House: Gryffindor

Position: HoH

Category: Theme (One Big Happy Family)

Prompts: Steal My Girl- One Direction, A Proposal

Word Count (excluding header and author's note): 2050

Beta: Tigger

AN- We know that portraits can move between portraits of themselves and down the halls in multiple portraits are hung in a row (like at Hogwarts). This is slightly AU; I'm assuming that all Death Eaters, excluding Draco, were either killed or sent to Azkaban.

The theme this round was "One Big Happy Family". It was a lot of fun to turn the Malfoy Family into a supportive, happy bunch!

Draco resumed his rapid pacing through the halls of Malfoy Manor's portrait gallery. His ancestors gave him varying looks of pity and contempt.

"Will you give it a rest, boy!" called his six times great-grandfather, Septimus. "Some of us are trying to get some sleep and your clacking shoes are echoing through the halls."

Septimus's wife, Zylphia, entered his portrait and gave him a hard pinch. "Be kind, won't you? Can't you see that poor Draco is distraught?" she scolded.

Draco raked his hand through his pale blond hair. He'd allowed his locks to become shaggy over the past few months. He found he cared little for his outward appearance when he was being ripped apart by such inner turmoil.

"Tell me what's ailing you, Draco," coaxed Zylphia.

"It's complicated," Draco commented. "You wouldn't understand." He turned on his heels when he reached one end of the hall and began to pace back in the other direction.

"Love usually is complicated," Zylphia replied knowingly.

Draco froze, his eyes going wide. "Wha—What do—How?" he sputtered.

"How do I know?" she asked. He nodded mutely. "It's not hard to figure out. You've been practically crawling out of your skin for the last few months. I'm guessing that it's an unrequited love?"

Draco pressed his back to the opposing wall and slid down to the marble floor. "It's complicated. She loves another who is more worthy of her than I could ever be. She should be with him."

"You're a Malfoy!" Septimus exclaimed. "There's no one better than a Malfoy."

"Be quiet, Septimus." Zylphia leveled an icy glare at her husband, silencing him instantly. "Why do you feel that you are unworthy?"

"Well, for starters, I have this wretched thing on my arm." Draco pushed up his left sleeve and traced over the faded remnants of the Dark Mark.

"And I take it she disapproves of your involvement in the war? Does she know that you had no other choice?" Zylphia asked gently.

Draco nodded as he shoved his sleeve back down to cover his shame. "She knows all about it. We're friends now. But, she has her own kind of mark."

"You don't mean the girl from the drawing room?" Zylphia gasped.

Septimus roared, "The Mudblood? How dare—"

Zylphia shoved him into the space beyond the portrait's frame. Septimus scowled and stalked away. "Is it truly her?" she asked.

Draco nodded. "I hate that word. I hate that I ever thought of her as something less, when in truth she's so much more."

A small smile graced Zylphia's oil-based features. "There's someone you need to speak with. Follow me."

Reluctantly, Draco stood up and wandered through the gallery's twisted labyrinth of rooms. Zylphia finally halted inside the portrait of another Malfoy ancestor. The stern man stared blankly ahead, indicating that he neither knew nor cared that his descendant was present.

"That's Lucius I." Draco recognized the man immediately. "He never talks to any of the living family members. How can he help?"

"Just tell him what you told me," Zylphia prompted. "Tell him about your love."

Even though he thought it was nonsense, Draco did as Zylphia requested. "I have fallen in love with a Muggleborn witch. She's strong, smart, beautiful, and resourceful. She's a damn Gryffindor for goodness sake, but I love her nonetheless. I know what was expected of me; I was supposed to marry a member of the sacred twenty-eight and have exactly one pureblood male heir. But I just can't do that. If I can't have her, I won't have anyone. She's the only one for me."

Zylphia grinned widely as Lucius's eyes met Draco's. "This is all my fault," Lucius stated, his voice weak and crackling from lack of use.

Draco felt his defenses rise. "I'm sorry that I'm such a disappointment. I love her and because of that the Malfoy line will die with me!"

"You misunderstand, boy. It is my fault," Lucius insisted. "My actions cursed this family."

Draco rocked back on his feet with that revelation. "What?"

"I, too, loved someone who society said that I shouldn't. When I was about your age, I pursued a woman who was unattainable. Elizabeth I? You may have heard of her?"

Draco couldn't stop the loud laugh that burst forth from his lips. "You fell in love with the Muggle Virgin Queen?" Lucius glared and pursed his lips. "I'm sorry. Please continue."

"As I was saying, I fell in love with Elizabeth. This was before the International Statute of Secrecy kept the Magical and Muggle worlds separate. The Malfoy family was prominent in English society. My father brought me to court to meet Henry VIII over the summer following my second year at Hogwarts. I believe he was on his fifth wife at that point? But that's not important. What matters is that is when I first met Elizabeth. She was a bright nine year old—vivacious, strong, and oh, so beautiful. From that moment forward, there was no other woman for me but my darling Bess. She owned my heart."

Draco cocked his eyebrow. "That cannot be so. You married Permilia Rosier and continued the Malfoy line." Draco's noble ancestry had been drilled into his memory as part of his early education.

"That is true," Lucius admitted. "I did marry another and provided an heir as was my duty to the Malfoy Family. But Bess was my only love. If I could, I would have married her."

"Your father would have allowed you to wed a Muggle?" Draco asked.

Lucius snorted. "My father, like all Malfoys, craved power and influence. Having his only son sit on the English throne and ensuring that the future generations of Malfoys were royalty was his dream come true."

"What happened?"

Lucius got a faraway look in his eyes. "There was another who craved Bess as I did. Robert Dudley," he sneered in the same manner in which Draco referred to Ron Weasley, "was her childhood friend. He wed another, but his heart belonged to Elizabeth. His wife was sickly, and if she had died he would have rushed to make Bess his next bride."

"Is that what happened? Did she choose him over you?"

Lucius shook his head. "That might have been easier to deal with. When I asked for her hand in marriage, she said no. I thought she'd run into his arms, but I was wrong. She turned us both away for her duty to the crown and her Muggle people. I was heartbroken and I turned my anger towards the Muggle world. I cursed us all with a modified love potion. Any goodwill, love, or admiration the Malfoy Family felt towards Muggles was extinguished. Malfoy sons were raised to believe they were superior to Muggles and anyone who carried Muggle blood within their veins."

Draco's jaw dropped. "So four centuries of blood prejudice and blissfully ignorant bigotry is because—"

"—Because Queen Elizabeth I ripped out my heart," Lucius finished.

"So there's no hope for me and Hermione? We are cursed before we could even start." Draco's shoulders sagged in defeat.

A small smile graced the portrait's face. "No." Draco's head snapped back up. "It appears my curse ends with you. You are the first Malfoy in over four hundred years who has been brave enough—"

"—I'm not brave. I'm a ruddy coward when it comes down to it."

"You are brave. The mark on your arm which you loathe so much attests to that. You're the only person bearing that mark who is walking free today. I know all about how you lied to save your beloved and her friends from that crazy snake charmer. He would have rewarded you, but you chose to take a stand. You were brave for her in a way that I wasn't for my Bess."

"She's turned me into such a Gryffindor," Draco chuckled.

Lucius grinned. "Bravery isn't solely for lions, just like cunning isn't only for snakes. You must be both, Draco."

"She loves another," Draco said sadly. "She has her own Robert Dudley and everyone expects them to be together."

"Don't let anyone steal your girl based on expectations. Don't let someone take her heart away from you just because you were too scared to fight for it. Out of the billions of people in the whole wide world, will there ever be another woman for you?"

Draco shook his head. "No, never."

"Does your heart belong to her?"

"For as long as it's beating," Draco pledged.

"Then, for Merlin's sake, go find out if she feels the same way!" Lucius ordered.

Zylphia, who had been silent throughout the exchange, was blubbering. "Bring her back to us, Draco. I can't wait to meet this girl."

"Before you go," Lucius called before Draco could race away, "I have something you might find useful." Lucius and Zylphia walked into the adjacent portrait.

The empty portrait slowly hinged away from the wall revealing a small safe.

"Why isn't this in the Malfoy vaults at Gringotts?" Draco questioned as he withdrew the only object in the safe.

"Some things are too precious for even Gringotts."

Lucius smiled as Draco ran from the portrait gallery.

Septimus grumbled as he walked through the portraits to join his wife. "Is the boy gone? I'm long overdue for a nap."

Zylphia tutted. "Now, Septimus, you remember what it was like to be young and in love."

"But he says he's in love with a Mudblood! It's despicable! We cannot allow this travesty to occur."

Lucius sighed. "Septimus, if you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it if you would gather the other portraits and meet me in the large painting in the foyer. I have something to share with you all that is long overdue. It will change everything."

"What are we doing here Draco?" Hermione warily asked.

She allowed him to drag her through the twisting halls of the portrait gallery. She had expected to hear jeers and taunts for the Malfoy ancestors about her lineage, or lack of lineage as the case may be. But instead, the portraits smiled and waved as the young couple walked by.

"There's someone I want to introduce you to," Draco said. He suddenly halted in front of a portrait of a blond man wearing sixteenth century attire and a kind smile.

"Hello, Bess."

"Oh! My name's not Bess. I'm Hermione Granger. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Malfoy."

"Call me Lucius, dear."

Hermione shot Draco a questioning look. "This is Lucius I," he explained. "My father was Lucius II. You'll learn that there are a lot of repeating names in the Malfoy family."

"So should I be expecting to meet any other Dracos?"

He threw his head back and laughed openly. "I'm the only one, love."

She sighed as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"So you got your girl, then?" asked Lucius.

Hermione giggled. "This fool," she poked Draco's chest, "burst into my flat raving about not letting Ron steal my heart away. I adore Ron, but only like a brother. For a long time, my heart has belonged to another. I thought he would never want me, so I'd given up on love. I've never been so happy to be wrong about something."

"You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that," Draco whispered. He grasped her hands as he sank to one knee. "Hermione Jean Granger, you make me want to be a better wizard. You've challenged me to become a better man. You're strong, smart, brave, and beautiful. Out of the billions of people in the world, there will never be another woman for me. You've stolen my heart. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

"YES!" Her happy cry echoed throughout the portrait gallery leading to cheers from the residents of the artwork.

Draco slid a stunning diamond and sapphire antique ring onto her finger. "Oh, Draco. It's beautiful. How did you know?"

He grinned. "I can't take credit for it, love. Lucius gave me this ring."

"And I can think of no better woman to finally wear it. Welcome to the family, my dear. We've been waiting for you for a long time."

The Malfoy Family ancestors cheered from their portraits as Draco pulled Hermione in for a kiss.

AN2- Both Hermione and Queen Elizabeth I were born in September and therefore share the same birthstone: sapphire. I hope you enjoyed my remake of British history!