Ignoring her brothers' scowling, Hermione smiled at Lucius as he tucked an errant curl behind her ear. "Send me the Hogsmeade dates," he murmured, "and I shall attempt to visit."
With a nod and a slightly impish grin, she bounced up onto her toes and kissed him, hearing the angry exclamations from further up the platform.
"Are you trying to get me murdered?" he asked wearily when she finally released him, the faint hint of a smile on his face and the arms still wrapped around her waist belying his tone.
"And be forced to begin the process all over again? Never." she teased as a visibly disgruntled Sirius appeared beside her.
"If you don't come and say goodbye to everyone else now, the train will be leaving," he informed her shortly.
"Of course, brother," she agreed, her face serious but her eyes dancing as she took his arm, before turning and kissing Lucius quickly leaving her mother fighting to contain a laugh at the contrasting looks on her eldest children's faces.
"Was there a need?" Sirius growled as he tugged her away. Wisely, Lucius disappeared with a pop before they could chastise him.
Hermione laughed, coming to a stop in front of her parents. "Are you trying to enrage your father and brothers my girl?" Walburga asked pointedly.
"It's just so easy!" Hermione complained as her father pulled her in for a hug.
"If you could not, Princess," he muttered, squeezing her tightly. "I do not need obvious reminders that you are no longer a little girl."
She squeezed him back, "Ridiculous man," she sighed with undisguised fondness. "It's just as well I love you."
"And I you, Princess."
She turned kissing her mother's cheek once he let her go. "Do try and encourage your brothers to owl, dear," Walburga murmured, embracing her. "We both know that they are rather forgetful."
"I'll try," Hermione agreed, "But we also both know I'm fighting a losing battle."
"I know but it was worth a try," she sighed, before waving them off, "Well then, off with you," she chided as the warning whistle blew.
Hermione gave a relieved sigh as she settled into a compartment. Seconds later, the door reopened and the lanky body of her best friend threw itself down across from her. "Well, did you go through with it?" he demanded.
With an eye roll, she shook back her sleeve, showing off her bracelet. "You missed her little display on the platform then?" a second voice added as Amelia Bones sat down beside her. "I thought your brothers were going to explode." Taking her wrist in hand she examined it, "Merlin, My, you could feed a family of ten for an entire lifetime with that thing!"
"Malfoy was never known for his subtlety," Severus groused.
"And yet it was our little Mya that accosted him on the platform," Amy replied impishly. "Although he looked exceedingly pleased that you did."
"He'd never have made the first move in public, he's utterly terrified of my Uncle Tom," Hermione admitted.
"And you, most definitely are not."
"Wel no. He adores me."
"And as a result, you get away with murder."
"Probably literally," Severus muttered.
"Probably,'' Hermione shrugged, unconcerned," Which surely works in your favour. I'd help you hide a body and Uncle Tom would feel honour bound to help us both to protect me. Merlin knows you're most likely to snap out of all of us."
Severus contemplated her seemingly trying to decide whether to be offended or not before he laughed, his shoulders relaxing, "I never thought of that," he murmured thoughtfully. "All those wasted opportunities."
Amelia snorted as Pandora slid in. "OH there you are! James has already released the dung bombs and reduced Lily to a spluttering ball of fury. It would be funny if we didn't all get caught in the crossfire."
"Sweet Circe, that has to be a record." Hermione checked her watch, "We're barely five minutes in!"
"Oh thank god there's space here," Cassie exclaimed, rushing into the carriage. "I assume Pandora's told you what they're up to?"
"Yes." They chorused as she flung herself down next to Severus who flushed slightly as she kissed his cheek absentmindedly.
"Please say we can lock the door?" she begged.
"Not until I get in!" came a frantic voice as Remus rushed in. "They are embarrassingly ridiculous. And for some reason Sirius seems to be spoiling for a fight." he looked at Hermione pointedly for answers.
"I sighed the betrothal contract with Lucius Malfoy two days ago." she supplied, "and I ah…might have kissed him on the platform within Sirius' sight. And ah not the chaste peck on the cheek that's technically allowed"
"That would do it," Remus muttered as Cassie looked more alert.
"Let's see it then!" she demanded, letting out a squeal as Hermione held out her wrist. "Merlin it's gorgeous," she breathed. "And remarkably restrained for Malfoy. I was almost expecting bigger… something you'd be completely unable to hide so everyone knows you're taken."
"I believe his mother talked him out of a circlet," she admitted, making the rest of the carriage laugh.
"The only thing surprising about that is that she managed to talk him out of it," Severus muttered, giving in to Cassie's nudging and wrapping an arm around her.
"First Hogsmeade weekend," Cassie announced, throwing her bag down with a bang, startling Hermione out of the essay she was writing.
"Sweet Circe, Cassie! Must you?"
Cassie grinned, "We both know you were lost in that essay. I was just making sure you heard me. Now…your delectable betrothed, will he be gracing us with his presence?"
"Yes," Hermione sighed, fidgeting. "Don't mention it to either of my brothers please and thank you. They're being ridiculous."
"A Black being ridiculous…merlin forbid," Cassie muttered, ignoring her glare.
"Which Black's being ridiculous this time?" Remus enquired sitting next to her before turning on his puppy dog eyes, "Tell me you're doing potions?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Yes."
"Thank all the gods, help me?" he pleaded pathetically.
"No! No, I came here to discuss Hogsmeade!" Cassie groused.
Remus groaned, "Can't you discuss it after Hermiones made this make sense!"
"You have fifteen minutes," she warned. "After all those owls that make her blush, I want to meet this boy properly! I swear to Merlin, it's sickening how often he writes. Daily at least isn't it? Thank all the gods he has more than one owl or the poor thing would have collapsed due to exhaustion."
Hermione ignored her teasing, turning deliberately to look at Remus, "Let me see this essay, then."
Ten minutes later, Remus was writing quickly, making the corrections Hermione had suggested, Cassie's foot tapping impatiently in the background.
"So…." she began as her wand buzzed indicating their time was up.
"Who are you taking to Hogsmeade Remus?" Hermine interjected quickly, ignoring his look of betrayal.
"No one," he muttered. "I was supposed to be going with Amy as well you know but I got conned into babysitting James. Lily gave him tentacles yesterday and Sirius apparently has other plans."
"They had better not be what I think they are," Hermione muttered darkly.
"Spying on you to make sure that Lucius doesn't touch you?" Remus shrugged, "We both know that is exactly his plan. He's roped in Reggie too, by the way. Cassie isn't the only one who has something to say about the frequency of those owls"
"If they don't stop this nonsense, I'm going to be an only child." Hermione groused, "Honestly! It's bound in bloody blood! There's no getting out of it now. So of course he's owling! We've only known each other as more than casual acquaintances for eight weeks! I'd very much like to know him properly before the bloody wedding. And I am going to marry him. On top of that, I am going to be expected to have a minimum of two children so that both Malfoy and Gaunt lines have an Heir so if I want to fucking kiss my betrothed in Hogsmeade my brothers are going to have to get over themselves!"
"Please let me be there when you tell them that," Cassie begged.
"If I didn't think Daddy would avada me, I'd take him to a bloody broom cupboard and be done with it," she muttered.
She heard the strangled yelp from behind her and she twisted quickly, coming face to face with her horrified little brother. "You…you dont…you cant…."
"Regulus Arcturus Black, if you finish that sentence I will hex you!" she hissed threateningly, mindful of the ever watchful librarian. "This has gone on long enough!"
He squeaked, spotting the tiny sparks illuminating her curls. Never before had she looked so like Bella. It was a terrifying thought. "You will cease this ridiculousness immediately! Am I clear?" he nodded frantically, much to the amusement of everyone else in the library. "And if I catch you with Sirius hovering around Hogsmeade this weekend, I will retaliate in a manner that would make Uncle Tom proud." He paled so dramatically that Remus reached out a hand to steady him. "Good." Hermione glowered.
"Merlin you are terrifying sometimes," Remus breathed as Regulus turned and ran.
"Let's hope they remember that," she muttered ominously.
Three days later, ignoring her friends' teasing, she bounced down the path to Hogsmeade, her face lighting up at the sight of him waiting on her.
"Hermione," he murmured, trying to tamp down his own excitement, failing miserably when instead of allowing him to kiss her hand as was acceptable, she stretched up and kissed him properly. Only when he heard an amused clearing of someone's throat did he let her go, flushing when he realised he had tangled one of his hands in her curls, the other resting dangerously close to her backside. "You're going to get me murdered," he muttered, leaning down to kiss her again, far more softly than before. "What have you done to me?" he groaned.
Hermione pulled back, hooking her arm through his as she sent him a wicked smirk. "Apparently I've always liked pushing the boundaries," she replied seriously, only the slightly puckish gleam in her eyes hinting that she was teasing. He groaned, his head tilting back to look up at the sky. "So dramatic," she nudged him with her elbow. "Have you met Amelia Bones before?"
With a long-suffering sigh, Lucuis dropped his head to look at her. "How likely is it that I'll actually survive this courtship with my sanity intact?"
She shrugged, "I'm a Black, we've always believed sanity is overrated."
His jaw dropped as Amelia gave in to the giggles that had been fighting for release from the moment she realised just how flustered her friend made the man. "Gods Mya, his face."
Hermione stretched to kiss the cheek next to her as she patted his other one consolingly, "He'll adapt." she paused, "He'll have to."
"Who's adapting?" Cassie demanded, appearing beside them. "Oh well, don't you look thoroughly snogged." she teased.
Hermione snorted, "Lucius, allow me to introduce Dorcas Meadows and Amelia Bones, Cassie, Amy, my betrothed, Lucius Malfoy."
Lucis sent her a weak glare, bowing over Cassie, then Amelia's hand, "A pleasure Miss Meadows, Miss Bones my betrothed speaks highly of you both," he turned to Cassie, "I understand you're in Gryffindor with her twin?"
"Gods," Cassie breathed, "One day I'm going to record you reading Mr Darcy's lines so I can just listen to it."
Hermione began to laugh at Lucius' bemused look, "He's a character from a book. Cassie leant it to me in second year." she explained, before turning to Cassie. "I'll see what I can do."
She beamed back at her, "That right there is why we're friends."
"I'm going to be interrogated today aren't I?" Lucius muttered, all of a sudden realising that the girls were showing no signs of leaving them.
"Of course, you are," Hermione agreed, "Don't worry Severus will be joining us, so you won't be totally outnumbered."
"He is?" Lucius checked with almost pathetic relief as they headed for the Three broomsticks
"Yes. I did tell you that he and Cassie were something of a thing did I not?"
"Did you?"
"Yes! I mentioned the difficulties he was having explaining betrothal contracts to Cassie's parents, they're muggle remember."
"I see," Lucis nodded, clearly not remembering in the slightest.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "It was when we were in your library the first time."
"Ah," he nodded, all of a sudden remembering. It was the first time she had kissed him, on the cheek and utterly chaste under the watchful eye of his nanny elf, but she was short and the way she had stretched her body against his in order to reach him had left him utterly stupid for far longer than he'd ever admit to. The amused glint in her eye hinted that she knew exactly what he was thinking, leaving him with a hint of colour on his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he turned back to Cassie, "Your parents disagree with our traditions?"
"I think they're just hard for them to come to terms with," she admitted, "It's so different from how things are handled in the muggle world. Severus left them with some literature though and Mum's been owling questions. I think she's written to Professor McGonagall asking for a meeting. They were worried that they'd make a mistake during negotiations and as she's my magical guardian they wanted her input."
Lucius nodded, a pleased look on his face. "I'm glad they are open to discussing it."
She hummed as Hermione looked at her thoughtfully, "Do you think we should include that with the other information?" she asked suddenly.
"You mean other than a brief mention of it amongst all the other traditions we have to learn?" Cassie asked, "I mean, probably. They knew they were expected, obviously. It is mentioned and they explain the importance of them but to be expected to negotiate one? It's a little outside of their experience and they're so worried about doing it wrong and me ending up at a disadvantage because of it."
He nodded, "That is understandable. I been sure Professor McGonagall will help, but if not, Hermione does have some rather impressive negotiators in her acquaintance."
"Sirius offered to speak to their father," Cassie admitted.
"Good." Lucius nodded, "It is to the benefit of us all to keep our traditions alive."
She hummed, looking unsure." Ask," Hermione smiled indulgently, as they sat down at a table "I know you've wanted to for months."
"I'll go and get drinks," Lucius murmured diplomatically, "Any requests?"
Requests handled, Hermione turned back to her friend. "Andromeda and Ted. Why do they call them…well…what they do?"
"Blood traitor and mudblood?" Hermione supplied with a grimace, despite her flush of pride that thanks to the changes she'd demanded it was the first time her friend had ever come across the terms.
"Yes." Cassie sighed, "I gather that once upon a time mudblood was used as a derogatory term for all muggleborns."
"Yes well, that was short-sighted nonsense." Hermione scoffed, "We need the new blood, we should be thanking the stars for muggleborns, without them we'd die out."
Cassie's mouth quirked up, "I gather your Uncle Tom had something to do with that."
Hermione shrugged, "He's a half-blood. A stupidly powerful half-blood whose mother's family had inbred themselves almost to squib-hood. He doesn't shy away from using it as a cautionary tale."
"Says the pureblood witch marrying the pureblood wizard." Cassie teased.
"Yes," Hermione agreed, "I didn't choose him for his blood status."
"You'd have been allowed not to?
"You know Uncle Tom encouraged the programme to ensure that there was enough distance between bloodlines. Contracts are not approved if they don't meet that criteria. And Corban Yaxleys a halfblood." Hermione replied looking amused. "John Corner was also briefly considered and he's muggleborn. Father was rather impressed with his intelligence and his power levels. He was only discounted because I think he's an arsehole."
Amelia snorted, "He is an arsehole." she muttered.
"I know.'' Hermione agreed, "Miram Shafiq is the front-runner for Sirius and she's a halfblood. It's…I think Uncle Tom had to practically force Mother to accept it in the beginning but there's no getting around the fact that there are many non purebloods who outstrip some of us in power. It's rather hard to plead superiority when your child is being decimated by someone who didn't know they had magic until one of us appeared on their doorstep at whatever age their magic first manifested."
"Any luck getting the wizengamot to approve the school?" Amelia interjected as Lucius reappeared.
"Yes!" Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up. "Finally! With the integration programme going so well they finally approved. There will be a flagship school opening shortly."
"Good," Cassie nodded, "Because that evening programme was not enough."
"I know." Hermione murmured, squeezing her hand, "It was all Uncle Tom could get them to agree to in the beginning, it took them ages to agree to more than one year. The prejudice is so ingrained in some of the older generations that we're all just waiting for them to die."
"Mya!" Cassie exclaimed, covering her mouth to hide her laughter.
"What? It's true!"
"Do try and find some tact, darling," Lucous drawled, "Or you'll kill them off with nothing more than words."
"Speeds up the process," she shrugged, "Seems like a win from where I am."
He groaned, but she could feel his smile against the crown of her head when he turned to wrap an arm around her.
"You are sickeningly adorable," Amelia groused.
"I'll be sure to tell Remus you enjoy PDA's," Hermione teased, twisting further into Lucius' side to avoid the stinging jinx Amelia threw at her.
"As much as I'd enjoy you in my lap, darling, we are in public and your father would geld me if he thought I was taking liberties." he looked smugly pleased at the dusting of pink on her cheeks until a sardonic voice interrupted.
"Don't be absurd Lucius, I'm sure Orion knows that if anyone's taking liberties it's Hermione. Your kiss is the talk of Hogsmeade." Severus looked at her amused, "Your brothers look murderous."
She shrugged, "Contract bound in blood remember? Utterly unbreakable."
He snorted as Cassie opened her mouth again, "You were explaining…."
"Oh." Hermione pulled a face before she sighed. "I ah…. Edward Tonks was never considered for Andy because he vocally refused to consider our traditions. He believed them outdated, barbaric and limiting. That being said, had Andromeda really pushed, I would have appealed to Uncle Tom to speak to Uncle Cygnus. However, you know we saw them around the school and I did try and speak to her but she refused. She was content to go through with her marriage negotiations with Lucius despite not wanting it and I suspect, knowing she would never actually go through with the wedding. The terms are…not pleasant and I don't agree with their use but I won't pretend that I am not disappointed in her. We do need to keep our traditions alive as much as we need to consider the new ideas muggleborns and half bloods bring. It shouldn't be one above the other, we need to find a way to marry both. The older generation tends to disagree, but most of the new and current ones don't. It's why it's so jarring when people decide to ignore it entirely. We're not perfect but we are trying. "
"Is this not awkward?" Cassie asked hesitantly, eyeing Lucius.
He shrugged, tugging Hermione closer almost unconsciously. "I will be forever grateful that Andromeda broke the contract," he admitted honestly. "We have no affection for one another, my only regret is that Hermione lost her cousin unnecessarily. So no, this is not awkward, all this conversation does is remind me how much I've gained."
"Let's see if he's saying the same after living in the same house as her," Severus muttered, yelping when Hermione's stinging hex landed.
"What was that Severus?" she asked sweetly, "No you don't want to be my man of honour at the wedding?"
Severus stilled, "What?" he gasped.
Ignoring Lucius' slightly scandalised expression, she smiled. "You're my best friend. I want you beside me. I don't give a damn about traditional roles, I'll silence every single last one of them if I have to."
"Your mother…."
"Is in full agreement." Hermione cut him off. "You're well aware Mother adores you, you're the only one who doesn't shy away from how cutting she is and matches her. Daddy took some convincing but we both know that when Mother puts her foot down he gives in."
Severus gave a disbelieving laugh, his eyes suspiciously glassy. "Merlin witch. You're going to scandalise them all."
"So? I'm a Black that's about to be a Malfoy, I can do whatever I damn well want." she grinned impishly. "Have I not just explained that we need new ideas alongside our traditions?"
The rest of the table gave choked laughs as Severus reached over the table and squeezed her hand, "I'd be honoured," he all but whispered
"Good," she nodded, with a slightly watery smile. "Now. Be nice or I'll put you in a dress just for the hell of it."
"Today was…not quite what I was expecting," Lucius murmured as they ambled back towards the school gates.
"Oh?"
He smirked down at her manufactured innocence, "You keep surprising me." he admitted, "My life will never be dull."
"Dull is boring," she murmured, leaning further into him. "I wasn't sure I'd like you, you know?"
He tensed, "Because of before?"
"Yes." Her eyes darted to where her friends were keeping a respectable distance behind them. "He was…so tied up in blood purity, I don't think she ever thought of him as anything other than terrifying. The very real human face of the movement that wanted her dead. Uncle Tom was…such an abstract concept. She didn't come into contact with him until the last battle. But that version of you, he was real. And the words he spewed, either in person or through his son, were so hateful. So ignorant. But he backed it up with violence."
"How can you even look at me?"
"Because you're not him," she replied slowly. "You show me often that you're not him. Love…it's not an expectation for us, for all the rules have changed. But I think I could love you Lucius Malfoy."
"I hope that you do," he whispered, his face utterly unmasked for quite possibly the first time as he finally took the initiative and kissed her breathless.