The Eighth Year - Under Major Reconstruction

18 - My piece

As soon as Draco and Hermione finish their dinner, Draco suggests Hermione take a relaxing bath in his room while he has a conversation with his mother

"Good luck. Try to be civil with each other." She smiles, gives him a kiss on the cheek, then walks up the stairs and to Draco's large room

"Mother. I would like to speak with you please." Draco says walking into their sitting room and sitting down on a small cushioned chair

"Yes, Draco?" She asks innocently, giving him her full attention

"I want you to be quiet until I finish speaking. Please, don't interrupt, and let me say my piece." He says calmly

"Fine. Go ahead." She says, folding her hands in her lap

"Mother. I know you don't like Hermione or the idea of us being together. But we were placed with each other and according to the hat...are uh...soulmates? And I believe the hat was correct in our placing. We understand each other and we are dating. I'm going to have to propose soon as we need to begin planning our...wedding, and I would like to do so with the knowledge that you accept this. You don't have a choice anyway. We are being forced into this and there is no way out of it. Not that I mind because I care greatly for Hermione and I'm glad I will get to call her my wife and the mother of my children. I want you to be a part of my and Hermione's lives from here on out. Not to mention your grandchildren that we will one day have. So from now on, I need you to treat Hermione with respect, speak to her civilly, and try to get to know your future daughter-in-law. If not, we will leave and not come back. You will be alone until Father is out of Azkaban in twenty years and you will not know your only grandchildren. So the choice is up to you Mother. You either get past your idiotic prejudice and accept mine and Hermione's marriage or hold on to your idiotic beliefs and push your only son out of your life." Draco finishes calmly

Narcissa's knuckles had turned white from grasping her hands together so tightly and there was a grimace on her tired face, and barely noticeable, was a single tear on her left cheek.
The room was thick with tension as Narcissa and Draco had a stare-down. It seemed as if Narcissa was contemplating her choices, choosing if it was really worth accepting someone such as Hermione Granger into their family.
She knew she couldn't stop it, it was the law and she knew Draco wouldn't go against the law ever again.
She may not be able to stop it, but she could most definitely not be a part of their lives.

But then you would be even lonelier than you are now. You wouldn't know your grandchildren or your son whom you love so much, that you risked everything by helping Harry Potter.

Nothing was worth losing her son over

"Alright. I will not lose my only son. I will be civil with Hermione. I will try to get to know her and accept this marriage. I see now that you care greatly for the girl and I haven't seen you this happy in...longer than I care to admit. I am still not comfortable or happy with this. But I will try. And that is all you can ask of me." She says civilly

"Thank you, Mother. Truly. Thank you for letting Hermione stay here. As of right now, she has not been able to find her parents and restore their memories...so this is the closest she will get to a home for a while. Her parents most likely won't be at our wedding, so I need you to step up by then and be there for her. No one should have to get married without their parental support standing behind them in reassurance." He tells her, standing up

"I'll do anything for you, Draco. You're all I have left until Lucius is released. And if that means...accepting your mud- future wife. Then I will do so. Begrudgingly, but I will do so. Now, I'm going to go to my bedroom. Excuse me." She says, standing up and walking down the left hallway

That was easier than Draco had thought it would be. He thought it would take several days before she agreed to be civil and get to know Hermione. She must be quite lonely if she agreed so quickly.
Draco felt quite sorry for his mother. She had been alone -with the exception of the house elves - since the end of August. She also rarely went out as she would be attacked by witches and wizards who knew of what their family had done in the war, not to mention the reporters.

After the war ended and Lucius was put in Azkaban, reporters had stood outside the manor for days, waiting for them to come out, whenever either of them went out, they had been yelled at and often kicked out of places or had things thrown at them.

It had all dimmed down as soon as Draco left for Hogwarts and all the students found out about the marriage law. Narcissa hadn't left the manor but a few times in the past few months, she always sent Poppy or Agler if she needed anything from any store. The few times she did leave was when she had been inside for longer than a week, she knew it wasn't healthy, but neither was going out in the open to hear those nasty things being said about her. Mostly she just walked around the estate or took a quick trip to Diagon Alley.

Shaking off these thoughts, Narcissa walked into her bedroom and shut the door. She then sits down and pulls out a random book. She spent most of her time reading these days. There wasn't much else to do.

\\~//
Draco walks into his room and finds that the bathroom door is still shut so Hermione is still in the bath.
He sits down on his bed and thinks about what his mother said, Hermione, and their imminent marriage.
Draco walks over to his wardrobe and finds the jacket which houses the ring he had bought during a Hogsmeade visit last week.
He hadn't thought one bit about when he was proposing or of how he would do it.
He knew he had to do it soon though, as they had to start planning the wedding, which took quite a while.

Opening up the ring case, he stared at it thinking about what to do. He plucks the ring from its case and twirls it in his hands.

Obviously, he wouldn't do it on Christmas. And not on New Year's Eve...that's almost worse
Either before or after them both.

Why did this have to be so hard?

And he thought asking a girl to the Yule Ball was hard.

Planning to propose to your future wife is even harder.

What was planning a whole wedding going to be like?

\\~//

I really like this chapter.

*Photo of the ring will be added upon proposal :)*

I think my writing was decent for once and I really liked writing sort of more about Draco. I feel like I often focus mostly on Hermione and I think we all needed a change.

Also, Narcissa is gonna try!
I don't think she would be able to do that to her only son, which is why I made her agree so quickly...as she has been alone for all this time and she couldn't imagine being alone for the next twenty years...

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. I'm currently having a HP marathon while painting! I haven't slept again...I think I may have a sleeping problem. Oops.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Shelby xx

P.s. vote :)