Waiting for Lucius, she tried her best not to walk in circles like a caged animal. She was nervous. Every few moments she checked the time only to realize that she was a little early for their date. Luckily for her, Lucius arrived only a couple of minutes after her.

"I knew you would be early," he said smiling.

Feeling his hand on her waist, he kissed both her cheeks. Hermione felt her skin burn where his lips had brushed over. His hand never left her waist, as he guided her to the restaurant. She was having difficulties walking over the bouldering. He walked slowly, matching her speed.

The floor was covered with white marble. Hermione tried her best not to make too much noise walking from the entrance to their table, but the clicking sounds of her high heels echoed through the room. Holding her head high, she wanted to look at least confident.

A huge chandelier throned in the middle of the room. Hermione had never seen one quite that enormous. The individual crystals reflected the light beautifully. The few tables were secluded in alcoves on the sides of the octagon-shaped room.

Despite the relative privacy, she felt people staring at them. Hermione tried her best to ignore it. She had known what to expect when she decided to go out with Lucius Malfoy, but it was still uncomfortable.

The table was covered with a white table cloth and a huge bouquet of red roses shielded them form views. Due to the unconventional shape of the room, a mumbling was audible. She couldn't understand what the other patrons were saying, it was more like a humming in the background.

As the le Marmonnement had only seven tables, there was no a la carte service. The individual courses simply appeared on by one in front of them. Hermione was fascinated she had never been at a wizarding restaurant in that price range.

Lucius mustered her. His gaze wandered slowly from her face down. Under his scrutiny, Hermione became fully aware of her cleavage. As his eyes were fixed on the lace from her bra that lurked through, she hoped he liked the view.

"Seems like you found the perfect outfit," he said withdrawing a box from his robes. "I have something for you."

Hermione opened it. Iside was a sizable brilliant-cut diamond. A hole was drilled through it. The perfectly white stone hung on a delicate platinum chain. Lucius put it around her neck. She let out a moan as his warm hands brushed over her sensitive skin. The diamond came to rest between her collarbones, rolling from side to side a little whenever she moved.

"My mom and the Weasleys have taken the news well," Hermione said, cutting her vegetables.

"Draco is still coming to terms with the situation. I think he needs more time."

With filled stomachs, they nibbled on the wine. Hermione placed her small hand on his knee. It slowly moved up, getting closer and closer to his crotch.

He placed his big hand over hers. "We still have to eat our desserts."

"Can't we skip it and go straight home?"

Lucius chuckled.

Two plates with mousse au Chocolat appeared on the table. Luckily the portion size was rather small which meant they could return early.

The next morning, Hermione was unwilling to get out of bed. She even considered owling sick. Knowing that she can't miss work when all of her colleagues have seen a picture of her date with Lucius. She reluctantly got up.

She arrived at the table in a similarly grumpy mood as Draco.

"I thought you are a morning person. Shouldn't you be awake for a couple of hours already?" Draco asked.

"I am."

"Doing what exactly?"

She looked at her former classmate with a raised brow.

"Oh, never mind."

Lucius joined them with the Prophet under his arm.

"And? What's the damage?" Hermione asked.

He showed her the headline. Blooming Love Between Mortal Enemies. A picture of them walking through Diagon Alley was beneath the headline. His arm was on her waist.

"It could have been much worse. I mean, this is rather tame," Hermione said surprised. "Who did you bribe?"

"Mr. McLaggen owed me a favor. Just imagine Ms. Skeeter would have written the article," Lucius said.

Hermione scanned over the page. Words like 'hope' jumped into her eyes. She was relieved to receive positive media coverage for once.

Arriving at the Ministry, Hermione felt watched. She passed the fountain in the entrance and entered the lift. The other witches and wizards in the small contraption stared at her but no one said anything to her.

At her own department, she found that her colleagues weren't as shy. Standing in the middle of their break room she was bombarded with questions.

"Yes, Lucius and I are together. The necklace was a gift from him. We've grown closer over the past year. My family is very supportive and no, I will not answer questions about my sex-life."

Once the initial excitement had passed, they all returned to their tasks. It would have been an uneventful morning hadn't officials from other departments dropped by. Rowland from Law Enforcement claimed that the victim of the handbag theft was a werewolf and therefore they needed to work on this case together.

"No, Mr. Rowland, the law states clearly that werewolves are normal people unless there was an incident during full moon," Hermione said.

By lunch, they had heard an astonishing amount of excuses. Sometimes Hermione wondered if people knew that they were supposed to work and not paid to gossip.

The following weeks were almost entirely spent at Malfoy Manor. Hermione moved her clothes to his room because she couldn't see herself sleeping in the library any longer. Ironically, she fell asleep there the very next day after burring her nose in an Arithmancy textbook.

Lucius found her there, coming home late from a business meeting. Although Draco still didn't like the idea of the two of them together, he didn't complain too much. He was probably relieved that they were still friends.

Hermione was lying in his strong arms. Lucius toyed with the strands of her bushy hair. Still sleepy she looked up at him. His lips brushed over hers before he kissed her.

"You're gross! I wish I had never seen that. Argh!" Draco stormed out of the room.

Hermione giggled.

Lucius sighed. "For 20 years, I've been trying to teach him to knock before entering a room."

"We could just go to bed," Hermione suggested, biting her lip.

"I think, I would like that very much," he purred.

Hermione's plans for the weekend consisted of reading and spending the rest of the time in bed. After work, the first thing she did was taking a long bath. It was her hour of solitude and not overthinking.

Leaving the huge tub, she felt fresh and energetic. She threw a knee-long nightgown over and went looking for Lucius. Finding him in the parlor, sitting on the leather couch with a glass of Firewhiskey.

She sat down next to him. Keeping a bit of a distance, not wanting to disturb him she looked at him. "Is the business alright?"

"Mm?"

"You look worried." Hermione reached out for him.

He didn't say anything.

Now Hermione was worried.

"I have something for you," Lucius said after a long pause.

He handed her a wooden box. She looked at it not knowing what to do with it. Exploring it she realized that some of the wooden parts were moving. That caught her interest. Hermione moved the parts of the box trying to open it. She was curious about what awaited her inside. Layer by layer she got closer to an answer. Her hands got unsteady as she became more and more impatient as the end was near.

Solving the puzzle box was one thing, but she just couldn't figure out what Lucius could want to give her and why it was in a box like that. The older wizard watched her throughout, making her even more nervous. For a brief moment, she was wondering if he was leaving her, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

They loved each other and her insecurities aren't going to mess with that. She wouldn't allow it. Her big brown eyes sparkled. She got it. Knowing exactly how to move the individual parts, her hands had a hard time keeping up with her mind. Pure joy took over her as the box finally opened. Happy that she had solved it she almost forgot to check what was inside.

She found a thin golden ring with a brown stone. At first, Hermione didn't know what to think of it. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry although a little understated for Malfoy tastes.

"Oh," she exhaled.

Her face turned bright red. Knowing that Lucius was still watching her, she wanted to hide. She couldn't believe that it had taken her that long to understand the meaning of a solitaire ring. She retrieved it from the box. Studying the unique stone she almost got lost in it. She had no idea what stone it was but knowing Lucius she could tell that it was very rare and probably expensive.

Playing with the ring in her hand she didn't know what to say. They haven't been together for long. Normally people would date for a while before making a commitment. But they didn't exactly rush into this relationship. She trusted him. A voice in her head kept reminding her, she loved him. They were happy. A life without Lucius was unthinkable for her.

No more waiting. Be a Gryffindor, she told herself. Hermione took a deep breath.

"Yes," she said. Her voice was almost a whisper.

Lucius blinked a couple of times.

"Yes, I want to marry you," she said with tears in her eyes. Jumping up at him she hugged him tightly. She kissed him with need.

Lucius didn't move. It took him a while to process what just happened. He was startled. Did she just agree to be his wife?

"How about Wednesday?" Hermione asked.

"Excuse me," he had a hard time following her.

"We need to drop by my parents this weekend, I have a meeting on Monday, my report is due on Wednesday, I'll turn it in on Tuesday evening. That makes Wednesday the perfect day to get married."

Lucius swallowed hard. "That is early."

"You don't want to…" Hermione said, trailing off. She didn't want to sound disappointed.

Lucius sighed. "It is not that I do not want to, it just might take me a little longer to sort through the necessary documents."

"I see… We still need to tell my parents though."

"You are not disappointed?"

"Not at all," Hermione said cuddling up to him.

She placed the ring into his big hand. "You still have to put it on my finger."