Beta Love: glitterally
Ch. 20
Early Saturday Morning
Daphne & Hermione's Room
Hermione stirred as Daphne closed the door behind her but, thinking that she was just going to the bath, she rolled back over and went back to sleep.
When she met Harry for in the common room two hours later, she knew better. Neither Neville nor Daphne were anywhere to be found.
"Any idea where they are?" he asked.
She relayed what Daphne had said the previous night and then continued, "Are we going to try to get Sirius and Kate today? I think they're due back this morning."
They stood close together, chest to chest, hands clasped. Harry leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. "I say we try this afternoon. They'll be pissed we didn't try to call them back from their honeymoon." He disentangled his hands from hers and skimmed them up the outside of her arms. "I'd rather find something else to do with you today than worry about the bitch, though. Want to," he stopped to kiss her again as his hands circled around her back and pulled her closer. Involuntarily she slid her hands around his waist and clasped them at the small of his back. "Want to go into Hogsmeade this morning? We can visit the bookstore."
She smiled against his lips. "You do know the way to my heart, Mr. Potter. We can face our problems later."
Meanwhile
Rouen, France
Zoe Trallop stacked the last of the galleons the Greengrass chit had sent in her safe and smirked in satisfaction. The smirk faded as she considered the letter that had arrived with no payment. Apparently, Hermione Black thought she'd get away with that. Perhaps she needed more motivation to be willing to part with her galleons. But it was going to cost more, and the press would hear about her secrets no matter what. It was time to make a Floo call to her contact at the Prophet.
11:00am
Ministry for Magic
London
The tiny witch in the Department of Bondings and Marriage peered at them over her half-moon glasses, eyes twinkling in the manner of the departed Dumbledore. "And how may I help you two young people?"
"I'd like to procure a wedding licence for the two of us, please. And we'd like to be married as soon as practicable," Neville answered.
"Names, please?"
"Neville Franklin Longbottom and Daphne Aurora Greengrass."
The official's eyebrows raised almost into her hairline. "A wedding licence? Are you sure?"
"Quite sure," Daphne said firmly.
"Very well; please fill out this paperwork. The licence will be ten galleons; the officiant will charge another fifteen. When you're done, just bring this back to me, and we'll get started."
In silence they took the proffered paperwork and began filling it out. Daphne slowed as she reached the end of her half, the quill moving more slowly until it stopped altogether. "Neville, would you be angry with me if I didn't want to get married today?"
"Godric, no. I'd be hurt if you didn't want to marry me at all. I know this isn't the wedding of your dreams, and I'd love to give that to you."
"I need to tell my parents. I have to stand up to them."
"Are you sure?" He carefully placed the quill to the side and brought her hand to his mouth to kiss it quickly. "You know I'll stand by whatever you decide."
"Let's get the licence. Then we can get married anytime we like. But I owe it my parents - I owe it us - to tell them."
"Okay."
They filled out the remainder of the paperwork and Apparated to her London home, wedding licence tucked safely in Neville's jacket pocket. If they'd stayed just a few more minutes, they'd have seen a very familiar pair of blonds entering the same small office.
Malfoy Manor
Wiltshire, England
"You've done what?" Venom dripped from Lucius's tone as he faced his only son, his heir, the scion of House Malfoy.
"Luna and I were married this morning at the Ministry for Magic. I hope you'll accept her as my wife and the future mother of the Malfoy heirs."
"You - "
"Let's all take a step back and discuss this." Narcissa interrupted Lucius's next sentence. "Draco, is Miss Lovegood with you today?"
Draco's lips quirked at the intentional reference to Luna by her maiden name. "Actually, Mother, she's back at Hogwarts. I wanted make certain of her welcome before I brought her here."
"Son, you realize you were betrothed to Daphne. We gave our word you would marry her."
"Yes; I'm quite aware of the contract Father signed when I was eleven and, while I'm fond of Daphne, I have no desire to be married to her. She wants to marry someone else as well."
Lucius surged to his feet. "She wants to marry someone else? That's an insult and not to be borne!"
Narcissa sighed heavily. "Lucius, I believe that is beside the point at this juncture. Please, let's discuss this as rational adults."
Draco waited in silence for her to address him again.
"Darling, we can't simply break our word to the Greengrass family. You realize you must get an annulment. Rest assured they will not allow Daphne to marry outside this betrothal."
"I believe they will, and an annulment is not possible."
"What do you mean, it's not possible? It was a civil service, of course it's…," her voice trailed off as Draco began shaking his head.
"We had the officiant perform the unitatas sponsus, Mother. We can't go back."
"You will no longer be as my son," Lucius thundered.
"You're disinheriting me?"
"You're no longer welcome here, you ingrate. Do you realize what your mother risked to save your life? She lied to the Dark Lord!"
"And why was she in that position, Father?"
"What?"
"Why was she in that position? You put her in that position - you put us all in that position - to have to live with Voldemort, to serve Voldemort. That was your fault. And I'll be damned if I allow you to dictate my life further!"
"Stop it! Just, stop it!" Narcissa begged them both.
"No, Mother, this needs to be said. Father raised me to believe horrible things, false things. He risked everything to support a madman! Voldemort" - Draco smirked when they both winced at the name - "wasn't even a Pureblood, and we followed him like sheep. Potter was right all along, and I'm not going to be a part of it anymore." He took a more conciliatory tone. "Luna's family isn't in the Sacred Twenty-Eight, no, but she's a Pureblood. Her father owns a paper. Think of the advantages; she's a war heroine, and we're trying to rehabilitate the Malfoy name from the war. I've made a very good match." He turned to face his father. "You can disinherit me, but it'll be all over the papers. Is that what you want? Or would you rather give us a smaller Malfoy residence to live in? She doesn't even want to live here, but she would - for me. Wouldn't it be better for us to have her in the family?"
"He makes a good point," Narcissa pointed out to her husband. "She could be of some use to us. After all, if she can forgive us, then shouldn't the rest of society? And Draco is now friends with the Potter boy-" She plowed on despite the sneer on Lucius's face. "Really, darling, you must accept this. I will handle communication with the Greengrass family. Offer to help them find a husband for Daphne. Perhaps that nice Zabini boy."
He ground his teeth. "You are to bring her to dinner tonight. We'll make an announcement in her newspaper tomorrow and the Prophet on Monday. And when you're done with school, you can live in the Rectory." He named the smallest of the Malfoy residences in Prawle's Pointe.
Draco permitted himself a small smile. "Excellent. We'll be here at seven?" He looked to his mother for confirmation.
She nodded. "Yes. We'll dine at half past."
12½ Brook Street
London
Daphne led the way up the stairs to the obviously magical residence. Neville nervously straightened his jacket and buttoned it as she opened the door.
"Hello, Doodles. Are my parents home?" she leaned down and asked the neat house elf, dressed in a tea towel.
"Yes, Missy Daphne. They are in the morning room. Can I take your coats? Young sir? Your coat?"
Before they could hand over their coats, Daphne's mother, Aurora, emerged from a side room.
"Daphne, sweet! I thought I felt you cross the wards!" Her smile faltered when she saw Neville beside her eldest daughter, but she came forward and exchanged cheek kisses. "And who is this young man?"
"Mother, I'd like to introduce you to Neville Longbottom." She took a deep breath. "He's my boyfriend. He's more than that, actually; he's my fiance."
Neville had to admire how quickly his future mother-in-law recovered. "It's certainly a pleasure to meet you, Neville, is it? Augusta Longbottom's grandson?"
He held out his hand to shake it. "Yes, ma'am. It's an honor to finally meet Daphne's parents. I'm afraid we have quite a story to tell."
"Well, you perceive me all ears, young man. Come with me, and we'll all talk in the morning room. I'm afraid this may not be as simple as you seem to think."
Afternoon
Eighths' Common Room
"How did you get them to accept it?" Luna asked.
"I just pointed out that you're a war heroine, and that if you could forgive us for everything that happened during the war, that would go quite a long way to repairing the damaged Malfoy name." Draco shrugged. "And the paper helped."
"You're so smart. Are you sure you weren't supposed to be in Ravenclaw?"
"Quite sure. Now, we've got to go to a formal dinner tonight. Are you ready for that?"
"Of course. I've been wanting to clear the Nargles out of the dining room for ages. They were ever so thick in there when Voldemort lived at your house."
Meanwhile
Grimmauld Place
"She did what?" Sirius roared.
"You heard us."
"Why didn't you contact me immediately?"
"Because we didn't want to interrupt your honeymoon!" Hermione snapped.
"Of all the ridiculous things! Of course you needed to interrupt our honeymoon - this is important!"
"Sirius." Kate stopped the incipient rant with a hand on his arm. "It's done. Let's find out what exactly happened and decide how to proceed. Now, Hermione, Harry: tell us what happened."
"Well, last Sunday, I got a blackmail demand. This blackmailer, whom we believe to be the former Professor Trallop, sent a note demanding two hundred galleons by yesterday in a return Portkey or she'd tell the world about how we lived in a tent together last year, and that Harry was a Horcrux."
Kate started to rub Sirius's arm in attempt to keep him calm. "Okay. And what did you do?"
"We let the Portkey go back empty."
"So she may be attempting to sell this information now," Kate surmised.
"How did she find this out?" Sirius seethed.
Hermione let out a sigh. "I think she used Legilimency on me."
"I'm going to kill her."
"No, you're not. We're going to contact Kingsley, and she's going to spend some time in Azkaban," Kate rebuked him.
"We still have to prove she did it. And find her!"
"Well, I may have placed a tracking charm on the Portkey. Also the blackmail money that Daphne paid may have had a slow-acting permanent ink on it that may dye her hands red."
Kate smiled. "So she's literally going to be caught red-handed?" Hermione nodded. "Oh, that's genius. Wait, she was attempting to blackmail Daphne Greengrass, too?" Another nod. "She's a greedy one, isn't she? Alright; Let's get in touch with Kingsley, and then we can have a nice dinner. If we go out to eat in Diagon Alley, that'll give the press something legitimate to talk about on the society page." She stepped quickly to the fireplace, threw Floor power into the fire, and called out "Shacklebolt Grange!"
While Kate was bringing Kingsley up to date, Sirius drew Hermione aside. "Listen, I wanted to talk to you. I know I've been acting unreasonable recently, but I like to think I'm getting more even-keeled these days. Kate's really helped me see how difficult I was being; can you forgive me? Maybe we can take the time to really get to know each other, aside from through Harry. I don't want you to feel that I don't love you or care about you, even though there's a baby on the way."
"I, ahh, well," Hermione stammered, "I think I'd like that, Sirius."
"Then maybe you'll come here during the Christmas break?" he asked hopefully.
"That might be a little overwhelming." At his crestfallen face, she hastened to add, "but I'd love to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with you, if that's okay."
Sirius gave a small smile. "That would be wonderful." He cupped her cheek with his hand and brushed it gently with his thumb. "You remind me so much of Mary, and it's not just looks. She'd be so proud of the witch you've become." He dropped his hand and continued briskly, "Now, Kate has reminded me that I've been very remiss. I've added an automatic deposit to your Gringotts account as a monthly allowance. She read me the riot act, I'll have you know. And she was right; I've been a rubbish father. I want all the privileges of being a dad out of nowhere and then don't even help to support my daughter."
"That's really unnecessary," she protested.
"It may not be necessary, but I'm doing it anyway. And if you don't want the money, just save it for your kids one day."
"No, but - "
"Please let me do this. It's little enough."
Hermione searched his face but saw only an earnest desire to do the right thing. "Okay. Thank you."
Late Night
Eighths' Tower
Daphne launched herself at Hermione as soon as she and Harry emerged from the Floo. "We did it! We did it! You've missed so much!"
"What did you do?" Hermione asked, voice muffled against Daphne's shoulder.
She let go. "We told my parents! And you're not going to believe it - Draco married Luna today!"
"What?" Harry and Hermione chorused.
"He did. It was brilliant timing. We were talking to my parents, who were trying to be so polite in front of Neville."
"Really, they were," he agreed.
"And then, out of nowhere, Doodles delivered an urgent message from Narcissa Malfoy. And they had a complete turnaround."
"Did you warn them about the blackmail?" Harry asked.
"No, we're announcing our engagement in tomorrow's paper, so if she does say something, then it's just normal behavior between an engaged couple, right? And look" - Daphne extended her left hand - "Isn't it gorgeous? The center stone is a pink sapphire. I love it!"
On her ring finger glimmered a gorgeous three-stone ring set in platinum. The clear diamonds on the side set off the vibrant center stone.
"It's official? You're engaged? Congratulations!" Hermione hugged her roommate while Harry shook Neville's hand. "Have you set a date?"
"The summer solstice. You have to be there. We're going shopping for dresses soon; say you'll come with me."
"Before you two start planning shopping trips, uh, what's this about Malfoy marrying Luna today?" Harry interrupted.
"He did, mate. And Daphne jumped in with you remember Neville from the papers; he's the one who stood up to Voldemort when everyone thought Harry was dead'. They went from 'I think there's been a misunderstanding' to 'we're very pleased to meet you, please tell us about your relationship.'"
"So, it's all worked out? What did your nan say, Neville?"
"She's just happy for us; she's known for ages."
"Where's Malfoy?"
"He and the new bride are staying at their house tonight."
Sunday Morning
Rouen, France
"Ahhhhh!" A scream rent the air when Zoe Trallop looked at her hands. They were red, and her palms itched ferociously. "That bitch!"
Meanwhile
Hogwarts
The nondescript owl dropped Hermione and Daphne the now-familiar letters followed closely by Prophet delivery owls. By mutual agreement, they ignored the letters and flipped to the society section of the paper. The headline was Daphne and Neville's engagement, complete with a photo of them looking blissfully happy. The Quibbler owls carried the news of Draco and Luna's marriage on its front page. The whispers grew to a roar as congratulations flew fast and furious across the room.
Once back in the Eighths' Tower, Hermione and Daphne both read their letters.
"Nothing new in mine except a demand for another two hundred fifty galleons this week," Daphne reported.
Hermione smirked. "She's pissed."
Miss Black,
Obviously you did not believe me, and you'll pay for that. The Prophet has been alerted to just one of your little secrets. Perhaps that will convince you to take me seriously. You'll have to wait to see what your punishment is for not heeding me, but in order to keep the remainder of your secrets safe, you will need to send five hundred galleons. Don't make the mistake of thinking I won't expose all your dirty little secrets.
Until Friday.
"She's told the Prophet something? What are you doing to do?"
"Not a damn thing. If she thinks telling people anything she got from me is going to make me cave, she's got another think coming. She's the one who'll regret this stunt, not me." Hermione paused thoughtfully. "I bet the ink's reacting now. I wonder if she's enjoying her red hands and itchy palms."
Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are appreciated it if you enjoyed the chapter.