"Ginny, put the chicken pot pie on the table please. Fr--George, Ron, that table better be set for eight eating
places. Hermione is joining us this Sunday." Mrs. Weasley vocalized as the Burrow was in its usual bustle of
preparations for the Sunday dinner gathering.
"Absolutely, Mrs. Weasley." Harry voiced as he added one more place to eat and adjusted the rest, while George kept James entertained. Ron was out in the garage with his dad having a chat amongst the muggle knick knacks. "We best get inside.
You know your mother..." Mr.Weasley told his youngest son and the two
headed indoors.
Hermione popped into the Weasley's yard just in front of the garage as Arthur and Ron were closing up at
Molly's behest. "Well here she is!" Arthur exclaimed, raising his arms
for a hug, "How are you Hermione?"
She accepted his hug "I'm great, I have some fantastic news for you all!" The two separated and Arthur looked at Hermione quizzically. "Did you get
another promotion already? I swear you're going to be Minister before James has his first accidental magic incident."
She shook her head, "Not quite, l'll tell you all at--"
"Bloody hell those are some big rocks," commented Ron, looking at her left hand. "Malfoy proposed?"
Hermione gasped and hid the ring from sight in her other hand. "Ron! It was supposed to be a surprise."
Ron shrugged, "Sorry."
"Wait, Draco Malfoy?" asked Arthur.
"I thought you said she was dating some dunder-headed git?"
Hermione glared at Ron, "And I thought I told you to be nice."
"I didn't say it to his face." Ron grumbled.
Molly burst through the door, interrupting the conversation. "Arthur. Ronald. Hurry along!" Then she looked to Hermione, "Hello Hermione dear, you're just in time."
"Did you know she's dating Draco Malfoy?" Arthur asked his wife, genuinely confused.
"Of course, Ginny's told me all about it. I'm glad he's mellowed out and treating you well, Hermione. Now, can we all come in for dinner?"
"Really? Draco Malfoy. The nasty boy that called you names and grew your teeth and tried to kill Dumbledore?"
"Yes." Hermione and Molly said simultaneously.
"He's proven to me that he's more than done away with his past and has turned into a perfect gentleman." explained Hermione before blushing at the thought of other things she never thought Draco Malfoy capable of summoning within her.
"Well it would have been nice to know that before she got engaged to the bloke!" protested Arthur.
Molly's eyes shot open. "He didn't!" a squeal of delight erupted from the older woman as she scampered towards Hermione and enveloped her in a patented Weasley family hug.
Then George, Harry and Ginny, carrying little James poked their heads in. "Everything ok in here?"
Harry asked.
"Draco proposed!" she displayed her ring finger for everyone to see.
Everyone cheered and Arthur mentioned bringing out wine, despite still being confused. Question after question were hurled at Hermione, who was happy to answer.
Ron and George plotted pranks to pull on draco, just outside of Hermione's hearing and James giggled. Everyone
seemed happy, so he thought he should be happy too.
"Wow, you weren't kidding Harry," Ginny mentioned to her husband.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.
"I told Ginny this might be happening soon." Harry began to explain, "She didn't believe that Draco came to Ron and I for our support."
Ginny shrugged, "I thought he was joking, but not outside the realm of believability."
"Merlin's beard, he did that?" Hermione asked, clasping her hands over her heart.
"Yep, even bought us lunch." Harry added.
"That was so sweet of him. Coming to you that is, not the buying you lunch part. What did you say?"
"I said anyone Hermione Granger says is ok, I say is ok. Ron took a little bit of convincing." he said chuckling
at Ron.
"Sorry if I had a problem with our schoolyard bully marrying our best friend," Ron protested.
"That sounds quite reasonable by all accounts; come on everybody let's sit down and eat. We can continue at the table and afterwards I'm certain." Mrs. Weasley encouraged and they all happily obliged.
Draco found himself writing a simple note to a long time friend on Sunday May 2nd, 2004. Well maybe friend was a bit of an overstatement. Blaise Zabini was an old school mate that was about as close of a friend as Draco would consider being the needed participant in his wedding ensemble. He finished writing and sent it off with Aquila to deliver.
Blaise Zabini was relatively surprised when a house elf delivered a letter to him while he sat in the study of the
luxurious Zabini family estate. He would recognize that penmanship and name anywhere of who it was from. Opening the letter the note read:
Greetings Zabini,
It's been a few years since we last saw one another or conversed in a friendly manner. I hope this letter
finds you well. As you may have heard, I have been dating Hermione Granger. She recently accepted my
marriage proposal. Would you be willing to be my Best Mate at my wedding in November?
P.S. I acknowledge that perhaps those taunts during our 8th year of school
were a subconscious way of your intuition noticing a high compatibility between Hermione and I.
Signed,
Draco Malfoy
Zabini laughed out loud within the confines of the empty study and quickly wrote back,
Clearly my subconscious is brilliant. It's nice to read you admit it to be so. I will be your Best Mate at your wedding Malfoy. She is a lucky lady to
have ensnared your attention and gets to keep it officially for the rest of her life come November. I'll include
my measurements below for custom tailored for dressrobes of the chosen color scheme.
P.S. As your Best Mate it is my obligation to throw you a Bachelor Party. Fair warning, if you refuse to have one, I will plan out a Bachelor Party with Theodore Nott's preference of 'entertainment' and force you to attend. Which we both know is not your or my preference of entertainment. So, save us both some trouble and leave it to me. I promise not to plan anything too scandalous.
Signed,
Blaise Zabini
It was official. A date had been set, Hermione Granger thought, so that made it official, right? More so that
Draco had been put in charge of making a list of invitation recipients. Hermione didn't make many friends at Hogwarts, having spent most of her time studying and keeping Harry and Ron out of trouble as best she could.
She didn't even have any relatives outside her parents that she could invite. Maybe a few coworkers, but she really hadn't gotten to know many
of them quite enough to invite
them to her wedding. So being the more sociable of the two, she decided Draco was best suited for invitations.
Her head swam with all the work that lay ahead of her, both with regards to the wedding, but also the stack of papers needing to be read and signed. Inquiries, reports, acquisitions for any number of things and a few complaints. Plus she still had no idea what to plan for Draco's birthday that weekend. "What does a 24 year old want to do on his birthday?" she asked the empty chair in front of her desk, "What do I want to do for him that's out of the ordinary? I've already cooked for him on a few occasions, taken him to a few interesting places. What's something magical that will make this a birthday to remember?"
She impatiently tapped her quill on the ink stain on her desk where she frequently impatiently tapped her quill. That was something she disliked the most, being impatient, and even more so, being impatient with herself. She was a woman of action, but she couldn't act if she didn't have a plan and she didn't have a plan at all. And now she was behind in her work. Just then, there came a gentle tapping on her office door, but it may as well have been someone breaking down her door. She nearly jumped out of her skin with an, "Eep!" and banged her knee on the underside of her desk.
The door opened a crack and Theodore Nott poked his head in. "Sorry Ms.Granger, am I interrupting something?"
"Not really, come in." she strained as she rubbed her knee. "What can I do for you?" Nott stepped through the door and stood behind the guest
chair. "I was wondering if you had a chance to look at my report on the Romanian dragon sanctuary."
Hermione shook her head, "No, I haven't quite yet." She searched the stack of papers for the forms in question, but she was pleasantly surprised to find them on top.
"Ah, they were my next order of business. Let me see here..." she quickly began to read, mumbling as she went. "...we hereby request funds, oh, I'm sure you do...damage from a higher activity mating season, lucky
bastards...if an investigation is required, feel free to send someone. However the sooner the better."
'Of course!' Hermione thought, the perfect place for a birthday excursion! She looked up at Nott with a smile. "Thank you very much."
Nott cocked his head, "I'm sorry?"
"It's Draco's birthday this weekend and you just gave me a fantastic idea," she said smiling.
"Awe, lucky gal. Give him my best wishes won't you?" Nott voiced.
"Of course!" They discussed more business before parting and the rest of Hermione's day went much smoother than before.
As Director of the Alchemy Centre in England Draco had every right to schedule a day off for himself, particularly his birthday, June 5th. Draco informed Hermione that he would be unavailable to engage in any plans of hers until after noon hour. For upon his birthday morning his mother had requested of him that they spend the morning together.
The morning started with meeting in the dining hall with his favorite breakfast meal. He was dressed in business casual attire of black slacks,
a dark grey v neck tee, and black suit jacket. "Good morning Mother." Draco
greeted, walking over to give her a hug and a kiss before they sat down to eat.
"Happy Birthday Draco. Thank you for spending the morning with me. It will be the last time I get to spend your birthday with you before your family dynamic changes. I am certain you would have rather spent the entire day with Hermione." Narcissa remarked with a knowing smirk at the corner of her lips.
"My pleasure Mother. Besides, I have been meaning to ask you about which families we should send invitations
to." Draco spoke and withdrew a piece of parchment from his inner suit jacket pocket and levitated it to her from across the table. It had written upon it a list of every surname of the sacred 28, with three missing (Weasley, Black, and Malfoy) as they were either related or family friends of the bride and groom.
Y meant send an invitation.
N meant no invitation.
Abbott Y
Avery Y
Bulstrode Y
Burke Y
Carrow Y
Crouch Y
Fawley Y
Flint Y
Gaunt Y
Greengrass Y
Lestrange Y
Longbottom Y
Macmillan Y
Nott Y
Ollivander Y
Parkinson Y
Prewett Y
Rosier Y
Rowle Y
Selwyn Y
Shacklebolt Y
Shafiq Y
Slughorn Y
Travers Y
Yaxley Y
Narcissa looked over the list, only her eyes showing her surprise. "Several of
these families will refuse the invitation. Others may send gifts in place of attending the ceremony. I can think of five that may come to the
ceremony." She remarked curious as to why he wanted to waste time sending invitations out to all of them.
Draco nodded, "I figured as much. It will not be beneficial to send out invitations to the whole list. Regardless I do want to, only if I have your approval?" He asked of her.
"Of course, my son." She voiced, levitating the list back to him.
The room became comfortably quiet once more as he tucked the list away and they resumed their meal. Why did he feel inclined to send an invitation to many families he knew no longer desired an association with
the Malfoy family? Because of his time with Astoria. She was apart of
a younger generation. A generation that would bring forth the next generation that would mingle with a potential child that he and Hermione could have. A child he wanted accepted and raised to accept others, no matter their lineage.
He desired to send invitations on the chance that while the head of many sacred 28 famies would refuse, perhaps some of the younger relatives would approve him breaking out of the cycle of pure-blood ideology and be unfraid to display their own reformation of letting go pure blood traditions.
June 5th had come and Hermione anxiously awaited the time for her to meet her betrothed. Everything was
set, though she felt guilty that their trip to the dragon sanctuary was partially work related, but the work related side would be a minute part of
their time there. The curators needed money, and they would get it. After a tour. And possibly a chance to meet a
dragon up close.
11:59
The excitement wasunbearable. Crookshanks meowed from his spot on the back of a chair. Hermione
allowed herself to calm down and give some attention to her cat. "Today is going to be a very good day, I can tell." she said whilst rubbing behind
Crookshanks' ears. The clock started chiming its noontime song and Hermione kissed her cat on the head. "Wish me luck." he purred back. She stepped back, old boot in hand and apparated to the Malfoy estate.
Hermione always felt so minuscule standing in front of Malfoy Manor, but at least recently the nasty feeling
she got in her scar whenever near was beginning to fade. Her positive and wonderful relationship with Draco must have helped.
She rang the bell and almost immediately the door opened, revealing a sharply dressed house elf she recognized as one of the servers from the ball. "Miss Hermione Granger I presume?" he said in a sandy voice. She nodded. "The masters Malfoy are waiting, Gelp will take you. Come, come."
Draco was sitting with Narcissa playing a duet on their grand piano when the sound of the doorbell chime echoing through the halls of Malfoy
manner made Draco's heart race. He straightened his tie and stood up in preparation. A moment later the appearance of their house elf escorted
Hermione Granger into the music room. "Good Afternoon Hermione."
He addressed, a grin showing up at the corner of his lips as he approached her. He bowed politely along with grasping her free hand in his to guide it to his lips to place a kiss upon it.
Narcissa stood up and nodded her head politely towards Hermione. "Greetings, Miss Granger. Thank for allowing me to spend the morning of
Draco's birthday with him. It pleased me that his fiance accomidated such a luxury. As the saying goes, 'your
daughter is your daughter all your life. Your son is your son, until he takes a wife.'
Gelp lead Hermione through a hall into the parlor where Draco and his mother were standing next to a beautiful piano. They greeted each
other and Narcissa thanked her for giving them time together. "Of course, who am I to get between a mother and her son. Besides, I wouldn't want to anger my future mother-in-law already."
Draco looked back at his mother, his eyebrows furrowing together in momentary speculation at her curious
quote. "I'm sure we will achieve a balance of family interactions that accommodates everyone needs." He stated with confidence.
Narcissa nodded although her eyes seemed to speak a silent message. She had simply appreciated that she got to
spend the moring of her son's final birthday as just her son, before he wed and his attention was rightly turned to his wife.
He looked back at Hermione eyeing the boot curiously that she held in her other hand. "Shall we go?" With a farewell they exited the Manor.
A silent exchange ended with Draco suggesting they head to their next destination. Hermione agreed and they exited the manor and approached the old boot portkey Hermione had left upon the steps of the Manor entrance.
As soon as they stepped outside he placed his hand on the boot and felt that familiar apparation sensation as
they traveled via portkey to wherever she had intended.
As soon as they came out of portkey apparation an unexpected sound caused Draco to pull his wand out
ready for defense. Roars echoed through the air. Some sounded far away. Others sounded too close to be of comfort. That's when noticed the dense forest and the massive building entrance they stood in front of with a
sign that read:
Romanian Dragon Sanctuary
His wand hand relaxed, although he did not put it away just yet as a red headed man in his early 30's with
blue eyes, strong angled chin, wearing khaki business slacks, a white collared shirt and over it a hideous sleeveless violet colored hand knitted sweater with a C in gold on the front. The man bore a large red scar on his left bicep. Draco had no doubt who he was about to meet. Another Weasley.
"Hello! Right on time you are Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy. Congratulations on your engagement! My mum sent me an owl after she
heard the good news. Thank you for coming. Let's begin the tour shall we? No need for wand holding yet. Pardon
me, where are my manners? I suppose I have been working with creatures more than people. I am Charlie Weasley, the eldest of the Weasley children. Right this way you
two. Follow me."
Draco was hesitant but reluctantly put his wand away and once Charlie turned to lead them elsewhere, Draco
looked over at Hermione with a estatic smile. A silent but apparent statement that that he was going to enjoy this.
They appeared next to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary sign, the roars of different dragons all around them.
Hermione saw Draco draw his wand and wrapped her arm around his free hand, "Don't worry Draco, we're safe here."
Charlie hurried down the dirt path toward them and welcomed them to the sanctuary. As they walked, Draco looked at Hermione with the biggest smile she had ever seen on him. It gave her a warm feeling inside that she was able to make him happy. But she still felt a little guilty for the other
reason they were there. "So I must confess something: part of the reason we are here is because I have to, well, I didn't have to, but I volunteered to
survey this place and approve additional funds for repairs so I could bring you along. Apparently the last mating season was quite rowdy."
Charlie laughed out loud. "Yes, a bit rough on the paddocks some of these
dragons are."
"But I hope you don't mind, do you?" Hermione pleaded as she batted her eyelashes at her betrothed. "I promise not to let my work get in the way of your birthday."
"Oh, it's your birthday?" Charlie asked, giving Draco a pat on the back, "Well happy birthday, mate. This means we'll have to introduce you two to Ole Smoky."
"I don't mind." Draco reassured Hermione. Work is what required her to visit this facility, but that didn't hinder the unique opportunity it presented to incorporate it into something to do on his birthday. Draco carried the notion in his mind that he would probably be willing to go anywhere with her, if it meant they spent time together.
At the mention of meeting a dragon on behalf of it being Draco's birthday, Draco wasn't certain about the idea.
Perhaps Charlie Weasley had been around dragons too long, to realize that meeting something that could kill
a human in about to two heartbeats, wasn't exactly an ideal birthday gift.
Then his memory recalled the Triwizard Tournament and the Dragon challenge that Potter had passed, along with the other champions. As well as the dragon incident with the Golden Trio and his Aunt Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts
Wizard Bank. Nobody of importance had died in those incidents, much to
his surprise. Chances are there was nothing to worry about here. "Thank you, Weasley. That would be...unique to say the least." Draco stated, managing to sound at least a bit sincere in his level of optimism.
Charlie noted the hesitation in Draco's voice and reassured him. "Don't worry, she's practically friendly. As much as a dragon her age can be. She'll probably even let you pet her nose."
'Yeah, to scent if were worth eating and right close to her teeth for such.' Draco mentally mused.
Charlie led them into the sanctuary through the 'human entrance'. "Keep
on the cobblestone paths please. They are enchanted to give protection." The scenery around them reminded Draco
of the lush rain forests of South America. Yet, as they walked he did not feel as if walking through a humid
rain forest. Same with the other environments that they walked through. Deserts, grasslands, woodlands, snow covered mountains,
even some fresh water lakes, rivers, and salt water deep ocean environments. Each environment had something in common: camouflaged
mating paddocks that were in need of repairs. "See here Miss Granger, normally dragons would engage in courtship and when they successfully found a mate, many of them would fly high into the sky and complete copulation in the air, often while sky diving. While our facility is quite extensive, muggles have devices that
would be able to possible see or at the very least detect dragons if we allowed our sanctuary dragons to mate in their traditional way. So, to
help further the repopulation efforts we created these elemental paddocks with an enchantment so that when
two dragons of opposite gender enter it creates a barrier so no other dragon
can come in and disturb them
during intercourse. This proved to be quite successful! We had our highest number of dragon eggs ever laid in
one mating season this year. But as you can see additional funds are going to be needed to refurbish the paddocks." Charlie explained.
The image of reptilian intercourse while falling through the air was not a mental picture that Draco was overly
fond of having at the forefront
of his mind, as the three continued on their way. They paused when the sight of a dragon nest came into view at
a great distance. A green Norwegian Ridgeback guarded it fiercely much violence and ferocity. "Good thing that one wasn't used for the Triwizard
Tournament. Potter wouldn't have survived...probably." Draco added.
Charlie chuckled. "That female actually came from Hogwarts, well was born there anyways. Don't you remember Norbert, Hermione? Well Norbert was actually a girl so she is called Norberta. I told Hagrid this when I last saw him at Bill and Fleur's
wedding. He seemed pleased she settled well into colony life." Charlie concluded.
Draco suddenly had a flashback of his first year at Hogwarts when he caught
sight of a dragon being born through Hagrid's Hut window. He had quickly dashed off to tell professor Mcgonagall that certain Gryffindor students were out of bed.
He chose not to comment on the dim witted idea of Hagrid the grounds keeper keeping that sort of creature
at Hogwarts. The Hippogriff the following year wasn't much better.
They came across the familiar Norwegian dragon as Charlie discussed the matters of dragons and remarked that the particular dragon was Hagrid's own hatchling.
"Of course I remember Norberta," said Hermione smiling at the great beast, "Who could forget witnessing the birth of a baby dragon?" at that statement, she turned her gaze
to her companion. "Right, Draco?" She, of course, also remembered the hasty departure of the creature because of his adolescent meddling. She didn't hold it against him, past being the past and all.
"A marvelous event indeed," added Charlie. "In fact, she's doing so well, she has become queen of her pack.
Dragons, like many species of animal, are matriarchal. The females are larger and stronger than the males, who do their best to court their female of choice. Be it fighting for dominance amongst other males, gifts of food and hoard, or ritualistic displays. Sometimes all three. Ole
Smokey is the queen of the Romanian Longhorn tribe. If she likes you, she'll blow smoke at you, which is where her namesake comes from."
"Awe, that's so sweet. Maybe she'll grace us with her good favor." she pondered aloud to Draco as she squeezed his hand.
They continued along, Charlie pointing out areas that needed care, Hermione taking mental note, even though she had already decided that
she was going to approve the funds. Who knows what would happen if the facility wasn't taken care of and something went wrong. Wizards and
muggles alike could be in danger if even one dragon got loose. Especially during mating season, apparently.
At a bend in the path, Charlie stopped the tour and fished a vial from his pocket. "Here is where we'll meet Ole Smoky. As far as we know, she is
comfortable with humans, since we care for her and all, but other dragons might not like our smell. This salve
will mask our scents like we aren't even there." He rubbed some of the thick translucent liquid into his wrists and behind his ears and instructed
the two to do the same.
Hermione wasn't as sure about the salve's effectiveness against dragons. "Are you sure? They'll still be able to see us."
"Dragons trust their eyes over their nose. They'll see us, yes, but we give food, medicine and affection, so they don't see us as a threat. Now, follow
me." he walked off the trail, wand at the ready.
Hermione shivered with anticipation and took a firm hold of Draco's hand. "Isn't this exciting?"
"Right...Hermione." Draco answered Hermione as the two shared knowing glances that he had been there as well, watching through Hagrid's Hut window. Up until this very conversation taking place, Draco had
sincerely forgotten all about his adolescent meddling in his first year, that led him to watching the birth of thefemale Norwegian Ridgeback. The detention he had to serve in the Forbidden Forest that followed such event, he hadn't forgotten about that.
Charlie Weasley went on to talk about the queen dragon he intended to introduce them to today and her namesake. Deep within Draco's thoughts he pondered at the fact that
Old Smokey blew smoke upon those she liked. Which begged the opposing question what she did she do to someone she doesn't like? Such a thought made Draco wonder if it was Old Smokey herself that gave this Weasley his visible scars on his arm.
Soon they stopped and as instructed applied a clear thick salve to their wrists and behind their ears. Hermione's hand gave Draco's own a
firm squeeze, bringing his full attention back to her. "It certainly is. However the term 'exciting' is perhaps an understatement for this
endeavor." Draco answered as the two walked off the path and followed Charlie Weasley to Old Smokey.
Old Smokey was a magnificent dragon perched atop a sanctuary mimicking
the Carpathian mountains. She had dark green scales with golden talons, back ridges, and two long horns atop her head (hence the species namesake). "Hello there Smokey! How are you doing today girl? I brought
some friends with me who want to meet you. But first snack, eh?" Charlie asked as he confidently approached.
Like Hermione, Charlie had a pouch with an undetectable extension charm to wish he procured gloves for his hands and a massive slab of meat
that he levitated towards the female dragon. Old Smokey perked up at that
sight, quickly rising so she could spear the meat with those mighty golden horns. Charlie held his hand out to
stop Draco and Hermione from walking any closer. Old Smokey's chest filled with air as she shook the meat off her horns then released a blast of fire upon it. Apparently she liked her meat roasted before eating.
Draco watched in spectacular fascination as Smokey finished roasting it and quickly devoured the meat. Charlie signaled for them to
move once more. He reached her first. "Smokey, these two are my friends, Hermione and Draco. Can they give you a proper hello?" He asked. The dragon turned her head as if truly understanding his question and looked toward the couple. Her chest began to inflate and a moment later
smoke rushed towards the two of them.
It was hard to keep his breath held as he sighed in relief and inevitably gave a few coughs as the smoke dissipated. "Good girl Smokey. Come on you two, come have a pat on her head just behind the horns there." Charlie said
clearly estatic as Draco and Hermione released hands to approach the beast on either side and touched her as directed. The mighty beast swayed its head back and forth as if angling the perfect place for their hands to rub
against her scales. Draco smiled in awe as he looked across the creatures
back and could see Hermione. He gave her a nod of approval at this extraordinary moment.
Charlie chuckled and said, "Anyone want to try going for a ride?"
"NO." Draco found him saying in an instant. He thought he had simultaneously heard Hermione's own voice objection. The three chuckled, even Old Smokey gave another snort of smoke as if in on the joke as well.