Edited 5/24/23: Minor Grammar/Spelling.

Where did this come from? I have no idea lol. You're welcome? Today was not better, in fact it may been worse, but I didn't want to leave you hanging with too short of a chapter. so here you are. Let's delve into the Caribbean a little more. I LOVE how the different islands are SO DIFFERENT, but also have so many similarities from both the Indigenous, African, and European perspectives.

Sunday, May 24, 1998

That morning, Hermione awoke like there was a fire underneath her. Both of her men were still fast asleep, something rather uncommon as Draco was typically up before her. She found her way to the kitchens and sat down at the large island.

"Welcome, Mistress," said a very old elf, "what can Abby be doing for you?"

"Hello Abby," Hermione said softly, "I'm hoping to discuss the food for our ball. I'm not sure if Ginny and you have started the menu?"

"No Mistress Ginevra said that she didn't care about the food and that she'd be happy with whatever the Mistress wanted to have."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. She wanted to highlight the foods from Martinique, to really play up the connection to her heritage. Thankfully, much of the food had a bit of a French influence that would make it semi-comfortable to the rest of the party.

The guests would all get a lovely Ti punch, and then she would have the elves set up a "Do It Yourself" Bar so that they could make their own later. Ti punch featured rhum agricole (Cane Juice Whiskey), cane milk, and fresh lime. She'd also have the elves pick out wines that would go with the meal for the less adventurous.

For the Appetiser course, she'd start them off with Lambi, or grilled sea snails with pancakes. There would be sides of tomato, lime juice, hot chilli sauce, parsley and salt. She'd also have boudin (the local sausage), both the pork and seafood versions made from her family's recipe.

The soup course would be a Fricassée de chatrou, or an octopus stew that has tomatoes, onions, lemons and spices. She had very fond memories of eating octopus with her parents. She was quite excited to pull one over on these Purebloods as the ragoût version was a popular takeaway item on the island.

The third course would be a curry terrine which looked a bit like a pate (or a meatloaf), which would be familiar to those who'd visited France, and had a bit of a creole kick with its spice blends. She was quite excited to see their reaction to this one. It was not one of her favourite dishes, but she thought she might as well throw them a bone with something they might recognize.

The fourth course would be Matoutou, although it was normally eaten to celebrate the end of the Muggle Lent season. The Mangrove Crabs that were the star of the dish were fed a selection of spices and vegetables, allowing them to marinate for a few weeks before serving. Then they'd be fried and filled with rice, onions, tomatoes, chives, spices and served with a spicy sauce.

The fifth course would be Poulet boucané. The chicken would be marinated overnight in lime, garlic, and shallots. The elves would then barbeque the chicken (the word barbeque was actually an indigenous Taino (Native Caribbean People) word that has been adapted over the years). When the chicken is all cooked, the elves would coat the crisped skin with sauce chien, a bright, sour, spicy, garlicky salsa.

For dessert they would have Blanc Manger au coco, which features coconut milk, vanilla powder, honey, cinnamon and lime combined with gelatin. She would have them add almonds to the plates to elevate the experience.

By the time the rest of the inhabitants of the house joined Hermione in the kitchen, she'd begun sketching her vision for the feast. She grinned at the elves as they started imagining how the guests would be shocked at the extravagant fare..

When Lucius had gone to prison, the Malfoy assets had been passed to Narcissa. Because of his unlawful escape, they stayed in her hands and with her "death" had passed to Draco. He'd almost immediately nullified the betrothal contract the Malfoys and the Greengrasses had signed. She didn't think that the Greengrasses were totally aware of the changes, but Hermione was more than okay with it staying that way a bit longer.

The order of the dances clarifiedHermione's place as Theo's wife, Ginny's role as Nott Heir and the close family ties between the Malfoys and Nott's . Ginny was unnaturally anxious about the dancing, to the point where she'd forced Theo to hire someone to start dancing lessons for the three living in the Mitternacht full time to start the following day.

"Are you at all worried about the guest's response to the food?" Draco asked later that afternoon as the four of them sat outside on the patio.

"No," Hermione said with a chuckle, "I chose dishes that I knew the three of you could handle so we don't embarrass ourselves, but I believe the guests will be quite surprised. I've worked quite hard to become knowledgeable about Pureblood society, now it's time for them," when Theo cleared his throat, she smirked, "you to learn about my culture."

After a light dinner, they sat around the parlour playing a few rounds of Exploding Snap and discussing the plans for the rest of the week. It was the last few moments of time before the four of them would be inundated with all sorts of social events. They were to be touted as the "New Face of Purebloods," and highlight the glitz and glamour that Voldemort could provide. Draco had been surprised at how willing the Dark Lord had been to leave Theo Unmarked as a way to draw more neutral families in. He'd been intrigued by his foreign bride and was ecstatic to hear about the "acquisition" of Ginny into the family.

By the end of the evening, she found herself nestled in between Draco and Theo, smiling at how peaceful this all felt. At the risk of jinxing herself, things had been going much smoother than any of them had anticipated. The rest of the week would be spent preparing for the Ball on Saturday. They had etiquette lessons from their tutors and dress fittings, meetings with the order and a "casual" night planned with Theo and Draco's Slytherin friends all crammed into the rest of the week. She knew that things weren't going to be easy, but counted herself quite lucky to have the partners she did in this whole adventure.

Ending Voldemort was possible, as long as he didn't create any more Horcruxes. They only had Nagini left to finish off before they could be shot of him forever. Hermione sighed, and Draco nestled closer in towards her. "Stop thinking so hard, love," Theo murmured. "I can't sleep when your brain is going that fast."

"I was just thinking about how we can defeat him. I don't like what this is all doing to Draco. I want him gone so that we can start our lives the way we were supposed to," she said looking into his eyes.

"I know," he whispered. "I want to be able to show you off to everyone and stick out my tongue at those who try to tear us down. Did you ever think that you'd still be keeping me a secret four years after our first kiss?"

She scoffed, "I'm not keeping you a secret you silly boy. All of my friends and family know about you. It is you who is keeping me a secret!" she said in mock annoyance.

"If it wasn't a guaranteed death sentence for all three of us, I'd shout about you from the bloody rooftops," Draco growled from behind her. "Now go to bed, your tutor doesn't have any patience for tired students and some of us have to work in the morning."

"Alright, alright," Theo said, kissing Hermione and then hovering over her to kiss Draco as well, "We'll go to bed. I love you both very much, you know?"

"I love you two as well," Hermione said, stroking Draco's hand that was wrapped around her.

"You're my whole world, now go to sleep!" Draco said, pulling her tighter against him.

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