The Silver Envelope

An Early Christmas Gift

From across the room, she had been stunning. But up close, Draco felt his whole body tensing with awareness. He might as well be blind to everyone in the room save for her.
Draco placed his hand on the small of Hermione's back, turning to smile lightly at the rest of the group.
"Evening, everyone. Please excuse my tardiness," he said.
Potter looked as though the world had turned upside down. Ginny's mouth hung open in shock.
Johanna was looking Draco up and down with flabbergasted dismay. And, best of all, Weasley seemed to be stewing in a perfectly balanced mixture of astonishment, humiliation, stupidity, and
Excellent.
"Oh, Potter," Draco said, smoothly turning to hold out his free hand to shake. "Congratulations on the engagement, by the way. I'm sure you two will be very happy together."
Potter simply stared at Draco's outstretched hand.
"H-hold on," Potter said, looking to Hermione. "You're here with Malfoy?" Draco smiled with satisfaction, withdrawing his hand and placing it casually in his pocket. He let everyone soak in the sight of the two of them together with gratification. It was even better than he'd imagined.
Finally, Hermione's vocal cords seemed to wake up.
"Yes," she said, a bit more high-pitched than usual. "We're friends now, sort of. Draco is actually one of S.P.E. W.'s most generous donors. So, I invited him here tonight, as my personal guest."
When Hermione said Draco's first name, everyone looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.
"And I was honored to accept," Draco finished for her. "It's not every day that a beautiful, talented witch like Hermione asks me out.
If the group had been surprised to see him arrive, hearing him compliment Hermione that way seemed to have sent each one of them to an alternate dimension. Weasley looked as if he'd just snorted a crushed-up acid pop. Draco basked in the feeling of it for a moment, before turning to
her
"Speaking of which, Hermione," he said in a low voice. "You look stunning tonight." Leaning even closer to her ear, he whispered, "I'm sorry. I couldn't just let him speak to you like that."
Hermione swayed a bit, suddenly tilting off balance in her heels. Draco gripped her waist firmly, pulling her into his side for extra support. She looked up at him, and suddenly he knew she had already forgiven him. Her eyes, smoky with a bit of makeup, told him everything he wanted to hear
and more
"What was it you forgot?" Johanna squawked suddenly.
Reluctantly, Draco pulled his gaze away from Hermione to settle onto the woman. She looked
suspicious, thinking she had caught him in a lie.
Draco feigned embarrassment.
*Well, I had planned to do this in private, but I can see I'm not going to get much time alone with Ms. Granger tonight," he said, gesturing to the crowded ballroom around them.
Draco pulled a tiny velvet box from his pocket, using his wand to enlarge it back to its original size. It was large, flat, and shaped something like a heart.
"It's not much," he lied, holding it out to her.
Tentatively, she opened the box at its hinges. Inside, nestled in aged green velvet, was a gleaming necklace of gold and silver filigree, the intricate design forming several pointed rays set with brilliant diamonds. Hermione's jaw dropped at the sight of it. As if mesmerized, she examined the delicate metalwork, stunned into silence.
"You give so much to the wizarding community, Hermione," Draco said gently. "I thought you should have something nice for yourself."
"You bought her a necklace?" Potter said in disbelief.

Draco rolled his eyes at the brash question.
"Of course I didn't buy it, Potter," Draco huffed. "It's from my family's collection. I selected it from our vault a few weeks ago, with Hermione in mind. I thought it would look much better on her than it would sitting on a shelf in Gringotts," Draco said with a shrug.
Hermione's eyes flew to him, wide with shock at the idea of wearing a Malfoy family heirloom.
"You should put it on her," Ginny said suddenly. "She's not wearing any other jewelry, and that would go nicely with her dress."
Draco decided he liked the Weasley girl after all.
*With your permission..." Draco said, looking to Hermione.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!"
Weasley had shouted this, causing several nearby guests to turn to look at them. Hermione seemed to be jolted out of a dream at the sound. The way she had jumped in fright made Draco want to bundle her up and haul her away from the bastard.
Weasley strode forward.
"It's cursed, Hermione!" he snapped. "Can't you see? He'll do to you exactly what he did to Katie Bell. Exactly what he did to me! Remember the poisoned mead?"
Bloody, fucking hell. He should have thought of this before bringing her jewelry. The stupid things he had done as a teenager would always haunt him. He just had to hope that Hermione had learned to trust him enough not to believe Weasley. That hope was slim, however, since Weasley's poisoning in their sixth year had been the event to bring the two together in the first place. The very last thing he wanted to be reminded of right now was that horrific failure of his.
Hermione seemed to be thinking. Suddenly, she faced Weasley down, looking as brave as Godric Gryffindor himself.
"The necklace is perfectly harmless, Ron," she said confidently. "And to prove it, Draco will put it on himself first."
A grin cracked Draco's face. Stifling a laugh at the way Weasley was looking at them, Draco picked up the delicate necklace and promptly fastened it around the collar of his shirt. He struck a pose to model it properly, causing Hermione to giggle.
"It clashes with my bow tie, but I think I'll live," he said sardonically to the group.
Weasley's jaw jutted out in a look of such pure loathing, Draco was almost impressed that he hadn't drawn his wand and challenged him to a duel yet. Seeing that everyone was satisfied with the safety of the necklace, Draco removed it from himself and lowered it around Hermione's collarbone. His fingers lightly grazed her skin as he worked on the clasp, and he could have sworn he saw her shiver slightly.
She looked up at him when he was done, mouthing the words thank you. He winked.
"It looks great, Hermione," Ginny said firmly.
"I agree," Draco said, watching the way the jewels sparkled on her bare neck, lightly brushed with a few tendrils of her escaped hair. He imagined how it would feel to press his lips there, to the spot where her neck curved into her shoulder.
"You can't be serious, Hermione!" Weasley said. Everyone looked over at him. "It's Malfoy!"
"Draco has obviously been making some changes since our school days," Hermione said, emphasizing his name deliciously. "And since he's been so generous with his donations to S.P.E. W., I felt he was the obvious choice.
"Hermione, maybe we could talk with you in private?" Harry asked, but Johanna talked over him.
"How much has he been donating to S.P.E. W.?" Johanna asked inquisitively.
"I've been sending bank slips for a hundred or so Galleons every few months for the past...let's see, four years, I think," Draco drawled, shocking everyone listening. "I also hired an elf as my housekeeper and encouraged her to volunteer her time helping Hermione's cause. You might have met her-Ignoma? As I understand, she's been invaluable to S.P.E. W."
"You sent the flowers!" Weasley hissed.