Chapter 1

Despite my desperate desire, I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

...

Dumbledore looked up from his desk as Minerva stormed into his study. He smiled pleasantly at her but she looked angry.

"Albus, what is the meaning of this?" she asked waving papers in front of her.

"To stop the civil war that is brewing," he replied still smiling at her leaning back slightly.

"And you think that a marriage law is going to do this?" she asked him point blank. It was at times like this that she realised that she would never understand this man.

"Yes and the ministry seems to think so too."

"I don't give two hoots about the ministry. You have a responsibility to our students to stop this medieval law!" she said as she slammed the papers on the table. "These partnerships will not last. You will drive further stakes into the problem."

"I do not expect all the partnerships to last but a few keys ones will calm the problem down a few pegs."

"Which ones have you pinned the hope of thousands of lives on?"

"The future head boy and head girl is the main one."

Miverna looked at him with complete disbelief. "Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy? That is who you are partnering? They will kill each other by the second day! Mr. Malfoy would never accept her as a wife."

"I think he will and when he does others will follow his suit. He is a powerful young man. Holds much influence due to his family."

"His family are in Azkaban!"

"I am aware of that."

"Why not just make them marry then as service to the school and save the others?" she asked.

"Because we are not going to tell them what is expected of them. Everything must seem genuine if others are to follow in their footsteps. They are equal in everything and a mutual respect will appear."

"I won't say I told you so when this all blows up in your face," Miverna told him still annoyed.

"I won't I say it when it doesn't," Albus replied to her grinning now.

...

Hermione Granger had to admire Draco Malfoy. Even though his family was in prison and he escaped it only because of Dumbledore's interference, he was still able to walk around like he owned any place he was in. She shook her head at him and sighed. A whole year with just me and him stuck together on duties. He turned and he caught her looking at him. Her eyes shot back down at her book. It was not like she was scared of him per say. It was just that he was an intimidating man and he made her nervous. Please don't come over she begged silently. Please.

"Granger," came Malfoy's authoritative and irritated voice from above her. "Did you get the letter over the summer?"

Odd. No jibe or joke about her heritage or her hair or teeth. "Yes, I ... er I did." She had not looked up from her book and she was stumbling over her words. She wished at these moments that she could be stronger and confident but she just wasn't.

"So you know about me and you working together this term then?" he asked sitting opposite her in the empty carriage leaning back and casually folding his arms across his chest.

Glancing up nervously, she saw him staring at her. "Yes I do." Her eyes darted to window.

"Excellent. Since we will be sharing rooms, I will see you there with Dumbledore then." Hermione simply nodded.

"Er ... since we will have to work together, should we call each other by first names?"

"What?" Hermione said finally looked at him albeit with confusion.

"I just thought that it would be nicer."

"Nicer? Since when do you care about being nice to me?" Hermione was getting angry. If he thought he could just erase everything that he had done to her, he was very wrong.

Malfoy clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked out the window. "We cannot be as childish as we were before. We need to set an example to the other students."

The train's whistle went and it began to slow down. Malfoy went to stand up. "Do we agree on first names?"

"Yes, I agree it would be ... nicer."

"Good, goodbye then, Hermione."

Hermione was taken aback slightly. "Er ... goodbye, Draco." Draco left with the same arrogant walk that she noticed before and Hermione let out a long breath that she did not realise that she was holding.

...

Hermione scanned the crowd in the great hall looking for Ginny but noticed that it was just the 7th years present. Just as she was wondering what was going on, Dumbledore stood up to give a speech. Mummers from the crowd died down and Dumbledore cleared his throat. Hermione noticed some of the teachers looking slightly apprehensive behind him.

"Another year students but this one will be slightly different to the others you have experienced. The ministry has decreed that a marriage law should be put in place for final year students." There was a stunned silence quickly followed by an uproar from the students. Hermione was with them. How could they do this without the student's permission?

"This is necessary to calm down the situation outside the walls. The names have been drawn out of a hat and partnered together. The exception of this is the head boy and girl who will be partnered together, Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy." Hermione couldn't move. Married? To Malfoy? This was not happening to her. She looked at Dumbledore but he was looking at Malfoy. They stared at each other for a moment before Malfoy looked away in defeat but still looking annoyed. Dumbledore then looked towards her smiling. Hermione looked around and noticed a few girls were looking at her with sympathy and others looked like they wanted to hurt her. She felt really conspicuous. Dumbledore then began to read out other names but Hermione wasn't listening. She was still shocked with her own match.

Malfoy stepped through the crowd, making his way to Hermione. Hermione saw him coming and realised there was no where to run without his notice as he was looking right at her. She did not want to talk to him. She couldn't handle it but he came nonetheless. Her breathing increased as he came closer and she was appalled to find herself almost crying.

"Let's go and see our rooms," he said taking hold of her arm and leading her forcefully out the double doors. He let go of her and began to walk in front. Hermione slowed slightly and walked behind him staring at the floor. Suddenly, she bumped into him as he had stopped and was facing her standing straight with his hands in his trouser pockets. He sighed in annoyance.

"Get yourself together. I won't marry an emotional wreck." With that he turned on his heel and continued walking down the corridor. "Come on," he called back. Hermione took in a deep jaggered breath. She would not cry. Not in front of him. With a new sense of resolution, she trotted after him.

...

To Hermione, the new rooms were magnificent. The walls, furniture and fixings were all neutral colours and gave an earthy feel to the place which suited Hermione. As she was gazing around the room dumbstruck, she was vaguely aware of Draco moving about in the room. She heard him cough for her attention and she looked over questioningly.

"We have a problem," he said leaning against a doorframe pointing through the doorway. Hermione walked through and saw a king size bed with cream sheets. At the foot of the bed was an ornate chest and across the room was a large fire place with a brown rug set in front. Two double wardrobes were along the wall to the left and to the right was the bathroom which was the largest bathroom that Hermione had ever seen.

"What is the problem?" Hermione asked. "This is lovely."

"It's the only bedroom."

His words took a few seconds to sink in then her head snapped to him in disbelief. "You have probably missed it."

"I have not missed it," he replied slightly short tempered. Nevertheless Hermione checked all the doors and found that he was right. There was one bathroom, one lounge with a dining table, one study and one bedroom. All lovely decorated but still only one of each.

"They can't expect us to share a bed!" Hermione declared to him.

"I think that's exactly what they expect," he replied. "We will take it in turns to sleep on the couch. I will sleep on it tonight. Which wardrobe do you want?"

...

After the wardrobe decision was made, they unpacked in an uncomfortable silence, both thinking the same thing: what if they would have to share the same bed? Hermione came to the conclusion that she would deal with that if it came to it. They were reading on the couch still in silence when a house elf popped in front of them bowing.

"Master, Mistress," he said bowing again to each in turn. "I am Binky. I have dinner for you."

"Excellent," Malfoy said. "I will take it here."

"Master, my orders are to serve it at the table," he said bowing again. Hermione turned to see the table. It was a small round table. It reminded her of those little French tables you find in romantic cafes and restaurants. Then it clicked, that's probably was going for. Did they want them just to have sex?

"The table is fine," Malfoy said disinterested and carried on reading his book.

Binky disappeared and popped up near the table with food. It smelled good and Hermione's stomach rumbled slightly. Malfoy got up and stretched, his T-shirt riding up slightly revealing his well – toned mid-riff. Hermione blushed slightly and went to the table and sat down. Malfoy sat opposite her watching Binky put steaming plates of spaghetti bolognaise in front of them then he vanished. Hermione waited for Malfoy to start but he was looking at her.

"What?" she asked unnerved under his gaze. She noticed his eyes were grey-blue and his stare made her heart race. He was truly beautiful. She always knew that the other girls thought so but she had never been so close to him before. The gel in his hair was wearing off and a few strands of hair fell forward shaping his face. His skin was pale yet it looked so smooth that Hermione suddenly felt like she longed to touch it. His black T-shirt was tight fitting so it emphasised his broad, toned shoulders and chest and the colour contrasted beautifully with his skin. He was almost heartbreaking.

"I should probably tell you," he said interrupting her thoughts. "Even if we do get married here, I will divorce you when we get out of here, so don't fall in love with me."

Hermione was completely taken back at his arrogance. "I won't," she promised more to herself than to him. Men shouldn't look like that.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Where?"

"In Hogwarts. Didn't Potter and Weasley get jobs with the ministry?"

"Yes they did."

"So why aren't you with them?"

"Because you can't be a healer without NEWTs," she said finally beginning eating and Malfoy followed suit.

"You want to be a healer then?"

"Yes I do. Why are you still here?"

"I need to wait until I am 19 so I can take over the business. My father thought it would be good for me to finish school first." Hermione wanted to ask him how his father could make that decision with him being in Azkaban but she thought better of it.

The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence with Hermione, weary of his previous warning, Hermione looked everywhere but him. Malfoy finished first and he got up and went into the bedroom. For a moment, despite what he said, he was going to make her sleep on the bed. Trying to decide whether she could win an argument with him, she saw him come back out with a blanket, a pillow and some night clothes. Seeing this Hermione felt it was time she should retire as well.

In the bedroom, she quickly dressed in her night clothes and climbed into a very comfortable and warm bed and started to feel guilty. She laid back on the soft pillows and sighed. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep but she found that she was very aware that Malfoy was just next door. Hour after hour went by and Hermione finally gave up on sleep and decided to shower hoping that it would ease her to sleep. But when she got out of bed she noticed that the temperature had dropped considerably. She picked up one of the quilts on the bed and tiptoed to the couch. Malfoy was still awake like her and he eyed her suspiciously.

"What are you doing?"

"I brought you another blanket. I was just going to the bathroom and I realised that it was cold and I thought you would be ..." she trailed off looking at the floor. She suddenly felt stupid under his gaze. Her heart began to race considerably and she her eyes kept darting to his bare chest. She had to go back to the bedroom and now. "Here," she said shoving the quilt at him and walking quickly away. She shut the door behind her and leant against it trying to steady her breathing. Her knees were weak and she felt she was going to fall. She noticed that she was wearing a strap top with no bra and some bed shorts. She groaned inwardly. No wonder he was looking at her funny. She was so embarrassed.

She lost her train of thought when a small knock came from the door. At first she thought that she imagined it but it came again. It could only be him. She meekly opened the door. He stood there in just his bed trousers holding the quilt. "I ...er. It's cold. I need to sleep in the bed as well."

"What? No."

"Don't worry," he said pushing past her. "I won't pounce on you in the night." She saw him smirking as he climbed into the bed. Her bed. "Come on, get into bed. Don't freeze to death," he ordered.

She did as she was told but she stayed right near the edge of the bed, curled up in a ball. No noises were coming from him any more so she assumed that he was asleep.

That's when it hit her. She was sleeping in the same bed as Draco Malfoy and soon she was going to have to marry him...