Edited 9/15/2023 I forgot that today was Ginny's birthday and her SEVENTEENTH birthday… oops. So this chapter went from 217 words to 1752. I hope you enjoy the new additions.

5/5 for today!

Tuesday, August 11, 1998

They all wished Tuesday could be a day in bed, but alas Draco had to work and Hermione had to prepare for Ginny's birthday. They'd decided to mark the day with a rather large, surprise celebration. A Witch only turned 17 once after all. The morning would consist of a small celebration with the Weasleys and the Order. The afternoon would be an Event. Millie, the ever thoughtful friend she was, had even included Molly Weasley in the planning.

While Draco had to drag himself out from the comfortable sheets and to his Apprenticeship, grumbling, Theo slept barely moving. After she'd eaten her own breakfast, Hermione began to grow concerned, but when she reached through the bond, she could tell that he was just healing, by slowly syphoning magic.

He finally awoke and Gertie almost immediately popped in, bringing a large tray of food. Hermione chuckled as he wolfed down everything in sight. "The Cruciatus takes a lot of energy, love," he said through a full mouth, "and healing from the Cruciatus takes even more."

"I'm aware," she sniffed, pretending to be annoyed.

"Ohoho," he said with a chuckle, "Hermione Granger is aware, is she?"

"Hermione Malfoy Nott is, yes," she said, sticking out her tongue at him.

When he'd finally finished his lunch, he pulled her down to lay next to him. "I'm quite proud of you, you know," he murmured, looking into her eyes. "You handled yesterday like a champ, barely a flinch. I think Tom was quite impressed with my choice of bride."

"He should be, I'm excellent," Hermione said, winking at him.

"You are, love. I'm not sure what I did to be so lucky, but I don't regret a moment of it."

When they arrived at Headquarters for the smaller gathering, Ginny was in tears before they'd even sat down for lunch. Spread in front of her was a whole spread of home cooked food. She was given the place of honour at the table and George insisted that she wear Aunt Muriel's crown as she was the Birthday Princess. Hermione and Theo joined the group, giving Draco regular updates on the events. He kept listing the Ingredients he was adding to his current potion in the most droll voice he could muster through their telepathic bond.

When they'd finished eating, it was time for presents. Hermione gave Ginny a set of Quidditch gear that she'd ordered specially. Theo had bought her a new bag for school that had protection spells woven into the fabric. The Weasleys had gotten her a variety of items to keep her safe at school. Narcissa and Andromeda had gotten together to provide her with an updated uniform that was more befitting her station.

When it was time for Arthur to give his gift, he stood and walked towards her. "Ginevra. While you may not be related to me in blood, you will always be my little girl. I spent quite a bit of time with the boys discussing this. We'd like to formally invite you to be part of the Weasley family. Until this war is over, we cannot submit the papers, but once Tom is gone, we'd like to have it formally recognized. As you know, being a daughter of any Sacred 28 House comes with privileges. We'd like to present you with this broach as a promise of good faith." He handed her a box and she opened it with a gasp. Inside were papers that would be submitted to the Ministry to adopt her into the Weasley family. The name would come after Prewett and Nott, but she could still be a Weasley.

Theo had given her official Nott signet ring, formally recognizing her as of age and able to make decisions for House Nott as well as a list of names of people who had applied to be her betrothed.

"Now that you're of age, we'll have to be fielding all sorts of requests," he said with a chuckle. "Fortunately for all of us, the Nott Head of House has ultimate say on any Agreements. Your mother has already tried to convince me to sign you up to some house or another."

Ginny scoffed, "Half of these men are three times my age! I don't plan on getting married for a long, long time."

"As you should," George said with a cheer. "No one gets to tell my sister who she can marry."

The rest of the lunch went by in a flurry of laughter and excitement. Before tea, they ushered Ginny back to the Manor. There was another party that had to happen

"Are you sure we have to have this thing?" Ginny groaned for the hundredth time.

"Yes, Gin," Daphne said with a giggle, "Every witch worth her salt has a Coming of Age Ball."

"I don't want to be worth salt," Ginny said petulantly, but allowed the girls to finish her hair and makeup.

Molly burst into the room, all in a flurry. She gave Hermione a sharp look and grumbled about "upstarts," under her breath. "Look at my little girl!" Molly cooed.

Ginny just stared at her mother. "Mum, I am getting ready with my friends, I'll come out afterwards and make sure that we can enter together."

"But I want to spend some time together, I so rarely see you!" Molly said with a huff.

Hermione made eye contact with Millie, who helped usher Pansy and Daphne from the room. She stood at the doorway, allowing Ginny to hash things out with her mother.

"Mother!" Ginny practically shouted. "I asked you to wait. I was spending time with my friends. We all have a part to play, even if you've decided that you don't care about the future of the Wizarding World any longer."

"Just because I don't want people like her polluting our World, doesn't mean I don't care about the future," she gave Hermione a nasty look then turned back to Ginny. "Speaking of the future, Lord Nott denied every betrothal contract. I had highlighted some that I thought would be the most advantageous."

Ginny laughed loudly. "Do you know me at all? I won't marry someone because its advantageous, in fact, maybe I won't marry at all. I don't even know if I want kids. Maybe we can just pass on the Prewett name to one of the grandchildren, if we make it out of the war long enough to have kids, that is."

"Ginevera!" Molly screeched. "Of course you want children. Every woman does, some just take a bit longer to come around to the idea."

Ginny just huffed at her mother. Molly Weasley would never understand her the way she wanted to be understood. Suddenly, Kevin appeared as if out of nowhere. "Mistress' Mother must be helping with the decorations!" he squeaked.

Molly looked between Ginny, the Elf, and Hermione and threw her hands up angrily. "We're not done with this conversation, Ginevra!" she said, turning to follow the little elf.

Ginny collapsed into a chair the moment her mother had stormed away. Hermione followed her and knelt in front of her. "Don't let her get to you, Gin," she cooed.

"I'll never be what she wants me to be," she said with a sigh.

"No, you won't," Hermione agreed with a shrug, "just as she'll never be what you want her to be. You have to just accept her for who she is and hope that she'll be able to do the same at some point."

Ginny wiped a tear and took a deep breath. "Let's get the girls back in and get this whole thing going, I just want it to be over."

Hermione sighed, this wasn't how this was all supposed to go, but as per usually, Molly Weasley had thrust herself into something she shouldn't. By the time they were finished getting ready, Ginny had all but forgotten about her Mother's outburst.

Hermione made her way downstairs to stand between her husbands, while Molly stood on the other side of Theo with an angry looking Ron at her other greeted all their guests, Hermione made sure to very obviously greet people before Molly and show just how pleased she was to see the Society Ladies.

Finally, it was time for Ginny to enter the ballroom. Theo stood, after giving Hermione a kiss on her hand. "Thank you all for coming. I am so pleased that you were able to join us for my dearest, and only, sister's Debutante Ball. As many of you are aware, Lady Prewitt Nott was only recently accepted into the family, after my Father's untimely passing. While we of course mourn the loss of such an esteemed Wizard, knowing that I have a sister with whom to share the burden has been such a privilege. Now, without further ado, I, Lord Nott along with Lady Prewitt would like to formally introduce you to Lady Ginevra Prewitt Nott, the Heir to both the Ancient and Noble House of Nott and House Prewitt."

Polite applause broke out throughout the entirety of the Hall. Ginny appeared at the top of the stairs and floated down, just the way Narcissa had taught her. Theo stood and offered his own hand, a clear sign that she didn't have a betrothal contract yet.

The entire evening, Hermione watched as all of the eligible bachelors danced with Ginny, most attempting to charm the fiery witch. Pansy looked increasingly frustrated after each dance, while Blaise just looked contentedly resigned. Hermione made sure to do her rounds, purposely avoiding Molly and Ron. Ron looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here, but asked a few unlucky ladies to dance throughout the evening.

By the time the evening was wrapping up, Hermione's feet were aching and Draco had taken to sitting solemnly next to her. Theo and Ginny, the social butterflies, continued to flit around rubbing elbows with all those they needed to. Ron had attempted to corner Hermione, but she was quickly steered away into a dance by Blaise before he could get to her.

"Draco," Hermione said softly, "I think I need to be off to bed…"

Draco looked at her with a small smile. "I must take our wife to bed," he thought through their mental link.

"I wish I could join you," Theo replied petulantly.

"Don't lie," Hermione chuckled. "You're having the time of your life. Do enjoy this time, tesoro, we'll see you in the morning."

I am all caught up! THANK GOD! Now back to regularly scheduled writing which means I can actually work on my other WIPS too (which are still looking for an Alpha/Beta if you wanna chat about things with me!)!

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