Proposal
A very noble traveler approached the Malfoy mansion. He wore robes of rich red and black, with gold lining and laces. He wasn't short, but he wasn't tall, and he took long strides up the grand stairs that led to the large doors at the entrance to the regal house. His curly black hair was pressed neatly to his head in the fashion of his native country, Greece; his skin shone bronze in the afternoon light, though it really was more a pale olive tint. He reached a large hand out of one his deep pockets and lifted the golden knocker deftly with jeweled fingers. It fell heavily and thudded gracefully throughout the whole house.
Very shortly, the door was opened by a house elf. He bowed very low and held his arm out to the stranger, who stepped in the direction the elf pointed. The elf raised himself a little after the man had passed and stared in amazement. Loathe were people to call on the Master as of late, and yet here was a very noble-looking stranger indeed. The door closed silently and the elf darted away, eager to spread the word that there was a caller on the house.
The man waited patiently in the lobby, sure that the master of the house would soon be out, and once he was out, he would state his proposal. But not until he had been offered a very refreshing drink…
"My goodness!" Narcissa's light laughter rang through the house as she practically floated down the grand stairs. "Why, David, you haven't called here in years! How nice to see you, nice to see you!" She took his hand as soon as she reached him and he kissed it softly, almost romantically.
"It is very good to see you again, Narcissa. It has been a long time." His eyes searched hers longingly and her heart rose slightly. They had gone to school together all that time ago… they had been sweethearts. She had loved him deeply before he was sent back to Greece, back to his pre-arranged marriage.
"Hello David." Lucius' cool presence was noticeable before he was even in the room completely. David Paris dropped Narcissa's hand in an instant and stood a little straighter.
"Hello Lucius." Though the greeting was formal, it held a trace of bitterness on both parts. Lucius Malfoy walked with long, slow steps toward his wife and friend. He had been working in his study, and didn't appreciate the interruption.
"What brings you here in so late an hour?" Lucius held out his arm in a host-like manner and David followed the way he pointed. He trailed the tall man closely, sure to not tread on his cloak. They were headed back, to the study. David sighed a silent breath of relief. Good. There was much business to take care of.
"I have a proposal for you, my good man," David tried cheerily. His smile faded as Lucius turned around and glared at him.
"We shall see who is the good man," he snapped. David gulped a bit and shrank in size. He had grown so cold over the years… what had happened to the man he had known in school? "Please, sit. Drink?" The calmness of his voice took David and he relaxed into one of the armchairs by the fire.
"Yes, please." He took off his hat and set it on his knee. The study hadn't changed from the last time he was in here…
"What will you have? Scotch? Gin? Rum?" Lucius poured himself a gin and tonic and stared at the balding man cowering in the chair.
"Scotch, if you would." The man tapped his fingers on his knee nervously. He wasn't as sure of his proposal anymore, now that he had seen a bit of the real person Lucius had become. He lifted his hand as he heard the dull thumping come his way, and a cold glass was slid into his hand.
"Now," Lucius sat in the other arm chair. "What is this proposal you speak of?" He sipped his drink lightly and glared at the man, who was reaching into his robes. His face was almost green, and Lucius wasn't sure if it was from his nerves or if he was naturally that color. His hair was darker than he remembered; Lucius sighed. This man before him had changed.
"Do you remember my little girl?" David handed the picture to Lucius. He smiled a bit as he remembered his fiery daughter. "She is of a marrying age now, and I thought of no one other than your son. She is pretty, isn't she?" He sighed as only a father of a daughter could sigh, and he drank the remainders of his scotch.
"Yes, quite lovely." Lucius though that the girl looked more like her mother than her own self… ah, the woman he had most desired in his youth. He shook his head a bit and focused on the picture.
The girl looked about 18… her hair was long and red with golden flecks. Her eyes were a deep green with streaks of gold running through them… Her skin was fair and slightly freckled. She was wearing a very rich dress which showed off every curve and roundness she had ever possessed. She was not fat, but she wasn't deathly skinny, either. In the picture she was sitting in a reclining position, grinning very seductively and winking. She looked exactly like her mother… Lucius cleared his throat a bit and handed the picture back, his memory of her coming once again.
"So, would you marry your boy to her?" David sounded very hopeful. Lucius sat back in his chair and thought about David's lineage. He came from the highest Pureblood family in Greece and his deceased wife had come from one of the highest in Ireland, and Lucius couldn't refuse that fact no matter what he might try.
"What is her name?" Lucius asked as he coughed a bit, the memory of his own pre-arranged marriage coming back to him.
"Callista Zoë Paris."
"Callista." Lucius repeated the name softly. He smiled a bit. "Knowing your lineage and your deceased wife, and seeing her, moves me to accept your proposal." He rose and took the flabbergasted man's glass. He poured a very generous amount of scotch in and plunked an ice cube in. He poured himself a very tall mix of gin and tonic and closed the bottles quickly. "A toast!" He laughed wickedly and clicked glasses with the other man. "To the wedding of Draco and Callista!"
Both men tipped back their glasses and drank the contents equally fast. They each sighed a bit and set their glasses down at the same time. Lucius was already thinking of the wedding. He would finally see an heir to the Malfoy home come through. He could finally die happy knowing that there would be more Malfoy blood running about. Something grand would need to spark this occasion, and spark it well.
"Ah!" Lucius cried, the gin going to his head a bit. "A feast! A feast! You and I shall have us a feast to christen the marriage of our two children. The boy… " He gasped a little and sank to his seat. "The boy is tied up in his studies with Snape… he will never guess!" He laughed again, this time the gin speaking wholly. "And your daughter, she is to come as well?" He giggled a tad, David joining in.
"Yes, of course! They'll have to meet sometime, those two, if you know what I mean!" They roared with laughter. Lucius pushed a small key and the door opened a crack. Moments later, a house elf appeared and bowed low.
"Yes, Master?" He asked as he bent nearly to the ground. "What are your wishes?"
"There is going to be a great feast tomorrow. In a half of an hour, there shall be a pile of invitations. You shall take them to the owlry and have them delivered at once!" He tried to keep a straight face as the elf bowed. "You know what must be done for a feast. Gather the house and tell them I will be out in a quarter of an hour with further instructions." His face became red as he tried not to laugh. The house elf stood, frozen in his spot. "Well go, you fool!" He laughed a bit as the elf dashed out of the room.
"This is a very joyous day! Very joyous indeed!" David slurred a bit. "I have a list of people to invite from my side of the family… " He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and placed it in Lucius' hands. "That is everyone of importance from my side. I will be back tomorrow in the morning to help you prepare!" He stood clumsily and stumbled out of his chair.
David reached into his robes again and pulled a small vile out of his pocket. He pulled the cork off and drank a mouthful. He shook his head vigorously and blinked several times. He handed the vile to Lucius, who took a small mouthful. He too shook his head vigorously and blinked rapidly.
"Thank you," Lucius wheezed. The potion cleared away the effects of the drink quickly and he was back to his normal self. "I will send the invitations right away, don't you worry." He sighed and held his arm out to his guest. They walked out of the room in silence and Lucius showed him the door himself. He nodded farewell to David and said as he closed the door, "Tomorrow."
The door closed without a sound and Lucius gazed around with a twinge of joy. His son was going to get married, oh what a day! He pranced around and did a slight jig. Wait. The invitations.
He almost flew back into his study, where he set up his fastest quills to make the invitations. Three he set to drawing the borders, and once that was all done (in the matter of five minutes) he sat down and employed six to write the message on different slips of parchment.
"Dearest friends and family;
You are cordially invited to come celebrate the upcoming marriage between Draco Edward Malfoy and Callista Zoë Paris at the grandest feast of all time, and the greatest ball henceforth.
This occasion is to be a masker ball, so dress accordingly. The ball is to begin at seven o'clock p.m. sharp and will continue till eleven. Please arrive early and greet the hosts and the young couple.
Please bring all the members of your family, and plan on a night filled with joy and mirth! As always, wands are prohibited at the festivities.
Cordially,
Lucius Magnus Malfoy"
He sat back as the quills eloquently wrote out his words on the 40 some invitations spread over his desk. They would soon be complete and ready to send. He sighed and rose, knowing that he had to think clearly before he spoke to the house. Much was to be done… so much had to be done.
He circled the study once before returning to his chair and kicking his feet up. His mind wandered back to Helena, the girl he had wanted who had married the man who had wanted his own future wife who had wanted him back. It was a huge mess, his past, and he closed his eyes. Her face smiled at him once again and he smiled back.
Lucius was transfixed on her beauty for ten minutes before he realized that the invitations were done. He sat up and quickly scanned all of them. Good. Perfect. He lifted the list David had given him and began to read out names. Then he moved on to his own list, and finally, he stopped. The wedding night couldn't have been so close or so far away.
Ginny and Harry tumbled out of the fireplace at the Weasley's mansion before Molly and Arthur arrived. Harry didn't feel comfortable being alone with Ginny. She was waltzing around the house and humming a little to herself, swaying this way and that. She was a nice girl, but he knew that his flatmates would be getting curious as to why he was gone for so long, especially Hermione. She was crazy to live with. Then again, living with her, Ron, Seamus, and Dean had not been his idea. He was just grateful that he had a flat to sleep in at night.
"I think I'll give Dean a chance," Ginny said sweetly. She was sitting in the windowsill of the great bay window up the grand staircase. She sighed and thumped her head against the seat. He was very sweet, and he might change. Who knows? She turned her ring around her finger absentmindedly, as she had always done. She had even forgotten that she still wore it.
"What are you talking about?" Harry called to her as he started walking up the numerous stairs. "I thought I told you… " Ginny cut him off.
"I know what you told me, but I want to see if it will work. You know, men can change." She flashed Harry a smile as he jumped the last few stairs. "And I really want to give him a try." She gave him the puppy-dog eyes she was infamous for when he sat next to her.
"What is that look for?" he asked, darting his gaze from hers.
"I want you to try and hook me up with Dean." Harry sighed and shook his head. Ginny came really close to his face and peered deeply into his face. "Please, Harry, if you never do anything else, let me date Dean, please!" She began to whimper slightly and Harry gave in.
"All right," he sighed. He rolled his eyes in the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders. "What harm can come if you date him just a little while?" She smiled and fell forward on him in a huge hug.
"Harry, you're the best brother's best friend that a girl could ask for! Thank you!" She kissed him on the cheek and rose quickly, singing again. Harry sighed once more and let his head fall against the pillows in the window seat.
"Hello!" Molly called from the front door. She came in quite noisily, followed by a very loud Arthur. Harry couldn't tell if the house elf had come in; he was a quiet fellow. "We're home, and we brought food!" She laughed at something and Harry rose from the seat.
"Hello," he called out limply. He wanted to go back home, he wanted to go to sleep…
"Oh, Harry, dear, thank you for bringing Ginny home. You are a real chum!" Molly called up to him. He nodded sleepily and stretched. Sitting in the seat ad made him realize just how tired he really was. Maybe if he went home for a few winks, then he would be ready for the game tonight.
"Yes, you're a good lad," Arthur boomed. He clapped Harry on the back as Harry shuffled off of the steps. "Big game tonight?" He asked him. Harry nodded sleepily.
"Actually," he yawned. "I'm going to go home and take a quick nap. I'm exhausted." Arthur pumped his hand up and down and Harry nodded again.
"Well, I guess we'll see you tonight then, eh?" Harry kept nodding, sleep taking over him.
"Oh yes, by the way," Molly clucked as she waddled toward Harry. "We're coming to your game tonight. I am rather excited to see the Chudley Cannons verses Puddlemere United. It'll be an exciting game, don't you think Harry?" She as standing by a statue of Arthur that kept eyeing her up and down.
"Yes," he sighed, eager to get home. "Well, I think that's all for now. See you at the game." He waved a bit and strode over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. His flat was in wizard London, which was far from the new residence outside of Hogsmead. "601 West Fairview Lane!" He shouted sleepily, and in a fuzzy blink of his eye, he was tumbled out of his own fireplace.
"Hey love!" Hermione perked at him as he brushed soot off of his clothes. He smiled numbly at her.
"Hi sweets," he cooed to her. She rushed into his arms and he hugged her close, her smell overpowering him. He nearly fainted. She smelled of faint vanilla and some tropical fruit and cold wind and the rain all rolled into one and it was glorious. "Mmm… " He breathed into her hair.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked him, pushing him away slightly.
"Oh, nothing. I just love you is all."
"Is that so? Well, love, stop trying to eat me. I'm not edible you know. Not yet, at least." She smiled at Harry and took his hand in hers. "Where were you? Dean and Seamus went out looking for you." Harry smiled limply and crashed on the couch.
"You will not believe the day that I have had," he sighed. "Every store in London is sold out of wine, even the Muggle stores. So I went to Hogsmead to try and find some… I remember that there was a really good brand at Barduhn's, so I went in to try my luck. He wouldn't sell to me, saying that I was much too young to be interested in wine. I tried to tell him that I was more sophisticated than more people my age, but he wouldn't listen." Hermione pulled out her wand and flicked it in the direction of the kitchen, and in a flash, a drink came flying at her. She placed it in Harry's hands and he drank all of it without stopping.
"You poor dear! So why did it take you so long to get home?" She lifted his feet onto the couch and he relaxed a bit more.
"Well," he yawned. Hermione threw a blanket over him and he closed his eyes. "Then I ran in Abram, the Weasley's employed house elf," Hermione gruffed even though the elf was employed, but she didn't say anything, because Harry was drifting off to sleep. "And he was in a fight with one of the Malfoy elves." He yawned again and settled back against the couch. "So I pulled them apart and told them to scram, but then Crabbe came in and thought I was threatening the house elves, so he pulled his wand on me… "
He drifted into a bought of sleep, remembered that he was talking, and woke up again. "And I was about to send him to the afterlife when Lucius Malfoy walked by. That was crazy, and then Molly and Arthur came in and then it grew even crazier, and then Fudge walked in, and he said no more fighting between the Weasley's and Malfoy's, or else the whole lot of us are going to be tossed into Azkaban, or something like that… " Harry was fading back toward sleep, but Hermione shook him a little.
"Anything else?" She whispered. Harry nodded wearily.
"I had to take Ginny home… she's quite enamored with Dean, so it seems… " Harry was asleep. Hermione shook her head a bit. He was so predictable right before a Quidditch match. She sighed and leaned forward, kissing him on the end of his nose. He stirred, but didn't wake. She smiled at her fiancé, who mumbled happily in his dreams.
"I love you," she sighed as she rose from the couch. "Almost too much."
There was much paperwork that she had left to do that she didn't quite finish from the morning. She strode over to the desk and sat down quietly. A smiling poster of Harry was right above the muggle computer she had. He was waving and flying on his broom, his orange robes trailing out behind him. She laughed slightly and shook her head.
Hermione had graduated from Hogwarts at the top of her class and had been asked to join the Ministry right away. Of course, she accepted and now she was running the whole Auror department. She even taught the Aurors a few things, like if you hold your wand with a lighter grip, the desired effects will be much more potent. They had all marveled and bowed to her will. She didn't mind it much, but it took up a lot of her time.
She sighed and dipped her quill in the ink, her work a greater need than glancing back at Harry every few minutes. She had just really begun a writing spell when an owl squawked from behind her. She jumped slightly, the noise a little more than the comfortable silence, and she took the letter it clutched in its claws. She reached into the jar on her desk and tossed the owl a treat. It caught it and gobbled it greedily, and when it saw that she wasn't going to toss anymore, it shrieked and took off out the open window again.
Hermione gazed at the letter. Dean's name was written very intricately written on the front, and in the corner, the Malfoy crest blazed. She held it for a second longer, and it burst open and displayed the message to her. Obviously, it was very urgent news. Her eyes scanned over the letter quickly. Apparently, Draco was getting married… Hermione laughed a little. Draco had sworn off love, and yet he was going to get married? What a shock.
When she saw the bride-to-be, Hermione stopped laughing. Paris… that name was so familiar. Oh. She stared at the letter. Draco's marriage was pre-arranged. She shook her head sadly, a complete change from the moment before. That poor guy, probably didn't know what was good for him…
"Hermione?" It was Seamus. Hermione let the letter fall to the desk as though it had just been delivered.
"Here," she waved. He nodded and lifted his hand, a box of cheap wine his only carry. "Where's Dean?" The words were barely out of her mouth when another figure rolled out of the fireplace. It was Dean.
"Hello!" He boomed. Hermione made a "quiet" cutting motion with her hand at her throat, and Dean instantly was quiet. "Oh," He sighed. "I forgot. He always sleeps before his games, doesn't he?" He laughed quietly and strode over to Hermione, enveloping her in a hug before she could protest.
"You have a letter," she squeaked from his arms. He let her go and strode over to the desk. "It opened as soon as the owl dropped it off, but I didn't read it," she lied. "Must have been urgent to open on its own." She shrugged and curled up on the couch.
"Whoa." Dean's sullen response was the same as Hermione's.
"What is it?" She asked innocently.
"Draco. He's getting married… to my first cousin." He shook his head and set the letter down. "You know, after my dear cousin Helena died, I thought her husband David would never speak to me again. But every year, I'd get a Christmas card from Callista saying 'Merry Christmas from David and Callista' and a small gift of some sort."
"Who's she?" Hermione asked as she put her feet next to Harry's. "Callista, I mean."
"She's the one getting married to Draco, I guess. You know, Helena's family is said to have been one of the highest in power in the Pureblood world, at least, from Ireland. And her husband, David, comes from the most powerful Pureblood family in Greece. Wonder what they want with Malfoy blood mixing in with their own." He shrugged and tossed the letter on the desk.
"Are you going to go?" Hermione asked anxiously. If he wasn't then she might as well. Nothing like crashing a good party…
"I'd feel the fool. I was close with Helena, not her daughter or husband."
"Can I go in your place?" Her voice was very hopeful.
"Sure, why not. It's tomorrow at Malfoy Manor. I think at dark. Dinner, drinking, dancing, sleeping. Hangover." He used his fingers to summarize the happenings of a ball. "Are you sure that Malfoy isn't going to have a problem that you are there? I mean, to them you are… you know." His eyes met hers and fell away quickly. Both knew that a "Mudblood" at one of their social events would just send shivers up their backs.
"I know. That's why it would be so much fun to go. I think I'll take Ginny and Harry too. It will be great, tainting their party." Hermione smiled devilishly and rubbed her hands together. In a small, evil voice she whispered, "Excellent… "
