Chapter 52: The Beginning

Draco opened his eyes, feeling a little groggy. He never slept well the first few nights in a new place. Hermione was already out of bed. He sat up, looking around her childhood room with a smirk. Bookcases covered every wall, and she had charmed more to the ceiling. It was a little charming, some of the curious similarities between them.

It was Christmas Day. He had her back for almost a full year now. Snow was covering the windowsill, and still falling from the sky. He had wanted to take a midnight flight in it last night, but Hermione had explained that Muggles really wouldn't understand that. They had gone on a stroll, arm in arm instead. It had been beautiful, he had to admit, he did like being able to see her face light up as they walked and talked. There were so many rules to act like a Muggle. It was harder than the thought it would be. Especially not using his wand in public! Hermione had taken it away from him at one point while traveling, and only given it back when they were safely inside her parents home. He had argued with her about traveling the Muggle way, and he was almost sure she wouldn't make him do it again… but her little smile made him concerned.

They had managed to bring her parents mostly back by August. They still had some chunks of time missing, and they would likely never get them back at this point… but it was enough for them to know Hermione was their daughter, she was a witch, they loved her with all their hearts, and they were homesick. They had returned home as Wendell and Monica Granger. Their old names were lost to them forever. Hermione was a damn powerful witch.

Hermione and Draco both were working now as private researchers. They traveled a lot together, and worked on many different projects. He focused a lot more on healing projects while Hermione focused more on welfare rights for non-wizard magical creatures. Sometimes they worked together. It was fascinating, and it was never ending. This holiday was a bit of a relief.

He showered, magiced his teeth clean, changed, and made his way downstairs. Hermione and her mother were sitting side by side on the couch, both curled up with a cup of something hot, a blanket over their shoulders, intently reading. They were almost done with A Christmas Carol. Her mother was a beautiful Muggle with long, straight, dark hair and soft green eyes. Perfect teeth. Draco walked in the kitchen to see the man sitting there with his kiss the cook apron on, setting two more cups down on the table in front of him. A wakkle- no, waffle maker and batter were ready to go behind him. He was amazed at how much Muggles could do without magic. Her father had graying brown hair with hints of curls, and Hermione's deep brown eyes were definitely from him.

Wendell pushed a mug to Draco as he sat down, smiling at him. "Are you ready for this, Draco?"

He couldn't take the mug. His nerves were a little shaken. He hadn't expected them to be so close to the end of the book this early in the morning. "Not even close."

Draco pulled two rings from his pocket and set them on the table. One had belonged to Narcissa. The other had belonged to Lucius.

Her Father chuckled, sipping at his mug and examining the rings. His smile faded a little. "Y'know, I am really sorry we can't meet your folks. They must have been decent people."

Lucius might have tried to kill Draco for falling in love with a Muggle-born. Narcissa would have stopped him. She would've tried her best to understand and make it work. Their rings had eventually found their way to him. They had to, they were heirlooms after all. Draco had them both carefully examined by a cursebreaker to make certain they would do no harm to a Blood Traitor and Mudblood. Centuries of Malfoy's had worn these rings. It seemed blood status meant nothing in this case. Again, arrogance had caused the creators not to have any doubts over their future bloodlines. The rings did contain several powerful, ancient enchantments. The cursebreaker hadn't been able to discover what they were, but he knew enough to say they were blessings, not curses.

Draco had asked her Father for his blessing on their union the first night they had arrived. Wendell had told Draco he had it, but that it wasn't his he needed. Draco hadn't expected to ask her Mother. Monica had given him the most critical, calculating, Granger-ish stare down he had ever known. She wanted to know why. He said it was because he loved her daughter. That hadn't been good enough for the Muggle. She refused to give him her blessing. Monica demanded more from him. Draco was amused. So, this was where her stubbornness came from, then? Her father was likely a Hufflepuff. Her mother was a Gryffindor of McGonagall's caliber.

With that, Draco had put his hand on hers, made direct eye contact, and shown her the memory of Hermione being taken away from him, when his mother had died, and then the gut wrenching night Hermione had come back to him.

Monica had stared. A single tear had slipped from her eye and she had given her blessing. Then, wiping the tear away, she had asked Draco when and how he would propose. He told her about his family's rings, but confessed he hadn't figured out when or how. So, Monica told him it would be Christmas Day, and what he would be doing to make it happen.

He still wasn't sure this was okay. It was so sudden. Hermione had no idea he had been thinking about this. There was a nagging fear she would say she wasn't ready. He had planned to wait a few months, drop little hints, gauge her reaction, find out how she wanted a proposal to go… but Monica had refused that idea. She told him he would be writing his proposal at the back cover of that book, and then he'd wait.

Merlin, he hated waiting.

"Drink some tea, boy, it'll help."

Draco obeyed, taking a few sips and closing his eyes, inhaling the scent of the tea. He could see his words, penned there, waiting for her.

Hermione,

The first night I fell asleep at Hogwarts, the sorting hat came to me in my dreams. I think it goes to every Slytherin. I only ever heard whispers. Nobody ever wanted to talk about it. I'm pretty sure it wants to say it at the feast, but we get sorted the fastest because it feels like we're about to die when we sit up there in front of the school. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Everyone sorted into Slytherin looks grumpy or cool as a cucumber. Nobody wants to admit they're that afraid. Believe me it takes all the strength we have not to start screaming. Anyway, in the dream, that hat gives us a warning.

"Welcome young Slytherin, to your home away from home.

Take shelter here and never fear beneath this water dome.

I greet you true with warning blue, and caution you to hear.

Protect your mind: but guard your heart, for it's a fool, I fear.

Pure of blood, Salazar took, but also pure of heart.

It means that you will never do true love in bits or parts.

Slytherin do not sometimes love, or sometimes need, now hear:

Your heart's a fool and it will choose an Always to keep near."

Hermione… come see me in the kitchen. I have a question for you.

Always,

Draco

A few minutes later… hell, it could've been been hours, he heard a gasp and then the sound of a mug as it shattered in the living room. Draco jumped and dropped his own mug to the floor, echoing the crash. He cursed softly, drawing out his wand to quickly repair the mug and push it away from his fingers.

Then she was standing there, in the kitchen doorway, looking surprised, staring at him, and at the rings on the table, eyes full of tears. She swallowed hard, her voice soft and steady. "You… said you had a question?"

Merlin, he wasn't ready. He took both the rings in his hands, standing, walking to her, taking her by the hands and sitting her in a chair. He opened his palm to her as he knelt in front of her. "I want to know… if you'll wear this with me…" he swallowed. "Hermione, I don't just want you to be my witch… I want you to be my wife."

Damn it, that wasn't a question. He had rehearsed this, practiced it over and over and over, and he still botched the thing. Hermione took his face in both hands and kissed him. She was crying. He hoped that meant yes. Then she was nodding, kissing him again, laughing and crying at the same time. "I want to be your wife, Draco."

He kissed her back and pulled away slowly. He felt breathless as this magic took over. Silver sparks came from his hand and gold sparks came from hers as their left hands rose in the air without their control. The rings rose from his palm, settled on their fingers. Hers flashed a soft red, his flashed a soft green as the rings automatically changed sizes to fit them. Their arms clasped tightly, as an unbreakable vow, and the colors spiraled from their own arms, to each other's. Green and silver wove all the way up her arm, to her heart. Red and gold wove all the way up to his. A shower of red, green, silver and gold glitter exploded around them as they both leaned forward and kissed again. Their arms released as the magic pulsed around them, but neither let go. It was done. Their magical cores were bound now.

Hermione laughed again. She threw her arms around him. Draco held her to him tightly, standing, burying his face into her hair. "I love you, Draco." she whispered as she clung to him.

He put her down gently, taking her chin and kissing her softly on the lips, "I love you, always, Hermione..."

Draco suddenly remembered there were other people in the room. Her parents. That made this a million times better. He smiled, "I think you're going to want to see this," he muttered, lightly nuzzling her nose. Hermione turned around quickly in his arms, keeping his hands wrapped around her body. Wendell had tears streaming down his face as he smiled at them. Monica was standing behind him, composed, a hand gently resting on his shoulder, and a soft expression was on her face. "That was a beautiful bit of magic to see… congratulations, sweetheart!"

Wendell couldn't speak, or stop crying. He leaned forward, holding his face in a hand, shaking his head at the table with that smile. Draco let go of his witch. By magical law now she was his wife, but she might not understand that until after the wedding. That was okay. Hermione and her mother embraced tightly. Wendell took his hand and shook it firmly. Then, Hermione and her Father had embraced, and dissolved into a puddle of tears together on the floor. Monica put her arms around him and gave him a squeeze. "Welcome to our family, Draco…"

Monica paused suddenly as she looked over his shoulder. She whispered to him very quietly, urgently. "Draco…"

He turned around quickly, looking through the front window. There was the faintest image of Lucius and Narcissa standing there, flickering in the snow, bundled for the cold. His father was frowning, but he rolled his eyes when he realized Draco saw him. The man sighed heavily as he forced himself to smirk and gave a patient nod. Narcissa had tears rolling down her beautiful face, and she was smiling, beaming, nodding at him wordlessly. Her mouth moved. Lucius put an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her to his side. He could almost hear her voice, one last time. ...Love you, darling…

Draco blinked and they were gone. So, that was how it was with Muggles, was it? Some of them must have had just enough magic to wake it up in their children. He realized a single tear had slid down his face. Monica's hand rose and she brushed it wordlessly away, a knowing look on her face now. She gave him a small, secret smile, and he raised a hand, brushing the single tear away from her face as well.

"Breakfast," Wendell managed to rise from the floor with his daughter. They were both crying. "Everybody get in here today, I can't be trusted with this blasted machine alone."

Christmas Day was very different this year. They spent most of the day here, then took Hermione's parents with them to the Burrow, absolutely jam packed with guests. There, everyone had flipped out of their minds to see rings on their hands. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing, clutching Hermione to her just as hard as she had Ginny, and then repeating that same emotional hug to Draco. Molly and Monica sat down almost immediately to start planning the wedding. They were going to be disappointed when his plan blew theirs out of the water. He summoned a binder with the wedding plan and placed it down between the witches before they got too far. Both women paused, flipped it open, then stared at it, leaning forward on the table, flipping pages quickly, taking turns to stare at him, then back to the book, then back to him, then back to the book.

"Dear Lord," Monica whispered in surprise, "When did you do this? You've really planned all this yourself? How?"

"I'm a Malfoy," he explained with a shrug, feeling wonderfully full of himself. "You ladies have an appointment with Ginny to find Hermione's dress, and your dresses tomorrow. It's all been arranged. We'll be married at midnight on New Years." Malfoys were always married at midnight on New Years. There was strong magic in the end and in the beginning. "George has volunteered to perform the ceremony. You tell me what else you want… and it's done." He smirked at the witches as he went to join George for some Firewhiskey. "Let me know if you think I missed anything."

Draco had a feeling that his dreams were safe from nightmares now, with this ring on his hand. He didn't know how he knew, but he trusted the magic he felt. He also somehow knew that he would never be able to lie to her again. That was interesting. He'd been working on that on his own, but it appeared there was a blessing in place to make sure he had no other choice. There were other blessings that he couldn't decipher yet. They'd have to activate someday to understand.

Midnight came and Draco's heart pounded a little bit as he convinced Hermione to take a flight over the fields of snow. They found their way back to that cluster of trees, covered in snow, where they had drank the firewhiskey, where Ginny had told him about her wand, where they had first laid together in a hammock. He enchanted the hammock back, with the glowing balls of light. They lay there, surrounded by another enchantment to be warm, and he summoned one final box to his fingertips, handing it to her silently. She opened it carefully and gasped. A silver necklace he knew well glittered softly in the dim light, three emerald jewels sparkling.

"Hermione… this belonged to my mother," Draco muttered softly as he kissed her forehead. "I'd be very grateful... if you wore it on our wedding day. I know green isn't your color, but-"

She softly closed the case, sat up and kissed him to shut him up, resting her forehead against his, she nodded. "We still have to pick a day."

"Done." Draco smiled, "We don't have to do anything right now. It's all done."

"What?" she pulled away, looking confused, and amused. "Oh yeah? We don't, now, do we? Are you using the royal we, husband?"

Draco held his breath for a moment and then smiled a little apologetically at her. She was a tiny bit irritated, he could tell… but it was all done. It was all ready. She didn't need to do a damn thing, and he kind of liked spoiling her this way. But, he hadn't considered she would want to plan it with him. It wasn't done that way in the Malfoy family. She had a lot to learn about the good traditions in his house.

"Sorry, wife," he muttered with a smile, "Well no, I'm not sorry at all, actually…" Damn that enchantment. "Everything's already done. Midnight. New Years. The Mothers are looking at the plans now. You can take the book home with you and read it tonight." She gave him a playfully irritated look. He reached a hand to her face to pull her down for another kiss, eyes glittering in amusement, "We can plan the honeymoon together, though."

Author Note 6/2/2019

Oh. My. God. This has been a ride. If you make it here, thank you for reading/following/favoriting/reviewing! I've tried to respond to reviewers as I've gone along. I told someone in a message that this story felt like breathing. It's been a very long time since I've written this way. I would wake up at weird hours with an idea, and not be able to sleep until it was down. What a fun experience this has been!

I will be going through this to find all my typos, tense errors and grammatical mistakes. You will see updated chapters as I go through to find those things. Feel free to PM me if you see something. I have a tendency to mix up letters frequently: saw instead of was, tis instead of sit. Or, completely leave out a word that I see when I read, but isn't actually there.

I will also be updating this to archive of our own when my corrections are complete. It will be the same username, lotusinthedark. And same story name, Phoenix Flames… but there will be a few more adult chapters later!

I would love to hear what you thought about this story. Please leave a review, share it with friends, or PM me :)

I never know where to put this, so the end sounds like a good place. I do not own any of these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. I love them all dearly! It has been a pleasure to write for all the different personalities. I hope I'll get hit upside the head with another idea soon.

P.S. Guess my House! Just a hint, it ain't Hufflepuff.