Disclaimer - Owned by JK Rowling, borrowed by me.
Chapter Eleven - Reaction
The next few weeks past in a bit of a blur for Hermione. Her and Draco's relationship was growing. After their first kiss they had both confessed to feeling more than friendship and things had moved from there, with many more kisses being shared. They also enjoyed spending time together and learning about each other, slowly sharing more and more of their pasts.
They had also spent some more time with Narcissa, with more dinners, always in the muggle world. Hermione had taken the three of them to the seaside for takeaway fish and chips down on the pier, despite it being freezing cold, explaining it was a muggle tradition, and they had had a great time, partly helped by the warming charms they cast.
Hermione had introduced them to another muggle tradition of the Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings. They'd enjoyed a lovely family meal together that weekend. She'd sent her apologies to the Weasley's, staying she was on night shift. She'd really enjoyed the day but the guilt about lying also made her realise that she had to come clean about her increasing relationship with Draco. Gathering together all of her resolve she had owled Harry and asked to meet him for lunch, just him. She didn't really understand why but she knew she had to tell him first. More than anyone he was her family.
Harry met Hermione the following day at the Three Broomsticks for lunch, and was a bit surprised when she asked if they could head into muggle London, but was also a bit excited as it had been a while since he was back in the muggle world.
They exited the Three Broomsticks on the muggle side and started walking, catching up on bits and pieces. Eventually they stopped at a local cafe and sat down for lunch.
"Ok, spill" said Harry, after they had ordered.
Hermione looked at him questioningly.
"I'm not stupid Hermione, you only want to meet me, that means you want to talk".
Hermione smiled, he knew her too well.
"Its Draco" she said, figuring quick and (hopefully) painless would be the best option, "you see we've become a bit, well, um, closer".
Now it was Harry's turn to look at her questioningly, "define closer"
"Well, I guess you could say we are together, dating I suppose" Hermione clarified, blushing slightly.
Harry took a deep breath, removed his glasses, and rubbed his face with his hands, trying to process the fact his best friend, who was actually more like a sister, was dating the boy who had made her life hell during school.
Harry put his glasses on and looked at Hermione. He could see she was apprehensive and waiting on his reaction, and he figured it was time to be honest with Hermione about just what he knew.
"I'm not surprise really" he said, causing Hermione to look stunned. "You are both intelligent, smart, and you work together. In a lot of ways you are very similar, plus like you said to me when you started your training, you also both had to work against people's preconceived perceptions of you. Its only natural you would grow closer. Having said that I was not expecting dating just yet".
Hermione just looked at Harry, so he continued, but lowered his head slightly so he was looking more at the table than at her.
"After Ron found him at your cottage, and you admitted to me that you were becoming friends and you were talking to him I went to see Kingsley. I wanted to know what had happened at the Manor, why Draco and Narcissa were in the dungeon and most importantly if you were safe confiding in him".
Harry stopped, waiting for Hermione to berate him for interfering, but she didn't say a word, so he looked at her and could see tears in her eyes. He reached out and took her hands.
"It wasn't that I don't trust you, its just, well you're like a sister to me and I worry about you. You're my family. Honestly part of me was just glad you were finally talking to someone because I know there were things you weren't talking about with us. I just needed to know that you would be safe".
Hermione nodded, knowing that she felt exactly the same way about him, "did he tell you?" she whispered.
"No" Harry said, "he told me that I did not need to concern myself with that, all he could say was that Draco and Narcissa had suffered during the war just like many others and should be given the same understanding as the others who had suffered. He also told me that he could guarantee that Draco did not share his father's ideals and that as far as he was concerned you were safe and that it was nice to see that it was possible for people to help each other and move on from the past."
Hermione smiled, "that sounds like Kingsley".
"Yeah but its still going to take some getting used to, and its going to be hard, not everyone is going to be happy or accepting" Harry replied.
"You mean Ron"
"Yes and probably others, while I admit you are alike, you are still an odd pair" Harry smiled, "plus wasn't his engagement announced earlier this year?"
Hermione sighed, "yes, it was an arranged marriage drawn up by Lucius that neither he nor Narcissa were aware of until the Greengrass's mentioned it. I know its been broken off, but I don't know any more than that and to be honest I'm not sure if I want to know any more".
Harry smiled back, "like I said, its not going to be easy".
Narcissa was nervously pacing the Manor awaiting the arrival of Camille Greengrass. It had been a month since she had informed Mr Smart to do whatever was necessary to break the marriage contract between her son and Astoria, and the owl she had sent to Camille asking to meet to explain had been ignored until today. She had been shocked to get an owl from Camille requesting a meeting, and wasn't quite sure what to expect. It had seemed that the Greengrass's had not spread news of the broken engagement, so neither had she.
Narcissa was startled by a pop and the appearance of Dinky. "Mrs Greengrass is here Miss, Dinky put her in Drawing Room".
"Thank you Dinky" Narcissa replied, "could you arrange a pot of tea please".
Dinky nodded and popped away, while Narcissa headed to the Drawing Room.
"Camille" she smiled warmly as she entered "lovely to see you".
Camille Greengrass stood and smiled back to Narcissa, "you too Cissa, I think we have much to discuss".
The pair then sat as Dinky arrived with the pot of tea. Once Dinky had left the room, Camille said "I'm not going to ask what happened during the war, to you or to your family, that's your business. I just wanted you to know that the Draco I have seen in the last few months is a son you should be proud of, just like you should be proud of yourself Cissa. The war changed a lot of things for a lot of people and not everyone has had the strength to survive or change, but you have. You're a strong person Narcissa Malfoy".
Narcissa was stunned, this was not the conversation she was expecting and it was quiet humbling.
"Thank you Camille" she replied "Draco and I have been though a lot, and we made certain promises to each other during that time, and we both realised that we needed to honor those promises and support each other".
Camille nodded, "I think some of us need to learn from our children, they certainly seem to be adapting more than some of us".
Narcissa smiled, but knew she had to ask "what about the contract?"
Camille took a deep breath and said "well that was mainly Charles and Lucius, and I didn't really argue, it was the way things were done, we both know that". Narcissa nodded, she knew both her and Camille had entered into arranged marriages.
"Both Astoria and Daphne knew from an early age that their marriages would be arranged, and what their lives would be. You and I both know the role of a pureblood wife and that's what they had been taught to expect from life. Now they have a choice and I'm not really sure if they have come to terms with it yet".
Narcissa smiled, she could understand how the girls would be feeling confused and unsure. She herself had been married at 17 but from as early as she could remember her mother was preparing her for the life of a proper pureblood wife. She would have had no idea what to do if she was given a choice.
"At least they have each other" she noted to Camille.
Camille smiled, and the ladies continued their afternoon tea with a sense of calm that maybe this decision did not have to end their friendship.
Draco had been flying round the grounds of the Manor. He knew Hermione was telling Harry today and he was a little unsure what the reaction would be. She'd explained that he would be calmer than a few of her other friends, but he also knew from previous discussions that her and Harry were like brother and sister, they were each other's family and that meant Harry could react in an unexpected way.
Flying was where he felt free, no one could get him, he could think without interruption and there was no one to judge him. As he was circling round he thought he saw someone down in the meadow at the back of the Manor. He flew round again, lower this time and realised it was Astoria. When they were children and the Malfoy's were hosting one of their garden parties for only the purest they would all run down to the meadow and play before inevitably being hauled back to act in a true pureblood fashion.
Draco took a deep breath and headed down to see Astoria. To be honest he hadn't expected to see her as he was unsure how she would react. They'd never been really close.
Astoria wasn't sure why she had come to see Draco or why she had ended up in the meadow at the back of Malfoy Manor but she knew she needed to talk to him. She didn't blame him, she just wanted to know how he could do it, how he could walk away from everything he had been taught growing up. She didn't mean the blood purity stuff, she mean the life, marriage that they had always known would be arranged for them, not necessarily together but the life that their parents had had.
To Astoria love grew from a partnership, a pairing. That's what had happened with her parents, her aunts and uncles. All of the marriages in her family had been arranged, even Daphne's, and she was still getting married, she was still going to be Mrs Marcus Flint. What was Astoria going to be?
She had realised that Draco was no longer circling the area and was landing not far away from her. She took a deep breath and waited for him to sit down next to her, which he did a moment later.
"I'm not mad" she said quietly, "just confused".
Draco released a breath he didn't even realise he'd been holding. "I can understand that" he replied.
"I don't know what to do. I'm meant to be a proper pureblood society wife, that's all I've ever thought about being, its all I've been taught to be."
The guilt that Draco had been feeling since he made the decision to void the contact. He knew it wasn't just his life that he was affecting with his decision, but now those repercussions were sitting right next to hime, and he had no idea what to say, somehow sorry didn't seem appropriate.
After a period of somewhat awkward silence Draco spoke, "I'm not going to say sorry, because that would just be a lie and an insult to you, but I do understand how you feel. This wasn't a decision I took lightly or made easily. Choosing a career that was easy. Malfoy Industries had been closed down by the Ministry and I knew I wanted to help heal the pain caused by the war".
Draco took a breath realising Astoria deserved the truth, or at least as much of the truth as he was willing to share. "The war was hard on everyone, and its no secret that mother and I were kept prisoner in the dungeon here. We made a promise to each other during that time that if we made it out alive we would live the lives we wanted, not the lives we were expected to lead".
Astoria was looking at him intently and smiled softly, which encouraged Draco to continue. "We made it out alive, we put our lives back together and we were happy, or at least getting there. Then we found out about the marriage contract and it just seemed like it was what we were meant to do but..."
Draco wasn't sure how to continue. He knew he loved Hermione but he wasn't ready to share that with the world yet.
"I think I get it, I just..." Astoria started.
"I know" Draco replied "its weird having a decision to make".
Astoria smiled, and in that instance knew she would be ok, and so would Draco.
AN: Sorry for the long delay in updated, life kind of got the better of me and I was a bit stuck on this chapter.
Its turned out to be a bit of a filler chapter, but I'm hoping that I've found some inspiration to get back into this story. I hope that the next chapter will be easier to write and be posted a bit quicker.
