Draco looked up the stairway when he heard a rustling of material. At the top of the stairs stood Hermonie. She began to descend the stairs with Draco and Narcissa staring at her every step.
"Hermione you look divine." Narcissa said. "Madam Hostoff has outdone herself. I must get some pictures to send to her." Narcissa called for Benny and told him to bring the camera.
Draco walked all the way around her taking in every inch of the dress. It fit like a glove and gave her womanly figure definition in all the right places. The dragon wove itself around her body, holding her in it's claws. The entire back of the dress was the dragon. One claw was resting on her left shoulder and the other claw was resting posessively on her right hip. The dragon head was resting over her right shoulder and breast and it's snout was nestled at the base of her breasts. The tail wrapped protectively around her along the bottom of the dress.
The lace was finely woven into the fabric of the dress and was lined with a nude fabric. It had the illusion of being able to see her skin under the lace.
"I'm glad there is material under the lace. Otherwise I would have to be fighting the other men off tonight." Draco said with a smile.
Narcissa came back into the room with a pair of teardrop earrings for Hermione.
"I know the dress is stunning by itself, but I think these peridot earrings will just be the finishing touch. I would love you to have them, they are my birthstone." Narcissa said.
The clear kelly green colored stones matched the color of the dragon lace perfectly. After she put them on, she leaned over and kissed Narcissa gently on the cheek. "Thank you, they are perfect." she finished.
"Well let us get going, so we are not too late." Draco said moving both of the women to the floo.. This was the signal the house elves needed. They began to collect everything and popped over to the banquet hall.
Walking into the ballroom, Darco held Hermione on his left arm and Narcissa on his right arm. There were over two hundred witches and wizards in attendance already, with more arriving every minute.
After greeting several different diplomats, ambassadors and politicians, they moved to their table at the front of the hall. Draco had sat Hermione, so she was facing the stage. She did not realize all of the people coming into the ballroom that she knew. He did not want her wondering why several of them were there for this event.
Erik had apperated to the Granger's home and knocked on the door. Alexander Granger opened the door and welcomed him into their home.
"Are you ready to go and see your daughter get honored by all of the wizarding world?" Erik asked. Helen was walking down the stairs in a chiffon seafoam green gown.
"I am so excited. This is such an honor for her and all of the people she has been working with." Helen said.
Erik and the Granger's arrived in the foyer of the banquet hall. Draco was waiting for them and explained what he had planned for the evening. Both were taken by surprise at the events planned for the evening and promised that they would stay with Erik and Lisa, so Hermione would not see them yet.
When the majority of the guests were seated, Kingsley Shacklebolt stood and began to address the crowd.
"Welcome, welcome to all of my fellow witches and wizards. Tonight we are gathered for a very momentous occasion. We are celebrating the success of the long and diligent work of the Schamder Research Foundation. Please join me in appreciation for all of the work, devotion and love that they have put into saving our magic. Now let us hear from Newt Scamander, the founder of this prestigious foundation. KInglsey finished and welcome Newt to the podium,
Newt stepped up to the podium, accompanied by his wife, Tina.
"Tonight is a great night to celebrate. Not only the success of our research and work, but of the opening of the newest dragon reserve right here in Wales." he said.
Waving his wand brought up the images of the different reserves around the world. Also images of smaller revitalization efforts.
"Here we see an individual that most all of you know, Rubus Hagrid. Mr. Hagrid has well established herds of Acromantula, Hippogriffs, Unicorns and Thestrals. He has documented proof of an increase in each of these herds of at least twenty five percent. " he flicked his wand again.
"Here we have Xin Yung of Kathmandu, who has the largest reserve for Demiguise. He has reported the birth of seventeen new babies in the last six months." he stated proudley.
Applause rang out in the hall. When the applause calmed down, Newt flicked his wand again. This image was of the new dragon reserve in Wales.
"Now I would like to call Ms. Hermione Granger to the podium. While she comes forward, I want to personally thank Hermione. Hermione joined us seven years ago, while she was working on her Mastery. Hermione volunteered to work on the mapping and research of the cause of the decrease in magic. She was the determining factor to solve this issue. Without wasting any more time I welcome Hermione Jean Granger" Newt said as he was applauding.
Newt stood at the podium with Hermione as Kinglsey approached her.
"Hermione as a token of the magical worlds appreciation for your hard work we would like to present you with the Order of Merlin, First Class. Without you we just might cease to exist." Kingsley said in a dignified voice.
Hermione approached him and bent her head down, so he could place the metal around her neck.
"This does not mean that we are in the clear. At this time we must continue to work on increasing the wizarding population to an acceptable level. As much as I don't want to express my feelings right now, I am going to. My fellow witches and wizards our population numbers do not increase, we may be forced to bring about an old law of mandated marriages. " Kingsley finished and Hermione approached the podium.
Hermione approached the podium and cleared her throat. "Thank you Minister Shacklebolt for this great honor." she said lifting the medal around her neck. "And for that frightening piece of information regarding mandated mariages."
"I am here to give you more exciting information about the new dragon reserve in Wales and to announce the new director of the reserve." she said stepping to the side of the podium, she lifted her arms and twirled around.
"Do you like my dragon?" she asked laughing. The crowd cheered her loudly. " I believe Madam Hostoff has outdone any other dress she has ever created before."
Waiting for the applause to died down, she twirled again on the other side of the stage.
"Well I am not here to give you a fashion show, but to announce the individual who will be the director at our newest dragon reserve in Wales. Without further delay, I would like to welcome Draco Abraxus Malfioy to the stage." she said as she clapped.
Draco stood up from the table and bent over to kiss his mother on the cheek. Then he walked up onto the stage. Newt and Kingsley shook his hand, while Hermione hugged him.
Clearing his throat Draco stated. " I want to thank everyone for this honor. Working with dragons has been interesting and dangerous at times. There was never a dull moment. I am excited to have a reserve here in the UK, finally. Unfortunately at this time due to other more pressing obligations, I must decline."
