A/N: Thank you for your reviews! 3 This will probably be the last chapter for this week, but tomorrow or on Sunday, I'll upload a fluffy Christmas one-shot, featuring Dramione, Lucissa and ... another family member. I hope you all have wonderful holidays!

Thanks again to Sue for beta reading :)

Chapter 16

„Why are there suitcases?"

"Because the elves packed them."

Hermione just looked at Draco, until he grinned. "We're going on a trip over the weekend."

That came completely out of the blue. "Ok … Where?"

"Surprise." He pecked her cheek and then turned to Hades, who sat on the top of one of the suitcases. "And you're not coming, Mr."

The cat actually looked hurt.

Hermione picked him up and grinned at him. "Oh, don't act like that. It would be far worse for you, if Lucius was gone for a few days."

Draco laughed. "You may have a point there"

Ever since she had moved in three months ago, in the middle of May, the cats had followed Lucius around like faithful shadows. He complained about it, but considering how little he liked them – according to his own claims at least – they often caught him with a cat in his lap, sometimes even both. Every time someone entered the room and caught him mid-cuddles, he made a point of looking very annoyed about the situation, but he never made an attempt to remove them. Zeus and Hades had also developed the habit of napping on his desk or watching intently while he was working. All that amused Narcissa, Draco and Hermione to no end.

"Our portkey will be ready in five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Her eyes widened. "Do I need to change?"

"No, you're perfect."

Perfect was, in this case, beige trousers, blue sneakers and a light blue shirt. The sneakers were just comfortable, but both the trousers and the shirt were rather high quality and pretty elegant. Her wardrobe had changed drastically since she mostly went shopping with Pansy and Daphne. From casual she had gone to classier and she had the sneaking suspicion that her two friends were trying to make sure that she was appropriately dressed for her future role as the next Lady Malfoy. She didn't mind, she enjoyed dressing nicely. Ron had always complained when she had bought something nice for herself – he had actually had the nerve to complain about how she had spent her own money. Probably because she hadn't spent it on him. Why she had walked the path of least resistance for years, she would never understand, but it didn't matter anymore. Draco was very different, he appreciated her, made her compliments and naturally couldn't have cared less about how she spent the money she herself had earned.

There was a knock on the door and Lucius and Narcissa entered. "We wanted to wish you both a nice trip," Narcissa said with a smile.

"Thank you. Although I don't even know where I'm going."

"Oh, you'll love it."

"I'm sure I will." She handed the cat she was still holding to Lucius. "He's a bit disappointed that he can't come. I trust you will be a great comfort to him."

They all burst out laughing at the look on his face. But again, he did not move to put the cat down and Hades seemed pretty comfortable where he was.

"The portkey will activate in a few seconds." Draco held up an old mug and Hermione took hold of one of the suitcases and touched the mug with her other hand. "Goodbye."

Then she felt the pull of the portkey transporting them out of the Manor and to another not much less luxurious place. A hotel room, Hermione realised. She let go of both the portkey and the suitcase and walked over to the window. The weather, which had been slightly rainy in England, was beautiful here. There was not a single cloud in the sky and the view was amazing. Old buildings, a channel, gondolas … "We're in Venice?" She turned around to Draco, beaming. She had never been to Venice, but she had always loved looking at pictures. It was a beautiful city.

"Yes, we are." He smiled, walked towards her and pulled her into his arms. "In one of the two hotels in the city run by wizards and witches. I take it you like it?"

"Of course I do!" He knew that. A few weeks ago, they had read "Death in Venice" together and she had mentioned that she had never been there but would love to go. It wasn't even the fact that he had organised a portkey and paid for the hotel room, but he had listened to her and made an effort to make her happy. "Thank you." She kissed him.

Draco held her for a moment longer. "Do you want to go explore?"

And that they did. The spent the whole day in the city. Draco had organised tickets to many of the big attractions, premium tickets, of course, so they didn't have to wait in line. They went into St. Mark's Basilika, walked over the Bridge of Sighs, joined a guided tour in the Doge's Palace, made a gondola tour, had ice cream and later pizza for dinner with live piano music on St. Mark's Square and now they were in a chartered mid-sized private boat as the sky turned red as the sun went down. Hermione was exhausted, but very, very happy. Exploring the city with Draco, who shared her interest in history and architecture and was as enthusiastic about the trip as she was, had been so much fun and now they stood on the railing, a bit away from the captain, Draco's arm around her waist, watching the sunset. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Then he turned to her and she noticed that he was now holding something in his hand.

A ring box.

Her breath caught in her throat. Of course she had somewhat expected that the day would come soon, but in somehow still came as a surprise. Although for Muggle standards it was relatively early, the courtship period had been longer than it was traditionally the case. Also, she knew the difference between a good relationship and a bad one; she had always known that she hadn't wanted to spend her life with Ron. With Draco on the other hand, it was very different. She loved him and she felt they knew each other better already than her and Ron had after so many years.

Draco looked nervous now, but smiled at her nonetheless. "Hermione … The last few months with you were easily the best time of my life. You're brilliant, talented, kind, funny, fierce and most certainly the most forgiving person I've ever met. I feel so incredibly lucky every time I wake up next to you … or knowing that you did sleep next to me although you got too impatient to wait for me to wake up." She laughed, brushing away a tear that had escaped her eye. Her heart was beating impossibly fast. "I love you so much and I can't imagine anything better than spending the rest of my life with you and trying to make you happy every single day." He opened the box and went down on one knee. That wasn't wizarding tradition, he did it for her, because she had once been a little girl, seeing proposals like that and had dreamed of someone caring enough for her to do the same. "Will you marry me?"

"Of course I will!" He wasn't even fully back on his feet yet when she threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly and feeling his arms around her in return. They kissed and when they finally let go of each other, he took out the ring and put it on her finger.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, still teary-eyed, and it was true. It was obviously a family heirloom, not modern jewellery, but absolutely gorgeous. Delicately worked white gold wrapped in swirls around a teardrop-shaped diamond.

"I'm glad you like it." His bright smile was contagious, he looked so happy.

"I love it! And I love you!"

She kissed him again.

Malfoys didn't fight losing battles. That was what Lucius had told her when she had suggested to talk to Kingsley again. He hadn't expected for the Minister to budge and more likely than not, he had been right.

But the rules had changed and Hermione didn't think this was a losing battle anymore.

The week after the proposal, Narcissa and Hermione had chosen a beautiful design for the invitations to what would be a winter wedding. It was simple and elegant, the paper was silvery, framed with an intricate blue pattern and the Malfoy crest on the top centre.

On Saturday, the official announcement of the engagement had been in the Prophet, together with a picture of all four of them standing in the drawing room in front of the fireplace. Yes, the drawing room. Hermione had made a point of going in every day after moving into the Manor. She refused to be afraid of entering one room in her home. It had become easier in time, and while it would never be her favourite place, it didn't make her uncomfortable anymore. When she had made her first attempts to go in, Draco had always hovered nearby, watching her, ready to comfort her, if need be, and when she had managed to sneak past him, Lucius had always, completely by chance of course, needed to painfully slowly walk through the drawing room towards his study, while all the while keeping an eye on her. They hadn't stopped that until they had been completely sure that she could go into the drawing room without having a meltdown.

She had once complained to Narcissa about it over tea, but the older witch had just smiled a little sadly. "I understand that it can be annoying, but they're trying to protect you now because they couldn't then. For Draco that day is one of the worst memories of the War, it was even before you two became close, and Lucius … Well, of course he didn't care for you personally at that time, he didn't know you well enough for that, but you were a girl the same age as our son and he couldn't stop what they did to you in his own house. Maybe you can indulge them just a little."

She had tried to be more patient after that.

Anyway, she liked the picture. It was formal, of course, but Draco had an arm around her, Lucius and Narcissa were standing behind them, Lucius' hand on her shoulder, signalling approval to both purebloods and other sceptics. Draco had shown her the engagement picture of Lucius and Narcissa and while it had been shot in exactly the same spot, the atmosphere had been the stark opposite; there had been no smiles and Abraxas Malfoy had looked like he had just gurgled with lemon juice.

On Sunday they had sent out the wedding invitations, except for one, which was now in Hermione's bag.

"The Minister has an appointment in ten minutes." It was obvious that the poor secretary's heart wasn't in it; she knew by now that she wouldn't get rid of Hermione.

"I won't be long, I promise," she said brightly, before knocking on Kingsley's office door and entering without waiting for an answer. "Good morning."

Kingsley looked up and smiled. "Good morning. I believe congratulations are in order." He got up and to Hermione's surprise, he walked around his desk and hugged her. "I was never so pleased to have been wrong."

She smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate it when someone can admit their mistakes."

"I'm sure you do." He looked amused.

She opened her bag, pulled out the invitation and handed it to him. "Draco and I would be happy for you to come."

"It will be my pleasure."

She smiled innocently. "Good. You know … I can buy pretty much whatever I want now, but there's one thing I really want that you could choose as a wedding gift that no one else could give me and that I can't buy for myself."

Of course he knew what she meant and shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. "You know what? You really fit into that bloody family."

"I take that as a compliment and shall leave you to your appointment."

With that, she gave him another smile and left.

She was pretty sure she had won that particular battle.

~tbc~