Unwritten

"Cause we are beautiful

No matter what they say,

Yes, words won\'t bring us down, oh no

We are beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can\'t bring us down

Don\'t you bring me down today



Don\'t you bring me down today

Don\'t you bring me down today..."



Hermione slowly opened her eyes and glanced about the room as the song ended. Harry and Ron applauded with looks of absolute shock on their faces. However, before either boy could say anything, Draco strummed his guitar with a more electronic sound and Hermione smiled.



The two Gryffindors looked at one another in confusion before sitting back down. As Draco\'s guitar mellowed out, the chords for the next song began to come through with the help of Susan and Anthony. Hermione stepped up to the microphone again.



"Miss Independent

Miss Self-Sufficient

Miss Keep-Your-Distance



Miss Unafraid

Miss Outta-My-Way

Miss Don\'t-Let-A-Man-Interfere, no



Miss On-Her-Own

Miss Almost-Grown

Miss Never-Let-A-Man-Help-Her-Off-Her-Throne



So, by keeping her heart protected

She\'d never ever feel rejected,

Little Miss Apprehensive

I said, Ooh, she fell in love..."



The song continued on. And, they even managed to fit one of Draco\'s new songs in. A song he had named "In Between." By the time the band finished their music, Ron and Harry were stunned into silence.



After the last song was over, Hermione and Ginny approached the two Gryffindor boys. Draco stayed back, putting up his guitar and going over a few chords with Susan that she couldn\'t quite get.



"So, what did you think?" Hermione asked her two best friends.



Harry slowly shook his head. "I never," he started, then stopped. He shook his head again. "Wow, Hermione. Just... wow."



Ron nodded in an unfocused kind of way. "That was amazing," he whispered, completely stunned.



The girls laughed. Ginny glanced at Hermione as she sat in Harry\'s lap. "I never thought you\'d ever manage to get this gits speechless, \'Mione," the red head said. "But, I see you have surprised us all again."



At that moment, Hermione felt a hand on her back and she knew Draco had joined them. "Do we meet your approval, Potter?" he asked, not bothering to mask his disdain at the thought.



Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he looked up at the Slytherin. "I still don\'t know what you are up to, Malfoy," he said, finally. "But, the band seems to be sound. I was more worried this was some sort of trick. Some way to..."



Draco\'s eyes narrowed. "Some way to what?" he growled, lowly.



Harry stood, followed by Ron. The bespectacled boy shook his head. "I\'m not sure," he commented.



"We were just worried you were trying to use Hermione," Ron spoke up, his shock having rolled over. "She\'s like a sister to us. We don\'t want to see her hurt."



"And you were worried I was intending to do what?" Draco asked, his eyes narrowed. "Leave her alone on the stage, perhaps? Embarrass her in front of our peers? In case you haven\'t noticed, she and I are dating now. To humiliate her would be to humiliate myself. I wouldn\'t stoop to such lowly levels."



"We don\'t know that," Harry confessed. "And we won\'t know it until we see it."



Draco was about to retort when Hermione interrupted them. "So, I guess this means you won\'t be giving Ginny and I anymore grief about practice?" she asked, trying to dispel the tension that seemed to engulf the room.



Harry shook his head. "No. We won\'t," he promised. "Like I said yesterday, I was just worried. I don\'t like it when Ginny keeps secrets from me. And I really am not pleased with you dating Malfoy."



Hermione heaved a sigh, but Harry interrupted her before she could say anything. "I\'m not saying I\'m going to get in the way," he told her, looking into her eyes. "But, at the same time, I\'m not going to stand idly by if I see this relationship start to turn sour."



"I\'m not a child, Harry," she said sternly. "I can take care of myself."



"I know," the black haired boy confessed. "But, like Ron said, you\'re like family. The closest to a sister that I will ever have."



The five stood there for a while, almost oblivious to the others in the room as they mulled things over in their minds. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Harry and Ron shook hands with Draco, each agreeing to some sort of... truce.



Hermione and Draco watched as Ginny escorted Harry and Ron out of the room. Eventually, the others left as well, after Astoria cast Draco a significant look that Hermione wasn\'t overly pleased about. Once everyone was gone, the Gryffindor turned to her boyfriend.



"What was that about?" she asked.



Draco looked at her curiously. "What?"



She pointed to the door. "Astoria. She gave you a look. What was that about?" she rectified.



Draco shrugged. "Nothing of consequence," he answered, vaguely.



"What aren\'t you telling me?" she pressed.



He began fiddling with his nails and Hermione knew he was keeping something from her. She stood there and waited for him to say something. "Draco..."



"My mother is back at the Manor," he said with a sigh.



He turned away from her and walked over to the table where Harry and Ron had sat during the practice. He practically fell into his usual seat, which happened to be the seat Harry had vacated only minutes before. "She had received a very \'unsavoury\' news article from Witch Weekly the other day informing her that her son was dating... well, that you and I were together. She felt the need to return home to find out if the rumours were true."



"What did you tell her?" Hermione asked, joining him at the table.



He placed his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. Then, he looked up at her, his chin resting in one of his hands. "I\'ve not sent her a reply yet," he confessed. "I\'m not sure what the reception will be when she finds it all to be true. Furthermore, I hadn\'t intended on letting her know about it, nor about the concert."



She gave him a confused look. "What do you intend, then?" she asked. "Honestly, Draco. How long did you think you could keep it all from your parents? They may be a bit old fashioned, but they aren\'t dead. Your father isn\'t going to be in Azkaban forever. What will you do when he comes out? And I\'m sure your mother intends to visit him. I\'m sure she\'ll tell him all about the band and me. I mean, I know we\'ve only been together for a month, but..."



She looked away. The hurt was clear in her eyes, and he knew he had caused it. "If we are still together by the time my father comes out of Azkaban, I had every intention of telling him," Draco reassured her.



He reached out and took her hand into his. "I just didn\'t expect them to find out so soon. My mother is not going to take this information easily. And she certainly will be displeased when she learns of the band."



Hermione shook her head. "Then why go through with it? Honestly. If you\'re so caught up in what your parents think..."



"I\'m not," he argued. His eyes hardened. "I don\'t give a damn what my parents think. I don\'t care what they think about the band or... you."



She turned to look at him. "Then why are you so upset?"



He sighed and shrugged. "I suppose part of it is well... I\'ve always worked so hard to meet my parents\' approval in everything. All they ever wanted for me was to grow up well, make excellent grades, marry well, and have children. Father is so anxious about me going into the ministry and learning the financial points of our family and our own company."



"But, you\'re still so young," Hermione argued. "You have plenty of time for a wife and children. And, well, you already excel in school. As far as growing up well, well, I have to admit, you were quite the spoiled brat throughout our years, but I think you turned out pretty well. And you have plenty of time to learn the family business. And I\'m pretty sure your father has already been teaching you everything. He\'s still quite young himself, so I doubt he\'s going anywhere any time soon. By the time he\'s old enough to even think about retiring, you\'ll know the books and everything by heart."



Draco stared at her for a long while. How did he manage to get so lucky? To have a girl who had so much confidence in him surprised him. Even more, she was completely genuine in her words. She truly believed he could accomplish it all.



"I\'ve hesitated giving this to you," he said, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out a small white box. He played with the small green ribbon tied around it. "It\'s a family heirloom and quite old. I wanted to give it to you yesterday, but then my mother sent me the owl informing me of her return and I stopped."



Hermione eyed the box warily. She really hoped it wasn\'t what she thought it was. After all, they\'d only been dating for a month.



Draco seemed to read her mind, however. "It\'s not an engagement ring, or anything of the like," he assured her.



Hermione watched as he gently undid the ribbon and opened the box. What she saw nearly took her breath away. The fact that the ring was old was an understatement. However, the emerald and ruby shined as brightly as though it had been purchased yesterday. He handed her the box so she could study the ring more closely. She was surprised to see the great attention to detail.



"Years ago, and by years, I mean quite a few centuries, one of my ancestors fell in love with a Gryffindor," he told her, softly. "He gave this to her as a 50th year anniversary gift."



"It\'s beautiful," she whispered. Then, she looked up at him. "But, why give this to me?"



He sighed. "Our family has always believed in arranged marriages. In fact, their marriage was the first and only marriage that had been completely not arranged. It caused quite a scandal, honestly. She wasn\'t exactly in the high class bracket. But, he loved her, his father had passed, and no one could tell him differently. One of the few Malfoys who were lucky enough to marry for love."



She looked at him curiously. "So, I ask again, why me?" she pressed.



He shrugged. "Because, when I think of us, I think of them. And, I know it\'s early in our relationship, but my hope is that, one day, we will be like them."



"Are you currently involved in an arrangement?" she asked.



He shook his head. "Not really. There was talk between my father and Mr. Greengrass before my father ended up in prison. I don\'t know what it\'s going to be like when he gets out, but I don\'t intend on waiting around to find out, either."



"This is incredible, Draco. But, we\'ve only started dating. How long are you intending this relationship to last?"



Draco gave her a smirk that looked more like a half smile. "As long as we can make it," he answered as he took the ring out of the box and placed it on her right ring finger.

---

Author\'s Note: Songs are, "Beautiful" by Christina Agularia, "Miss Independent" by Kelly Clarkson, and "In Between" by Linkin Park.



Sorry, it\'s taken so long, guys. There\'s only a few more chapters left to this story, that I hope to get out soon.