"Welcome Hermione, I'm glad you could make it." Draco's greeting was accompanied by a kiss on her hand.
"That makes one of us. And a grand total of one in the entire room I'd wager." Hermione's sarcasm was hiding the nervousness she was feeling at stepping into the room alone. Admittedly it wasn't a very successful cover up, but it just needed to be there, it didn't need to be great.
Seeing through her clumsy façade, Draco handed her a drink heavily infused with alcohol. Unfortunately, before the conversation could continue, more people arrived. Hermione left Draco to greet the newcomers and tried to find an appropriate corner to hide in. Five minutes into the evening and she had already forgotten why she had come.
"Hermione! It's been such a long time. How are you?" Ginny interrupted her mental regrets.
"I'm great, Ginny. Congratulations on the pregnancy. How does it feel?"
As Ginny rambled on about all the intricacies of the first three months of pregnancy, Hermione let her mind wander. She had deliberately arrived an hour late to minimize her socializing time, but half an hour was still too long.
Casting her eye around the room, the other guests finally began to register with Hermione. Charlie Weasley was there with someone by his side, both the twins were present with Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones as their dates, and Blaise Zabini was there with Pansy Parkinson. It didn't take someone with Hermione's intelligence to figure out she was the only dateless person there. Or that the mood in the room was decidedly anti her.
"…so anyway, I finally figured out that a little ginger in the morning will stop the vomiting. Have you seen Draco anywhere?" Hermione tuned in just in time for Ginny's rambling to end.
"No, he was greeting someone that arrived just after me, but he seems to have disappeared." Lucky she'd heard enough to answer the question.
"You didn't warn me she would be here. Dammit, Draco, you do not have the right to blindside me like this. I should have been told so I could prepare."
Severus accompanied his words with furious pacing. He'd pulled Draco into the library as soon as he'd seen Hermione. His anger was directed as much at himself as at Draco, but he was never going to admit that. After years as a spy, he should have been able to see through a set up. Draco had certainly learnt too much about deceiving people throughout the war.
"If you would stop pacing and calm down, you would realize it's not quite the drama you insist on making it out to be. You have got to be one of the biggest drama queens ever to grace the ranks of Voldemort. And you know what the rest of them were like! Now, down your whiskey, refill your glass and come on out to be social in the last ten minutes before dinner." With that Draco stormed out of the room, leaving Severus harbouring resentful thoughts.
Guests:
Hermione
Snape – campaigning for her hand – also annoyed
Ginny – happy to see her friend after so long – pregnant – furious at her brother, but then furious at hermione
Draco – trying to play matchmaker – trying to keep wife happy – trying to stop house from burning down
Charlie – doesn't have a side – happy for his sister
Amanda Picklett Weasley – Charlie's wife – does not know a soul
Fred – ron's side – angry she as invited and he wasn't
George - ditto
Blaise – Draco's friend – doesn't really care but happy about pregnancy
Susan Bones
Luna Lovegood
Pansy Parkinson