Author's Note: Hi there! Just for some quick information...this fic will be fairly short, no more than 10ish chapters? as of right now. It is a Marriage Law Fic but with a little bit of a twist…This fic is rated M and there will be chapters of sexual interactions between characters. I do hope you enjoy and please let me know if this fic is worth continuing!
Thank you!
"Draco Malfoy." The man in all black with pale blonde hair and a dirty face stood up on the opposite side of the room. Hermione's eyes followed him as he walked out of his row and into the aisle. He was the fourth one to be called from the group of men sitting on their side of the auditorium. Every man and woman, from eighteen years of age to twenty-eight, sat separated by genders in the giant space; men on the right and women on the left. Three men's names had been picked from the bowl already; a giant blue dish with slips of paper folded up inside.
Hermione's heart hadn't stopped racing since Ron's name had been called. He was the first one, of course. After what happened in the war, Hermione had thought that the girl's bowl would shoot out her name. It was similar to the Goblet of Fire in the sense that it was magically inclined to know what the wizard's best match was, in this case who the wizard would marry.
Ron had walked onto stage with confidence, a newfound one he had gained since he stepped onto the Quidditch pitch in sixth year. He had a swagger in his step and a sense of pride in himself. Ron wasn't the lanky little boy he used to be, and he knew it. Hermione did too. But the tears were running down her face for the same reason.
Her name hadn't come out of the goblet. In fact, that was all she really knew; it wasn't her. He had stood on stage and caught her eye, winking at her as he waited. She blushed and felt she knew. It would be her. The goblet lit up and Hermione edged up on her seat, waiting with little patience.
The Minister caught the paper that had fluttered out of the cup. He unraveled it and read, "Pansy Parkinson."
The room gasped and eyes flew to Hermione's distressed face. Two rows in front of Hermione, Pansy stood up with a slow hesitation. The raven haired girl turned around, her eyes pleading as she met Hermione's. I'm so sorry, she whispered. Pansy filed out of the row of seats and walked down to the stage where she met Ron, a disgruntled look on his face, and they walked out of the room. Hermione didn't cry, and wouldn't cry. There were plenty of others right? Sure they weren't all her best friends and some were even Slytherin, but at that point she couldn't think beyond herself. She thought Ron was her only perfect match...apparently the goblet thought otherwise. For that reason alone she knew she disliked this whole ordeal. Marriage laws were such bullshit.
The men after Ron hadn't peaked her attention as they were older and she hadn't known them or their matches. But who wasn't intrigued by Draco Malfoy?
The man had stayed quiet after the war, retreating to Merlin knows where with his family, or the ones that were left. It was common knowledge that Lucius had been sentenced to life in Azkaban, or really however long he lasted. Most of the Malfoy clan, along with the distant relations, had been killed in the Battle. It really wasn't too much of a sad occasion for much of the wizarding world, but Hermione supposed it must have been for Draco. Especially since he had been a large part of the ultimate plan to kill Dumbledore. But did she feel bad for him? No. He may have been low on the radar lately, but Hermione still didn't trust him.
He was standing on the stage, head held higher than the three before him. He didn't appear to be looking at anyone in particular. Just upward. The Minister shook his hand like he had to the others, and waited for the-well, no waiting necessary. Before the Minister could even hold his hand out to catch the fluttering scroll, it shot out of the goblet and onto the floor of the stage. The Minister looked concernedly at Draco who was still staring upwards and away from everyone in the room. He bent over and picked up the scroll, unraveling it with haste. He glanced one last time at Draco, now catching his eye.
"Hermione Granger."
Draco looked down. He wasn't sure how he felt in that moment to be honest. When Pansy had been called up for Weasley, he was sure it was wrong. Not that he wanted Pansy, but for all of his life, she was destined to be with him. Sure, that was before this whole debacle got in the way. Like he really wanted to be tied down in the first place. No thank you. And now, he was even more confused. Granger? He looked up to the girl's section of the room on his right. There she was, next to Looney and the Weaslette, bushy as ever. He was supposed to see her as a wife now? Sure, they'd be married the next day, but really?
Granger was standing up, a surprised blush painted on her face. Draco was tempted to smile when he saw her looking like that. She was almost cute, and he'd be damned if he denied it. Blood status was always shit anyway. She was a girl, not a walking talking sack of contaminated blood. There was so much more to the girl in front of him now than the worth of her blood, which in his opinion, was probably more than anyone he'd ever met.
He was looking at her with an odd twinkle in his eye. Hermione hadn't been this close to Malfoy since...well she couldn't remember when. It wasn't like they had had much contact since school ended for them both sixth year. But now, they were twenty years old, and they weren't getting any younger. As the Ministry had said, "The time for new wizards is now. We must bring forth a new generation, a Post-War generation." Have lots of babies is what they really meant. No, they weren't forcing it as a punishment. They were simply forcing marriage and in turn, hoping that we would act for the good of the wizarding world and not rebel. It was almost agreed that we wouldn't. No one wanted more trouble. The only problem was, there was more to the law that they weren't telling us. More acts that needed to be performed to prove that we actually could work as a couple, even after such a short period of time.
"Hi," Hermione said. She was sure only he could hear her as the Minister was speaking to the room about congratulating them.
"Hey," he returned as the room gingerly began to clap. The Minister nodded to them as they turned to walk off of the stage. Hermione couldn't think as she walked beside Draco into the back room of the stage. They were almost alone and she couldn't think of anything. Everything was moving much too fast.
The room they had been led into was quite large. Hallways jutted out of the room, each containing two hundred rooms where the couples would be able to speak and discuss plans. By ten that night they were expected to separate from each other and go to singular suites. Sex was off the table, and though they weren't necessarily watching in the rooms, they had been charmed to set off an alarm if it was detected. Hermione was unsure how magic could know if two people were having sex, but she really didn't want to think about it. If you were caught, you were exiled. Wands taken away and deportation was required.
A Panel of judges was required to make sure that the newfounded relationship would be successful. They would be judging them on passion, trust, and love. Hermione knew they were already watching, the Panel that was. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione noticed one. They wore a shade of blue that only the official matchmakers could own. Strange really; they were more like a cult than merely an organization.
"Draco, take my hand," Hermione whispered, latching onto him quickly. Draco caught her eye looking at the Panel member and took her hand with ease. He was much too calm for Hermione; always in control. A man approached the pair, and without saying a word, motioned for them to follow him down the hall to their left. Hermione cringed a bit inside, realizing she was still holding Draco's hand. It was quite large, somewhat soft, but with a rough patch on his knuckles into the skin surrounding his thumb. It was strange really, Hermione thought. Holding the hand of your previous enemy.
The man leading them opened the door and they entered, Hermione first and then Draco as he thanked the man. Draco shut the door behind them and waited at the door, facing away from Hermione. Neither said a word for quite some time. Hermione stared at his back and his rising and falling shoulders. "We're getting married," she finally said.
Draco sighed and turned around to face the bushy haired girl. "I suppose so."
"Well don't sound too excited," Hermione half-joked. She sat down on the bed and placed her hands in her lap, anything that could take some of the uncomfortable air out.
Draco kept a cool expression, choosing not to have any emotion instead of a half-hearted one. "Granger, if you want the truth-"
"I do," she said.
Draco leaned against the wall, placing his hands in his pockets. He hoped the woman sitting near him hadn't noticed his shaking fingers and twitching palms. "I'm just surprised. Not excited, not worried, not really anything."
"You can't be numb about the issue."
"And why not?" Draco retorted. His face flamed and Hermione thought she saw an inkling of his father in those features. Did she trust him? No. "Like you're so hyped up about this. How are you not numb about this damn law?"
Hermione sighed and shoved a hand through her hair, the same one that had held Draco's hand just minutes before. She could still feel how his hand had held her's. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, though she assumed neither was he. "I do what I'm told, Draco. If they say that we should get married because it will help the wizarding race survive, then yeah. I'm going to follow through and be what they need me to be."
Draco scoffed. "You're kidding right? That's a complete lie. What happened to the Granger I know?" he asked. "Because let me tell you, she would never purposefully come within twenty feet of me let alone touch me. Nor would she just accept a law that she didn't agree with."
Hermione was livid, standing quickly with one hand in a tight fist. "How dare you? Like you ever knew me! Like you ever knew what I thought about your and my life. And who said I didn't agree with this law?"
"Do you?" Draco prodded.
She sighed and unclenched her fist, moving her empty hands together. "I hate it, but I don't disagree with it." When she saw his questioning face she reassured him with, "I don't love it by any means. And trust me, my plan was never to secure you of all people."
"But Ron-"
"Is not my fiance. You are Draco and I expect that you will leave it at that."
Author's Note: More to come soon! I promise this will be unlike some of the other marriage fics out there. I have a slight twist in the plot coming up soon that I don't think you'll expect. Please give me some feedback! I love reviews and favorites and follows!