A Well-Deserved Title
A/N: My first new story in a long time. I haven't abandoned my other stories, new chapters will come as inspiration strikes. As always, read, enjoy, and review. - K.
CH. 1:
Since birth Draco Malfoy has had many titles bestowed upon him; some as a given, others earned—rightly or wrongly, and even some self-dubbed. Immediately upon his birth, he was dubbed the 'Malfoy heir', a title that carried with it hundreds possibly even thousands of years of pureblood supremacy. Upon entering Hogwarts and taking his natural place within Slytherin House he was anointed the 'Slytherin Prince', a title that allotted him almost absolute control of the students within it. When he was forced into service Sixth Year, he added 'Death Eater' to his list of names. After his acquittal, he pledged to spend the rest of his life working towards and being worthy of a new title, 'Redeemer'.
To start, he personally saw to reconstruction of Hogwarts, with Malfoy Industries' company funds and his own personal fortune to cover any overrun. The company was now in his hands after Lucius was sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss; one of the last. Second, he co-wrote the 'Wizard and Non-Magical Beings Cooperative Agreement'; a law that ensured a cooperative society among wizards, muggles, muggleborns and squibs. Third, he made in-roads in achieving a friendship with Harry Potter, the man who saved his life, had he been sentenced he knew it would probably be for life. Fourth, the very reason why he continues to redeem himself: Hermione Granger. Check that, Hermione Malfoy. Yes, despite everything that happened between them as children, the attraction between the two was unmistakable to those who cared to see it. Others thought his relationship with the muggleborn witch was just a quick way to restore his family name.
Their initial courtship made endless tabloids when it was revealed; there were scathing articles denouncing the Malfoy heir for using the former Gryffindor Princess for his purposes, then there were articles supporting the union, calling it, 'the greatest star-crossed love story since Romeo and Juliet'. And then there were ones that simply tried (and failed) to make up reasons why he was with her and vice-versa.
But Draco didn't care a lick about them; all he cared about was that Hermione gave him a chance. They met again, just shortly after he had reopened Hogwarts, it was a brief meeting but it set the stage for what happened over the next eight months. Hermione was a solicitor working for the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement when Draco introduced the concept of the 'Wizard and Non-Magical Beings Cooperative Agreement' to the Wizengamot and Council of Magical Law. When they had agreed such a law was necessary, they drafted one of their best young legal minds in Hermione Granger to help Draco co-write the law. What followed was six months of office flirting, innuendos, an agreement to start fresh, and dates when they were not drafting the law.
When it was revealed that the pair were together, the public had varying opinions, thanks to the endless supply of articles, but one opinion never wavered: that of the pureblood social class. Their dream of a pureblood-only society may have died with Voldemort and the sentencing of Lucius, but they were still (silently) adamant about relations between purebloods and those considered anything but, however when the son of the most prominent pureblood family in all of Wizarding Britain decided to engage in a relationship with muggleborn—it did not matter that she was Hermione Granger—they drew a line in the proverbial sand. They dubbed him and his mother who openly accepted the muggleborn, the worst things imaginable in their social class: blood traitors.
And when it was announced a year and a half later that the pair were getting married, the purebloods vowed to exclude the Malfoys from all pureblood events. Not that had any real effect on Draco, as he revealed he had abhorred pureblood social events since childhood, and only attended out of duty.
E/N: TBC...