Edited 5/21/23: Minor Grammar/Spelling.

Here you go, a little later than normal, but what can you do! It's still the 21st!

Thursday, May 21, 1998

That day, Hermione was able to lounge in bed long after everyone else in the house. Ginny was the first up, Kevin had found a picture of her from childhood that the portrait artist, Duncan Lennox, someone that both the Nott's and Malfoy's had on retainer would use as his base. Their marriage portrait would happen tomorrow as Draco could claim a special assignment from the Dark Lord to get out of his Apprenticeship for the day. Duncan had agreed to have his memories of their marriage portrait modified upon completion to protect him from the Dark Lord.

Theo and Draco had hired a traditional braider to come in and do Hermione's hair, Lulu sat with her, observing the techniques and asking questions. "I wouldn't be doing Mistress' hair for the big events," she chirped, "but knowing more about the Magic in Braiding is being very important to Lulu."

Wawira grinned at the elf, "You are a good elf, Lulu. Hermione's hair has so much magic, braiding it in this style is traditionally used only for marriage ceremonies. This pattern," she said indicating the one she was working on, "symbolises prosperity. The ones I did earlier are for love and long life."

Lulu nodded and stood on her chair to peer at the top of Hermione's head. "I will leave her curls in a long tail down over her right shoulder, as I know that that is what she is known for."

Hermione grinned at the woman in the mirror. "I wouldn't be Hermione Granger without my hair, would I?"

Wawira chuckled, "Hmm, but Lady Nott doesn't have to be defined by that, if you don't want her to be."

"I love my hair, it allows me to show off my heritage and keeps me close to my roots. My mum would often tell stories about how our ancestors would use their braids as maps and messages. They carried seeds with them and they have such deep meaning. I've always had a hard time in the Wizarding World, because of their lack of understanding of the Old Ways."

Wawira was Kingsley's Aunt. She'd come to Britain after the fall of Grindelwald, she'd gone to school at Uagadou. When Hermione was in her second year, Professor McGonagall had introduced them. Jean Granger was brilliant with hair, but the added magical properties were a bit out of her range.

Hermione had always loved learning about Wawira's childhood. She was a rarity as most of the other children from her village were educated by the village shamans or Elders. She'd taught Hermione some of the Old Ways and encouraged her to ask questions about the differences. Much of the British Magical Community had drifted away from the practices that tied them to the Magic and the land. In Britain, they didn't call them the Old Ways of course, they were the Eightfold Wheel of the Year. The ancient Druids found that there were eight times of the year that held significance in the Magic.

When she was able, Hermione and her parents would join Wawira and her family for the festivals. She'd dragged Theo along with her in between Fourth and Fifth Year in disguise of course, but many of the Elders could see through his glamours.

Summer Before Fifth Year (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)

"Happy Albin Hefin," Wawira said, pulling Hermione into a hug. Her parents had had to work that day, so sent Hermione to the festival alone. Theo had been able to sneak out and come with her to the festival after donning a glamour that they'd been practising for the past month.

They had to arrive before the sun rose, and would watch the sun together, chanting to connect with the earth. The day was filled with sun and feasts and dancing and as the sun began to set a bonfire would be started, to carry the summer sun through the short night.

Hermione, for once, knew more about a Magical event than Theo did, and was quite pleased to be able to show off her knowledge. She dragged him around by the hand, showing him dances and sneaking mead. They were both aware of all the eyes around them, and didn't sneak away until after the fire was lit.

As they lay in the grass, Theo hovered over her and kissed her. This was a more leisurely kiss than they were used to. Most of their kisses were rushed in alcoves and between bookshelves. As the final rays of sunlight left the sky, he grinned down at her. "Can I be so lucky to be with the woman I love on the longest day of the year?"

"You're so corny, Theodore," she said with a giggle.

"That I am, but you bring it out in me," he leaned down and kissed her again, rolling to put a knee between hers. He lifted her leg so that her core was pressed against his. "I don't think we're ready yet, but know that I want you, Hermione. I don't think I'll ever want anyone else."

"Not even Draco?" she asked cheekily.

He groaned and put his head in the crook of her neck, "Not even Draco, love. You're mine and I wouldn't want anyone else."

Present Day (5/21/1998)

When Hermione had finally roused herself from her day dreams, Theo and Ginny were having their "Coming of Age" portrait painted. She lounged on the loveseat behind Duncan and asked question after question about the techniques used. He used a combination of paints and magic to get the portrait to have hyper-realistic features. Duncan's style focused on almost photograph-like painting, instead of some of the more classical styles she'd seen in the past.

"To become a Magical Portraitist you have to do a ten year Apprenticeship," he was saying. "Mostly it runs in families, as you can start much younger than if one were to wait until they were done with school. My sister was an awful artist so she was sent off to Hogwarts to learn traditional Magics. I was homeschooled in the basics, but most of my education was focused on this."

"That's fascinating!" Hermione gushed, "How many practising Portraitists are there?"

"Last count only two other ones in England, so we have plenty of business. The Nott's have been commissioning our portraits for nearly two hundred years, and the Malfoys long before that."

Hermione could see Ginny was starting to flag after a long day of holding still for the portraits. Although Duncan had used a picture of her from childhood as the basis for her childhood picture, she still had to sit for it so he could get the movement of her face right.

When he'd finally finished for the night, he took a drop of both Theo and Ginny's blood, and rubbed it across their faces. A burst of light shot out, and then soaked into the painting. Ginny collapsed on the ground with a loud groan. "That was bloody exhausting. I hope I don't get married for years and years so I don't have to sit through that again!"

Duncan chuckled and declined their offer to stay for dinner. He wanted to get home to his own family promptly. Hermione inspected the two paintings he'd completed today and was pleased to see the childhood portrait highlighted Ginny's playful nature but allowed her to look serious and Pureblood enough to count as proper.

The coming of age portrait was fascinating. Ginny was resting against a broom, in her palazzo pants and Theo had a book open in his hand. The background was of the room they were in, which looked out over the gardens, the window open on the sunny day. Hermione could already picture a future portrait version of Ginny zooming around on her broom through different paintings, disrupting all their inhabitants.

She felt someone come up behind her and relaxed against Theo's tall form. "Are you excited for our portrait tomorrow?" he whispered against her neck. Ginny let out a loud groan and stomped away.

"I'm quite excited to see what he sees," Hermione said, turning to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I spent most of the morning thinking about our first Alban Hefin."

"I still picture you with those flowers in your hair and your curls spread out around us in the grass, the golden light illuminating your face," he said fondly, laying a kiss on her forehead.

"Such a poet, Lord Nott," she giggled.

"Only for you, my Lady," he smirked down at her.

"And for me?" Draco's deep voice came from the doorway where he was leaning and watching them.

"For you, I'd sing a ballad!" Theo trilled in a high pitched voice.

Hermione snorted and smiled at her men.

"I'm quite excited for our portrait tomorrow," Draco said with a chuckle, "I can't wait to see our girl in paint."

"Hmmm…" Theo said thoughtfully, "that's a fascinating idea… edible paints."

Hermione and Draco both flushed and grinned at him, "I like the way you think, querido."

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think or if you have any thoughts about what might happen next!