~rubatosis – the unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat~

('eighth' year. Hermione and Draco are head boy and girl.) Interhouse relations are worse than ever. So as a last resort, Dumbledore asks Draco and Hermione to get married. The worst part? Hermione thinks. It actually sounds like a good idea.

A/N: Okay before I start I wanted to clarify a couple of things. If you've experienced Dramione before, by all means skip this. On a lot of Dramione fics I see people complaining that the characters are too OOC for their liking. This, by all means, I understand. But please understand that the whole point of Dramione is that they are OOC. Because let's face it, the original characters are way too unlikeable to ever fit with each other. Also, this is my own personal interpretation of Dramione, if it is not similar to your own, please don't hate me. Thankyou.

Xoxo Lauren

Ps. If you aren't British, you might not understand some of the slang I use, hence, I'll put some explanations at the end. It's a pet peeve of mine when every Dramione fic I read uses the word 'shag' nobody says that in England, at least, not where I come from. I won't be using it.

PPS. If this wasn't already so obvious, Dumbles is stil alive, also, so is Snape. Repeating 7th year is compulsory because of the war, no arguments.

-Hermione's POV –

It was a Tuesday, as the new Head Girl, she was required to visit Hogwarts two weeks early, to undergo some small briefings before returning for the academic year.

Now, usually, this was only a small two hour meeting a week before the school year. Hermione would know, she'd read countless things about it the moment she heard.

However, this year is different. This was the first academic year after the second Wizarding War, and Dumbledore was determined for there not to be a third. The school had not been open since May, just after the final battle had occurred. Since then, numerous repairs had been made to the castle, it was as good as new.

Hermione sighed to herself whilst thinking this all over. She wasn't sure whether she was ready to accept the responsibility of being Head Girl just yet, especially around Malfoy. It sounded ridiculous, she knew. Hermione Granger, war hero, nervous? She steeled herself, took a final sip from the teacup beside her and stood up. She took a handful of floo powder, swallowed her nerves and stepped inside the fireplace: "Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry!"

Hermione landed very clumsily in the fireplace of Albus Dumbledore's office. Malfoy was already there, seated very calmly in one of the chintz armchairs Albus always loved. He was wearing dark robes, not dissimilar to the Hogwarts uniform. Dumbledore sat across from him, his eyes twinkling, as per usual. "Hello again Hermione, good to see you're early, as always."

Hermione smiled weakly at the admission from the Professor, her nerves threatening to spill over. It had been over a year since she had been in this office. The last time, Hermione had thought Dumbledore was dead.

"Please, take a seat." Hermione snapped quickly out of her memory induced haze before hastily taking a seat next to Draco. She was almost definitely tinged pink now. She hated being embarrassed. She could have sworn she heard the tiniest of chuckles to the left of her.

"Now, I'm sure you're very interested in what I have to say," Dumbledore started "Before I begin, I must let you know, I would not ask this of you if the situation was not very dire."

This piqued Hermione's interest and she leant forward.

"It has come to my attention, that in my leave of absence, Inter-house relations are worse than ever. They are in tatters, so to speak. This absolutely cannot go on, not if there is to be peace in the wizarding world." He took a deep breath. "As a favour to me, I must ask this of you. As both head boy and girl, I think it would be a good idea to promote tolerance between houses. Especially Gryffindor and Slytherin. This would, essentially, set an example for the other students."

"Go on." Malfoy prompted. This was the first time he had spoken, and Hermione was surprised to see that his voice was not the scratchy one she had remembered it to be. Now, it was more of a bored drawl, something that suited his silky personality.

"You must get married, right away."

Hermione's mouth dropped. She must be hallucinating. Married. To Draco sodding Malfoy. No way.

"What?" Her voice came out more as a whisper than the level voice she had intended it to be.

"Married?!" Draco said incredulously.

"You can't be serious?"

Dumbledore nodded, and chuckled. "I am completely serious Hermione. Think about it. You two are part of the biggest rivalry within these castle walls. Nothing would promote house equality more."

Hermione was aghast. It had happened, Dumbledore had officially gone off his rocker. Barmy. Bonkers. Whatever you wanted to call it.

"You wouldn't have to stay married forever of course, just for a year, until you graduate." Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Okay, well. I must admit, this is possibly the craziest idea you've ever had. But it may actually make sense." Malfoy said hesitantly, all but a small nagging voice in the back of Hermione's brain.

It was official. This was the worst day of Hermione's life.

"What!" Hermione screeched, this time not as quiet.

"Professor Dumbledore, do you mind if I speak to Hermione, alone?" He asked, the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face. Hermione hated his pointy ferret face in this moment.

Hermione and Malfoy rose, Malfoy striding over to the door quickly. "You coming Granger?" He asked "Or should I be calling you the future Mrs Malfoy from now on?" He quipped, mock-thoughtfully.

"Shove off Malfoy." She muttered before following him out of the heavy oak door.

As Malfoy started to talk, she began to look at him. Like, really look at him, properly. He was tall, slender, with the aristocratic grace Hermione was sure only being a Malfoy would provide. He wasn't bad looking, she supposed. But he was Malfoy. She couldn't marry him. But wasn't that the point? She hated him sure, but Dumbledore seemed to think he'd changed. She couldn't afford to let him down. She didn't want to.

Hermione took a deep breath, composing herself.

"-so really, it's not that bad of an-"

"Yes, Malfoy. Fine. Whatever, I get the point." She interrupted.

"Wait, what?"

"It seems outrageous, truly. I mean, I hate you, I really do. I'm not sure whether this could work. But if Dumbledore thinks this could help, I have to try." She didn't seem sure. She wasn't sure! But hell, what was she meant to do. How was she meant to react?!

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Believe me, when I first heard it, it doesn't seem ideal to me either. But think about it Granger, we could twist this you know." A smirk had graced his features by this point. "We could rule the school, as Head Boy and Girl, as a couple."

Hermione scoffed in disgust. "Yeah sure Malf-"

"You've already agreed to marry me; I'm just trying to make sure we get the best out of this situation as possible."

"Typical." Hermione scoffed again.

Draco rolled his eyes once more. "So you'll marry me?" He smirked in that infuriating way.

Hermione sighed. "Do you get a kick out of this or something, why are you so happy?"

Malfoy's smirk grew wider "just THINK of Potter and Weaselbee's faces! That is not something I can afford to miss Granger."

Hermione's heart sank. She really didn't want to have to do this. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. If anything, she was being hypocritical. Wasn't she being prejudiced towards Draco? God, her head hurt. "Lets just go and tell Professor Dumbledore and get this over with."

A/N: Ok this was a pain to end because I didn't want to make Draco too OOC but trust me it will make sense as new chapters unfold. As you may suspect, he has an ulterior motive. Also, the way I've always seen Hermione is somebody who is very critical of herself, but also puts a lot of pressure on herself to please others, especially people like Dumbledore. At the moment she's just panicking.