A/N: :-)

Draco did not contact his parents again until Christmas time, after they sent over their new house-elf with presents for him, Hermione, and her parents. Since they had brought Polly with them Hermione made him send an owl thanking them immediately. Of course, he wasn't sure what Mr. and Mrs. Granger were going to do with a Remembrall or Omnioculars, but Hermione seemed pretty happy with the two-way mirrors they each received. Draco was sure the gift was just his parents way of saying Muggle phones weren't necessary, but he didn't want to spoil her reverie by mentioning it, so he kept his mouth shut. Which was really hard for him.

They spent New Year's Eve at a party Sophie and Phillip threw at their house. Harry and Ginny showed up for a little while but Ron and Astoria never came by. Apparently, they were spending the evening at home. Alone. She hadn't moved out yet, and Ginny expressed her fear that it was starting to seem like she wasn't going to. Things were going well between them. Too well.

"Relax, Weaselette," said Draco, handing her an entire bottle of champagne and encouraging her to chug it. "There are worse witches out there he could end up with than Astoria. It's not fair for you to hate her just because she was a Slytherin."

Ginny blushed a red so bright her freckles were hardly visible. "I … that's not why … I mean …"

"Yes it is. But, I can tell you right now, if any Slytherin was ever sorted into the wrong house it was her. If you recall, in her first year she almost had a hatstall. Ask her about it sometime."

"Why don't you just tell me about it?"

"Because you should ask her. She very well might be your sister-in-law someday, you might want to get used to it." He gave her a cocky smirk.

Shortly after that, Ginny and Harry left. Even though Harry had thought Draco's comment was a little funny and probably true, Ginny was not amused.

Hermione tried to be angry with him for egging Ginny on, but when midnight hit and he kissed her all of her anger melted away. It was hard to stay mad at someone who, with every kiss, still made her knees buckle.

When the New Year began and Thinx's investor meetings approached, Draco and all of the other employees were forced to work seven days a week. Hermione understood the importance of this company to Phillip and Sophie, but she found it difficult to be supportive when she and Draco were no closer to having a venue or any of their other wedding plans decided. She had been researching places like mad and planned to visit each of them as soon as his work died down. It was hard to tell by a photo, but she was pretty sure none of these places were going to be the one. Her wedding to Draco had to be perfect and nowhere seemed good enough. Maybe they should just save themselves the money and get married in the tent they spent so many nights in last summer. At least it held memories.

The one good thing about Draco working long hours was that he came home frisky and ready to relieve some stress every night. While it had been long ago distinguished that his libido was stronger than hers, she found herself missing him so much that she very well might have surpassed him, which wasn't a problem for him in the slightest. It just meant sleep would be scarce, but it was worth it.

Thinx's first investor meeting was two weeks after New Year's. It was with a wizard named Atticus Quartz who owned a company that manufactured about eighty percent of the wizarding world's quills. He was a half-blood, as most of their potential investors were, and seemed genuinely intrigued by their proposal. Unfortunately, at the end of their presentation he whispered something to his associate, who proceeded to tell them while he thought their company was great and he liked their enthusiasm, he just couldn't work with people who had a Malfoy on their team. The way things were right now, that name was tainted and he wouldn't jeopardize his own company by working with Draco.

Sophie tried to defend him by saying he was marrying a Muggle-born in June, but Atticus just laughed and said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

There was a possibility this all could have gone away if they just told him Hermione Granger was Draco's fiancée, but no one brought it up. Sophie and Phillip wanted to get Thinx going on their own merit, which they now realized was going to be hard with Draco Malfoy by their side. Besides, there was a good chance Atticus already knew. Everybody else did.

As the week went on, their meetings only went from bad to worse. One potential investor, Benson Bentley, even had the audacity to call both Draco's working at Thinx and his marriage to Hermione a publicity stunt.

"How you tricked a sweet witch like Hermione Granger into marrying you I will never understand. Do us all a favor and don't let it get that far. She deserves better than a manipulative prick."

Draco was livid. It took everything he had not to knock Benson on his arse, but, somehow, he refrained. Instead, he politely - as politely as he could muster, anyway - told the wizard, "Hermione is no fool. If I was trying to manipulate her she sure as hell would call me on it and then make me suffer slowly, which is exactly what she'll do to you when I tell her what an insolent bastar -"

Caroline threw her hand over his mouth and started laughing hysterically. "You are so funny, Draco," she said, pinching his cheek to stop him from licking her.

"Thank you for coming in," Phillip said solemnly before walking who could have been Thinx's last hope at a future to the door.

As soon as he was gone Caroline released Draco. By this time he was so frustrated he immediately apparated out of the conference room and into his office. He used his wand to throw everything around, but quickly learned it felt better to do it himself. At least the Muggles got some things right.

When his office was essentially destroyed, a knock came at his door. "Go away!" he shouted.

"Yeah, I'm your boss, mate. 'Go away' doesn't work on me."

Phillip walked in a moment later with Sophie just behind him. They both looked around his office and frowned. She immediately used her wand to start putting everything back in place.

"A little extreme, don't you think?" asked Phillip.

Draco turned away from him and stared out the window. "If you've come here to fire me there's no need. I am willingly resigning."

"No one ees resigning, Draco. And no one ees getting fired," said Sophie, putting all of his books back on the shelf and alphabetizing them by author, just like Hermione had done the first time she visited him at work.

"I think that's a bad move on your part. How do you expect to get investors with me working for you? I never realized how much people actually hate me before." Or maybe he chose not to notice.

"I don't 'ate you," Sophie said brightly before putting a hand on his shoulder. "And neizer does Phillipe."

"Which is a perfect example," said Phillip, stepping forward. "I openly judged you when we first met."

"You and me both," Draco smirked.

Phillip chuckled. "Yes, well, it took some time, but eventually I saw the error in my ways. You're not a bad guy, Draco, and sooner or later someone is going to see that."

"And 'opefully eet ees someone wiz a lot of spare galleons," laughed Sophie.

Draco finally turned around and saw that his office was, once again, in order. "Thanks," he said almost shyly as he stared at the floor, unable to look his two friends in the eye.

"For what it's worth, I myself had a strong urge to pop him one when he brought up that manipulating rubbish."

"Me too!" Sophie chimed in. "I weesh Caroline 'ad let you tell 'im off."

"Hey!" Caroline shouted from the doorway. She walked inside with Seth at her heels. "I was looking out for the greater good of the company. We all know that horrible disgrace of a wizard is going to go back to his ritzy friends and tell them all about this."

"Well, I'm sure any friends of his are probably people we have no interest in working with," said Phillip. Everyone gasped. He had never said something so bold about people with money before. Except for the pureblood racists none of them had any interest in working with anyway.

"So what's our next move, boss?" asked Seth, walking over to Draco's desk and digging through his drawers until he came out with his 'secret' bottle of firewhiskey. He transfigured a few quills into glasses and began pouring.

Phillip let out a heavy sigh and said, "Well, that was the last of our investor meetings. Why don't we all take a few days to breathe before coming back and starting from scratch."

This time everyone's gasps were even deeper. Phillip had never given them time off before.

"So when you say a few days, what does that mean exactly?" Caroline asked.

Phillip thought about this. "Well, it's Friday now, so let's say next Wednesday we come back ready for action."

"Woohoo!" shouted Caroline. She chugged down her glass of firewhiskey before saying, "See you Wednesday, mates," and disapparating out of there before Phillip could change his mind. Seth was right behind her.

"You two going to go somewhere?" Draco asked as Sophie hugged onto the arm of her husband.

"I was just thinking that a visit to her parent's chateaux was long overdue. What do you think, Soph?"

"I zink eet sounds absolutely perfect, mon chérie." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Promise me you and Hermione will do something relaxing."

Draco grinned and shook his head. "No can do. We have a wedding to plan."

XXX

That weekend Draco and Hermione spent both Saturday and Sunday visiting potential venue after potential venue. They didn't want to make any other decisions until the location was set. While they liked several of the places, none of them felt quite right.

Hermione went to bed on Sunday night a very unhappy bride-to-be, but her spirits were significantly raised the next morning when Draco surprised her with breakfast in bed. "What's the occasion?" she asked as he set down the tray and sat down beside her.

"The occasion is my darling fiancée is stressed and I need her to relax so I can relax during the only time off I'll probably ever get." He leaned in and kissed her neck.

"So this is all for you?" she said, giving him a playful shove off of her.

"Of course," he grinned. "Who else?"

His seduction techniques were questionable. Yet, somehow, they worked. Hermione only took about two bites of her breakfast before her clothes were off, and afterwards she had to hurry up and get ready so she wouldn't be late. But Draco was nice enough to pack the food up and send it off with her.

Since Hermione was going to be at work all day, Draco decided to take this time and come up with a plan of action for Phillip and Sophie. Even though he was not supposed to be working during his time off he couldn't bring himself to just sit back and do nothing. They had lost investors because of him. And, what more, they still wanted to keep him around. He owed them.

Draco quickly got dressed and headed to the Ministry, where he said a quick hello to Hermione to let her know he was there before heading down to one of the lower levels to read through their business archives. They had information on every wizard entrepreneur in the world down here, and since the Malfoys were more or less consultants at the Ministry he was granted full access.

While he planned on researching new potential investors, something brought him back to the ones they already met with. Several seemed more than interested in the company and, with the proper persuasion, he was sure they could convince them to reconsider.

He spent hours down there, reading through whatever he could find on these people, which included everything from both negative and positive Daily Prophet articles to both humble and arrogant autobiographies. And then, sometime well after lunch, he started to research Atticus Quartz. He was quite an impressive wizard. A half-blood raised solely by his Muggle mother. He came from nothing and was recruited to work at Quality Quills right out of school. Within five years he became the vice president and increased the company's revenue by two-hundred percent.

When the owner refused to make him a partner he quit and started up his own competing company, Quills by Quartz. He had Quality Quills out of business within three years.

While his company was his main focus, he also spent a lot of his time working on various charity projects. Two years ago he moved his company above the largest wizarding library in the world, which he funded and built ten years before that. There was a photo of him standing in it and cutting a giant red ribbon the day it was opened in the Prophet. The place was exquisite. Just behind him was a long, white marble hall that seemed to be endless. On either side of it was row after row of books that spanned across at least three floors. The walls were a rustic teal and gold and Draco could just make out a large room somewhere in the center with a domed ceiling. Hermione would absolutely love to visit a place like that.

Draco almost fell backwards as it suddenly hit him like a ton of galleons. This was it. The perfect venue. It was both beautiful and classy, much to his pleasure, but also a library, which was Hermione's favorite kind of place.

Forgetting all about his work, Draco threw the papers he had taken out back in their rightful place and headed out of the Ministry. He used the Floo network to get to Quartz Library and was instantly greeted by the smell of books and incense. Right away he knew it was absolutely perfect.

He walked around until he found the hall he had seen in the photo. It was like it was made for a bride to walk down. He followed it into the central, dome-shaped room and looked up. Above them was a moving mural of golden clouds with about every magical creature imaginable flying through it. Along the edges of it was a phrase in Latin, which Draco roughly translated to mean, "Strong hearts are capable of grasping the unreachable."

"Mr. Malfoy." Draco took his eyes off of the mural and located the voice. Atticus Quartz was standing just a few feet away, looking slightly perturbed. "My associate told me you were wandering around down here. Did we have a meeting I was unaware of?"

"No sir," said Draco, moving his eyes back to the mural. "I actually came to see the library."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe."

Draco started to scowl at him but quickly pulled it back. "I assure you, it's true. As you know, I'm getting married in a few months' time, and my lady and I are having some trouble finding a proper venue. I came across a photo of your library today and headed here immediately after. My bride-to-be is a big fan of books, you see."

"Yes, I've heard."

Draco cocked his head a little and smiled. Of course, he wasn't surprised that Atticus knew who his fiancée was. Everyone else did. Apparently, her name wouldn't have made a difference.

"If you think getting married in a place I own will change my mind, I assure you -"

"This has nothing to do with you," Draco said frankly. "I admit, I plan on convincing you to reconsider in the future, but not today. And not by using Hermione. Right now all I care about is finding a place to get married and I think she'll love it here. Have you rented it out for a wedding before?"

"No," Atticus said, eyeing him curiously. "You would be the first."

"Would you consider it?"

He shrugged. "I suppose I'd have to for Harry Potter's right-hand witch."

"Excellent," said Draco, not even caring that it was Hermione's name that would get them this venue and not his. "I'll bring her by on her lunch break tomorrow and if she approves, which I'm positive she will, one of your associates and I can talk numbers."

"I believe I will take that task upon myself, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco nodded. He walked up to him and held out his hand. Atticus reluctantly shook it before they both headed off in opposite directions. Draco left the library with a little skip in his step. It seemed that he had finally managed to do something right.

XXX

The next day Draco met Hermione at her work at lunch time. He had told her how he'd found the perfect venue for them but he refused to tell her where it was. She was both nervous and excited as he gave her a kiss and guided her over to the fireplaces outside of the Ministry. He was so enthusiastic about it all that she really hoped she liked the place. Merlin knew she wasn't good at masking her emotions.

Since they were using the Floo network to get there and Draco wanted her to be surprised, he had owled Atticus that morning to get the okay to enter from his office instead. He had no problem with it.

Draco let Hermione go first, telling her to say Quartz Incorporated. She raised an eyebrow at him before taking a handful of the Floo powder and throwing it into the flames. He followed shortly after.

Upon arrival, Hermione was surprised to be greeted by none other than Atticus Quartz. She had read about him in the business section of the Prophet on more than one occasion and knew him instantly. She also recognized his name from Phillip's list of potential investors since she often snooped through Draco's notes to see if there was any way she could contribute.

When Draco came through, Atticus had just finished introducing himself and was shaking Hermione's hand. "Yes, I know who you are. Does this mean you're reconsidering investing in Thinx?"

Draco chuckled lightly before saying, "We're not here to discuss business, Mione."

"I was just curious," she said, grabbing Draco's hand and smirking at him. "But you're right. This is your day off. One stressful endeavor at a time. I believe you have someplace to show me, Mr. Quartz."

"Yes," he said as he studied the way Draco leaned in towards her. "Follow me."

He led them to a large elevator, where a witch they guessed was his secretary already had the doors held open for them. They all walked in and Atticus pressed the 'L' button, which Hermione assumed to mean lobby.

"I have to say, I'm a bit honored you're the one taking us around, Mr. Quartz," she said as soon as the doors closed. "I figured someone in your position would have one of his lower-level employees showing us a potential wedding venue." She looked at Draco and gave him a sly wink. He chuckled at her cute attempt to butter the wizard up and squeezed her hand.

"I work hard at making my employees feel like equals," answered Atticus. "No task is too small or insignificant for even me to perform."

"Does that mean you make the coffee when the pot is empty?" Draco asked. "Because Phil - uh … Mr. Prior never does that."

"Well, he is very busy, Draco," justified Hermione. "And I've had Phillip's coffee. You're really better off."

Atticus laughed. "I actually make an excellent cup of joe."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Atticus stepped out first and Draco was just behind him, pulling Hermione along by the hand.

She slowly walked out of the elevator, her eyes wide as she took in the magnificent room they had entered. It was tall and wide, with windows at the very top shining down on row after row of books. The whole place seemed to gleam of rustic gold. She was in complete awe.

"That … is a lot of books," she said, her eyes only growing wider. "Do you think it's possible to read them all?"

Draco smirked. "I'm sure if it is you'll take it upon yourself to try."

"This place is absolutely breathtaking." Her lips curved into a smile. "You would really be all right with getting married in a library?"

"Of course," said Draco, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I may not be as big of a book enthusiast as you are, but I spent just as much time in the Hogwarts library as you did."

"Yes, I recall. I hated that," she said, nudging him playfully.

"Was it because I distracted you with my rugged handsomeness?"

"No. It was more like I was distracted by your constant pestering. You never could just let me study in peace. Remember that one time you and Pansy kept conjuring rats tails and throwing them at me so I ended up giving both of you one on your -"

"So here's my idea," he said, quickly changing the subject. He pulled her through the room and over to the aisle of books he had already set his mind on. "This here seems like the perfect place for the beautiful bride to walk down. Then we can have the altar down there," he pointed, "at the entrance of that central room."

"It's a pretty long way to walk." Hermione eyed the aisle, her mouth twisting to one side as visions of her tripping and falling flat on her face entered her head. "Our wedding's pretty small. Maybe I can start about halfway down."

"Worried about falling?" he said, cocking one eyebrow.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Remove yourself from my head."

"I know Occlumency, not Legilimency, Mione."

"I'm sure you could do it if you tried."

"I have no interest. Yours is the only mind I care to interpret and you're as easy to read as one of these books."

Hermione raised her fist and acted like she was going to hit him, but then kissed him instead. "I want to see that room," she said, pulling him further down the aisle. Atticus followed just behind them.

They walked into the circular room and Hermione let out an impressed, "Oh," as she looked up at the mural. "Strong hearts are capable of grasping the unreachable," she translated out loud.

"Gappelish," they both said, recognizing the quote from a book on ancient wizard stories that essentially made witches and wizards into Gods. Charidon Gappelish was the author.

"Oh, you two know Gappelish," said Atticus, who was suddenly beaming. "And, Ms. Granger, you know Latin?"

"We both sort of do," she said, looking at Draco. "But neither of us is fluent. That quote is pretty famous so it wasn't exactly a challenge."

"Do not be humble, Ms. Granger. Even being able to read that much is impressive in this day and age."

"Thank you," she said, looking back at the mural. "After the wedding this room would be a great place for the reception, don't you think?"

Draco nodded.

"Is the mural bewitched to change with the time of day?"

"Yes," answered Atticus.

"How does it look at night?" she asked.

He smiled. "Exquisite."

Finally taking her eyes off the mural, Hermione looked at Draco. "Could we talk privately for a moment?" She began to pull him away, but Atticus politely walked back to the hall they had just come from. Once he was gone, she said, "Draco, I know this place is beautiful and … well, perfect actually, but how much would it cost to rent for an entire evening? I can't imagine it's cheap."

"Don't worry about it."

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "While I admire your enthusiasm, sometimes I wonder if you've forgotten that you stopped using your parents' money. I admit, Phillip pays you well, but not this well," she said, motioning to the room around them.

"Not all of the money I had before belonged to my parents, Hermione. Quite a few deceased Malfoys and Blacks have left me a great deal of galleons. I haven't had to dip into it yet, but it's there if I need it."

"And you want to use this money of yours on a wedding?"

Draco nodded. "Yes, absolutely. I want to use it on a wedding and to also to start our lives together. As soon as we get married I plan on ditching our little flat for someplace nicer. I know you've thought about it too."

"Of course I have. But I always figured we would save up our combined incomes until we could afford something together."

Draco laughed. "Come on, Hermione. You're marrying a Malfoy. Struggling isn't in our future."

Hermione frowned. "I suppose you're right. But you're not looking to buy a place as big as Malfoy Manor are you? Because all of that space is really unnecessary."

"Whatever you want, love," he said, pulling her close. "We can start out small. Only five or six bedrooms."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Draco laughed and clonked his forehead against hers. "So is it a go then?"

Hermione looked around the room they stood in. She caught his eyes again and smiled. "All right, yes. It's a go."

Draco lifted her off the ground and swung her around while kissing her. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed back in utter glee. This was it. In five months they would be getting married in this very place, and neither of them could wait.