Hermione POV

"It's unfair," I said finally looking up from my tea which had now gone cold. I was met with green eyes that were filled with sympathy.

" I know, I'm sorry" Harry replied simply,

"I just, I can't believe I'm in this position. It's just. It's unfair" I repeated like a five-year-old on the verge of a tantrum.

" It's just how things worked out, and it's not permanent Hermione"

"Marriage and kids seem very permanent Harry,"

" You only have to stay married for 8 years, you can do 8 years hell, we survived Voldemort, you can survive being married to pureblood for that long."

"Easy for you to say, you got married before this stupid law was in place and hell the law wouldn't affect you both even if you weren't married. Ginny's a pureblood and you're a half-blood."

"You could always marry Ron, I mean you were engaged to him for long enough. You could try to move past that whole rift." I snorted at Harry's suggestion

"Yes, so I can spend 8 more years being miserable about the fact that my childhood best friend can't keep it in his pants. No offence to your best friend Harry but I refuse to be the laughing stock of the gossip columns again. And again no offence but I kinda loathe Ronald right now" Harry chuckled

"As you should. Well, Hermione, Maybe just pick one of the guys that approached you, You don't have much time you know and sorry Mione but you can't afford not being in accordance with the law." I groaned as I rested my head on the coffee table in front of us. I closed my eyes, He was right. I couldn't afford to not follow this ridiculous law. The Marriage law was placed 2 years ago and it was quite simple. You have to get married before you turned 23, purebloods weren't allowed to marry purebloods. I suppose it was the only way they could figure to get rid of the bigotry. Dirty everyone's blood then blood purity can't be a problem. Muggleborns not marrying muggle-borns ensured that there would be less of a chance of producing a squib. They also decided to increase taxes to anyone who wasn't married by 23 and I don't make enough money to afford the tax. I honestly thought I wouldn't be affected by this law, I was in a relationship I was fucking engaged for christ's sake. If Ron wasn't just a complete piece of shit maybe we could've made this work. But no here I am 22 years old, with a broken engagement, single, sitting at an old muggle coffee shop with my best friend trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do because I had one fucking year to figure it out.

"Mione?" I lifted my head and sighed

"I don't know what to do. This isn't how I planned things would go Harry."

"You of all people should know that things never go as planned."

"Can you believe how extremely unlucky this is?"

"Yeah, kind of funny if you choose to look at it the right way"

"Funny? Please enlighten me, Harry? How the fuck is my life a joke to you right now?"

"I don't know you have all these pureblooded wizards flocking around you now but back at school they used to look at you like you were scum. But now, you're the muggleborn that they want" I rolled my eyes

"Oh lucky me"

" So who has approached you?" His eyes now gleaming with curiosity

"Uhm Zabini, Blaise Zabini Remember him? Tall, Dark, brooding, Used to have a small crush on Ginny but wouldn't admit it"

"Ah yes, , the Italian. What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing, He's a successful Lawyer, works for Malfoy. He's handsome and smart. He stayed out the war but uhm he was engaged to Astoria Greengrass right before this law was placed. I just, It seems wrong to marry someone who is very obviously in love with someone else. I don't want to be someone's beard as well as their forced life partner" He nodded understanding where I was coming from

" Yeah Theo was telling me about that, Last I heard the youngest Greengrass heir was heartbroken."I nodded sadly

"Theo is a lucky son of a bitch though" Harry continued,

" He's married to Daphne Greengrass, you remember her right? Beautiful brunette. Married her right out of the war they welcomed a little girl a year ago. Their kids will be one of the few purebloods left to exist in England." I snorted

"I'm sure his father is sending his praise" Harry smiled slightly

"Theo's a good guy, Great Auror, Great Partner and you know it was more his uncle and grandfather that participated in the war " I rolled my eyes

"Yes yes Harry I know, He saved your life on more counts than one. " I said mocking his words

"But back to you, who else is on the potential pureblood husband list"

"Ernie MacMillian, who is sweet but I just can't see myself spending eight years with he has no substance, Harry"

"Better no substance than a cheater," He remarked casually

" I suppose you're right, Steven Rowle was another one" He wrinkled his nose in disgust

"The Rowles that's an old pureblood family."

"Yes, and a family that was very much involved in the war. The only reason Steven isn't in Azkaban is because he never officially took the mark. But he definitely participated and enjoyed it. He gave Neville that scar on his back. The only reason he asking me is because he cares more about his money then his prejudice " Harry nodded

"Sucks Neville isn't single"

"Honestly It really does. All the Men worth marrying are married." I said with a sigh

" Damien Greengrass might be single, I don't know if you remember him. He was a year younger than us, played as one of the chasers on the slytherin team" Harry informed me

" He was one of the nicer ones wasn't he." Harry nodded

"Yep, never called you any slurs… to your face anyway. I could ask Theo about him, he is his brother-in-law after all. "

"I don't know, It all just doesn't seem worth it."

"We'll figure it out Hermione I promise you that" I looked at the small clock that was hanging in the corner of the small cafe

" We should probably get to work. The ministry has been piling up on the cases and I could really use a win"

"Yeah I should probably get back to saving lives and all that" I couldn't help but smile at him we paid for our bills and he leaned in to give me a hug.

"Gin and I can expect you for dinner right?"

"I don't need you two to babysit me, I promise you that I won't be nursing a bottle of firewhisky to bed again." He chuckled

" Bye Hermione, Stay safe" With tha,t he apprated away, I sighed as I followed suit to my own office. I walked in to be greeted by my assistant

"U,m "

"Yes Byron, Did you grab the files I asked for?" I stood in front of the young brunette male in front of me. He always seemed nervous around me.

"Yes I did, But there's um a small issue." I sighed

" What Byron? What Is the issue? Are you having difficulty grabbing pieces of paper for me? You do realize that is the bulk of your workload." I snapped, more on edge then usual. I guess the lack of sleep and excessive amounts of energy drinks and alcohol is not great for peaceful living.

"No Miss. Granger, You don't understand this has nothing to do with your file. The file has been placed on your desk. But uhm walked in asking to see you and when I told him you were out on lunch. He said he didn't mind waiting and I asked him to wait outside but instead of waiting he decided to wait in your office" He rambled out in one breathe. I sighed and closed my eyes before taking a deep breath. Another hurdle I didn't plan to deal with today.

"Thank you Byron. I can handle Malfoy" I took another breath before walking into my office. This Monday was turning out to get worse by the minute. I hate Mondays.

" Malfoy, To what do I owe the pleasure." He was sitting lazily on the couch. He looked up with a small smirk. It's been about four years since I was in the same room as Malfoy. As much as I hate acknowledging this fact I have to admit Malfoy was an attractive man now. His blond hair messy in the most perfect way. He smirk not intimating or daunting but inviting. His silver eyes cautious but playful.

" Granger that was a long lunch, your work is piling up" I placed my bag on my desk before smoothing out the imaginary wrinkles in my skirt and taking a seat at my desk.

"Is that why you're here? To lecture me about my work habits? Cause if so I think i'll skip out on it" I replied, pointing to the door. His smirk morphed into a small dangerous looking smile

"No, I'm here with a proposition that I think you might want to take me up on" I chuckled

"What makes you think you have something I want?" was I flirting with malfoy? Is that what i've become? One of those brainless bimbos that spread their legs for a fun time with the blond slytherin.

" Wel,l I heard you were single." I raised a single eyebrow, daring him to make a insolent comment to me about my failed relationship.

" I am, I broke up with Ron six months ago." He nodded before reaching into his suit pocket and pulling out a small black box and placing it in front of me. I looked at him blankly giving him time to explain what he was I had a small inkling to where this conversation was going.

" Look I know we weren't exactly friends back in the day" I snorted

"You called me a mudblood, scum beneath your foot" He cringed slightly his nose wrinkling up in embarrassment

" I did and I apologized to which you accepted .and I really am sorry, I didn't know better. Or I did and didn't know how to act. I heard you were single and I'm sure you've approached already but I think we should get married." I looked at him in awe, It was odd hearing those words come from Malfoy.

"Married? Have you lost your mind? We hate each other." I said as calmly as I could. One thing I refused to do was lose my cool in front of the king of being collected and poised.

"Do we? I don't hate you Hermione." I smiled softly. I don't think he's ever used my first name. I liked how it sounded. Did I hate him?

"You don't?"

"No, and even if i did it wouldn't matter." He said straightening his posture and leaning towards me placing his hands on my desk.

"Why is that?"

""Because I respect you. The one thing my grandfather ever truly taught me, was respect is the only thing that really 're an intelligent witch. The only person that ever gave me a run for my money during school. "I smiled. He was right, we fought for first place beating each other out by a few marks each time.

" Respect is important." He nodded

" Look Granger, This law is a pain in the ass for everyone. Believe me when I thought I'd be proposing to a witch I certainly didn't think that I'd have to deal with it like a business transaction but here I am. I just think that are many good things that could come out of our marriage, I think we would be beneficial to each other." he looked certain, like he wasn't leaving my office without a fight.

"You sound awful confident" I replied simply

" I'm a Malfoy, I'm always confident. Think about it Granger. You could do a lot worse than the likes of me. I also have the money and power to help you push these laws you're fighting for. Let's be honest here. You're pulling overtime with the fools in the ministry when you know they aren't as complacent with change as they claim to be. Blood purity might be lost battle but you know they don't care about any of these laws you come with. I can make them care, my family name can make them care." He was right the ministry wasn't budging on many of their discriminatory laws. No matter how many facts and man hours I throw towards them. Though the war did damage the name of Malfoy's once they were cleared of their crimes, their authority didn't waver. It didn't help that Draco turned around his entire company, and Narcissa Malfoy became the chair of one of the biggest charities in the wizarding world.

"Why me? You can have anyone" I asked him, he leaned back and stretched.

"I don't want anyone else. I just I don't know. I trust you. Which may seem odd because we don't really know each other. But I do. I know you don't care about my money, I know you don't care about my 're not afraid of my parents, you're stubborn and will always hold your own against me. Like I said before you're one of the few people in the world I truly respect. You're smart and passionate and noble and if I have to spend 8 years with someone, I want to do it with someone who makes every interaction exciting." He was persuasive, There was a reason he was the youngest CEO in the wizarding world. I bit my lip.

"You're good" His grin grew

" I know."

"Cocky too."

"Believe me Granger, cocky isn't exactly a bad thing," he said with a wink, I couldn't help but laugh. What an absurd moment, Hermione granger, war hero, die hard gryffindor, sitting in an office with Draco Malfoy ex-death eater, die hard slytherin contemplating marriage. I could see the news article titles flashing around.

'This is absurd."

"Believe me I agree with you."

"Why feel the need to comply to the law. You can get away with it."

"I know I can. I have enough money that generations to come won't ever have to work. But um after I started working at the company You realize no matter how much money you have, the more you work for it the less you're willing to throw it out. I worked my ass off to pull my company out of the ground. Blood, sweat and tears." he replied honestly, as honest as a Malfoy could get I suppose.

"If I say I no?"

"Then I'll pay the taxes. LIke I said before I don't want anyone else"

"People don't always get what they want."

"Malfoys do." He replied

"What about the money you earned?"

"It's not like I want to pay the taxes but that's what i'll have to do if you say no." I bit my lip, and curled a loose strand of hair.

"If I say yes?" I could hear the nerves in my voice and I hated. It seemed he heard it too because he smirked. He opened the small black box that was sitting on my desk. Inside was perhaps the most beautiful ring I ever saw. It was extravagant yet extremely simple at the same time, which seems impossible but there it was. He pushed the opened box towards me. I looked at him and bit my lip contemplating. Taking the ring made me feel weak But I picked it up, It was truly exquisite. The ring was fairly expensive, it was a little heavy. A Princess cut diamond shone in the center of the ring. A diamond was set into the ring's bezel. Additional stones adorned the ring on all sides. Black diamonds tastefully placed among the white ones. The ring had a carving of what seemed to be a feather like Designs. It had the words Sanctimonia Vincet Semper carved in it. It meant Purity always prevails, my few years of latin finally coming into aide.

"I can get that changed' He said as if he read my mind. I placed the ring down.

"It's my family ring. If you say yes and you don't like it I'll get you another one. You say yes, and it's all yours. Anything you want. I'll give you anything. You say yes, and uhm you get all the privileges that come with the alfoy name. You get power when you walk into this small little office. You can move out that dingy studio apartment of yours. You'll have all the money in the world."

"What if that's not what I want? What if I like my studio apartment?"
" Lying really isn't a strong way to start off a marriage." I rolled my eyes. And closed the box, concealing the contents inside it.

"Can I think about it?" He nods as he gets up

"Take all the time you need, I know I might not be the guy you thought you'd end up with but I promise you Granger I'll do it what it takes to keep you happy and I will give you the world. I mean I can afford it. I just want to make the best of a shitty clause and well Hermione you are the best." He said my name softly, almost as if he was pulling taffy in his mouth and savouring it. He gave me a rare dazzling smile, pocketed the ring box that was sitting on my desk and walked off.

" UGH " I groaned loudly as I smacked my head down roughly on my desk. I heard a small knock and my door open

"Uh, Hermione is everything ok?" I heard my assistant ask

" Just peachy Byron, can you send Harry an Owl telling him I will be joining him and Ginny for dinner."

"Will do "

* Dinner*

" You're awfully quiet," GInny said as she placed some pasta on my plate

"Just thinking" I replied as I poured myself a glass of wine

"Want to clue us in?" Harry asked

"It it about the marriage law thing? Because Hermione we can find you a nice pureblood or halfblood wizard. It really isn't something you need to fret over" Ginny assured me as she plomped herself down into a chair,

"Yes, It is about the marriage law and I'm thinking because I think i've found someone." I looked at the Potters who stopped mid bite to look at each other and then at me.

"Who? Cause a few hours ago you were throwing a mini tantrum about how unfair it all is"

"Oh I stand by that statement, this is extremely unfair. But Um Malfoy visited me at the office today"

" He actually did it" Harry said with a small smile shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oh My lord, It was Malfoy! Malfoy wants to marry you?" GInny exclaims

"That's what he says."

" You could do a lot worse than Malfoy." Over the years Harry and Malfoy refused to call each other friends but that's what they were. At first, it was a passive truce called between the two because of the war but once Theodore Nott one of Malfoy's best friends was assigned as Harry's Auror partner the two circles began to meld. I knew for a fact that the pair got drinks or played quidditch together often, sometimes even without Theo in the mix.

" Funnily enough he used the same words."

" Yes, well Harry and Malfoy are pretty cozy these days."

"He's a friend of a friend," he told us defensively

" Sure he is honey, anyway tell us more Hermione, What else did he say? Are you going to say yes? He sure is handsome now a days."

" I don't know if I told him I needed to think about it. He said a lot. which is weird because I don't think I've ever heard him be so nice. But the strangest part is I believe what he was telling me." Harry chuckled as he slurped some spaghetti into his mouth

"What?" I asked him harshly

" You want to say yes. You want to marry the ferret." I glared at him and his smile grew

" I didn't say that"

"It's okay if you want to" Ginny supplied

" It's crazy. I mean me and Malfoy? Married? We're supposed to what ignore the fact that we spent the first 6 years that we knew each other throwing curses and insults? and marriage is so fast so quick"

"He apologized, to all of us" Harry interrupted

" I know and I did forgive him for that but does that mean I forget about it? And I mean his aunt tortured me, I still have the scars and nightmares to show it"

"He did his best to stop that, he was gutted that it happened," Harry said softly

" I know but it did happen," I said, trying to emphasize my point

"He's not asking you to forget all that Hermione. I think all of that is important to your relationship. It's part of your history. So you had a rough start doesn't mean you can't make things better now." Ginny said wisely

" I wish I just had time to have a normal marriage, Here I am contemplating saying yes to my childhood bully because he's better than all my other options. And the odd part I think I could really like this new different him if we had a normal beginning. He's smart and charming and he seems different."

" So there's the threat of that ring looming over you two, and yes you'll be moving really fast but I mean come on nothing stopping you from having that normal relationship, you can still go on dates and get to know each other and all that jazz," Ginny said softly

" So you both think I should do it,"

"Only if that's what you want," Harry replied simply

" I don't know what I want. That's why I'm asking you"

" Well if you say yes to him. You spend the next 8 years with him, You'll have to have kids with him"

" Thanks, Harry, that's helpful."

"Though the physical act that needs to be done to have children does not seem like it would be a chore with a man like Malfoy."

"Ginevra Molly Potter, Please do calm down"

"Hermione whatever you choose to do, we will support you. And I mean if not Malfoy you still only have a year to figure this law out."

" I know that Harry," I said with a sigh

"Look, Hermione, he gave you time to think about it so take your time. You can always say no. That's always an option even after you say yes."
"I guess you're right Gin." For the rest of dinner, the topic of marriage and Malfoy were not returned to. We spent the dinner laughing, exchanging work stories. Harry and Ginny really were my family.

I spent three more days contemplating before reaching a decision. I sent Malfoy an Owl.

Malfoy,

It's Hermione, I have given some thought to your ridiculous proposition and have finally come up with an answer I think i'm comfortable with. Would you be able to meet me for lunch on Friday at noon? You can pick the place, let me know.

H. G

P. S: I would appreciate it if you hung up that inflated ego of yours for lunch. :)

I took my time carefully writing out each word making sure the ink looked perfect. I folded the parchment and handed to my assistant and asked him to send it out to Malfoy. I spent most of the day with Malfoy haunting the back of my mind as I tried to focus on my case. It was a particularly nasty one. I usually only handle cases that deal with magical creatures and rights and freedoms. Yet, here I was milling over a case Harry asked me to represent the prosecution. It was a favour for Kingsley, and at this point in my life, I was welcoming all distractions. I was immersed in my job for the next few hours. Thoughts of Malfoy, Marriage and the future were hidden in the back of my mind. I worked diligently until a knock came on my door.

"Yes?"

"Miss. Granger, You received a letter. " My assistant informed me as he handed me an envelope that had my name written in a beautiful cursive. I smiled my thank you at my assistant and waited for him to walk out

Granger,

I'd love to have lunch with you. There's this cute muggle cafe I discovered a few years ago, it's called Atlantis Bistro, I'll see you at Noon.

DM

P.S : Unfortunately that ego is built in, love. You know you wouldn't recognize me without it.

I smiled to myself, His response was light, almost playful which was something I wouldn't expect from a gloomy individual like himself. A muggle cafe, as his choice of location, was also odd. People changed, I know that but it was drastic, it was different. I took a few minutes and analyzed his writing. His writing was exactly what you expected from an aristocratic pureblood, clean and proper, which probably came from years of practice i'm sure his mother put him through. His letters were small, with small spaces between words. The paper was still crisp, he didn't use a lot of pressure to write the letters, the words gliding softly across the page. I placed his letter in my drawer. This was happening. I hope I'm making the right decision. I hope that Draco Malfoy is the right decision.

I have a few Dramione stories in the work. It's the first of the sort i've posted. I really hope you like it! Review and let me know.

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