It was simply too hard to hate him – how could she, when he continually did things that made her question all of the negative feelings that she had towards him?

When the marriage law was passed, and she was given away to Draco Malfoy against her will, the hatred that erupted inside of her towards the man that she was supposed to marry had rivaled that of her hatred towards Voldemort.

Husband. She spat at the notion. Draco Malfoy would never be her husband. She loathed him more than anything for putting her in this situation, for forcing her to live with him, for forcing her to acknowledge her sham of a marriage to the wizarding world, for forcing her to copulate with him once a week, for forcing her to acknowledge that she really didn't hate him at all.

It had started with a cup of coffee. Every morning, when she went down to the kitchens for breakfast, there would be a cup of coffee waiting for her on the table with a permanent warming charm on it. Done up exactly as she liked, no less. With one Irish cream and two sugars. At first, the concept infuriated her so much that she had smashed the coffee cup against the wall and left the mess for him to clean up for two straight weeks.

However, her infuriation started to wane when, without fail, the next day another cup of coffee would be waiting for her. Needless to say, the coffee was drunk from then on. And her husband never said a word.

Next came the flowers – Monday had rolled around again and another workweek had begun, straight from hell. Until she had barged into her office and noticed the yellow tulips standing on the corner of the desk. And somehow, she knew they were from him. She considered, she honestly considered setting them on fire and sending him the ashes, but the coffee incident crossed her mind and the flowers stayed.

What followed was the dreamless sleep potion. She had been completely exhausted from her work and the continued nightmares that still plagued her nights that she had barely even registered that the tea that her husband had brought her, tasted a bit funny. The last thing she realized before drifting off into the sweetest, dreamless, sleep was her husband carrying her up the stairs and placing her gently in bed. When she had awoken the next morning, it was to come to the comprehension that her husband had drugged her with sleep potion and finished all of her paperwork for her. She hadn't even had the energy to throw a tantrum as she usually did when the same process occurred the next three nights in a row.

Next came the incident at the ministry function – they had been dancing together, for expectations only as she could barely stomach being so close to him, when he had pulled her closer and whispered in her ear, 'you look stunning.' It was the first compliment he had ever given her. She hadn't pulled away.

She wished she hadn't come home earlier that day as what she witnessed only led to further her crumbling resolve. She knew her husband would be home later in the afternoon and had gone upstairs to her room to take a luxurious bath. What she hadn't expected was to find her husband, stark naked, leaning his forehead against the wall of her bathroom, with a strong grip on his engorged cock, pumping furiously. She had been about to scream and hex him into oblivion when she distinguished the words coming out of his mouth.

'Hermione Malfoy, Hermione Malfoy, Hermione…Malfoy, Hermione…Malfoy, Hermione, …Hermione, …Hermione…Malfoy, …Hermione!'

He had come into his hand, shaking uncontrollably, with a shout of her name. She had been too stunned to do anything but move into another part of the house and stare blankly out the window.

What came next shattered her resolve for hatred against him completely. She had been enjoying a wonderful Sunday dinner at the Burrow, when a knock on the door caused her to break out into uncontrollable sobs and laughter as her parents were revealed. As she hugged the life out of her mother and father, her eyes raised momentarily to notice a flash of white blond hair disappearing from view at the apparition point. She hadn't even said thank you.

However, as she looked at the vial filled with that telltale clear blue liquid that had slipped out of his coat pocket, her hatred returned full force. How dare he! How dare that pathetic excuse for a human being take this away from her! It was her only chance to get out of her miserable situation. And he had taken the opportunity, her one shot at freedom and happiness, away from her.

With a fury unleashed, she shrieked and stomped her way over to her husband's study to find him sitting at his desk, calmly writing away. Walking up, she slammed the bottle of contraceptive potion down onto his desk, shattering the glass, and spilling the contents all over his paperwork.

"How could you, Malfoy! I had honestly thought, that you might have not been that bad, but this crosses the line! How dare you take the chance to have a baby away from me? You know that that is the only way out of this pathetic excuse for a marriage that I am in and you took that away! How? TELL ME! Tell me or I swear that I will make you beg for death by the time I am done with you! TELL ME!"

She was shaking now, the unleashed sobs and fury caged in her body making her visibly quake. Sighing softly, her husband looked her straight in the eye and answered, what was sure to be the most important question of her life.

"I didn't think you'd ever be with me again afterwards, and I wanted to savour any opportunity I had."

Without pausing to think, another question popped into her head, spilling out of her mouth.

"Why did you rarely talk to me while we were together?"

"Because I never knew what to say."

"Why did you bring back my parents?"

"Because I felt ashamed. It was because of me that you were forced to send them away. Because you missed them."

"Why did you kiss me all over when we were together?"

"Because you commanded me not to kiss you on the mouth."

"Why did you insist on calling the act, copulating?"

"Because I didn't think you'd appreciate what I thought it as."

"Why did you sigh my name at your end?"

"Because I knew you'd never allow what I really wanted to say."

"Why did you close your eyes when you finished?"

"Because it was always easier to imagine you looking at me with love in your eyes instead of seeing the broken look that haunted your face."

"Why did you stop coming to me these last two months?"

"Because I overheard you telling someone on the telephone how much you hated being with me."

And she didn't need to hear another word, for the answer was right in front of her. Making up her mind, she moved behind the desk and kissed him full on the mouth. And when he sighed her name, she knew she had made the right choice.

Because he loved her.