Ch. 29

When he got back to the house it was nearly dinner time. So much had happened that he hadn't expected that day and it ended up delaying his plans.

Hermione had spent the day with his mother in the kitchen trying to learn to cook magically. It turned out that Hermione could do the spells just fine with a little bit of expert teaching and practice, and was a master by dinner time. When they sat down to dinner Narcissa proudly announced that Hermione made the whole thing.

Draco smirked at Hermione and took the first bite. "This is pretty good," he returned as she beamed at him.

Lucious pushed his plate forward as if to signal that he wasn't hungry.

"Honestly Lucious," Narcissa said in a severe tone.

"Maybe you think I would poison you?" Hermione offered in a flat tone as she took a bite.

Draco ignored his father and continued eating, then he pretended to grab at his throat and made a face as if he had been poisoned. Everyone laughed except his father.

Lucious pushed himself. He was going to have to accept that Hermione was going to be a part of his family. He didn't want to ruin the good mood that was at the table.

He slowly took a bite of one of the dishes and then nodded his head in Hermione's direction. "This is very good…Hermione." He said in light tone.

"Thank you," she said in a dignified way as they all finished their dinner. When they were done, Draco suggested they all go out to the garden to enjoy the evening. She was disappointed, hoping for some alone time.

When she came out many of the bushes had full flowers and others were blooming, she hadn't noticed them looking that way in the morning. It was breathtaking. She held his hand and walked through the garden with him as his parents walked arm in arm on the other side.

He walked with her to a bench that had an arrangement of lilies and roses that he had bought earlier that day. "These are for you," he offered.

"Me? Draco, that's so sweet!" she said as she picked up the flowers and took in their scent in a deep breath. "They're beautiful."

Draco got down on one knee and looked up at Hermione who was still smelling her flowers, as she noticed him on one knee she lowered the flowers down and looked at him in shock.

He grabbed her hand, "Hermione, you're the best person I know, my best and only friend in this world, and I want to spend the rest of my life as your husband. Is it possible for you to do me the honor of being my wife?" He felt nervous and noticed he was shaking a little bit. She bent down and kissed him as tears ran down her face. He stood up and continued kissing her as he moved the flowers out of her hand and back onto the bench. Then he broke the kiss and wiped her tears away.

Draco smiled at her, "so does this mean no," he joked with her.

She lightly swatted his arm. "I want to be your wife Draco," she added as another tear fell and she laid her head on his chest. He grabbed her tightly and hugged her.

His parents felt honored to be able to witness their son's proposal, even Lucious. He walked closer to the both of them and whispered. "Did you have a ring Draco?" He hoped Draco hadn't overlooked this part, he was pretentiously relying on Draco's good breeding to teach Hermione how to carry herself in a more refined way now that she had accepted.

"Oh," he pulled Hermione away slightly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the most stunning ring she had ever seen and presented it to her. She inhaled sharply and looked from Draco to the ring, frozen.

He grabbed her hand after she didn't move and gently straightened out her fingers and slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. "This is gorgeous," she managed to say.

He put his hand under her chin and lifted it so that she was looking at him, she still had tears pooling in her eyes from the proposal. "You're gorgeous Hermione," he said as he kissed her again. They began kissing so passionately that Lucious coughed loudly to break them apart.

As they looked over at his parents Narcissa offered her congratulations to the happy couple and Lucious had a faint smile and nod that showed his approval and they left the garden so Draco and Hermione could be alone.

The idea of getting married started to settle on Hermione and the excitement took over. "I have so many people to tell! I need to write my mom and dad, oh, and Harry and Ginny!"

Draco laughed lightly. "They already know," he sat down on the bench and motioned for her to come sit down as well. "I saw your parents and got your father's blessing this morning," he said as she looked at him with surprise, "and I ran into Potter in Diagon Alley."

"You actually talked to Harry?" She remembered that Harry and Draco that were enemies.

"Yeah," he said, nonchalantly.

"Wow, I'm sorry to have missed that," she laughed and then looked at the ring on her finger again. The diamond was so brilliant that it appeared to be glowing softly.

"I was thinking," he started hesitantly, "maybe we should throw an engagement party, invite your friends and parents?"

"Where would we even hold a party?" she asked.

"At the manor, of course!" he answered. "Are you forgetting we have this whole big house?"

"But this is your parent's house Draco, inviting people that fought against them?" It seemed like a recipe for disaster to her.

"It's just that when I spoke to your father he asked me what people would say about us being together since we were on opposite sides of the war. Potter was surprised, he looked at me like I was crazy. I just want everyone to see that what we have is…real."

"You mean, you want to show people that I'm not under a curse or a love potion by agreeing to marry you…" she threw in.

"And assure your dad that you don't have Stockholm syndrome…"

"What?!"

"People might think that way, let's head off some of the talk by throwing this, plus it will be fun, you'll get to show off your ring." He smiled at her as he grabbed her hand.

She looked at him apprehensively and then agreed. They spent the rest of the night talking out the details and setting a date for a week out.