2
A week had passed since her last date with Draco. In that time Hermione had made no progress on her Cruciatus potion. So instead of banging her head against a wall, Hermione set out to thoroughly go throw her notes, transcribe them and study every ingredient that she was using and every ingredient she had attempted to use. Friday afternoon, after she had returned from lunch Hermione found a note from Draco on her desk
Hermione,
It would mean a great deal to me if you would accompany me to Malfoy Manor this evening to have dinner with my parents. I await your owl.
Yours, Draco
Hermione gulped but before she lost her nerve penned a letter to her boyfriend (could she call him that?) accepting his offer and asking him to pick her up at 6 pm after she dressed from work. A knock on her door came a moment after she had sent her reply, Harry stuck his head in her office "Hey 'mione. There's been another homicide, actually a double homicide. We found trace elements of the potion from the first crime scene. We were hoping you could analyze it for us again?" Hermione cleared off her desk and waved her friend in "Of course Harry, give me the vial." As she started her analysis Harry chatted with her telling her about the crime scene and the state of the bodies they had found. When suddenly her door banged open and in walked Ron Weasley. Hermione shook her head "Ron get out of my lab." She looked at Harry hoping he would back her up, but he looked at her with pleading eyes "Unfortunately 'mione he needs to be here. He was part of the team that found the bodies, he needs to hear your findings. But Ron I will say this, you will behave in this office. No harassing Hermione, she needs to do her job." Hermione turned her focus back to the potion in front of her while Ron sauntered around her office "Of course Mate, no worries. I'm just here doing my job, pleasant surprise to see my future wife working on this case too." Hermione looked up and narrowed her eyes at him "Weasley, there are 100 ways I could kill you with potions in this room alone. I don't know how much more clear I can make this, I am NOT going to marry you. Now shut up so I can concentrate." Ron snorted and smirked at Hermione, but came to an abrupt halt when he saw what was on her neck "What the HELL is that?" He all but roared at her. Hermione stood straight up behind her desk, holding her head high as to display her choker "Well I would think as you grew up in a pureblood family, you would recognize a courting gift when you see one." Hermione responded coldly. Ron starred at her with fury and disgust and Hermione saw his hand twitch towards his wand "So it's official, you are letting the ferret court you. And you allowed this Harry? Malfoy has probably got her under some love potion, we have to help 'mione see the error of her ways!" Ron started to pull out his wand, when Harry stopped him and Hermione said "How dare you Ron. I am under no love potion or spell. And it is not up to anyone to allow me to date someone. It is my own choice! Now if you can't act civilized, I will hex your arse out of my lab." Ron muttered under his breath and narrowed his eyes at her in a way that made her skin crawl, but she went about her work after Ron made it clear he would be staying. A few hours later she was disappointed by the results. "Well so far I can tell you that the poison has the same ingredients as last time; Angels Trumpet, a full twig of Baneberry, a splash of Boomslang, cowbang, essence of daisy root, Dragon blood, essence of lavender. But all of the quantities have been doubled. Most of these alone are slow acting poisons but put them together and they work most faster. And there still isn't enough trace elements of that one blasted ingredient for me to identify." Looking at Harry she shook her head "At this point the only way I'm going to identify the final ingredient is if you can get me into the lab where this poison was created." Harry nodded and took a deep breathe, "Ok I understand. Would it help if you saw the bodies?" At this point Ron stepped in again "Woah Mate slow down there. Hermione is such a delicate little flower, I doubt if she would be able to handle the sight of dead bodies." Hermione's spine straightened and her jaw squared as she pointed her wand at him and calmly said "Langlock!" at which point Ron found himself unable to speak as his tongue had been glued to the top of his mouth. "Take me to the bodies Harry, Now." Harry nodded and narrowed his eyes at Ron as all three of them headed down the corridor to the Ministries Morgue. Hermione stepped into the room, taking a deep breath and began examining the bodies of the two men. Talking aloud so Harry could dictate her note "Both of the victims faces are incredibly swollen, including the throats, which probably swelled shut cutting off their oxygen. Note the scratch marks on their throats, arms, chests and face; the redness indicates hives or possibly an allergic reaction. Which is indicative of some of the poisons that we found in the potion. Wait what's this?" Hermione had noticed something in one of the victims mouths, pulling on a pair of gloves she extracted the small damp scroll and unrolled it. The sight made her blood run cold "Harry, look at this." Ron followed him and both men peered over her shoulder. On the piece of parchment there was a drawing of The Dark Mark, written underneath it The Death Eaters will rise again. All three of them gasped and Harry was the first to speak "Death Eaters are doing this? I didn't realize they were still this active. This is bad, this is very bad. Ron gather up all the Aurors and request the Minister of Magic come to the Auror office for a briefing. Then look up the blood status of all three victims. Hermione go, home. Tell no one about this. Come up with theories, I want to hear them on Monday." With that Harry walked out the door, Ron stood and sneered out her for a few moments before he to walked out the door.
Following Harry's advice, Hermione left for the day and went home to dress for dinner with the Malfoys; trying to put the way Ron was looking out of her mind. The last time she had been to Malfoy Manor was during the war; when Bellatrix has tortured her. A small part of her was terrified to go back, but she knew to make things work with Draco she had to cultivate a friendship with Narcissa Malfoy. After coming home and showering, Hermione pulled on black dress pants that flared a little at her ankles, a green silk button up blouse tucked into her pants and a black belt and black heels made the outfit. With a black silk cloak, the outfit was complete and made Hermione feel more comfortable about walking into an unknown situation. Of course her diamond choker was on her neck, where it had been since the day Draco had given it to her. For what felt like the 100th time, Hermione checked her reflection in the mirror "Stop worrying, you look fine. You are doing this for Draco, you will be fine. But maybe I should bring something to my hosts.." she whispered to herself before pulling out her wand and conjuring and aged bottle of dark red elven wine. "Supposedly wine is a good gift to bring to dinner, hopefully it will work on the current Lord and Lady Malfoy." A knock on the door brought a smile to her face and Hermione instantly calmed down as she opened the door and saw Draco standing there in a set of less formal wizarding robes. His eyes roamed over her outfit, before settling on her face "You look lovely as always" he said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. Hermione blushed as his lips made contact with her face, but honestly she felt so much better now that he was here. Giving her his arm so they could walk to the apparition point, Draco asked "How are you feeling?" and she knew he was referring to her nerves "If I'm being honest with you Draco, I'm nervous. What if your parents don't approve of me?" Draco stopped and turned her to face him head on "I don't care if they do not accept, you are my choice Hermione. One way or another they will come to accept that you are going to be in my life. Do not worry about tonight, I will be by your side the entire time." Hermione smiled, blinked back tears as she hugged the man standing beside her; and Draco returned that hug. Shifting just slightly he whispered into her ear "Hold tight." Hermione felt them turn on the spot and the uncomfortable sensation of apparating engulfed her for a split second. And suddenly she was looking at the wrought iron gates of Malfoy Manor.
Hermione gasped as the large sight of the Manor came into view behind the gates. The house, if you could call I that, just seemed to keep going forever. Multiple wings, which housed things that Hermione could only guess at. But the gardens were what really took her breath away; every flower or plant she had ever heard and or read about was in these gardens. A stone pathway weaved in between each large plotting of plants and large stone fountains were placed sporadically through the gardens. The manor itself was beautiful, the walls seemed to made of white marble that shined in the evening sunset, the roof was black and stood out in a stark contrast to the rest of the walls. Every window was clean and sparkling, not a speck of dust to be seen. Draco seemed to be pausing, allowing her to take it all in "Welcome to Malfoy Manor, it can be a little overwhelming the first time you see it." Hermione turned and looked at her boyfriend "But its not the first time I've seen it." She said softly. Draco's eyes darkened as he pulled her in closer for a hug "Hermione, nothing about this place is the same. After the war ended and my sensibilities changed, I had the entire place gutted and remodeled. Everything is new and fresh, and if I may say I hope to create wonderful memories with you here." Pulling out of his embrace Hermione kissed his cheek, "Thank you, but I still can't help be a little nervous." Draco smiled at her as he waved his wand in front of the gates and they turned into wisps of smoke, stepping forward and pulling Hermione through the smoke; after they were on the manor's property the gates resolidifed into wrought iron. "Don't ever try to touch the gate until it's been turned to smoke, you will be shocked and yes it is quite painful. It's a security measure. "Once again offering Hermione his arm the two of them began the rather long walk to the front entrance of Malfoy Manor. As they passed the different clumps of flowers Draco was pointing out what they were and what the different ingredients could be used for in potion making, Hermione was grateful to him for trying to keep her calm; despite his assurances she was still quite fearful to meet his family. Finally stopping at the massive double doors Draco turned to Hermione, while rubbing her shoulders "Are you ready? Do you need a moment?" Hermione nodded and held up a finger, indicating she would like a moment to collect herself and calm her emotions. Taking several deep breaths and clearing her mind Hermione allowed herself a moment to relax, before turning back to look at Draco "I'm ready." Draco kissed her hand once again saying "Don't worry, you will do great." He whispered just loud enough for her to hear as he pushed open the doors to Foyer of Malfoy Manor.
Stepping inside on Draco's arm, Hermione struggled to contain her gasp at her opulent surroundings. The floor was a mix of black and white granite tiles, a large winding staircase was at the back of the foyer; silver hand railings were complimented by dark styled steps that perfectly complimented the granite floors. The walls were a creamy white and went all the way up to a vaulted ceiling. Event though they were just on the first floor, Hermione could tell the Manor was at least three stories high, though she supposed she could see the other levels at a different time. To their right was two doors, in stark white with matte black hardware, but they were closed shut not allowing Hermione a look inside the room. Two doors on their left were in the same style and condition; sealed shut. The walls were decorated with ancient paintings from the renaissance era, antique vases and ancient artifacts; all in all it was a very beautiful if slightly overwhelming room. "Draco?" Hermione and Draco looked up in front of them and saw his mother standing there "Yes mother, we are here." Lady Narcissa Malfoy descended the staircase with a grace that Hermione certainly did not have. Her dress was of black velvet, that clung to her body like a second skin yet had an air of elegance; this was a woman who had lived in a very high social circle her entire life and it showed. Narcissa finally stopped right in front of them and stooped to kiss her son on the cheek, before pulling back to regard Hermione carefully. Draco stepped back beside her, placed her hand on his arm and proudly announced "Mother, if I may, this is Hermione Jean Granger. The lovely woman I have been seeing for the past few weeks." Hermione nodded and offered a small smile "It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Malfoy. Thank you for inviting me to share a dinner with you and your family. I have brought some aged Elven wine, please, enjoy." Hermione handed Draco's mother the bottle of wine who took it and regarded it with a curious look on her face "This is an excellent year, wonderful choice Ms. Granger. Dinner is ready to be served in the main dining room, if you'll both follow me." Offering them something close to a smile, she turned and lead the young couple into the dining room. Once the white doors were open a room with light yellow walls, almost the color of candlelight, became visible. A large dark oak table sat in the middle of the room, set with places for dinner for four with lovely pieces of white china, and several dark oak chairs with red cushions. Narcissa moved to the seat to the right of the head of the table, as Draco and Hermione moved to the left. Draco was pulling out her chair when the door swung open and in walked Lord Malfoy in smart three piece wizarding suit and his usual cane. Taking note of everyone in the room he moved to the head of the table and sat down. Everyone around the table followed his cue and sat, with Draco offering Hermione a small encouraging smile. As he was sitting Draco spoke to his father "Father, this is the incredible woman I have been seeing, Hermione Jean Granger. Hermione, this is my father, Lord Lucius Malfoy." Hermione nodded and offered a smile to her boyfriends father "Lord Malfoy, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for inviting me into your home." Lord Malfoy regarded her, somewhat coldly, before replying "Yes, welcome Ms. Granger." Raising his right hand, four house elves popped into the room carrying their dinners; grilled chicken breasts with a white wine cheese sauce and a vegetable medley. Hermione was pleasantly surprised that when she tasted the wine in her glass, it was from the bottle she had given Lady Malfoy! Slightly glancing at Draco's mom, she noticed the older woman looking at her, and was even more shocked to see her offer a small smile before turning back to her dinner. They all ate in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Draco cleared his throat and asked his father "How has business been going father?" Lord Malfoy set his goblet of wine down and replied "We are having a bit of an issue coming to a trade deal with the French on some supplies we need for our labs. They want far more money than we are willing to give." Lord Malfoy and Draco began talking in earnest about the business dealings of the family while Lady Malfoy and Hermione exchanged an amused look with each other. An hour later the two men were still going at it, but dinner was finished. Lady Malfoy stood "Lucius, why don't you and Draco go to your office and finish your business dealings. I believe I will get better acquainted with Ms. Granger." Draco's father nodded and stood to leave as Draco turned to Hermione, took her hand and offered it a kiss "Don't worry I will be back soon." Hermione blushed and nodded as she stood and followed Lady Malfoy across the hall from the dining room. The woman opened the doors to a room with a beautiful green paint on the walls, a white leather couch and two white leather arm chairs. There were a few book cases full of leather bound books and several vases of roses in various colors. The overall effect of the room was quite calming and relaxing. "Please come in Ms. Granger, no need to stand in the door way admiring the room." Hermione snapped back to reality to see Lady Malfoy staring at her with an amused look on her face, Hermione blushed and stepped into the room, closing the door and taking a seat in the arm chair across from Draco's mother. "Would you please tell me about yourself, Ms. Granger?" Hermione nodded and took a deep breath "Well I work as a potions mistress with the Ministry. I do potions research, create a few potions here and there and I also work closely with Auror Department when they need potion analysis." Lady Malfoy looked surprised "And you enjoy that work?" Hermione nodded vigorously "Yes Ma'am I do. I find it quite rewarding and enjoy going to work every morning. No two days are the same. And it is a rare surprise that I still get to work with my mentor, Master Snape." Lady Malfoys eyes widened in understanding "Ah, so you are the talented and bright student Severus took under his wing all those years ago."
The room lapsed into a comfortable silence while the two women regarded each other. Lady Malfoy broke the silence first "Ms. Granger I need to ask you this, are you only interested in marrying my son for our family fortune?" Hermione's eyes widened in shook, although she should've supposed that question was coming "No Lady Malfoy, of course not. I want to marry your son because in the past few years we have cultivated a friendship, we are friendly with each other. Out of the people who petitioned for both our hands, Draco and I both agree that we have the best chance at making a marriage work. If I may be frank, the past few weeks that we have been dating I have become quite fond of Draco. He is a wonderful man." Lady Malfoy regarded her quietly for a few minutes "Well that is a relief to hear. In the past the only women interested in Draco were only interested in him for his money, for our wealth. I just want to make sure he is not going to be taken advantage of." Standing and moving to sit beside her, Hermione took one of her hands in her own "Lady Malfoy, I will never use your son. Instead I hope that we can both nourish and help each other grow." Lady Malfoy's eye softened and she soon gripped the other woman's hands "Hermione thank you for that. Draco has informed me of where your parents are. I would like to have a relationship with you, and it would please me if you called me Narcissa." Hermione smiled and wiped a stray tear from her eye "I would like that very much Narcissa." The door opened and the two women looked to see Draco and Lord Lucius standing there. Draco was smiling and said in a soft tone "I'm pleased to see you two are getting along mother. May I borrow my girlfriend for a few moments? I'd like to show you the back gardens." Hermione nodded, smiled at Narcissa and took Draco's arm leaving the room.
The back gardens were even more exquisite than the front gardens. Roses, as far as the eye could see. In every color under the rainbow; Red, yellow, orange, white; even some that were genetically engineered. Hermione walked around the gardens on Draco's arm in awe, just admiring their surroundings "Draco, its beautiful! I've never seen anything so wonderful!" she said in a hushed voice as she trailed her fingers over the petals of yellow roses. Hermione continued to stroll when suddenly she realized Draco wasn't beside her anymore, turning she found him a few steps behind her; down on one knee and holding a little black box. Hermione's hand covered her mouth "Draco.." she whispered as she walked until she was standing right in front of him. He took her hand and said "I know this isn't what you imagined for your life, but I have to ask now. Hermione Jean Granger, I care for you deeply. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" With that he opened the small box and revealed a beautiful diamond, square in shape that was sparkling with the evening rays of sunlight set on a thin platinum band. The ring was breathtaking, that was for sure, but it looked delicate as well. With tears in her eyes, Hermione nodded "Yes Draco, I'll marry you. Yes." She said breathlessly as Draco slipped the ring on her finger, immediately she felt the magic at work as the ring sized itself to her ring size and the permanent sticking charm was applied. Hermione threw her arms around Draco's neck and hugged him tightly, this was her future. Draco kissed her cheek and hugged her back just as hard, rubbing her back comfortably. Finally the young couple separated and stared into each others eyes. Hermine broke eye contact and looked at her ring "It is beautiful, thank you for giving it to me." Draco smiled and rubbed his thumb over the surface of the ring "Thank you for accepting it. Come, lets go tell my parents." Hermione nodded and wiped away the remainder of her tears as she and her fiancé walked back towards the main manor. Stepping back inside the foyer, Lord and Lady Malfoy met them as they walked in. Draco stepped forward and raised Hermione's left hand displaying the ring "May I present, my future bride." While Lord Malfoy stepped forward and clasped his sons shoulder with a small approving smile, Narcissa raced forward and kissed her sons cheek and hugged Hermione "Welcome to the family my dear. Now we have a wedding plan! How soon would you like to be married?" Draco looked at Hermione for her opinion, before she replied "Within the month, if at all possible Narcissa." Her soon to be mother in law nodded and the planning was off.
Later that evening Draco apparated Hermione back to her flat "Well that was an interesting evening. I adore your mother Draco, but I'm still weary of your father." Draco nodded as Hermione was letting him into her flat "Yes I know, I'm still weary of him myself, don't worry he will grow on you." Hermione and Draco stepped into her darkened flat, still discussing their upcoming wedding when something large flew across the room towards Hermione. Ducking as what she assumed was her coffee table flew over her head, Hermione pointed her wand in the direction the furniture had come from and used a nonverbal spell "Locomotor Mortis" she thought with all her might as she channeled her magic into her wand. A loud thump and a string of curses meant that her curse had hit her desired target, Draco left her side for a mere moment to turn on the light and discovered who their attacker was. Ron laid in the floor, his legs locked together from the Leg locker curse, trying desperately to free himself. "Weasley!" Hermione's eyes adjusted to the light and saw the fury and hatred in his eyes. "What was that I heard about a wedding?" he said in a tight voice. Hermione nodded as she held up her right hand to show him her engagement ring, "That's right Ron, I am engaged to Draco. We are to be married within the month." Ron was visibly shaking with rage "You won't marry me, but you'll marry the man who bullied you all through school." Draco stepped forward, his wand still trained on the intruder "There's a difference Weasley, I may have bullied her in school, but I have apologized and am her friend now. She is very important to me. The most important difference is that I have never hit her." Ron tried to stand, but thanks to the leg locker curse her fell flat on his back again. "How did you get in my flat ron? I had wards up, you should not have been able to access them." Ron smirked "You aren't able to hide from me Hermione. I can get in no matter what." Draco grabbed him by his neck and pulled him up into a sitting position "That's called trespassing and breaking and entering. We could send your arse to jail, you could lose your position of Auror as well, but instead leave with this warning. Come near my fiancé again and you will regret it." Draco levitated Ron off the floor before removing the curse with a simple "Finite" and forcefully propelled him out into the hallway and slammed the door shut, before applying more advanced wards to Hermione's flat. Turning back to his fiancé he smiled "I am sorry, that was not my place. I was just so angry that he broke into your home." Hermione smiled back at him as she took a seat on her couch "I know. But thank you for handling that. I had thought him seeing my ring would make him back off, but it just made him angrier." Draco sat beside her and pulled her into his arms, the young couple just relaxing into each others embrace. The two sat in silence for a little while "Draco I know we have only been seeing each other for about a month now, but I care deeply for you as well. I am committed to making us work. And I'm hopeful that one day I may come to love you." Hermione could tell that Draco was smiling as he kissed the top of her head "That is my hope as well Hermione. We will figure this out together. I'm going out of town on a business trip tomorrow and will be gone for a few days, when I return we can resume our wedding planning. Anything you want, it is yours. Please don't hesitate to ask." Hermione nodded as she and Draco stood up from her couch, but as he walked toward her door, she stopped him and waved her wand over him. At her fiancés confused look she explained "It's just a spell. You can now apparate directly into and out of my flat, no need to apparate into the hall. I know that after we are married I will have to give up this place, but for as long as I own this flat you have a place here and are welcome." Draco gathered her in his arms and kissed her very gently "Thank you, that means more to me than you will know. I'll miss you while I'm gone. Stay safe." He said as he took a step back and apparated out of Hermione's living room.
The next morning when she woke up, Hermione sent an owl to her boss asking if she could take the week off work; he wrote back almost instantly and approved her request. A lot had happened in the past month and she needed a chance to process it all, as well as process her new life. For a few hours she took all kinds of notes about what she would want her dream wedding to look like. There were so many things to consider. "The venue for instance: destination, indoors, outdoors, in England, exotic, local? Then there is the dress code: formal, causal, semi-formal, muggle, wizard? Not to mention the guest list, the color scheme, bridesmaid and groomsmen, food, music, decorations! Who knew so much went into planning a wedding!" Hermione all but wailed. By mid afternoon she was buried in a mountain of wedding planning magazines and books. Pushing everything away Hermione rubbed her forehead with her hands, trying to relax her brain. This was all so much to take on by herself, but she found it funny that she was having a harder time trying to plan her wedding than it was to come up with a plan to defeat Voldemort. A loud knock at her door disturbed her out of her meditation, Hermione sighed but stood to answer the door and was shocked at what was at her door.
Astoria Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson were standing there. Both of them still looked as beautiful as they had in school, but had grown into beautiful young women and out of the foolish girls they had been in school. Their facial futures were softer and kinder and both girls carried themselves with dignity, that Hermione assumed came from being raised as a wealthy pureblood witch. "Hermione?" Hermione snapped back to the present and the young women standing in front of her "Yes. Please come in." She stepped back allowing them to enter her flat. Pansy was the first to speak once inside "You may not remember us from school." She started but stopped as Hermione raised her hand "Of course I do, Pansy Parkinson and Astoria Greengrass. Slytherins who were in my year." Both girls nodded before Pansy started speaking again "Yes. We wanted to apologize to you for the way we treated you in school. Also we heard that you were engaged to Draco, we wanted to offer our congratulations on your upcoming marriage." Astoria nodded enthusiastically along with what her friend was saying. Hermione was startled by this turn of events, it was certainly not what she had been expecting "Well thank you girls, that actually means a lot to me." Hermione offered them a warm smile and all three of them seemed to relax. "You may or may not that us and Draco are very good friends, have been for years. As you are going to be a very important part of his life. Would you like to come out to lunch with us? We were just going to pop over to the Leaky Cauldron." Hermione was yet again startled and surprised, but in a good way. "I'd love that, just let me go change really quick." Hermione left them in the living room and returned to her room where she changed into a light yellow sundress with ¾ length sleeves, hoping the two purebloods in her living room would not be offended by her muggle clothing. But as she returned she sensed nothing but hopefulness from Astoria and Pansy. "I'm ready, shall we apparate there?" Hermione asked, as the girls nodded she lead them out into the hallway.
Seconds later all three of the girls reappeared at the Leaky Cauldron and smiled at each other as they took a table by the window that pointed out towards Diagon Alley. After placing their food and drink orders Hermione was the first to speak "So what have you two been up to since Hogwarts?" Astoria spoke first as she brushed some hair out of her face "Well I'm a healer at St. Mungo's. Its really rewarding work. I love being able to help everyone who comes in. I'm the senior healer on the pediatric ward, I run the whole department." Hermione smiled at the enthusiasm in her voice "That's wonderful Astoria! We always saw you in the Hospital Wing at school, and we knew you weren't injured very often if at all. Healing suits you. What about you Pansy?" She said as she turned to the black haired woman who was nervously wringing her hands "I'm a wizarding therapist. After…After the war I found it hard to deal with all my feelings and emotions so I started seeing a therapist. As she was helping me, I found my true calling. Helping people cope with any difficulties they may be having in their lives, helping them find out who they truly are." Hermione gasped in surprise "Pansy that is remarkable, I'm sorry you were dealing with so much after the war. But I'm also glad you found your own way." Silence lapsed between the women as their food and beverages were brought to them, once the inn keeper had left their table Astoria started to speak again "Hermione when we met Draco last night and he told us of his engagement to you, he was so excited and happy. We had not seen him that way in such a long time, it was a welcome change to our friend." Hermione nodded as she took a sip of her butterbeer "I was quite happy when he proposed to me, if a little nervous. But I hope I can make a good wife for him." Pansy smiled at her words "You will be better for him than you know. We know how hard it can be to adjust to a purebloods lifestyle, so we just want to offer our assistance in anyway possible. If you were to need us for anything, please just drop us an owl. Also if you would allow it, we would love to attend your wedding." Hermione could hardly believe it. These girls, whom had bullied her in school, were offering her the hand of friendship. Maybe she had judged pureblood culture, it was certainly nothing like she had ever encountered before. "Thank you, Pansy, Astoria. That means so much to me. We havent sorted a guest list yet, but I'm sure Draco would love for you to attend our wedding." All three of the women smiled at each other as they continued to chat and enjoy their lunch together.
Hermione returned to her loft that evening after having a very nice outing with Astoria and Pansy, she hoped that the three of them would cultivate a friendship together as they had seemed very genuine with her. "Maybe diving into pureblood culture and a pureblood lifestyle will not be so bad. Almost everyone has been very welcoming. Perhaps I can do this." As she went about her evening chores, Hermione sensed a disturbance around her wards for a few moments, but it stopped as quickly as they had started. Cautiously Hermione opened her door, to see a book laying there on the ground Hogwarts A history , which had been her favorite while in school. But something about the appearance of the book seemed off, it seemed to vibrate with magic that had an almost malicious energy about it. Without daring to touch the tome in front of her, Hermione waved her wand over it while muttering "Revelio" and what was revealed to her shocked Hermione. The book was a portkey, had she touched it she would have been instantly teleported to an unknown location. Hermione didn't even have to think to know who had left this for her "Ron, will you stop at nothing?" she said allowed to herself before standing, pointing her wand at the book before saying "Incendio". Instantly the book in front of her was engulfed in flames, as much as she loved books Hermione could not in good faith keep this one around. If she were to accidentally touch it, who knows where she would end up or what would happen to her once she was there. "Will I never be safe?" she whispered once she was shut back inside her flat.
After having stared at the enchanted painting that Draco had gotten her, Hermione fell asleep on her couch that night. But was awoken by a loud banging on her flat door. "Dammit Hermione let me in! You can't hide from me forever!" Ron screamed through her door. The banging continued, but Hermione just pulled a pillow over her head to try and block it the sound. Eventually it stopped, but Hermione did not feel any safer. This pattern continued for the next few days, Hermione did not leave her flat, but everyday Ron was there. Yelling, screaming and cussing as he pounded away at her door. He even tried to apparate inside once or twice, but thanks to the wards set up by Draco he never managed to get inside. What could she do? Ron was an auror and a war hero, no one would believe he was stalking and harassing her. It would be her word against his and she had no proof of what was going on. Hermione had not felt this unsafe since right after she had started dating Draco, when Ron had shown up and back handed her once he saw Draco sitting on her couch.
Three days after Draco had left for his business trip was Sunday evening. Once again Ron was outside banging on her door for hours as Hermione was crying silent tears and trying to block out the sound. She finally passed out from exhaustion of not having slept nearly all weekend. When a hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake scared her to death and Hermione let out a blood curdling scream. "Hermione! It's me Draco! It's me, you're safe." She heard his voice through the fog of fear that was clouding her brain "Draco? You're back?" He let out a small smile at her words "Yes honey, it's me. I'm back. I missed you so I wanted to surprise you. But I must say I wasn't expecting that reaction from you." Hermione flung herself into her fiancés shoulder and just cried while soaking up his familiarity and his warmth. "I'm so sorry Draco. It's been horrible since you left. Ron sent me a portkey disguised as a book, I destroyed it of course. But then every night since then he has been at my door; pounding, yelling, screaming and cussing. I haven't left the flat since the day after you left. I've barely slept all weekend. When you shook me awake I was terrified that he had found a way inside." Draco said nothing at what she had said, but just rocked her back and forth while rubbing her back. When Hermione had finally calmed down, Draco pulled back just enough to kiss her forehead "I'm so sorry you've been through all that. You should've owled me, I would've come home immediately." Hermione looked up at him with tear stained eyes "I didn't want to pull you away from you're work. It sounded important." Draco took her face in his hands "You are more important to me than my work. Until we are married and we move to Malfoy Manor, I will be staying here with you and apparating to work with you everyday. I will not let him rule your life." Hermione smiled through her tears as he held her. They sat in silence for a long while until she had calmed down "Talk to me, tell me about your trip and your business." Draco launched into his story about everything that happened on his trip, Hermione thought she may have made it twenty minutes into his story before she fell into a deep sleep; feeling safer than she had in days.