A/N: So with the job that I do, I can't guarantee consistent updates, however, I will always have the next Chapter at least started before posting the previous.
I'm so glad people are enjoying the story so far and long may it continue. I will always try my best to have decent length chapters, but the odd content filler, shorter chapter may be required every once in a while.
Upping the rating of the story from a K+ to a T from this chapter for mild language usage, just to be one the safe side.
Chapter 3: Kingsley Must be Mental.
The weekend of the first Hogsmeade visit came around so quickly.
Hermione had constantly rebutted Ron's questioning via letter surrounding who she had been partnered with. He had volunteered the information for himself, subsequently being paired with Sarah Greene, a former Hogwarts students two years above them. It was no secret that he was gutted that it wasn't Hermione, but the lack of compatibility and passion between them led to him accepting his fate quicker and easier then he thought was possible. Breaking the news that she had been paired with Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince, Sex God and former death eater, was not something you did in a quick letter. No, Hermione had wanted to deliver that news in person.
The trio, surprisingly consisting of Hermione, Draco and Ginny, made their way from the castle into Hogsmeade. Draco bid goodbye to the ladies and headed to the Hogs Head Inn, figuring he would be safe there, than being in the Three Broomsticks just waiting for hex's and curses to be thrown his way.
Hermione and Ginny entered the pub and found Ron and Harry sat in a booth tucked away in a quiet corner. Hermione quickly let go of a breath she didnt know she was holding, she smiled, waved and made her way over to her boys.
"So go on Hermione tell us who you've got then."
"Ron, let her sit down first, before you start interrogating her." Ginny said with her stern glare. She turned to Harry, sat down next to him and gave him a sweet chaste kiss, eyes full of promise of what was to come when they got some time to themselves.
"So now you're sat down, come on, out with it, OWWW, who did you get married off to." Ginny swiftly kicked him under the table.
"Honestly Ron I can't tell whether you're more excited than an eleven year old in Honeydukes or if you're gearing yourself up to kick my future husbands head in. Either way you won't have to wait too much longer."
"So before you fly off the handle, I want you to know and Ginny will verify it for me, that even though my person wasn't on our side of the war, he has tried incredibly hard in the time between the end of the Battle of Hogwarts and the start of eighth year, to better and improve himself. Not once have I been called a mudblood or been taunted for my friendship with you guys. He's been really sweet and even tried to find a way out of the law for me, should I not want to go ahead and marry him.
Rons ears had gotten redder and redder the more details Hermione gave, when she finally said "I've been paired with Draco Malfoy", Ron stood up so fast he made the table shake, garnering the people in the pub turn to look at him.
"NO ABSOLUTELY NOT. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO MARRY A PISSING DEATH EATER. I WON'T ALLOW IT!"
Luckily the configuration of the booth had Ron next to the wall with no escape past Hermione, who pulled him back down to his seat.
"Ronald Weasley, you have absolutely no say in my choice of spouse, nor do I. But if I must repeat myself, Draco has been nothing but pleasant, sweet and accommodating to this whole stupid scenario. Yes there was a war between people who don't give a damn about blood status and a madman and his followers, yes lots of people lost their lives, including a lot of people who I loved with my whole heart, and yes all of us who survived are having to pay the price of said war. But what is not our fault, is that our generation, the people of child baring age, are not being legally obliged to repopulate a massively depleted magical community, but I'll be damned if I didn't give it everything I've got. There is a reason that Kingsley paired us with who we are, and there is no one in Ministry I would trust more with a decision like that."
"I can't believe that you've been paired off with Draco Malfoy. Kingsley must be mental." Harry said meekly from the opposite corner, not wanting to be told off the way Ron was.
"I want to see him, face to face, right here, right now!" Ron said, much calmer than anyone was anticipating.
Hermione sent her patronus to the Hogs Head with a message to say the coast was clear for him to join them, and only a few minutes later, Draco tentatively walked through the front door of The Three Broomsticks. He was pleasantly surprised to see that not really anyone made a fuss at his appearance, he was even more so when Hermione came over to accompany him to their table.
It was no secret that Ron would not come around easily, even with Ginny to back Hermione up. Harry on the other hand was cautiously wary, understandably so, but was willing, for the girls sake, to try and accept him.
Hermione had already conjured up a chair at the end of the table for him, and as he sat, he twiddled his thumbs nervously not really sure what to say, the awkward silence was palpable.
After a few moments of silence between the longtime friends and the reformed Death Eater, it was Harry who was the first to speak.
"I'm sure that I shouldn't need to say this to you, but should you so much as hurt one single hair on the head of the only woman in my life that I call my sister, I will have your probation revoked and you'll be in Azkaban faster than you can say 'Quidditch'. So now that's out of the way, Hermione was telling us just how much you seemed to have changed in only a few short months."
"You testified at my trial Pott… Harry, you of all people should know just how much was forced upon on me, with the consequences of my mothers death should I refuse or fail. Taking the Dark Mark at sixteen was certainly not my choice, and not one I would have actively chosen, if I was given one. There isn't really much a can say right now that will convince you that I really have changed, but I'm hoping in time, my actions will prove it, if you would give me the chance. These fine ladies here with us have given me a lifeline that I never thought I'd get and I have a few ideas about the family business that can hopefully salvage the Malfoy name for the better."
The rest of the afternoon went without a hiccup, Ron barely said anything, but the tension lightened and the conversation flowed almost as easy as the drinks did. By 5pm Ron had said his goodbyes, Harry and Ginny had snuck off to the Shrieking Shack for a rendezvous and Draco and Hermione were strolling back towards the castle, feeling a lot more optimistic about the future than they had that morning.
A/N: I had this chapter started sometime back in January, however my muse ran away, and I even stayed away from reading fics for a while. But I'm back and i re-have some muse again, so I will try to utilise it for as long as possible. Long, multi-chapter fics are not my forté, but I really want to see this through to the end.
Much love.