Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Once again, thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. The amount continues to astound me! Another BIG thanks to my beta, Modges, who might just be the best ever.

"You want me to do what?!"

Harry had a look of absolute horror on his face.

"Come with me to Malfoy Manor for a party."

"But...Hermione! Is this a joke? It isn't funny!"

With a sigh, she proceeded to tell him everything that went on when Lucius and Narcissa visited. She explained how she felt that Narcissa was bending over backwards to accommodate her and it would be a good idea to reciprocate. She made sure to mention that they wouldn't have to go into the actual Manor itself, that the party would take place in the gardens. She could tell he was starting to waver so she pulled out her trump card, that it would mean the world to both herself and Narcissa if he agreed to attend.

"Fine! I'll go! I don't know why I let you talk me into these things."

"It's because you love me so much. Besides, I'm hoping that you and Draco can learn to get along and I think the party could be a great place to start."

"Hey now. I said I would go, not that I would be performing miracles."

She burst out in giggles and swatted at his arm.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll even have a bit of fun. It's not like we ever leave this place unless it's to go into the Muggle world. You can start speaking Parseltongue and freak out all the snakes." She gave him a cheeky smile. He started laughing but a sudden thought turned him somber. He turned to her with a look of concern on his face.

"Hermione, do you think he'll be there?"

"I don't know, Harry. Probably? He is friends with Draco after all."

"Are you going to be okay with that?"

"I'll be fine, Harry. Aren't I always?"

"Of course."

She smiled at him, then turned and left the room. He watched her go as anxiety filled his body. He knew she was lying to him. There was no way she was going to be completely fine seeing him after what happened.

Flashback

"Harry!"

Harry barely had time to look up before Hermione had thrown herself into his arms.

"Hermione! What is it, what's wrong?" He was alarmed to see tears streaming down her face. It was unusual to see Hermione crying and he wanted to know what could have possibly happened to reduce her to tears.

"He...he dumped me. He called me awful names, said I was a worthless Mudblood." As she spat out the word Mudblood, her tears started falling faster. Harry pulled her back into his chest and held her until she fell asleep.

End Flashback

Ever since that day, Harry wanted to kill no wizard more than he wanted to kill him, with the exception of Voldemort of course. An evil smirk crossed Harry's face. Well, maybe he would finally be able to exact some revenge.

The two weeks between her parent's visit and the party passed quickly. She had constant visits from Narcissa, who wanted to consult Hermione on every little detail, and from Severus, who didn't say much but kept shooting her concerned looks. It warmed her heart to see Narcissa so happy, even if this party wasn't high on her list of things to do. Severus, on the other hand, was getting on her nerves. A couple days before the party, Hermione stopped Severus before he could leave with Narcissa.

"What is the problem, Uncle Sev?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Oh come off it! I am not one of your dunderheaded students! However, if you truly think I've been missing all those looks you've been giving me, maybe you are the dunderheaded one."

"You will watch your tone with me, Hermione."

She leveled him with a look that took even him by surprise. With a sigh, he motioned for her to follow him. Once they were seated back in the sitting room, he relayed his concern over her well-being and the party.

"It will be fine, Uncle Sev. It's just a bunch of Draco's friends and some of their parents. I'm quite sure that Narcissa wouldn't invite anyone who was a Death Eater by choice."

"You misunderstand me. My only concern is one of Draco's friends in particular."

"Why? Do you have some kind of information about someone wanting to hurt me? I don't think that most people even know Draco's sister is alive yet."

"They don't. I'm not worried about someone who wants to hurt you, I'm worried about someone who already has."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she said, in an exact copy as he did earlier.

"Hermione, I know about you and Mr.-"

"What?!" She leapt to her feet, face twisted with outrage. "That's impossible! The only person who knew was Harry and I know he didn't tell anyone. How did you find out? We were so careful."

"I was a spy for over 20 years. Did you really think I wouldn't know what was going on in my own house? I also believe I wasn't the only-."

"Okay, fine. So you knew, so what? Why are you bringing it up now? I'll tell you just like I told Harry. I'll be fine. I'm always fine." With that said, she stormed from the room, leaving Severus alone with a look of surprise at her outburst.

Two days later found Hermione and Harry waiting for Severus. Even though Hermione could technically Apparate to Malfoy Manor, she didn't think it was a good idea since she had never been to the gardens before. Severus had offered to bring them both via side-along. The last thing she wanted to do was Floo and end up in the Manor itself. She was surprisingly not all that nervous, although Harry was looking an interesting shade of green.

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to bloody Malfoy Manor for a garden party. Everything is peachy."

She snorted out a laugh and Harry shot her a dirty look. As she was about to retort, Severus arrived. He raised an eyebrow at the pair of them, silently asking if they were ready. Nodding, Hermione stepped forward to take his arm. Harry stayed where he was.

"Harry!"

"Right, coming."

He took Severus's other arm and off they went.

They arrived at what Hermione guessed was a private Apparation point in the back of the garden. And what a garden it was! It was absolutely gorgeous. She wasn't sure she had ever seen so many different types of flowers before. Narcissa had even strung up fairy lights everywhere. She was so caught up in taking in the garden that she completely missed the fact that Harry was now standing right next to her. Severus was nowhere to be seen. For that matter, neither was anyone else. Harry held out his hand to her.

"Ready for the lions to enter the snake den? Severus said the party is right down that path."

She took his hand and sent him a smirk. "Lead the way. Those snakes aren't going to know what hit them."

As they got closer to the party, they began to be able to hear people talking. Hermione thought she heard the words 'Potter' and 'Malfoy's daughter'. When they finally reached the end of the path and stepped into the part of the garden where the party was, all chatter abruptly stopped. Everyone was staring at them and then the whispers started.

"You can't go anywhere without causing gossip, can you, Harry?" Hermione whispered to him. Harry didn't say a word, a smirk appearing on his face.

"I would bet it's more the fact that a Malfoy just made an appearance with a Potter," Harry whispered back to her.

"Sure, you just keeping thinking that. Oh look, Draco is coming over. Be nice!"

Harry rolled his eyes at her insistence. He would need more than two hands to count how many times she had said that to him since she told him about the party.

"Cassi! You look gorgeous." Draco swept her up in a big hug. They hadn't seen each other since that disastrous lunch. He had a massive assignment at work that was keeping him extremely busy, but they did try to keep up a steady stream of owls.

"You are only saying that because I look just like you," she teased.

"Well, of course," he agreed, as he turned to Harry. "Potter."

"Malfoy."

Hermione rolled her eyes, muttering 'boys' under her breath. She took another look around. People were still staring, but a majority had gone back to their previous conversations. She didn't see Narcissa or Lucius anywhere. She did, however, see Severus talking to Lords Zabini and Nott. She was pretty sure those were the Greengrass girls standing over by the fountain with their parents. There was also a ton of people she had no clue who they were. As her eyes swept the space, they landed on one witch she wasn't sure how she felt about seeing again. Pansy Parkinson. The aforementioned witch was staring right at her. Hermione lifted an eyebrow at her and Pansy smirked in return. Hermione's attention was brought back, however, by Narcissa rushing up to her.

"Cassiopeia! Harry! I'm so glad you are here!"

She swept them both up in a big hug, leaving Draco laughing at them.

"Mother was concerned you were going to back out at the last minute. I told her she had nothing to worry about. If there is one thing I know about you two, it is that you keep your word."

"Nonsense, Draco. Now, I'm going to introduce Harry around. You do the same for your sister," Narcissa ordered as she dragged Harry away. Harry shot them both a 'help me' look as he let Narcissa haul him away from Hermione. Draco just smirked at him. Hermione, seeing that, elbowed her brother in the ribs.

"Ouch! Damn it, woman, what the hell?"

"I saw that, Draco. Didn't I tell you to be nice?"

"Sorry, but it's funny. Potter defeats an evil wizard like he does it every day, yet he lets Mother walk all over him."

"It's because he cares about her. Harry is very loyal to those he cares about."

"Yeah, yeah, Saint Potter. Enough about him, I better start introducing you to people or Mother is going to be on my case."

Hermione let Draco take her arm as he maneuvered her through the crowd. There were a lot more people than she had been expecting. She was introduced to many people and even managed a few decent conversations. She was a bit surprised at how friendly everyone was after they got over the initial shock of learning that the Malfoys had a daughter. After a bit, Hermione looked around for Harry, hoping he was okay. She found him having what appeared to be a serious discussion with Pansy. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw him laugh at something the Slytherin witch said. Well, that was certainly an interesting development. Suddenly, a voice startled her out of her musings.

"Ah, Ms. Malfoy! How lovely to see you again, bella."

"Lord Zabini. The pleasure is mine, of course."

"Ah, dear girl, call me Alessandro. I insist."

"Only if you call me Cassiopeia."

"If that is what the lady wishes, then I shall relent. Have you spoken to Blaise yet? I know he was looking forward to seeing you again."

"Was he? No, I haven't seen him as of yet."

"Well, while we wait for him to finish talking, could we perhaps continue our conversation from the other day?"

Switching to Italian, Hermione indulged him with her thoughts on the latest research of combining charms with potions. While she was talking to Alessandro, Draco wandered over to where Blaise was talking to Marcus Flint and Adrian Pucey. He greeted them all and then turned to Blaise.

"Mate, you have to do something about your father. I can't decide if he's flirting with her or dropping hints about you."

Blaise let out a groan and ran his hands through his hair.

"Father has done nothing but talk about her ever since he met her. He's been pushing me hard to offer for her, talking about what a great match a Zabini and a Malfoy would be."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him and Blaise threw up his hands in defense.

"Draco, you know I wouldn't do anything without talking to you first. Hell, I've only talked to her once!"

"And what about...you know?"

Blaise sighed. "Both our fathers have been pushing hard lately. I'm not sure how much longer we can put them off before they just choose for us. Drop it for now, have you noticed that Pansy has been talking to Potter almost this whole time?"

"Ugh, please don't remind me. I obviously need to have a talk with her about her taste in companions."

His friends laughed and Marcus started in on the latest Quidditch game. Meanwhile, Hermione was enjoying her talk with Alessandro. It was nice to have someone interested in talking academia. Of course, he kept dropping little facts in about Blaise, he really wasn't all that subtle. Instead of it annoying her, she found it funny and slightly charming on his part. He obviously cared very much for his son and that was nice to see. All in all, Hermione thought the party was going rather well. There had been no hexes thrown and everyone was even being nice to Harry. She actually saw Lucius being polite to him at one point. She smiled at that, knowing it probably killed his pride to do so.

"Father. Surely you aren't going to hog Ms. Malfoy all night, are you?"

"Blaise, my boy! No, of course not! You two young people should go talk. Cassiopeia, it's been a pleasure."

At that, he left them alone to go to speak with Lucius and Severus, a noticeable glint in his eye.

"Your father. Are you sure he was in Slytherin? He's not subtle at all."

Blaise burst out laughing at her statement.

"He really wasn't trying hard at all, was he?"

"No. He really is quite charming though. It's hard to be annoyed."

She smiled at him, which he returned. Staring for a minute, she was struck by how good looking he was. His smile lit up his whole face. He had thick dark hair and the clearest blue eyes she had ever seen. He was, quite honestly, gorgeous.

"Fancy a walk? There are some unique plants in the next section of the garden."

She nodded and he offered her his arm. As Blaise led her away, they were unaware of at least three sets of eyes watching them.

Theo was fuming. He disliked large crowds and hadn't wanted to come to Draco's tonight. He had been dragged here by Blaise, who promptly left him to socialize. Theo decided to keep to the shadows tonight, only talking to a few people. It bothered him, watching Blaise flit around like all was right with the world. It was a couple of hours into the party when he noticed him leading Draco's newly found sister away from the main part of the garden. He narrowed his eyes. He had only loved two people in his life. He had to crush one, losing her forever. He was damned if he was going to lose another. He pushed off the wall he was leaning against and stalked after the couple.

Harry watched with interest as Theo trailed behind Blaise and Hermione. He let a small smirk cross his face. He turned to Pansy, who had proven to be surprisingly enjoyable company, and told her he would be right back. Quickening his pace, Harry took off after the intriguing little trio.

Draco had been keeping a close eye on his sister all evening, so he noticed when Blaise finally made his move. He wasn't sure how he felt about it exactly, but he knew Blaise was a gentleman so he wasn't too worried. He wasn't shocked to see Theo following the two, a stormy look on his face. He was, however, surprised to see Potter follow them all. Draco didn't like the smirk he had on his face. Knowing something was up, he decided to join the group as well.

Hermione had been talking to Blaise for less than a minute when they were suddenly interrupted.

"Blaise? Aren't you going to introduce me?" Theo asked, coolly. Since Hermione still had her hand on his arm, Blaise felt her stiffen when she heard Theo's voice. He thought that was a bit odd but pushed it to the back of his mind. Then he turned to face his fellow Slytherin.

"Of course. Theo Nott, meet Cassiopeia Malfoy. Cassiopeia Malfoy, meet Theo Nott. He's a close friend of mine. He's pretty tight with Draco as well."

" A pleasure, Ms. Malfoy." Theo's tone of voice made it clear it was anything but. When she lifted her head to look at him, he caught a brief flash of recognition in her eyes before she thought to conceal it.

"The same, Mr. Nott," she answered in the same tone. Merlin, she sounded familiar. Actually, now that he was looking at her, she looked familiar as well. Before he could figure it out, Blaise interrupted his thoughts.

"Theo, enough with the attitude."

Angry eyes flew to his as the two men stared each other down. Hermione was about to say something when there was yet another disturbance.

"Well, well, isn't this interesting?" The smirk on Harry's face had grown wider the closer he got to the group. Hermione took one look at him and knew exactly what he was up to.

"Harry. Don't."

"Come on now. You promised me if the opportunity ever arose, I could do it. And look! Opportunity is right in front of me!"

Blaise and Theo were thoroughly confused as they looked between the two friends. Harry turned towards Nott.

"Hello, Nott."

"Potter."

"I've been waiting a long time for this. I would say I'm sorry in advance, but I'm not."

"What the hell are you talking-"

Theo's exclamation was cut off as Harry hauled back and punched him right in the face. Clearly not satisfied with his first punch, he pulled his arm back to give it another go, only to be stopped by Draco.

"What, in Merlin's name, do you think you are doing, Potter?"

"Me? Oh nothing much, just finally getting a little revenge for your sister."

Hermione, who had been standing in shock that Harry had actually hit Theo, spoke up.

"Harry James Potter! I can't believe you just did that! What were you thinking?"

"I think you know very well what I was thinking."

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me! I only promised you because I didn't think we would ever see him again!"

Harry remained firm, completely unrepentant at his behavior. Blaise and Draco had completely confused looks on their faces, while Theo was trying to lessen the pain in his jaw. As he listened to the two go back and forth, he finally took a really good look at the girl who was arguing with Potter. He let out a gasp when he recognized her.

"Hermione?!" he exclaimed, a stricken look on his face. All four turned to look at him. He started to take a step towards her, only to be blocked by Harry. No words were exchanged between the two as they glared furiously at each other.

"This is ridic-" Hermione started to say, only to be interrupted by a drawling voice.

"Is there a problem here?"

All five turned to see Lucius Malfoy standing in front of them. And he did not look happy.

A/N2: Dun dun dun! *smirks evilly* Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I also just realized I am only 10 reviews away from 200! I think I'll let the 200th reviewer send me a pairing and a prompt and I'll write a one-shot. Two rules: has to be with Hermione, but cannot be a Hermione/Ron. Happy reading! :)