Courting Miss Granger-Chapter 27-Courting Mrs. Malfoy

By Marmalade Fever

Author's Note: Because you knew that I was going to name a chapter that sooner or later, right?

When Hermione contacted Antoine Bellover to ask her if she wanted to go on a double date with Neville, she was surprised by just how enthusiastic the other young woman was.

"He's dreamy, don't you think?" Antoine had asked, looking not just a little swept away.

"Have you met him?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrow. She and Antoine had met again by coincidence at Flourish and Blotts.

"Oh? Didn't Draco tell you? When he took me out for Valentine's Day, we ran into Professor Longbottom in the restaurant. I had to beg Draco to introduce me. Silly boy."

"Oh!" Hermione replied, things clearing up instantly. She had to admit, the news about Draco taking another woman out for Valentine's Day was just a little upsetting. However, he and Antoine didn't seem to have any interest in each other, romantically or otherwise. "Where'd you go for dinner?" she asked, not being able to help herself.

"That hoity-toity place, Basil Garden." Antoine wrinkled her nose.

"That so?" Hermione said, trying her best to push away the sad feeling that arose. Basil Garden had become a very special place to her. It was the site of her first date with Draco Malfoy, the man who was now her husband of two weeks. No matter how much she liked Antoine, she still couldn't keep her jealousy completely at bay. The woman, though she hadn't had a choice, had kept Draco from her for three months. But she fancied Neville, for goodness' sake! She had to badger herself to keep this in mind.

"Yep," Antoine replied. "He was there with his Grandmother. I can really admire a man that would take his grandmother out on Valentine's Day like that. It's so sweet."

Hermione only nodded, not even entirely aware if either of Draco's grandmothers were alive or not. Mentally she tried to figure out his lineage on his mother's side. Narcissa had been a Black and cousin to Sirius. So this meant that his grandfather was a brother of Sirius' father. So his grandmother was... No, she didn't have enough to go on. She would have to point out to Harry that she was now his second god-cousin in law...

"So when should we go?" Antoine asked, interrupting Hermione's bout of staring into space.

"Oh, um, it'll have to be a weekend. How about Sunday?" she asked, embarrassed that she had zoned out.

"I can't believe I'm going on a date with Professor Neville Longbottom!" Antoine cried with glee. Hermione resisted the urge to lift her brow and only smiled.

Two days later, Draco, Hermione, Neville, and Antoine, (a very unlikely group) met in front of an Italian restaurant in London. Neville was still having difficulty understanding the situation. In fact, he looked very near to vomiting for the entirety of the date.

"Hermione," he had whispered when he first arrived, "what in Merlin's name is going on?" He looked around. "Why are you married to Malfoy, and why is she," he gestured nervously toward Antoine, "drooling over me?" he asked.

Hermione burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, Neville," she said, when she finally managed to calm down. "And as to your questions... Well, it's a long story about Draco and I, and as for Antoine..." She shrugged. "You'll have to ask her."

"Darling," Draco interrupted, "the table's ready." Neville turned a little green as he followed the couple into the restaurant with Antoine walking beside him, sneaking glances from time to time. He sat rigidly at the table, looking back and forth between the brilliant girl who used to help him in potions, to the evil git who used to ridicule him, and to the near stranger who was obsessed with Herbology and, oddly, him.

"Ahem! Will someone please explain?" he cried in out in exasperation after witnessing Hermione and Draco tickling one another.

Draco's expression turned sullen as he saw the exasperated look on Longbottom's face. "You know Longbottom," he said slowly, "I think I owe you an apology."

"You... what?" he asked, feeling more confused than ever. Antoine turned her attention to Draco.

"I've been a downright... let's see, what would be a good word...? Brat? Bully? Anyway, I've been horrid to you. And I'm sorry." And Draco truly felt it. He'd gone through a complete turnaround lately. Heck, he wouldn't mind if some of these former enemies suddenly became his "chums." He could use a friend or two. Goodness knew that he couldn't rely on Crabbe, Goyle, or Nott anymore. And Hermione, bless her, was not someone he could burp around.

"Did you just apologize to me?" Neville asked, looking scared.

"Professor?" Antoine interrupted.

"Er, call me Neville..."

"Okay... Neville," she said, rolling the L's, "how's your investigation on high density chlorophyll coming?"

Neville's face brightened up a bit. "Pretty well. You do know the chloro count of the Bagerian Snake Vine, don't you?"

"Point nine five grams per cubic centimeter!" Antoine replied, beaming.

"But the Octavian Quinglo is actually point nine seven!" Neville said excitedly. Hermione listened to the conversation, feeling for once as if she had been completely dozing in school and hadn't learned a thing. Draco was still trying to figure out how you could measure the density of chlorophyll...

"Really? That's amazing! Any more and it would be pure chlorophyll!"

"And the lowest content is the Siberian Albino Shade-seeker at point zero, zero, zero, three, seven." Antoine's jaw dropped in amazement.

"I could have sworn it would be something in the abletuse family!" she cried.

"You'd think so, but those glowing creatures down in the deep actually provide enough light to bring it up to point zero, zero, zero, six."

"Are you following any of this?" Draco whispered to Hermione, looking completely perplexed. "I always thought he was dumb!"

"Oh, no, Neville's brilliant. He just needs to be in his element. I read his books, but I have to say, I don't even know what the abletuse family looks like, never mind its chloro content."

"Well, that's good to know..." Draco spotted the waitress coming and took a quick glance at his menu.

"Hello!" the young woman said, approaching their table. "My name is Anna and I'll be serving you this evening. Can I start you out with anything to drink?"

"Water," Draco said automatically, knowing this would never fail him in a muggle restaurant.

"And for you, ma'am?" Anna asked, turning to Hermione. Antoine and Neville were in deep conversation about enflamed stems now.

"Root beer, please." Hermione glanced at the other couple. "They'll have water too."

"But what about kohlrabi?" Antoine asked in a strained voice.

"That's muggle! Doesn't count!"

"And I'd like the spaghetti please," Draco said, trying to drown out the other conversation.

"But it's definitely an enflamed stem!"

"And I'll have a personal size combination pizza," Hermione said, catching on to Draco's attempt to keep words like "muggle" from Anna's ears.

"Very good... and them?" Anna asked, staring a bit.

"Two house salads," Hermione said cheerfully.

"I'll be back with your orders shortly," Anna said, giving Antoine and Neville a final "you two are cookoo" stare before leaving.

"Phew!" Hermione muttered, sighing. "That was a close one." Draco looked over at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, smiling pleasantly. Neville stopped his conversation with Antoine abruptly.

"Would you mind explaining now?" he asked, frowning.

Draco frowned as well. "You're from a pureblooded family, too, aren't you Longbottom?"

"Yeah," Neville said, crossing his arms.

"Well, in mine, they were so intent on continuing the bloodline, they made up a sort of binding contract that forces everyone to marry by the age of twenty-six." Neville frowned more profoundly. "Anyway, Hermione was the only one left who met the specifications, so I had to marry her..."

"Humph!" Neville snorted.

"...At first, anyway."

"Wait, what d'ya mean, at first?"

"That's where I come into the picture," Antoine said, straightening in her chair.

"You?" Neville's brow twisted.

"Antoine met the specifications too, even better actually, since she's pureblooded," Hermione supplied.

Neville's frown retreated slightly. "Oh! The fruamcoluar expedition! So when she was found, you had a second candidate..."

"But by then, Hermione and I had managed to fall in love." Draco shrugged. "So I ended up leaving Antoine at the altar."

"You poor thing!" Neville said, staring at Antoine.

"Oh, I don't mind being single a little bit longer," she said, color rising to her cheeks. Neville colored as well before taking a hasty sip of non-existent water, not even noticing that there wasn't a glass in his hand.

"So... So now the two of you are married. How... how about that?" Neville stuttered.

Hermione and Draco smiled and exchanged a quick kiss. "Exactly."

"Huh," Neville said, leaning back in his chair. "Does Ron know?" he asked curiously.

"Er, not yet..." Hermione said, looking embarrassed.

"Well, now's your chance. He's standing right over there," Neville said, pointing.

End Notes:

(Dodges tomatoes.) Sorry about the cliffie!