It had been two weeks since the signing ceremony and thankfully Hermione and Draco had managed to keep their relationship under wraps; keeping their dates in the muggle world had definitely helped. However, Hermione was distinctly nervous as she stared at a note she received upon entering her office after lunch on Friday afternoon.
"Granger, if you do not leave work at 4 pm and meet us at Potter's house, we will show up at your office and drag you out of there. We are going out tonight! Parvati & Ginny are aware and in on this plan. I know you wouldn't want to cause a scene at your workplace.
Your favorite Slytherin (almost)
Mrs. Pansy Parkinson-Zabini"
Hermione grimaced as she read the note for a second time before putting it in her bag and checking the time. Her lunch break had run later than usual as it had to take place after she had been pulled into a meeting to discuss whether the idea of a petting zoo would be a good idea at a school for young children or not. Hermione believed it was an excellent idea to introduce the children to magical and non-magical creatures before Hogwarts. At least by being exposed to such an introduction at an early age, they would be slightly better prepared for Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class.
Noting that it was almost 3 o'clock and she had a few things to finish before she could leave for the day, she sent a note to her boss informing him she would be leaving at 4 before shuffling a few things around on her desk to locate the paperwork for the petting zoo. She really did think it was a good idea, so the glowing endorsement she planned to write for it would convince her boss - who was on the fence about the idea - that it was an essential part of education for children.
As the wall clock in her office ticked 3 o'clock, she quickly forwarded a few of the simpler assignments to the interns and got to work on her letter of endorsement for the petting zoo at The Malfoy School. The deeper into writing she became, it became apparent that she was a lot more biased toward Draco and his school than she'd realized; it took a bit of effort to curb making the recommendation simply aimed at Draco himself.
When it was finished, she checked it twice, signed it, and sealed it with her magic before sending it off to her boss. Checking the time again, she had just enough time to grab her things and head out to the Atrium and floo to Grimmauld Place. Grabbing her jacket, handbag, and briefcase, she locked and warded her office, waved goodbye to her boss, and quickly made her way to the lifts. A few moments waiting for the lifts had her praying to Merlin that Pansy didn't jump the gun and show up early. She stepped in when it arrived and waited for it to reach the Atrium, whilst remembering a very raunchy lift scene from the book her brother's girlfriend had sent her - Fifty Shades of Grey - she wondered if Draco would push her up against the wall of a lift just to kiss her. Disembarking, slightly flushed, she headed towards the floos on the right side of the fountain and dropped a pinch of floo powder into the grate before stepping in and calling out for the Potter's Residence.
Arriving in the kitchen fireplace, she stepped out and looked around. No Kreacher. No Ginny. No Parvati. And no Slytherins. Odd. She checked her watch…4:02. "Hmmm…" She was hardly late. She decided to wait and see if anyone came in, she listened… Ah, laughter… living room. She straightened her clothes and made her way there. The sight she was greeted with was not what she had expected; Pansy Parkinson-Zabini, Daphne Nott, Parvati Weasley, Ginny Potter, and Luna Lovegood sitting around on the couches, laughing, drinking wine, and… doing each other's nails.
"Um, hello," Hermione said, unsure if she was welcome despite the somewhat insistent invitation.
"Hermione! Come join us!" Luna smiled brightly from her seat.
"Granger, nice to see you again," Pansy smirked at her. "Wasn't sure you'd show up." Daphne smiled placatingly and waved from where she was painting Ginny's nails.
"You too and considering it was practically a demand that I attend…" She took a deep breath and decided not to lead with an accusation… "I wasn't aware we were all friends now," she concluded, setting her bag and briefcase in the corner by the door before moving further into the room.
"School rivalries are so déclassé." Pansy replied with a snobby tone. Daphne nodded and returned to Ginny's nails. Luna and Parvati seemed to give their agreement and Hermione nodded slowly, feeling slightly bewildered.
"Plus there's the whole thing with you and Draco. You didn't think you could keep it a secret from us, did you? Theo and Blaise are more gossipy than we are." The dark-haired Slytherin added as she looked down at where Parvati had just finished painting her nails.
"No, it's not really a secret. I figured Draco would tell his friends and I would tell mine. I assume he didn't get to that point though, since you said Theo and Blaise are the gossip-mongers amongst you." Hermione confirmed, sitting down next to Pansy with attempted nonchalance.
"Oh, yes. Theo filed your contract, then immediately floo'd over to tell Blaise all about it. Blaise told me and I went to tell Daph, but she'd already figured it out because you showed up on the Greengrass family tapestry as Scorpius's stepmother. This means, of course, that you and Draco have deeper feelings for each other than you're admitting. Draco is adamant that you only started dating three weeks ago, but I think you must have had feelings for each other much longer than that." Pansy said slyly, giving Hermione a calculating look.
Hermione blushed, "How does that work?"
"Well…" Pansy started, only to be cut off by Daphne.
"You and Draco both signed the contract, which on its own wouldn't cause you to show up on the family tapestries. However, if you are both serious about the decision to be together, whether you've discussed it or not, and you both have the same intentions to marry and be together for good, then you show up on the family tapestries. You're most likely on all the tapestries. Greengrass, as stepmother to Scorpius; Black, as Narcissa's daughter-in-law; and Malfoy as Draco's soon-to-be wife and Lucius's daughter-in-law." Daphne finished explaining and turned to let Luna paint her nails as Ginny chimed in whilst painting Parvati's nails.
"The Black family tapestry is upstairs; Harry had it restored to show all the members who had been blasted off. Andromeda and Narcissa helped. Harry is on it as Sirius's godson. You are on it like Daphne explained. Did you know that Sirius had a twin sister?"
"Um, no, I wasn't aware. Had? Does that mean she's dead too?" Hermione asked bluntly.
"Oh, no. Athena Black was disowned before Sirius! According to Narcissa and Andromeda, she got pregnant sometime between her fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts, so Walburga sent her away. Orion and Professor McGonagall got her a place at Durmstrang though and according to the tapestry she had a daughter, named Calliope Antonia Black. That means the father didn't acknowledge his daughter. The tapestry says the father was, erm… Antonin Dolohov…" Ginny trails off, knowing how Hermione feels about Dolohov.
"Did you say, Calliope Black?" Hermione asks, sitting up a bit more.
"Yeah, Calliope Black, daughter of Athena Black and Antonin Dolohov," Ginny repeats, looking at Hermione oddly.
"I attended summer courses with someone called Calliope Black. She was a few years older than me but we were both offered a summer apprenticeship preparatory course with Professor Slughorn…that's how I knew him before sixth year. Dumbledore mentioned it to me back in third year and I wasn't going to accept because I didn't think Severus would ever extend such an offer, but when he said it was an offer from his friend, Professor Slughorn, I accepted. It turned out to be great timing because my parents told me they were going to be attending dental conferences on the continent for the whole summer and I needed a place to go. Professor Slughorn said I was the youngest person he'd ever accepted for the course but that Dumbledore had told him how I brewed polyjuice in second year and he had been fairly impressed. I met Calliope on my first day, we were paired together and I found out she was going into her seventh year when she went back to school." Hermione explained as she tried to remember the friendship she'd made that summer.
"Well, if we're talking about the same girl, you'll be happy to know that she married Dimitri Krum - Viktor Krum's older brother - and they have two kids. Flare, he's about to turn six according to the tapestry, and Nova, their daughter, just turned eight." Ginny said with a smile as she finished painting Parvati's nails.
"That's good to know. Small world, huh? I dated Viktor in fourth year and through the summer before fifth and she married his brother. Now I'm engaged-to-be-engaged to her cousin." Hermione chuckled."Maybe I'll write to her and let her know. Invite her to the wedding."
Pansy smirks and grabs Hermione's hand to start painting her nails, "It's easy to forget how small the wizarding world really is. Red or Green?" She asks, waving two bottles of nail polish in Hermione's face.
"Erm… green. Peridot green to be exact. It'll go with the dress I'm thinking of wearing."
"I'll change the color after I've finished. The polish gets all cloggy if I recolor it in the bottle too much."
Hermione nodded and separated her fingers on Pansy's knee ready for the pampering to start. It still felt very odd to be getting along with all these Slytherins. Even after all the intervening years since school and the war, she'd never let herself really relax around anyone from the other side. Until Draco. The old wounds had cut very deep but with the help of her nearly-fiancé, they were healing quietly.
Ginny stood to get another round of drinks for everyone, "Elf Wine or Pixie Vodka?"
"Vodka, please," Daphne responds and gets up to help Ginny bring back glasses and the bottle for everyone.
Within the space of another twenty minutes, all nail painting was finished and they'd each had at least four shots of pixie vodka. Pansy insists that she dress the whole group for their night out and Hermione, feeling brave as the alcohol starts to take hold of her, agrees, making Pansy squeal in delight.
Hermione wasn't sure if Pansy squealing like that was a good sign or not as she let thoughts of her favorite peridot silk slip dress slowly leave her mind, rejected. Pansy left the room and said she'd be back in a few minutes and while they waited for her return, Daphne explained the plans for the evening.
"We're going to dinner at Blaise's restaurant in Diagon Alley, Il Fiore Più Bello. Have you been? It's a lovely traditional Italian restaurant. The wine is amazing, imported directly from the Zabini Vineyards in Italy. Then we're going to Blaise's newest endeavor, Amore Etereo. It's a nightclub."
"The Most Beautiful Flower and Ethereal Love?" Hermione asks, her mind automatically translating the Italian names to English.
"Yes! I didn't know you knew Italian!" Daphne smiles brightly.
"I'm not really fluent but I know a little; enough to get by in Italy without being considered a tourist." Hermione shrugs sheepishly.
"That's more than enough!" Daphne grins, "Anyway, he won't admit it but I think he named them both after Pansy."
"He's very romantic." Luna smiles, "I hope my husbands will be that romantic after five years of marriage. They're very attentive now of course but time can do odd things."
Ginny and Hermione give Luna an odd look, but it's Parvati who inquires, "Husbands? They? Don't you mean husband, and he, Luna?"
Luna shrugs with a faraway look on her face, "No, I'm going to have two husbands."
"Oh-kay, well, I hope we're invited to the wedding," Ginny shrugs with a grin.
"Of course, silly. I wouldn't get married without my best friends," Luna smiles brightly, as she pours another shot for everyone. "And you'd always be invited, Ginevra, regardless of our friendship."The 'because one of my husbands is your brother Charlie' remained unsaid. They weren't telling their families yet.
Ginny looked a little confused but as each witch was presented with and downed their shot, she promptly put it out of her mind. Pansy running back into the room, followed by at least four house elves carrying bags upon bags of dresses - the poor little things practically invisible under the long dress bags - put her mind to far more important concerns; dresses!
"These are my newest creations!" Pansy presented with flair and pride. "My last line sold out within hours after releasing it and the line before that sold out in just a few days. With THE Hermione Granger and Ginny Potter wearing my creations, I think this new line will do even better!" She added enthusiastically, her Slytherin nature showing through, though in much more amenable ways these days, as she used Hermione and Ginny's celebrity status to promote her work.
Ginny led the group up the stairs to the master bedroom and the elves set the garment bags on hanging racks which were conjured by Pansy when they reached Ginny's room before bowing to Pansy and popping away. Pansy unzipped the bags and went through each dress, glancing at the girls who were lounging around on various pieces of furniture, waiting.
"Daph, go try this on," Pansy says, holding a bag out to her, "There are jewelry and shoes to match as well. I even have matching lingerie if you want that too; another new market I'm expanding into."
"Yes, Mistress," Daphne replied sarcastically, adding a salute in mock obedience as she took the bag and entered the en suite bathroom. It was easy to rile Pansy up by alluding to her sex life in this manner. It wasn't a secret amongst their well-known friends but was rarely discussed that Pansy and Blaise had a more unique sex life than most. In response to her friend's quip, Pansy lightly touched the choker at her neck and smiled a little.
Daphne re-emerged a few minutes later in a dark red satin, corseted mini dress, matched with a pair of strappy gold stilettos and gold drop earrings that shimmered with a cluster of rubies at the end. Pansy directed her long-time friend to a wide mirror at the end of the bed - with a raised eyebrow to Ginny - to put her hair up into a high ponytail before wrapping a gold braided chain around the ponytail, whilst Ginny just shrugged, confirming the assumption that she and Harry liked to watch themselves.
The dress complimented Daphne's sun-kissed skin tone and dark blonde hair perfectly and the other women adamantly let her know. Daphne smiled in thanks and turned to tone down her makeup for a more natural look while Pansy returned to the racks to look through the other bags.
"Luna, try this one," Pansy commanded, handing Luna a bag. The ethereal blonde smiled serenely and accepted the garment she was offered before floating off to the en-suite in a way only Luna could pull off and still have it seem completely normal.
Luna returned from the bathroom after only a moment, smiling brightly and twirling around as if she was five years old, "I love it, Pansy! The colors are so pretty and the shoes match my hair."
The other girls all agreed that the off-the-shoulder, ruffled, dusty blue jumpsuit and sunshine yellow chunky peep-toe heels looked like they were made for Luna. Knowing Pansy's knack for planning, they probably were.
Pansy smiled, "I'm glad you like it. I didn't add any jewelry to that one. You have your own unique style which would be wrong of me to quash so I assumed you had your own."
Luna nods, happily showing everyone her potion-bottle-cork necklace and her red radish earrings. The unlikely accessories seemed to fit perfectly well with her outfit, in the same way that 'organized chaos' just works for some people.
"Parvati, Ginny, these are yours." Pansy grinned, handing the bags to the sisters-in-law. Both ladies head to the bathroom and change quickly with excited looks on their faces.
Parvati rejoined the group first, dressed in a beautiful rose-gold silk halter, paired with black tapered trousers and nude pink wedges. A long gold chain hung from her neck with dainty links and a jade crystal pendant that settled between her collarbones. Ginny followed a moment later as the party 'oo'd and ah'd' over Parvati's outfit, in a one-shoulder, olive green, asymmetrical charmeuse dress, black heels, and mismatched earrings.
"Ginny, pull half of your hair back behind your ear, and put the studs in that ear; the silver chain earring goes in the other ear. Parvati, hair, and makeup are completely up to you." Pansy directed and pointed them both towards the vanity where Luna had just finished her hair and makeup.
"Your turn, Granger," Pansy smirked, turning to face the lone witch who was as of yet unprepared for the imminent night out before returning to her creations to find something that would do Draco's fiancée justice.
Hermione wasn't sure if she was nervous or not but the way Pansy seemed to be thinking so much harder about her outfit than she had with the other girls worried her a little. Finally, the Slytherin witch turned back to her.
"I heard a rumor that your boss told you people don't find you relatable. So, I have one question for you… do you trust me to make you look relatable or will you chicken out if you think the outfit I choose is too risqué?"
Hermione's eyes widened a little but she swallowed and replied with as much courage as her inner Gryffindor lion could roar out, "Are you forgetting I'm a Gryffindor, Pansy? I'll wear what you choose but not for the sake of being relatable. My boss is being shepherded by several small minds at the Ministry and whilst being 'more relatable' will help me get the promotion I deserve regardless that it should be mine by merit alone, I am not doing this just to pander to the masses. I lost my twenties being a slave to those masses and it's time I show them that's not all there is to Hermione Granger."
"Well, alrighty then," Pansy replied with a raised eyebrow and a predatory smile before turning back to the rack. She snatched a bag and looked at it in thought for all of two seconds before shoving it at Hermione and walking her into the bathroom. She hoped the Gryffindor's bravery would hold when she saw the dress.
Ten minutes later, Hermione was staring at herself, somewhat reluctantly, in the bathroom mirror. The emerald green of the dress was definitely a statement. It looked lovely against her skin but it was just so short. The back consisted only of two thin straps that met the rest of the fabric at the base of her spine; it would be impossible to wear a bra and though she knew there were spells to ensure her breasts defied gravity, she felt ridiculously out of her comfort zone and exposed. Sighing, she slipped into the six-inch silver heels and thanked Merlin they had straps that went around her ankles, otherwise, she definitely would've broken something. She could hear the other girls on the other side of the door, waiting for her.
"Granger, hurry up! I have to change too!" Pansy exclaimed, exasperated as she knocked on the door for the third time.
Hermione huffed out a growl and tore the door open, stepping back out into the room. The other girls froze and she worried she looked bad until Ginny spoke.
"Bloody hell, Mi! You're gonna be the envy of every witch tonight!"
Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet, feeling embarrassed.
"You look amazing, Hermione," Parvati added, pulling her old dormmate towards the vanity to help her with hair and makeup. "Have you charmed your boobs up that high?"
"No, I haven't got round to that yet," Hermione replied, looking at her chest in the mirror. "I need to look up the spell. I haven't had to cast it since the five-year anniversary gala for the war."
"Well don't bother, you don't need it. It seems you defy gravity without magic, Granger." Pansy commented as she headed into the bathroom to change. Daphne, Luna, and Ginny move to gather around the vanity with Parvati to help Hermione.
Hermione stepped over to the vanity with the girls behind her, and sat down on the little stool in front of the mirror, completely forgetting that they would see something very personal she had kept hidden since a few weeks after the war ended.
"Uh, Hermione? When did you get a tattoo?" Parvati asks, sounding shocked.
Hermione sighed, and shrugged her shoulders, "After the war. Harry and Ron got similar ones as well. It's the Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon we rescued when we broke out of Gringotts."
She turned so she could look at the dragon tattoo trailing along her spine in the mirror and smiled at the memory of riding on its back to relative safety. It seemed only fitting at the time and still now, that she had the tattoo on her back.
"It's really beautiful, Hermione," Luna said with a smile, keeping to herself that Charlie was taking wonderful care of the blind dragon. He'd probably mentioned his care of Ferenc, as the dragon had been named - Hungarian for 'free' - to at least one of the Golden Trio but her own involvement with Charlie was still unknown and they weren't quite ready for everyone to know yet.
"Thanks, Luna." Hermione smiled. "I hadn't realized the dress was completely backless when I put it on. I usually keep him glamoured if I wear something that would put him on display but I was in a bit of shock over the shortness of this dress and it just didn't cross my mind."
Luna nodded in the mirror and ran a finger around the outline of a wing over Hermione's shoulder just as Daphne caught on to what had been said.
"I'm sorry, go back a minute. You rescued a literal dragon when you broke out of Gringotts?" the blonde Slytherin witch asked, gobsmacked.
Hermione blushed, "Um, yes. I thought it was common knowledge. The whole thing was in the Prophet at the time. The goblins confiscated half of my vault contents in restitution, luckily most of my wealth is in muggle banks."
Daphne's eyes were wide, "I didn't read the Prophet much back then. Merlin, you are absolutely astonishing. What else did you get up to with Potter and Weasley?"
Hermione related a few of the more minor events of their school years, much to the amazement of the Slytherin girl who was not 'in the know' at the time. Daphne - and Pansy who was listening from the en-suite - were slowly wrapping their heads around everything they learned and finally returned to the task at hand. A new silent respect had taken place in the minds of the Slytherins - a respect that would spread through the other pureblood families - for the muggleborn Gryffindor girl who had brewed advanced potions in a bathroom at age 12, used a bloody time turner for almost a year, dated and lost her virginity to an international Quidditch star at 15 and rode a blind, dragon to freedom at only 17.
"Go natural on the makeup, a touch of silver shimmer for eyeshadow. Since she's not wearing jewelry it will add some much-needed sparkle without detracting from the outfit," Daphne suggested, knowledgeably to Parvati who was sifting through sticks and palettes of make-up, still wondering if a domestic life with Draco would be boring for the adventurous witch in front of her.
"And leave her hair down, just smooth the curls out a bit. It will make her feel a bit more comfortable since her hair is long enough to cover her back a bit, without concealing it completely," Ginny added.
Parvati nodded at both suggestions, and soon Hermione was gawking at herself in the mirror. How had she lived for the last thirty years without knowing she could look like this.
Her reflection stared back, as it was wont to do, with a look of wonderment, "I love it, thank you all so much." She responded to the work the girls had done, pride shining in her eyes that even though she'd done some truly crazy things and had even been at odds with some of these people, she finally had a group of female friends and could do 'girly' things freely without eyes being rolled.
Pansy rejoined the group and grinned at what they had all created between them, "I have to say, Granger, you scrub up well. If Draco saw you right now, he'd be more stunned than a 'stupify' could even manage. You look hot!"
Hermione blushed, "Well, thank you, Pansy. You look stunning too."
Pansy smiled and looked down at her gold corset, red leather mini-skirt, and gold strappy heels, "Thank you. I took inspiration for this entire line from the Hogwarts houses. That's why the straps on the back of your dress are silver chains, not fabric. Let's have a look at how they sit over that tattoo I heard you talking about."
Hermione nodded and tentatively swept her corkscrew curls away from her back and round to the side. The 'audience' behind her gasped and suddenly a party of fingers was touching her back as Luna had done. It tickled and she wriggled away with a small giggle. "Ok, ok… stop it. I'm ticklish."
"Oooo, I'll have to let Draco know. He'll owe me a favor for such a juicy bit of intel." Pansy declared as the myriad of tickling sensations disappeared.
Hermione sighed. "Bloody Slytherins!" She complained under her breath but the smirk she saw on Pansy's face in the mirror told her the other witch had heard her.
The girls finished touching up their makeup before they agreed to apparate to the restaurant and meet in the entranceway. Pansy and Daphne apparated out first and Hermione, Luna, Parvati, and Ginny followed. The restaurant was just as Daphne described, very traditional Italian. It was a small and very exclusive restaurant, only able to seat forty guests at one time. Of course, Pansy was able to get last-second reservations as the wife of the owner.
They were shown to a table near a large wall that was covered in a magical mural of a vineyard. Pansy explained that it was the actual vineyard on one of the Zabini Estates in Tuscany and that if you watched closely, you could see Blaise proposing to her on the balcony of the villa in the far background.
Dinner was a lively affair as the girls got to know each other all over again and near the middle of their meal, Blaise came over to visit for a few minutes. He greeted them all kindly and kissed his wife leaving them to their evening. Daphne had been right about the wine being absolutely phenomenal, Hermione had three glasses alone but slowed down when Pansy reminded her they were going to the nightclub after dinner.
As their meal wound down, and they finished off the last of their wine, they agreed dessert would be pointless as they were going to spend the rest of the night dancing and drinking, although Hermione insisted on reserving a piece of Tiramisu to take home as it was her favorite sweet. Pansy told everyone that the check was taken care of and that they could leave when they were ready. Daphne cast a tempus charm, informing them all it was almost 9. They'd spent two hours at the restaurant already so they decided on a group trip to the ladies' before heading to the club.
Leaving the restaurant, the witches made their way along Diagon Alley, caught up in stories about their school years… laughter and surprise loud and evident at each others' youthful adventures and indiscretions. The rambunctious group was so involved in their retellings that they didn't notice a bottle green beetle flying just behind them down the magical street toward the club.
Hermione awoke the next morning with a splitting headache and remembered why she hated drinking to excess. The next morning was always awful. Pulling herself into a sitting position, she noticed she had apparently fallen asleep on the rug in Ginny's living room. Pansy and Daphne were asleep on the two sofas, Luna and Parvati were curled up in armchairs and Ginny was snoring next to Hermione, 6 inches off the floor. At least someone had had the presence of mind to cast a cushioning charm for them. Grimacing, she looked around through squinting eyes and found a glass of water with a hangover-relief potion on the coffee table. She kept potions made by Severus in her handbag for all sorts of maladies but the thought of summoning them made her brain flinch and her magic shrivel up as if begging not to be used. She downed both and sighed, stretching out her arms and legs, before delicately crawling off of the cushioning charm, standing up, and heading into the kitchen.
"Morning, Mione," Harry said with a grin from the kitchen table.
"Morning, Harry," Hermione mumbled, moving to sit beside him, "Where are my niece and nephews?"
"They spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's last night. I didn't think you girls would want to be woken up by loud children when you were hungover." Harry chuckled.
"Much appreciated." Hermione yawned. Kreacher wandered over and shoved a cup of tea at her before returning to the stove where he seemed to be making breakfast for everyone.
"Thanks for the potions and water too," Hermione added between sips of her tea.
"Snape Special," Harry stated matter-of-factly and waved off her thanks, opening the Prophet. Hermione almost dropped her tea as she got a look at the front page.
"Good Godric, I think I'm gonna be sick." She grimaced, seeing the many provocative photographs of her dancing with the others and throwing back shots, there were even some of her dancing on the bar and she instantly regretted ever watching Coyote Ugly. She groaned and laid her head on the table.
Harry chuckled, "You won't be unrelatable now, I suspect."
"Fuck you!" Hermione huffed as she brought her head back up to look at the pictures again; at least the article hadn't been written by Rita bloody Skeeter this time. Harry was one of the only people Hermione actually swore at, and in front of. Their friendship was such that over the years, all of her internal thoughts were filterless when it came to her best friend. "You know I love you but just please… don't take the piss right now or I'm likely to hex you bald."
Harry just nodded and chuckled. Git!
"Good morning!" Luna greeted, cheerfully as she walked into the kitchen, soon followed by a slow pouring of everyone else into the Potter kitchen.
"Morning, ladies." Harry smiled, "I'm glad you all took the sober-up potions. Kreacher is making breakfast for everyone. I sent notes to everyone's significant others last night to let them all know you were here and safe. I told them all I'd make sure you each got home after breakfast today."
"Thanks, Potter." Pansy grinned, taking a seat at the table beside Hermione.
Kreacher popped platters onto the table, having made a full English for the large group, before adding two teapots, mugs, a pitcher of milk, and a bowl of sugar onto the table as well, then left the kitchen with a final pop. The girls and Harry all ate breakfast in relative silence until Ginny and Pansy saw the Prophet and gushed over the photos of their group, commenting on how good they all looked and how amazing the night had been.
After another thirty minutes of animated chatter over their night out and the photos in the paper, they'd polished off the food and Harry got them to the floo to go home. Hermione was the last to leave and gathered her clothes from the previous day, her briefcase, and her handbag before hugging Harry and Ginny and heading through the floo to her flat.
Feeling utterly exhausted from the night before, Hermione warded her flat to keep out all correspondence and visitors, closed her floo, and went to bed. She had no doubt there would be backlash over their little outing last night and she was just too tired to think about it.
Waking up hours later, she sighed and got out of bed. Having closed her floo and warded the flat against letting people and owls in, she was not expecting to find a house-elf in her living room when she went to the kitchen to get a drink.
"Uh, hi Brix," Hermione said awkwardly, "What're you doing here?"
Brix looked up at her and Hermione swallowed nervously at the look the small elf gave her, "Oh, I be thanking Merlin you bes alive! Master Draco be very upset when Machiavelli return with his unopen letter! You needs get in the shower immediately and go to hims and apologizes for worrying hims. Master Draco want make sure yous okay and you block hims from your flat."
Hermione stood frozen in shock, before blinking and taking a drink of her water, "I am sorry, Brix. I didn't mean to scare Draco or you. I was just really tired and didn't want to be woken up. It didn't occur to me that Draco would be worried if he couldn't contact me. I'm sorry, I should have sent a note to let him know I was going to be sleeping for the day."
"You should bes sorrys, Missy Hermione." Brix said staunchly.
Hermione nodded, "I'll go shower, and head over there, okay? Can you let him know I'll be over in a little while?"
Brix huffed, but agreed and popped out of the flat a moment later. Hermione sighed. She didn't like being in any house-elf's bad books so she decided not to dawdle. She headed directly into the bathroom, started the shower, and spent no time languishing- quick wash, shave what needed shaving, and out. Ten minutes later, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her extra fluffy towel around herself, using an old t-shirt to squeeze the excess water out of her hair before wiping the steam off the mirror on the front of her cabinet and opening it to get out her toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash. She didn't look in the mirror until after she had finished brushing her teeth and it was a good thing that there was nothing in her mouth when she did look at her reflection because the sight that greeted her had her startled to the point of screaming.
Without even stopping to consider that she was still only wearing a towel, she quickly grabbed her wand and unlocked the floo, whirling herself through the flash of emerald flames directly into Draco's office. Her eyes focused solely on her future husband, she failed to notice he had company, "Did you know this would happen?!" She wildly gestured at her hair.
"Hermione!" Draco appeared startled at her sudden appearance and took in her wet hair and towel, noticing she hadn't even bothered putting shoes on before turning to look at his parents and his uncle.
Narcissa's eyes went wide as she took in the situation and hastily shoved the men out of the office, "Come and sit down, Hermione."
Narcissa called for Brix and asked her to please get Hermione some clothes. Brix nodded and popped out of the office. Hermione finally allowed what she'd just done to catch up to her brain and felt her face flush as she moved to sit on the couch beside Narcissa. Brix popped back in and handed Hermione a bundle of clothing before popping out again. Narcissa waved her wand and Hermione's towel was replaced with the clothes Brix had chosen.
"My dear," Narcissa smiled gently, gesturing at her own hair, "You didn't think I was born with my hair this very specific shade of blonde, did you?"
Hermione stared at her future mother-in-law's platinum locks, feeling a little weary, but sighed, "I suppose not."
Narcissa gives a light laugh, "My hair began to look like this after I signed my marriage contract to Lucius, in my seventh year. It's the Malfoy family magic. It only happens if the family and magic fully accept the witch that is marrying into the family. When you and Draco agreed to have us at the signing ceremony and you changed the positioning of witnesses to have Scorpius in the middle of the circle with you and Draco, that was the true magical beginning of acceptance between our families. Words aren't enough for magic, it is actions that speak volumes. My hair started changing the day I signed. I'm assuming Scorpius was the hook with you, as he is only three years old and probably doesn't even know he was accepting you into the family."
Hermione sits quietly, thinking this over, "What changed to make him suddenly accept me?"
Narcissa hummed, "I'm not sure. We could ask Draco if anything changed with Scorpius last night or this morning."
Hermione agreed and Narcissa called the three men back into the office.
"Draco, dear, did anything happen last night or this morning that could be considered indicative of Scorpius suddenly accepting Hermione as family?" Narcissa asked once the three men situated themselves in their previously abandoned seats.
Draco cleared his throat, "Well, I was reading the Prophet this morning at breakfast and he saw the pictures of Hermione on the front page. He grabbed it out of my hands and hugged the paper…" he trailed off, "He called her 'Mummy' instead of Miss Hermione. When I told him that it was Miss Hermione he threw a tantrum and kept insisting that she was his mummy and that he wanted his mummy."
Narcissa smiled, "Well, then, that answers that. He views Hermione as his mother."
Hermione looked astonished and wasn't sure how to respond.
"It's why I was so worried when I called you all over here. I hadn't been able to get in touch with Hermione all day and Scorpius has been screaming and crying for her since daybreak. He finally worked himself up so much that his accidental magic knocked him out. I think he tried to apparate to her, but her wards blocked him, and he ended up knocked out in his room. It would make sense if he tried to apparate, he had the three D's, Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. He wanted Hermione, he was determined to get to her, and he knows what she and her flat look like. He's fine now, just sleeping, but I was very worried." Draco explained after a few moments of silence.
Hermione looked at Draco in astonishment at Scorpius's apparently very powerful accidental magic, it barely seemed accidental at all, but her almost-fiancé seemed to be avoiding looking at her. She could see the anger flashing in his eyes and felt tears well in her own.
Looking away, she pulled a few of her magically re-colored curls in front of her face to examine them more closely, sighing at the obvious blondeness. She'd learned family magic could change components of adopted or incorporated family members - eye color, hair color, etcetera. She had acquired red streaks practically overnight when the Weasleys adopted her, even Harry had tinges of red in his inky hair, so it shouldn't have been surprising that Malfoy-blonde had made itself known and become another component of her curls. If she was feeling less like an idiot and more like herself, she'd be considering herself a tortoiseshell cat; her curls had become a wild mix of chocolate brown, copper-red, and silvery blonde; she could only thank Merlin she wasn't going gray yet. It was odd to her, given her muggle heritage, but not wholly unusual in the Wizarding world for such base-level DNA shifts to occur; she had become a Weasley by magic, and now she was becoming a Malfoy by magic. Maybe Harry had been spot on with his wording before the signing ceremony; 'Let's go make you a Malfoy' he'd said. She just hoped that her hair didn't change completely to blonde. Looking at Narcissa, it was almost impossible to tell there used to be glossy black locks where now there was only shining platinum.
"I'm sorry for freaking out about my hair," Hermione said quietly, "and for not letting you know that I would be unreachable for the day."
Narcissa quietly stood and excused herself; Lucius followed his wife out, and after exchanging silent looks with both Hermione and Draco, Severus did as well.
Draco sighed and finally turned to look at her, his eyes steely.
"I'm sorry for worrying you and Brix and not being there for you when you needed me," Hermione said, glancing up at him as he stood and walked toward the fireplace, leaning his arm against the mantle and leaning his forehead against it.
"Scorpius needed you," he said in an almost dark tone.
Hermione swallowed, nodding, even though he wasn't looking at her, "I'm sorry. I wasn't there for Scorpius when he needed me. I'll be here if it happens again, I promise. I didn't know."
"You should have told someone you wouldn't be around for the day. Thank Merlin I thought to send Brix when I couldn't floo or apparate to your flat. I thought you were in trouble! But you just didn't think about anyone but yourself! " He turned back to her, his eyes like shards of ice.
She took a slight step back in shock at the anger in his voice, the tears she had been able to hold back earlier now tumbling down her cheeks.
He reeled back, feeling like he'd been physically assaulted, seeing her tears. He turned away from her, not able to handle seeing her cry. He grabbed the drink he had left earlier and downed it, feeling the fire whiskey burn its way down his throat before he turned back to her.
"Please don't cry," he didn't know what else to say.
Hermione glared at him through the tears, willing them to stop falling. She spoke in a hoarse voice, the betrayal she felt at his accusation breaking through her own anger. "That's not true and if you really think about it, you'll know that." she swallowed hard before continuing, "I am always thinking of everyone else! I only approached you with this contract in the first place to appease my boss and all the Ministry bigwigs. The fact that I've wanted you for years just made the choice of who to approach easy. Do you really think I would ignore an upset and irate child, a child I love and care about, and leave him to his misery just because I was tired if I'd known he needed me? If that's what you think of me, Draco Malfoy, then why the hell do you want to marry me? I just needed a day to myself to recover from last night and come to terms with the fact that I'm in the damn papers… again. I swear to you I didn't think anything monumental would happen and certainly nothing like Scorpius considering me his mother or unintentionally trying to apparate to me…" As her arguments lost steam, she took a breath and sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when Scorpius needed me, truly; and that I worried you. I'll go see Scorpius now and make sure he's okay then head home."
Draco couldn't respond, he was dumbfounded. Putting aside the confession that she'd wanted him for as long as he had wanted her, he'd examine that later, she had also said she loved his son. Without the current mental capacity to form words, his mind whirling with her revelations, he nodded sharply and looked away from her still teary eyes as she quickly left the office, wiping away her tears and making her way to Scorpius's room in the family wing. He didn't need to ask this time, he knew this was their first real fight as a couple…he just hoped nothing worse could happen between them before he managed to make his accusations up to her. She was right, he realized; Hermione really wasn't the type of person who would ever leave a child in distress if she could help it, especially if it was one she loved.
From his open door, he heard his son's excited squeal of 'Mummy!" from the floor above and felt a level of regret he hadn't felt in a very long time until he heard Hermione respond…
"It's okay, sweetheart; Mummy's here."
He could picture Hermione sweeping his son up in her arms, tears rolling down her face and whispering apologies over and over; making promises to him that she loved him and would always be there for him. That's the kind of woman she was, the kind of mother she was. And he'd accused her of not caring. He thought back to their third year at the moment she'd called him out for being - what was it she'd called him - a foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach. He'd never felt her words to be so accurate in his life.
"Fuuuuck!" He groaned as the weight of his poor decision-making crashed around him.