Harry eventually joined in, and then Sirius had to play again to even out the numbers. Hermione didn't mind, though she'd enjoyed her conversation with the older man. He was funny and kind and treated her like a human being.
That shouldn't have surprised her, considering he lived with a muggleborn witch. It was just so odd to meet with a Black who didn't care about blood status.
Odd was good.
Lily and James Potter ("Please drop the stuffy titles, dear. You're respectful enough," Lily Potter had insisted) returned early in the afternoon, not at all put off by a barrel of Weasleys and two newcomers.
Violet, it seemed, was visiting with the Tonks family for the weekend. They positively doted on the little girl. Hermione didn't blame them, since she was a darling.
"It's good to see you," Lily said. "Are you doing alright?"
She set the silverware in their appropriate spots as the older woman set down cups. They'd had to extend the table to fit all the guests, but it was a simple matter for the Potters.
"Yes," Hermione answered. "As well as I can be, while waiting for my OWLs results."
The redhead's laugh tinkled like chimes. "Oh, I remember that anxiety all too well. I'm sure you performed spectacularly." Hermione blushed. "No, I meant about your situation."
She paused and her eyes flicked to study the woman. "Oh. You mean, with the Malfoys?"
"Yes. Harry told me about New Year's Eve. He was concerned about your future."
Lily spoke in a respectful hush that allowed for a certain intimacy between the pair of muggleborns. There was no doubt about her meaning now, but Hermione was grateful nonetheless for her tact.
"He did?" she murmured shyly. "Hm. I really am fine."
"I know how difficult it is. Few understand the restrictions society places on those of our birth, and the reality of living with it. I was fortunate to find my way, but you are still navigating in an increasingly volatile world." She sighed and clasped her now-empty hands. "I fell in love with James long before I married him, but I know that not everyone has the luxury of marrying for love."
"So, Harry told you about his offer?"
The woman nodded. "I thought it was very sweet of him. He's always been a kind boy, despite inheriting his father's humor."
"I wouldn't ask that from him," Hermione assured. "I'd never want him to do something for me at his own expense."
"Is that what you think? Oh, darling, it's not like that at all. You and Harry would be a fine match, and I've no doubt that was the most important factor of it all."
She lifted a brow at Lily Potter's twinkling emerald gaze. "We're friends, yes, but that doesn't necessarily make for glad romantic tidings."
"The potential is there," the woman countered. "He was blushing when he told me how lovely you looked, and about dancing with you at the party. "
Her own cheeks heated at this information. "Yes, but that's not to say… I've never thought about him that way, so—"
"You should," Lily responded. "You should think about it. You might be surprised to find there's something there. If not, a marriage between two friends is hardly the worst possibility."
"I don't think Lord Lucius would allow it." Considering her last conversation with the man, she was sure he'd resent anyone asking.
Then again, Draco said they wanted to ally with the Potter family, so…
She didn't want to use her friendships this way, so she shook that line of thought free.
"Well, we can always try," Lily said with a slight smile. But she seemed to understand this was a natural place to stop.
Dinner was quite the affair, with five Weasley brothers, Harry, Draco, Sirius, the Potter parents, and herself. Harry and Draco were on either side of her, while Ron, flanked by his oldest brother and George, was directly across. It made talking with her best friends much easier.
"Why didn't Ginny come?" she asked when everyone had settled down a bit.
The Weasleys stilled and exchanged gazes between themselves and Harry.
"Er, well," Harry dissimulated awkwardly. "She just didn't, er, feel up for it."
"Harry turned her down," said George.
Fred nodded solemnly. "Broke her heart, he did, the little git."
She frowned. Harry had harbored a slight crush on the girl for years. "Why would you do that?"
He shrugged.
"We think it's because of someone else," the first twin confided, leaning over the table to speak in a false hush.
"A right Cassanova, our Harry."
"Just like his father," George added to his brother's comment.
She clicked her tongue at their antics, which were setting Harry's cheeks aflame with every new comment. "No, really." She turned the full brunt of her magnifying amber gaze upon him expectantly.
He ran a hand through hair eternally in disarray., his expression almost guilty as he tried to meet her eyes. "I didn't think it was appropriate."
"Not appropriate? Because you and Ron are best mates?" she guessed.
He shook his head. "No, because of—" the green narrowed pointedly as he hinted, and that was enough, especially paired with her recent conversation with Lily.
"That's exactly the reason I didn't want to—" realizing that everyone was tuned into the little back and forth, Hermione grimaced and cut herself off. "That's foolish, Harry Potter. If you like her, and she likes you, you should just go out with her."
"I'm not gonna do that to her. Maybe if things change, but right now I want to keep things simple."
There was so much unsaid between them, and it made her heart ache to think two of her friends were suffering because Harry wanted to keep single in case she agreed to marry him.
She chuckled bitterly, but let the topic go.
She sat in her guest room, her feet dangling over the floor, long after the extraneous Weasleys had Floo'd home. It was time to sleep, but she felt antsy.
And she wasn't the only one.
A sharp knock drew her attention, and she sounded permission for whoever it was to enter only to find all three boys slinking through the door.
"I thought we should all talk," Harry said after a poignant silence.
Hermione nodded and scooted to allow more room to sit. Harry sat beside her, Ron taking a seat on the floor with his elbows on his knees, and Draco in a chair he pulled close.
"So, you all talked about it, too?" she asked.
Ron and Harry shrugged at one another. "Ron 'n' I did," Harry replied. "A little, anyway. And then you know you and Draco and I had words on the Express. I thought maybe we should all just get it out in the open between us."
"That's probably a good idea." She rolled her lip through her teeth and wondered how to start. "Well, I suppose it's sort of an open secret now, but Narcissa has been laying the work to find me a husband." She huffed. "Or maybe get a decent job."
The boys all nodded.
"And Harry offered to, I guess, take on the mantle."
The boy cringed. "You make it sound so… sterile."
"You told me you'd marry me to appease Narcissa Malfoy," she pointed out.
"No, I said I'd marry you so we can work together for the future," he countered. "As partners. Not as— as friends or associates or something."
"Is there a difference?" she asked. "It'd still be a marriage of convenience, yes?"
He gaped at her, turned to the other two as though to ask for help, then shook his head. "That's not at all what I meant. I meant that, well, we'd do alright together. Married. A real marriage, just one based on friendship first, and similar values."
She barked out a laugh, then covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"I meant it," he stressed. "Good marriages have been built on less."
"You've never had a crush on me like you have on Gin or Cho—"
"Because you've always been one of my best mates, but I'd be a fool not to see it could happen if we let it."
"Harry, you'd be giving up on a marriage like your parents—"
"— No, that's exactly the point. It'd be like theirs, but better, because they weren't friends until they were much older. Dad just had it down bad for mum."
"Harry, please."
He took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "You're ridiculous if you don't realize what I'm trying to do here, Hermione. I'm not trying to limit my future at all. I'm—"
"You're giving up your future happiness for—"
"I'm trying to build a future with you!"
Hermione fell silent at the explosive tone. He was so serious, with those great green eyes brightened in frustration, his cheeks red from embarrassment or anger or some combination thereof. She peered at Ron, whose face was set in determination laced with sorrow, and Draco, who would seem untouched to anyone else.
She read everything in those winter-sky eyes.
She sighed and cupped her face in her palms until her heartbeat slowed again. "I don't think it'll be possible, anyway."
"Why?" Harry's voice cracked at the end of the word.
"Because Lord Lucius won't let me leave the family."
Draco blinked rapidly as though trying to catch up. "Wait, what do you mean?"
"I mean," she started, before hesitating over her choice of words. "He told me legislation will soon pass that makes muggleborn wards the property of their guardians until such a point where they are released, extending even to their progeny."
"That's ridiculous—" Draco.
"He's barmy—" Ron.
"No bloody way—" Harry.
"And he said that I will remain with the Malfoy family indefinitely."
Harry shook his head again. "There's no way. Dad would've told me about that. He would've told mum about it, and after my talk with her, she—"
"Yeah, there's no way," agreed Ron. "No way would everyone just accept that."
Draco became ponderous and indrawn for a moment, letting the other two have their explosive Gryffindor reactions.
"Actually." The three lions turned toward him. "I think— Father has been reticent to allow me in some meetings but based on what I've heard…" Horror and sadness battled in him. "I think she's right."
She waved a hand. "There you have it."
"Those laws can take years to enforce, Hermione. You'll be of age soon," Harry pointed out. "September. I doubt it'll be that quick."
"Shit." Draco's curse drew their attention again. "The school clause, remember? Hermione is under Malfoy purview until she graduates from Hogwarts."
He and Harry seemed as though they were having a silent exchange as they stared into one another. "I'll talk to dad. We need— we need a plan. Hermione?"
"What am I supposed to do?" she asked incredulously.
"You're the planner." This was from Ron, who had long relied on her study schedules and reminders.
Her eyes narrowed on the redhead. "You're the strategist. What do you suggest?"
Pink dusted from one ear, across his cheeks, and to the tip of the other. "Me?" His voice climbed the word. "I— I don't know. How would I know?"
"She's got a point, Weasel," said Draco. "You're always beating us at chess."
"Yeah, but that's pieces on a board," he responded.
Draco shrugged. "Still a sign of a strategic mind."
She laughed at the unlikely pair, and how readily Draco admitted to the other's intelligence when it could be used to their benefit. He was a Slytherin, even if he'd asked to go elsewhere.
It struck her then just how odd it was that Slytherins looked down on Hufflepuffs. Sure, they weren't large and fearsome, but what Slytherins always seemed to forget was that badgers eat snakes.
**A/N things will start getting intense soon. Reminder that you can follow me under this name in multiple places for more info (twitter, tumblr, etc)