Chapter 21
Hermione had received no less than 15 owls from Narcissa Malfoy by the time Saturday rolled around. Following her argument with Ron and her talk with Malfoy, she’d been so exhausted it physically hurt to leave her bed and she’d ended up missing a weeks worth of wedding planning with her future mother-in-law. Today she finally felt refreshed, which was good because she needed to be at the catering tasting at the manor this afternoon. She was heading there after she was done wishing Dean and Seamus a great honeymoon.
“How was the wedding?” Harry asked the couple.
“It was great!” Dean answered excitedly as his husband gathered their things to leave with. “It was pretty intimate, just our parents, grandparents, and Sea’s sister and her family.”
“I didn’t know Seamus had a sister.”
“She’s Malfoy and I’s Healer Trainee.” Hermione supplied.
“Yeah, she and Rory brought my little niece, Imelda. Cutest little girl you have ever seen.” Seamus added as he pulled his and Dean’s suitcases into the hall.
“So, where are they sending you?” Ron asked as he popped a Fudge Fly into his mouth.
“We decided on Norway. We’re staying in the Fretheim Hotel. It's Supposed to have breathtaking views and these gorgeous glass ceilings. They offer boat tours, they’ve got a great brewery nearby so I’m hoping I can find some new drinks to sell at my pub, and they even have a program where you can play Quidditch with retired professionals. Sea really wants to play a scrimmage with Darren O’Hare and Hamish MacFarlan.” Dean explained, excitedly.
“We had to fight Katie tooth and nail to go, since only one couple is allowed per place. We ended up turning in the request like five minutes before them.” Seamus told them proudly.
“Where did Katie and Lisa end up? I know they left late last night for their honeymoon.” Hermione asked the smiling couple.
“Some wilderness and wellness retreat in Africa. I know Lisa was interested in their animal reserve.” Dean answered as he put his and Seamus’s ids in his bumbag. “Ready to go?”
“I’ve got the suitcases and the brooms, do you have the tickets and the money?” Seamus asked.
“Babe, they provide brooms. You don’t need to bring ours.” Dean chuckled, shaking his head.
“It’s not the same riding on someone else’s broom!” Hermione and Harry snickered.
“If I’d known that they had a quidditch option at one of these places, I would have actually helped decide where to go!” Ron grumbled unhappily as they walked out the front door so the boys could lock up their apartment.
“You didn’t get a say in where you’re going on your honeymoon?” Dean asked the ginger.
“He didn’t want a say.” Hermione pointed out.
“I don’t want to get married, why should I help do anything about planning it?” Ron questioned with a scowl as he threw his wrapper in the bin.
“Well, whether you want to get married or not you still will be. At least you might enjoy some of it. Where did Parkinson decide you were going then if you didn’t have any input?” Dean questioned.
“I don’t know. Someplace in Italy called Melon.” Hermione started giggling as Dean and Seamus shared a smile.
“Do you mean Milan?” Seamus snickered. “Oh, you should have helped pick, mate. You’re going to hate it there.”
“What? Why?” Ron asked, confused. The rest of the group chuckled some more at his expense.
“We’ll see you all in a couple weeks.” Dean chuckled, ignoring Ron, as he and Seamus waved good-bye before disapparating with a pop.
“Why did you all laugh? Why am I going to hate it in Italy?”
“Ron, Milan is like the fashion capital of the world. I have a feeling you’ll be spending a lot of time shopping and going to runway shows.” Hermione explained to Ron as he grew paler.
“Bloody hell,” Ron muttered. “I wonder if they’ll let me change the destination?”
“Probably not, mate,” Harry told him with a small smirk. “Pretty sure you’re stuck with what you told them.” Serves him right for being so unhelpful, Hermione thought to herself. Admittedly she was probably being a bit harsh, but the moron still hadn’t apologized to her and she had a right to be sour about it.
“I’ve got to get going, the caterer will be at the Malfoy’s manor by noon. I’ll see you both later.” Hermione told her friends with a wave as she too disapparated.
When she arrived in the sitting room Narcissa and her son were already there. What she hadn’t expected, however, was that Mr Malfoy was there today as well.
“Ms Granger.” Mr Malfoy drawled as she came in. “We were just discussing you.”
“Lucius,” Narcissa said with a warning in her voice. “Hermione, nice to have you back again.” She spoke politely but with disapproval and Mione suspected that the older witch was unimpressed at her lack of response to the numerous owls she’d been spent.
“Nice to be back, Narcissa,” Hermione told the older witch politely as they shared la bise. “I apologize for my absence but I really was not feeling well and needed a break. I hope it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience for you?” Narcissa’s eye ticked slightly meaning it probably was an inconvenience.
“Of course not, my dear. I had Draco help me with some of the details on your behalf. Now, the caterers should be here any minute so why don’t we make our way to the dining hall?” Hermione was startled a bit at the suggestion. In the many times she’d been to the manor she’d only ever been in the sitting room and the study she’d awoken in after her fainting spell. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the rest of the house. At least if it was just this room she could pretend she was somewhere else. Seeing more of the manor would mean she’d have to accept that this really was where she’d be forced to live and she was not ready for that to sink in yet.
“Um, sure. Mr Malfoy, while you’re here I’d like to discuss some things with you regarding the will?”
“Of course, you would.” He sneered at her. “Trying to get your filthy-”
“Lucius,” Narcissa said in a cold and even voice. “You two can discuss this after the catering session. My dragon, why don’t you escort your fiancee to the dining hall. I need to have a word with your father.” Hermione noticed Mr Malfoy’s fair complexion pale slightly and held back a snicker as Malfoy led her from the room.
“Mother is not happy with you.” Malfoy provided once they’d walked a little ways down the hall.
“Yeah, I figured she wouldn’t be,” Hermione replied as she took in the artwork on the walls. Various paintings of magical creatures, bowls of food, instruments, and dancing people filled the spaces and she found she was quite captivated by many of them. “I know it was rather rude of me to ignore her, and I will apologise to her later. I just really needed a break. I’m sorry, to you too, by the way.”
“For what?” He asked her with a furrowed brow as they turned to head down a large staircase.
“For snapping at you the other day. I was overwhelmed and angry and I let that get the better of me. You tried to apologise and I nearly took your head off.” She provided as they stopped in the middle of the stairs. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, about not wanting to fight all the time. And I agree. It’s exhausting and quite frankly I just don’t have the energy to keep hating you.” He stared at her for a moment before running his fingers through his hair with a sigh, displacing the blond locks from behind his ear.
“It has gotten rather tiresome,” Malfoy told her.
“So we agree, from now on we try to be at least cordial to one another?” She asked, sticking out her hand for him to shake. He looked at it somewhat sceptical before sighing once more and giving her his own hand.
“Why do you want to speak to Father about the will?” Malfoy asked her as they continued walking.
“I’ve been looking into ancient laws and I was hoping to be able to go over your inheritance contract to find a loophole or something so we don’t have to live here after we get married. I assume your father is the will holder so I would need to go through him to see how it’s worded and how the magic is passed on from generation to generation.”
“We’ve already had our lawyers and solicitors go over it with a fine-toothed comb. There’s no way out of it.” He told her agitatedly.
“I would still like the opportunity to look it over. Especially if it’s going to affect any children you and I are required to have.” She said a small blush on her cheeks and a shudder as the thought ran through her body.
“Ah, Draco! Miss Granger, I presume. Good to see you!” A booming voice greeted them as they entered what Hermione assumed was the dining hall. A large, rotund man with sleek grey hair and chef’s whites greeted them with a smile and a warm handshake.
“Granger, this is Gary Wouters. He’s Mother’s go-to chef for her parties.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr Wouters,” Hermione told the man.
“Gary, please, Ms Granger. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Really spectacular how much you’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time. I’m honoured to be able to cook for your wedding, truly.” Hermione smiled uncomfortably but the man kept going, unaware. “Sit, sit! We have much to taste and discuss today. I’ve brought my very best dishes for you to try.” They took a seat at a table with enough chairs to seat the extended Weasley clan and then some, and Gary brought over a serving cart ladened with plates (a few extras floating along behind him).
“Now, Mrs Malfoy has informed me that you wish to have a formal dinner instead of a buffet, so I haven’t brought our buffet menu, but everything else here can be served as a meal. I’ve brought different canapes, meals, platters, paellas, roasts, salads, and barbeques to try today. Of course, we have the traditional meats, but we also have vegetarian options, vegan options, paleo options, and seafood options. And I know you’ve ordered a wedding cake but I did bring a few desserts and puddings for you to try as well. Why don’t we start with our canapes, paellas, and platter options?” Hermione was horrified to find that the fifty or so plates that were following the chef around were all starters. She stifled a groan as she realized just how long they would be there trying different foods and glanced sideways at Malfoy to see if he was already as overwhelmed as she was. Unfortunately, he just looked bored. She guessed that his mother probably had him help her decide menus all the time for her parties, balls, galas, and what have yous that she was always throwing, so he must have been used to this. Hermione, however, was not. She didn’t even know where to start as she looked at the table. Eggs, potatoes, pork, chicken, prawns, tortillas, mushrooms, bread, and all kinds of other things sat waiting to be eaten and she wasn’t even sure she could stomach one bite.
“Just how many items did he bring for us to try?” She whispered to the man next to her as the first plate was moved in front of her.
“I’m not sure. I believe his record was about 203?”
“203 different plates ?” She asked incredulously, turning to look at the man as he scurried around placing things on the table.
“Don’t worry, Mother normally lets us take a break around three to cleanse our palates and have a quick rest. I hope you didn’t have a big breakfast this morning.” He snickered at her. Godric, this was going to be a long day.