Hermione POV
"It's time to go inside." Draco mumbles from beside me. For the last few hours Draco and I have walked around the Malfoy Manor grounds. He has showed me his favorite spots from his childhood, including the small lake where a couple peacocks live.
"Already?" I look around us and see the sun setting over the lake.
"Well actually we are 10 minutes late, but Mother knew that we most likely would be." I nod I slowly follow behind my boyfriend, caught up in my own nervous thoughts. I get so caught up that I do not notice when Draco suddenly stops.
"Mione, are you ok." He asks while turning to face me. Without saying anything I shake my head, biting my lip.
"What's wrong?"
"I really don't know. I guess just nerves. I'm meeting your mother, the women who is willing to defy Voldemort just to save you. What if I don't fit her standards, what if she thinks I am nothing but a money hungry Mudblood." I look up at him slightly shaking with tears in my eyes.
"Like I said before what others think does not matter, that includes my mother. We stuck together at Hogwarts where everyone literally hated my guts. We can survive my mothers opinion, you aren't some money hungry Mudblood, you are Hermione Jean Granger smartest witch of our age and MY girlfriend. If you were able to survive going on the run and defeating the dark lord you can survive this." He tells me, slowly melting away my fears. I take a deep breath and nod. He takes my hand and we walk inside the big double doors.
As soon as our feet hit the foyer floor all eyes were on us. My eyes widen and I freeze. Draco notices and wraps an arm around my waist.
"Deep breath, you've got this. You look hot and that's why they are starring." I chuckle and we both walk further into the room.
"Draco darling!" Mrs. Malfoy gracefully glides through the room stopping in front of us. She looks absolutely stunning in her teal gown with gold a underlay.
"Happy birthday Mother." Draco says while wrapping his arms around the smaller woman.
"You look stunning Mrs. Malfoy." I say from behind the two. She pulls away from her son and turns to me with a smile.
"Thank you Ms. Granger. But I must say you look lovely. I have never seen anything like your dress before. It looks amazing on you." I blush and the compliment and thank her.
"Please enjoy yourselves tonight, dinner should be served shortly." She tells us before gracefully walking off.
"Wow." I mutter while releasing the breath I was holding. Draco laughs and takes my hand.
"I told you it wouldn't be bad." He says while spinning me and placing a hand on my waist.
"Care to dance?" He asks with a wink before leading us onto the dance floor. We sway to the music lost in our own world as other couples move around us.
"If I haven't told you already, you look amazing tonight." Once again I blush at his words.
"You defiantly have told me more than once tonight but I won't stop you from saying it again." He chuckles at me before spinning me outwards as we dance.
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After a couple of songs Narcissa announces that it is time for dinner and leads us towards the dinning hall. Once again I find myself stopping short of the doorway. Draco looks down at me concerned and notices that I subconsciously grabbed my arm that has the scar his Aunt left me with.
"Hey, we don't have to go in there if you do not want too. I'm sure Mother would not notice if we snuck into the kitchens to eat." I sigh not wanting to be a bother to him at his own Mother's birthday.
"Why don't you go in there to eat. I'll see if I can find my way down. Go enjoy time with your mother." He rolls his eyes at me before leading me towards a door to the far left of the gathering room. Just on the other side is a small staircase that leads into the kitchen.
"Master Draco, is there anything Halo can help with?" A small elf asks as we enter the room. Draco nods with a smile before bending down.
"Can you get Hermione and myself some dinner? We didn't want to eat with the rest of the guess." Draco says kindly while gesturing to me. I smile at the elf and wave, glad to see that Draco is being kind to her.
"Of course Master! Halo loves to serve food." The small elf runs around with a smile on her face as she fixes plates for the two of us. Draco leads me over to the corner where a small table it set up, we take a seat and wait for our food.
"Are you sure your mother won't mind we missed dinner in there?" I ask worried. The last thing I want to do is make a bad first impression.
"I'm sure she will be fine and if not she can get over it. I would rather deal with an upset mother later down the road then have you uncomfortable and unable to enjoy yourself because of the memories associated with that room." He explains while taking my hand in his and I smile. Just then Hale brings over our two plates along with a bottle of wine.
"Thank you Halo." Draco says with a nod. Halo smiles before walking off to enjoy her own meal.
About 30 minutes into being in the kitchen we hear the door to the staircase open and the sound of heels. I look over at Draco worried but he just shrugs before looking over to where his Mother comes in.
"There you two are, I have been looking all over for you. What in Merlin's name are you doing in the kitchens?" Narcissa asks with an upset look on her face. I go to speak but Draco beats me to it.
"I wanted Hermione to be able to enjoy her meal without being reminded of the last time she was here." He says sternly. Narcissa gasps in realization before looking at where I am sitting.
"I apologize Hermione. It had not even crossed my mind that you would not be comfortable in that room." I stand from my seat.
"Please do not apologize about that. I would never ask you to change your plans simply because I have yet to get over something that has happened in the past. I should be apologizing to you, this is your birthday gala after all." She smiles at me before nodding.
"Let's both agree that there is no need to apologize and go finish enjoy the last few hours of this wonderful evening." She suggest before turning to go up the stairs. I grab Draco's hand and thank Halo one more time before following the female Malfoy.
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By the time Draco and I return to our flats it is one in the morning and we are exhausted.
"I enjoyed myself tonight." I say while leaning into Draco's side half asleep. He chuckles and places a kiss on the top of my head.
"As did I. Do you want me to walk you to your door?" I nod my head.
"I want you to stay, but that's up to you." I mumble while opening the door.
"Alright, but let me go change out of these dress robes. Leave the door unlocked, I'll lock it when I come back." I nod without a word and head inside. As quickly as possible I change out of my dress and put on my pajamas. Once I am in comfortable clothes I was my make up off and brush my teeth. As I rinse my mouth out the only thing on my mind is my comfy bed and sleep. Without waiting for Draco I climb in on the right side of the bed pulling the cover up to my chin.
It isn't long before I hear the front door open and Draco walk in. I turn on my side to face where he will lay and patently wait for him to come in. There is a knock on my bedroom door and I can hear him outside of it.
"Are you decent?" I let out a small giggle before answering.
"You can come in." The door slowly opens and Draco's head pops in. When he spots me in bed he smile before closing the door and climbing in next to me. I wrap my arm around his waist and he pulls me in close, burying his face in my curls.
"Thank you for coming with me tonight. It meant a lot for you to be there." He mumbles.
"Of course. I would do it again in a heart beat." I say while letting out a yawn. I can feel Draco chuckling before he places a small kiss on my shoulder.
"Goodnight Granger." He says teasingly. I roll my eyes at my boyfriend before answering/
"Goodnight Malfoy."