Chapter Twenty Six; New Year's Eve, ruby and emerald, and one last surprise.
'No way!' Hermione laughed.
'I'm serious! His hands would hold my hips and he would suck on my bottom lip, but it felt like he was going to pull it off!' Ginny explained, tugging at her lip for good measure, to make sure everyone understood.
It was New Year's Eve; Hermione, Draco, Ron, Luna, Harry and Ginny were sitting around the kitchen table exchanging horror stories from old boyfriends and girlfriends. George was upstairs with the kids – he had opted to be babysitter for the night. He didn't like being around so many couples and still didn't want to be in the same room as Draco for long periods of time.
Once everyone calmed down from Ginny's story about Michael Corner, Draco turned to Harry and Ron.
'Gentlemen, would you care to join me upstairs for a moment?' he asked. Harry and Ron glanced at each other before shrugging and standing up. Harry kissed Ginny on the top of her head, Ron kissed Luna's lips briefly and Draco kissed Hermione's cheek before they disappeared up the stairs together.
'What do you suppose they're doing?'
'Maybe Draco doesn't want you hearing his horror stories?' Luna mused.
'Maybe they had a fight we didn't know about and they're finishing it off?' Ginny suggested, tilting her head as if listening for the sounds of fighting.
'Or they're starting another one,' Hermione mused.
'Maybe they're having a gay meeting,' Luna hiccupped, sending the other two into giggling fits.
'Have some more wine girls. We clearly need more!' Ginny exclaimed. The girls themselves were just polishing off their third shared bottle of fine wine, and were more than a little tipsy.
'Do you think they really have gay threesomes behind our backs?' Hermione whispered dramatically.
'Of course they do, Hermione, darling,' Ginny exclaimed, patting Hermione's hand.
'Then why aren't we?' Luna piped up, looking slightly put out. The girls held their serious expressions for about five seconds before they all dissolved into laughter.
The boys all came downstairs to find the girls laughing hysterically. Hermione was slumped over the table, Ginny had slid off her chair onto the floor and Luna was hugging her knees and laughing into them.
As the boys walked over to the girls, all three of them stopped laughing, Ginny sat back on her chair, and the girls observed the boys with straight faces.
'Well, that was faster than expected,' Luna commented, setting the girls off laughing again. Harry and Ron exchanged confused looks while Draco shrugged at them and took his seat next to Hermione again.
'So what did you three strapping young men have to talk about?' Ginny giggled, waggling her eyebrows a little at Harry, who turned to Draco.
'Whenever you're ready, mate,' Harry said, smiling a little. Draco returned the smile with a small one of his own and turned to Hermione.
'Hermione, I know I'm not the best person in the world for you,'
'Damn straight,' Ron muttered, but everyone ignored him. Draco had a way of speaking and successfully holding everyones attention one hundred percent, and he was unleashing the full potential of that skill now.
'But for some reason, you're happy with me.' At this, Draco gracefully slid off his chair to bend down on one knee and place something heavy and silver into Hermione's hands.
'Hermione, will you move in with me? I promise I will look after you, in every way possible. You'll be safe with me.' His eyes were wide with worry. Worry that she would say no, but he spoke as though there was no doubt she would say yes.
For a few long moments, Hermione could only stare, dumbfounded, at the big, shiny key with the Malfoy Crest fitted in at the end.
He wants me to live with him?!
Finally, she lifted her eyes to his. As her scared, brown eyes met his own worried grey ones, she realized he was as scared as she was. But, she also saw something else in his eyes - and she felt it within herself, also.
Faith.
Unwavering faith in one another, that they would be happy together, that they could make and take this step, that they were ready.
Finally, after almost three whole minutes, Hermione smiled. It was a full blown, all teeth showing, from ear to ear kind of smile.
Without saying anything she slid off her own chair, far less gracefully than Draco had since she still had the alcohol in her system, and threw herself into his arms.
'Of course, I'd love to move in with you, Draco!' she finally laughed. Draco seemed to breathe a huge sigh of relief as he hugged her tightly, and the others around the table cheered for the couple.
Hermione and Draco kissed while Luna messily poured more wine for everyone, managing to get more on the table than in the wine glasses, but, unsurprisingly, no one really cared.
Five Years Later
'You're beautiful,' Draco said, seeming in awe of his girlfriend. Hermione half turned to look at him. She was sitting in her favourite reading spot, on a cushion amongst her flowers in their backyard.
'As you tell me every day, handsome,' she teased, but her blush gave her away. Draco made his way over her so that he could sit behind her, placing one leg on either side of her and wrapping his arms around her.
'That's because you are, absolutely gorgeous,' Draco kissed her cheek and made a bid for her lips but she had already turned back to her book. She was lost within the pages of yet another book. Another romance book, Draco noted sourly. He hated romance novels. Why read about it when you had the real thing right in front of you?
Although he was a bit of a hypocrite; he himself was an overly huge fan of adventure books. A favourite pastime of the couples was to sit in front of the fire in a comfy armchair each and read their own books well into the night. More than once they had both woken up there together, or been woken by Peggie who shepherded them into bed, where they would collapse in one another's arms, not even getting changed.
'What are you reading now?' Draco asked quietly, not wanting to disturb her reading, but he had something he wanted to talk about, and he had to gently withdraw her from the pages and into the real world. Hermione sensed this and finished the paragraph before carefully placing her bookmark inside and closing the book with a small, almost regretful, sigh.
'The French Lieutenant's Woman. By John Fowles. It's an old Muggle book, published in 1969. Mum had it and I finally decided to read it.' Hermione still sounded very far away, like her mind was still within the pages of the book. Which it probably was.
Draco admired her a few moments longer while she slowly returned to reality. He hated returning her to the real world before she was ready, but he had an important question to ask her, and he had to ask soon, before everyone came around. He tensed his right leg to be sure it hadn't fallen out of his pocket, smiling when he felt the pressure of the small box.
'Hermione? You with me?' Draco asked quietly, to be met with dreamy brown eyes.
'I am always with you, Mr Malfoy,' Hermione gave a small, but very bright, smile and kissed him briefly. She noted with a small jolt of surprise, like always, that she got butterflies every time he was around her. It was a good thing, she, Ginny and Luna constantly reassured each other, even if it did make you slightly nauseous at some of the most inconvenient times.
'Good, because we need to talk,'
Now he had her full attention. She turned around so that she was sitting and facing him, her eyes searching his with curiosity.
'About what?' she asked cautiously. Every time either of them said those particular words they ended up having an argument to some degree.
'Us,' Draco took a deep, steadying breath, while Hermione's blood seemed to run cold with fear.
'Hermione, you are the love of my life,' Hermione's blood seemed to thaw and begin moving again, but tentatively. 'I love taking care of you, sharing my bed with you, and just being with you in general. Hermione, I love you, and, if you'll have me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Hermione, will you marry me?' he pulled the ring out of his pocket as he spoke, finally opening it to reveal a silver band with a ruby and an emerald set together in an oval shape. The oval was no bigger than Hermione's pinkie fingernail, and the two stones had been magically set and sealed so that they blended together as though they belonged there.
Hermione gasped and a hand flew to her mouth, her eyes flying between Draco and the ring. She was breathless. Her heart soared and happy tears teased at her eyes.
'Oh, Draco, yes. Yes!' was all she managed to gasp out before flinging herself into his arms. Draco gave a loud laugh and kissed her back enthusiastically when she placed both hands either side of his face and kissed him.
When she pulled back, he captured her left hand so that he could slide the ring onto her finger. Of course it was a perfect fit.
'It's beautiful,' Hermione breathed, admiring it from every angle. Upon closer inspection, she noted that there were even tiny lions and snakes inscribed upon the silver band, with a lion head as the right side of the stones setting and a snake for the left side.
How very Draco. But it worked for her, too.
'It had to be perfect, for the perfect bride,' Draco suddenly smiled very brightly. 'You're going to be my wife,' he kissed her again, laughing as he did so. Hermione felt giddy with happiness, even her stomach was squirming more than normal.
'Hermione?! Draco?!' Molly Weasley's voice floated over them. Hermione raised one eyebrow in question at Draco, who shrugged.
'I had to ask permission from your family, didn't I? Actually, Potter and Weasley made me promise that I would ask all of the Potter slash Weasley men permission to marry you if I so felt the inclination before they even gave permission for me to ask you to live with me.' Draco shook his head, smiling.
'They were serious?' Hermione gasped, standing up.
'Quite,' Draco rose with her and took her hand, 'I even had to ask little Hugo.'
Hermione laughed at the idea of Draco asking Hugo Weasley, Ron and Luna's little four year old, permission to marry her. Of course, it would've gone down without a hitch, Draco was great with kids, whether or not he admitted it.
'Come on, Molly will want to fuss over us,' Hermione smiled.
'Oh, Hermione. Everyone will be visiting,'
'I know, they're my family, too,' Hermione kissed Draco's cheek in reassurance. The Potter slash Weasley family still overwhelmed him at times, but he had grown to love every single member, and everyone had grown to like both him and Narcissa, who had also become an unwilling member of the family.
As they made their way through the Malfoy Manor gardens, Hermione's eyes drifted away to her new jewellery, watching as it sparkled in the sunlight. She couldn't believe it; Draco Malfoy was going to be her husband! The thought brought a goofy smile to her lips and she laughed out loud quietly.
Inside everyone had already arrived and been taken into the main sitting room. Draco and Hermione had moved into Malfoy Manor with Narcissa two years ago; Lucius was in Azkaban for life and Narcissa simply didn't like living alone, so she resided in the east wing while Draco and Hermione kept to themselves in the west wing, taking their meals together in the main dining room. They were all more than happy with the arrangements.
'Hermione!' Molly bustled over to envelop Hermione in a very warm, motherly hug.
'Hello, Molly, how are you?'
'Good, dearie.' Molly seemed to be bursting at the seams with excitement, rather like a child on Christmas Day waiting to open their presents. Hermione didn't keep her in suspense much longer, and held out her hand to show Molly her ring.
'Oh, it is beautiful!' Molly exclaimed, taking Hermione's hand and examining the ring from every angle.
'Congratulations, son,' Arthur shook Draco's hand, smiling proudly.
'Thank you, sir,' Draco beamed.
Ginny and Luna came forward to hug Hermione and examine her ring, too, while Harry and Ron stepped up to shake Draco's hand and clap him on the back.
Once everyone had hugged both Hermione and Draco and admired her engagement ring, Narcissa appeared at the doorway to also give her congratulations, and announce that lunch was served outside for everyone. Hermione took Draco's hand and together they led everyone outside.
It had only taken Peggie six months to figure out that when the Weasley's and the Potter's visited, almost double the normal amount of food was needed in order to properly feed everyone. This time Peggie had cooked too much; everyone was nursing food babies and making lazy conversation, while Ron was eyeing the last of the roast chicken with a mix of longing and regret.
Hermione sat quietly with her left hand on Draco's knee and her right one on her stomach. Draco was absently drawing random patterns on the back of Hermione's hand while he chatted to his mother and Molly, occasionally giving Hermione a bright smile or kissing the back of her hand.
'Miss Hermione?' Peggie was gently pulling at Hermione's sleeve.
'What is it, Peggie?'
'Miss Hermione needs to take her potion,' Peggie whispered, gesturing to the door that led to the kitchen. Hermione nodded and stood up;
'Please, excuse me everyone, I'll be right back,'
Following Peggie to the kitchens, Hermione had a sudden thought,
'Peggie?'
'Miss Hermione?'
'When was the last time I took my potion?'
Peggie had to pause and think a moment before answering, with full confidence,
'Six weeks ago, Miss Hermione. Miss Hermione has been very busy and been forgetting to take her potion,' the pair were now in the kitchens and making their way over to the far corner, where there was a cauldron slowly bubbling away.
'Should we maybe do a cursory check, before I take my potion, Peggie?' Hermione asked nervously. Peggie nodded, her ears flapping around her. Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket and wove her wand over her stomach. A bright blue light tinged the end of her wand, humming happily, Peggie gasped with delight and clasped her hands together while Hermione just gazed at the light until it extinguished itself after a few short moments.
'Peggie, will you go collect Draco, please?' Hermione murmured, in a daze. Peggie nodded excitedly and raced off as quickly as her aging legs could carry her.
Hermione waited, staring off into the distance until Peggie returned with a concerned looking Draco.
'Hermione? What is it?' Draco demanded, placing his hands on her shoulders and searching her eyes.
'Draco …' Hermione trailed off and swallowed hard, trying again, she couldn't quite meet his eyes. They hadn't discussed this step of their relationship yet, so she didn't know how he would take the news. 'Draco, I'm pregnant.'
He was so still and so silent for so long that Hermione wondered if he was ever going to respond. She looked up to meet his silver grey eyes. The first thing she noticed, with relief, was he was not mad. He seemed disbelieving.
'Are you sure?' he asked, his eyes wide and his mouth set in an 'o'. Hermione could only nod in silence. It took him a heartbeat longer, but Draco finally smiled; it was an earth shattering, bright smile that took Hermione's breath away.
'We're going to be a family?' he asked, still seemingly disbelieving.
'We will be. Are you alright with that, Draco?' Hermione asked.
'Alright?' Draco hugged Hermione tightly and laughed. 'I am more than alright!' Draco lifted Hermione up off her feet and kissed her passionately. But then a dark thought seemed to cross his mind.
'I will need your help to make sure I don't become my father. I want to be better than that,'
'Of course you'll be better than that!' Hermione lovingly cupped Draco's face in her palms and kissed his lips lightly. 'You are a far better man than he is, and you will make an amazing father.'
Draco smiled widely and kissed the tip of Hermione's nose. 'Just as you will make an amazing mother,'
Hermione could only blush and wrap her arms around herself.
She had a feeling her son or daughter would be the crowning jewel in the young Malfoy family, and a whole new adventure was only just beginning for her.
And that, my dear readers, is the end of Red and Green!
I thank you all for reading, and for those that have stuck with me since the very beginning, I love you all! For those that found me halfway, for those that put up with my long absences, for those that helped correct my grammar, for the one person who read some of the chapters before I posted them to make sure that they made sense; I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also need to thank my laptop for staying true to me, and my friends, my inspirations for writing.
I think I've just given seven thankyous'. #achievementunlocked
Much love.
Have a magical day, everyone.