Hermione Granger, it would have to be Hermione Granger. And it would have to be me. Ginny Weasley was a pure blood. Luna Lovegood was ... well ... she was Luna Lovegood. Those were the only three options; they were the three girls around my age that had fought on the front line. And it would have to be Hermione Granger. She was the mudblood. She represented everything that the Death Eaters did not. If this was going to work – and it had to work – it would have to be Hermione Granger. And, she was the most likely to say yes.
It had to be me, Draco Malfoy. I was the one with the skull and serpent tattooed on my arm. Vincent was dead. Gregory was too stupid for a union between him and Granger to be believable. Blaise hadn't officially taken a side in the war. It would have to me.
There were consequences for fighting on the losing side. Consequences for those of us who had managed to avoid Azkaban. My father's business had suffered its first ever loss this quarter. Left-wing Order extremists had set fire to Marcus Flint's home. Neo-Death Eaters had murdered Malcolm Baddock and his family for betrayal. Mrs. Crabbe was too afraid to leave her house. The New Order had no sympathy for us. We were desperate.
I watched her enter the room where we had gathered to hear her decision. She had made us suffer for over a month waiting for her decision. I half expected her to say no. I half hoped she would say no. I was going to be the laughing stock of my friends, of the pureblood world. I reminded myself that this was for the greater good. Someone had to set a new status quo.
She said she would do it. I sighed. Of course she would do it. What witch would refuse to marry a Malfoy? Besides, our little clique had offered her a fortune. I listened half-heartedly as she and my mother went over the details. No one outside of the room could ever know the truth about our marriage. Hermione and I would pretend that the war made us realise feelings for each other. Mrs. Crabbe said it wouldn't be a stretch. She said kids that bickered like we had often did find themselves in love. I rolled my eyes.
She agreed to take the Malfoy name. The first non-pure-blooded Malfoy. Ever. We would live in the manor - 24 hour security. I didn't want to end up like the Baddocks. The wedding would be at the end of this month. Hermione, thankfully, was returning to school in September – the perfect excuse for a ridiculously short honeymoon. That also meant I wouldn't have to see her for most of the year. I would help my father with the business. My new status as a 'muggle-lover' would be an invaluable asset in this strange, new post-Lord Voldemort world.
"It won't be forever sweetheart." My mother reassured me. "Most marriages these days dissolve within eighteen to twenty-four months anyways."
This was going to be the longest eighteen to twenty-four months of my life.
"What will I tell Pansy?"
"The same thing I'll tell Ron"
I bought the engagement ring the next day; the biggest, most ostentatious diamond money could buy. I bought the wedding bands – simple gold bands. It would be a very small wedding, close family and friends only. The media would not be invited of course, but we knew they would be there. We were counting on it.