Draco sat in his father's office, his third drink in his hand as the guests started arriving downstairs. His thoughts were mainly on the two witches he knew would be among the guests his father had invited. He had managed to convince his father to delay the wedding until after New Year's, pointing out how rushed everything would be otherwise. It was only a stay of execution however; sooner or later a decision would have to be made. The office door swung opened, his mother interrupting his thoughts.
"Are you coming down soon?" Narcissa asked.
"Yes, mother" He sighed, slowly getting up from the couch.
"It's New Year's Draco, at least try to attempt a smile" She smirked, interlinking his arm with hers as they made their way downstairs.
"So who are the lucky witches?" Draco asked more for conversation then actual curiosity.
"Astoria and Daphne Greengrass" Narcissa revealed.
"Sisters, isn't that a bit weird?" He asked incredulously.
"Really Draco, anyone would be proud to be your wife" She shrugged his concern off.
His mind unconsciously drifted to Hermione Granger, wondering if she would agree with his mother's statement.
Walking into the ballroom, he groaned inwardly as he saw how many people had already arrived, staring at him as though he were some kind of Hippogriff. The last thing he wanted was to be on display.
"Glad you could finally make it Son" Lucius drawled.
"It takes time to look this good" Draco mocked, grabbing a glass from the tray the house elf carried.
"The Greengrasses will be arriving shortly" Lucius stated.
"Fantastic, I'm going to mingle" Draco drawled, walking off into the crowd.
Greeting the many wizards he came across, Draco slowly made his way outside into a small courtyard, grateful to be away from everyone. He found himself hoping the girls would be delayed somehow, maybe a house fire.
"Brooding again Draco?" A female chuckle came from the door way.
"Pansy," Draco greeted, not bothering to turn around.
Pansy appeared next to him still chuckling as she leant over the banister with him.
"Thinking of jumping are we?"
"That would be very cowardly" He laughed.
Pansy had been one of his closest friends throughout his adult life, always able to bring a smile to his lips. Thankfully she had married early on in life or his father would have likely chosen her as Draco's bride.
"So when is the big auction taking place?" She smirked.
"I don't know which one do you think I should choose?" He asked.
"Well Daphne is much younger, but Astoria does have wonderful legs"
"Fantastic, I'm choosing my future wife based on her legs" He shook his head.
"Could be worse, Lucius could have chosen some ugly troll"
"I guess" Draco conceded.
"So why are you going along with it?" She asked suddenly.
"Amazing how many people have asked that question, all from wizarding families who already know the answer" He replied.
"You do have a choice Draco, just because daddy tells you to jump doesn't mean you have to" She sighed.
"It's not just about his wishes, Pans. There's the entire family not to mention what the Lestranges would think"
"So what, most of them are locked up in Azkaban any way and those who would have really cared are dead" She shrugged.
"I would lose everything" He pointed out.
"But would it be worth it for her?" She surprised him by asking.
"What is it that you know?" He stood back, staring at her.
"Well I know you brought an Arcana Musicale from my grandfather's shop" She began.
"That doesn't mean anything" He arched an eyebrow.
"On its own no, but then your mother is such good friends with mine and has been known to share her anxieties from time to time" Pansy eyed him carefully.
As far as he knew, his mother didn't know anything about Hermione unless of course his father had opened his big mouth.
"I repeat what is it that you know?"
"I know you were seeing Hermione Granger for a while" She confessed.
It was a testament to his mother's friendship with Mrs Parkinson that she had felt comfortable enough admitting that her son was consorting with a mud blood. Draco wondered if his father knew about it.
"Seeing is a bit of a stretch" He cleared his throat.
"Come on we've been friends since birth and you've never given me a memory store" She rolled her eyes.
"It was a parting gift" He countered.
"A very expensive parting gift"
Draco let out a sigh of frustration while she continued to stare at him, waiting for him to reply.
"So what do you think about me playing around with her, as I recall there was no love lost between you two" He shot back.
"You mean the names we used to call each other, or the few hexs we threw at each other?" She grinned.
"My point exactly"
"It isn't' my place to judge her or you Draco. We all saw what you were like when you were with her. Ok when you were shagging her" She threw her hands up in mock surrender.
"What are you saying, that I should waltz back inside and tell my father I can't marry Astoria or Daphne but that I'm going to continue shagging Granger?" He asked cynically.
"It depends, is that all she is to you a shag?" Pansy raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know Pans, I won't lie and say I don't have strong feelings for her but don't ask me if I actually love her" He sighed heavily.
"Shouldn't you give yourself the chance to find out?" She asked softly.
"I'm their only child Pansy, who will they turn to if I walk away?" He muttered.
"That's my point Draco, you are Lucius's only son he'll have to come around sooner or later" She argued.
Draco felt the need to laugh at the idea of his father suddenly turning around and welcoming Hermione into his family.
"Or is this about your prejudices?"
"What?!" He cried taken aback by her question.
"Are you ashamed of her?" She clarified.
"Of course I'm not; she's the brightest witch I've ever known. She knows more about magic then most pureblood wizards who have been raised in this world. If anything she should be ashamed to be with me, an ex-death eater" He heaved a sigh.
Pansy placed her hand on his shoulders, making sure he was looking at her before she spoke again.
"I'm really sorry to have to be the one to tell you this Draco Malfoy but you are definitely in love with a muggle" She grinned cheekily.
Draco remained silent, there was no use in arguing with her plus he also knew that what she'd said was the truth. He couldn't really bring himself to admit he was in love with Hermione; the concept was too foreign to him. He did know however how much his insides hurt whenever his mind drifted to her or something they had done together, visions of her in his arms tearing at his soul.
Pansy burst into laughter all of a sudden almost keeling over as she tried desperately to steady herself.
"May I ask what's so damn funny?" He sneered.
"Just think if I could travel back in time and tell a seventeen year old Draco that one day he would be in love with Hermione Granger" She squealed, holding on to her stomach.
"Hilarious" He scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"I'm sorry but you have to admit how funny this is" She wheezed, steadying her emotions.
"So what am I supposed to do about it?"
"Well you can do nothing and spend the rest of your life miserable, or you can as you so eloquently put it, waltz back in there and take charge of your life for once" She said.
It took him only a few minutes to make his decision.
Taking one last gulp from the glass he'd been nursing, he handed it over to Pansy, his hands shaking.
"I cannot believe I'm about to do this" He managed with a tight smile.
"There's over a hundred people here Draco, he's not about to create a scandal in front of them" She dismissed his nerves.
"What if she doesn't want me?" He asked unexpectedly, stopping mere inches from the door.
"Then at least you tried, Lucius would take you back, you could always pretend you were drunk" She smiled.
He nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before re-entering the ball room ready to destroy his father's life.
He eventually found Lucius deep in conversation with none other than Alfred Greengrass, his facial expression changing at once when he saw Draco.
"Here he is, Draco you know Alfred" Lucius introduced.
"Good evening Mr Greengrass" Draco greeted quickly before turning his attention to his father. "Can I have a quick word?"
Lucius probably believed that his son had already come to a decision regarding the girls because nothing in his face hinted that he knew anything was wrong.
"Of course, please excuse me Alfred" Lucius apologised, before following his son through the crowd and into the library.
"Which one is it?" Lucius asked once the door had been shut.
Draco muttered a few silencing charms before he plucked up the courage to speak to his father. Lucius narrowed his eyes at the silencing charms.
"What's going on?" He asked softly, a hint of anger in his voice.
"I've decided I will not marry either of them" Draco declared.
"Have you lost your mind?" Lucius bellowed, grateful now for the silencing charms.
"No quite the opposite" Draco squared his shoulders, intent on not letting his father control him.
"Is this about that mud blood?" Lucius asked, his fists clenching.
"If you must know yes, and I would appreciate it if you didn't call her that" Draco swallowed harshly.
"Do you realise what you are doing?" Lucius shook his cane in the air. "You are turning your back on our family Draco for someone who is beneath you in every way"
"I'm not going to have some prejudicial argument with you Father. I simply came to tell you my decision" Draco said calmly.
"I can stop you "Lucius threatened.
"Are you saying you'd use an unforgivable curse on your own son, sounds familiar doesn't it?" Draco countered, relishing the shocked look on his father's face at his reference of Voldemort.
"If you defy me Draco don't expect anything from me" Lucius hissed.
"I've prepared myself for that" Draco nodded.
"Do you know what this will do to your mother?" Lucius changed tactic.
"It is you who will hurt her father" Draco sighed, lifting the silencing charms as he made his way to the door.
Putting a hand on the door knob he stopped and looked at his father one last time.
"I love her "He whispered shocked by his own admission.
He closed the door behind him; breathing heavily as he walked passed the ballroom averting his eyes, heading straight outside. Exhaling once outside he found himself at a loss for what to do now. Was he simply going to land in her lounge room (if she hadn't changed the wards) on New Year's Eve and dump this all on her? What if she told him she didn't want a pauper or worse that she had already moved on? Pansy's words halted his sporadic thoughts. In the worst case scenario he could return and plead insanity with his father, marry a Greengrass and move on. Closing his eyes he thought of Hermione's lounge room, feeling a light pull on his stomach as he disappeared from the grounds of Malfoy Manor.
He knew she wasn't home the minute he arrived, for one the entire flat was shrouded in darkness. Sighing he used his wand to cast a lumos , stalking around her flat trying to find any scrap of evidence which would give him an idea as to her whereabouts. After finding nothing he gave up and sat down on her couch intending on waiting for her to arrive home. As an hour went by he gave up on this too, his mind turning to where she could be. Then it dawned on him where she was making him wonder how stupid he was not to have thought of it earlier. She had missed Christmas at the burrow, it only made sense that she would be there now. This of course presented an obstacle to Draco actually getting to speak with her. Not only did he not know how he would be received by her but he knew getting through a wall of Weasely's was going to prove difficult, if his encounter with the youngest one was anything to go by.
Taking a deep breath he chastised himself for his cowardice, he had just taken his father head on what were a couple of red head's compared to Lucius Malfoy? Before he could change his mind he thought about where he thought the burrow was, hoping he got it right as once again he apparated.
Landing in a field of what looked to be reeves, He instinctively dropped to his knees, surveying his surroundings with care. Below him was the Weasely's house which was every inch as dilapidated as his father used to tell him it was. A huge Marquee was set up behind it and he could just make out the guests mingling under hundreds of candles. Summoning up the little courage he had left, he got up and made his way to the burrow's front door, glad there were no wards set up against him.
Fred Weasely answered looking slightly drunk.
"I need to come in" Draco said without preamble.
"I really don't think that's such a good idea" Fred hesitated, looking nervously around.
"You know that application for funding you made?" Draco asked, glad he had a bargaining chip up his sleeve. He may not be in his father's good graces anymore but he was still head of Malfoy Industries at this point in time.
"Yeah" Fred nodded, confused.
Draco took out his wand, waving it in the air quickly. A large parchment materialised out of thin air, Draco grabbed the quill which accompanied it and put his signature to the parchment. Once finished he rolled the parchment up, handing it to Fred.
"Consider it done" Draco revealed, still holding the parchment in his hand as Fred attempted to collect it.
"On the condition I'm allowed to enter" He smirked.
"On the proviso that you're not here to cause trouble" Fred answered.
"I promise you that isn't why I'm here" Draco asserted, letting go of the parchment.
"Head on in everyone's out back, enjoy yourself" Fred said mischievously.
Draco cleared his throat as he reached the marquee, curious glances everywhere he went some hostile, he found himself preferring his father's guest's ogling to this. Sighing he was about to give up when he spotted Potter sitting in a far corner. Next to him was the Weasel and a brunette who Draco did not know, and in front of them with her back to him, was Hermione. Draco saw the recognition in Potter's face, he might as well do what he'd come to do. Approaching the table slowly he gauged all their reactions, to say they were shocked to see him would have been an understatement. The only one who refused to look at him was her, keeping her back to him in what Draco hoped was nerves. Stopping right behind her he refrained from touching her, the others were already looking at her with confusion, except the weasel that was shooting him daggers. He didn't feel the need to provoke anyone further.
"Granger can we talk?"