Friday, September 7, 2001

Hermione found Draco that night and asked about his first session. He answered slowly, telling her that he was meeting with Luna Lovegood but not mentioning his initial breakdown or why it had happened. If she didn't already know – and he hoped deep down that she didn't – he didn't want to tell her. She smiled as he explained that they were silent at first, only interrupting to say that Luna is great at giving you time to figure out where your head is before she expects you to answer, and nodded at all the appropriate places as Draco recounted the last forty minutes of his appointment.

She was glad he wasn't upset that he would be spending the next few months visiting Luna, or at least not yet.

"I hope this is okay, and tell me if it isn't," Hermione began, making Draco groan and hide his head in his hands. Hermione swatted him, furrowing her brow as his childish reaction, and went on. "We've been invited to the French embassy for a party. Their Ministry just elected a new Minister and so the ambassador is celebrating."

Whatever Draco had been expecting Hermione to say, it wasn't that.

"There were a lot of people who helped me when I initially challenged the Wizengamot's decision to imprison you three years ago, and the diplomatic community was a huge part of that. They also helped to keep pressure on the Ministry after that first appeal failed and keep the issue in the news," she continued, now fiddling with the edge of her dress. Draco reached over and put a hand on hers, stopping her before she drove him crazy.

"The French ambassador was one of your strongest supporters, and the French government one of the most vocal in your defence. There will be a lot of our allies at this party. It will probably be packed and you would need to wear dress robes but you should come."

Draco nodded, having thought before that he would need to find out who had been fighting for him aside from the obvious contenders. Working with Harry at the Ministry had demonstrated that whatever political capital he'd had after defeating Voldemort, it hadn't lasted very long, at least not in Britain.

He could understand why Hermione might think he would reject the idea, but she while she was a little Slytherin sometimes, she wasn't raised in a dungeon. Draco agreed to go, no fuss made. No, Draco was very much looking forward to it. He wanted to meet his allies.

. . . . .

Friday evening came swiftly and Draco found himself in dress robes Hermione had bought him weeks ago, again admiring her taste and surprised she had gotten his measurements exactly right. Harry slipped into his room to loan him a set of cuff links, an oversight of Hermione's that Draco would be sure to drop later on in conversation, and together the two set for the main floor to wait for their final member.

"So, this is going to be a big event?" Draco asked, making conversation. Harry tore his eyes away from the staircase to look at Draco and nod. "The election in France was really tight but Blanchett won by a three per cent margin, which is good for us. She and Edmunde, the ambassador, are old friends." Draco nodded, committing the names of the Minister and ambassador to memory.

"Who will all be there, do you think?"

"Well, lots of diplomats and ambassadors from other countries, Ministry officials from here. Kingsley might show. The rich and the affluent are probably a safe bet, if only because it's just another one of those things," Harry explained, ending his explanation there as they heard noises from the top of the stairs to suggest Hermione was coming down.

Draco didn't mean to stare but the dress Hermione had chosen completely disarmed him. It hugged her closely, showing her body off in ways Draco wasn't comfortable to suddenly be thinking of. The deep blue colour did wonderful things in contrast with her skin, making Draco suddenly aware of freckles on her exposed shoulders and collar bones as she approached him. The dress was simply elegant and Draco couldn't help but wonder if his mother had a hand in its selection. Even her jewellery elicited a response from him, a delicate several tiered diamond necklace that demanded he pay attention to her lovely neck.

Draco snapped his mouth shut and shook his head in a quick, short movement, noticing Harry with his mouth hanging open similarly at his side. Draco gave him a light jab to the ribs, startling the man out of his reverie, and took Hermione's hand to kiss it before she could stop him.

"Someone cleans up well," he said, hoping she wouldn't notice the tone of admiration behind the comment. Unfortunately she did which brought a blush to her face that Draco couldn't help but react to. "Well I figured with the two of you sharing me as your date for the evening, it might be worth it to take my monthly bath early," Hermione replied, the blush fading as she regained control of herself.

"Come along men, we've a party to attend," she ordered, setting her arms out for the pair of them to take. Draco immediately took her right side while Harry linked arms with her left, and the witch whisked them away to Draco's first real social event as a free man.

. . . . .

Perhaps Draco would have been more overwhelmed by the event if he had not been raised going to similar functions. The party was an outdoor event, taking advantage of one of the last few naturally warm summer nights, and well-lit by magical means. Men in muggle tuxedos mingled with women wearing traditional robes and vice versa, with some women wearing provocative numbers not dissimilar to Hermione's dress and men dressed to the nine's in robes very much like Harry's and Draco's.

"I should have made you cue cards to help you learn the important players before we came out tonight," Hermione muttered under her breath, nervously biting her thumb as the trio made their way from the building proper and towards their host.

"Just don't abandon me and I'm sure we'll make it through," Draco replied dryly, scanning the area for familiar faces and managing to place several.

"Edmunde, félicitations. May I introduce Draco Malfoy," Hermione said, snapping Draco's attention back to the man in front of him. Muggle suit, timid eyes, a well-trimmed beard.

"C'est un plaisir," the woman at his side replied, reaching out and taking Draco's hand. His brain stalled for a moment before it clicked, Edmunde is a woman, and he shook her hand in return, saying "Enchanté." He scanned her, in a mauve dress that stopped just below her knees, mid forties by his guess with her hair in a simple chignon. She watched him as he watched her, unsure if he should kiss her cheek but certain he shouldn't kiss her hand the way he had kissed Hermione's earlier. Pleased he was waiting for her initiative, she leaned forward and exchanged kissed with him, formally welcoming him into her home.

She did the same with Hermione next and then Harry, exchanged small pleasantries and then the three worked their way into the open terrace, which flowed naturally into a large expanse of land that eventually ended at a small lake. Draco watched as Hermione squeezed Harry's arm and nudged her head toward a group of men not too far away.

"He's here," she whispered, earning a look from Harry. He sighed in resignation and looked pleadingly to Hermione but she returned an unrelenting look of her own. Sighing again, clearly outmatched, Harry nodded and went over to the group.

"What was that about?" Draco asked, watching as Harry tapped one of the men on the shoulder and the two embraced. Hermione was watching as well, her face betraying nothing. "That's Marcus, he's with the French mission. He and Harry went on a few dates a few weeks ago but Harry ended things without much fanfair, just stopped responding to his owls or calls. It was bad form, so he promised me if Marcus was here tonight that he would clear the air. We don't have any time for petty drama, especially with the French," Hermione muttered, not giving Draco any time to digest what he just learned before turning and introducing Draco to a couple that approached them with determined looks on their face.

. . . . .

"Hermione, if you introduce me to one more person I swear I will jump into the lake and that will be the last you ever see of me," Draco whispered into her ear after hours of introductions and pleasantries.

The reconnaissance mission was a rousing success, with Draco pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of the party actually supported him and that those who didn't were more or less ambivalent. He had decided they would be done with the mingling when Hermione, wearing heels that did wonders for her legs as he knew from occasionally caught peeks through the modest slit along her side, declared herself done for the night but she just would not quit. Draco however, breaking in new black shoes, was thoroughly defeated long before Hermione would even hear of taking a break.

"Oh no you don't," she whispered back, smiling but strangely not at his expense. "Besides, you already know these four. I made sure they came tonight just for you," she whispered back, giving a small wave behind Draco's back that had him ready to groan audibly if he wasn't aware of the watchful eye of the witch at his left and the obnoxious smirk of the wizard to his right.

Harry left his side first, embracing whoever had decided to join them.

"Too good for old friends, Draco?"

Ears perked, Draco spun completely and found himself face to face with three Slytherin he thought he would never see again.

Daphne Greengrass hugged him first, holding him tightly for longer than was polite, before her younger sister Astoria took over. Theo, Draco's roommate throughout school, looked on with a smile and nodded to Draco, who nodded back, stunned.

"Out of prison for week's already and not one single owl? Did you forget how to send one?" Daphne asked, her face a mask of annoyance betrayed by her amused eyes. She had returned to the side of the forth member of the group, a man Draco didn't know. He asked the obvious question with his eyes but Daphne only responded with an almost imperceptible shrug and a wink.

It seems a lot has changed in three years.