"Hermione, I love you. I've been in love with you. I've been waiting for the right moment the last few days to formally ask you if you would court me?"
He took out the most beautiful emerald-studded silver cuff bracelet before she could even respond.
"Yes, Draco," she gasped.
"Yes?" he hesitantly questioned.
"Yes, Draco. I would love to officially be in a relationship with you. I may not have been interested in you as long as you have been with me, but I love you. I'm in love with you," she said softly, putting her arm out for him to slide the cuff on.
Sliding it on her wrist, he looked into her eyes and said, "This bracelet has been passed down through five generations of Malfoy heirs. Before giving it as a courting gift, each Malfoy places new charms on it to keep their intended safe. With the upcoming battle, I added multiple protection charms, along with a tracking charm. I also linked it to my signet ring. If you're ever in trouble, you can tap any of the emeralds, and it'll heat my ring to alert me."
"Draco, it's beautiful. I don't think I will ever take it off," she said before kissing him gently.
Both of them grasped their left arms and hissed before the kisses could get any more desperate.
"He's calling for us. We need to get our Death Eater gear on," Draco gritted out through clenched teeth.
After getting ready, they touched their Dark Marks and disapparated from their bedroom.
Hermione was startled to see Dementors looming ominously above the Hogwarts front gates as soon as they touched down.
"The meeting is at Hogwarts?" She questioned, looking at Draco with a frown.
"When he wants to do a full meeting, we come to Hogwarts. It's easier to send the children to their dormitories and meet in the great hall than it is to try and get everyone shoved into someone's home," he said quietly, "If the dementors get too close, I've found a strong Lumos will make them back off."
"That makes sense, I suppose. Are there any other seventh-year students that are in the Dark Lords ranks?" She asked, then furrowed her brows, "Why not just use a Patronus charm?"
"Love, most of the Death Eaters can't conjure a Patronus . I can only conjure mist before mine dies out," he said, frowning.
"Well, we will just have to work on that tonight. It's quite easy if you have a good enough memory to use." She smiled softly.
As they made their way through the front doors of the castle, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. There, standing just to the left of the doors, was none other than Minerva McGonagall.
Hoping she wouldn't see her, Hermione tried to walk directly behind Draco.
"Hermione?" Her head of house gasped, "Hermione, dear, this can't be right. What have you done?"
Hermione moved out from behind Draco. "Yes, professor, it is me," she sighed.
"As for what I've done, I did the best I could with the circumstances I was in. I've found that I quite like it on this side. No one has abandoned me or taken the things I do for granted." She smirked.
"I can't believe this. I am so disappointed in you. How you were ever sorted into the house of Godric Gryffindor is beyond me!" Minerva yelled, giving Hermione a disgusted look.
"Minerva, if you continue to accost my Death Eaters, I will have you removed from Hogwarts grounds," the Dark Lord hissed.
"Ms. Granger is my newest and favorite addition to my ranks. Tearing her down and besmirching her name will get you absolutely nowhere." He smirked before adding, "Well, it will get you an Avada , if you choose to continue."
Minerva huffed, turning to walk away.
"Dare you disrespect the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix screamed before sending a jet of red light at the elderly professor.
Minerva screamed before dropping to the floor, sobbing apologies and begging Bellatrix to stop.
"Bella, that is enough." The Dark Lord held up a hand for her to stop.
Bellatrix broke the curse, smiling wickedly. "Maybe she will think twice before disrespecting you again, my Lord."
"Leave her where she is. We have a meeting to attend." The Dark Lord grinned.
With that, they all walked to the great hall without looking back.
Hermione was shocked by the sheer number of Dark Lord's followers as they entered the Great Hall. Hearing about it was one thing, but witnessing it was quite another.
They started to move toward the front of the room, and she couldn't help but notice the confused, angry, and curious looks that were being directed at her. Among the crowd, she recognized quite a few faces, but many of them were new to her.
Upon reaching the front of the hall, the Dark Lord moved to the dais. At once, he was the center of attention.
"Welcome, my loyal followers. I have brought you here today to inform you that one of our spies has been made aware that the Order is going to make a stand. The Order has chosen Hogwarts to be the place of the final battle," he said loudly before pausing. "I do not have an official date or time, but I need you all to be available when I call."
'Yes, my Lord' echoed across the great hall.
"As I'm sure most of you noticed when I walked in, ' The brightest witch of our age' Harry Potter's Muggleborn best friend was among my entourage." He smirked. "She is now one of us. She bears the Dark Mark, like everyone of you does. I will give one warning and only one, if you attempt to harm her in any way—physically or verbally, she has my permission to act however she pleases. Let it be known she has proven herself to not only me but the majority of the inner circle as well. Do not underestimate her because of her blood status," he said proudly.
"With that being said, you are all on full alert. If you haven't been out on a raid in a while, make sure you are training. I would hate to have any of my ranks perish because they chose to be lazy instead of staying in shape." He glared into the crowd. "If you have children below sixth year, if they do not want to aid the fight, take them home now. No magical blood needs to be unnecessarily killed just because they are related to someone in my ranks."
"You are dismissed," he said before walking down to Bellatrix and disapparating on the spot.
Hermione turned to Draco, asking, "Will we be going home now?"
"Actually, love, I want to introduce my friends to my girlfriend ." He smiled at her before kissing her.
"Okay, lead the way," she said softly, giving him a smile.
As they walked up to a small group of Slytherins, Hermione started to get nervous— nothing better than being reintroduced to a group of your former school bullies , she thought to herself.
"Draco, what a surprise to see you," Pansy Parkinson purred.
Ignoring her, Draco looked at the group. "Guys, you've met Hermione, right? She's my intended." He said, holding her arm out to show everyone his courting gift.
"Well, I'll be damned, you finally got your girl, Draco. It's about time," smiled Theodore Nott.
"You bagged the 'Golden Girl' , I can't believe it," Blaise Zabini said dumbfounded.
"I can't believe your parents would actually allow you to sully your line with the likes of her" Pansy spat.
Before Draco could defend her, Hermione had shot from beside him and backhanded her.
"Did you not listen to a single word that the Dark Lord said? Speak of me or the Malfoys like that again, and I will use my wand, not my hands." She growled before adding, "And trust me, Parkinson, you would rather me use my hands."
Looking around for someone to stand up for her, Pansy fled the group when she noticed that everyone was displaying the same expressions of silence.
"Are you sure you want to be with Draco? Because, if not, we can run away to get married right now," Theodore said with a wink.
"That was amazing; you are officially my new hero." Blaise laughed.
"I'm quite partial to the snake I have currently. Should've scooped me up sooner," Hermione said while giggling.
"Now that you've successfully flirted and fangirled over my girlfriend, would you two want to come to the manor for drinks? I don't think the headmaster would mind," Draco asked.
"Only because you asked so nicely," Theo winked, as Blaise nodded his head.
Once they got back to the manor and Narcissa finally stopped fawning over the boys, they settled down in the drawing room with tumblers of Firewhisky.
"So, Granger, how on earth did you manage to get the Dark Lord wrapped around your finger so quickly?" Theo asked jokingly.
"I wouldn't say he's wrapped around my finger. We just have an understanding. I give him everything he wants, and I get treated just like any other person would, regardless of my blood status." She shrugged.
"It couldn't possibly have to do with the fact that she bested Aunt Bella in a duel." Draco snorted.
"That was one time, Draco. Just because I beat her doesn't mean he is automatically wrapped around my finger." She rolled her eyes.
"YOU WHAT?" Blaise screeched.
"You're telling me that you, an eighteen-year-old, bested THE Bellatrix LeStrange in a duel," Theo squawked.
"I just caught her off guard. It really wasn't a big deal," she murmured.
"Well, now you're really going to have to run off and marry me, so you can protect me from harm." Theo smirked.
"Oi, leave my witch alone, arsehole!" Draco said while laughing.
"First the Dark Lord gives her free fucking reign, then she slaps the shit out of Pansy for disrespecting not only her but your parents as well, and then you tell us she was able to get one over on fucking Bellatrix. I have to say I am impressed, Granger. You are nothing like you were in school," Blaise said, shaking his head.
"I was like this in school," she deadpanned. "Slytherins just never paid any attention to me unless it was to bully me."
Draco grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "There will be no more of that, love. Not if I have any say in the matter."
"Well, I think I can speak for Blaise and myself when I say, I'm sorry, Granger. Despite your ' lesser ' blood status—which I could give two fucks less about—you're actually a pretty amazing person," Theo said softly, while Blaise nodded his head in agreement.
"I accept your apology. Water under the bridge." She smiled. "I was going to teach Draco the Patronus charm, if y'all would like to learn."
Theo declined, claiming he didn't have memories happy enough to do so.
She stood before Draco and Blaise. "You have to think of your happiest memory before saying 'Expecto Patronum' firmly."
Both boys thought before saying the incantation, which produced a bright mist.
"See, love, Death Eaters can't do it." Draco sighed.
"It has to be the memory you're using. Think of something happier," she said, determined that they would get it.
His demeanor seemed to transform from one of disappointment to one of determination upon seeing Hermione's face. He bellowed," EXPECTO PATRONUM!" with a seemingly unwavering resolve.
Out of his wand, shot a massive Ukrainian Ironbelly— it was so suitable for not only his namesake and the fierce way he guards the people he loves, she thought to herself.
"Holy shit, I did it!" Draco said excitedly.
Patting Draco on the back, Blaise tried again, producing a bright mist.
"Try one more time, Blaise. I just have a feeling that the next will produce a corporeal one," she said excitedly.
From the mist, a Snow leopard materialized as Blaise uttered the spell.
"Congratulations, you two!" Hermione said proudly, while wrapping them in a hug.
After the excitement died down, the group sat and talked for hours about their earlier years at school or life before school, since the boys had all grown up with each other. Hermione couldn't help but think to herself about how, had she never been captured by the snatchers in the first place, she wouldn't have this new group of friends, family, or Draco.
The circumstances may have been shitty, but she was devoted to her new life, and refused to let anything interfere with it.