Chapter 20

Hermione looked at her reflection in the mirror and gathered her courage. She loved her gown. She didn't think she'd ever loved an article of clothing quite so much, though her dress for the Yule Ball in fourth year was a close second. They both made her feel strong and beautiful, and wasn't that what the best clothing should do?

The gown had been a major splurge, but as she readied herself for the gala she started to believe it had been worth it. Not only was it, as Pansy had said when she'd seen Hermione try it on, "the exact color of Draco's eyes," but she'd need all the weapons in her arsenal tonight. She'd faced some truly terrifying things in her life but a fancy party still intimidated her, and a fancy party where she was going to reveal her relationship with Draco Malfoy to everyone in the Wizarding World had her shaking in her stilettos.

She checked her appearance one more time, taking particular care with the neckline of the dress which didn't allow for any kind of undergarment; she couldn't risk using magic on the delicate fabric, so she was using double-sided tape to preserve her modesty. Everything seemed secure but she felt a little exposed nonetheless. However, the overall effect was rather fabulous, even better than she'd expected - the gray silk draped elegantly around her curves, showing off her figure and then fell straight to the floor with a small train at the back. But the thing that made the dress truly unique and interesting was the rabbit fur cape attached at the shoulders, giving the sleeveless gown a luxurious winter look.

She'd taken half a day to get ready, making an appointment at a salon to have a massage, manicure, pedicure, and have her hair cut and styled. And then, much to Draco's chagrin, she'd returned to her flat to dress. It was where she had been keeping her gown because Draco could be very nosy and she'd gotten the girliest notion that she'd wanted it to be a surprise. Now she was glad she'd followed her instincts, because as nervous as she was about the gala, she couldn't wait to go to Draco- whom she'd heard floo into her living room about five minutes ago- and see his reaction.

With one last deep breath she grabbed her clutch from her dresser, lifted the dress so she wouldn't trip over the train, and made her way out of the bedroom. Draco was pacing her living room- he was reluctant to admit it, but she knew that he was nervous about tonight as well, though the moment they apparated out of her flat she was sure he'd mask that completely. He stopped when he heard her coming, turned to face her, and froze.

"Draco?" She asked tentatively, rapidly losing her confidence as he continued to just stare at her. "Is there something wrong?"

His eyes flew to hers. He swallowed, licked his lips, and swallowed again. "I didn't know it was possible to actually be struck speechless."

"Oh," she gasped, looking away from him and coloring with pleasure. "The dress is really something, isn't it? Pansy was right, I'm glad she talked me into buying it." She felt him approaching her, then a pair of shiny black shoes came into view, and finally a finger under her chin encouraging her to raise her head. She looked up into the grey eyes she'd been waking up to every morning for weeks now.

He smiled and cupped her hips in his hands, pulling her against him and resting his forehead against hers. "It's not the dress, Hermione, though you are particularly gorgeous tonight. I'm just feeling humbled that you're mine, that you're going to walk in there tonight on my arm - that you want to."

"Who'd have thought, Draco Malfoy, humbled," she tapped the tip of her nose against his, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the admission.

"Well, there's a first and a last time for everything," he chuckled. "Truly though sweetness, you're magnificent and this dress is a work of art. Remind me not to damage it when I'm taking it off of you tonight," he growled and she shivered at the desire in his voice. "I'd say let's just stay in but I'm very much looking forward to showing you off."

"And Pansy would kill us," she giggled.

"True," he laughed and pulled away from her, removing two boxes from the inner pocket of his cloak. "I have some things for you but now I'm afraid it'll just be gilding the lily."

Hermione just glanced nervously at the sight of what were obviously two jewelry boxes and waited for him to proceed. He opened the first to reveal a delicate diamond and gold necklace woven into an arrangement that resembled stars in the night sky, or maybe, she thought as she gave it a closer look, falling snowflakes.

"Oh!" She gasped.

"Do you like it?"

"Wow, yes," she reached out to run her fingertips gently over the beautiful craftsmanship.

"I could never have imagined how incredible you would look tonight, but I wanted you to have something that matched the season."

"Draco, this is exquisite, I'm almost afraid to wear it."

"It's practically indestructible, I assure you. But if you truly like it, please mention it to Claire. She helped me figure out exactly what I wanted and sketched out the design for the jeweler."

He'd enlisted his cousin- who was actually a fairly well known artist- to design this for her? It was her turn to be speechless.

"May I?" He asked, removing it from the box.

She nodded and turned to allow him to place it around her neck. He was still holding the other box. "Draco, this is too much," she objected.

"Well, actually, this is from Potter. He wanted me to tell you that it belonged to his mother and he couldn't imagine a woman more deserving of it, and that he was really looking forward to seeing it on you. I have to hand it to him, I didn't know he was capable of being so manipulative, I mean you really can't refuse his dead mother's jewelry."

"But that makes it worse, it was his mother's!" She gasped. "I couldn't!"

"And don't you think that means he gave it a lot of thought before he decided?"

She paused and realized that he was right, if Harry had made this gesture it was because he really wanted her to have it. "Where is this coming from? I mean, Harry and I have been close for most of our lives but he's never given me jewelry."

"I assume Pansy strongly hinted that it would be good for you to look especially fancy tonight. I also got the impression that Potter had been itching for an excuse to give this to you but didn't think you'd normally accept it."

"Ginny wouldn't have approved either," she murmured to herself.

He didn't comment on that, just popped open the box and Hermione gasped again, understanding immediately why Harry had chosen this piece for her. It was a bracelet, a series of diamond and amethyst flowers in a stunning but somehow almost whimsical display. Purple was her favorite color, something she knew she had in common with Lily Potter. She adored it, and she also understood why she'd never seen Ginny wearing it, considering that she was a pureblood, the witch had surprisingly modern taste. Hermione willed herself not to cry.

"Would you like some help with it?"

"Yes please," she responded holding out her left arm and allowing him to fasten the bracelet around her wrist.

"Stunning," he whispered when he was finished, looking her up and down and kissing her forehead.

She smoothed her hands down his chest. "You look very handsome yourself."

"Of course I do," he winked at her. "Are you ready to go?"

She took a deep breath, willing her racing heart to calm down. She'd tried to tell herself she wouldn't be nervous, but that was easier said than done. "Just let me get my cloak."

He apparated them to an alternative apparition point just down the street from the Ministry where they'd agreed to meet Harry and Pansy so that the four of them could walk in together. She threw herself at Harry the moment she saw him.

"Thank you, I can't believe you want me to have your mum's bracelet!"

"Hermione, her last act on Earth was to protect me, something you've been doing since you were twelve years old, I can't think of anybody she'd rather have something that- according to her journals- she loved very much, even if she thought Dad had gone a little over the top buying it for her."

"Well, I'm honored," she said as they turned back to the two Slytherins accompanying them. Pansy grinned brightly at her and then practically danced up to her to kiss her on both cheeks, looking almost giddy- which was a little disconcerting.

"You look so hot, Astoria can eat her heart out!"

"Wait, what? I thought Astoria lived in France?"

"Why would you think that?" Pansy responded. "And even if she did, she wouldn't miss this, not after the divorce, she is definitely going to be here trying to make a point about how she's better off without Draco."

Hermione glanced at Draco uncertainly. "She has a place here too, as far as I know she hasn't permanently moved to France," he informed her. "I apologize, it never occurred to me that you would assume otherwise."

Pansy snorted. "What he's not saying is that he was absurdly generous with their divorce settlement," she rolled her eyes at that declaration.

"I wouldn't have Scorpius without her, no matter how distasteful I find her actions following his birth," Draco snapped in response.

That immediately sobered Pansy. "Okay," she agreed, "I get it."

"You're still all stiff," Draco said, squeezing Hermione's waist, "what's wrong?"

Hermione felt imminently foolish, and yet she couldn't banish her doubts- Draco made her feel beautiful and wonderful, she simply hadn't been prepared to come face to face with his ex-wife tonight. With an unprecedented amount of discretion from both of them, Pansy and Harry moved away to allow them to speak in private.

"Talk to me," he whispered.

"Astoria is very beautiful."

There was a long pause.

"I suppose so," he eventually admitted. "You think that you're less so?"

Hermione wanted to scoff at his question but the disbelief in his voice helped return some of her confidence. "I think she makes it look effortless, and I spent half a day getting ready for this event."

He chuckled and kissed her temple. "I assure you, she did the same, it's not effortless. And sweetness," he lowered his head, his hot breath ghosting across her neck making her shiver. "She never affected me like you do, there is no comparison here. It's going to be difficult for me to keep my hands, much less my eyes off of you tonight, okay?"

She swallowed harshly. "Okay," and then she smiled up at him, "and I'm the one who gets to go home with you and Scorpius tonight."

"Oh didn't I mention? When I dropped him off, your parents volunteered to keep Scorpius for the night, they practically insisted. We'll go retrieve him at brunch," he explained, ghosting his hands up and down the curve of her waist. "I hope you're not disappointed?"

"No, no, not disappointed," she tried to gather herself as he kissed her neck. "We should go in now," she said, tweaking his earlobe when he was reluctant to pull away.

He laughed, but agreed, and they all made their way towards the Ministry.

Their entrance didn't garner much of a reaction given that it happened in the midst of several other couples anxious to rub elbows with Harry, Hermione, and even Draco. But when it quickly became clear that the four of them hadn't arrived together by accident, but were actually friendly, Hermione heard people begin to talk, and they weren't subtle.

And, still, Pansy was practically bouncing in her heels, Hermione had thought that this was exactly the type of attention she had wanted them to avoid.

"What is your deal?" She hissed.

"My friend on the planning committee came through."

"What?"

She nodded her head in the direction of the seating chart. "I asked to be placed at my old friend, Daphne Zabini's table, and she came through."

"You've gotten yourself seated with the Greengrasses!" Draco hissed.

"I'm very much looking forward to a front row seat as that bitch tries not to have a meltdown over the two of you."

"Don't make a scene, Pans," he begged.

She straightened her shoulders. "Would I do that to you?"

"Okay," he conceded.

Hermione bit her lip and looked around furtively. She'd yet to catch a glimpse of either Astoria and her family, or any Malfoy other than Draco but she did catch the eyes of Lavender Weasley who was giving the phrase "if looks could kill" new meaning.

The bell chimed to denote that dinner was about to be served and Hermione, with an encouraging smile from Harry who looked quite apprehensive himself, laced her fingers with Draco's and let herself be led to his family's table.

She greeted his parents formally, she'd officially met them many times before, and then was introduced to his aunt and uncle- his father's sister and her husband- and then to his cousin and her husband.

Claire was tall, regal, very much a Malfoy, but her smile seemed genuine and the look in her eyes bright. "It's lovely to meet you," she greeted Hermione, kissing her on both cheeks.

"You as well," Hermione returned. She touched her necklace gently, "And thank you for helping Draco with this, I'm blown away, and I understand your time is valuable."

The other woman's face broke out into a beaming smile, transforming her from beautiful to stunning and she leaned in to speak to Hermione quietly. "I've never seen him like this," she confided, "I just thank you for making him so happy and helping him in this small way was absolutely my pleasure."

"Draco's shown me some of your work, it's absolutely beautiful, I'd very much like to see more."

"Tell my cousin to bring you to Lyon, along with that son of his, I'll drown you in artwork and French food."

"That sounds wonderful, we should talk more later?"

"Yes," she kissed her on both cheeks again and took her seat.

Hermione looked at Draco and while, at first, he appeared to be giving away nothing, she knew him well enough by now to see that he was very pleased with how she'd gotten along with his cousin whom she thought might be the only one of his relatives he really, truly valued.

"Draco, dear," Narcissa Malfoy began when they were all seated, "we missed you last night."

Draco's relatives had arrived in England the day before and his mother had planned a dinner party to celebrate.

"Mother, I told you last week that we had plans with Hermione's parents last night and that we weren't available for dinner."

"That's right," she said stiffly. "What was the event that you attended again?"

"Richard and Helen- that's Hermione's parents- are members of a country club and they had their holiday party last night, it was quite fun. I learned a lot about a sport called 'golf'' it sounds quite enjoyable. Richard is going to teach me when the weather improves."

Hermione almost dropped her fork, suddenly completely diverted from their current surroundings. "That's what you were talking about! I knew I shouldn't have left you alone together!"

He frowned at her, obviously confused by how suddenly she'd become upset. "I've been alone with you father on a number of occasions."

"Yes in electronics stores when he was surrounded by shiny things with the distraction of a pureblooded wizard with an unlimited budget to brainwash. Draco, you cannot play golf with my father."

"Why not? It sounds like fun."

"First of all, I promise you it's not as exciting as he makes it sound. I've heard him explain it to wizards before, he tries to make it sound like a muggle form of quidditch, I assure you, it is not."

"So you're afraid I'll be bored?" Now he looked amused.

"I don't really care about that." She huffed. "The thing is that when they lived in Australia he took up golf, and ever since they moved back and his semi-retirement, he's become absolutely obsessed. And his country club hosts this tournament every year, it's a two-man team tournament which I'm pretty sure he'd sell me for a chance to win. The problem is, my dad is kind of terrible at golf."

Draco let out an amused snort and she reminded herself that this was neither the time nor the place to hit him for being condescending.

"Hermione, I know I'm competitive but I'll survive losing."

"I don't care about that either," she snapped.

"Then what?"

"He's going to try to convince you to use magic to cheat! He has no scruples about this, would you like a list of the powerful wizards in this room he's tried this on, and often succeeded, it starts with the Minister of Magic, for Merlin's sake! He figures since he's responsible for my existence and I have magic, that it's not cheating for him to use magic. It's completely convoluted logic which ignores the fact that using magic in a muggle sport is cheating whether it's your magic or somebody else's." She was gesticulating wildly by the end of her little speech.

"I say it's fair to use whatever tools you have at your disposal, I think it's quite clever of him, really," Draco smirked.

"I knew you would think that, having very few scruples of your own!" She hissed, briefly re-thought her stance on hitting him, then viciously poked his side.

His smirk didn't falter. "I'd say I was insulted but you're right. Come on Granger, don't be such a goody goody. Let me help your father win his tournament, it'll make him happy and nobody needs to know."

"I may be able to look the other way, but I assure you my mother won't. When she found out that he tried to bribe Arthur into helping him by giving him a tour of their dental practice he ended up sleeping in my guest room for almost a month. So if you want to get on Mum's bad side permanently, go ahead and help him cheat."

Draco just stared at her and then started to snicker. "Okay, okay, calm down witch."

Hermione just narrowed her eyes in his direction, she had a feeling this wasn't over.

"Your muggle father knows the Minister of Magic?" Luc, Claire's husband asked looking both confused and amused by their interaction.

Hermione made a effort to keep her face neutral at his phrasing, she didn't think he meant anything derogatory by it, he merely seemed curious. "Well, I've known Kingsley since I was fifteen and my parents don't really think of him as the Minister of Magic, he's not the head of their government, after all. They more consider him to be something like my surrogate uncle and I think he appreciates that they treat him normally."

Luc nodded.

"You said that they lived in Australia?" Claire wondered, when nobody else spoke.

"Briefly," she answered- they were treading on dangerous territory.

"Was this while you were at Hogwarts?"

"Ah- yes." Well, she should have been at Hogwarts.

"It was during the war, Claire, she sent them away for their protection, which was an incredibly brave and I'm sure very difficult thing to do," Draco answered, reaching over and squeezing her hand.

"Oh," Claire gasped, her eyes immediately falling to her plate.

Hermione concentrated on her salad, the silence at the table so tense she could have cut it with her butter knife.

"I'm just going to the loo," Hermione said, when they were finally between courses, needing to escape and catch her breath.

She slipped away before anybody could say anything in response- though she doubted anybody would. While using the toilet and touching-up her makeup she gave herself a pep-talk and readied herself to go back out to the gala when she was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. She looked up briefly. It was entirely in line with her luck that Lavender would choose now to make an appearance. She sighed, annoyed, and tried to ignore her.

But Lavender apparently hadn't come to actually use the facilities, she just stood behind Hermione who continued to ignore her, which apparently only served to annoy the other woman.

"Aren't you even going to say hello?"

Hermione finally looked up and met the witch's eyes in the mirror. "Why? You didn't and you were the one who followed me in here, and why would I want to talk to somebody who's been glaring at me all night anyway?"

"I just had to come and see, because I thought I knew you, and I didn't think you were the kind of witch to sell yourself to a Death Eater," Lavender sneered as she shifted her eyes from Hermione's necklace to her bracelet pointedly.

She almost laughed. "So you went out of your way to come tell me you're disgusted with me?"

"I just thought you should know that you're making a fool of yourself, we were friends, once, and Draco Malfoy is never going to settle down with a witch like you, he's bought you and he's using you."

There was a time when those words would have bothered her, caused her to have doubts. Not anymore.

Hermione paused before responding, giving her appearance another check over before she said anything. And then, without bothering to turn around she met the petty witch's eyes in the mirror again. "It's a good thing you weren't sorted into Slytherin, Lavender."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Just that green really isn't a good color on you."

"What?"

"Do you really need me to spell it out for you? You're jealous, and that's just sad," she said on a scoff and arched an eyebrow, daring the other witch to argue with her supposition. "You wanted Ronald, I let you have him. Did you know that he begged me to take him back after I caught you together? I'm sorry it took so long for him to agree to marry you, but that's not my fault, I'd washed my hands of the entire situation by then. Though, it must sting, knowing you were his second choice."

Lavender's mouth actually fell open.

"And now I have a wizard who is smarter, more powerful, better looking, and wealthier than Ron will ever be. And if you think that Draco had to buy his way into my bed, you are sorely mistaken, he knows his way around things, if you know what I mean, and it's not the size of his vaults that I'm interested in," she leered. "He did, thoughtfully, buy me this necklace, but the bracelet is from Harry, it was his mother's and I was touched by the gesture."

"He was still a Death Eater," she insisted, "have you no morals?"

"Morals," Hermione laughed, "that's rich, coming from you."

"It's not the same- the Malfoys are evil!"

"Merlin, are you serious right now? You know what," Hermione scoffed, "I can understand the difference between a teenage boy with little choice, and true evil. And what's hilarious is that I seem to remember that you used to have an enormous crush on said, supposed Death Eater. I also remember that you designed your entire wedding based on his with his ex's. You just had neither the funds nor the taste to pull it off. But you didn't understand that either, that it was a hopeless endeavor on your behalf. Nor were you apparently able to understand the difference between a free wizard and one who is in a relationship- or maybe you just didn't care. I don't give a damn what you think of me, but if I hear that you're bad mouthing Draco or our relationship in a way that could harm his son, then I will let the real story of how Ron and I broke up out into the open. I might even be willing to offer up some pensieve memories for photographs. I've played nice for years. I'm done. Goodbye Lavender."

Lavender opened her mouth and Hermione cut her off, truly exasperated with the confrontation.

"What's worse is that I know Arthur held a family meeting and forbid anybody from speaking badly about me in public, and you were too cowardly to openly defy him, but you still couldn't help yourself and snuck into the loo after me to try and tear me down!" She made a shooing motion, "go away, you sad little woman."

She was actually a little surprised when the other witch, looking mortified, turned around and fled. She turned her attention to the two figures who she had noticed lurking in the background.

"Pansy," she greeted, "enjoy the show?"

"Fuck Granger," Pansy interrupted, "that was inspired."

"I'm not usually that...brutal, but I'm at the end of my rope with her, and I couldn't risk…"

"You didn't want to risk her drawing attention to Scorpius," the witch looked uncharacteristically sympathetic as she spoke.

"Or spreading gossip that could get back to him when he's older," Hermione clarified. "Draco's gone to great pains to shield him, I'd like to think she wouldn't do that to an innocent child, but I can't be sure," she murmured quietly and turned to the other woman. "Hello Daphne, it's been a long time." Not long after the war ended Daphne married Blaise Zabini and moved to Italy and it was Hermione's understanding that they spent most of their time there still.

The blonde gave her a tight smile. "Blaise and I were basically summoned back to Britain for Christmas, my parents are trying to present a united front. But I swear, I come in peace." She raised her hands in a sign of surrender.

"I didn't think otherwise," Hermione chuckled.

"Well after that," she pointed in the direction Lavender had left, "I thought I should clarify."

"Wait a minute," Pansy interrupted, "did I misunderstand that or did Weasley cheat on you? And with that?" She waved her hand in the general direction of the bathroom door.

Hermione snickered as she nodded.

"How is that funny?" Pansy demanded.

"It's just- that was almost exactly Draco's reaction when he found out."

"Draco knows about this and the cretin is still alive? I'm suddenly feeling very disappointed in him."

"Yes, well, I prefer him home with me and Scorpius and not in Azkaban."

Pansy's face actually softened at that proclamation and she appeared to be trying to come up with a response when she was interrupted.

"Actually," Daphne said, "that's what I came to talk to you about?"

"What's that?" Hermione asked, glancing at Pansy, hoping for some kind of sign of reassurance.

"I want to see Scorpius."

Hermione froze and her eyes darted to Pansy again, this time accusingly.

"Hear her out Granger," she said- as gently as Pansy ever spoke.

"Why now?"

The other witch sighed and raised and hand to her hair in a nervous gesture but then seem to remember her complicated up-do and quickly dropped it.

"Astoria didn't even tell me when he was born, I read about it in the Prophet. And I wish I'd come home then and begged Draco to let me meet him, but I was dealing with some personal issues at the time and it was just too painful."

"Tell her," Pansy encouraged.

"I've been trying to get pregnant for a long time. And I'll admit that I was incredibly jealous of Astoria, I couldn't bear to see her when she was pregnant and so I had no idea what was really going on. When I realized that she didn't even seem to care about the baby- it was one hurt on top of another and so I just avoided it, and him. But none of it is his fault. He's my nephew, probably the only one I'll ever have, and I'd like to know him… I'll abide by whatever rules Draco thinks are necessary. I know my sister has not behaved well and my parents have just removed themselves from the entire situation, so I know he'll be suspicious, and I don't blame him."

Hermione smiled at the other woman sympathetically. "Daphne, I'm not sure it's my place to interfere here."

"I don't want to put you in an awkward position, I won't ask you to try and convince him or anything. But I've known Draco for a long time and just watching you with him for a few minutes- I can tell he thinks a great deal of you, I just want an opportunity to talk to him without it looking like a confrontation. Will you ask him to dance with me? Blaise and I will cut in on the third dance of the night, if he's okay with it. And I apologize in advance, my husband is a terrible flirt."

"If he agrees you can send Potter a message on that mobile of his, just tell him to tell me that 'it's a go' and I can discreetly let Daphne know, because I'm certain that Potter doesn't have a discreet bone in his body," Pansy interjected.

Hermione sighed. "All I can do is ask, I'll not talk him into it."

"Thank you!" Daphne exclaimed. "Seriously, that's all I could ask for."

"Is that why you followed me in here?" She asked Pansy.

"Oh, no, Potter's been fretting about you since we sat down to dinner. It's like he thinks Lucius is going to pull out his wand in the middle of a meal and curse you."

"I'd like to see him try," Hermione scoffed.

"But he nearly had a panic attack when he saw that woman come in here after you," Pansy continued with a roll of her eyes, "so I told him I would come check on you to avoid him making a scene, and Daphne just tagged along. I don't know how you put up with his nonsense- he's the most tedious man I've ever met in my life."

Daphne snorted, but quickly covered her mouth as the two other women looked at her. "I'm sorry, it's just- I thought I detected some sexual tension between you."

Hermione looked back and forth between them as she considered Harry and Pansy's interactions over the past weeks and then quickly stored that thought away for later.

"Well, you're hallucinating," Pansy huffed, "but Hermione, if you'd come by the table and let him see that you're perfectly fine, I would appreciate it."

"And this isn't you just wanting to stir the cauldron?"

"Okay, yes, but seriously, he's becoming annoying."

"Astoria won't make a scene if that's what your worried about," added Daphne, "appearances are too important to her."

"Alright," she said, and in silent agreement the other witches hooked an arm through each of hers.

They chatted to her as they made their way across the room and she barely glanced up until she was in front of Harry who looked almost comically relieved to see her.

"I've been told you were fretting," she soothed, patting his shoulder. "Did you forget for a few minutes that I can handle myself?"

"Well," he said, "your relationship with Lavender has always been contentious."

"This witch is in no more need of protection than an actual Gryffin is," Pansy interrupted with a scoff, "she is a cold-hearted bitch and if she and Draco don't work out I think I might keep her anyway."

"Well, thank you Pansy, that's quite a compliment coming from you." Hermione chuckled, then bent and kissed Harry's cheek. "I'm fine," she reassured him, attempting to smooth his hair, he'd obviously been tugging on it.

"Haven't you realized by now that's a hopeless cause?" Asked Pansy.

Harry just narrowed his eyes in her direction. Hermione stood up and turned to the table at large, looking at each of them in turn, it wouldn't do to appear rude, and she'd met them all at one time or another except for Astoria's date. A man whom, when she got a good look at him, she almost had to stop herself from laughing. He was so unlike Draco in appearance that she could only think that Astoria's choice had almost certainly been intentional; he was handsome, true, but much shorter and stockily built, he had an olive complexion, ink black hair and a mustache. And he kind of gave her the creeps, so she quickly looked away from him.

When she met Astoria's eyes the other woman's expression remained impassive. However- and Hermione realized that she was deeply biased- she detected a hardness behind those eyes that chilled her to the bone. She couldn't say that she felt threatened, just newly disturbed by Draco's past circumstances, and knew that she needed to make a quick exit before she revealed her true feelings.

"Hello everybody, I'd stay and chat but I need to get back to my table, I've been gone long enough and I don't want to be rude."

Daphne bussed a kiss against her cheek. "Thank you for even listening to me."

And with that Hermione made her way back over to the Malfoy table where Draco was waiting for her.

Author's Note: Inspiration for Hermione's gown and jewelry is on the Pinterest board for this story. Thanks to Weestarmeggie for beta reading, I'm even more grateful than usual, I've sent so much stuff her way lately and in this busy season she's still been amazing. Love you, lady! Thanks to you all for reading, this is the first of the Christmas themed chapters, I know Christmas is over but I'd still like to post at least a couple of these within the holiday season (fingers crossed), so keep your eyes out for more before the new year!