The cacophony of sound that bounced off of the vaulted ceiling and cool marble floor of the ballroom was more that Hermione could have hoped for. A devious smirk lifted the corner of her painted lips at the words of outrage and horror that came from the partygoers. She knew that Draco and Harry were waiting for her to continue, but she found herself allowing the moment to stretch just a bit longer. It was an absolute circus in the ballroom of Malfoy Manor…and the vindictive side of Hermione gloried in it.

From the corner of her eye she spotted Narcissa in her black silk gown, still standing at the foot of the stairs and currently hiding her own smirk behind her flute of champagne. Allowing her head to turn slightly further, she looked at the others that she could see from her current place. Pansy had a wide grin on her own plum-colored lips and she had tugged Ron down by the lapels of his black dress robes to whisper in his ear. Her best friend had a shit eating grin on his own face at whatever Pansy was saying and his hand was idly rubbing up and down her arm as he listened to her.

Her eyes moved next to Blaise and Ginny. Ginny had one arm still threaded through Blaise's, but her other hand was planted on her face as she surveyed the scene in front of her with a look of intolerant irritation on her face and her crimson lips were twisted in the prettiest sneer Hermione had ever seen. Blaise, however, seemed to be enjoying the chaos just as much as Hermione was and, when his dark eyes met her own he winked at her with a smirk.

Finally, deciding that their indignant outrage had served its purpose, Hermione turned back to face the crowd, a perfectly demure look of dismay on her face and her hand pressed to her chest.

"Oh, no! You all do not understand!"

Her voice cut sliced through the noise easily as a knife through room temperature butter. The noises around them quickly tapered away, and Hermione waited for near silence before speaking once more.

"You see, the Ministry knew what needed to be done! They should be heralded for acting against the will of the public in order to serve that public's best interests!"

She barely stifled another grin when the voices erupted again. Draco looked down at her indulgently and, while his own mask did not falter, he did lean down to whisper in her ear.

"Now, now, Granger. I didn't realize just how feline you could be. Clearly this kitten," he gently squeezed her hand, "likes to play with her food before she devours it."

His warm breath against her ear caused her to shiver, but she decided that two could play that game. She turned her head until it was her mouth brushing against his ear and allowed a sigh to fall from her lips before she responded.

"Well, when you've worked this hard to catch your prey, shouldn't it be enjoyed…savored?"

She saw the faintest twitch at the corner of his lips and felt a rush of triumph race through her.

"Please, everyone," Draco said when he looked away from Hermione's face, and the noises trailed off once more. "Our Ministry of Magic has decided that this was the best course of action. More than that, it is done, and believe me when I tell you that the effects of their spell are quite unreversible."

"We don't tell you all of this to turn you against your Ministry," Harry said, continuing seamlessly where Draco left off. "We only tell you to ensure that our Ministry gets the recognition that they are due for their efforts to preserve our community."

A rustle of fabric showed Ron and Pansy stepping up to Draco and Hermione's other side.

"Tonight should be a night of celebration, so if anyone has any further concerns or questions, I am certain that the Ministry will be able to answer them. You can also ask myself and Miss Parkinson, Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger, Mr Potter and Miss Davis, or any other of the other twenty-eight mated witches and wizards behind us here. For now, though," Ron added, looking down at Pansy and receiving a polite nod from her to continue, "I would like to dance with Miss Parkinson, and I know many of the others here with us are eager to enjoy the evening, as well."

Without another word, the music began again with a wave of Narcissa's hand. Draco immediately swept Hermione into his arms and onto the space in front of them. From the corner of her eye she saw Harry and Ron do the same with their witches, and a flurry of red, blue, green, and yellow told her that most of the others had joined them on the dance floor.


Draco felt a wave of satisfaction rush over him. The first part of Hermione's plan had gone off without a hitch. Even with his focus on the breathtaking witch in his arms, he couldn't not see the witches and wizards in black that were huddled together on the edge of the dance floor, whispering frantically to one another with looks that ranged from anger to confusion. Deciding that the seeds of discontent had been sufficiently planted for now, he allowed his full attention to return to Granger.

"This is our first dance, Granger," he told her unnecessarily. She smiled up at him.

"I know. And it's the best dance I've ever had."

Draco preened under her compliment. He remembered her dancing for hours on end with Krum in fourth year, and while he still felt slighted that he hadn't been able to take her in his arms for a dance back then, he was still enough of a cocky bastard to be pleased that this dance was better than all of those if she were being honest.


The rest of the night passed by in a blur of champagne, dancing, and speaking to various partygoers that were digging for more information. She only felt a small twinge of guilt the entire evening, when she had seen Kingsley looking exhausted as he had been approached by person after person. Even though he hadn't wanted any of this to happen, had even objected on the record only to be overruled, he would still be seen by the public as the main perpetrator. Hermione had always gotten along well with the tall, dark wizard, and she hated that he would be the one to bear the weight of the actions of the old, depraved wizards seated on the Wizengamot.

When she spotted him finally alone, she made her way over to the wizard with Draco trailing behind her.

"Hi, Kings," she said softly.

He looked up at her with weary eyes.

"Hermione," he said, eyes flickering over her shoulder before he added, "Mr Malfoy."

"I truly am sorry that you have to be involved in this, Kings. If there were a way to do this without involving you…"

He merely shook his head before offering her a weak smile that did not reach his eyes.

"I knew as soon as they passed the motion that this would happen. I know you and your friends very well, Hermione, fought side by side with you for a long time. Although I will admit that I am surprised at the full show of unity you have managed to inspire among your fellow students. You will make a wonderful Minister of Magic one day, I think."

He watched her with a keenly penetrating gaze, but Hermione's facial expressions did not waver. He sighed.

"I don't need you to confirm or deny anything, Miss Granger," he said, suddenly more formal sounding, and she realized that another group of people were coming up to share their complaints with their Minister. "Regardless of whether I agreed with or objected to what has happened, the simple fact of the matter is that it happened on my watch. I will therefore accept all of the consequences of the coming fallout."

Hermione watched as he turned his gaze back to Draco.

"Congratulations on your engagement, Mr Malfoy. I'm certain that you don't need me to tell you this, but you've gotten yourself an exceptional witch. Your Alpha will allow nothing less, so this is a moot point to bring up, but I'm going to say it anyway: treat her right."

Draco's jaw tightened at the insinuation that he would not protect his fiancée – his Omega – but he nodded before taking the hand that Kingsley had extended toward him and shaking it.

Hermione smiled up at Draco and looped her arm back through his as they strolled around the ballroom. With a minute left to midnight, the ballroom was filled with witches and wizards counting backwards from sixty. When they reached zero, Draco pulled Hermione into his arms and kissed her so passionately that she felt certain her face was going to explode with heat.

The guests left quickly after midnight, leaving only the thirty-one couples, Narcissa, and several of the students' families. Hermione's gaze scanned the room and her gaze caught on Natalie and Sheridan Pucey. He still held her arm securely in his own and, while he certainly didn't look at ease, his parents did not seem to be making too much of a scene over the fact that their son would be bonding with and eventually marrying a Muggle-born. Hermione hoped that they would be welcoming to Natalie, her heart going out to the only other person that had found herself in exactly the same situation as Hermione.

She saw that most of the conversations taking place between the witches and wizards and their parents seemed to be very civil. Of course, as soon as the thought had raced through her mind, someone had to go and prove her wrong.

"You are an embarrassment to our family. I rue the amount of time and money and effort we spent trying to make you somewhat acceptable. If I had known you would throw it all away for a filthy blood traitor without two knuts to rub together, I would have just saved myself the time and frustration."

Hermione started to move over toward where Ron and Pansy stood speaking with Pansy's parents. Draco stopped her with a hand on her arm, aware of the fact that Ron was already on edge from the way the older couple was speaking to Pansy: he didn't want to risk raising the ire of Ron's Alpha any more than it already was.

"All my life," Pansy hissed out angrily, "you have done nothing but tell me what a disappointment I am to you both. I tried to do everything you ever asked of me…tried to be the perfect daughter that you always reminded me I wasn't. The fact that you cannot even accept something that is beyond my control shows just how damaged you both are. Even if it weren't for the Ministry magic-raping us all into mating and bonding, though, I would still choose Ron. He is he only person in my entire life that has ever seen me for me…who said that I was good enough. I love him, and I don't care if you disown me for it or not. I would be happier penniless and homeless with Ron than I would be with all of the money in the world while living under your thumb for another moment longer, Father."

"Well said, Pans!" said a deep voice, and Hermione turned to see Blaise and Ginny making their way over to the group of four. They were not alone, though. The entire Weasley clan - sans Charlie who was back in Romania and George, who was still barricaded away from the public in his grief over the loss of his twin – followed behind the couple.

"Miss Parkinson," Molly said with a warm smile, "I'm so happy to officially welcome you into our family. While it may be a large family, we always have room for more, and," her eyes flashed derisively as she glanced at Mr and Mrs Parkinson, "you will always have a home with us."

With an indignant sputter, Mr Parkinson grabbed ahold of his wife's upper arm and hauled her away, heading toward the Floo at the other end of the ballroom. Pansy stayed stoic, her shoulders pushed back and her head held high, until her parents disappeared in a flash of green flames. As soon as they were gone, her shoulders slumped and she seemed to curl in on herself.

"If that was a genuine offer, Mrs Weasley, I may be obliged to take you up on it. I have a feeling that my name will be blasted from my family tree sooner rather than later.

Molly took the witch into her arms and hugged her closely. Hermione couldn't hear what the matronly witch said to Pansy, but she saw Pansy nod her head before stepping back and accepting the handkerchief that Arthur held out to her, dabbing beneath her eyes.

"Well," Draco said with a sigh, "that went better than I expected it to, honestly."

When Hermione looked up at him in disbelief, he shrugged.

"Pansy's father is a right nasty bastard, always has been. And her mother is so cowed by him that I don't think she's ever once gone against him for Pansy's sake. Pansy is probably better off without them. As for you," he said, turning his body to fully face her, "you beautiful, brilliant, vengeful witch…the first part of your plan has gone off without a hitch. I believe a round of celebrations may be in order to toast your success tonight."

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her and she giggled, taking his hand in her own and letting him lead her toward the stairs that would take them to his bedroom. Their departure was unseen with the exception of one witch.

Narcissa watched her son sweep up the stars with his witch and finally allowed her smile to break past her shields. All she'd ever wanted for her son was for him to find someone that loved him…that accepted him for who he was, flaws and all. The face that the witch who had filled that spot clearly had a Slytherin streak a mile wide inside of her was merely an added bonus. Lifting her flute to her lips and draining the last sip of champagne from inside, she found herself looking quite forward to continuing to watch the famous Hermione Granger in action. It would, she decided, be utterly magnificent to see.