is it?" Hermione asked. She didn't think the look on his face bode well for them.
"It's from Mother," he replied. "She wants to see us for lunch today. She says that she has something very important to tell us."
"That sounds rather…ominous." Hermione shivered as she spoke. She doubted Narcissa Malfoy wanted to see them in order to impart good news.
"I think it sounds absolutely horrible myself. I just got you back, and now we have to go traipsing off to see my parents." Draco crossed his arms in a huff.
Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes at his antics. "Oh honestly! Insatiable doesn't begin to describe you."
"I'm a young, healthy wizard with needs, Hermione," he said reasonably. "And after months of not having those needs met"—Hermione snorted but he ignored her—"I think I'm entitled to make up for that lost time."
"But you keep wasting time," she noted with aspersion. "We could go another round, but you're too busy complaining. Oh well. Might as well get ready." She threw back the covers and started to get up, only to be drawn back to bed.
"Now, now. Don't be so hasty," Draco said. He looked down on her with laughing, grey eyes and smiled. "And you say I'm insatiable, but you're the one gagging for it."
Hermione rolled her eyes again. He was all talk, no action. They would never get started if she didn't do anything about it. With a smirk on her lips, she skillfully straddled her fiancé and took matters into her own hands.
****
Hermione's face was beginning to ache from pasting a smile on it for so long. Narcissa was being vindictive, she decided. It had been clear that Draco's mother was none too pleased when they showed up an hour late to lunch, and now she was taking her annoyance out on them. Instead of getting straight to the point and informing them just why she had seen it necessary to summon them to Malfoy Manor, she was going on and on about how her latest redecorating project was going.
It galled Hermione to admit it but Narcissa's ploy was working like a charm. She was growing increasingly aggravated by the second.
"And I told them that ghastly shade of puce simply wouldn't do. It was horrible, darlings. It clashed with everything. I simply do not know what came over Miang. Usually her taste is impeccable." Narcissa shuddered delicately. "So I've fallen further behind schedule. The way things are going I will be fortunate to have the east wing finished by this time next year."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Mother," said Draco consolingly. "I know you had hoped to wrap everything up before you started planning for the holidays."
That set Narcissa off on another rant. Hermione glared at Draco, her eyes flashing furiously at him for being so stupid as to bring that up. Draco mouthed a silent, "I'm sorry," to her but that did little to calm her nerves. Hermione took a sip of tea and then set her tea cup down with a loud clink, attracting Narcissa's attention to her.
"Hermione! Do be careful! That's a family heirloom, you know, and it's irreplaceable if chipped," Narcissa scolded her.
"My apologies," said Hermione with a smirk. "I didn't realize your family's heirlooms were so…." Hermione waved a hand, letting the older witch fill in the blank. The insult was clear. Narcissa inhaled sharply, looking absolutely livid with the other witch. Hermione's smirk only grew larger as she quite deliberately goaded the old hag on.
Draco coughed then in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Mother," he said, "I believe your owl mentioned that you had some news for us. Do you mind sharing with us what that is?"
Narcissa looked downright smug at her son's question, and Hermione knew she wasn't going to like what came out of the blonde witch's mouth next. "Thank you for reminding me, Draco," she said. She folded her hands together and smirked. "I had almost forgotten. I've been inundated with owls this past weekend from friends begging for an invitation to the wedding. I'm simply couldn't tell all of them no, and so I wound up giving in to the pleas from some of very dear friends of mine." The expression on Narcissa's face was nothing short of malicious. "Besides," she continued, "an extra fifty or so guests shouldn't create any problems, right?"
****
"I hate that evil bitch!" No longer having anything at hand to throw, Hermione settled for stamping her foot for emphasis. "She's lucky she's not dead. I could have killed her on the spot!"
"It's awful but a part of me thinks you should've," said Katie. "And when I say a part of me, I mean all of me really."
Immediately after she and Draco had taken their leave of the evil harridan he had for a mother, Hermione had stormed over to her friend's flat. Katie could tell right away that something had incited Hermione's temper and had taken her to the kitchen so she could vent. For a half hour of Hermione ranted about how much she hated her future mother-in-law while breaking a couple of old dishes on the floor before she had finally calmed down enough to tell Katie just what was wrong. That had led to Katie breaking a few dishes on her own. After the two witches' temper had finally settled down to a slow simmer, they cleaned up the kitchen with a few waves of their wands—with Hermione promising to replace the broken dishes—and had moved locations to Katie's living room.
Katie sighed from her place on the sofa. "I knew things were going too well," she mumbled. "Everything was coming together, and it looked like your wedding was to go off without a hitch…." She exhaled sharply. "But now this happened. And to think I had never expected Narcissa to make this move. She's ruining the wedding of her only son after all."
"Yes, well, did I mention that she's evil?"
"Repeatedly."
"Good. It bears repeating." Hermione threw herself on the armchair across from her friend. "I'm caught between anger that she could do something like this and sheer panic about how we're going to deal with this obstacle."
"The easiest way," said Katie slowly, "is to refuse them entry. They don't have genuine invitations. They're not on any sort of official list. Absent any instructions to the contrary, the Ricdeau Group won't allow them in."
Hermione grimaced. That thought had already occurred to her. Unfortunately she didn't think it was prudent to insult so many people like that. She had seen the list of new invitees, and all of them were people of some import in the Wizarding World. Narcissa had been very canny as to who she had extended the extra invitations to. Hermione might need help from some of those families in her future endeavors, and so she didn't want any of them holding a grudge against her. But she wasn't about to explain that to her old friend. There was no need to for there were other reasons to honor the new invitations.
"I thought about that," she admitted, "but there's a couple problems. One is that I don't want a riot on our hands. If security turns enough of them away at the same time, there just may be one."
"I don't really think that will happen, Hermione," Katie stated.
"Oh I admit it's not likely but it's still within the realm of possibility. More importantly, however, is that refusing them entry would be letting Narcissa win. I'd be admitting that I'm not as capable as her as planning a large event, even with a friend helping me." Hermione clenched her fists tightly.
"Again I don't think that's the case," Katie said. "Narcissa has thrown enough parties to know that accommodating such a large increase in guests at the last minute is all but impossible."
"Try getting her to admit that," Hermione shot back. "You know as well as I do she'll gloat."
Katie pulled a face. "True that. She'll be insufferable, won't she?"
Hermione nodded her head. "And I'll never hear the end of it," she added.
Katie took a deep breath. "Then I'll guess we'll just have to do things the hard way."
"Yes," said Hermione, "it's time to start making a list."
"That's just like you. Of course you want a list of everything we need to do," said Katie.
"Well that's one list."
"Oh dear. I don't think I like the sound of that."
"If Narcissa's adding fifty guests, then so am I," Hermione said grimly. "I'm not about to let her side of the room outnumber mine."
Katie looked at her critically for one long moment. "I should've seen that coming, I guess. You've always been on the competitive side. Oh well. Making room for one hundred new guests is probably just as difficult as making room for fifty—although I do expect a difference in price."
"Indeed," Hermione agreed, "but thankfully that's not something I have to worry about."
****
Peeved did not begin to describe how Draco felt about his mother at the moment. If anyone aside from his mother had pulled the stunt she did, he would have been livid with them. He had hardly seen Hermione over the last two days for she was too busy running around trying to accommodate his mother's surprise. He had manage to get a minute of her time to ask if she would prefer just to tell his mother no. Draco made it very clear that he thought she had crossed the line, and he wouldn't mind in the slightest if Hermione refused to add his mother's friends to the guest list.
Unfortunately Hermione had thought things out more than he and had promptly pointed out that they didn't really want to offend anyone whose assistance they might need at a later point. So it was that he was left to find another way to impress his mother with just how cross he was with her.
Draco allowed himself a small smirk. He knew just the thing. His mother hated losing at anything, and part of the reason why she remained so hostile towards Hermione was because she was afraid that she would lose her place as the most important woman in his life. There could be no better punishment for her than to let her know that she already had.
Making that point to his mother while in front of his father—well that would be just twisting the knife in. It was cruel, Draco knew, but he was that upset with his mother's shenanigans. It was for that purpose that he dropped by to take dinner with his parents at the manor Wednesday night.
"It's such a shame that Miss Granger was unable to join us," his father mentioned pleasantly shortly after they sat down at the dinner table.
"Yes," Draco agreed. His voice remained calm and even, betraying no hint of the anger he felt. "It is. Alas poor Hermione has her hands full dealing with the consequence of Mother's latest stunt."
"Excuse me?" his mother squawked.
Draco turned to glare at his mother, lifting up one eyebrow in disdain. "There's no need to pretend that you're innocent, Mother," he told her shortly. "Hermione and I realized what you were trying to do right away. And frankly I was very disappointed you decided to do your best to ruin our wedding."
"Ruin your wedding? Me?" His mother lifted her hands up gracefully. "Don't be absurd, Draco. Your fiancée did that all herself with the way she insisted it remain such a small gathering. What's more my friends have all been wondering whether or not we've lost our fortune due to Ministry fines. I simply tried to salvage the event one last time."
"More like savage," Draco retorted. "Adding so many new guests at the last minute is simply not done, Mother, and you've planned enough parties in your long lifetime to know that." She winced at the jab at her age, and he couldn't help but smirk. Now it was time to drive his point home.
"Perhaps I should have made this perfectly clear before. I hadn't thought it necessary, but it does appear that you're slow on the update in regards to this, Mother." Draco leaned forward in his seat. "Any attack on Hermione—in any form, by any person—any attack on her is just the same as an attack on me. If you wish to aggravate my wife, to mock her at every step, to make her life miserable whenever you're around, then you do the same to me. You did the same to me when you cast our wedding plans into chaos with this ill-conceived scheme of yours. And I am. Not. Pleased."
He waited a moment for his words to sink in. "Let me put this in a way I think you'll understand. If I ever have to make a choice between you and my wife, it will always be Hermione. Always. Even if she's in the wrong, I'll take her side over yours. So enough with your petty games and your power plays. If that's the way you want to be, then I'll have no recourse but to cut you out of my life. And don't doubt that I will."
She gasped in shock, utterly taken aback by his threat. Draco smiled grimly at his mother. "Needless to say, I'll be expecting you to send a formal apology to Hermione for your thoughtlessness. However, as you are my mother, I shan't expect the same for myself."
His mother adopted a pained expression, but Draco was unmoved. He knew that his mother was a master manipulator. Narcissa then looked to Lucius for support. Her husband met her eyes briefly before looking away, indicating that she was on her own in this. Finally she swallowed her pride and nodded her head, giving in to her son's demand.
****
Wearily Hermione trudged towards the bedroom after arriving home late once again. She was utterly exhausted, but at least the expanded wedding was finally coming together. The first thing she and Katie had done Tuesday morning was to meet with the events coordinator at Solaris. As Katie had surmised, the resort had experience with last minute changes and was easily able to accommodate the additional guests. Hermione was thankful that they had gone through Solaris to arrange for the catering for they were able to take care of that problem as well during their meeting. Afterwards they had trekked over to meet with the head of the Ricdeau Group, who was providing security for the wedding, to let him know about the changes. The good doctor had simply pushed his glasses back with one hand and then named his price. Hermione had readily agreed. Although the fee was almost doubling, it wouldn't put a dent in the Malfoy vaults.
As for finding another fifty people for Hermione to invite—that had been ridiculously easy. Hermione and Katie had poured over the owls Katie had received asking for a seat, and they had the new invitations sent out in the space of an hour.
That only left the decorations. Which turned out to be a much bigger problem than everything else because they had to find an additional source of flowers. Further complicating matters was the fact that they needed to find a vendor with the same type and color of flowers that the first was providing so that everything would go together the way they should. Hermione and Katie had spent all of Wednesday, making call after call to florists. However none of them had right mix of what was needed.
In the end, it was Ginny who had come up with a solution. Hermione and Katie had dropped by her shop Thursday afternoon for one last fitting before the wedding. They had related the problems they were facing to the sympathetic redhead, with Hermione throwing in several cutting remarks about the wicked witch of Wiltshire. Ginny had tilted her head and asked to see a sketch of what the decorations should look like. She had taken one look and suggested that instead of finding so much more of the same variety and color of flowers, they could throw in a couple additional colors into the mix. Ginny had proceeded to pull some swatches of fabric to demonstrate to the older witches how everything matched. Hermione was so happy that she could have kissed the younger witch.
After the fitting was done, Hermione and her friends had set out to talk with the original florist. It took some time and much culling through sample flowers. Ginny also had to come up with an alternate alternative color scheme. But late that same evening, the three witches left the florist with a sense of accomplishment. Together they had managed to deal with the awful surprise that Narcissa had dumped into Hermione's lap, and technically with a day to spare—although they really didn't have a day to spare for the rehearsal was scheduled for Friday. She sighed. Tomorrow would mark the first time her family would meet Draco's. At least the Malfoys would be on their best behavior, if the note she received from Narcissa this morning was to be believed.
Hermione pushed open the door. As she had expected, Draco was already fast asleep. She hadn't seen much of him in the past three days for she had simply been too busy. She smiled as she remembered how sweet he was in suggesting that they tell his mother it was too late to add anyone to the guest list. Though she hadn't said as much, for she had far too much on her mind at the time, she had really appreciated how he had taken her side rather than favoring his mother over her.
She yawned. She was dead tired. She looked longingly at the en suite. While it would do her good to take a nice refreshing bath, she would run the risk of falling asleep in the tub. So instead she settled for changing her clothes and then settling into bed beside her soon-to-be husband.
****
The morning of the wedding, Hermione woke up before Draco. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and then got out of bed and stretched. With a yawn, she eyed her fiancé and considered waking him up. She shook her head, deciding against it. Draco didn't have half as many things to do today as she did, and so he could afford to sleep in. Besides that would keep him out of trouble for at least a little while.
Hermione slipped on a pair of slippers and then made her way over to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. She stopped for a moment to peek out a window and check on the weather. She let out a small groan. There was a light drizzle, and the clouds above foreshadowed that there was more to come. Hermione had always planned to hold everything indoors because she knew she couldn't count on the weather. However the increased humidity would mean that her hair would take up more time. It was just as well that she had got up so early, she reflected to herself as she made her cup of coffee.
Hermione was munching on a piece of toast when Katie arrived. "I thought you'd be up," said her friend.
"Of course," said Hermione. "How could I sleep in knowing everything we have to do today? But we have a little bit of time to spare. Go on and have something to eat." She waved a hand at the table, and another place setting appeared.
"Thanks. I think I will." Katie grinned. "I need to keep up my energy and all."
"Exactly. That's why I'm eating breakfast in the first place, despite all the butterflies in my stomach."
"You nervous?" Katie raised a skeptical eyebrow at her friend. "You certainly don't look it."
"That's because I'm a brilliant actress." There was a pause, and then the two friends burst out into laughter. They continued teasing one another as they ate. But all too soon, breakfast was over, and they were dashing off to Solaris to start the final preparations for the wedding.
****
Draco admired himself in the mirror. He did look good, even if he had to say so himself seeing as there were no honest types at all in the room with him for they were all too jealous.
"I knew having a mirror in here was a bad idea. Hermione's going to through a fit when she finds that Malfoy here is because he couldn't tear himself away from his reflection," Potter muttered grumpily.
Draco rolled his eyes and turned to face his companions. Choosing his best man was easy. Theo was his oldest friend and all. However Hermione had insisted on them each having four attendants, one for each quarter, and so Draco had to find three other wizards to be at his side. Zabini had been his next choice, if for no other reason than to have a skilled duelist covering his back during the ceremony. However Hermione had decided to interfere after that and somehow managed to get him to add Potter as one of his groomsmen. Not wanting the Weasel to follow, Draco had quickly rounded out his side of the wedding party with a distant cousin on his father's side, Rufus Branford.
"Trust you, Potter, not to understand how important it is for a groom to look good on his wedding day," Draco sniped back.
"Oh. My bad. I thought that was the bride's job," Potter returned.
Draco rolled his eyes. "You really are a lost cause, aren't you? Yes everyone's eyes should be on Hermione. But if the groom is an idiot and is wearing his robes backwards or worse…well I hope even you can get the picture."
Potter opened his mouth for another retort, but Theo interceded between the two wizards. "Enough already," he said. "Be nice," he chided Potter. "I know Draco can be an annoying prat and all, but he's probably worried that his lovely bride will come to her senses and realize that she can do so much better than that!"
"Oi!" Draco protested, but his protests fell on deaf ears as the other wizards started exchanging supposedly amusing stories about him. Quite frankly Draco didn't see what they were all laughing at. He felt betrayed by his oldest friend. Theo was supposed to take his side and defend him against the aspersions Potter liked to cast on his character.
Suddenly the door swung open, and who of all people should stumble in but Weasley, looking uncomfortable in his formal dress robes. Draco rolled his eyes. He was beginning to wonder if there was some sort of conspiracy against him.
"Hey Harry," said Weasley as he struggled with the buttons on his sleeves. "Hermione needs you. She got into a little tiff with her dad and now he's refusing to walk her down the aisle. The girls are working on it, but Hermione stills wants to have you there as back up. I'm here to replace you if needed," he finished.
"What?" Draco exploded. "Are you joking? Potter's bad enough. I don't want you in my party."
"Trust me, Malfoy, I don't want to be here either. I offered to walk Hermione down the aisle myself but she just shook her head and said that you'd probably refuse her hand in marriage if I was the one offering it." He sighed and shook his head. "Silly girl never realized that was the entire point."
"Be nice, Ron," said Harry, unconsciously echoing Theo's words of moments before. "I'll go and see what I can do. Try not to get into too much trouble without me, okay? If it helps, imagine how peeved Hermione will be with you if you have a hand in ruining her wedding day." Weasley paled at that suggestion as Harry exited the room.
****
In the end, Hermione and her father came to terms at the last minute. She was set to walk down the aisle on her father's aisle once more, and Potter returned to take his place amongst the groomsmen, something for which Draco was eternally grateful. He wasn't fond of the other wizard, and he didn't think he would ever be. He could try to get along with him, however, seeing how Potter was one of Hermione's closest friends and all. The fact that Potter was held in great esteemed by the Wizarding World also helped.
The actual ceremony went off without a hitch. As Draco repeated his vows, he could feel the magic crystallizing around him, binding him to Hermione and ensuring he would keep his vows to her forever. From the look of wonder upon her face, he knew that she too could feel the ancient magic that they had invoked to tie their fates together. The priest pronounced them man and wife, and that was all the encouragement they needed to kiss. It was far too short in Draco's opinion—Weasley's face hadn't turned entirely red yet—but he wasn't about to start an argument with his wife this early into their marriage. He would wait until the evening at least when they were alone.
As one, they turned to face their guests. Hand in hand they walked backed down the aisle, with Draco bending down to whisper in Hermione's ear the words he had kept to himself for so long. Her face lit up with a brilliant smile, and he couldn't help but grin as well. Choosing her as his wife was the best decision he had ever made.
****
Much later that same evening, the young couple finally found themselves alone. Draco was sprawled out on their bed with Hermione comfortably tucked against his side, still attired in her wedding robes. He heard something that sounded suspiciously like a snore. Turning, he poked her elbow and said, "Don't tell me you're already asleep."
Her eyes fluttered open. "I'm not," she said. Then she yawned. "I'm just tired, that's all. The reception lasted forever."
"What do you mean lasted? I think it's still going on. With the way everyone's drinking, I don't think I want to see the bill."
Hermione nodded, then yawned again. "Speaking of the bill, the Muggle relations coordinator really deserves a bonus. She only diverted complete disaster a half dozen times this evening."
Draco snorted. "That we can blame on your guests, not mine. Mine know what not to say in front of Muggles. Too bad we can't say the same about the Weasleys."
She lifted up her head and swatted at him in annoyance. "You keep rubbing it in, and I'm leaving. It'll be separate rooms for the entire honeymoon if you're not careful."
"Oh we can't have that, now can we?" Before she knew what he was doing, Draco rolled over and pinned Hermione beneath him. "Now it's time for the celebration to really begin," he declared before pressing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.
This time Draco had no complaints at all about its length.
****
Author's note: And hopefully none of you readers have many complaints with the length of this chapter. My apologies for that—it is a bit of a beast, even with me cutting it down by a third. There was just so much to cover in this last chapter. Thanks for reading all of this! Can you believe this fic is about 500 pages in Word? So much thanks to all you readers out there who have slogged through to this point.
As always, reviews would be very much appreciated. My thanks to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter: crimsoneyes44, Bauerbaby24, Kandygurl4, Ceralyn, JenJen10143, waffenmac, mkhtl, MamaJMarie, gitgit, Kae-Lae, alina290, mlui, Reshmi Solaris, and Ishtart. When you're trying to finish a long fic like this one, reviews help so much when it comes to keeping up your motivation. So really I can't say thanks enough to you all. :D
Finally the epilogue should be up some time next week or so. This chapter really ends the plot and action for this fic. The epilogue is just about where the characters are three months from now. But still I hope you'll enjoy it. :)