Bathwater

At The Gryffindor Table

"Look at her," said Ginny, poking Harry on his side as the latter was taking a gulp of pumpkin juice. He almost spat it out, but forced it down when he found what his fiancee was now looking at. 

Hermione was walking into the Great Hall with Draco Malfoy at her side, his hand on the small of her back. While that was enough reason to be concerned (disgruntled, really), Harry felt himself frowning at the fact that Hermione was letting it happen. 

"Stop it right now, Harry Potter." Ginny pushed her finger into his ribs again, this time a little harsher. "We wanted her to be okay. And things look like they are okay."

Harry grumbled under his breath, knowing well enough he was better off not contradicting Ginny. Given that she was right—still, he did not have to like it. Even if he had hoped that Hermione and Malfoy could find common ground to ensure that her future would not be miserable.

The closer they got, however, laughing quietly to each other like they already had inside jokes and private moments, Harry knew it was one thing to wish on it and another to see it happen. 

"Hi, Hermione!" Ginny almost shouted, her arm shooting out to wave eagerly at her friend.

At the attention she garnered from Ginny's loud greeting, Hermione's smile slipped into a grimace as she stepped away from Draco's touch.

"Having a good day, Malfoy?" asked Ginny, a perfectly innocent smile on her face, but both Hermione and Harry recognized the glint in her blue eyes that told them she was up to no good. "Get a good lie-in? You two arrived much later to breakfast than usual. By which I mean you didn't and now it is dinner time."

While Draco scoffed at what she was implying and Hermione turned bright pink, Harry was the one who said, "I'm still eating here, Gin. Please stop."

"Just being observant," offered Ginny sweetly before bringing her left hand up to her face, cupping the side of her jaw. "One of us has to be."

"What does that even—You have a ring!" exclaimed Hermione before she could really start to admonish Ginny for her antics. She yanked Ginny's hand from her face, bringing it close to hers to examine it. It was simple, but beautiful: a twisting gold band that fused together to hold up a tasteful diamond at the center.

It was classic, like Harry and Ginny's love. 

"Are you crying, 'Mione?" asked her best friend. 

"Shut up," she huffed at Harry as she let go of Ginny's hand. Still, she laughed when she looked at his smirk. "When did you give it to her? When did you even get the ring?"

Harry opened his mouth to explain, but registered the Slytherin still standing beside Hermione. After the war, after he knew it was safe to love Ginny Weasley and imagine a future that could be better than anything he ever had, he allowed himself to think of the different ways they would tell their friends that they were engaged. None of those times Draco was present. 

In those daydreams, Harry had forgotten the Malfoy family entirely.

But in the path they were on now, Hermione was going to marry into it.

"Andromeda sent it last night," Harry finally spoke, clearing his throat as he looked back at his best friend's curious, warm gaze. "I owled her after the sorting and asked if she'd help me pick something."

"Anyone else would have chosen something over the top," Ginny added, resting her head on Harry's shoulder. "But that's not who we are, is it? Andromeda's gotten to see that all summer. And I think she really likes us."

"Well, you are her only family now," Hermione caught herself saying before she could process the words. 

Although she was still aware of Draco standing next to her, Hermione had forgotten the ties his family had severed with Andromeda Tonks decades back. It was not his fault, of course; Andromeda had been born into the Black family, one of the first Pureblood bloodlines to gain unmeasurable power and wealth, as well as the top soldiers in the fight against those they considered less. Despite being groomed to continue this legacy alongside her sisters Narcissa and Bellatrix, Andromeda Black fell in love with Ted Tonks, a Muggle-Born.