AN Hey guys… I am so sorry this chapter took so long to get to you. It has been done for quite some time but I was so busy with finals and working on my own book and I didn't want to run out of slack for this story. I will be finishing it before we get back to school that is for sure! It's not going to be a super long fic I don't think. I have two ideas on how to end it, one of them would probably double the size of it and the other would have it ending at around 60k-85k… we will see. Please Rate, Review, and Enjoy!
She stiffened but avoided saying anything in response which was a surprise to her. His arm wrapping around her may have helped with that or maybe it was the look on June's face when Harry dropped that bombshell on her. He could see now why he did it, he was a marauder like his father and this was another one of his pranks. That in mind she tried not to chuckle at him, he had dressed perfectly in the eyes of her family. He wore a well-fitting and no doubt expensive suit and a watch that looked to be worth more than some of their cars. He did say he wanted to make it fun.
She could see her father's eyes go wide but she tried her best to tell him to calm down with her own. Freaking out would ruin it.
"Hermione? You didn't tell anyone in the family you were seeing anyone? And such a suitable man no less." June said with a raised eyebrow and a snappy tone. She smiled though, which she knew to not be genuine.
"It is very new and I figured the best time would be this party? Am I wrong?" Hermione replied as calm as she could. It was hard though with his hands on her… it made her feel different even if it all was one big joke.
"That's true, this is probably one of the most important events of the year. It really is too bad you couldn't be here for Halloween. Grandma threw a wonderful party, or did you not get invited?" June asked innocently.
"Oh, I did, unfortunately I was celebrating the holiday with Harry's family. Maybe next year." She said before facing her 'boyfriend' and smiling.
This is a risky game Granger.
"I better get back to my mum. I will see you two at dinner then." June said before waving and heading back where they had come from.
She waited a bit while June put distance between them, all the while she glared at Harry. She wasn't totally against it of course; it would be a way to get back at the judgmental side of her family if they thought that she was dating someone better than them. Which she wasn't even sure about in terms of money, her and harry had never really spoken about money unless it was about what they wanted to do after school.
"Why wouldn't you tell me you were going to try something like that?" She said to him harshly.
"Don't be mad, it was on the spot okay. She was saying some pretty nasty stuff about you so I decided to make it a little more interesting." Harry said while he put his hands up in defense and backed up a step.
"What do I do now though? My whole family will know!" She complained.
"We just get through tonight and then next time this happens you can just say I was a total ass and you broke it off with me!" Harry laughed.
"I supposed I could, wouldn't really be a lie either." She said with an eye.
"Hey!"
"Really thanks for keeping me company. I appreciate it." She said to him shyly to which he nodded.
"Nowhere I'd rather be."
He really could be sweet when he wanted to be. Maybe it was a biproduct of all of his rudeness and he had to be nice sometimes. It did happen to be mostly with her. Minus the start of their relationship, he had been a good friend and a good person to her and her friends. She did think that pranking all of the Slytherins collectively rather than the bad sort was immature and her clinical mind determined it ineffective even.
"As far as introducing you to the family there aren't many here worth introducing you to. You met June, one of my cousins. We don't get along like I said. You will meet grandma at dinner, she is quite old fashioned so keep that in mind when you meet her. Anyone else we meet will be unfortunate so usually I try to keep to myself. I need to explain everything to mum and dad before they worry." Hermione said.
She left Harry where he stood and talked to her parents in a few words and let them in on their ploy. Her father chuckled softly and her mother gave her a weak glare which she expected. Her mum didn't like a lot of her family but she still loved them. Even after all they put dad through.
When she was done explaining everything, she found Harry again who was talking to one of her cousins… had she not said she tried to keep to herself? It looked like one of her older cousins by however many times removed. It started to get murky after the first cousins.
She heard laughter and wasn't surprised. Harry always made people laugh, blush, and generally just like him. If anything, all she was learning today was that his charm didn't end with the magical population.
"Hermione! Your boyfriend was just telling me about his summer! Funny lad this one!" The man laughed. She really didn't know his name, was it Charlie? Something close? She didn't really have any bad memories of him or had heard anything bad from her parents.
"He's plenty more than funny." She said before grabbing his arm and giving it a squeeze.
What are you doing Granger!
Why was she doing this? She could be playing it cool and not putting her hands all over him! The problem was that she wanted to, even if she didn't want to be with him or date him the thought always popped up here or there. He was an attractive person and her own age and they spent most of their days together! She never spent that much time with a boy before! Tonight, she could pretend that they were more than friends, then they could go back to normal.
She looked to him to see him blush deeply which made her smile. It was nice to see that he wasn't immune to it either. Which made her wonder about him, how did he feel about her? Did he think she was attractive as well? Did he think she was funny? She didn't know, maybe she'd have to ask.
Harry and the man finished their conversation while she stood dutifully in case she was needed but he seemed to handle it well, better than she ever could at least.
When he left, Harry turned to her.
"Do you have like a list of the shit relatives? Is it all of them or what?" Harry asked.
"No, we don't keep a list." She laughed.
"Okay then." He said with a smirk.
The pair spent the rest of the time standing by her parents, her hand grasping his arm like they were a young couple in love. Soon they would be heading to the formal dinner. Everyone would eat and brag about their years. Usually there would be some shots fired her way. She didn't get it; her dad may have come from less money but him and her mother had built up a fair bit of wealth over their lifetimes. He had a better job than most of them as far as she knew. In a way it reminded her of the Wizarding world when it came to Pureblood versus New Blood. Although it wasn't such a big deal anymore from what she had read.
Dinner came faster than she wished. Typically, after dinner there would be some dancing and drinking before midnight hit and celebrated. Then people would trickle home and they could take a sigh of relief and hopefully not have to do it again for a few years.
They all filtered into the large dining room. There were hand painted canvases along the walls, most of them in the weird and scary style that was popular in the day. There were large cabinets with expensive knickknacks and ornaments.
They sat close to the head of the table, across from June and Aunt Abby. It was unfortunate but since grandma only had two daughters and a son, they had to sit so close to the action.
Everyone was seated for a while and sat in silence. Then she arrived, her grandmother. She was an old woman and dressed in an old-fashioned dress. It was white and she sported a large hat with it, a feather of some sort of bird on top. She stopped and looked to the table and smiled widely. Her face wavered when she passed over her dad which made her grit her teeth but it widened when it made it to her mum and her and then finally questioning when they met Harry.
Before she could speak up to explain, Harry got to his feet. Without a word he made his way to the head of the table and pulled out the chair for the woman.
What was he doing!
Her grandma looked to him up and down before looking over to her father and then back to Harry. Then she took her seat before Harry helped her tuck in.
"It is wonderful to see manors have not died off with the newest generation completely. Who is this man? Not one of the Granger's I assume? If he is, he is much better manored than the ones I've had the… pleasure of meeting." She said with a smile.
Harry didn't seem to be phased by it and her stomach clenched. She looked to her dad who looked to be unphased by it.
"He is my boyfriend grandma, from school." She said quietly.
"You will have to speak up dear." Her grandma said.
"It is Hermione's boyfriend grandma, apparently anyway." She said before sneering at her.
Did she know they were lying? Did she not think she could pull Harry herself? Well, she was probably right on that one but for much different reasons.
"Apparently? What are you trying to say?" Her grandma said.
"Just wouldn't be surprised if she paid him to be here is all. Come on, Hermione bringing a handsome and wealthy boy to this? She never so much as mentioned his name or anyone's as long as I've known her. This is just her trying to send some sort of message and she probably pulled this piece of meat off the streets and dressed him up." June said harshly.
The whole table gasped and immediately looked to the pair if they weren't before. She could feel herself shrinking and her face burning and she looked to Harry.
"What are you saying? That is absolutely crazy! Who would even say that?" Harry questioned with disgust.
"Hermione would. She thinks she is so smart and now she has to complete the puzzle with a fancible man." June snapped.
"June, I would prefer that you did not speak for the rest of dinner. This man is a guest in my house and I will not have my family speak so rudely to him. I apologize Hermione for your cousin's outburst. It was inappropriate and it will be dealt with." Her grandma spoke up.
June didn't say a word but she dropped her head and looked at the table cloth as hard as she could to avoid her grandmother's gaze.
"Please introduce me to your boyfriend dear." She said then facing her.
"This is my boyfriend, Harry; we both go to my school together." She said simply.
"Harry, you say? Such a classic name. Pleased to meet you, Harry. Again, I am sorry for June, she is young and foolish. A little jealous even." Her grandma said.
It was nice seeing June say nothing. Although she could almost see the words clawing at her mouth to retort but she held out.
"It is a pleasure meeting you as well. I have heard good things." Harry said sincerely.
She could see the glint in his eye that said otherwise but the rest of them knew none the wiser.
"We should eat." Her grandmother said.
Shortly after different servers brought out food for them and everyone started to eat. The food was amazing, it always was despite everything. She wasn't exactly surprised that her grandmother liked Harry. She was old fashioned and Harry had taken that to heart. She knew his family was old as well as the Black's so she wouldn't be surprise if he had gotten some kind of class on being formal. Even though when she met them, they were the nicest and informal people.
There wasn't much talking done at her end of the table besides her grandmother and her two daughters. She wasn't really paying attention though; she was just thinking about tonight. It hadn't gone perfect but seeing June just shut her mouth made her feel better.
When they finished eating their plates were taken and they remained seated and many smaller conversations broke out. There weren't so many people here when you saw them all condensed to one long table but it was still the biggest gathering of their family.
Her grandmother stood after a while and that immediately got all of their attentions.
"Thank you all for coming here and joining together as a family. It has been a long time since we have all gathered here and it makes me happy to see you all together. New faces and old, meeting like this should be a tradition so I do not have to go so long without seeing my family. Let us celebrate and count down to the New Year." She said.
Before anyone could reply, Harry cleared his throat and stood.
"I would just like to thank you all for having me for the holiday. The food was amazing and I just thought that before we celebrate, I would celebrate to a New Year with Hermione in my life and hopefully one day joining your family." Harry said before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a box.
It was too big to actually fit in a pocket which made her think he used a wandless shrinking charm to fit it in his pocket and had canceled it on its way to the front. It was a larger black box and immediately she deduced there was some kind of jewelry in it based on its size and boxes she had seen in jewelry shops. Not a moment later he handed her the box.
She could feel all of their eyes on her and she knew she had to open it now. In truth she hadn't gotten him anything. Now she felt awful, it was just that they never had talked about it and she had never had a friend to get a gift for and now she felt awful. She would have to make it up to him later but for now she had to play along and think of a gift she could get him.
She opened the box and in it laid a necklace. It was perhaps the nicest one she had ever seen in person or anywhere. There was a silver chain that met a heart shaped diamond. The diamond was large and it had a tinge of pink to it. The stone was large, she had no clue what something like this would cost but she doubted it was cheap and she felt herself get mad at him. Why would he do this? He couldn't spend that kind of money on her! Not when she had gotten him nothing. Maybe it was all a part of their ploy? Yeah, that was it.
She set the box down gently on the table and mustered all of her courage. This is what someone who had gotten a gift like this from their boyfriend would do right? He looked at her confused and made to hug her but with all of her courage she put both of her hands on his cheeks and brought his face to meet hers. Their lips met, in between the beating of her heart that drummed in her head she thought about what was happening. He kissed her back, and she experienced her first kiss. His lips were soft and she could smell his cologne up close and it smelled great. They lingered on each other's lips before breaking apart slowly. Her whole body was on fire, she felt the blood rushing through her and she almost toppled over. Her grandmother was clapping which meant the rest of the table started to clap. She looked to Harry who looked dumbfounded and she could only hope she didn't just ruin their friendship. As of now she had no regrets though, that was amazing. Even if it wasn't for real.
"Put it on me?" She asked.
"Of course." He said.
She turned around while he wrapped the necklace around her neck and clasped it together in the back. His hands running along her body did things to her and she almost let out a moan. This was getting out of hand, she needed to relax.
When she turned and the rest of the table saw the necklace, she could see a lot of their jaws drop. It was a beautiful thing, and it was too bad she would be giving it back to him after tonight. But she would enjoy wearing it for now and seeing the looks that June gave her.
"It really is beautiful." She said softly before looking up to his green eyes.
"It pales to you." He said which drew a few awe's from the crowd.
"That was lovely Harry. What a stunning piece. It is time for us to dance." Her grandma said.
It broke her out of her trance with Harry and she had to shake her head to right herself. With that they made their way to the dance floor, all the while she avoided her parent's gaze with all of her will power. She could not face them after what had just happened.
There was a band in the room now and they were playing slow music. The kind she knew her grandma liked. She was the first to get on the floor with her son and started to dance. Followed by her Aunt Abby and her husband.
She looked to Harry to gauge his interest but was met with an outstretched hand. She took it and they made their way to the dance floor. His hands were on her waist and it made her shiver and want to jump… or for him to continue and run his hands along her. What was she saying! She had done things tonight and he had done things and it had her feeling so off but so good.
"Do you like it then?" Harry said softly while avoiding her gaze.
"How could I not? It is beautiful. I promise I will treat it with the upmost respect tonight like it was my own." She said before squeezing his shoulder.
"It would be good for you to treat it as your own since it is yours now." He chuckled.
He couldn't be serious. It had to be worth more than she could think of and he wanted her to keep it?"
"Harry I can't keep this; it is far too valuable." She whispered with regret.
"That is how valuable of a friend you are then if you want to look at it like that. Really the money doesn't matter I just thought you would really like it." Harry said with a smile.
"I do. I'm sorry I didn't get you anything in return. I've never had friends and my parents never wanted anything from me." She said without meeting his eyes.
"That wasn't my gift before? Can't say at the beginning of the year I would've guessed my first kiss could come at a muggle party with Hermione Granger." He laughed.
His first kiss? Really? She imagined there was no way it could've been his first. She knew he didn't date around and he didn't have any exes she knew of but she figured at some point something would've happened.
"Sorry about that too, I got too caught up with everything and…"
"Don't be sorry. This is… complicated, all of this. Easy to get caught up."
She nodded and they continued to dance.
"We have to avoid my parents after that I hope you know." She said.
"I figured." Harry chuckled.
"How has your night been then? Could've spent it at home with your family." She said although she knew she wouldn't rather him have.
"It's been fun, kind of like being an actor. The most fun is yet to come though." He said with a smirk.
"What do you mean? What did you do?" She asked
"Let's just say come midnight we should probably be gone. We should warn your parents but they are going to be fine of course. Although your dad might want to see it." Harry explained.
She wanted to fight him or berate him but she held off the urge.
"Will everyone be okay?" She asked.
"Oh yeah they'll be fine. More embarrassed than anything. Nothing magical." He said.
"I trust you then. Before midnight we will head to your car then? We will be going back to Hogwarts anyway I don't need to stop home." She said.
"Me neither. That sounds like a plan." Harry said.
Part of her needed to know what Harry had planned and the other part of her didn't. It sounded bad, but she trusted him that it would be tame enough for them and he had said it wouldn't hurt them. As far as embarrassing them went, he could bring it on. They had embarrassed her dad and even herself more than a few times.
They danced the night away, only stopping to get drinks when they were thirsty. But the clock was ticking, they were nearing midnight and she knew they would have to leave soon to make it out in time. Her grandmother had spoken to them and examined the necklace and had proclaimed loudly that he was a keeper and if he asked her for her hand she must say yes. Of course they would say yes, he had made the kind of impression that they understood. She was only happy that all that happened tonight had taken the pressure off of her dad and in some ways herself because they were focused on Harry. Honestly, he had a lot of experience being the center of attention so she appreciated him taking it off of them.
Harry motioned that they should get going so she followed him. They made their way outside for 'a spot of fresh air' but Harry grabbed his key from the valet. They got in his car and left before disaster struck.