A/N: Thank you to hotdog8 for the review! I'd love some reviews this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 29: The Wedding

Dear Draco,

I can't even express with words what I'm feeling right now. I suppose I can just tell you that your last letter made me smile. I haven't stop smiling all day. Unfortunately, my happiness has been doing nothing for Ron's ego. He seems to think he made me very happy for some reason. Maybe it had something to do with him not dying...

I miss you so much. I

Well, I guess I'm going to have to cut this letter short. Mrs. Weasley's calling. I get to go change the bedsheets in the guest bedroom. Yay. Ugh, these wedding preparations are driving me crazy. By the way, if you could come, that would be great. I know you can't, but I'll be wishing you're there.

Love,

Hermione

Draco closed the small notebook, smiling. He wrapped it up in one of his Slytherin scarves before tucking it in his wardrobe behind his robes. As he was hiding the notebook, Draco's fingers brushed against something cold and metallic in the pocket of a pair of his old dress robes.

Draco grasped what he assumed to be a thin chain. He extracted it from under the pile of robes and held it up to the light. The sun glinted off the necklace as it dangled in front of his face. A single, golden pendant hung from the golden chain. The pendant was in the shape of a heart. Draco stared curiously at it. Where had it come from? He dropped the pendant into his palm. It sat there, glistening innocently. Draco turned it over in his hand, his fingernail getting caught in a small grove on the pendant's side. Draco pried at the groove, and eventually the pendant spit in half. It was a locket, and its inside was adorned with two miniscule picture frames.

Curiously, Draco stared at the tiny models in the filler pictures. He slowly pulled them out of the frames and dropped them into his hand. The models waved cheerily up at him. Again, Draco wondered where the locket had come from. Eventually, he decided that his mother must have accidentally dropped it into his pile of new robes from Diagon Alley.

Draco reached back into the wardrobe for the notebook. He slipped the locket between the scarf and the notebook's cover, then returned it to its hiding place.

Just then, someone tapped gently on his door. Draco opened the door to find his mother standing there.

"Dinner?" She asked softly.

"Alright," Draco replied, and followed her downstairs. Tonight, they were joined by Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, and a handful of other Death Eaters whom Draco could not recognize. Draco sat in front of his plate in silence, listening to the jeers and insults the Death Eaters exchanged among themselves. Most seemed extremely excited; the Ministry takeover must have been going well.

Draco waited patiently in front of his plate until all the Death Eaters had drifted off. He cleared off his plate and dropped it into the kitchen sink before cleaning all the other dishes with the tip of his wand.

Once the dishes were done, Draco bade his mother good night before trudging back up to his bedroom.

Back in his bedroom, Draco pulled out the notebook from his wardrobe and lit the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He summoned a quill and began slowly dragging its inky tip across the next blank cream-colored page in the notebook.

Dear Hermione,

Your letter made me smile too. Hearing from you is the best thing happening in my life right now. For me, being seventeen isn't as fun as I had always imagined it to be. I had always imagined the summer before seventh year to be a trip to France with my friends. Well, seeing as I no longer have friends, or the ability to go to France, I'm feeling a bit depressed. But your letters make up for most of that.

Good luck with your wedding plans. I have been to a total of one wedding, and it was AWFUL. I had to wear the most uncomfortable and hideous dress robes ever. But I bet your dress for the wedding will look lovely on you.

I'm sorry for the poor quality of this letter. Yours seem to have a lot more emotion in them, but I'm not really feeling much at the moment besides remorse. If something interesting happens soon, I'll let you know. Though that may take a while.

Love,

Draco

Draco read over the letter once before closing the notebook. He wished he had more to tell Hermione, but he didn't have much going on at the moment. Days spent staring outside the window and reading were not particularly noteworthy.

Draco tucked the notebook away before stretching out on his bed. He closed his eyes and drifted off.

A week later, Draco stood in front of his door, his ear pressed against the cold wood. He heard excited whispers and shouts coming from downstairs. Slowly, he opened the door a crack and peered outside.

Draco could see a group of Death Eaters huddled in front of the front door. They were rushing back and forth, muttering happily. They seemed extremely excited about something.

One of them, a huge blond Death Eater, caught Draco looking at them looking and smiled broadly.

"Hey, Draco!" He exclaimed. "Did you hear? We're taking over the Ministry today! And then...we're going to kill Harry Potter!"

Draco's heart skipped a beat. He slammed his door shut and leaned against it. Today was the day of the wedding. That meant that Potter and the Weasleys and everyone else at the wedding would be completely unprepared for the Death Eater attack.

Drac pushed off the door and started pacing back and forth. He began biting his lip furiously. He needed to get to the Weasley's to warn Hermione about the attack. She was the only one who would believe him and not kill him either.

Draco sat down in his chair. He knew he needed to get to the wedding, but how? Wards had been placed around the Manor to prevent Apparition. And he could exactly stroll outside with all the Death Eaters around. But wait...

Draco's head snapped up. He knew exactly what to do. He snatched a set of dress robes from his wardrobe and pulled them on. He stuffed his wand into his pocket before pulling a black cloak on over his robes. Draco pulled the hood of the cloak over his head and hunched over.

Just as he was turning the doorknob, Draco remembered something. He rushed back over to the wardrobe and pulled out the necklace he had found the other day. Slipping it into his pocket, Draco decided to take some extra precautions.

Extracting his wand from his robed, Draco pointed it at his face, looking into the mirror that hung behind his door. He changed his hair from the white-blond color it was naturally to a dark chestnut brown, and darkened the color of his skin.

Once his transformation was complete, Draco slipped out of his bedroom, making sure no one saw him. He slid into the crowd of Death Eaters near the door, who were preparing to leave. They had opened the front door, and a light breeze was drifting in. A few of them had stepped outside and were squinting at the sunlight.

It took a few minutes for all of the Death Eaters-and Draco-to get outside. They walked to the edge of the property, just outside of the boundary set by the wards. No one had noticed Draco yet; they were all too giddy with excitement at all the havoc they were about to wreak on the Ministry.

"Alright!" The blond Death Eater called out. "Apparating on three. One...two..."

Suddenly, Draco panicked. He didn't know where the Weasley's lived! He felt his pulse quicken. Racking his brains, Draco tried to recall all the conversations he had ever overheard from the Gryffindors.

"You can come over to my place this summer..." Draco imagined Ron saying. "At the Burrow..."

The Burrow!

"...Three!"

Draco turned on the spot, repeating the name of his destination in his mind. He felt himself vanishing.

After a few moments of compression, Draco found himself standing atop a grassy hill. He looked around and spotted a steady stream of well-dressed people filing into a giant while marquee. Draco strolled leisurely over to them, trying not to appear rushed.

Once at the mouth of the marquee, Draco encountered another problem. A group of redheads was checking for invitations and guiding people to their seats. Draco froze. What was he supposed to do?

Glancing around, he noticed an invitation sticking out of a man's pocket. He grabbed it and then proceeded to the redhead standing at the entrance. Draco shoved the invitation into his hand, then stomped into the tent, ignoring the man's cries of indignation.

Draco sat down in a seat nearest to the side of the tent. He began searching frantically for Hermione. Back at the entrance, he could hear the protests of the man whose invitation Draco had stolen.

Draco couldn't see Hermione. He still hadn't found her when the ceremony started. Draco paused his search when he noticed Fleur Delacour floating down the aisle. Wait, she was marrying a Weasley? Fleur Delacour was marrying a Weasley?

Draco was shocked. He couldn't believe it!

However, Draco' surprise was swiped from him when he spotted Hermione sitting in a seat in the second row. She was staring intently at the ceremony, tears blooming in her eyes as Bill and Fleur became man and wife. Draco watched her, and his heart filled with joy at the sight of her after two months.

Once the ceremony was over and the reception began, Draco rose from his seat and headed toward Hermione, only to be beaten by a short redheaded kid. They were joined by Ron Weasley not too long after.

Draco cursed them internally. Draco waited for the two redheads to leave Hermione alone. Unfortunately, Hermione was taken from the boys by none other that Viktor Krum. Draco narrowed his eyes at Krum. He marched right up to Hermione, but was stopped by an old lady who insisted that he was her husband.

Wrinkling his nose, Draco stepped away from the woman and continued toward Hermione. He watched closely as she danced with Krum. When Krum stepped away for moment, Draco stepped in. He grabbed Hermione's hand and waist.

Hermione gasped. "Excuse me," she began. "What are you-?"

"It's me," Draco whispered into her ear.

Hermione froze. She peered into Draco's face before muttering, "Draco?"

Draco nodded solemnly.

"Draco!" Hermione said with a smile. "What are you doing here?"

Draco smiled back. "I wish it were to spend time with you, but I came here to warn you."

"About what?" Hermione asked.

Draco sighed. "The Death Eaters. They're taking over the Ministry today. Once they do...they're coming here...to kill Potter."

Hermione groaned. "Great, just great."

Draco placed a finger under Hermione's chin and lifter her face to meet his. "Come on," he chuckled, "I've handled them for two months. You're Hermione Granger. You can handle them."

Hermione gave Draco a small smile. "I've missed you," she whispered. "Thanks for your letters."

"Thank you," Draco replied. Hermione glanced at him quizzically before reaching up to kiss him.

"I love you," Draco whispered. "I'm sorry it took me so long to forgive you."

"I love you too," Hermione whispered back. "And it's okay. It took me longer to forgive myself."

Draco laughed and pulled Hermione close. After a moment, he stepped away from her, his hands on her shoulders.

"Before I leave and you save Potter," Draco said. "I want to give you something." Draco pulled the locket from his pocket and placed it in Hermione's palm, closing her fingers around it.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Good luck," she said, kissing his cheek. "And thank you."

Draco smiled at her before disappearing into the crowd. He Disapparated just after seeing Krum return.

The next morning, back at Malfoy Manor, Draco sat at the kitchen table drinking a glass of pumpkin juice, the morning's Daily Prophet spread out in front of him. The headline spelled out: FUDGE RESIGNS, THICKNESSE ASSIGNED MINISTER.

Because of the headline, all of the Death Eaters had vacated Malfoy Manor. They were now free to go about the Wizarding World to cause as much trouble as they pleased. Draco was glad for the Death Eaters' absence, but was unhappy that the Ministry had been compromised. Evil was winning the war.

To add to Draco's misery, Harry Potter had been named a wanted fugitive, as was anyone helping him.

Draco hoped Hermione was okay.

Lucius Malfoy walked into the kitchen, and Draco quickly left the room. He headed upstairs and threw the Daily Prophet out the window. Then, he set Hermione's notebook on his nightstand and waited for any sign that she was safe.