This Thing Called Love - Dramione Sequel

Ch. 27

Hermione's POV

Draco and I waited patiently outside of the stadium, quietly chatting to each other as we waited for Blaise and Pansy to show up. My head was on his chest and his arm was wrapped somewhat loosely around my shoulder, something I had noticed he started doing lately. Even though my wounds were healing nicely, he still avoided touching them when he could.

"Are you sure you're okay with getting married at Malfoy Manor?" He asked worriedly, his thumb rubbing my shoulder gently.

I smiled to myself, shaking my head slightly. "I'm perfectly fine with it; the gardens are beautiful and your mother has already started building them up more and adding to them. She's excited about it."

He sighed again before saying, "I just feel bad that I haven't found another venue yet. I don't want to just get married at my parents' manor; it feels like we're sticking to tradition."

"Draco, there's a difference between getting married somewhere because of tradition and getting married somewhere because it's a nice venue," I said gently. "The gardens at your parents' manor are beautiful, and I'm perfectly fine with getting married there."

I could tell he was about to say something but my phone buzzing in my pocket caught my attention. He watched quietly as I pulled it out and opened the message from Pansy.

We're having a talk when I get there. I can't BELIEVE you did this!

"What did you do?" He asked, pulling back slightly to give me a confused look.

I laughed as I typed back an 'okay' and looked up at him. "She wouldn't let me pay her directly for my wedding dress so I may have made a deposit to her Gringotts account yesterday."

He laughed at this and said, "Sounds like Pansy. She'll give in eventually, but don't get upset when she tries to return it. She's never been one to accept things like that easily."

"I'm not letting her just give me a dress as beautiful as the one she made me," I said insistently. "She put a lot of time and effort into that, and I will pay her for the work she put in."

We were interrupted by a sudden set of pops and the appearance of Pansy and Blaise. Pansy was staring at me with wide eyes as she said, "You're taking it back."

"I most certainly am not," I said, lifting my head off Draco's chest and looking back at her. "You earned that money."

"It's too much!" She exclaimed. "I'm sending it back to you on Monday!"

"And I will just send it back," I answered simply.

"Hermione-"

"Pansy." I smiled at her and shook my head. "You're not going to win this."

She faltered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Blaise was shaking his head as well, his hands in his pockets as he nodded towards Draco.

"Do you have any idea how much your future wife sent Pansy?" He asked.

"A dress of that caliber is worth the amount I paid her," I said insistently. "With the materials she used the cost is the equivalent of about eighteen-hundred pounds in the muggle world. Actually..."

After some quick math I realized my original calculations were off and quickly said, "I underpaid her; I'll get the remaining balance to you on Monday-"

"No you will not!" Pansy exclaimed, staring at me with wide eyes as she put her hand out. "You've paid me more than enough!"

"I have not!" I retorted. "I didn't pay you nearly enough, I shorted you about fifty galleons!"