New Orleans was amazing. Wizarding New Orleans, especially. Hermione lounged in her seat, enjoying the lively jazz of the Wizarding dance club they were currently in. She wore a white silk dress that reached her ankles, as well as matching sandals. The gown was a halter top, and she topped it off with Draco's locket, Zacharias's earrings, and a large white lily tucked into the bun that was piled on top of her head. Tonight's the night. she thought.
It was her last night in New Orleans with Draco and his parents after two-and-a-half weeks of meeting the fascinating American witches and wizards and their more "unorthodox" culture. They would depart for Wiltshire and have lunch in Malfoy Manor tomorrow. Hermione thought that their final evening in this magical city would be the perfect time to propose to Draco. Although she was a strong and confident woman, the thought of the little velvet box inside her purse made her slightly nervous, and she had put off popping the question until dinner was over.
Now, though, Narcissa was shooting her little looks here and there, while Draco and Lucius were seemingly oblivious and talked of nothing but football and compared it to Quidditch. Hermione had told only Draco's mother about her plan when the two women had gone shopping, and Draco and his father had gone to watch an American football game, (which they enjoyed thoroughly and went to a few more afterwards). Narcissa had been delighted and assisted Hermione in picking out a ring for Draco for the rest of the afternoon, visiting several jewelry shops in the process.
In the end, they had settled on a simple gold band that was wider at the front but otherwise quite slim that they engraved several things onto, so that Narcissa proclaimed that it would be a new family heirloom. On the front was engraved the Malfoy crest, which Narcissa had shown the jewelers on her purse's clasp, and on the back, where it was far thinner, Hermione had had a message engraved inside the band: I but know that I love thee, whatever thou art, forever. Everything was perfect. So why was she feeling so scared?
"Lucius, darling. Shall we?" came Narcissa's voice, jolting Hermione out of her thoughts. The older woman extended her hand to her husband, interrupting his conversation with Draco. "Dance with me." she commanded.
Lucius Malfoy rose up gracefully and caught his wife's hand. "Dear, I thought you'd never ask. Have fun, children!" The Malfoy parents left with a smile and a wink, leaving a suddenly breathless Hermione, and a bewildered Draco, who had never thought that his parents could dance anything outside of the traditional dances of England.
"Erm, Draco." Hermione squeaked, reaching her hand across the dinner table, where the remnants of dessert lay. "I need to ask you something."
Draco turned to gaze at her, and cocked his head to one side before grinning. "That's funny, love. I have something to ask you, too. But, I suppose, ladies first?"
"No, you can go first." Hermione said quickly, fiddling with her thumbs.
Draco chuckled, and then said, "Well, fine by me. I've always thought it would be more traditional this way."
Before Hermione could bat an eyelash, Draco was kneeling in front of her, drawing a small velvet box from his pocket. As he opened it, Hermione gave a gasp she was sure everyone in the room could hear, and Draco murmured in a clear voice, against the noise of the club, "Hermione Jean Granger, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to grow old with you. I want to die with you. You are my angel, my world, my everything. Marry me."
He said this without any hesitation whatsoever, but with the intensity and sincerity of a man with everything at stake. As his stormy gray eyes burned into hers, Hermione heard herself whisper back, "Yes. Yes. A million times yes!" She flung herself around his neck, and Draco's lips found hers. It was a moment for only the two of them, for the rest of the world was lost in its own mundane doings, and on July 17th, 1999, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger became engaged.
When they finally broke apart, Draco wasted no time in slipping his ring on Hermione's left hand. "I want that to stay there until the end of time." he whispered, kissing each finger gently afterwards. "Just like our love; forever."
"I love you." Hermione responded, kissing her new fiancé. Suddenly, she remembered her own surprise. "Draco! Wait!" She hurriedly grabbed her purse as Draco watched, bemused, and started rummaging in it for his ring. When she fished it out, Draco grinned at her as she slid it onto his ring finger. "Looks like I beat you to the punch, Mione."
"Mother told you, didn't she?" Hermione asked, finally starting to gaze at the ring that now rested on her hand. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen. Like the one she had bought for Draco, it was gold, but thin all the way. A brilliant diamond was mounted on the center, surrounded by a ring of tiny rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and yellow spinel, obviously signifying Hogwarts. However, Hermione was sure that someone like Draco wouldn't have included only that on something as important as her wedding ring.
Gently, she slid off the ring again and inspected the inside of it. She was right. There was a message engraved inside the back, making her smile. 'You are my breath, my love, my very life.' Hermione felt tears coming into her eyes as she donned the ring again. Draco was just too wonderful to be true.
He had finished inspecting his ring as well, and gazed at Hermione with the most joyous expression she had ever seen, although a small smirk graced his lips. "You didn't say she couldn't, did you?" he asked playfully, standing up and pulling her to her feet.
"No, I didn't." Hermione replied. They were making their way through the crowd to where Lucius and Narcissa were dancing, ready to share that it had finally happened. "But somehow, I feel as though you secretly wanted to ruin my flawless plan in the process."
Draco shrugged. "Not really. But I did want to propose before you did. Trust me, I wasn't intentionally trying to show you up."
"I believe you." Hermione whispered, squeezing his hand. I'm Draco Malfoy's fiancée. That was the last thought in her mind before they first shared their bliss with others.
"Fleur delivered yesterday! It's a girl!" Draco glanced up from the potion he was currently working on and saw his fiancée race from the door of his spacious laboratory up to his messy table, clutching a letter in her hand. Today was the day after the second anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Like last year, the day marking the end of Voldemort had been met with quiet grief and the visiting of many tombstones, and Draco had not expected the silent reverie to be broken by the happy news of a birth.
"That's great! Congratulations to Bill and Fleur! Did they name her yet?" asked Draco, setting down the ingredients he was holding and making sure the potion was stewing correctly before placing a lid on top of the cauldron.
"Yes. Victoire Apolline Weasley. Such a beautiful name!"
"It is rather unique." Draco replied, wiping his hands now on his apron before leading Hermione to the cozy couch in the corner. "But she'll be a unique child, having her birthday on such a memorable day."
"That's why they chose that name. 'Victoire' for 'victory,' y'know? And then 'Apolline' is Fleur's mother's name."
"Hmm." Draco replied. "Do Mother and Father know yet?"
"Yep." Hermione said. "I already told them. Thank goodness today is a Sunday. Otherwise I'd have been at work when I got Ginny's owl!"
After returning from America last July, Hermione had set up her office in the Ministry and gone right to work. The public made that difficult, though, for everyone wanted details on her engagement to Draco, family, friends, and press alike. However, now that many months had passed, Hermione was finally able to work in peace, and she found that she rather enjoyed her job, although it was long hours and she had made little progress with 'S.P.E.W.' so far.
Draco, on the other hand, had been a success with his tooth care business. It hadn't even been a year yet, and his enterprise had already refilled the Malfoy Fortune. Zacharias had been a faithful investor, and Draco's dental care potions had been a hit, far more than George's products. He was just as busy as Hermione, and they were both glad that they had agreed on a year-long engagement. They were to be married on July 17th, 2000.
Most of the time, the engaged couple lived in London, specifically in the Malfoy Townhouse. They would visit Lucius and Narcissa on the weekends in Wiltshire. Hermione liked the Townhouse a lot more than she did the Manor, as it was more cozy, harder to get lost in, and gave her much more alone time with Draco. Although they still hadn't done much beyond kissing, Hermione was starting to yearn for her wedding night. And she knew Draco was, too.
However, work was able to keep her distracted enough, and visits to Harry at Grimmauld Place were frequent as well. Ginny was playing for the Holyhead Harpies, who had been having a victorious season ever since she joined, Harry and Neville were still busy as ever as Aurors, Zacharias had already been promoted to Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, and this time of his own merit, and Heather's perfume shop was doing nicely as well.
Rolf and Luna were abroad researching rare magical creatures for a book they were planning to co-author, so Draco and Hermione hadn't seen them in a while. Harper had come to be the manager of Granger's Glorious Gums, and usually ran the store while Draco simply owned it and was busy creating new products at his other laboratory in Malfoy Townhouse. Graham Montague was Harper's assistant, and Draco had given him the job out of the goodness of his heart, as he couldn't bear to keep seeing his old friend work as janitor in the Leaky Cauldron.
Blaise and Daphne had married in March in Italy, and Pansy and Gregory in April. Draco and Hermione had attended both their weddings. Theodore was in the Ministry with Hermione and Zacharias as well, along with both Carrow twins. Andromeda and Teddy were as sweet as always, and Draco and Hermione would see them often at Grimmauld Place. They also visited the Manor at times, especially if Draco and Hermione were around, so that Teddy wouldn't get bored to death.
Lucius and Narcissa were happy as clams. With their money refilled, son engaged, and a good name restored after Lucius turned in his twentieth Death Eater, the Malfoy parents were happily retired in their home, now awaiting a wedding and possibly grandchildren.
Ron and Romilda had finally been accepted by the Weasleys, but Ginny and Molly still disapproved of their lust for fame, disgusted by their bragging of becoming friends with the newly Brevis and Cho Birch, as well as Trevor and Astoria Birch. Even more embarrassing was Ron's far-too-public reconciliation with Jane Dawlish, who had never managed to remarry, to Hermione's amusement. Still, Hermione was happy that Ron had finally found someone that loved him, as Romilda had finally gotten over her crush on Harry. He had also gotten his Auror job back, to George's relief. Draco could care less, although he was on good terms with Ron.
"Let's get married early." Draco suddenly said. "I know Mother's been planning this wedding for Merlin-knows-how-many-months by now, as well as invited practically half of Wizarding Britain, but why don't we just elope tonight, and then head straight to France for our honeymoon? In nine months' time, we'll have our own little bundle of joy. How about it?"
Hermione laughed, replying, "Oh Draco, it's only two-and-a-half months from now. Surely you can wait a little longer?"
"No." Draco growled, pulling her close to him. "I want all of you, and I want it now."
"Have some sympathy for your mother then." Hermione suggested. "You're her only son, and she does want to make this as fantastic as possible. You wouldn't want to make her sad, would you?"
"Who cares." Draco muttered.
"I think your father would."
"Right you are, dearest. July 17th it is, then."