I'll Always Be There for You...

I'll always be there for you...

Chapter 14

After everyone was done packing up, I followed Draco to the airport and we took a flight to Toronto, Canada because my next shot was at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.

We got there at nine at night, but the shoot wasn't until the next morning at six o'clock.

Since Toronto was a little ways away from the Falls, Draco rented a car and drove us there.

During the whole ride, I refused to speak to him because of what he had made me do. I felt so dirty and wrong, even though the shoot had been several hours ago.

"Look, Hermione," he said. "I know you're still mad at me, and I know you have a right to be. But I was wondering if we could talk about what happened the other night."

Since I was still mad at him I said, "We can't talk about it, since you don't want to talk about it."

He gave me a weird look. "I just said I wanted to talk about it."

"Just now you said that," I said, refusing to look at him, staring ahead, "but obviously you couldn't be bothered before. So I really don't think I'm in the mood now."

He seemed to get the message, because he immediately shut up. "Fine."

The rest of the journey, he didn't speak to me and neither did I.

When we finally got to Niagara Falls, my breath was taken away when I saw them. It was so beautiful, because it was night and the moon was shining over the sparkling water falling over the cliff.

It was so powerful, because there was so much water and it was so big.

I could also see the American Falls on the other side of the border, but I preferred the Canadian Falls better because they were bigger and more awe-inspiring.

Our hotel was one that was near the Casinos and other towers, that were all so tall that you could see the Falls from your suite window. At least that's what the concierge told us.

Draco gave me the key to my room and told me, "Be up at six. You have to get ready."

I nodded and took my key from him. When I opened the door to my room, I gasped and ran to the window.

The view from the window was gorgeous! I could see the Falls and I felt so insignificant in front of them.

When I opened the window I could feel the gentle mist of the water, because we weren't that high, but high enough to see everything.

Then I turned to the room and smiled with happiness again. It was a gorgeous room, one of the best hotel rooms I had stayed in.

There was a huge bed in the centre, draped with gold sheets and gold curtains hung from the windows. There was also beige coloured sofas, a TV, a mini fridge and loads of other cool stuff.

I opened the door to the bathroom and saw that it was huge with a Jacuzzi, shower stall, and a huge mirror.

After exploring the room in full, I realised I was tired. It was now eleven and I hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep for a while.

So I changed my clothes and jumped into the huge bed.

The bed was so comfy and soft, that my eyes closed in a few minutes.

The next morning, I woke up really early because I had to go to the bathroom. As I was going back into bed, I looked at the clock.

It was five thirty! I ran back into the bathroom and took a shower, washed my face and brushed my teeth.

Then I got ready in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. I refused to let Draco see any more of my skin.

So I grabbed my purse and opened my door, just as Draco was about to knock on it.

"Sorry," he said, lowering his hand.

"It's okay," I said.

"Let's go," he said, leading me down the elevator.

Downstairs, all we had to was walk across the lobby and out to doors and we were in front of the Falls.

They looked even more beautiful this morning, because the sun was just rising, over top of the Falls and the mist was sprinkling my face. I felt more alive than ever.

There was a certain spot that was marked off for me. It had my name on a board and had a roped off section.

The crew was already there setting up and I was immediately ushered unto a trailer; several women were waiting for me.

I got changed into a pink dress and my makeup and hair were done quickly. I heard a women say that the reason they were rushing was because they wanted to get several shots with the sun rising in the background.

Then I went outside and they made me pose, with the backdrop of the Falls.

I looked around for Draco, but I couldn't see him anywhere. This was strange because he was usually around for my shoot, but I couldn't see him anywhere today.

Whatever. It was good that he wasn't here to distract me, so I just concentrated on my shoot.

They made my pose in various places in front of the Falls, and I had a feeling that this was going to be my favourite place where we had shot before.

After I was done posing, I started looking around for Draco. I was supposed to go with him to the next location, which was Botanical Gardens, a fifteen-minute drive from the Falls.

The crew had already packed up and left for the next location because they thought that Draco was supposed to drive me over.

But he still wasn't here and I had been expected there ten minutes ago.

Just when I was growing restless, standing in my pink dress, my hair blowing like crazy in the wind, a black car drove up to where I was standing and stopped.

It was the rental car that Draco had rented last night. He opened the door and climbed out.

"Where have you been?" I demanded, sounding a lot like Mrs. Weasley. "We were supposed to be there twelve minutes ago!"

He didn't seem to mind that I was yelling at him. "Sorry, I had something important to do."

"Like what?" I questioned. This was very unusual of Draco, because he was never late. And he was always ranting about how I had to prioritize and stuff. And now he was late, saying that he had something to do.

Was it just my imagination or what Draco looking nervous, again, a first for him? This was strange.

Without saying anything else, he took out a box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a huge sparkling diamond ring that made Paris Hilton's ring look like a pebble and said, "Will you marry me?"

With my eyes wide, I couldn't think of anything to say. "But why?" unfortunately was the first thing that came out.

Great, I'm such a loser when it comes to making acceptance speeches when people ask me serious things. When Ron asked me (everyone knows how great that relationship went) to go out with him, I told him to shut up and when he asked me again, I started laughing my head off so that the chocolate milkshake I was drinking came squirting out of my nose.

And now, when Draco asked me, I asked him why? I'm such an idiot.

Draco, again, looked very uncomfortable. "Because...because I feel strongly for you."

I couldn't help but ask, being the nut that I am, "Feel strongly for me? Feel strong hatred? Revulsion? Pity? What?"

"You're not making this easy for me are you?" he said. "Because I...love you. The other night, when we...er....well, you know what I mean, I realised that I want to be with you forever...oh God, I sound so cheesy," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"But you were being so distant," I said.

"Yeah, cause I was trying to think of the best place of where to propose to you. A place that wouldn't seem so cheesy and stupid. A place you'd like. I was just thinking," he said. "So?"

Before I had a chance to even think about it, the word Yes was out of my mouth.

He wrapped his arms around me hugged me, while I hugged him back. Then he gave me another one of his kisses that made me feel as if I was walking on air.

He smiled at me and then I smiled back at him, just as he slipped the ring onto my finger.

"Hey, Draco, what about the contract?" I asked him, as we got into the car. "It said I couldn't get married, remember?"

His eyebrows furrowed for a bit while he tried to think. "Yeah, we're not married yet. We're only engaged and besides, the contract's ending soon."

I shrugged then. "That's fine with me."

We reached Botanical Gardens and I continued with my shoot, except with a really big smile on my face.

The rest of the week passed by quickly, because I was so happy and Draco had stopped being so mean to me. He still bugged me of course, but now it was sweet and funny.

The rest of the trip seemed wonderful. We went to Australia, New Zealand, and Russia and when I wasn't posing and being a model, Draco and I actually got explore the areas where we were staying and had loads of fun.

The last day, we boarded a plane at Moscow Airport to take us to London, England.

I had a funny feeling in my stomach since we had been in Niagara Falls that had been tiny. It was very intense right now, but I thought it was because I hadn't eaten all day.

But when the airhostesses handed out the meals and I ate, the funny feeling still didn't go away. It was probably just nervousness, I thought, as I closed my eyes, falling asleep.

As I fell deeper into my unconscious, I felt Draco's hand in mine, his fingers slowly caressing my hand.

I woke when the plane was landing with a big thud when we landed on the runway.

Draco gently nudged me to wake me up more, and then helped me get my bags from the top as we began to leave the plane.

Thank God we didn't have much stuff, since we had magically made our bags lighter and smaller, so I only had my purse and a small bag that Draco carried for me.

Taking my hand, Draco said, "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" I sleepily answered.

"For what people might say and think..." he said, as we walked down the ramp, but again, there were hordes of people waiting for us at the end of the ramp.

"'Mione! 'Mione!" they called out.

"Is it true you're engaged to your boss, Draco Malfoy?"

"Is it true you guys got married in a casino in Canada?"

"Is it true you're expecting a child already?"

So Draco and I stopped and posed for the photographers and answered their questions, while debunking several of their rumours.

By the time we got 'home' it was very late.

After dumping my stuff in my room, I went to Draco's room and said, "Good night."

He kissed me and then said, "You sure you don't want to...er...come in?" he smirked so I knew he was joking.

"No, Draco," I said, grinning. "I think...I might be busy tonight."

He frowned and then smirked again. "All right. Good night."

I then made my way to my room and unpacked all my things and put everything away.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was fast asleep.

The next morning, I woke up late, feeling rested and refreshed. I got dressed in a pair of jeans a black t-shirt. Just because Draco and I were engaged now, didn't mean that I had to dress up at home now.

While we were eating breakfast, I asked him, "Um, Draco? Could I break part of the contract? I really want to see my parents and tell them the good news."

He swallowed the bite of bagel he was chewing and then said, "Sure. Go today if you want. Don't forget we have that movie premiere to go to today."

"Thanks," I said, smiling. "I really miss them. You'll come, won't you?"

"Sure," he said. "What time?"

"Let me call and ask," I said, getting up and getting my cell phone from upstairs to Mum and Dad.

"Hey, Mum!" I said when she answered the phone.

"Hi, Hermione!" she said, equally happy to hear my voice.

"Mum, I was wondering if I could come over to see you and bring someone as well," I said in a rush.

"Oh?" she said and then she laughed. "I'm guessing this would be Draco Malfoy, to whom you are engaged?"

"Mum! How did you know?" I asked, slightly mad that my surprise was now ruined.

She laughed again. "It's in every magazine, honey."

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid. Of course it would be. "Well, can I still come over?"

"Of course!" she said. "How about at four o'clock and we'll have tea all right?"

"Lovely," I said. "See you then."

I hung up the phone and ran downstairs to tell Draco. But where he was sitting, in the Dining Room, were four-dozen red roses!

Draco came from the kitchen and said, "What did your parent's say?"

I just hugged him. "She said fine, but what's this?"

He shrugged, looking pleased that I was happy. "Something small."

"Something small?!" I said, laughing and then kissing him. But I felt guilty after when I looked at the roses everywhere and the lingering aroma they left. I couldn't help but think that Ron had never surprised me with sweet things like Draco, when we had been engaged even though I always hinted that I wanted him to.

"Thank you so much," I said, bending down to smell them.

He smiled; looking a little embarrassed and then said, "So your parents said it's fine?"

"Yes," I answered, "around four."

He nodded and said, "I also just got an Owl from Witch Weekly. They'd like to interview you tomorrow morning. And next weekend, they're having a party that they want us to come to. "

"That's fine," I said.

So at three thirty, I went to my bedroom and got dressed in a baby blue sundress and left my hair down with a clip to the side.

Then I went to Draco's room and saw that he was ready, wearing a short-sleeved collar shirt that blue with jeans. In a way we were matching.

So then we Apparated to my parent's house.

Before ringing the doorbell, I turned to Draco and said, "My parents are muggles, all right?"

He gave me a look and said, "I know, Hermione. Don't worry, I won't say anything."

I smiled at him and then rang the doorbell.

Dad answered and he looked really happy to see me. "Hermione!" he hugged me and I hugged him back. "I missed my little girl."

"I missed you too, Dad."

Dad let go of me and looked at Draco, who was standing, looking nervous at the door still. "Come in, come in," said dad.

"Thank you sir," said Draco. Ha! Draco called my dad sir? This was just too funny. He walked in.

"This must be the famous Draco Malfoy," said dad, shaking hands with him. "Good to meet you son."

"The pleasure's all mine, sir," Draco said. "You've got a wonderful house here."

"Thank you very much," said Dad. "Persephone! Hermione's here!"

"I'm coming!" I heard Mum answer from upstairs.

Dad pointed to the sitting room. "Take a seat, Mr. Malfoy," said Dad.

We all sat down, Dad on one side, with my and Draco side by side, facing him.

"Just call me Draco, sir," said Draco.

"Just call me Thomas, Draco," said Dad, grinning at me.

I smiled back and then Mum came in.

Draco stood up as soon as Mum came in and shook her hand as well. "You must be Hermione's sister," he said to Mum.

If anyone else had said that to Mum, I would have told them to shut up and stop trying too hard, but the way Draco said it, it was as if he was really serious.

Mum smiled at him and winked at me discreetly. Shaking his hand and gesturing to sit down, she said, "Of course not, dear. I'm her mother. But thank you for the compliment."

"So," said Mum, "congratulations."

"Thank you," Draco and I both said. For some reason, I felt nervous about this meeting. I had never felt nervous with Ron though, when I brought him over to my place.

"Draco, would you like something to drink?" Dad asked him. "I forgot to ask you."

"No thank you," said Draco.

"I'll just get the tea ready," said Mum. "Hermione would you care to help me?"

I got up and said, "Sure."

I joined Mum in the kitchen and got out the fancy mugs that Mum kept in the cupboard beside the fridge.

Since the kitchen was closed off from the sitting room, Mum said, "Well he's nice."

I smiled shyly. "Do you like him?"

Mum turned around from the kettle that was on the stove and said, "Truthfully, honey, I miss Ronald."

My mouth fell open. "What do you mean, Mum?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I mean, Draco's a nice boy as well. He obviously loves you, but it's not the same."

I sat up on a stool next to the counter. "But mum, you said you hated Ron. Whenever I was with him, you were always annoyed and mad."

"Oh honey, I wasn't mad," she said, "it's just that I thought you were getting committed too early. But after you two broke up, he came here several times looking for you, with bouquets of flowers and letters. But at that time, you had disappeared and I didn't know where you were. But that was when I realised he was perfect for you and that what you two had was great."

"But what's wrong with Draco?" I asked.

Mum sat down beside me. "Nothing, honey. It's just that he's not...Ron. But he's very nice and very polite. And he obviously cares a lot about you."

I stood up. "Mum, all these years I've endured what you've said about Ron, but please, this is my choice."

Mum also stood up. "Of course, honey. I understand and I promise I won't say anything else. Come on."

Then she took the teakettle with a tray of biscuits and I followed with the teacups and the bowl of sugar and milk.

Dad and Draco seemed to be getting alone great when we came in. They were talking about cars; something Draco and Dad both knew a fair deal about.

"Sugar, Draco?" Mum asked, as she poured milk in his tea.

"Just one, thanks," said Draco and Mum put in one teaspoon of sugar and then handed it to him.

After everyone was served his or her tea, Mum asked, "So you two, when's the wedding?"

Draco glanced at me and I glanced back. "We're not sure," I answered.

"Well how soon would you like to have it?" asked Dad.

"We haven't really discussed it," said Draco. "It's up to your family, Hermione."

"But what about your family, dear?" asked Mum.

"They passed away," said Draco.

"I'm sorry," said Mum. "Well, whenever you two would like it to be, I mean we'll help you."

"In two weeks," I said, all of a sudden.

"Two weeks?" Draco and Mum repeated back to me. Dad looked like he would've been okay if I had said tomorrow.

"Yes," I said. "I don't want a big wedding, but I want to do it soon."

Draco looked at me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I said, nodding my head.

Dad shot Mum a look and Mum said, "Well that's fine then."

The rest of the afternoon went by pleasantly, while discussing wedding details. Mum wanted it to be a Muggle wedding, while Dad was fine with it being a magical wedding. In the end we decided on a muggle wedding, since most of the guests would be from my side and they would be muggles.

By the time we left, it was seven and the premiere we had to go to started at eight. So we had to rush back home, get changed and then go to the premiere.

I chose a white halter-top dress that was really glamorous. I left my hair half out and half up with a white flower clip.

We got to the premiere, right on time at eight thirty (we were fashionably late).

When we stepped out from the limo that Draco had rented there were a dozen flash bulbs going off everywhere.

With Draco's arm around my waist, we stood on the red carpet and posed. Everyone had noticed the big ring on my finger, so then kept asking about and asking us when the wedding was.

There were some people who were acting weird, while we were standing around getting our picture taken.

"What's wrong with them?" I asked Draco.

Draco led me away from them. "Probably just drunks."

Finally, we got to go inside to the actual screening room and sat down to dinner, which we would eat before the movie would show.

During the movie, I got up to go to the bathroom, but this strange guy stopped me. His eyes were glazed over and he put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey darling, you look nice tonight. Want to go for a drive later?"

I pushed him away and tried walked to the bathroom, but he held on to my shoulder.

"Get off," I said. Thank God an attendant saw that he wouldn't let go of me, so she nicely took the man away.

I went back to my table, when I was done in the bathroom but didn't mention it to Draco. For some reason, what the man had done to me reminded me a lot of something that happened with me and Ron and also me and Draco.

When we were in the car, going home, I asked Draco, "Draco, do you remember that time you kissed me in your car. In the very beginning?"

He gave me a weird look. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember when for my shoot for Vogue I was late meeting you, and you were really mad at me? And you tried to do something to me?"

"No," he said. "I never did that."

I sighed, too tried to press the issue. "Never mind."

By the time we got home, it was twelve thirty and I crashed on my bed, after changing my clothes.

The next morning, I woke up at nine thirty to get ready for my interview for Witch Weekly, which was at ten o'clock.

Today I picked a pair of black pants with a white tank top and a little sweater on top.

At breakfast, Draco wished me good luck on the interview. "By the way, when you come back I might not be here, because I've got some stuff to do at the office."

"Ok," I said. I kissed him and then Apparated to the Witch Weekly office.

At the Witch Weekly Office, I checked in at the main desk and a woman took me to the back, where Julie was waiting for me.

"'Mione!" she said, when she saw me.

"Hi, Julie," I said, smiling at her.

She hugged me and then said, "I thought this would be impossible, but I would say you look more beautiful than before."

I laughed when I heard this. "Oh, stop it Julie. Thank you though."

"It's true though. Anyways have a seat," she aid, gesturing to the two couches.

After I sat down, she said, "Before we start the actual interview, I would just like to say congratulations on your engagement. I'm very happy for you."

"Thank you," I said.

"Anyways, let's start," she said, taking out her quill and piece of parchment. "Just in case you're wondering, this isn't a Quick-Quotes Quill." She smiled at me and I smiled back, lost in my memories. In my seventh year, after all the problem with the Quill when Rita Skeeter wrote interviews about Harry, I went on a 'vendetta' (as Ron would call it) against it and got it banned from the world of Journalism. In the end, Fred and George used it for one of their products and marketed as a joke quill.

Actually, that wasn't the whole vendetta I won. At the end of seventh year, someone actually listened to me (it was Luna) and published an article about what I thought about house-elves rights. In the end, after a lot of conferences with Ministry members, Board chairmen and a bunch of other people, I got house elves more rights, like vacation pay, sick leave and the like. It was one of moments that I was most proud of. Am still proud of.

I actually felt like I was doing something worthwhile. Like I had made a difference.

But this wasn't the time to reminisce. I tuned back into what Julie was saying and started doing the interview, answering all her questions to the best of my ability.

The interview took two hours to do, and then I got to go home.

"Bye!" said Julie. "See you at the party next week. You are coming aren't you?"

I nodded. "I'll see you there," I said, then Disapparated.

Back at home, Draco wasn't there. I remembered what he told me that morning, so I just went up to my room and got changed.

Then I was bored and couldn't think of what to do. The door to Draco's room was open so I decided to in.

His bedroom, as usual, was clean and all made up. I went into his office and saw the newest magazines for today, that had him and me on the cover and that featured articles about us.

In many of them, there were pictures from Niagara Falls, where we had gotten engaged. I rolled my eyes at them. The press couldn't ever leave us alone, could they?

Thankfully, none of them had wrong information, but it was extremely embarrassing to see huge high definition pictures of Draco and I kissing, knowing that my mother saw them.

Tossing them aside, I turned my eyes to the rest of office. There was his desk, with a bunch papers and quills, plus pens scattered on it. There was also a filing cabinet with a picture of us two on it from Niagara Falls.

Smiling at the picture, I looked at what was beside the filing cabinet. It was bottle of wine.

Strange. I never knew Draco liked to drink.

I picked it up and read the label. It was some wine called 'Symptom Free Wine'. It had Fred and George's shop's label on it, so I knew it was probably some joke item.

Underneath the title was a little description of product.

Hate having everyone know you're drunk? Hate the bad breath, the glazed over eyes and the killer hangovers? This wine has no symptoms of drunkenness or hangovers! When you drink Symptom Free Wine, be free of any symptoms!

My eyes widened when I read that. There was something at the back of my head that was beginning to come back to me.

When Draco had tried to kiss me in the car, and before that when he was acting strange when I met him after my shoot at Vogue he didn't show any symptoms of being drunk. His eyes weren't glazed over, nor did his breath stink of alcohol. Plus the next morning, he seemed fine to me.

This must be what he had gotten drunk off of.

But then.... another image popped up into my head. One of Ron trying to rape me.

His eyes weren't glazed over, nor did his breath stink. Plus he seemed fine the next morning.

But there was something different. Ron had forgotten what had happened the night before, while Draco apologized the next morning about what had happened.

Everything matched, but one thing didn't.

I turned the bottle over in my hands, scanning it for more clues. Anything that might explain Ron's strange behaviour.

Underneath the two digit bar code, I found something written in miniscule writing.

Side effects: If a whole bottle drunk, then everything that took place in duration of drunkenness will be forgotten.

I weighed the bottle in my hand. It was at least three quarters full, so that meant that Draco hadn't drunk all of it.

But Ron had probably drank a whole bottle of his brother's trick wine and then forgotten everything that had happened between him and me.

I closed my eyes and finally let the information sink in. All these days, since Ron and I broke up, I had been trying, so desperately, to understand why Ron would attempt something like rape on me. It hadn't made sense and it made me think of Ron as disgusting, when I thought back on our years as friends together.

This meant that it wasn't his fault, what had happened. Well of course it was his fault, since it was his choice of drinking. But this meant that Ron was still the same Ron that I had known and come to love when I was growing up.

I wondered how this would affect our relationship now and my marriage to Draco.

I realised, it wouldn't affect anything, except my misjudgement of his character during school. Because he still had never listened to me when we were going out and the way he and his family treated me when I told them what Ron had tried to do it me. It all added up.

Putting the bottle of wine back, I left Draco's room and went back to my room.

Draco came back two hours later and then told me that some client of his had invited us to dinner, so then we went out to dinner with them.

The next week passed by so quickly, I didn't even know when one day ended and another started.

I was so busy, with planning the wedding and continuing with my job of modeling. I met with Mum and Dad almost every day to discuss wedding details and every interview I had and every shoot I did, everyone asked me about my wedding and Draco. I was tired of it.

Draco was busy with his job, because after we got married, he would go back to the Ministry. He was trying to wrap up things at the Agency.

In the morning before the Witch Weekly party, I was looking through my things, just remembering days back at Hogwarts when I found the purse I had been using a few months ago.

I thought I had lost it, but it had been in this box of old stuff all along. I opened the purse, expecting to find nothing inside, but there was something.

There were some old letters and cards from Ginny as well as the formal invitation to her and Harry's wedding.

Opening the zipper on the side, I put my hand inside and found some Sickles and a ring.

I turned put the money back in and peered at the ring.

It was the ring that Ron had given me when he asked me to marry him. It was a small amethyst ring with a cluster of diamonds around it. It was very tiny (the stones) compared to the ring Draco had given me.

I slipped the big diamond one off my finger and put the tiny one on and held my hand away from me, looking at my hand. This ring made my hand seem bigger, even though it was small.

I slipped the diamond ring back on, and noticed that it made my hand seem much smaller.

The amethyst ring sparkled in my hand, because I hadn't worn it for long.

I remembered Ron asking me what my favourite stone was, a long time ago. He said that he thought it was diamonds since 'they were a girl's best friend' but I told him that I love amethysts because I love the lilac colour.

When Ron had proposed to me and I had seen the ring for the first time (after taking it out of my mouth and wiping it clean from bits of frosting) it seemed so grand and awe-inspiring to me. It was so beautiful and seemed so big and glamorous.

When I saw the diamond ring that Draco bought for me, all I thought was wow, that's big. Maybe because I was so used to a glamorous lifestyle, that the ring didn't seem that great to me.

But when I first saw the ring that Ron gave me, I thought it was so gorgeous and glamorous, because my life was simple. I wasn't rich, but I wasn't poor either. But that ring meant something to me.

There was a knock on the door. "Hermione, it's time to go to the party soon," came Draco's voice through the door. "Can I come in?"

"I'm changing," I said, picking up the junk off the floor and putting it back into the purse, but slipping the ring into the pocket of my pants. "I'm changing."