A/N: Sorry everyone for the delayed update. Been working on my family tree and have been getting really far back into it. Am back to the mid-1800's which is really cool. Was wondering, what are some of my readers favorite shippings?
Within two weeks, Hermione had made it home from St. Mungo's. It was a strenuous labor, taking a lot out of her and had left her with a loss of blood which the Healers said magic couldn't fix, only time. Draco took her on slow walks around St. Mungo's, allowing her to rebuild up her strength and making sure to keep her away from the Psychiatric Ward as to not see his father. She was still persistent on the wedding not being moved back, a week after Perseus' due date, December 8th. Draco had warned her that it would be cold, trying to put up an argument to get Hermione to heal more first but she insisted.
Now, here she stood in a sleek white dress in front of the full-length mirror in Narcissa's room. The dress was a spaghetti strap, a low cut dress that showed off Hermione's toned arms. Being of white silk, it draped over a little bit in the front, hiding her self-conscious baby bump that she still held from carrying Perseus and draped down to her feet, cutting at an angle going from her right knee across to her left ankle.
"You look beautiful." Narcissa whispers, entering the room. Reaching up behind Hermione, she puts a necklace around her neck, rows of two diamonds on either side that met in the middle and went down, forming a straight line. "This was the necklace Lucius gave me at our wedding."
Hermione bit her bottom lip as she looked at herself in the mirror, the way her hair waved perfectly around her face, the frizz having died down from the muggle Mouse her mother had used when she was a child to die down her own hair. She couldn't hold it back any longer, she had to ask. "How did you and Lucius come to be?" Hermione mummers quietly, looking at Narcissa through the mirror.
Narcissa looked down at Hermione's neck where she had latched the necklace, a distant look in her eyes. "It was arranged Hermione. Whenever it comes to pureblood families like ours, it isn't about love or passion. It is about keeping the bloodline pure. Repaying debts."
"What do you mean repaying debts?" Hermione asks, knowing she had already gone too far.
"I don't know the details of it." Narcissa answers, still not making eye contact with Hermione as she explained. "I wasn't meant to. I was a lady, and much like now with Lucius, it wasn't my place to ask about such affairs. I remember that it was a dark, stormy night." She begins, looking off into the distance as she explains the story, reliving it herself. "Father was sitting in front of the fire and our home wasn't anything like this one Lucius brought me into. It was more like my cousin Sirius' place, small and compact with too many rooms for the building we lived in. Mother had the same family tree on her wall, I remember watching as her and Father burnt Andromeda's picture off of it. The house was nice though, it was home to say the least but it was nothing like the Manor. Abraxas, that was Lucius' father, and Lucius showed up at the house. Lucius was disgusted with the way we lived, being a man who had grown up in the Manor here. He was handsome then," She says with pride, "Younger with a stern face that told everyone he was ready for business. They had shown up together, telling my father they were tired of waiting, that he had a debt he needed to pay. My father couldn't provide them with the money they wanted for whatever the debt was, the Malfoys had plenty of that so-"
"So he offered them his daughter?" Hermione asks in concern.
"Yes, Father said he may have something else that would interest them. He looked at Lucius, who was only twenty-one at the time and said he was of the age to wed. Lucius was disgusted, thinking that my father was talking about Bellatrix. He told him he wasn't interested in Bellatrix, that she was too 'unmanageable' for his needs. Andromeda was already wed and disowned, a blood traitor as my parents had called her and with me being the quiet one, I was often times overlooked as Lucius had."
"So then what happened?" Hermione asked, intrigued in the story Narcissa was telling.
"My father told him he had another daughter, a more manageable daughter that would suit Lucius' needs greatly. He called for me and I came, as the well behaved daughter I was. I remember that I was wearing a green dress, one my Mother had bought me saying I was her Slytherin Pride. That's what Cissy was back then, was the prime example of what a Slytherin woman was supposed to be. I had taken Lucius aback." She says with pride in her voice. "He tried to cover up the fact that he was impressed, asking why he would want to marry a Black. Father knew this was our only chance at improving the Black name after what Sirius and Andromeda had done, so he told him I was all he had to offer, thinking that at least that way, I was moving up in the world if he wasn't."
"And they agreed?" Hermione asked, already knowing the answer. Of course they had agreed, Narcissa had become a Malfoy and given birth to the man Hermione was now marrying.
"Yes, it took some persuasion on my father's part but Abraxas knew my father was right, that it was time Lucius wed and carried on the family name as his own. So, it was set up for the middle of June. My father kept me locked away in the house until then to insure my purity for me and Lucius' wedding night. It would have been a deal-breaker if I wasn't pure, Father would have still owed Abraxas the debt."
Hermione nodded understanding.
"Once we were married, it was my duties to provide him with a clean house, a son to carry on the Malfoy name. That is what I did. Father knew I was marrying a Death Eater and although he wasn't thrilled at the thought, it was the only thing he had to offer at the time that the Malfoys would accept. I have grown to love Lucius over the years, to be thankful that he has taken such good care of me. Better care than what Theodore's father took care of his mother."
Hermione nodded again. "Do you think that is why Draco is marrying me?" She asks softly, "Is because of the baby? To carry on the Malfoy name and provide a home for his son?"
Narcissa sat there and thought about it for a moment before answering. "Draco was to wed the Parkinson girl, another prearranged marriage we had set up from the moment they were children. He was to marry into her family and take care of her the way Lucius took care of me. It didn't work that way, however. Draco never had a liking for the Parkinson girl and she was just doing as she was asked. Whenever Draco looks at you, it's more than just him wanting to take care of you. He loves you already Hermione, even I can see that."
