In the dressing chamber the bridesmaid did not realize how close she was to upsetting the bride simply by describing now-ignored wizarding marriage traditions.
"For the love of Rowena, Luna!" Hermione hissed. "Do not talk about going sky-clad when Trix is around. At least she is wearing clothes now." And fairly concealing ones, she thought. She was pretty certain that the elf was either Jane or Elizabeth Bennet, but Morgana help them if she was channeling Lydia.
Thanks to weather modification charms, the sun shone down upon Tintagel until the sky mellowed into dusk. As the last rays disappeared on the evening of the autumnal equinox, the elderly Druid whom Narcissa had cajoled from her retreat wrapped Draco's and Hermione's crossed wrists in strips of golden silk. She waved a weathered staff, and the fabric glowed brightly before disappearing. For a few moments, runes of health, happiness, and fertility shone on their skin then faded away. The aged priestess retreated to her seat of honour; afterwards the bride and groom faced each other, holding hands.
"I, Draco Malfoy, have many things in my past to regret. But life has given me a second chance, and I swear to you, Hermione Granger, that until this body ceases to draw breath, I will endeavour to prove myself worthy to stand by your side. So mote it be."
"I, Hermione Granger, have been guilty too often of holding the pursuit of knowledge above my responsibility to other people. You are my touchstone, my true north. I promise before all here that I will make my relationship with you my primary focus. So mote it be."
The torches surrounding the clearing flared high as magic accepted their bond. Narcissa stood and glided to stand at the spot where the druid had stood previously. "My son and daughter," she smiled at both of them, "will now exchange bridal gifts as a physical pledge of their troth." She then handed a small golden chest to her son.
Draco withdrew a ring. "Hermione, our earlier relationship was based upon falsely contrived enmity. We have managed to overcome that, and to celebrate that achievement, I bestow upon you this ring. The central stone is a bi-coloured tourmaline, a primitive yet striking representation that a Slytherin and a Gryffindor can get along."
His wife gazed at the ring. Emeralds and rubies, graduated in size, swirled from the band and around the primary gem, brilliantly polished into an oval cabuchon. The circle itself was interlocked silver and gold, burnished to a rich sheen. She wiped the corner of one eye before extending a hand to Narcissa for her own package.
"Draco, our minds seem to have walked on parallel paths. For too long, I agree, the general consensus, from Hogwarts to careers, has been that those two rival houses should never exist in harmony." She lifted a tiny object which glinted in the firelight. "You wear the sigil of Slytherin, and henceforth you shall also display that of Gryffindor." She grasped his left ear, and a ruby surrounded by two lions rampant adorned the previously bare lobe.
Draco gasped at the small pinch of piercing and murmured, "Salazar, woman, you might have warned me" while the snake from the opposite side hissed at her.
She raised herself on her toes and chided him. "Stop being a big baby or you'll miss the best part."
"The best part?" One eyebrow lifted.
"Yes. It's time to kiss the bride."
That was an activity which Draco appreciated so much that she was bent almost horizontal to the ground. It was rather distracting, however, to the two 'something blues' in her simple headdress. The pixies flew out, highly agitated and screaming at the top of their squeaky lungs. Suddenly joined by at least a dozen more from the trees, the enhanced troupe then dive-bombed the witnesses before disappearing into the darkness.
Hermione's face shone with tears. "Do you think they've found their tribe?"
"Anything is possible," Draco replied. "You know what this means, don't you?" At her inquisitive glance, he whispered, "With no need to search for pixies, we can spend all our time doing what honeymooners enjoy most!"
Draco surprised her when he changed the second week of their trip to a journey to the land 'Down Under'. With her cottage unfortunately leased, they stayed on the magical side of several Peppers resorts as they made their way up both the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.
Their first stop, once their bodies acclimated to the time zone, was to visit her parents and take them out to dinner. After apparating back to their hotel room, Hermione clung to Draco and cried at the emotions they had revealed. While not as deep had they recalled their true relationship, she now knew they cared for her a great deal as a person, and she was that much further on the road to forgiving herself.
They managed to spend a day viewing the Great Barrier Reef up close with gillyweed, marvelling at the varieties of sea life making it their home. When Draco spied her casting water cleansing charms and vanishing pieces of trash, he realized that while his wife claimed Harry had a 'saving people syndrome', she had taken up the mantle of caring for all other forms of life. Sighing (as best he could with gills) he swam over to assist her.
They arrived back in London totally exhausted and fell into bed to sleep for twelve straight hours. Hermione was awakened by Draco irritably calling for Trix. She raised her head in time to see the elf pop in, wearing an early twentieth century servant's uniform. Wondering what literary character she was–and thankful that she had again chosen one with modest apparel–she missed her husband's question.
"Miss Poppins is very happy to have little ones to look after."
"What 'little ones', Trix, er, 'Mary'?" she asked. "Draco and I are not planning to have children for several years."
"Master Draco's Mistress Hermione be forgetting her babies?"
The best she could manage was, "Huh?"
Draco gestured at their fireplace, upon which rested an ornate vase filled with yellow and blue flowers.
She squinted when the blue flowers moved and gasped as she recognized the shape. "But I thought they left us in Cornwall!"
"They be's unhappy there and finds their way back to home in Main Wizard Building. When they not see you, they fuss until Mister Harry Potter Sir comes to visit. Him and Missy Daffy talks and then calls me to bring them home."
"Hermione?" Draco asked in a strange voice. "There were only two of them before, right?"
At her nod, Trix chimed back in. "Oh, babies tell other pixies how good care Mistress gives them and theys follows." She wagged a finger at them. "Bad Master and Mistress to leaves their babies behind to travel for lovey-doveys!"
Draco collapsed back on the bed and looked at Hermione. "I don't know whether to laugh or curse."
"Oh, definitely laugh," she assured him with a straight face. "That's what I'll be doing when you explain to your mother that you already have a houseful of grandchildren for her."
Shortly afterwards, Trix shooed all the pixies from the room, muttering, "Good thing nanny is here. Master and Mistress naughty parents to be's doing that in front of children!"
A/N1: I wish to express my thanks to the Harry Potter websites which provided sundry details which would have taken an immense amount of time to mine from the books; Thesaurus-dot-com for enhancing the vocabulary of my rough draft; and, last but certainly not least, J.K. Rowling for her most superior imagination from which this marvelous world burst forth. The 'Follow' and 'Favorite' emails from this site as well as your kind reviews kept me going during a personal stressful time. Thanks to all of you.
A/N2: The next installment of Noblesse Oblige will begin posting shortly.