His Veela Heritage by RiverWriter

chapter 12

Hermione could have spent all day lying on her sofa draped across Draco and listening to the reassuring beat of his heart. But she did remember that he had said that he had something to show her. And he'd sounded so serious about it too, she couldn't put that out of her mind.

“Draco,” she murmured, lifting her head from that comfortable place on his chest, “you said you had somewhere to take me?”

“I do, but I actually have something to give you first,” he ran a hand down her spine.

She extricated herself from him and sat up to look at him with a ‘what did you do?’ glare of warning. He simply pulled a long thin box out of an inner pocket of his robes. She took it from him gingerly, like it was something dangerous, because it looked suspiciously like a jewelry box, and having known him since they were eleven she could be sure that whatever was inside was probably going to be worth at least several months salary.

The middle class girl within her who knew that her parents had worked almost obsessively to achieve what they had, and had expected to do the same for herself, rebelled automatically. But she had to at least look at it. She flipped open the top to reveal a pendant on a delicate chain. A sapphire the size of her index fingernail surrounded by tiny but brilliant diamonds.

“Draco…” she said slowly.

“I know we agreed to keep things quiet for the time being,” he interrupted her objection, “but I won’t let it be said that I didn’t court you properly and respectfully. Traditionally, pure blooded wizards present jewelry to show that they are serious in their suit. I would be remiss in not doing so.”

She took a deep breath and considered her response. On one hand, she was so used to being independent, she took care of everything herself, and quite often other people as well, it’s who she was. She certainly wasn’t accustomed to regularly accepting expensive gifts, it went against all her instincts, and he'd already sent what she could only guess to be at least fifty galleons worth of flowers to her this week.

But on the other hand, what of his sensibilities? Was he to forget all of his traditions because his mate was a muggleborn? That was patently unfair. As much as she may have wanted to run from pureblood society, she was rapidly falling for a man fully ensconced in it. And yet, when she looked at the necklace she realized that Draco had probably exercised considerable restraint in purchasing it. It was undoubtedly expensive, but it was also simple, elegant, and in no way ostentatious. It was the opposite of a statement piece.

It would rest beautifully in the hollow of her neck. She could wear it everyday and carry a little piece of them and what they were trying to build together with her; which had probably been his intention. She also heard what he had not been saying: he needed some reassurance. She was determined to keep things between them quiet, and he'd agreed, but he needed to see that she was willing to acknowledge that they were a couple in this small way. Refusing would be thoughtless and ungrateful.

“Thank you, it’s beautiful,” she removed it from the box, and handed it to him, turning so that he could place it around her neck and fasten it.

He did so, finishing with a kiss to the back of her neck.

“I know you said your favorite color was purple, but since mine is blue and your birthstone is a sapphire I thought this represented us both,” he explained.

“You also said blue represented House Malfoy,” she said quietly.

“Yes,” he admitted, “is that a problem?”

“Not at all,” she said, determined not to dismiss his heritage out of turn, she turned around smiling mischievously at him, “but admit it, you didn't go with a purple stone because you would have had to settle for something merely semiprecious like amethyst.”