Hermione paced backed and forth nervously, the tulle skirt floating around her as she moved. The gala was going to be starting very soon, and Ginny had already left the room, leaving Hermione alone.
The bedroom door opened behind her and she turned to see Draco stopped in the doorway, staring at her with his jaw dropped slightly, two wine glasses in hand.
"Wow..." He breathed, looking her up and down.
A/N: Hermione's Outfit
She smiled then, her cheeks flushing as she looked down at the outfit and smoothed out the tulle. "Do you like it?"
A smile spread across his face as he continued to look her up and down, slowly stepping towards her. "You are absolutely stunning!"
His eyes stopped at the neckline though and he frowned. "That neckline might be an issue, though."
She laughed and put a hand on his chest, stepping up to give him a quick kiss. "I think it balances the rest of the outfit."
He scowled at her playfully but then grinned, offering her the second wine glass. "I suppose I'll allow it..."
"You're not going to growl at anyone, are you?" She asked with another laugh, taking the offered glass and sipping from it.
"I can't make any promises," He said, looking her up and down again before shaking his head. "I'm so lucky to have you; you are absolutely perfect."
Her cheeks flushed and she looked down at the floor with a smile. He laughed quietly and gave her forehead a kiss before taking her hand and gently pulling her towards the door. "Come on; we're supposed to greet the guests as they arrive."
She nodded and he led her out of the room, the two of them chatting quietly as they walked down the stairs. Blaise and Ginny were already standing outside of the doors to the ballroom, and Hermione gasped excitedly at the dress.
A/N: Ginny's Dress
"Ginny, you look amazing!" She exclaimed, rushing to her best friend and giving her a hug. "It looks even better than it did on the hanger!"
"I know! I can't stop looking down at it!" Ginny laughed, stepping back to look down again. "I just can't believe that his mother would pick something as stunning as this for me!"
Blaise grinned and leaned forward to give her a kiss on the temple. "Mother knows that I love you, and the Zabini image is too important to her for her to even want to remotely be responsible for tarnishing it."
Ginny laughed and said, "Whatever works, I suppose!"
Draco adjusted his tie before gesturing towards the doors and asked, "Well, shall we go in?"
Hermione wrapped her arm around Draco's as he smiled at her, and the four of them walked into the ballroom. Hermione gaped at how beautiful the large room was; it was so bright and glamorous with the velvety dark green curtains pulled back on all of the windows to reveal the beautiful night sky. The five large chandeliers cast a warm glow on the rest of the room, and there were groups of tables in every corner allowing for the center of the room to be for dancing. The orchestra had already begun to play, filling the large room with a beautiful song.
"Wow," Hermione breathed.
Draco chuckled and leaned over to give her a kiss. "You did a wonderful job, sweetheart."
"Merlin, Hermione," Ginny said, looking around in wonder. "You've been holding out! You should be an event planner!"
Hermione shook her head as she looked around as well. "Narcissa had a hand in this as well."
"Nonsense, dear, this was all you!"
The group turned to see Lucius and Narcissa walking in behind them, Narcissa's hand tucked neatly into the fold of her husband's arm as he escorted her. Narcissa smiled warmly at Hermione as they stopped in front of the group as she said, "I will have to make sure you plan all of the future Malfoy galas!"
Hermione laughed at this and said, "As long as I have some help from you! I could never have come up with anything as extravagant as this on my own!"
Narcissa simply smiled and shook her head, looking up at Lucius with a smile. He returned the smile and patted her hand before addressing Ginny and Blaise. "I must say, you two make a very beautiful couple. Aster did a wonderful job picking your dress, Ginny."
"I agree wholeheartedly," Blaise said as he wrapped an arm around Ginny and pulled her against him with a smile. "She certainly adds the beauty to this relationship."
Ginny lightly smacked his chest, the tips of her ears turning red from embarrassment. "Please, you're so incredibly handsome!"
"But my good looks are nothing compared to your beauty," Blaise said happily.
Draco made a gagging noise, prompting Ginny to laugh while Blaise scowled at the blond and Hermione smacked his chest. "Be nice!"
"That was just too much, mate," Draco said with a laugh.
"Don't tell me you wouldn't say the same about Hermione," Blaise said, gesturing towards the two of them. "She's the only thing that makes your ugly mug look good."
Draco gave an offended gasp while Lucius chuckled and took a step away. "I think Narcissa and I will excuse ourselves; would you like a glass of wine, dearest?"
"I think that sounds lovely," Narcissa replied with a smile, waving slightly as Lucius led her away.
Hermione watched them go before looking up at Draco, smiling happily. "I'm so happy that they're happier together again."
"I don't know how you did it," Draco smiled, giving her a quick kiss before pointing at Blaise and scowling. "Now, back to your comment about my 'ugly mug'!"
Hermione laughed and shook her head, happily leaning against Draco as the other three laughed as well.
It didn't take long for more guests to arrive; Harry and Morgan arrived not long after, with the Weasley family nervously in tow.
"Hermione, thank you so much for inviting us to this gala," Arthur said happily as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and looked around. "Merlin, it's beautiful in here!"
Molly nodded as well, a stunned look on her face as she gazed around the room. Hermione smiled at them and pointed towards the bar against the far wall, where Arthur happily lead his wife to after a mention from her about wine.
"I never thought in a million years that the Weasley family would be coming to a gala in my parents' manor," Draco said in amazement as he watched the crowd of red heads mingle with the rest of the crowd.
Hermione laughed and said, "I think it's going to be a wonderful night with the group of them added."
He smiled at her and they both looked up as Kingsley Shacklebolt walked into the ballroom with a large smile on his face and a beautiful witch on his arm.
"Ah, Minister!" Draco greeted warmly, reaching a hand out to the older wizard.
"It's great to see you again, Draco!" Kingsley shook his hand and then smiled to Hermione. "And Hermione, you are a vision of beauty!"
"Thank you, Minister," Hermione said as she returned his smile.
He waved them off and said, "Please, tonight you may call me Kingsley. Have you met my wife, Isabella?"
The four of them chatted for a few minutes before Kingsley led his wife away to chat with Arthur and a few other people, and Hermione sighed nervously.
"You're doing wonderful," Draco said reassuringly, giving her a kiss.
"I'm just nervous that I'm not living up to the expectation that comes from associating with the Malfoy name," She said worriedly, looking up at him. "Your family is known for being extravagant and I'm worried that I'm too casual for something like this."
"Hermione, love, you are the picture of elegance right now," He smiled before reaching for her empty wine glass. "I'll be right back, okay?"
She nodded and gave him a smile as he walked towards the bar, and she cast a quick glance around the room. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, with some of the crowd dancing while others mingled with each other.
Someone stopped next to her and she felt a hip nudge her own, looking over to see Ginny grinning at her. "How's it going, Miss Host?"
Hermione laughed and shook her head, taking in a deep breath. "I might not be able to talk after tonight; thankfully though I've recognized most of the guests that have arrived."
"I have to say, I'm surprised that there aren't more of the elite families here," Ginny said more quietly as she looked around. "Given that Lucius and Narcissa were always travelling through pureblood social circles, it's a shock that there aren't more of them here."
"They actually did that on purpose, I think," Hermione said. "When we were discussing the guest list, they didn't give very many names because they didn't want to associate with those types of people anymore."
Ginny blinked in surprise but smiled. "Wow, that's wonderful actually."
"The night is still young though, and half the guests haven't even shown up," Hermione laughed.
"Including Blaise's mother," Ginny muttered nervously.
Hermione gave her friend's arm a reassuring squeeze. "Remember she picked an absolutely beautiful dress for you to wear; she can't be all bad."
Ginny looked down at the dress again with a slight frown, sighing. "I know, it's just...she made it clear in the beginning that she did not approve and I've never actually met her. Blaise told me that she's come around but that doesn't mean she likes me."
"Well like you said, you haven't met her yet," Hermione said. "I'm sure once she does, she'll be so happy that you and Blaise are together."
"I really hope so," Ginny said quietly before shaking her head and smiling at her friend. "Things seem to be going well between you and Draco's parents."
Hermione smiled as well, casting a glance at the older Malfoy couple who were currently speaking with Kingsley and his wife, Isabella. "Yes, they've been wonderful to be around lately. I'm just happy that Narcissa no longer hates me."
"I can imagine; but Lucius has been just gushing about what an amazing job you've done here, and also about your work," Ginny said with a laugh. "He's been boasting more about you than he has about Draco!"
The two of them laughed together at that and Ginny looked up then as Draco reappeared next to them with Hermione's refilled glass of wine. "And there's the big bad wolf himself!"
Draco scowled at her as he handed off the wine glass. "I'm not very fond of that and you know it."
Ginny simply grinned while Hermione gave them both a confused look; she had never heard Ginny call him that. But before she could say anything, Ginny looked down into her wine glass with a frown and said, "I may need a refill myself, to at least help calm my nerves before-"
"Mother!"
The sudden exclamation made the three of them turn around as Blaise crossed the room happily towards the woman who had just entered the ballroom. Ginny's stomach twisted nervously as she shrunk closer to Hermione, watching as Blaise embraced his mother.
The rumors about Aster Zabini did her no justice, in Hermione's opinion. While it had always been said that she was a stunningly gorgeous witch, Hermione was caught off guard by just how beautiful Blaise's mother was. She was a petite woman, with Blaise nearly towering over her as they embraced but she had an air of sophistication and poise that made her seem taller than she actually was.
As Blaise pulled away, he kissed his mother's forehead and said, "It's been too long since you've come to visit; how's Italy?"
"I know, I'm very sorry for the delay in my visit," She said in a pained voice. "But your step-father had become ill and I needed to care for him."
"I understand," Blaise nodded with a smile. "Hopefully he is doing better now."
She tilted her head back and forth. "Depends on how one would describe the use of 'better' in this case."
Blaise couldn't help but laugh, offering his arm to his mother as he led her over to the other three. "Mother, I'm sure you remember Draco?"
"Of course," She said happily, reaching out to pat Draco's cheek lovingly. "You've become so handsome since I last saw you!"
"Wonderful to see you as always, Aster," Draco said warmly, leaning over to give her cheek a quick kiss.
Aster smiled at him before looking to Hermione and Ginny. While her face still held a smile, Hermione could see in the older witch's eyes a sense of haughtiness and pretention. She hid it well however as she smiled at Hermione.
"You must be the famous Hermione Granger," She said curtly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Hermione nodded and returned the smile. "And you as well, Mrs. Zabini."
Her eyes lingered on Hermione for a moment before she looked over to Ginny, her smile widening as she looked down at the dress. "I'm so delighted that the dress fits you; I was worried that it wouldn't!"
"It's an absolutely beautiful dress, thank you again for choosing this," Ginny said, her hand running against the fabric again. "I could have never chosen something as elegant as this."
"Yes well, only the best for my Blaise," Aster said as she fondly looked at her son.
"Ah, Aster!"
Lucius and Narcissa arrived, stopping just on the other side of Ginny as they looked over to Aster. Lucius stepped forward and gave Aster a kiss on the cheek followed by Narcissa pulling Aster in for a hug.
"I'm so happy you could make it," Narcissa said as she pulled away and smiled at her friend.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Aster laughed before gesturing around. "And you did a stunning job as always!"
"Actually, the credit goes to Hermione," Narcissa said warmly, giving Hermione's arm a gentle squeeze as she smiled at the brunette. "She did a wonderful job planning this gala!"
Aster's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she looked back at Hermione, looking the younger witch up and down. Hermione thought she heard a humming noise but her attention was caught by the genuine smile that Aster was now giving her.
"In that case, you did a stunning job, Miss Granger," Aster said. "I may need to have you plan a gala at my estate in Italy."
Hermione gaped at her in shock, causing Aster to laugh. Draco grinned down at Hermione before pressing a kiss to the side of her head and saying to Aster, "I think you may have broken her; she's rarely ever speechless!"
The others laughed warmly at this and Hermione smiled, her cheeks red from embarrassment as she took a sip from her wine glass.
Aster sighed happily after everyone had calmed down and then she smiled at her son. "Well, I think it may be time for me to grab a glass of wine."
"Here, I'll take you to the bar," Blaise said, gesturing in the general direction of where the bar was. "Ginny, love, do you need a refill?"
"Actually, I was hoping that Ginny would accompany me to the bar," Aster interrupted, smiling at the red head.
Ginny's heart dropped into her stomach as she tried to hide her nervousness. "Of-of course, Mrs. Zabini!"
"Please, call me Aster." She smiled again as she pulled her arm out of her son's and stepped forward to take Ginny's arm. "It will be good to have some bonding time with my son's significant other."
She pulled Ginny away from the group and the two of them walked away, leaving Blaise watching after them with a worried look.
"I hope Mother isn't too hard on her..." Blaise muttered, taking a sip of his whiskey.
"She seemed to like Ginny," Lucius said, putting a hand on Blaise's shoulder. "I wouldn't worry too much; remember, this is her first time meeting Ginny. She most likely just wants to get to know her a little better."
Blaise didn't say anything though as he continued to watch his mother and his girlfriend from across the room.
A/N: As always, Aster Zabini is played by the wonderful Thandie Newton! This is honestly how I picture Aster (minus the wrist armor):
As always, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Love you all! <3