~nine~
It didn't take Draco long to spot Hermione after he entered the cosily lit marquee on the manor grounds. Even though his view of her was partially blocked by a large group of people, he found it very easy to identify her glossy, bouncy hair that she had put partially up with what looked like a beautifully ornate hair comb, leaving a cascade of soft curls down her back. He relished the opportunity to take in her elegant appearance, catching glimpses of her outfit through the occasional gaps that opened up in the crowds.
Her dress was an elegant midnight blue that sparkled with delicate crystals with every move she made. As she turned away from him, he caught a glimpse of the low back of her dress, revealing an expanse of her perfect, smooth skin, covered part-way up by a band of the sparkling blue fabric around her middle and two straps that came over her shoulders to join it in the middle. She completely took his breath away and Draco wondered how on earth he would manage to maintain his composure, when the inevitable opportunity to talk to her would arise later.
He continued to discretely observe Hermione throughout the early part of the evening as he did his duty to his mother by mingling politely with her guests. He used his well-practised aristocratic charms to delight them with sincere compliments and by showing knowledgeable interest in their affairs.
Hermione, Draco noticed, was doing her own fair share of mingling but he also hadn't failed to notice that she never ventured far from a rather tall and muscular looking man, with whom she was laughing rather animatedly. Draco eventually recognised the man as a French dignitary from the Ministere des Affaires Magiques, named Luc Bonaccord.
It was with a mixture of disappointment and jealously that he watched her link his arm as the couple made their way through crowds and out view. Draco surmised that she must have met him and struck up a relationship with him during her recent secondment to the French ministry, and he could hardly blame her for wanting to move on after the whole debacle with Justin.
The early evening consisted of an exquisite dinner accompanied of course by the talented string quartet. This was then followed by some more entertainment - in the form of a fun raffle to raise funds for St Mungo's, where a varied selection of prizes from both the muggle and wizarding realms were up for grabs. The event was a huge success and Draco took great pleasure in watching his father's face turn various shades of puce as he was declared the successful recipient of a season ticket for a muggle football team called Manchester United. The other guests found it equally as amusing and cheered and laughed as Lucius marched to the front of the marquee to collect his tickets.
As the raffle has drawn to a close Draco, was loitering by the bar and taking in the hustle and bustle as guests made way for the dance floor area to be cleared. Taking a sip of his firewhisky, he sensed the approach of some people in his peripheral vision and was taken by surprise to see Potter and The Weaselette making their way purposefully towards him.
"Malfoy," came Potter's curt greeting.
"Potter."
"I must say, your mum's done a terrific job tonight," Potter remarked with a small smile.
"Thank you," Draco replied. "I'll be sure to pass on your compliments. "Of course… she had quite some help from Granger, you know?"
"Yes, she told us," Ginny acknowledged with an enthusiastic nod. "Although, those floating lights in the garden are something of a dead giveaway of Hermione's involvement. They're something of a 'Granger speciality.'
"Oh?" Draco said with interest. "Well they're certainly a nice touch."
"You know; our Hermione is rather taken with your mother." Ginny continued, looking openly into Draco's eyes. He eyed her carefully in response, looking for a sign of sarcasm but finding none.
"Really? Well, I suppose they did seem to get on rather well. I noticed when I happened to call that afternoon when they met here to plan the evening."
"Yeah, we know," Potter returned with an oddly warm smile. Draco felt uncomfortable under Potter's green-eyed gaze but determinedly maintained his calm composure.
"Hermione told us how you helped her too, that afternoon."
Draco looked up sharply, looking from Potter to his companion and back again with surprise.
"Oh," he replied with a small cough. "Well, you could hardly blame her for finding it rather… unnerving, coming back to this place."
Draco looked down at the floor momentarily, feeling more and more uncomfortable at the direction in which their conversation had headed. As he looked up again he was shocked to see that at that moment, Potter had thrust out his hand towards him with expectant eyes.
Draco stared at the outstretched hand for a moment, raising his eyebrows questioningly, before grasping Potters' hand firmly in his own.
"Thanks for looking out for her, Malfoy," Potter stated genuinely. "And I don't just mean on that day here at the Manor."
Draco gave Potters hand a brief shake, withdrew and looked openly from Potter to the Weaselette and back again.
"I'm not sure I follow…"
"Look, we know what you did to Justin, Malfoy, and quite frankly we think it was bloody brilliant!" Ginny gushed with a mischievous grin.
"Bloody brilliant doesn't even come close!" came another familiar voice from behind him.
Draco rolled his eyes playfully and turned to see that the other member of the golden trio had of course turned up to join them. He was carrying a tray of after dinner mints that he must have somehow liberated from an unsuspecting house elf.
"Honestly, we all secretly disliked him," Ron continued between mouthfuls of the dark chocolate pieces, "Even at school, I thought he was a pompous creep. Second only to you really, Malfoy."
"Thanks." Draco replied curtly.
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Weasley continued unabashed, "You were a colossal git at school, Malfoy, but I can tell you've changed. A lot."
Draco puffed out a breath and nodded indifferently, not quite sure how to respond. He felt like he was having some weird hallucination, standing in the manor's grounds having a friendly chat with the three Gryffindors, who appeared to be positively appraising him.
His eyes travelled across the tent to Hermione once more. She was now on the dance floor with the tall Parisian, clearly enjoying herself now that the band had struck up a lively song.
"It looks like she's managed to get over Justin, then?" Draco commented, nodding in Hermione's direction. "They look very happy together."
The three Gryffindors followed his line of vison with confused expressions.
"You're joking aren't you?" came Ron's chortling reply.
"Hermione and Luc?!" said Ginny. "Don't be daft, Malfoy!"
"She's trying to set him up with her work colleague - Ryan Shacklebolt, you know, Kingsley's nephew? Was a few years above us at Hogwarts?" Potter explained.
"You mean…?"
"He's gay, Malfoy!" said Ginny, incredulous at Draco's ignorance. "I mean, just look at those dance moves! Camp as a row of tents, but a million times more fabulous!"
Draco watched intently as, as though on cue, Ryan Shacklebolt, who Draco now recognised vaguely from school, approached the pair in the dance floor. Hermione began clearly introducing them to each other and then the three of them departed to the side to talk more closely.
Hermione appeared to then make her excuses to leave the pair together before suddenly looking around for her friends. When she saw them standing with Draco, her face couldn't disguise her surprise.
Ginny Weasley waved her over enthusiastically, and Draco could have sworn he saw he take a deep breath and mutter something towards the heavens before skirting around the edge of the dance floor towards them, her dress twinkling most alluringly as she moved their way.
"Mission accomplished?" Ginny asked with a waggle of her eyebrows.
"Um, well yes, I think so," Hermione replied, looking back over at the two men who were now making their way over to a quiet corner of the tent. Her eyes then slowly came back to the group and settled on Draco himself.
"Hello Draco" she said quietly with a small smile. "How are you?"
"Very well, thank you, Hermione," he replied, intently staring into her eyes. "I must say, you look very beautiful this evening."
"Thanks," Hermione said, smoothing invisible wrinkles out of her dress self-consciously.
Hermione coloured with a blush of rose petals, while Ginny, with a small smirk, ushered Potter and her brother away.
"We're just going to get some drinks," she trailed off as they shuffled away to the other end of the bar.
"I hope your mum is happy with how everything is going?" Hermione asked with genuine interest.
"Yes! She definitely is. And she's singing your praises to everyone here, for all your help."
"Oh that's so sweet of her!" Hermione chimed, "But I was just doing my job really."
"Hermione, you and I both know that it means much more than that."
An awkward silence fell over them as they watched the couples and groups dancing happily together in front of them. After a few more seconds of painful silence, they both hurriedly blurted out in unison -
"I'm so sorry for what happened…"
They stared at each other in surprise and it was Draco that was the first to break the silence.
"Wait, you're sorry?" he asked with confusion. "Hermione, have you lost your mind? You do remember that I made a complete arse of myself that night, don't you? I acted totally inappropriately given the circumstances. I should have just told you about Justin straight away."
"Yes, well I found out in the end didn't I?" Hermione replied. "I assumed that he had been carrying on with other girls for a while when I discovered him. I just thought you might have told me sooner."
Draco stared at her, shaking his head. "No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. I only found out about Justin about an hour before you did, when he brought that bimbo home. That's why I was packing my things - I couldn't put up with that behaviour happening right under my nose. Justin threatened to have me kicked off the healer programme if I told you, but I was determined that I'd find a way to let you know what he was really like."
He smiled sadly at Hermione as he added; "You just seemed so happy with him. I wasn't sure how to let you down gently."
Hermione's eyes looked upwards towards the twinkling roof of the marquee and she sighed deeply.
"I suppose I was happy in a way, at first," she admitted. "I did appreciate being treated to all those fancy nights out in the beginning, as shallow as that sounds. But… things were starting to feel a bit tired, you know? And then he surprised me with that birthday gift. But I soon realised who was actually behind that idea, didn't I?"
Hermione caught Draco's eye as she said the words, but he looked away quickly. He still felt embarrassed that the gift idea had been so obviously attributable to himself.
"I… I gather that you know what happened to Justin after you left that night?" Draco asked tentatively.
Hermione pursed her lips, stifling the grin that inevitably crept across her mouth, before she burst out into peals of loud laughter. Several of the gala guests that were standing nearby, looked around at the pair before whispering to each other.
"Yes! Yes, I do!" she cried, resting her hand on his upper arm as her laughter slowly abated and she regained some composure. Draco couldn't help but smile at her natural beauty as she laughed and wiped a small tear away from the corner of her eye with a contented sigh.
She gave another short chuckle and then a wistfully sigh. "Oh Draco, to think that you ended up losing your healership for it. I'm so sorry for that."
He shook his head, still smiling broadly at her, brushing off her apology, casually.
"It was rather unfortunate admittedly, I suppose. But Gods, Hermione, I can't begin to tell you how good it felt to see that prick hopping around the flat, shrieking like a banshee and clutching at his non-existent nut sack!"
The pair laughed again in unison, before Draco continued.
"Besides, it's all worked out well in the end."
Hermione's laughter died down as she realised what Draco was referring to.
"Ah yes! Your new business venture! I hear it's going well?"
"Really well, thank you, Hermione. You must call in if you're passing by."
Hermione's eyes sparkled with interest. "I'd love that. Thanks Draco."
They looked deeply into each other's eyes once more, smiling affectionately, the silence between them suddenly no longer feeling awkward as it had done before. Draco was strongly reminded of that evening in Warlocks all those months before, when they had fallen into such easy and relaxed conversation.
Draco absorbed everything that they had just spoken of before a question suddenly occurred to him.
"So…. why exactly were you apologising to me just now, for what happened that night?"
Hermione blushed and looked nervously down at the floor.
"Oh. Well, I wanted to say sorry, for kissing you."
Draco looked at her with furrowed brow and she registered his confusion.
"I kissed you that night out of spite and anger. I did it to get a rise out of Justin and I shouldn't have done that Draco. It… It was truly wrong of me to use you like that and to take advantage of you, knowing full well what a drunken state you were in."
Draco blinked a couple of times as his mind processed what Hermione had just admitted.
No matter how glorious that kiss had felt to him that night, it was now perfectly clear that she had simply wanted to get back at Justin, and any passion or feeling that he had thought he had felt from her was simply attributable to the urgency of her need for revenge.
"You stupid idiot," he thought to himself, bitterly.
Taking a deep breath and getting his emotions in check, Draco turned back to Hermione with a smile that belied his inner turmoil.
"It's fine, Granger, honestly. Think nothing of it."
"But…" she countered before Draco instantly cut her off.
"No, no, honestly, it's fine! Look, I was totally drunk that night. I mean, I had no self-control over what I was doing, and I did some really, really regrettable things that night myself."
This time it seemed it was Hermione's turn to blink as she processed his words.
"Oh. Okay," she relied quietly with a wan smile. "So… you were totally drunk, and I…"
"…needed to get back at Justin?" Draco offered, finishing her sentence for her.
"Yes." she admitted quietly. "So I guess we were both acting irrationally that night, and we should… I don't know? Forget about it and… move on?"
Draco took another deep breath to steel himself.
"Yes. Yes, I think that would be wise, don't you?" he asked with a tone of indifference.
Hermione nodded affirmatively, her lips pressed together in an expression of seriousness.
"Great!" Draco remarked with finality. "Now, do excuse me, Granger. I have to go and help mother with seeing off some guests. It's been lovely to catch up with you."
"Of course," she replied with her own smile of indifference mimicking his own.
He gave her a curt nod, turned on his heel and walked swiftly away, making a hasty retreat out of the marquee and back towards the manor. His feet crunched angrily along the pebbled pathways in the garden as he sought refuge from his raging emotions and bitter disappointment at how an evening that had been laced with so much hope and expectation, could have tuned out so abysmally.