Draco's sixth birthday was a big affair. Each birthday had been, but Hermione hadn't been to any of them before. She looked around what was the ballroom. It was decorated in bright colours, and more decorations than a party store.
Hermione stood nervously in the entrance. Her present was clutched in her hands, and she was very aware of the fact that the wrapping wasn't as pristine as his other gifts. One of the disadvantages of doing it herself.
"Hermione!" Draco rushed to her and gave her a hug. "You made it."
"Of course I did, silly," she smiled as she talked. "It's your birthday. I wouldn't miss it." She lowered her voice a little. "I think your mother would hate me if I did."
Draco walked with her into the room. "She wouldn't hate you. She was a little upset that Daphne missed it last year, but she was sick. And she likes you more than she likes Daphne."
"I like Daphne," Hermione said as she handed Draco his gift to put on the table.
"I do too," Draco insisted. "But I think you're my best friend."
"You just say that because we see each other more than everyone else."
He shook his head. He looked at the gift in his hands. "You did this by yourself." It wasn't a question.
She nodded, feeling the blood rush to her face. "I didn't want Mum or Dad to see what I got you."
Draco smiled. "All these," he gestured to the pile of gifts, "were picked by people's parents and wrapped by the elves. No one else did it all themselves. And this is why you're my best friend."
Hermione looked down at her feet shyly. But she couldn't keep the smile from her face. It always made her stomach feel warm when Draco said things like that. She couldn't explain it, but she enjoyed his praise.
"Thanks," she muttered.
"Hermione," Daphne cooed. "It's so good to see you. I have to show you something."
"See you later," Hermione called over her shoulder as Daphne pulled her away.
They hurried across the hall to where it appeared that a magical bouncy house had been erected. Hermione stood there, in awe.
"Come on," Daphne said. "We've never had one of these at a party before."
Hermione didn't say anything. She simply walked forward, climbing into the bouncy house. Inside was Pansy, Astoria, and Theo. They were bouncing around, having a great time.
"Mione, Daph, you're here," Theo said as he bounced over to them.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Astoria's here. I would be too."
"You missed last year," Pansy said. "I know you were sick, but you're here now."
"Well, I'm not sick this year." Daphne was getting mildly frustrated. "Can we please drop it."
"Fine," Pansy said.
Astoria bounced over. "Daphne, come play with me."
Daphne bounced with her sister, pulling Hermione into the game. Soon everyone, save Pansy, was giggling and having fun. Even Theo was laughing.
Hermione found that she had to leave after a while. She was tired, and wanted a drink of water. She exited the bouncy house to find herself standing next to Vincent and Greg. They weren't the meanest, but they didn't talk much.
"Hey Greg, Vince," she said.
"Hey Mione," Greg said. "Draco wants to talk to you."
"Did he say why?" she asked.
Vincent shrugged. "No."
"Okay then," Hermione muttered. She stalked over to where Draco was talking with Blaise while sitting on the floor.
"Hermione," Blaise said brightly.
"Hey Blaise," Hermione smiled and then turned her attention to Draco. "You wanted to talk to me?"
"Daphne pulled you away before we could talk about those giant lizards from a million years ago you promised to tell me about," he said, perhaps a little petulantly.
"Dinosaurs," Hermione supplied.
"Are they like dragons?" Blaise asked.
Hermione smiled. She loved it when she knew things that other people didn't. Mostly because then she could tell them about it. But she wasn't opposed to learning things either. It was one of the reasons that she and Draco were good friends.
"Well, maybe. Dinosaurs have been dead for millions of years," she explained.
"Then how do we know they existed?" Blaise asked.
"The foss-el thing, right?" Draco interjected.
Hermione nodded. "Fossils are bones that have turned into rocks. And we can put the skeletons together and see what they might have looked like."
"Cool," Blaise said.
They talked about dinosaurs until Daphne came and made her eat cake with her. She said that Hermione was the only girl who didn't annoy her to no end.
"You have a sister," Blaise said.
"And your point is?" Daphne asked. "She's still annoying."
Mrs. Granger was sipping on her tea, mostly to give her something to do, while Mrs. Greengrass talked about something that she didn't understand. Mrs. Granger wasn't as familiar with the wizarding world, which wasn't exactly a disadvantage most of the time.
"But they've not invited Astoria over as much as they used to," Mrs. Greengrass complained.
"She is a year younger than Draco," Mrs. Granger said. "Without Daphne, I'm not sure they'd get along well." She didn't say that even with Daphne around they might get along.
"They were talking about preliminary betrothal arrangements," Mrs. Greengrass continued. "And now, all of a sudden, they've just been dropped."
"Perhaps Draco has indicated a preference." Mrs. Granger was getting uncomfortable. She knew exactly why the Malfoys would have dropped those discussions. And it was partly her fault, though no one could blame her for her daughter doing something binding without knowing it.
"I doubt it," Mrs. Greengrass said. "He's not quite to the point where he would have been told they were considering it. I know these things aren't usually finalized until Hogwarts, but if they changed their plans, they could tell us."
Helena Granger shuffled on her feet nervously. She couldn't say anything. She hadn't told anyone what had happened, her husband not included. She couldn't say anything. And it wasn't her place. She was going to leave that to Mrs. Malfoy.
"There you are," Narcissa said when she found Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Greengrass.
"I need to speak with you," Mrs. Greengrass said. "When the party is over. Or perhaps, maybe Charles could talk to Lucius."
Narcissa did a very good job of hiding her ruffled feathers. Helena wasn't even sure that she would have noticed if they hadn't been meeting weekly for the past few months.
"I see no reason why that can't be arranged. Mr. Granger is meeting with him now but as soon as they're done I'll be sure to let Lucius know."
A/N: So first things first, the story part of this was exactly 1,111 words long. Which I thought was cool. But that's probably just me.
Florida was beyond awesome! Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were my favourite parts of the trip. The Incredible Hulk ride was my favourite. I found out that I love roller coasters. Wasn't expecting that. But they were so much fun. And I did like sneaking up the elevators (with cast permission since I'm a part time wheelchair user and took it because there would have been too much walking otherwise) and cutting in line. Disney World was definitely geared towards younger kids. Not a bad thing, but we didn't have any with us. My youngest sibling is twelve. And no one has kids.