"You've been busy My." Pansy said from the lounge chair next to her. The five of them were scattered around the big open yard area of the Escape. Each one had an umbrella and Luna had charmed them to change shades as the sun rose and set. It was more colourful than Hermione would have picked but Sin said it was pretty from the air when they were open.
"Yes." Hermione answered and opened her eyes at the sound of laughter. Knowing it was above them, she didn't bother looking until Harry's chuckle brought her wand hand up and she cast a shield around the five witches grouped together. Then they all laughed as the water splashed off the shield and fell harmlessly.
"Harry can't help it." Ginny said and the two of them shared a glance, he was so happy. He had taken two weeks vacation this summer and it was weeks past but it had been so good for him. Harry had wandered around with Ginny or them, anyone and flew. Swam and slept, even had naps and they had played games. Draco had snorkeled for the first time. With an actual snorkel and that had been hilarious.
"I've been busy but it's mostly been busy having fun. We have plans most days but a lot of those are things we want to do. I'm glad Sabrina put off working or something for a bit. I love have them here and feeling like it's alright when they want to do something else or be alone since there is later or next week. Sin is leaving again but he's even happier about it this year." She said and they all looked thoughtful and like they agreed.
"I think we all spent a weekend away with you guys, and not the same ones or more than one." Luna said and looked around, they all nodded.
"I went to Greece and to Blaise's hotel." Daphne offered and then smiled at Hermione. That had been so great, Greece especially. They had gone on walks together and swam for hours in the warm clear water, just talking and being silent together. Daphne had read with them and they had done some looking into Greek cultural magics and food. That had only been four days but it had been great. Sin hadn't even flown, he had just hung out and he and Sabrina had spent a lot of time together. Walking the island with a coin and an elf tailing them. Freedom, or as close to it as Hermione could get with their agreement.
"That was Blaise's idea. Part of Sabrina's graduation and coming of age celebrations. Sin and her picked some and we did. Definitely skiing this holiday season unless something else comes up. Find out if anyone wants to come." She said and then Ginny asked the question.
"Can I come early tomorrow?" The question was probing and she nodded at her friend and ignored the looks being cast her way.
"It will be fine. It can't really go badly. Everyone, or nearly enough, has replied that they are attending. People with experience and knowledge have planned this event and I've tried to keep it from being too grandiose. Nice but not uncomfortable. I hope I've succeeded. Sabrina helped and even Narcissa agreed there was a time for seated dining with timed courses and this wasn't it." Pansy grinned at her as she finished her somewhat defensive explanation.
Pansy had been there for that private meeting. Had sat quietly as Narcissa and her politely had it out. It was fun and they had both made concessions. There would be dancing. Formal dancing and it was a semi formal event. All of them were attending in robes, not traditional ones necessarily but not muggle dresses. Hermione had agreed and they had all picked up a dress over the summer.
"Astoria wasn't pleased when mother informed her she didn't attend without an invitation. It finally happened the day after the invitation to your celebration came. She cracked and asked to attend with mother the next Thursday." Daphne shared, Luna smiled a small smile and shared a glance with Ginny.
"We should do the first Thursday thing." Pansy said quietly and she looked her agreement. Make the first Thursday a bigger event. Closer to the monthly teas that used to happen. Most of those seats were hereditary though and that wouldn't happen now. Well it would but none of them wanted a mother or mother in law to be a ticket in either. It was tricky but they would have to do something, the demand was high.
"If it's only one a month then we could do it. Rotate having a month off too, if one of us wants it. Maybe rotate places too so no one home gets more scrutiny than another." Daphne added in. More casually and without having thought it through than Hermione had ever pictured.
"Tea has become an important part of your life Mione. Requires managing." Ginny said and didn't seem to be making fun. She didn't like it unless she was in the right mood. If she was restless then it was grating and she and Pansy would quibble. Which was funny and it wasn't often Ginny came if she didn't really want to.
"Yes. It makes those proper teas my mom and I used to have valuable now. Most of it is the same and I don't think much about it now. Unless it's a defense, then I pay attention to every detail so I don't lash out or flush." She admitted and Ginny laughed.
"You're so you and now you take tea and have hours for callers." It was said teasingly but Ginny caught her eye and Hermione did flush then. Ginny was so forthright and had been asking her how she did things or made plans for things. How she accepted some things and decided what traditions to buck and when to adhere.
"Hermione could be anything. Being her is becoming easier I think." Luna said and as usual she and Pansy shared a smile. Always acknowledging when one of them was insightful or caught the essence of her, as Luna put it.
"Did you decide Ginny?" Daphne asked her with naked interest. Ginny had been working part time for the Ministry this summer and was good at it, had made some changes in how the teams interacted with the league and department.
She had also been at the meeting about a World Cup Team going in two years. It was in France and Ginny had been obviously downplaying how much she liked it. Obvious to her and Luna. Pansy had become skeptical after a month and an evening of her opening and closing the folder she had with her. Randomly questioning the validity of having a break in the season for the tournament.
"Yes." Ginny said and Luna was nearly statue like in her stillness, not wanting to give anything away.
"I'm going to decline to sign another contract with the Ministry and go to the Holyhead camp." Ginny said it firmly and Hermione couldn't help her reaction. She was up and then pulling Ginny off the blanket Luna and her were sprawled on. Then she pulled off the huge brimmed hat they sometimes wore for fun and hilarity. Underneath it her friend was blushing and she just hugged her and then let go and started yelling for Harry.
"Did she tell you! Harry! Did Gin tell you?" She started running to where she could see them landing and then he was racing toward them and he successfully did a slow moving dismount. His grin told her that he did know and maybe had been flying since he got here so she wouldn't read something on his face. It was one of those moment of happiness. Of her friend reaching for her dreams and she hugged the red head to her side when she arrived and let Sinclair pepper her with questions about her training plans.
Hermione stood with her friends, her circle and watched. Watched Ginny and Ron stand with their housemates, the four houses loosely stood in front in the appropriate banner at the top of the grand staircase and everyone was clapping and cheering. The ones who had gone back stood up there and she was glad they had hired a photographer and given her a modified camera.
It was Marietta Edgecomb and that wasn't comfortable either. The two of them hadn't spoken until about a month after the war when the Edgecomb wrote a thank you letter to her. She had mailed the reversal for the acne before she left with Harry after sixth year and hadn't thought much about the witch since then. Except when someone used that as an example of her temper or vengeance. The witch had responded to the invitation sent to her and then sent a return letter asking if she could take pictures at the event. This is what she wanted to do professionally and Hermione had agreed.
So there hopefully would be a picture of Ron and Ginny grinning at each other and maybe one of Camden smiling from a few feet away from Sabrina. Claudia and Sabrina met eyes for a moment, she hoped there was a picture of that too, all that passed between them. Then small fireworks went off above them and they came pouring down the stairs.
The crowd moved and shifted as people spoke and she tried to be okay with all of these people being here. The private floors were warded and the elves had closed them too. Assuring her that only the already approved people could move beyond the lower floors freely. Narcissa's elves were here and she had seen Piccolla earlier too so she knew they had help. As well as the catering company that had been brought in. Salty was doing the desserts and Hermione felt like that was an alright compromise. Refusing to have the elf feed so many and for so long, he had capitulated and the dessert selection was impressive.
Doing things the correct way, she moved away from her friends and began circling the room and speaking with people she hadn't met or rarely seen. There were enough of her classmates and people she did know to make introductions and she too made many. Sabrina joined her then and they kept going.
Eventually she stopped when Mrs Wood caught her eye and dismissed Sinclair to find Corbin and to stay out of trouble. He grinned and politely excused himself before walking into the crowd.
"Would you like to see some of our gardens?" She asked politely and the witch smiled her agreement and then they were threading through two rooms of people and it took some time to get to the terrace doors. People were spreading out and sitting down. It was pretty and the atmosphere had been happy. Some people avoided others but there were enough here to find a way to keep out of trouble. No one wanted to mar this. The women wanted a social season back, events and parties. The men did too, a lot happened at these sorts of things and so no one was rude or anything. The evening had just begun though and it was only five o'clock.
Eventually Professor Sprout and the Abbott family politely let them move away and she indicated a smaller path and then took an immediate right toward the ladies bower. The roses were all in bloom and the wards there were set for more privacy without her actually doing anything.
"I didn't mean to take you away from your guests." Mrs Wood said, this woman was not Scottish and she had lovely diction. Oliver had a distinct brogue and Cam less so, by choice it seemed.
"I don't mind a few minutes away and you are a guest too." Hermione replied honestly and waited. The witch hadn't deviated from her side in the half hour of visiting it took them to get here so wanted to speak to her.
"Oliver assures me that you are Gryffindor and wouldn't be affronted if I approached you directly so I am hoping my son is correct." She smiled at that and nodded easily.
"Camden has never requested we approach our lawyers. Even mentioned it without prodding." The witch broke off as they turned a corner and the lovely circular garden with bench height planters in a spiral pattern came into view.
"This is lovely." The other woman said quietly and looked around.
"I agree. It is a bit formal for me but it is beautiful." She spoke honestly and the witch caught her eye then.
"As I was saying, he only began speaking of a witch in any way last year. It wasn't often but I noticed a change and this year." She trailed off and Hermione smiled, though she was unsure exactly where this was going.
"Sabrina had a lovely time with him in Hogsmeade." She offered sincerely, wanting the witch to know that her son had behaved impeccably and Sabrina had genuinely enjoyed herself.
"I am glad. His letter was choppy but the last sentence was that he thought she had been comfortable and she had smiled." The older woman's voice was soft and Hemrione felt the same, or could empathize.
"If you have a concern or feel the need to ask me a direct question then I will not be offended." Gryffindor tact decided, and the witch nodded once then stopped and faced her.
"Camden is not of the sacred twenty eight. Will this be an issue. Not now, but in the future. We have no expectations but I would like to know if this will be a match they choose for themselves." The witch held her eye and Hermione tried to reign in her emotions. It only took a moment and then she decided to speak frankly.
"Sabrina is free to choose a life partner when and how she wishes. We have protected her right to choose and will continue to do so. Both her brother and myself have her happiness as our only goal." She answered directly and then waited.
"Oliver was sure and Camden has only said that he will know before that time. I'm sorry to have troubled you." Mrs Wood said and Hermione thought she meant it.
"A short conversation away from the crowds is a small price to pay to feel better about the situation. I don't know if Sabrina will choose him in the end but in case we have more of these talks, please call me Hemrione and feel free to write." This was the usual invitation for contact and she has spoken openly enough that the witch would know she meant it.
"I will. Please call me Alice and it has been a pleasure to meet you properly and speak with you." Hermione smiled at the genuine sound to the request and they began walking back the way they had come.
"Do you live in northern Scotland?" She asked and with that the witch was describing their lands and the area. Not as jagged sounding but something closer and she wondered what she could learn from these people. Who seemed to love their land. Oliver playing quidditch wasn't upsetting but generations of his family had loved and lived on the lands. It was interesting and she was sorry to be stopped by Gemma Farley and her parents. She let the kind Alice Wood go and stayed to deal with her first barbed conversation of the evening.
Two hours later she was being twirled across the floor by Cassius Warrington and she smiled at him when he caught her eye.
"You've been nearly perfect this evening." He complimented her and she grinned at him. Knowing he meant her behaviour and not reacting outwardly to provocation.
"I saw Pans snub two people." She admitted through her regained polite smile. He grinned at her then and she could see him reign it in and compose himself again.
"What do you think we should ask for?" She asked him and looked away from him to smile politely around her and find people she wanted to know were alright.
"Something she wants but won't do." He answered and she nodded. Then and an idea.
"Kittens. She wants two but has overthought it and been typical so the yours or hers thing is wrapped up in it." Hermione felt him tense slightly and met his eyes again.
"Which home or whatever. So I think we kit it all up at both places." She answered the unspoken issue and he held her eyes. She could only meet them honestly for a moment and then she heard the music begin to slow.
"It's hard to see things like she does. I wouldn't know if we didn't talk. It's a step." She answered honestly.
"Alright. Kittens. She would like that. All soft and contrary." Cassius said and she beamed up at him for a moment. She thought he was being so patient and trying. Pansy was trying too and she hoped it kept going. She also hoped it wasn't the same for her. She wasn't as patient and they had less time with the magics involved.
"Finally my turn Cara." Blaise said from behind her and she turned with a grin. Blaise quietly told Warrington where Pansy was and then placed her hand on his arm and headed for the closest drinks table. They enjoyed a cold drink and then he grinned at her deviously and she knew what he wanted.
"Here?" She asked him.
"Warrington agrees." He said and she could hear the anticipation.
"Merlin Blaise." She grumbled and then Harry and Ginny were beside her.
"I want to see Hermione. I only seen you at that jazz club last month. The floor was small and Draco said it was worth seeing." Ginny sounded excited and Harry laughed at her and then met her eyes.
"It's alright to be you Mione." He said quietly and then grinned. "Shock the sheltered masses. It's not a salsa." He added on then and she could see his green eyes dare her, like about that crazy rollercoaster this summer.
"Alright. One flamboyant waltz." She said firmly and then grinned at Blaise, let him take her hand and lead her onto the dance floor. Clearly having already discussed it with the musicians, the tempo was faster and more complicated from the beginning and she let the music and his grin sweep her away.