A/n: Thank you all for sticking with me as I edit these chapter. I love all of the love 3 I want to give my appreciation again to my betas DiagonAli and Reyloclaw for putting up with me everyday.
"Are you sure we're welcomed there, dear? Our families do not have the best history together," Molly Weasley questioned Hermione over the floo.
"Of course Molly. As I was telling you two weeks ago at brunch, I've become quite close to the Malfoy's over the past few months. It's been nice not having to be by myself all of the time over at my apartment. Narcissa was actually the one to suggest the dinner party and extending the invitation to you. She knows how much I love your family. I would love if you were all able to come to celebrate. I know I'm not one for parties, but I would really enjoy having everyone I hold dear to me together." She paused for a moment and mauled an idea in her head, "I know Narcissa regrets cutting off her sister from her life, so maybe you should invite Andie over as well. It would be a nice reunion for them."
"Okay, well as long as it's fine I'll bring it up to the others and get back to you. You know you are always welcomed here if you need us, but I understand it can get hard at times. I will try to talk to Ron about this reasonably. Goodnight Hermione."
"Bye Molly, I hope to hear from you soon!" Hermione's heart swelled from the kindness of her pseudo-mother for offering to have Weasley's over in her home. She giggled to think about what Mr Malfoy would have to say if he knew about hosting Weasley's over willingly to his home. She felt more excited over her birthday than she had in years.
However, her bliss didn't last long at all. A stabbing pain shot through her heart sending her to her knees. She placed pressure over her chest and a low whimper escaped her mouth. A few seconds later she heard an obnoxious giggle come from somewhere in the manor.
She stood up slowly, trying to ignore the feeling of a brick being laid upon on her chest, and followed the laughter. She entered the room to see Narcissa with a tight smile on her face and a blonde girl draped over Draco on the couch.
Mine, her internal voice screamed. Hermione wanted to snarl and claw the other witch's eyes out. She felt every inch of her body try to push herself forward to pry her off of her mate but she found herself conflicted with rational thought.
What the fuck is going on?
She looked up in time to see the girl place a kiss on Draco's lips and then everything went black.
. . . . .
Narcissa welcomed Astoria into their sitting room and offered her a cup of tea. Astoria already started on about her father wanting to set up a marriage contract between Draco and herself. The young girl told Narcissa that her father was adamant that the Malfoy's were the right fit for the Greengrass family.
More like they just want Draco's inheritance, Narcissa tried her best not to roll her eyes, and hid her discontent by laughing stiffly at Astoria with a vague "we'll see."
She knew that the absolute last person she wanted for her son was Astoria. While she may be well mannered at times, Narcissa knew Astoria's true attributes; conceited, spoiled, selfish, and disingenuous. She would latch onto Draco for his wealth and good looks but do nothing to stimulate him.
Her son is a highly intelligent and snarky individual; he needs someone to match his own wit and someone not afraid to put him in his place. She knew Hermione would be a lovely fit for him, but her son still refused to make a move. Narcissa didn't know whether or not he still believed he had to uphold the expectations of marrying a Pureblood, or he simply felt unworthy of the witch.
Narcissa hoped that her suspicions were correct about Hermione being a Veela. That way her son could finally deal with his feelings for her without using the excuse of not being good enough; Hermione would die without his acceptance as her mate. Narcissa did not want to lose her new daughter to something avoidable, or her son because of the guilt resting on his shoulders.
. . . . .
Draco walked into the room faltered slightly over the company. He quickly masked his emotions before walking over to Astoria and kissing her hand in a gentlemanly gesture.
"Welcome Astoria, what do I owe to my pleasure of seeing you tonight?" He hid his disgust well as she tried to bat her eyelashes flirtatiously at him.
"Your mother invited me over for dinner. It's a good time to talk about upcoming nuptials between the three of us."
"What?" For a moment he forgot his manners and hissed at Astoria. His mother had said nothing to him about a betrothal with one of the Greengrass sisters. In fact, she had not said a word to him about marriage in general.
He looked over to his mother for an answer but Astoria grabbed his hand greedily and brought him over to the couch, sitting directly on his lap.
How tactless could she be? Sitting on him in front of his mother showed how desperate the bint truly was.
She kissed him on the lips and he forced himself not to gag or wipe her slime off with the back of his hand. It felt so wrong of her to kiss him, or even just to touch him. He tried to disentangle himself from the witch when he heard a thud from across the room.
He looked up to see Hermione laying passed out on the ground; his mother hurrying her way over to her side.
What the hell happened? Is she okay? Is she sick?
His mind began filling with worry over the witch he's grown to adore over the past few months. He loves her button nose and how it scrunches up as she laughs. He loves how her eyebrows furrow when she's deep in concentration and how she absentmindedly sucks on her quill when she's not writing. He loves her passion and her drive. He knew she would change the world, but didn't think she would get anywhere if she tied herself with him. It's one thing to stay at the Manor and enjoy their company, but to openly court him in public would be a nightmare. He didn't want to assume his feelings were returned but felt hopeful over the number of times he caught her staring at him.
He just couldn't let her bring her reputation down with his. He wouldn't do that to her .
He threw Astoria off his lap and rushed over to Hermione, concerned about her well-being as a friend . "What's going on?" He noticed how frantic his own mother looked, never a good sign. Narcissa Malfoy was the epitome of a cool and collected Pureblooded wife. She seemed to desperate check over Hermione's vitals, obviously not happy with what she found.
"She's okay dear, I'm just going to bring her up to her room. Why don't you escort our guest out." She looked over at Astoria, "I'm sorry dear but we will have to do dinner some other time. I know this is terribly impolite, but Hermione needs tending to."
His mother called for her personal elf, Rosie, and had her apparate Hermione up to her suite. He watched her walk out of the room at a fast pace, but not to the point of running. A lady never runs.
He held his arm out to Astoria to escort her to the floo, but she just stuck out her lip in a pout. "Why do I have to go just because the mudblood fainted? We can spend time together alone, can't we? We'll be married soon enough anyway." She gave him a sly smirk and Draco wanted to vomit. He scowled at her harshly, ripping his arm away from her.
"I do not ever want to hear you call Hermione that disgusting slur again. I'd rather stay alone and unwed than ever touch you. Let me make myself clear. You will never be a Malfoy, Astoria. You can escort yourself out."
He turned around and stormed from the room, halting when the thought of Astoria lingering came into his mind. "Daisy!" his elf popped into the room immediately and gave him a large smile. "What can Daisy do for Master?"
"Daisy, please make sure Astoria leaves the Manor by floo. If she's found lingering, I am allowing you to do whatever you find as a suitable punishment for a trespasser."
Her entire face lit up, and she smirked at him, "Daisy will do as you wish, Master."
He tried to calm his beating heart by counting the steps up the stairs to Hermione's room. It didn't work; he just had to see her to make sure she was safe and well.
. . . . .
Narcissa took the stairs instead of apparating into Hermione's room; she needed time to think her actions through.
She shouldn't have pushed the girl. She had already seen the symptoms with Pansy, what did she expect would happen with a witch visibly falling all over her son? She hated herself for putting Hermione through any heartbreak. The only girl to ever feel like part of the family to Narcissa. She just had to know for sure, and Narcissa paid the price with a heavy dose of guilt.
She had seen the look on her face when Hermione entered the room. It looked like the life left her usually vibrant eyes. Her temperature felt abnormally high and she shook as if she were freezing. Her only hope was that she knew Rosie would be doing everything she could to help Hermione wake up from her shock.
when she walked into Hermione's suite, she watched as Rosie placed cold towels on Hermione's body. She thanked her dearly, promising she could take it from there, and only asked for dinner once Hermione woke.
"Anything for Mistress and Miss Minnie." The nickname the elves gave for Hermione warmed her heart as she watched Rosie apparate out of the room.
Narcissa grabbed the washcloth from the water bucket and rung out the excess. She caressed Hermione's face and watched her eyelids flutter gently. As she moved from her face to her neck and arms, she noticed that her wounds on her palms had reopened. Most likely from the spontaneous growth of talons.
She regretted taking actions into her own hands, instead of just bringing up her suspicions to Hermione. She heard a knock on the door and looked over to see her son in the doorway, his own face plastered with worry.
"Is she okay?" He asked softly, walking into the room.
"She will be, I'm not quite sure what happened." She hated lying to her son but knew he would be enraged if he knew the stunt she just pulled.
"Where did those cuts on her hands come from?" He didn't wait for her answer before suddenly running out of the room, saying over his shoulder that he would find his supply of Dittany. Narcissa wondered why he didn't just call Daisy to fetch it for him.
When he returned, he sat down on the other side of her bed and gently took Hermione's hand in his. Narcissa had never seen her son take such tender care of a person before other than herself. For a fleeting moment, she felt pleased that her family sat all together, trying to overlook the fact that her husband was in exile hundreds of miles away.
She took her eyes off of Draco and looked back to Hermione, noticing that she unconsciously moved closer towards Draco since he reentered the room. A small contented smile appeared on her face and Narcissa stifled a giggle when she heard Hermione lightly purring.
Thankfully Crookshanks also came to his human's aid, sitting closely to Hermione and nudging his head under Hermione's arm. Draco must have either thought the purring came from the Knealze or didn't even hear the sound altogether.
She watched as her son tended to both hands carefully and then moved a piece of hair out of her face.
"I'm not quite sure why, but I think I should stay in here until she wakes up," He said slowly, "I'm going to go grab my book from the library."
She smirked slightly seeing her son care for his mate without even realizing it. Yes, she should not have meddled, but perhaps it'll force her son to face his own feelings for the witch.
He walked back into the room, and instead of sitting in the armchair close by, he sat right next to Hermione in the bed. Hermione automatically nuzzled into his side, and Narcissa saw her son's face soften and smile down at the girl beside him.
"What are you doing this evening mother?" She almost laughed at his gall. When she knew her snake of a son would never outright say he wanted her to leave, Narcissa knew he wanted to be alone with her.
"Well, we are having a dinner party for Hermione next Saturday for her birthday, so I believe I will go settle some details for that."
"Her birthday is next weekend?"
"Yes, Her twentieth." He smirked at her, "I know just what to get her. I'll just need to expedite my plans a bit."
"Well, I guess I will take my leave then, my Dragon. I know how positively enchanted you are. . . with your books." He blushed.
She walked to the door and closed it behind her slowly. She took one last peek inside and saw her son cuddled into Hermione stroking her hair and arm with a brilliant smile on his face.
She snickered to herself and walked away, thinking of what colour to paint the nursery. However, there would be much to be done before then. She had a party to plan after all.