Disclaimer: Not mine. Please see previous chapters for full.

A/N: Wow. That was the most reviews yet and it really made my day! Please continue to leave comments, questions, and suggestions. I love hearing about the parts you liked and that you enjoyed reading. I also am open to ideas and suggestions. Hearing what you're looking forward too is important too. Feedback is vital! I really loved writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it! Important: This entire party was written before HP7 ever came out, so things will be a bit different!

Chapter 6: A Memorable Evening

They stopped just before the landing to the main staircase. She felt her stomach twist like never before as the commotion from the entrance hall below met her ears. There was a tinkling of glass, and a deep voice began speaking.

"Good evening,"

Hermione eyed Draco nervously. He was staring at her hand and it was trembling. What kind of a Gryffindor was she? She had reason to fret, though. She was going to have to begin her act tonight! There was no doubt that there would be a number of important people in the crowd awaiting them. Worse still, there would doubtlessly be Death Eaters.

"I welcome you all to my home for this landmark and joyous event. Tonight, my son, Draco, shall celebrate with you, my most treasured companions, his wedding engagement."

There were cheers from the crowd at this.

"Tonight promises to be a very memorable evening in his honor, and I sincerely thank all of you for coming. As you know, this has been a part of pureblood heritage for centuries. Since the birth of my son, my wife and I have been drawing up plans for this party and I feel confident that everything will be to your great liking."

Again, more cheers met this promise.

"For a hundreds of years, close friends and family have gathered together in this Manor, to salute every first born son's engagement announcement with a party, each trying to out-do the last, and to announce the fine woman to whom his bonding has been arranged."

'Announced?' thought Hermione. 'They don't know yet? Oh Lord.'

She tightened her hold on Draco's hand. He looked at her inquisitively.

"Start playing the part, right?" she whispered nervously.

"Are you scared?" He sounded amused.

"No! Just a tad bit anxious is all."

"Sure."

"I didn't know that they didn't know who I was."

"Most of them do, but father wants to make a scene. Just be polite and stay at my side, following my lead." She nodded gratefully. She knew he was just trying to make sure that she behaved, but it was still lucky for her. Now, at least, he wouldn't ditch her.

Hermione had decided earlier that tonight she would not embarrass the Malfoy's, no matter how tempting it may be, because that would also mean embarrassing herself too. She wanted to show these pureblood snobs that muggles raise their children with manners and a sense of propriety as well. This was her chance to finally do so.

The two of them both wanted to look handsome and respectable tonight, and to do that they needed each others help. She and Draco would be walking into that room as allies for the first time. Then, quite against her will, her knees began to get dangerously weak and shaky.

"Oh," she let out a breath. She smoothed her dress, prodded her hair, and straightened her crown, unnecessarily, wishing desperately she could have looked at herself before leaving.

"Stop it!" he whispered harshly. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, I just- Sod it! I'm nervous and I have no idea what I look like because I was in such a rush I didn't even catch a glance in the mirror, and, well..."

He looked her calmly and arrogantly up and down as she squinted in expectation of the scathing comment he was bound to produce. With another appraising glance, he raised an eyebrow, and gave a moment for thought. She was actually considering turning around and running back to her room, although she wasn't positive she could find it.

"It gives me and my wife great pleasure to introduce,"

'My God! This is it! Say something, Draco,' she begged mentally.

"Draco Malfoy and his betrothed,"

Her breath refused to come out, her heart was beating unbecomingly loud and much to fast for her liking.

"Miss.. Hermione Granger."

"I can't!" she yelped in a last moment of panic.

"Don't be ridiculous," he snarled, stepping forth. Then, softer: "You look lovely."

She flushed, taken aback, and allowed herself to be lead, without a word, to the top of the landing. If his plan had been to shock her into silent submission, it had certainly worked. There was a beat of surprise before the tremendous crowd below them followed Lucius and Narcissa in applause. At the edge of the banister, Hermione stood beside Draco and his parents as they stared pompously down upon the applauding crowd.

There were close to a hundred people there, and she bet every single one of them were purebloods. She bet, but she couldn't be sure as all of them were dressed in stunning costumes. It was even more enchanting than a muggle fancy dress party, because magic had been included in the making of each disguise. While admiring the creativity of the guests, or their house elves, she also registered an amount of admiration for Lucius Malfoy's intelligence. In this manner, the guests would be so well disguised that escaped Death Eaters could mingle amongst ministry officials unrecognized. It truly possessed an element of evil genius she did not think Lucius was capable of having.

This may prove a challenge for her mission. Nevertheless, she felt safe knowing that they couldn't do her any real harm here and now without running the risk of being discovered.

She noted that, next to her, Narcissa and Lucius's costumes were also Greek in design. With her Peacock feather mask and his golden, lighting bolt shaped cane in place of his serpent one, they must be Zeus and Hera, Hermione surmised. After a few moments where the group basked in the glow of attention, the host and hostess began making their way gracefully and -thank God!- slowly down the grand staircase. Draco followed them suit, Hermione still clinging to his arm.

The crowd cleared a path, still applauding, staring, and shouting congratulations. As they walked through it, Hermione felt she must have blinders on. She saw nothing and no one, only her ears shook with the ruckus chorus of praise. Below the staircase, beside two golden plated doors inscribed with many ancient letters, Lucius and Narcissa stopped and faced the two of them, grinning widely.

Draco, next to her, was smiling in earnest anticipation. Hermione donned a small, friendly smile. The parents took their places proudly beside the doors as they magically opened, revealing a beautifully decorated dinning hall.

The hall was nothing short of cavernous, topped with a great dome ceiling. A trail of flower petals, white and purple, lined the way into the room where countless streamers, dousing the room with brightness and color, were of Slytherin green, fine silver, and royal purple. These fluttered in a magical and inviting breeze. Masses of candles floated around, along with carousals of champaign glasses and silver plates of hors'd oeuvres.

There was an ice sculpture in the center, not unlike the one at the Yule ball. The torches around the edges of the walls flared dramatically every few moments. Beside these torches were windows which allowed some moonlight to seep into the room, giving it an wonderful, eerie glow. At regular intervals, the windows were of stained glass, rather than clear. An orchestra, at the back, played enchantingly upon a raised platform from behind a curtain of gossamer, while things that looked suspiciously like fairy lights danced around them. Ridiculously long tables for formal dining, now bare of food, were moved aside to make room for socializing and possibly, she registered painfully, dancing.

There was, again, another round of enthusiastic clapping at this display. Hermione and Draco joined in, honestly impressed. After a minute of showing appreciation, Draco took Hermione's arm again and led her towards the entrance. They stopped short of entering, however, and stood alongside his parents as the guests, who had lined up behind them, came forth.

First came family. Hermione bit painfully on the inside her mouth. Snape hadn't included "no killing future in-laws" as a rule, but she was pretty sure it was on the list. A tight, polite smile, graced her features as she shook hands, briefly, with those who offered theirs.

The first to approach them was a man in a brilliant dragon costume of red and burning orange, smoking from the nostrils, complete with a moving tail. The dragon opened its vicious mouth to reveal the face of someone closely resembling Lucius. At his side was a lovely looking older woman, with white hair and a surprisingly kind smile, dressed as a fairy with fluttering pink and yellow wings that actually allowed her to glide across the floor.

"Welcome Uncle Claudius!" greeted Lucius amiably. "This is Hermione. Hermione, this is Draco's great-uncle, my father's younger brother, Claudius. Here is his wife, Aunt Roseline."

"Honored to make you acquaintance, Sir, Madam," Hermione offered. Not one of them bothered to conceal their shock. She, on the otehr hand, held in an arrogant smirk, in fear of resembling one of them, choosing instead to look oblivious to their surprise.

"A pleasure, my dear," Claudius responded. The smiling, older witch took her hand briefly and the two moved on. Behind them, three handsome knights in shining armor stepped forward.

"Their three sons. How wonderful to see you again boys." Lucius shook their hands. "Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael. Hermione." They bowed and she dipped a curtsey as they, too, moved into the dinning hall.

Three more figures came forth from the throng wearing heavy face paint. Two men dressed as Hephaestus and Hercules; the latter escorted a particularly wicked looking black cat. It only took a moment for her to realize the cat as Bellatrix and her throat tightened.

"Narcissa's closest relatives: Rabastan, Rodolfus, and Bellatrix Lestrange," Malfoy offered in an undertone. His eyes met Hermione harshly, as a warning to keep their identity hidden. She nodded.

Bellatrix kissed each of their cheeks until she came to Hermione. While the men chose to ignore her, Bellatrix grabbed her arm, pulled her close, and commented in a mock sweet voice: "You look lovely, Lady Penelope."

Not missing a beat, Hermione replied: "Thank you. I like your costume as well. I absolutely love cats." Bellatrix's wild eyes smiled at from under black paint and heavy false lashes. Hermione did not look away. Clearly dissatisfied, Bellatrix left.

From the next onslaught of guests that they welcomed, many offered congratulations to Hermione and Draco and were very talkative. They were, Hermione surmised, little more than a parade of Malfoy's political alliances. First and foremost, she was shocked to see the current Minister of Magic, Scrimgeour, himself. She was polite enough, though she did not care for the man at all, personally. He looked odd in his imposing Egyptian Pharaoh costume.

The rest included: the former minister, Fudge, in his costume of St. George. He and Malfoy seemed on especially good terms. They always had been, she reminded herself. Malfoy had been seen speaking to him at the ministry and was invited to sit with them at the World Cup. She also recognized professor Slughorn, dressed as Beowulf. They spoke, briefly, before the group was accosted by a mummy, who, Hermione soon found, to be Julius Ogden, the wealthy owner of Ogden's Brewery, known for the renown Ogden's Firewhiskey. A man dressed disturbingly as a corpse, who was introduced as Roger Amicus, Department of Mysteries, did not say a word to any of them. When he left, Draco whispered that the man was an Unspeakable. That explained a lot. How does one come to know an unspeakable, she wondered. Why is he on such good terms with a Malfoy? She made a mental note on that for later.

While musing on that, Hermione nearly jumped in shock when she saw before her a 10 foot troll extending his hand in greeting.

"Hadrian Wells. I work with Lucius," he boomed. Blushing at her foolishness in mistaking his costume for his identity, she shook the man's hands amiably. He lingered for a few moments, looking at her often and even throwing a wink her way. He was pleasant at least. As the next group stepped forth, she noticed Draco was frowning. It was almost as if he had noticed the attention Hadrian had given her and was... jealous? She had no idea Malfoy was that good of an actor.

More than a little surprised, Hermione found that the Malfoy's really did know Griselda Marchbanks as well as Malfalda Hopkirk (a mandrake, Hermione believed) both important links to the ministry.

Trying to discern if Marchbanks was in fact supposed to be Helga Hufflepuff, she did not notice the next guest until she found her hand, softly pressed to his lips. She gasped. Standing before her was Gladiator with stunning, familiar eyes. Before he removed his helmet, she knew him.

"Victor."

"Congratulations, Er-miony." Was he a sight for sore eyes! She wanted desperately to pounce on him and hug him, but settled for declaring: "It's so good to see you! How have you been? Thank you for coming."

He smiled. "It's good to see you again, too. I'm well. You're welcome. I wouldn't have missed it." Then, he turned to Draco. "You are very lucky." They nodded at each other, Krum replaced his mask, and left them to go to the party.

Draco was looking more agitated. Was he really able to play jealously well, or was he just insulted for being told he was lucky to be marrying a mudblood? His anger was nothing to what Hermione's face showed when the next guest was none other than awful, infamous, twit: Rita Skeeter, here fashioned as a Cornish pixie, was looking bright and cheerful as ever, with quill in tow.

"Good evening Mr. Malfoy. I must say, you two have really out done yourselves. It's magnificent. Absolutely gorgeous. I, on behalf of the Daily Prophet, think the public will be talking about this party for years to come. I've never seen anything quite like it. Such wonderful fun with costumes, although it does make it difficult for me to identify your guests."

"There is no need. We agreed there would be no photographs." Lucius answered lazily.

"Pity. Odd request really. You think you'd want everyone to know-"

"This party is has a very selective guest list," Narcissa interrupted, speaking for the first time that evening. "We'd hate to degrade the privacy and prestige, if you will, of the event by any display that might make the public perceive it as anything else. We trust you to use enough tact."

Hermione held in a snort.

"Of course. I'm honored to be your choice of journalist. I see it as such an opportunity."

"Our pleasure."

"Draco, so nice to see you again. You do look the part of a Greek warrior, don't you? Such strong arms! Tell me, do you feel that you have been on the same sort of odyssey as Homer's character; perhaps looking for the right love? Have you finally been united with your Penelope?"

She blinked expectantly. Hermione was glad he would be the first to answer, so she could follow his lead. Just how in love were they supposed to be? She was expecting anything but his answer.

"Yes. When I first heard of the law, I was disappointed, but I've seen the error of my logic when I began seeing my Hermione. What else could I do when I found she'd be alone in the world? My parents have made a wise and generous decision. As you know, she's a truly brilliant witch, despite the fact that both her parents were muggles. "

"And a lovely one." Skeeter added.

"Very." Only Hermione caught the moment of hesitation in which he appeared to be swallowing a hairball.

"And Miss Granger? How do you feel about your current situation?"

'Here goes nothing,' She told herself. "I'm very grateful to the Malfoys for all they've done for me. You have no idea."

"And are you looking forward to being married, or are you still in shock from your parents horrendous death and feel that it's all to rushed? Do you worry that your friends will abandon you? Are you using the Malfoys for their assets to secure your future that was in tatters only days ago?"

"I'm certainly very excited about the wedding, but yes, it's still very difficult for me. My friends... if they would they aren't really friends, are they? I would never use the Malfoys, though, as I said, I'm grateful for all they've done. I shudder to think what could have happened to me if they hadn't taken me in. I could have been murdered like my parents if not in the safety of their home."

"You feel safe here, then?"

"Of course. Draco is a man of his word and a man of honor," she looked at Draco pointedly, promising to hold him to that. "He would never let harm come to his fiancee."

"How do you feel about the party?"

"It's wonderful, as you've said. Just what the wizarding world needs at a time like this, to lift spirits."

'There,' thought Hermione. 'Take that and choke on it.'

"What about the secretive other suitor and the rumor that it was Harry Potter or Victor Krum?"

"That will do for now, Ms. Skeeter." Lucius intercepted.

"Yes,"

"Oh, and, Ms. Skeeter," Hermione called after her.

"Yes?"

"I really like your costume. It's adorable. Of course, I'm a bit surprised at your choice."

"Oh? How's that, dear?"

"I would have thought you'd come as some sort of ladybug, or a beetle perhaps?"

Draco snorted.

If Hermione thought that was difficult, it was nothing compared to what followed. The rest of the 'friends' were almost certainly Death Eaters. They were dressed in the most horrific costumes: a dementor, a cruel looking man in an iron mask, Jack the Ripper, a mad looking jester. She caught a glimpse of one she believed to be Wormtail with strange silver gloves on; she thought only one of the pair was really made of cloth. She was not introduced, they did not acknowledge her presence, but more than once she heard uttered by the others names she recalled: McNair, Avery, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Dolvoho, Carrow. The Zambinis and the Parkisons were there, and spoke to her; except Pansy, whose eyes were clearly watering.

Among them came one guest who didn't look as if she should be there. Dressed as a siren, the girl that was last to speak to them was nothing short of beautiful. Her golden hair flowed straight down her shoulders. Her crystal blue eyes sparkled as they took in Draco's appearance. She was amiable, talking animatedly with both parents and giving Draco a kiss on the cheek. As she pulled away however, and Hermione stepped forward to shake her hand, she turned away and walked straight past her, smiling as if no one was there.

Hermione felt her face fall. She half hoped, after the show she put on, Draco might stand up for her honor, but there was no press, no politicians, no reason to do so, and so he did not. Draco and Hermione walked on the path of beautiful petals into the crowd.

"Mingle." Draco instructed her. Then, her worst nightmare, the exact thing she hoped most to avoid this evening, happened. He walked away. She stared blankly at a crowd in which she recognized no one. Even if she did, who would she talk to? She looked stupid, she just knew it. Still, she scanned the masks for a glimpse of something familiar. Few people would deign to meet her gaze, and when they did, she wished they hadn't. For from out behind costumes of snow queens, who had a cloud of snowflakes magically following their every move, and wilderness princesses, upon whose green and gold hair alighted butterflies, hateful eyes peered back at her. The leered, they threatened, they dared her to speak. She was actually frightened of what might happen if she did.

Bravely, she walked forward anyway, smiling an bowing, wishing she had something in her hands to fiddle with. She snatched a passing glass of champaign and sipped it, pretending to be interested in the ice sculpture. She made her way over to it and stared, hoping no one would notice the pools of tears swelling in her eyes. No one did.

From behind, a hand grabbed her roughly by the elbow. She jerked around to face... the man in the iron mask!

A/N: Evil; I know, I know. I'm sorry! It was so long already and I couldn't cut anything out b/c it's all important later on...I couldn't resist. I'll make you a deal: leave a bunch of reviews and I'll post a new one early! Please?