Hermione and the other witches returned, hours later, with several rather large boxes containing Hermione's wedding robes and Ginny's bridesmaid's robes. The other women went to hide the boxes while Hermione meandered into the drawing room.

Draco came up behind Hermione and slid his arms around her waist.

'I love you,' he said, nuzzling and kissing the nape of her neck.

'I love you too,' Hermione said, twisting around in his arms. She kissed him on the lips. 'What have you been up to while I was gone?' she inquired, pushing him down onto the couch before cuddling up comfortably in his lap.

'Facing the firing squad,' he replied, scowling. 'Ron and Harry have been threatening me all day long not to jilt you or they would murder me the Muggle way. And they made me sign an oath not to sleep with you till then.'

'You already said you wouldn't,' she said exasperatedly. 'And it isn't their decision anyway. It's my decision to make, so they need to stop being so damn protective of me. When will they realise I'm not a little girl anymore?'

'Oh, trust me, Hermione,' Draco drawled, smirking as he let his gaze follow the cuves of her body. 'No one with eyes in their head thinks you are a little girl.'

'Draco!' Hermione playfully swatted him on the arm.

'What? It's true,' Draco defended.

'I never said it wasn't,' Hermione smirked back. 'I just don't think you should be saying things like that when people could be around.'

'And this is coming from a witch who is at this very moment ensconced on my lap,' Draco brought to her attention, raising an eyebrow.

'Should I get up?' asked Hermione sweetly.

'No, no, you are more than welcome to stay,' Draco said quickly. Then they heard the door slam and Mrs. Black's portrait begin to shriek. Hermione scooted over to sit next to Draco instead of on top of him.

Harry came in grumbling and flopped down on the opposite couch.

'What's wrong?' Hermione asked.

'Dinner won't be ready for another hour since you all spent so much time shopping,' he said.

'And I thought you were hungry for something else,' Ginny whispered in his ear, causing him to blush.

Hermione heard and bit back a laugh, while Draco remained oblivious to Ginny's comment. Ginny curled up next to Harry, practically on him, really.

'Just think,' she continued. 'Mum will be so pleased when we tell at her dinner that we're engaged.'

'Ginny!' Harry exclaimed.

'We could pretend to be surprised when you tell everyone at dinner,' Draco said. 'But I really doubt that it will shock anyone.'

'You two still have to wait until Ginny has graduated,' Hermione reminded them.

'And sign an oath of chastity, Harry,' Draco added wickedly.

'Already have,' Harry grumbled. 'Ron made me when Ginny and I started getting serious.'

'Bloody meddling boy,' Ginny laughed good-naturedly. Then her face sobered up. 'Did you all hear? Dad's just told us; the Death Eater Pansy killed at the final battle had tried to rape her in her own home once. And her father didn't try to stop him. Someone else had to stop him.'

Draco cast his eyes down to the floor.

'You?' Hermione whispered so no one else could hear her.

Draco nodded grimly.

Ginny had reprimanded Harry for something and was once again rattling off the news.

'And Dad also said that in the last minute raids by Death Eaters, before they were all brought to the Ministry, Cho Chang and Cormac McClaggen were killed.'

'I'm sorry about both of them, of course,' Hermione said. 'No one deserves to die like that. But Cormac was such an arse!'

Ginny nodded. 'Fred once put a Nosebleed Nougat into his breakfast for saying something rude to Angelina.'

'He didn't ever say anything to you two, did he?' Harry asked, alarmed.

Ginny shook her head and then looked at her watch. She tugged at his hand.

'Come on, Harry, you promised you'd play Ron at chess and he's probably working out a strategy by now. You were supposed to meet him ages ago.'

'Oh, like he's back from visiting Luna,' Harry said sarcastically.

Ginny winked at him in what she thought was a covert way.

'Oh,' he said. 'Right. Well, er - Hermione, Draco, I'd better go then. See you at dinner.' He let himself be led out of the room by Ginny.

'Sheesh,' Draco said when they had left. 'It's a miracle Harry hasn't been murdered by her brothers by now the way he and Ginny carry on.'

'And yet he hasn't been killed,' Hermione said, tracing a finger down Draco's jaw line. He sucked in his breath as she ran the other hand up his chest and kissed him softly. 'Just as you didn't get killed by my father and he knows I'm staying in a house with you.' She kissed him again.

'Yes, but they think we're under adult supervision,' Draco said, guiding her closer, his hand on the small of her back.

'As you are,' Nymphadora's voice rang out from the doorway. She laughed when Draco jumped though he didn't remove his hand from its position.

'Hey Nymph,' Hermione said as Draco draped an arm across her shoulders. 'Any more news?'

Nymphadora sighed and sank into the couch.

'Fudge was killed last night. But in view of his work against Death Eaters and the fact that he has been found out to be on good terms with Dumbledore, Kingsley was appointed Minister for Magic instead of Rufus Scrimgeour.'

'Good,' said Hermione.

'And Molly says dinner will be ready earlier than planned,' Nymphadora added. 'So after you two are done up here, scoot down to the dining room.'

'We'll never be "done,"' Draco murmured in Hermione's ear as Nymphadora left the room. He took her hand in his as they followed Nymphadora to the food.