"Looks like your mother and Ginny are getting along well," Draco said with a grin as he nudged Blaise.
"Almost too well," Blaise said, raising an eyebrow as he watched Ginny and his mother laugh at something his mother had said.
"That's a good thing, though!" Hermione said happily. "You two were both so worried about how she would react to Ginny."
"I know, but now it seems as though they're best friends, and that's a dangerous combination," Blaise groaned as he took a sip from his whiskey.
Draco and Hermione both laughed at this as they watched Aster and Ginny break out into a fit of laughter again, Ginny having to set her wine glass down to stop from spilling it.
"That can't be good," Blaise muttered.
"Oh, stop worrying!" Hermione laughed, giving Blaise's arm a light smack.
Blaise couldn't help but grin, and the sound of someone arriving caught their attention. Hermione instantly heard Draco groan though as the two new arrivals walked into the ballroom.
It appeared to be an older witch and her two daughters, the eldest seeming looking to be around their age. Hermione thought she recognized this woman, but couldn't quite place where from.
"I'm surprised they were invited," Blaise said, his eyebrows shooting upwards in shock.
"Who are they?" Hermione asked curiously. "I think I recognize one of them..."
"It's the Greengrasses," Draco said unhappily, taking a long drink from his wine. "Mother must have invited them for some reason..."
Greengrass. The name instantly came back to Hermione and she gave Draco a terrified look. "You mean, the one your mother tried to set you up with at that first lunch we had with them?"
"Mother and Zinnia Greengrass have been friends for years," Draco explained. "That has to be the only reason they are here. I'm not sure why Astoria and Daphne are here though..."
Hermione watched nervously as Narcissa and Lucius crossed the room to greet their guests, and noticed that the elder daughter, whom Hermione now realized was Astoria Greengrass, was looking around the room. Almost as if she were looking for someone in particular.
Astoria paused as her eyes fell to Draco and she quickly leaned forward to whisper something in her mother's ear. Her mother looked at her and gestured towards us with an urgent expression, and then Astoria left her mother's side to walk towards the group.
"Oh Merlin..." Blaise muttered. "This will be interesting."
"Why is she coming over here?" Hermione asked in a slightly panicked voice.
"She was housemates with us, two years younger though," Blaise explained quietly. "Hopefully she's only saying hi..."
Astoria stopped next to them, smiling widely at Blaise but focusing particularly on Draco. "Blaise, Draco! You both are looking handsome as ever!"
Hermione glared as she noticed Astoria eye Draco slowly, her gaze raking up and down as she took him in. Draco stepped next to Hermione and wrapped an arm around her waist, nodding as he said in a curt voice, "Astoria, it has been a while."
Astoria raised an eyebrow as Draco pulled Hermione close against him, a noticeable rage in her eyes. She forced a smile however and said to Hermione, "Hello, I don't believe we've met! I'm Astoria Greengrass."
She held out a hand, but Hermione didn't take it. Instead Hermione gave a sweet smile and said, "Hermione Granger, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
Astoria's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. "Hermione Granger?"
"Surely you remember her," Draco said dryly.
"Well, yes, I..." Astoria stared at Hermione in shock. "I just wasn't expecting for her to be here."
"Why not?" Blaise asked this time. "After all, she and Draco are together; they are tonight's hosts."
Astoria gave him a shocked look before looking between Draco and Hermione. Before she could say anything however, there was an excited exclamation from behind her that caused the four of them to look around.
"My goodness, Draco!" The older woman, Zinnia, exclaimed, rushing over to embrace him. "You've become so handsome since I last saw you!"
Draco reluctantly returned her hug, pulling away quickly and taking a step back to wrap his arm around Hermione again. With a curt nod he said, "It's nice to see you as well, Mrs. Greengrass."
She smiled widely at him before glancing down and noticing that he was holding Hermione. She gave Hermione a pointed look before looking back at Draco with an overly excited expression.
"I hear you are still one of the wizarding world's most eligible bachelors!" She said with an odd glint in her eye.
Draco stared at her before scoffing. "I most certainly am not."
Zinnia blinked. "But...you are not engaged, correct?"
"I am with Hermione," Draco said, pulling her closer against him to make a point.
"Well yes, the Prophet rumored that you two were together," Zinnia said in a strained voice, noticeably ignoring Hermione's presence.
"Zinnia!"
They looked to see Narcissa stopping next to Blaise, a forced smile on her face. "Please, come join me! I feel as though it's been forever since we've caught up!"
Zinnia pursed her lips but nodded, giving Draco one last smile before walking towards Narcissa with Astoria in tow.
Hermione let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, looking down at the floor in silence. She felt Draco squeeze her hip as he said quietly, "Don't let her bother you."
"The nerve of that woman!" Blaise said angrily. "She was clearly going to push a relationship between you and Astoria."
"Well she would have failed miserably," Draco muttered. "Assuming that I'm eligible only because I'm not engaged yet."
He looked away then before glancing back at Blaise. "I think it's time."
Blaise seemed to nod in understanding and Draco gave Hermione a quick kiss before pulling away. She watched as he walked away quickly, her brow furrowing though as he stopped behind Ginny's chair.
"What's that look for?"
She looked over at Blaise before looking back to Draco, who was saying something to Ginny now. "I don't know...he made a comment earlier that made me uneasy."
"What's that?" Blaise asked, stepping forward to stand next to her.
Hermione thought for a moment before shaking her head and sighing unhappily. "It's ridiculous...I don't even know why it bothered me. When Ginny called him the big bad wolf and he just said that she knew he didn't like that name...it just made it seem like she's called him that before but I've never heard her say it when we were all together."
Blaise sighed and asked quietly, "You think they're hanging out together on their own?"
"I told you, it's ridiculous..." Hermione muttered, taking an embarrassed sip of her wine. "He would never do that to me, and neither would Ginny."
"I can assure you, he's not," Blaise said confidently. "We're about to get the plan going, and I suspect he's setting her up for it."
Hermione looked up at him excitedly. "You're going to propose here? Now?"
Blaise simply grinned and she squealed quietly, bouncing up and down slightly. "I'm so excited! What do I need to do?"
"Well, she's going to come over here and ask you for a dance," Blaise explained. "It's going to be a fun dance; I've already told the orchestra to play a lively song. After a minute or two, I'm going to come up behind her and get into position, and then you're going to spin her out to me. Draco will be standing behind you as well."
Hermione nodded, grinning excitedly. She looked to see that Draco and Ginny were making their way towards Blaise and Hermione, and Ginny had a large grin on her face.
"Care to dance?" Ginny asked excitedly, holding a hand out to Hermione.
"Don't mind if I do!" Hermione said, taking a drink from her wine before handing her glass off to Draco and taking Ginny's hand.
The two of them laughed together as they walked out to the dance floor hand in hand, prompting smiles and laughs from the other guests. George and Angelina were dancing together off to the side, and Angelina gave a small holler to the girls as they began dancing happily.
Hermione's stomach twisted in a mixture of nervousness and excitement, but she tried to contain her excitement as she asked, "So how are you enjoying your first gala?"
"It's been absolutely wonderful!" Ginny laughed before giving her a friend a sly look. "Though I don't think any in the future are going to top this one!"
"What's that look for?" Hermione asked with a laugh.
"You'll see!"
Hermione saw Blaise slowly walk up behind Ginny, and he gave her a nod. She grinned widely as he went down on one knee, and she went to spin Ginny out towards him.
Ginny spun around a few times, laughing happily before coming to a stop, gasping as she saw Blaise. Hermione smiled widely and turned around to look for Draco, her heart stopping as she found him behind her. He was down on one knee as well with a large smile.
"What..." She breathed, looking back at Blaise and Ginny.
Ginny was in shock as well, her hands over her mouth as she looked between Blaise and Draco with wide eyes.
Blaise was grinning, tears brimming his eyes as he looked at her. "Ginny..."
"Hermione..." Draco said, catching Hermione's attention.
The ballroom was silent, and the two of them then said in unison:
"Will you marry me?"
Hermione's chest clenched with happiness and she could only nod, tears falling as she cried happily. Draco beamed as he slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, wrapping his arms around her happily.
Ginny was crying as well, though she had shouted her answer and nearly tackled Blaise to the floor in her excitement as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He laughed as he wrapped one around her back and tried to keep himself upright, holding her tightly before pulling away to push the ring onto Ginny's finger.
The crowd was cheering happily, and Hermione thought she saw a bag or two being thrown between the Weasleys, making her laugh as she looked towards the other couple.
"You two hid this from us!" Hermione exclaimed, wiping away her tears as Blaise and Ginny stood up.
"Of course we did!" Draco laughed. "We haven't even told you the best part yet!"
Hermione and Ginny both looked between them as Blaise laughed and explained, "You both knew about the others proposal and unknowingly helped to plan your own!"
Ginny laughed as well, wiping her face with the back of her hand before looking down at her ring happily. "Oh Blaise, it's so beautiful!"
Her hands were shaking and she reached up to give him a kiss. Then she rounded on Hermione and asked, "So you knew Blaise was going to propose to me?"
"Of course!" Hermione said. "He came to me a couple months ago! You knew Draco was going to propose?"
"Who do you think put the idea into his head?!" Ginny laughed.
Hermione laughed as well, pulling Ginny in for a hug that was happily returned. The crowd suddenly gather around them and congratulations were passed around as everyone took turns admiring the new rings.
"I'd like to make a toast!" Lucius bellowed happily, catching everyone's attention as he raised his glass.
The guests raised their glasses as well as Hermione and Ginny both retrieved theirs, the two still giddy with excitement.
"To these two beautiful couples," Lucius said proudly, gesturing towards the four of them. "May tonight be the start of a wonderful life for you four that is filled with love and surprises!"
As everyone cheered the toast, Ginny laughed and looked up at Blaise. "I don't think you'll be able to top this surprise."
Blaise grinned and gave her a kiss while Hermione looked at Draco and smiled. "I have to agree; this was a huge surprise!"
"And there will be many more to come!" Draco smiled, pulling her in for a kiss that she happily returned.
Hermione's Ring (edit: the ring has been changed as of 2/14-2021):
Ginny's Ring:
A/N: I am so happy with the ending of this book; typically endings are harder for me emotionally but this one was so light and happy that I enjoyed writing the ending! I do have plans in the future for a sequel to this that you all will enjoy, but in the meantime I hope you all have enjoyed this book! I love you all! <3