Hermione was pacing around the living room nervously, throwing pointed glances at the man sitting on the sofa. Her long blue dress swished behind her.
"She's never going to approve of this. Can't we just get married and she'll see me at the wedding" the woman tried.
"No, we can't. Ever since I told her I'd had a girlfriend for so long and I'd proposed she's been dying to find out who it is."
"And what, pray tell, made you not tell her who I am?" she snapped furiously.
"I wanted her to meet you without having any expectations. Otherwise, if she knew it was you she'd have been nervous."
"I'm sorry, she would have been nervous?"
The man raised his hands in the air to show peace.
"Yes. And you don't have to because she'll love you." He stood up from the sofa and went to hug her. Hermione relaxed in his arms as he stroked her hair tenderly. "You look magnificent but honestly she won't care how you look, she will just want to know I'll be in good hands and what better hands than yours?"
Hermione chuckled into his chest at that and looked up.
"That came out wrong."
"It did" the man agreed with a smile. "Are you ready? If you want to impress her, being exactly on time will do the trick."
"Yes" she nodded firmly up at him. After all, when she was with him she could do anything. While they made their way out Hermione reminisced how supportive he had been after the war, how they had become friends, how two years later he had asked her to be his girlfriend, and this year, on their third anniversary, he had proposed. Of course, their relationship had been secret because of the furore it would cause and because neither wanted the man's mother to find out, unsure of her reaction. They usually went to work at the Ministry, passing each other in the corridors, exchanging polite smiles, then went home to their small shared cottage just outside London. Hermione was really happy with how everything had turned out even if her friends hadn't seemed too happy when she had shared her secret with them earlier today. She loved her fiancé and she would let no one stand in the way of their wedding and life together, not even his mother. Though she hoped she didn't have to say it in the woman's face.
"Ready to go?" her fiancé asked. Hermione turned to him and realized he'd been watching her think. "That's some serious face you've got there" he commented.
"Apparition requires focus" she said shortly. "And yes. I'm ready."
He nodded and the two of them Disapparated. They appeared in the garden of a large regal-looking house. Hermione followed the man's lead towards a set of beautifully-carved wooden doors, her heels clicking in the stone path. They stopped before the doors and the man looked at Hermione, smiling encouragingly before knocking. The brunette barely had time to check her watch before the door opened and a pair of blue eyes observed them curiously for a mere second, then they became a part of a confident expression on the woman's face.
"My, my" Narcissa Malfoy said. "I should have known."