Ch. 43

Hermione's POV

The rest of December practically flew by, and before I knew it, it was the week of Christmas. Draco was starting to act rather strangely, and it all started when he received a letter at the apartment Sunday evening. I was starting to worry because he was hiding the contents of the letter from me, and he never hid anything from me.

After two days of waiting, I finally sat him down at lunch on Christmas Eve and asked, "Draco, something clearly has you bothered. What is going on?"

He sighed and looked down at his hands, which he had now clasped in front of him on the table. His jaw clenched and unclenched a few times before he finally sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "My parents sent me a letter."

I stared at him. I definitely was not expecting that. "Is...is everything okay?"

Closing his eyes, he rubbed his eyelids in frustration as he leaned back. "They sent an invitation to their annual New Year's Eve gala."

My stomach dropped as I leaned back in my chair as well. The restaurant suddenly felt so crowded around us as I became very much aware of everyone talking. I heard Draco sigh, which brought me back to the table and I straightened up slightly.

"Was that all they sent?" I asked quietly.

He silently shook his head, avoiding my eyes. A steady sense of unease creeped its way up my spine as I asked, "What else did they send?"

He set his arms down on the table and looked up at me. "My mother also sent a letter asking me to join them for Christmas dinner tomorrow evening."

After a few moments of silence between us I asked, "So, are you going to go?"

He simply shrugged, his face expressionless. "I have no idea."

"Does your father know that your mother invited you?"

"Probably not," He sighed. "She hates that father and I no longer speak, but she knows that it's better for he and I to not interact."

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, trying to think. "Does she know we're together?"

"I haven't told her, and I doubt she's been in contact with anyone who knows," He answered, gesturing the waiter over. "Your best bottle of wine, please."

"Draco, it's lunchtime," I said quietly.

"I'm not going back to work after this," He said with a shrug. "And I know two glasses won't hurt you."

I scowled at him before saying, "Drinking isn't going to help you with figuring out the situation."

"I don't need to figure out the situation right now," He snapped suddenly.

I jumped at his sudden outburst, staring at him. He immediately looked guilty and reached over to take my hand as he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm just...this is stressing me out, and I don't know what to do."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, relaxing slightly.

"I don't think so, honestly," He sighed. "This is the first time I've been invited back to the Manor in years. I doubt anything will help this."

We were both silent for a few minutes, lost in our own thoughts. I knew Draco was going back and forth between joining his parents for the dinner and the gala, and that he was really struggling with making a decision. He always talked about how much he missed his mother, and that she wasn't as prideful as his father.

A sudden thought occurred to me and I straightened up in my chair, catching Draco's attention. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is it?"

"Why don't I go with you?"

He stared at me in shock and disbelief. "I'm sorry, what?"

I laughed slightly and repeated more slowly, "Why don't I go with you to the dinner and the gala?"

"You would do that?" He asked.

"Of course!" I squeezed his hand.

He continued to stare at me as he tilted his head away slightly. "Are you sure?"

"Draco, I know you miss your mother," I said quietly as I leaned in. "And maybe there's a reason she invited you back."

He stayed silent for a few moments before nodding, giving me a small smile. "You are incredible, Hermione."

I smiled back, giving his hand another squeeze. "We're in this together now."

His eyes flitted down to my ring and he said, "You're going to have to hide that. I don't want to think about what their reaction might be."

"I already planned on it," I replied, nodding. "What are we going to tell them?

"Well, I'll let my mother know that I'm bringing my significant other," He shrugged. "She shouldn't object to that."

"What about when we get there?" I asked nervously. "I can't imagine they're just going to let me in."

"If mother wants me there for dinner, she's going to have to," He said sternly. "Like you said, you and I are in this together now; if they can't accept that you and I are together, I don't want them in my life."

I couldn't help but smile at that. He leaned over to give me a quick kiss before we returned to our lunch, and while I tried to hide it, I was extremely anxious.

I was a nervous wreck the next morning. Absolutely nothing in my closet seemed right, and I was starting to panic.

"Love, you don't need to wear anything fancy," Draco insisted, trying to hide his laughter. I could tell though that he was starting to grow nervous as well, though. "You're going to look beautiful in anything!"

"I'm not showing up to your parents' manor without looking my best," I said quickly, looking through my closet for the thousandth time. "They're already not going to like me; I don't need another reason for them to look down on me."

"Why not text Pansy and see if she can help?" Draco offered. "She and Blaise don't really do much on Christmas besides getting drunk and swapping presents throughout the day."

I hesitated, looking over at my phone. "Are you sure she wouldn't mind me bothering her?"

"Trust me," He laughed. "You don't bother her. She actually really likes spending time with you."

"I really like spending time with her too, but..."

I looked over to see him on his phone, shaking his head. "Trust me, she'll be happy to help."

"You're not texting her, are you?" I asked sternly.

"You obviously weren't going to do it," He shrugged, grinning at me.

I groaned and saw a message pop up on my own phone from Pansy. I shot him a playful glare before opening the text.