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The Family Jewels	By : Mdunlap Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 137575 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 62
- 63
Disclaimer: The work contained herein constitutes no real or implied infringement of the copyrighted intellectual property of one J.K. Rowling or her affiliates.

Chapter 63

Mesmerized

Professors McGonagall and Snape were waiting for the Portkey to transport their students back to the Headmaster’s office. Harry was disappointed and embarrassed, again, when he was the only one who ended up in a heap on the floor.

Ron immediately held a hand out to help him up. “All right there, mate?”

Harry shook his head slightly, “I suppose I’ll never get the hang of that. Even Hermione can do it.”

“What do you mean, even Hermione?” she questioned trying not to smile.

“Well, I just meant, you’re also Muggleborn, and you can do it,” he said quietly, just trying to gloss it over now.

“Potter, you aren’t Muggleborn, isn’t that right?” Draco asked with his smirk firmly in place.

“Shut it,” Harry muttered, turning to Dumbledore, “Sir, thank you for giving us all some time to decompress, as it were. We all appreciate it.”

“Harry, my boy, I said it at St. Mungo’s, but I’ll say it again so that you can all hear it. The wizarding world thanks you. All of you. It does seem that the press is most interested in speaking with you, I have put them off, but I wonder if giving one interview to a select journalist wouldn’t be a good idea? We have nothing to hide, after all, and credit should be given where it is due.” Dumbledore seemed to be giving them each a once over to assure himself that they were indeed healthy and whole as had been reported back to him. Finally, he smiled and said, “You should discuss it amongst yourselves and let me know. Dinner will be starting in the Great Hall soon, you must be hungry.”

“Well, I’m hungry,” Ron declared to scattered laughter.

“Before you go, if I could just reiterate to the engaged couple that special privileges are only given to married students and that they are expected to confine themselves to the rules of conduct for Hogwarts students,” Minerva McGonagall said as she trained a severe eye on Ron and Pansy, although her mouth twitched as though trying not to smile.

“Oh, no, um, we’re not engaged,” Harry’s voice piped up nervously.

All eyes in the room turned to Ginny and Harry, some incredulously, some in confusion, others in amusement. Ginny looked as though she couldn’t understand why the floor had not opened up and swallowed her in her embarrassment.

“Mister Potter, I believe Professor McGonagall was speaking to Mister Weasley and Miss Parkinson. What are you going on about?” Professor Snape asked Harry in a clipped voice.

Hermione turned to Ginny and snatched up her wrist, “Oh,  Ginny…Harry! It’s beautiful".

“Indeed, Mister Potter, I remember when your father gave that to your mother on the eve of their wedding. She was quite speechless at the time". Professor McGonagall had given in and was smiling the widest smile any of them could ever recall.

Ron looked down at the obviously expensive bracelet on his sister’s wrist, her happy face and Harry’s embarrassed, yet shining, eyes. If someone had to be with his sister, at least it was his best friend. “I should hope you’re not engaged, Ginny’s underage. Mum would kill you,” he told Harry seriously.

“Nah,” Harry told Ron in an undertone, “haven’t you noticed that I can get away with things that she would never let you do?”

Ron’s eyebrows went up a bit and he shook his head ruefully. “I have noticed, mate, but I still think it’s best not to push your luck".

“I won’t,” Harry said clearly. He rested his hand in the small of Ginny’s back and the Hogwarts staff members present were strongly reminded of another young man with spectacles and unruly black hair putting his arm around his red-headed love.

“Of course they’re not engaged,” Pansy said. “She’s not wearing a ring, is she?”   She looked down at her own engagement ring and stole a quick kiss from her fiancé.

“Harry, I’m glad to see that you are not dwelling on what has happened, but are moving right into the future.” Dumbledore’s eyes were twinkling like mad, his enjoyment of the moment almost palpable. “Perhaps that party that is planned will be a celebration of this as well".

Harry strode forward and held out his hand to Dumbledore. Dumbledore clasped his hand in both of his, his eyes full of quiet pride.

“Headmaster, I gave permission for that party in celebration of Slytherin’s Quidditch victory over Gryffindor…”

“Albus, I thought that party was to celebrate the defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…”

“Yes, well, we all have much to celebrate, don’t we? Now, everyone, I believe that we have a wonderful meal waiting for us in the Great Hall". Dumbledore stood up and escorted them all out of his office.

The students could not wait to be away from their Heads of House, and were practically running down the moving staircase. “I hadn’t realized that they weren’t getting enough to eat in London,” Dumbledore commented with concern.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dinner had already started in the Great Hall, the doors were all closed. The teachers had moved off to their own entrance and there seemed to be a logjam of sorts at the door. None of the Slytherins to the front seemed to want to be the first to enter the Great Hall and looked at each other warily.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake,” Ron said exasperatedly, “I said I was hungry, didn’t I?” He put one arm around Pansy and tugged the door open.

The students saw Ron Weasley’s tall figure, Pansy Parkinson held protectively at his side. The others filed in as unobtrusively as possible, but Draco realized that he was not acting in a manner befitting the Head Boy and stepped up beside them, his head held high. As one, every student in Hufflepuff stood and started clapping. Ginny pushed Harry forward and he caught her hand and pulled her with him to the front of the group. They exchanged bewildered glances that the Hufflepuffs were greeting their return in such an enthusiastic manner. The Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws moved to join them on their feet, but a curious silence swept over the hall when there was movement from the Hufflepuff table.

Ernie Macmillan stepped forward, obviously the spokesman for his house, and extended a hand in turn to Harry, Draco, Blaise, Ron and Hermione. “The members of Hufflepuff House would like to commend you for defeating Lord Voldemort.” He had never said the name out loud before, and he was quite proud of himself. “For Cedric Diggory and every other witch and wizard that gave their lives in this war, we thank you". The Hufflepuffs cheered even louder, but Ernie turned his head slightly and the silence was back again. “May evil take its time before it rises in the world again.” Even the Slytherins were on their feet now, eager to support Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. It was not often that members of their house were lauded as heroes.

Dumbledore was standing in front of his chair now, clapping for them as well. “Thank you for your outpouring of support for our students, perhaps we will now see the houses truly united. For now, though, let us get back to our meal".

There was some confusion among their little group; the only ones that were certain to sit at the Gryffindor table were Harry and Ginny. Draco, Blaise and Hermione as well as Ron and Pansy were attempting to have some sort of silent negotiation about their seating arrangements. However, Harry happened to notice a First Year boy smiling at them shyly, sitting quite alone at the end of the Hufflepuff table. He could also see Colin Creevey straddling a bench, attempting to figure out where they might sit at the Gryffindor table so he could get the best photo. It only took a second longer for the young Hufflepuff to drop his eyes in embarrassment and hunch over his food, Harry took Ginny’s hand and walked the few feet to the table.

“Do you think it would be all right if we sat here tonight?” Harry asked the boy.

“Oh, no sir, I mean, yes sir, that would be brilliant,” he stammered in response, accidently knocking his pumpkin juice into his plate. His face flamed a bright red.

Harry did not laugh at the boy, who had a downcast air about himself now, as if he was sure the great Harry Potter was only making fun of him. Harry caught the eye of the others and they agreed Hufflepuff was neutral ground where they need not separate.

“I’m Harry Potter,” Harry said, reaching out to shake hands. “You are…”

“Oh, Robbie, um, Robert Gardener, sir,” Robbie answered, “I think everyone knows who you are, you know".

A flurry of serving dishes and plates as well as utensils and goblets appeared on the Hufflepuff table, Harry was able to pick up Robbie's ruined plate and place it in the middle, it promptly disappeared. “You don’t have to sit here, sir,” Robbie said quietly. “Your house is very proud of you; they must want to talk to you".

“Please,” Harry smiled at him, “Don’t call me sir, makes me think of Professor Snape.” Harry’s voice got very soft for the last two words, but the Slytherins in the group heard him and gave each other those quiet half-smiles they must teach in the Slytherin Common Room after classes.

“It was the Hufflepuffs who stood for us,” Harry answered, not in a ringing voice, but loud enough so that every student seated there heard him. There were quite a few genuine smiles hidden behind napkins at the Hufflepuff table that night.

The Great Hall settled down to eat their meals, although there was a definite air of excitement in the air, it was likely that would last for some time. It took effort and smiling patience, but Harry was finally able to get Robbie to tell him that he had gotten detention for his entire Herbology class for accidently destroying the Ravenclaw NEWT projects in Greenhouse Six, where he wasn’t supposed to be anyway.

“Well, you see, Elise, that’s my cat, she’s going to have kittens because I forgot to give her the potion and there’s this large orange cat, bit of an ugly face, that was hanging around her and I thought I saw her go into that greenhouse before class and I just wanted to make sure she was all right and if the kittens were coming, you know?” Once he got started, the entire story poured out. His voice petered out a little at the end, “…and now no one will talk to me".

Hermione’s hand had tightened on her goblet during this story. The ‘large, male, orange cat’? Crookshanks was apparently now a daddy. Ron and Harry noticed her distress immediately and silently agreed to take the piss.

Ron nodded, “Yes, I remember a small incident when three First Years were somewhere they weren’t supposed to be, if I recall correctly – Hermione, jump in here and help my memory- you lot lost 150 points in one go". Their entire group was listening to this conversation and all the Seventh Years immediately recognized the story. Hermione remembered Draco’s part in that particular loss of house points and gave him a stony glance.   He placed his hand over his heart with a cajoling expression but she just sniffed at him. Blaise had to help Pansy with her coughing fit.

Harry chuckled in remembrance. “No one spoke to us for weeks, even the other members of the Quidditch team called me ‘the Seeker’".

Ginny was looking at him in amused surprise. “I am certain that I have not heard this story. Do tell,” she commanded.

Harry was aware that the Hufflepuffs were listening and he didn’t want to compromise Hagrid so he was left floundering for a minute.   Finally Harry said, “Do you remember when Charlie got a new dragon, some friends of his brought it back from Scotland?”

“Oh yes, that’s when he got Norberta,” she said in recognition. “I didn’t realize you sent it to him though".

“Norberta wasn’t mine, but we did send her,” Harry tried again, still not wanting to bring Hagrid’s name into it.

“Yes,” Hermione interjected, “we were helping a ‘great’ friend of ours".

“Ah, of course you were,” Ginny answered, finally realizing what they were trying not to say. “Didn’t Gryffindor win the House Cup that year anyway?”

“Well yes, as a matter of fact, we did,” Harry answered, winking at young Robbie. “But people had started to talk to us again long before that".

Robbie still shook his head. “I’m not Harry Potter,” he said, “They’ll never forgive me".

“Colin,” Harry called over to the Gryffindor table.

Colin Creevey popped up and almost ran over to Hufflepuff territory. “Harry, congratulations, how are you, can I take a photo?”

Harry put his arm around Robbie’s shoulders and smiled directly into the camera.

It didn’t take too much longer before Robbie’s year-mates had decided that bygones should be bygones and were crowding closer to where he was sitting. Professor Sprout, who had been upset by the tack her First Years were taking, was glad to see them following the example set by her older students. It was unusual to see 10 Hufflepuff First Years eating a meal with 7 upper division Gryffindors and Slytherins, particularly these ones. There was a great deal of laughter, however. The Head Girl had taken parental responsibility for her cat which was creating most of it. Though he did not know it yet, Crookshanks would be taking a side trip to the vet next break.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There were quite a few 7^th Year Gryffindors being kissed good night near the Fat Lady that evening. The Fat Lady and her friend Violet were becoming accustomed to the Slytherins who ended the evening with “Sleep well, my sweet.” Violet sighed each time she heard it said, and those boys, they were all so tall now, why, she remembered when they were scrawny little things. Professors McGonagall and Snape had made a habit of taking a constitutional around about curfew time, just to ensure their own students would have time to run back to their dormitories from the opposite end of the castle. At least the Slytherins got to go down on the return trip, Ron Weasley usually had to sprint up all those flights of stairs if he wanted to have a chance at being on time.   The fact that he was, indeed, very often on time, was a testament to his physical fitness and not to his discretion in leaving Pansy with enough time to get back to his house. Ron began to suspect that the Headmaster or possibly the castle herself was attempting to aid his headlong dash uphill since the staircases were oddly compliant in their positioning.

The door to the Head Common Room closed behind her and Hermione draped herself into Blaise’s lap, placing her feet on Draco. He obligingly because to rub each foot in turn, paying attention to her ankles and insteps. “Do I want to know how you are so good at that?” Hermione asked, one side of her mouth almost frowning.

Blaise whispered, “No,” in her ear but Draco just shot her a look and asked, “Do you want me to stop?”

Hermione attempted an airy wave of her hand but Draco shook his head. “It needs work, love". He waved his hand magnanimously at her and she grinned ruefully.

“The two of you had best get to work getting me ready to face your mothers soon, they are going to want answers about whether there is going to be a wedding in June". Hermione sighed against Blaise’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

Blaise eyed the emerald bracelet on her wrist, “No, cara, my mother will have already started the preparations. She will take it that your decision to put on that bracelet sealed our courtship. Expect that she will be asking for your parents’ Floo address within the week so your mother can be involved in the process".

“That is not funny, Blaise!” Hermione huffed at him without opening her eyes. When she did, she had expected to see his dimpled smile; instead there was a bashful awkwardness to his earnest gaze.

“Hermione, this is a bonding bracelet, I thought you knew that". Blaise was getting upset.

“Well, yes, but I thought it was symbolic that we were in love, not that we were going to BOND,” she almost screeched at him, “I mean, not that I don’t want to, but someday, not in June. They know my parents are Muggles, don’t they, Blaise?” she asked.

“Yes, Hermione, they know and they have no problem with your blood status, they like you very much,” Blaise smiled happily, thinking of Hermione in a beautiful dress, the Zabini tiara wound into her curls with jasmine and hawthorn, walking toward him to bond with him and Draco. Draco. Oh bugger. “Draco, have you thought much about the bonding?” he hedged, trying to be nonchalant.

Draco shook his head, “There’s been too much I need to get my head around. I have to see the solicitors and the goblins; my father has given up the title so I will need to get the paperwork in order. Since my mother was in hiding for so long, it is hard to say what needs to be done first".

Both Hermione and Blaise were nodding with him, it wasn’t so easy for Draco, he needed to make sure that he was accepted as Head of the Malfoy family, which shouldn’t have been so difficult since he was of age. The fact that his father still lived made some things more difficult, however. Traditionally, the only way to take over as Head of the family was to step into a dead man’s shoes. He would need to contact his grandfather’s friend, Octavian Flom, that wily little man had said that he was ready to assist him at any time. He needed to get Hermione packed off to bed and then he’d send an owl to Monsieur Flom and have a quick word with Blaise about the necklaces before he committed himself one way or the other. Now that he had a plan, he rolled his shoulders and stood up. “Let’s head to bed, all right? Back to classes in the morning".

Hermione stood up quickly, yes, she had so much to make up, she needed to be ready for the morning. Blaise started up the stairs to Draco’s room behind her. Draco’s voice stopped him. “Could you hold up a minute, mate, I need you to look at these papers before we head up. I’d like to send Flom a letter tonight".

Blaise wondered what Draco was keeping from Hermione but figured he would find out soon enough. “We’ll be right up, love,” he said to her, kissing her cheek quickly.

Did they really think she was that thick? No matter, she would know soon enough. She smiled at them and trudged up the stairs, leaving Draco with his hands in his pockets, looking at the floor while Blaise gave her a reassuring smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yes, a chapter. I always said I would finish it.
- 62
- 63
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The Family Jewels