How we came to be..
Disclaimer: Characters that you know are Rowling's, characters you don't know, mine.
CHAPTER 2
The elf in the kitchen through his strange Elven Magic had realized that his Mistress was back in the house, even before the chime of the floo, he at once apparated in the large parlour where the old fireplace for traveling was, just in time to take the coat of his Mistress, who was all black now due to the soot and her hair looked as if she had undergone a shock treatment. He loved his Hermione Mistress, with the odd hair, she was very sweet and kind not at all like the others who were always rude to him, she had even insisted on calling her Hermione but that was against his code of honor as an elf so Mistress Hermione it had become.
"Shall I take your bag to your room Mistress Hermione?" he asked with a bow.
"No, no, Twinx, I will take it!" she said taking her bag hastily knowing that one of the countless tugs of war that happened with Twinx or any of the other elves concerning her bag will ensue.
Though living in the Manor had relaxed her a bit about her 'Elfish Welfare' stand, as she had began to understand their need to serve. (It had rather resulted from a frightening situation where she had reduced one of the female elves to tears and depression when she had refused to give orders to her). Now she had reduced the goals of S.P.E.W to just fair and just treatment of elves while they worked.
Twinx smiled with fondness at his Mistress knowing that question would be coming any second now and as if on cue she asked, "Is he home?"
"No Mistress"
He never was, thought Hermione, not before her anyway. One thing she had come to recognize in him was a workahol-ism that matched her own. For the two years she had been married to him she had come to see an unwavering determination in him, which she admired, a determination to take out his family's name from the dirt and give it a respectable position.
It was all about family for him, always. Since the war he had worked hard for just that and he was getting results for it now, for which she was glad.
For the man she had married was far from the boy she knew. Oh, the base characteristics still remained surely, like the tendency to be a bit snobbish, a bit of arrogance, which still persisted; but hell he wouldn't be himself without them, barring these characteristics however, which she realized would make her husband incomplete he had undergone a conversion of sorts, it seemed the war had humbled him a bit, why it had humbled her too, all of them, changed them so much that a pre war Hermione and post war Hermione could be easily distinguished and not even in the context of physical features.
There was a knock and Twinx peeked in asking "Mistress would like to have dinner?"
"No, I will wait for him"
"Master said he would be late Mistress Hermione, he is saying me to tell me to not be waiting for him".
He must be with Astoria thought Hermione, he often had dinner with her and the rest of their activities, which Hermione preferred not thinking about, for even though their marriage was of an unusual manner, the thought of her husband being with another woman still made her a bit uncomfortable. Nevertheless that meant she could start on her new book while enjoying dinner, thus turning to Twinx she said, "Please send my dinner to my room Twinx".
"Yes Mistress, would Mistress be needing her bath prepared" asked Twinx familiar with the fact that Mistress Hermione always took her bath after returning from work.
"No, thank you Twinx" said Hermione with a dismissive voice, knowing he would carry on with more requests. He was one stubborn elf, but recognizing the slight authority in her voice, he bowed down and left.
As the door closed, Hermione got her bath ready, the Malfoy bathrooms were huge where one could spoil themselves, and it made her feel royalty- like to bathe in them. Checking the temperature water and shedding off her work robes she dipped in the tub, moaning as the warm water made contact with her sore muscles. Settling comfortably inside, she summoned her book and opened the first page.
The book had been a gift from him on her birthday this year, how he had known she wanted this one was a mystery to her, for she had been dying to read Selina Senile's "The Witch of the West". The thought of the gift made her remember again that their anniversary was due.
Should I get him a gift she thought, they hadn't celebrated it last year, except he had taken her to a nice restaurant in Diagon Alley, which was a bit more with the intent of showing the media that they were happy in marriage rather than an actual celebration. There was no reason she had thought for one too, as it wasn't a celebratory fact in the first place. Thiers' was an agreement first of all, and even though they were friends now, there was nothing cheerful about their marriage, other than it being the fact that it made them live together.
So, should she get him a gift for their anniversary? Hmm... Nope, it would make things awkward. But then, he did give her gifts, on her birthday, on Christmas and once on her promotion to Healer in charge.
She wondered if they would go out again this time, there was no necessity actually since the media hype had died down or maybe they could just stay at home and play a nice game of chess or have one of their lengthy discussions which turned into often into heated debates. One thing that Hermione had found astonishing in him, was his vast knowledge of wizard history, which was much more than hers, for she had only obtained it from syllabus approved books or books available in the library which Hogwarts found fit to keep. But those books which also involved Dark Magic or some gruesome history could be found in the Manor's Library. He told her of tales and events that fascinated her and many a times both of them would talk and discuss till late in the night until she would fall asleep, but always woke up in her bed somehow. Somewhere down in her heart there was a tiniest blip of feeling which would ignite, thinking that he carried her due to which, she would get a bit embarrassed as well at her thoughts, knowing that he being a wizard could easily levitate her back or ask any of the elves to do so.
It was the recollection of these feelings that brought Hermione back to another discomfort she hadn't realized yet and that was the water being cold. She took her wand to reheat it, but the grumbling in her stomach stopped her. Getting out she dressed herself in comfortable Muggle clothing, a habit she hadn't given up, just in time to come out and hear a knock. Thinking that it must be Twinx, she went to open the door and looked down, shocked to see to human feet instead of elves, and as she looked up recognizing the feet being a part of her husband.
"Draco? I didn't expect you?"
"Aah, yes, my work ended earlier than I expected, I came in to ask have you had dinner?"
For some unknown reason on hearing this an unexpected and bizarre sense of relief was filling Hermione, which disturbed her a bit, however shrugging it aside realizing he was looking expectantly at her said "No, I was just going to though."
"Good, let's have it together then"
"I thought you were with Astoria" asked Hermione, closing the door to her room.
Draco shrugged, "no, she is in France"
She saw that there was a slight droop to his shoulders as he said it, and she felt a bit guilty for the relief she had felt before.
"So how was your day?" he asked.
"A very quiet one actually! No new cases, though there was a witch who had a cactus instead of a head, but that's all"
Draco laughed, Hermione's patients always amused him, and she noticed the laugh lines that gave his generally aristocratic face a soft look.
Twinx was delighted to see his Master and Mistress making their way down to the dining room, he liked to see them together, though he knew about the intricacies of their marriage.
Sighing a bit, he set out the dinner with the other elf Bubble and waited a bit to catch a smile from the Mistress, which she gave with a "Thank you".
Satisfied and with a warm feeling, for that smile never failed to please him, Twinx went inside to be invisible as was his proper duty.
"You realize we have an important event coming up?" said Draco digging into his dinner.
Hermione looked up, puzzled, was he talking of their anniversary...?
"It has to be a grand event, it will be very important for us, and what do you think of holding a party here?"
Did he just say very important for us? Really? And he meant to organize a party?
Draco must have seen the bewildered look on her face, for he looked at her as if she had gone mental.
"Hermione?"
She hastily rearranged her features and asked, "Do you want to celebrate it?"
He looked at her in bewilderment now, "Of course, we have being doing it since I was a kid."
"Wait, what?"
"The Malfoy Annual Christmas Ball?"