Author's Note- Hi! So, before you read this chapter, I'd just like to say that I'm really enjoying the revised version of The Pureblood! I hope you all are, too! Draco's character is really fun to write. I hope y'all like what I'm doing with him so far! We'll see a little more of him in this chapter, and of course the rest of the story. Well, I won't keep you any longer! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Five

Hermione's heart was pounding harder than she ever remembered it pounding before in her life. She gripped Blaise's arm a bit tighter and bit her lip as they turned one final corner and came to the door of the Grand Dining Room. This is it, she thought, this is the rest of my life.

She felt Blaise's warm hand cover hers and she looked up at him. "Relax," he whispered.

"That's easy for you to say," she whispered back, "You're having dinner with friends. I'm having dinner with people who've tried to kill me and my friends."

Blaise chuckled. "Come on, the faster we get this over with, the faster you can send that letter to Potter and Weasley," he told her.

The doors to the Grand Dining Room swung open revealing a beautifully set dining table and four very proud parents beaming at the three teenagers. Mrs. Zabini stood up and rushed toward Hermione. "Hermione, you look lovely darling," she said, kissing her on the cheek.

Hermione let go of Blaise's arm and gave her mother a stiff hug. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Please, come have a seat. I'm sure you must be hungry," Mrs. Zabini said, guiding her to the table, "Lucius, Narcissa may I present our daughter, Hermione."

Mrs. Malfoy smiled kindly at her as Mr. Malfoy nodded politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, finally."

"Not to be rude, Mrs. Malfoy, but we've met before," Hermione stated, as kindly as she could, "We were both in the Minister's box at the Quidditch World Cup, remember?"

Mrs. Malfoy nodded in remembrance. "Ah yes, that's right. Such different times those were."

"Certainly," agreed Mr. Malfoy, "Miss Zabini, our apologies for such atrocities. Had we known of your true identity…"

"Your actions would have been different?" Hermione interrupted, "I accept your apology Mr. Malfoy but unfortunately do not believe for one second that things would have been different. I don't think I need to remind you who I'm friends with."

Mr. Zabini cleared his throat. "Hermione that is no way to speak to our guests."

Mr. Malfoy held up his hand in dismissal. "Pietro, it's quite all right. I do not pretend that our family's differences with your daughter haven't been great. Nor did I expect welcoming arms from her this night," he said. He then turned to Hermione, "Miss Zabini, your feelings of hatred towards this family are not misguided, however, I implore you to give us a chance."

"Mr. Malfoy, I can assure you that I've already made up my mind to give you a chance," Hermione said, "I've willingly accepted my betrothal to your son and willingly accept your apology, hoping that we can all have a fresh start."

Mr. Malfoy gave her a gracious nod. Mrs. Malfoy then held out her hand as Hermione sat down, helped into her chair by Draco. "Come, come, let's see the ring!" she said excitedly, "Draco wouldn't show it to us before he sent it."

Draco coughed softly as he took his seat next to Hermione. "Mother…"

Hermione bit the corner of her lip. "I'm afraid I'm not wearing it just yet," she said.

"Why ever not?" Mrs. Malfoy questioned, "I mean; it's customary for a woman who is engaged to wear an engagement ring."

Hermione nodded in agreement as she said, "I know that, Mrs. Malfoy, but, please, understand that I'm just barely going to be seventeen and have only found out tonight that I belong to a family that I don't have the best of histories with. And then, I get told by the lovely people I thought were my parents that I've been betrothed to a boy that's hated me since the second he's known me, simply because I was supposedly Muggle-born."

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes slightly. "So, you'll forgive me if I'm not completely comfortable with the idea of wearing a piece of jewelry romantically binding me to your son at this time."

"She's dreamed of her future husband placing the ring on her finger himself," Mrs. Zabini said, "Isn't that romantic?"

Mrs. Malfoy nodded as Blaise said, "Mum!"

Mrs. Zabini looked at her son questioningly. "What? Is it so wrong to tell something that Hermione, herself, told us earlier this evening?"

"Mum, don't you think that might embarrass her? I mean, she is basically meeting the Malfoys formally for the first time… and she's out of her element here."

"Oh my goodness, I've lost my manners!" their mother exclaimed, "Hermione, I'm so sorry."

Hermione gave her a reassuring look and waved her off slightly, "It's all right, Mrs. Zabini," she said, her cheeks burning pink.

Mr. Malfoy then cleared his throat as dinner was brought in. "I'd like to propose a toast," he said, raising his glass of wine, "to the joining of our two families, and to the joining of Draco and Hermione. May every happiness be bestowed upon them."

"Here, here!" Blaise said, banging the table lightly and raising his own glass, "Hermione and Draco!"

"Hermione and Draco!" everyone chimed.

Hermione blushed madly as she held up her glass in thanks and then took a small sip. "About that," she said, "I've discussed this with Mr. and Mrs. Zabini… um… my parents… and they've agreed with me. Ahem, I think it would be best if Draco and I were given some time to get to know each other, let us decide if we want to be married."

She focused her gaze specifically on Lucius Malfoy. She wasn't surprised to find that he was just as focused on her, his expression livid, but careful. Theirs had become a staring match of wills, and she wasn't about to lose.

"If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that you were trying to get out of an agreement made long before you were born," Mr. Malfoy observed.

Hermione shook her head. "Not at all," she replied, "I'm not trying to get out of anything. I'm simply asking for the opportunity to get to know your son the way any future wife should know her future husband. I don't think that's too unreasonable; do you, Mr. Malfoy?"

Mrs. Malfoy placed her hand on her husband's arm. "It's not unreasonable at all, Darling."

"Well, it seems as though I'm outnumbered, so, I'll agree."

"Thank you," Hermione stated with a gracious nod.

Hermione took another sip of her butterbeer, turning to look at Draco. She was surprised to find that he was watching her. She smiled nervously into his stormy gaze and blushed when he inclined his head, raising his glass to his lips without breaking eye contact. This is definitely a night I'll never forget, she thought.

"Dad, tell Hermione about the museum," Blaise said, breaking the tense silence.

Hermione looked up curiously and asked, "Which museum?"

"The Museum of Magical History and Artifacts," Blaise replied, "Dad's the Curator there."

"Really?" Hermione asked in awe, "I've always wanted to go there but my… um… it couldn't be afforded."

Mr. Zabini smiled tenderly at her. "Well, now you can go there any time you like without having to pay a single Knut," he said, "We are getting a shipment of documents written by the founders of Hogwarts next week… Would you like to come with me to receive it?"

"May I?" Hermione asked, doing her best to control her excitement.

"Of course, I would love for you to be there," Mr. Zabini said, "Blaise, Draco; you are welcome to join us also, if you are interested."

"Thank you, sir," Draco said with a nod of acceptance.

Dinner went rather well, as far as Hermione was concerned. She had gotten to see a very different, much unexpected side of the Malfoys as well as the Zabinis. It was almost as if she were seeing completely different people than the ones she had briefly known over the past six years. In a way, it almost made Hermione forget who she was accompanied by.

She watched her parents as they chatted happily about things in the lounge, discussing the day's news, or laughing about some memory that had been brought up. It made her think of the parents that raised her. There had been many nights like this at the Granger's home. Nights full of laughter and great friends. Those memories brought a sad smile to her face.

To her left, Draco and Blaise were quietly playing a game of Wizard's Chess, poking fun at each other when one of them made a stupid move. She hadn't quite figured out what to think of the two of them in this whole scenario just yet, but she had to admit that she was finding it difficult to dislike them. She leaned over in her seat and looked over the chessboard.

"Oh, Blaise, if you move your Knight there to H-3, you'll leave room for that Bishop there to Checkmate Draco's King," she said.

Blaise and Draco looked at her curiously. "Where in bloody hell did you learn that?" Blaise asked.

"Ron made that move when he, Harry, and I were trying to save the Sorcerer's Stone from Voldemort our first year at Hogwarts."

The room suddenly went deathly quiet. Hermione looked around at the six faces around her nervously. The silence was just too much for her to take at the moment. Standing up, she cleared her throat. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a walk around the mansion to familiarize myself with it," she said.

"Of course," Mr. Zabini said, "I imagine you are somewhat… overwhelmed."

Hermione gave a small smile. "Just a bit," she confessed, "It's a lot to process."

"Yes, yes… Perhaps we should all just let you rest," Mrs. Malfoy said.

"Oh, no, no… I'll be fine, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione assured her, "I just need a few moments."

With nods from each of the adults, Hermione turned and walked toward the door. "I'll join you," Draco said, standing up and walking toward her, "If that's all right with you, that is."

Hermione nodded. "I don't see why not," she said, "I think this would be a good opportunity for us to start our new beginning."

"Agreed," Draco said, reaching out and opening the door, "Shall we take a walk in the garden?"

"That sounds lovely," Hermione stated, cautiously looking around and noticing that Lucius Malfoy was staring at her.

Draco nodded and ushered her out of the room before their parents could engage them in another conversation about something. Once they were out of the room, and Hermione was certain they wouldn't be overheard, she looked up at Draco and said, "If you don't mind, I've just got a letter that needs sending off first."

He motioned toward the stairs in consent. "Have you got an owl?" he asked when they were halfway up the first flight of stairs.

"My parents sent me one earlier this evening as a gift of some sort," Hermione replied, "Her name is Callidora."

"Gift of beauty," Draco said, "I like it. So, this letter you need to send; it's to Potter and Weasley?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Hermione sighed heavily and stopped walking, looking at Draco with her sharp eyes. "Whether you like it or not, Malfoy, Harry and Ron are my friends and nothing you say is going to change that."

Draco ran a pale hand through his hair and stared directly into her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to lie and say that I like Potter and Weasley, because I don't. The truth of the matter is; you're going to be a part of my life and with that comes your friends and family… as much as I dislike your friends, I'm going to respect the fact that they're your friends, and in return, do my best to be civil to them when they're around," he told her. A little lie never hurt anyone. "But please don't expect me not to defend myself if they provoke me."

Hermione thought about what he had just said for a moment. "That seems fair. I'll respect that decision and in turn, expect the same."

"Fair enough."

"Very well," Hermione said, continuing her journey to her room to see if Callidora had arrived yet. They walked in silence for several moments. "This is all a bit strange, isn't it? Our parents arranging for us to be married."

Draco gave a little snort. "I think that's an understatement."

"And I don't believe for one second that you're agreeable to it," she said, "Nor do I believe what you said a few moments ago."

"Well, you always were a know-it-all," Draco said, dropping his polite mask.

Hermione stopped and faced him. "I've never claimed to know everything, Draco Malfoy, everyone just assumes that I do because I'm smart."

He seemed a little taken aback at her flaring temper, but he kept himself composed. "Maybe you shouldn't go around showing off and correcting everyone all the time."

She narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. "You're getting dangerously close to me hexing you, Malfoy," she warned, "I'm willing to actually try here and all you're doing is spouting insults and lies."

Draco eyed her thoughtfully. "Okay, Granger, you want to really give this betrothal a try; fine," he said, "I'll keep my word and do everything I've said I will. It's not going to be easy."

"Oh, believe me; I know," Hermione agreed, "but if you agree to try, then I will, too."

Draco held out his hand. "All right, Granger, you've got yourself a deal."

Hermione furrowed her brow momentarily before placing her hand in his and shaking.

When they reached her room a minute later, Hermione paused at the doors. She had never had a boy in her room. After all, a person's room was a very personal thing. She glanced at Draco, took a deep breath, and pushed the doors open.

As she walked into her room, Callidora hooted softly and flew over to her. "Well there you are," Hermione said affectionately, "I was wondering when you'd arrive. I'm so sorry I left you at my parents."

Callidora nipped her finger lovingly in forgiveness and hooted. "She's beautiful," Draco said, coming up next to Hermione.

"Thank you. Callidora, I need to you take a letter to someone if you would please," Hermione said, walking over to her desk and picking up the letter she had written to Ron and Harry, "Please take this to Ron and Harry at the Burrow. They're to send back responses with you."

The owl took the letter in her beak and flew off immediately. A few moments later, another owl flew into the room carrying two envelopes. The owl landed gracefully on Hermione's desk chair. Hermione took the two letters from the owl and looked at the names written on them. "This one's for you," she said, handing one of them to Draco.

She then opened hers and began reading the curvy words that had been written by their headmaster.

Miss Zabini,

I would like to be the first to congratulate you on your pending engagement to young Mr. Malfoy. Only you can know how you truly feel about this arrangement, but I would imagine that you are feeling quite uncertain of it, as well as yourself.

Do not despair, Miss Zabini. I believe all things will work themselves out the way they are intended. You may come to find that Draco Malfoy is a surprise himself.

I look forward to seeing you both on September 1 for your final year at Hogwarts. I expect you will discover some things about yourself.

Kindest regards to your family (new and old),

Albus Dumbledore

Hermione looked up from the letter and over at Draco. "Is yours from Dumbledore as well?"

Draco nodded, "He sends congratulations and well wishes," he said.

"Same here," Hermione stated, "I'm sure we'll receive more letters like this, as well as ones wishing us not to go through with this."

Draco nodded in agreement. "So, I suppose there's really no point in asking this but, have you been made Head Girl?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

"Well then, you and I are going to have plenty of opportunities to get to know each other while doing rounds, and such," he told her, "I've been made Head Boy."

"You have?"

Draco chuckled a bit. "Well don't look so shocked," he said, "I'm a lot smarter than you've presumed."

Hermione's jaw dropped a bit. "Oh, no… I didn't mean…" she stammered, "Congratulations."

"Same to you," Draco said.

"So it looks like we really will be spending a lot of time together. I've read that the Head Boy and Girl share living quarters."

Draco nodded. "Well, a common room anyway. Bedrooms and bathrooms are separate," he said, "Now how about that walk in the garden?"

Hermione smiled. "Sounds lovely," she said.

Draco held out his arm, which Hermione took, and led her out of the room. They walked the many hallways in silence, not sure of what to say to each other. This openness, however small it may be, was new to them and Hermione didn't want to say, or do, anything to ruin it.

When they reached the main staircase, Draco gently steered Hermione in the direction they needed to go to get to the garden. She gave him a small smile of gratitude and allowed him to lead her the rest of the way.

As they walked the long, picture adorned hallways, whispers could be heard. Few at first, and then they seemed to multiply the more portraits they passed. It wasn't until they passed by a particularly large one that Hermione realized they were whispering about her. She turned around and placed her hands on her hips. "It's not polite to whisper about someone behind their back," she stated.

The portraits suddenly went still and silenced their whispers. Hermione nodded and turned back around, continuing on her walk out to the garden, again, in silence. Draco had to suppress a smile at her actions. It was so like her to scold someone, or something as the case may be, for being rude.

It wasn't until they reached the garden that Draco finally broke the silence. "You really do look beautiful tonight," he said.

"Thank you," Hermione said, "You look quite handsome yourself."

"Thank you. So you really like the necklace and the ring?"

"Yes, they're beautiful."

Draco smirked a bit. "I was hoping you'd like them."

"I do," Hermione stated, "So, what did you think when your parents told you that you were betrothed to me?"

Draco sighed and pulled his wand out of his jacket pocket, twirling it nervously between his fingers. "To be honest, I was angry, at first. I mean; I had a good thing going with someone and then this gets sprung on me like it's no big deal? How else should I have felt?" he said.

Hermione cleared her throat. "You… You're seeing someone?"

Draco knew he needed to tread carefully when answering her question. He hadn't exactly ended things with Astoria like he was supposed to, but if Hermione knew that, she would most likely hex him and cause him trouble he would rather avoid. "I ended it when my parents told me about our betrothal," he explained, "It was the right thing to do."

"Yes, it was probably best," Hermione agreed, feeling slightly giddy. She swallowed hard and asked, "And how do you feel about our betrothal now that you've had time to process it?"

"Well, as you already know, I'm not exactly thrilled about it. Given our history I can't say things will work out for the best, but I've given you my word to give this a real shot," he replied, "and honestly, I'm interested to see if we can work out our differences."

Hermione blushed a bit and looked around the garden. Anything to keep from looking at Draco. Never in her life had she seen such a beautiful garden. Flowers bloomed all around them as they walked down one of the many paths of the large garden.

Flowers unlike anything she had ever seen before peeked out at her from behind the trunks of small trees and from under leaves that had fallen on the ground. Sunflowers, not much unlike the ones she'd seen in the Muggle world, were bursting with bright light. Small Dogwood flowers barked and yipped softly as they passed. She leaned down close to a pretty-looking plant with greenish-red skin and reached out to run her fingers over it.

Draco's hand suddenly grasped her wrist. "You don't want to touch that," he said.

"Why not?"

He reached down and grabbed the hard stem of a Goldenrod. "Snap Dragons," he said, extending the stem toward the harmless looking plant. It immediately began nipping and chewing on the stem, "They're tricky little blighters and don't like to be touched unless they've known you from a seedling."

"Oh, I see," Hermione said softly, looking down at Draco's hand still clasped around her wrist.

Draco dropped the stem he'd been playing with and looked back at Hermione. When he saw her looking down, he followed her gaze and realized that he was still holding on to her wrist. Without a word, he let go of her wrist and looked up at the sky. "So… ahem… I imagine Potter's going to have a hard time of it in Quidditch this year."

Hermione looked up at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "What makes you say that?"

"I've been made captain of the Slytherin team," Draco replied with a slightly arrogant air about him.

"And you think that's going to make Quidditch difficult for Harry?" Hermione questioned. "Draco, Harry's got a year of experience as captain on you…"

"And I've got years more experience playing than he has," Draco argued. "I've played my whole life and he's only been playing since our first year."

Hermione could tell that Draco was beginning to get angry so she said, "We'll just have to see what happens. I mean; you're both skilled players."

Accepting this for exactly what is was, a compromise, Draco nodded and began twirling his wand between his fingers again. Wand twirling had nearly always been a nervous action for him but at the moment, it was just an action to keep him from fidgeting. He had always thought of himself as a confident bloke but his confidence seemed to be fading at present.

In the past, he had always found it easy to speak with the girls he was interested in. His good looks alone were enough to have girls falling in line to be with him. All he had to do was choose. When he was finished with whichever girl he'd chosen, he'd simply move on to the next one. Astoria had been the exception to that.

He'd been with her for nearly a year, the longest he had ever been with anyone. Something about her had captivated him and he had begun feeling that he was beginning to fall in love with her. He'd never been in love, so he couldn't be sure, but he certainly didn't feel the same as he had with all the other girls. However, something about Hermione had always gotten under his skin the way no other girl had.

Just in the last few minutes of talking with her, without name calling or spitting out insults, he found that she really was quite a lovely girl. He didn't think he'd ever love her, or anything like that, but he could see himself, at least, being civil to her.

Getting to know Hermione was going to be tricky. She was so different from every other girl he'd been with that he found himself uncertain of how to go about it. Ordinarily, he would just charm her until she gave in, but Hermione wasn't like other girls. His usual tactics weren't going to work. Just thinking about that made him feel incapable of speech.

Hermione, also, seemed to be having trouble finding words to say. Normally, when she and Draco spoke to each other, harsh words came out of his mouth as well as hers. This was entirely new territory, in more ways than one, and she wasn't sure how to handle it. Everything just seemed so surreal, as if she would just suddenly wake up and realize it had all been a dream. But it isn't a dream, she told herself, this is real. You're really a Zabini and you're really going to be marrying Draco Malfoy… Possibly.

Suddenly, a cool breeze blew past them causing Hermione to shiver slightly and rub the upper part of her arms. Draco noticed this and instantly took off his jacket. "Here," he said placing it over her shoulders.

Hermione slid her arms into the sleeves and gave him a small smile of thanks. "Thank you," she said softly as Draco's warmth surrounded her.

Draco cleared his throat and nodded. "You're welcome."

Not another word was spoken between them for the rest of their time in the garden.