Chapter 1- The Proposal
The pub was buzzing with activity. All wizards and witches, young and old alike; celebrated the defeat of Lord Voldermort. In one corner of the pub, three young men of twenty-three were seated together. Had they been sixteen, one of them would've been beaten up by two of them. However, things changed towards the end of their seventh year on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when they were all almost adult. Whilst preparing for their NEWT, one of the boys' father had been murdered by the very man he had served for the most part of his life. That man was Lucius Malfoy. After the murder, the whole of Malfoy Manor was searched and the aurors had discovered that the manor had been subjected by dark curses that even anything considered 'non-evil' would have been burned the minute it stepped into the manor. That was when seventeen years old Draco Malfoy was brought into the custody of Professor MacGonagall the Head of Gryffindor House who, together with Professor Snape of the Slytherin House, had help bring out any piece of good that could be found in the heart of young Draco Malfoy. Under their guidance, Draco Malfoy had blossomed from an arrogant prat into a mature and responsible young man who was given the sole responsibility of the huge Malfoy fortune once the Manor had been properly restored out of its darkness. It was after Draco had turned twenty-one, that he decided to train as aurors to help defeat Voldermort, not just to avenge his family, but also to rid the world of the Dark Side.
Aurors Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger had welcomed him with open arms when he first joined the aurors. Other aurors soon followed suit seeing that since the three aurors had accepted their school nemesis into the team, it should be safe for them to accept him too. The four of them worked as good leaders to their team of aurors. They not only have to solve crimes but they also needed to be on constant lookout for possible Death Eater attacks, although most of the time those two were done concurrently, since most of the cases they faced were always traced back to Voldermort.
"Come off it, Draco!" Harry said as he slapped Draco's back and he flashed a smirk in return. "You're looking at her again."
"I'm not looking at anyone!" Draco replied, sounding irritated and finished his glass of beer before pouring himself another one.
"Right...we believe you. We also believe you if you lie about looking at her, and then smiling as your hand reach inside your pocket where you have the ring you intend to use when you propose to her," Ron added and winked to Harry.
"I am not looking at her and...wait a minute! How do you guys know about the ring?" Draco asked, his hand protectively covering the bulge in his pocket, in which the ring was resting safely on a velvet cushion inside a silver square box. Frowning, he added, "Have you been spying on me?"
"Spying on what?" Hermione had chosen that moment to join the men at their table. A glare from Draco told the guys that they were not supposed to say anything about the ring. Instead, Harry and Ron had decided that they would join in the fun on the dance floor, leaving Hermione and Draco on the table.
"So, why aren't you dancing?" Hermione asked and made as a face as she held Harry's glass. She sanitized it with a swish of her wand and filled it with beer. After realizing the beer tasted quite bad, what is this stuff?, she ordered a martini and again asked the question to Draco, who had suddenly found his shoes more interesting to look at than anything Hermione was saying. Before she could get the answer out of him, all the lights in the pub seemed to have focused on them. Someone was using the microphone to clear his throat on stage. Draco and Hermione looked up to see Harry and Ron on stage, grinning from ear to ear.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Draco Malfoy has something to say to Ms. Hermione Granger," Harry announced as Ron led the crowd to clap with him. Harry cleared his throat again and turned silent. Before Hermione could digest what just happened, Draco was already on his knees, holding out the ring for her to see.
"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" The crowd held their breath as Hermione set her glass down and slowly took the ring from Draco. She looked up to Harry and Ron and gave a slight smile. Ron smiled back and took the mike.
"She said yes!" Ron shouted through the mike. The crowd cheered and soon almost everyone crowded towards Draco and Hermione's table to congratulate them. The witches were kissing Hermione's cheeks and she smiled at the crowd's acceptance of the proposal. Smiling at Draco, who thought she was very cute with all the lipstick marks all over her face, she apparated home, taking the ring with her.
The pub was buzzing with activity. All wizards and witches, young and old alike; celebrated the defeat of Lord Voldermort. In one corner of the pub, three young men of twenty-three were seated together. Had they been sixteen, one of them would've been beaten up by two of them. However, things changed towards the end of their seventh year on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when they were all almost adult. Whilst preparing for their NEWT, one of the boys' father had been murdered by the very man he had served for the most part of his life. That man was Lucius Malfoy. After the murder, the whole of Malfoy Manor was searched and the aurors had discovered that the manor had been subjected by dark curses that even anything considered 'non-evil' would have been burned the minute it stepped into the manor. That was when seventeen years old Draco Malfoy was brought into the custody of Professor MacGonagall the Head of Gryffindor House who, together with Professor Snape of the Slytherin House, had help bring out any piece of good that could be found in the heart of young Draco Malfoy. Under their guidance, Draco Malfoy had blossomed from an arrogant prat into a mature and responsible young man who was given the sole responsibility of the huge Malfoy fortune once the Manor had been properly restored out of its darkness. It was after Draco had turned twenty-one, that he decided to train as aurors to help defeat Voldermort, not just to avenge his family, but also to rid the world of the Dark Side.
Aurors Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger had welcomed him with open arms when he first joined the aurors. Other aurors soon followed suit seeing that since the three aurors had accepted their school nemesis into the team, it should be safe for them to accept him too. The four of them worked as good leaders to their team of aurors. They not only have to solve crimes but they also needed to be on constant lookout for possible Death Eater attacks, although most of the time those two were done concurrently, since most of the cases they faced were always traced back to Voldermort.
"Come off it, Draco!" Harry said as he slapped Draco's back and he flashed a smirk in return. "You're looking at her again."
"I'm not looking at anyone!" Draco replied, sounding irritated and finished his glass of beer before pouring himself another one.
"Right...we believe you. We also believe you if you lie about looking at her, and then smiling as your hand reach inside your pocket where you have the ring you intend to use when you propose to her," Ron added and winked to Harry.
"I am not looking at her and...wait a minute! How do you guys know about the ring?" Draco asked, his hand protectively covering the bulge in his pocket, in which the ring was resting safely on a velvet cushion inside a silver square box. Frowning, he added, "Have you been spying on me?"
"Spying on what?" Hermione had chosen that moment to join the men at their table. A glare from Draco told the guys that they were not supposed to say anything about the ring. Instead, Harry and Ron had decided that they would join in the fun on the dance floor, leaving Hermione and Draco on the table.
"So, why aren't you dancing?" Hermione asked and made as a face as she held Harry's glass. She sanitized it with a swish of her wand and filled it with beer. After realizing the beer tasted quite bad, what is this stuff?, she ordered a martini and again asked the question to Draco, who had suddenly found his shoes more interesting to look at than anything Hermione was saying. Before she could get the answer out of him, all the lights in the pub seemed to have focused on them. Someone was using the microphone to clear his throat on stage. Draco and Hermione looked up to see Harry and Ron on stage, grinning from ear to ear.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Draco Malfoy has something to say to Ms. Hermione Granger," Harry announced as Ron led the crowd to clap with him. Harry cleared his throat again and turned silent. Before Hermione could digest what just happened, Draco was already on his knees, holding out the ring for her to see.
"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" The crowd held their breath as Hermione set her glass down and slowly took the ring from Draco. She looked up to Harry and Ron and gave a slight smile. Ron smiled back and took the mike.
"She said yes!" Ron shouted through the mike. The crowd cheered and soon almost everyone crowded towards Draco and Hermione's table to congratulate them. The witches were kissing Hermione's cheeks and she smiled at the crowd's acceptance of the proposal. Smiling at Draco, who thought she was very cute with all the lipstick marks all over her face, she apparated home, taking the ring with her.