Ch. 30

The next morning Hermione and Draco came down to breakfast together. Lucious and Narcissa were already at the table reading the paper when the others took a seat.

Narcissa was over her husband's shoulder reading an article that he was also looking at and while they stole glances at their son. When they were done, Lucious set the paper down and slid it over to Draco. "It looks like you might have caused a scene in Diagon Alley yesterday Draco." His father didn't sound happy or displeased with him.

Draco picked up the paper and saw a picture of him and Potter inside Gringotts. "Where did they get this?" he asked as he started reading the article.

Hermione looked on as he read, "oh, written by Rita Skeeter…" she said aloud.

"So?" Draco returned.

Hermione read the article with him:

The boy who lived, or the boy who has nine lives as I like to call him, was spotted yesterday with the most unlikely person, Hogwarts Potions Master Draco Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy, many of us remember, was lead into the dark arts by his parents Lucious and Narcissa Malfoy. After his parents dissent into shame after the war, young Draco has turned his life around due to the support of the wizarding community. This once misguided child has turned into a man who appeared to help Potter into the bank that still has him listed, as well as Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, as wanted thieves. Everyone remembers the daring break in and escape by the trio that helped to take down the dark lord.

Mr. Malfoy was seen talking to a head manager at the bank earlier that day and demanded the flyer be taken down or that he would close his account. This reporter is glad that someone was able to get the goblin run bank, notorious for taking a hard line with wizards, to change their minds. His reason, however, is more shocking than his request. Heard by many witnesses at the bank that day, was that his fiancé was listed on the flyer in question. Is it possible he could mean Ms. Hermione Granger?

Many of my readers, and even myself having struck up a friendship with this girl in her youth, just don't believe this could be true! Hermione Granger is known for her daring, intelligence, and being a muggle born witch. Many of you will ask how she could be received into a family that has been known to torture and kill muggle born wizards and witches?

Although the paring of these two young people seems unlikely, some people already believe it. "They do teach at the school together, and who knows, maybe they got lonely?" Doris Crockford added. Others have seen proof of a long standing romance. "When I was at school they came walking in to every meal time together and they appeared inseparable to me," Travis Bones from Gryffindor house comments. "Anything I did in professor Malfoy's class she seemed to know about and made a point to talk to me about." The words from this young Gryffindor do hint that there could be a romance between the pair. We will have to stay tuned to know for sure.

Hermione scoffed at many points during the article and was angry about the things that Rita had printed about Draco, but not necessarily about his family. She knew from the start of dating Draco that those things would come up eventually.

Suddenly an owl appeared with a letter addressed to her. Draco took the letter from the bird and gave it over to Hermione. It was from Harry.

Congrats Hermione,

I saw Draco yesterday and figured he'd already proposed, especially since the article today. I know what you're thinking, but you won't be able to blackmail Rita this time, she is registered as an animagus now, I know, I've checked. Let's plan to get together soon! Ginny says hi!

-Harry

She lowered the letter slowly, she had been thinking about revenge on Rita for her article and didn't like that she had lost her leverage over her.

Draco was afraid of Hermione's name being drug through the mud and it was already happening less than 24 hours after his proposal. "I'm sorry Hermione," he didn't want to look at her.

"What are YOU sorry for?" she asked, her tone angry, not because of Draco but because of Rita Skeeter.

He just looked at her.

She looked at his parents and they were just staring at her like Draco was. They knew that by accepting Draco's proposal she was going to have to share in their ridicule as being a member of their family. All of them wondered if she might change her mind.

Narcissa spoke first. "Hermione, this is what you will hear if you choose to become a member of this family…"

Hermione looked at her and spoke in an angry tone. "If? So you're all waiting for me to change my mind?" she said as she looked at all of them and rested her gaze on Draco.

"That's your choice," he said as his voice cracked, his heart breaking.

She wanted to scream but instead she used her wand to create several little yellow canaries and paced the room, thinking of a strategy for the personal attack that was launched. When she drew her wand they all flinched.

"First of all, Draco, I love you and I'm not going anywhere." She said in a matter of fact tone. It was the same thing he had said to her when she asked if he would take her back after the blow up with her parents.

"Second, I can't stand that Skeeter woman and she knows it. When I went to school she wrote the nastiest stories about me in the prophet and I got all sorts of hate letters because of her. I found her spying on me one day and captured her in a jar."

The family was taken aback by this. "Hermione, what are you talking about?" Draco began.

"She's an animagus, a beetle to be exact. I found out she wasn't registered with the ministry and held her until she agreed to stop writing nasty stories about people."

"And of course, we're the bad guys," Lucious remarked sarcastically.

"Well if the shoe fits, Lucious," she said without emotion. Her comment was rude but Draco didn't mind, it was accurate and he knew his father could stand up for himself.

"Harry just wrote to say she is registered with the ministry now, so I can't use that as a strategy."

"What are you wanting to do exactly? Aren't you the one who tells me to let it go?"

Just then an owl came in holding a red envelope. Draco detached it from the bird and opened the howler.

"Ms. Granger, I'm appalled at you for your choices! I expected better of the girl that helped to defeat the dark lord. You disgust me," signed Mrs. Pruget. Apparently she was a Rita Skeeter fan because no one in the room was familiar with her name.

Draco became deeply angry at this letter addressed to his fiancé and agreed with Hermione. She raised her eyebrows at him, as if asking him what he thought now.

"Let's talk strategy." He said as he got up from the table.

Hermione and Draco planned to keep their party on track and sent out invites for their engagement party to their friends that would take place at the end of the week. The rest of the time they talked about what strategy to use to combat the public conversation. Lucious typically invited himself to these conversations and was present to hear what they both were planning and offered suggestions. Narcissa stayed out of it because it made her too unhappy to think about.

During the week, there were many times when Draco went off to one place or another delivering some invitations by hand or to get a break from the house. On those occasions she usually sat in the living room and talked with Lucious about her plans. After the howler, Hermione was surprised that she didn't get many other letters about the article, that hadn't happened in the past.

Lucious enjoyed hearing Hermione strategize and how passionate she got when she was angry. He knew that he was mostly to blame for her getting this negative press because of his actions during the war and his reputation in general. He did his best to be supportive to the both of them during this time.

"I was thinking, why don't you just invite her to the party?" Lucious threw out there.

Hermione was taken aback. "Why, so she can write that you and Narcissa cursed me into marrying your son somehow?" She was usually extremely blunt with Lucious and didn't worry about hurting his feelings.

He quickly grew to like that about her and they would typically have very open discussions. When this happened usually Draco and Narcissa would remove themselves so they didn't get uncomfortable. Neither of them would watch their tempers with each other but that was just the kind of relationship that Hermione and her new father in law had with one another.

"What does it matter if she writes that? Most people will certainly think so anyways…" He added.

"I don't think so, she's not invited." Hermione added abruptly.

"Well, you can't blackmail her, so you will need to bait her. I don't know why you don't take it from me as someone who has that particular skill." He added.

He piqued her interest because she knew he had done well to fool people and get things he wanted. "And what do you suggest?" she asked in a slightly haughty tone.

Lucious sighed, "Start by inviting her, and then tell her you have your reservations because of the past. Give her others she will want more than you, such as Potter. It's pretty simple Hermione, I'm surprised you hadn't already thought of this," he dug at her.

"It's not usually in my nature to give up my friends, you ought to know that by now…" she trailed off as he did one of his faint smiles at her comment. She considered what she had to say and grabbed some of the parchment on the table to write to Harry.

Dear Harry and Ginny,

I know this sounds crazy, but how would you feel about being the focus in the prophet for the next few weeks? I know I'm asking a lot, but if it's not okay I will respect that.

Your friend always,

Hermione

She folded the paper and sealed the envelope.

"That letter is for Potter, isn't it," Lucious asked, smiling because she had taken his advice.

"And so what if it is?" she asked. He smirked at her.

She sent the letter off and came back into the room where Lucious was.

"You know, you need to work on that tone you have with me," he began.

She looked up at him with a surly look and then softened. She knew he was a little right. "I'll think about it." She added as she smirked back.

Later that evening Draco had arrived back home and Harry had written back to her that he was fine having the extra attention. It was second nature for him considering the way he had grown up in the spotlight. He couldn't go anywhere without appearing in the paper anyways, so it wasn't much of an ask as far as Harry was concerned.

After reading the letter she approached Lucious. "So," she began. "Harry wrote back to say he was fine with your idea. What do you suggest from here?" She was polite while asking him.

"I don't believe this," he started. "You're actually asking me for advice?" he was sarcastic as he looked at his wife and Draco.

"And notice my tone, it was nicer than usual," she pointed out, irritated as she rolled her eyes.

"It was!" Lucious feigned surprise and then began to answer her question. "Did you write to your reporter friend yet?" he asked casually.

"Not my friend, but I'm planning to write now," she added.

"Write as I told you before and after you mention your apprehensions tell her Potter will be there and that she's invited. Tell her if she behaves she can come to the wedding…"

"That sounds like a good idea," Draco added as he looked at Hermione.

"We haven't even set a date!" Hermione replied.

"Who cares…" Lucious began. "Don't give her more information than she needs to have."

Hermione agreed that he was right and went to write the letter, when she was done she read it aloud to them.

Dear Rita,

I have to hand it to you, you were definitely on to something when you published the article about Draco and myself. I'm having an engagement party tomorrow night. Harry will be there too of course. I'd like to invite you but I'm a little apprehensive because of our past, just to be honest Rita. My fiancé and I believe in moving on from our past and I write to formally invite you to our engagement party. If we can move forward I'd like to invite you to my wedding later in the year.

Sincerely,

Hermione Granger

"Thoughts?" She asked the group.

"It's perfect," Draco said.

"Yes, I agree," Lucious echoed.

"Hmmm," Narcissa piped in for the first time "I think it should mention something about Lucious and myself attending. The prophet is always writing about Potter, what if she needs something more enticing?" She offered.

The idea didn't make Hermione feel very good. "But…that's what we're hoping to avoid, isn't it?"

"You're not worried, are you?" Lucious asked sarcastically.

Hermione didn't reply to his quip. The truth was, she wanted to try to be a part of his family, not tear it apart.

"Hermione?" Draco looked at her closely.

Narcissa could read the intent behind her apprehension. "That's very sweet, but we've been through worse," Narcissa said as she smiled at her.

Hermione went back to her letter and anxiously added to the last line, "I look forward to introducing you to my in laws, they tell me they've never had the pleasure." After she sealed it she closed her eyes and handed it to Draco.

Draco was moved by the fact that she didn't want to cause any extra publicity for his family. He had never mentioned it aloud, but as much as had happened in his life, he loved his parents. What people said about them caused him pain, but he was able to bear it better as time went on. He left the room to send the letter off and came back to Hermione who was looking slightly dejected. Instead of sitting down next to her he leaned down over her, moved her hair to the side and whispered in her ear, "I love you Hermione," and then kissed her neck.

She was upset at having to use the strategy his parents suggested, she knew it was the best way but it still made her heart feel a little heavy. "What picture is she going to paint once she shows up?" Hermione couldn't help but feel that she was going to be at Rita's mercy at the end of it. She felt like she should excuse herself from the table to be alone with her thoughts.

"Excuse me," she said as she stood up to leave, they had all noticed her acting oddly after sending the letter. She got up and left to Draco's room and cried for a few minutes when she heard a knock on the door. She dried her eyes and waited for Draco to enter.

Instead of Draco, Lucious entered. She was used to having to control her emotions in front of him and didn't like that he was in her space. Her eyes were still very red and he could tell she had been crying.

He just had started to get to know her over the past week. He had never cared for her, quite the opposite actually, but she he was starting to warm up to her. He didn't want to see her upset on a count of him and his wife. They were used to being lambasted in the papers and in the wizarding community, and if Hermione thought she was going to change this she was sorely mistaken.

"I wanted to be alone," she said bluntly.

He was relieved to see that even though she was emotional she hadn't changed in how she addressed him. It would make it easier for him to say what he felt he needed to.

"I'm aware," he began as he moved further into the room.

Hermione just scoffed at his reply and turned her back on him, more tears leaked out of her eyes and she wiped them away.

He never had a daughter, but he was in a weird position of wanting to give her advice and not knowing how to approach her. She went from crying to not crying and it was odd for him. The only experience he had was when Narcissa had been unhappy, but she rarely cried. He was a little at a loss.

"Hermione," he said as she slightly turned to look at him. "What did you honestly expect? You knew our family's reputation better than anyone…" He had the hint of accusation on his voice.

She didn't answer him but turned her face back so that she wasn't looking at him. He waited for an answer and she began to cry more, he could see her shoulders shaking slightly. He took a step backward to begin to leave when she spoke up.

"I don't want this to end up causing Draco any more pain than what he's already had." She replied.

Lucious was struck by how much Hermione loved his son but needed her to understand. "It will be more painful for him to sacrifice his future, this is a small concession when you consider the whole picture." He offered.

She didn't know if he was saying she wasn't considering the whole picture and making a jibe at her or not and considered what he said before answering. "Draco isn't a part of that reputation, why should he be branded by it?"

"Ah, I'm sure he doesn't share your sentiments." He said as she turned around to face him head on. "You look at me like I don't know what he's capable of, maybe it's only you who is disillusioned…"

"Shut up!" she shouted at him as she stood up, shaking with rage. "He's not like that anymore," she continued to shout.

"Did you think you could change him?" He continued to push.

Before she knew it her hand was tightly gripping her wand and it was in Lucious's face. Draco and Narcissa heard the shouting and had just come through the door to check on her when they saw Hermione's threatening stance.

Narcissa reacted before anyone had a chance to do something they might regret. "Expeliarmus," she did the spell non-verbally as the wand shot into her hand.

Being disarmed didn't faze Hermione, she was still in Lucious's face, glaring at him.

Lucious wasn't bothered by Hermione's outburst. His features softened. "I wanted to prove a point to you. If you can't handle hearing these things, you're not ready to marry my son." It hurt him to say it because he knew what admitting that would do to his son.

Hermione's expression went from livid and as the anger ebbed away she inhaled sharply. Tears pooled in her eyes again. Lucious understood something about her that she hadn't understood herself, something that neither Draco or his mother saw. She looked down as a tear fell, and Draco moved over to comfort her. She felt inadequate, and Draco comforting her made her feel worse.

"That's enough," he said as he stood between his soon to be bride and his father. His tone was bordering on threatening. He made it clear that if there was a side to take, he was going to take hers.

Lucious began to turn to leave and Draco returned to comforting her.

"No, you're right…" she sounded like she was starting to hyperventilate.

Lucious was surprised at her reaction, he half expected her to shout at him again after what he had just said to her. He faced her again, his eyes sorrowful.

Draco felt his heart break at her agreement with father's statement of not being ready to marry him. He held on to her. "What?" he sounded exasperated.

She tried to control her composure as her breathing slowed. "If I'm going to be ready, I'll need your help," she said to him earnestly.

Draco hugged her tightly, as he did he slightly lifted her off the floor. He was happy she wasn't giving up on him. The crestfallen look had vanished from his face.

Hermione picked up on his reaction and put her hand on his face. "Draco…did you think…" she began and then stopped. She needed to settle things with his father first before dealing with Draco's idea that she could possibly leave him. She lowered her hand and looked at Lucious again. She was going to speak when Narcissa spoke first.

"Lucious," Narcissa said as she stepped forward. "I think there's been enough talking for today. Hermione is clearly distraught and the party is tomorrow evening…"

"But how is she going to handle herself? I made one comment about Draco and she nearly hexed me Narcissa." He tried to explain.

Draco squeezed her hand, Hermione looked up at him and he was smiling at her.

Narcissa looked at Hermione, but the kind look was gone from her eyes. She was sizing her up. Perhaps Lucious was right. "Hermione, if you can't hold your composure, you'll be a liability. You know behaving emotionally can be rash, and doesn't do credit to our family or yours." Narcissa sat down on Draco's bed.

The way Narcissa spoke to her got her attention. "What am I supposed to say if people mention the past, or ask if I'm with him just to change him?"

"You have changed me," Draco offered.

"And you've changed me too, but you're still arrogant and sarcastic quite often, and I've grown to love that about you." She added.

"Really?" he said sarcastically to her attempt to answer. "You're still the same know it all you've always been," he returned.

She ignored him as Narcissa replied. "If you show people that you care what they think, they will expect you to wait on their approval. Life is too short to spend time worrying. If you and Draco are happy, that's all that matters." She said a little harshly.

"It's not that I care for others good opinion," Hermione tried to defend herself. "I just don't like what this might cost Draco, and the negative attention this will bring to your family. I'm not waiting on approval; my decision is already made." She explained.

Draco stared at her for a moment. "Hermione," he said softly. "Your friends and parents coming tomorrow might just see us as murderers," he never knew how Hermione was able to see him differently. "Just because you might see me, or maybe my family differently, doesn't mean everyone else will see what you do." He rubbed her back as he spoke to her.

She leaned into him, laying her head on his chest. He slowly wrapped his arms around her. "I wish I could show everyone what I see." She replied.

Lucious and Narcissa were moved but decided to leave the couple, it was getting late. They felt like they offered any advice they could. Narcissa reminded both of them of the early start to set up for the party before she and Lucious left.

Moments later, Draco leaned in to kiss Hermione and when they broke the kiss he asked her a question. "How did you start to see me differently?"

"I don't know…just from getting to know you better. Seeing that you had a softer side…" She said as he made a face at her.

"Softer side?" Draco returned.

"You can be sensitive and sweet, and compassionate," she said as she looked into his eyes.

"I guess it's okay if you see me that way. I don't want any of your other friends, especially Potter or Weasley, to think I'm…sweet." He replied sarcastically.

She laughed at his reply and pulled him down so he was on top of her. Draco began kissing her and then picked Hermione up and put her on the bed. He laid back on top of her and began kissing her neck. When she began to kiss him back he slowed her down.

"We have a lot of arrangements to prepare tomorrow. We better get some sleep Hermione." He said in a soft voice. "Nox," he said as he turned off the light and set his wand down.

"Before we sleep…" she started to say as she laid down and snuggled up next to him.

"Yeah."

"There have been a couple times in the last few days where you've acted like I'm going to change my mind…about us. Is that something you're worried about?" It had bothered her after the first time and then he had alluded to it again that night.

"…maybe…"

She reached for his hand and pulled it around her tighter. "Why? Did I do something to make you think that I'm not serious about you?" she asked in a sad tone. She hoped that wasn't the case.

"No, it's just dealing with the same things we're already going through in setting up this party. I'm wondering how you might handle the next five years of this, let alone a lifetime." He also finished on a sad note.

"If I have you then I don't care. Like I told your mom, I don't care about everyone's opinions. If we can find our own way to deal with people's comments, then it shouldn't affect us, right?"

"Things always sound better in theory Hermione, then real life happens." He added.

"I've been thinking about what your mom said about not reacting in a way that doesn't give us any credit…" she began.

"It's always been hard for you to control your emotions," he commented flatly.

"Are you serious? How can you say that to me?" she was a little offended.

"Um, because I know you. You got so excited at the sorting that all the students were laughing, you wear your heart on your sleeve Hermione…and, that's going to be a problem."

"Say for a moment that what you say is true, and I'm not saying it is. What do you suggest? Did you change your approach? How do you not care?

"Do I act like I don't care?" he asked.

"Sometimes, before I knew you better."

"Good, I don't have to worry if others think I'm sensitive then…" he trailed off.

Hermione laughed. "I'm serious Draco!"

"Just be friendly and prepare some phrases to use when people push your buttons. You got pretty good at doing that with me, remember?"

Working with Draco had been one of the biggest lessons in patience that she had ever gotten. She had to change her approach quite a bit to be able to work with him, but in the end she was able to win him over, even though she won him over more than she expected to.

"Yeah…maybe I'll just pretend everyone is you when we were kids. That was great advice!" She felt that this would solve her problem.

"That's not what I was saying…" he laughed and hugged her tighter and they both drifted off to sleep.