Chapter Two: La Luna Cantante
The days went by quickly for Hermione and as she stood outside the restaurant wearing khaki color pants that hugged her hips nicely, a salmon colored V-neck sweater, and black boots, she desperately wished that she was back at her house, curled up on her comfy couch reading a book. She looked down at her watch and sighed heavily as the minute hand hit 7 o'clock. She mustered up all her Gryffindor courage and walked into the restaurant with her head held high. Even though she wanted desperately to run the opposite direction she pushed herself forward.
'Calm down Hermione,' she thought to herself as she waited for the hostess to seat the people in front of her. 'Its only Malfoy. If you could face Voldemort you can handle this little ferret. Just take deep breaths and stay calm.'
"Name Miss." Said the hostess in a high-pitched voice.
"Hermione Granger, but it might be under Malfoy." She said, forcing her voice to stay steady.
"Of course. Right this way madam. Mr. Malfoy arrived just a few minutes ago."
The walk to the table seemed to take forever. As Malfoy came into view Hermione swallowed her fear and looked him dead in the eye. He looked almost the same as he did when they graduated. He grew an inch or two, but still was lean and muscular from his Quidditch and war days and had his hair slicked back in his usual style. He was dressed in casual black slacks with a light gray button up tucked neatly into his pants and Hermione refused to think about how good he looked. When she arrived at the table, Malfoy stared coldly at her as she pulled her chair out.
"Malfoy." She curtly.
"Granger." He replied coolly. "A little tardy tonight, aren't we."
Their waiter came to their table, handed them their menus and poured them some wine before departing.
"It would have been nice of you to have told me the exact location of the restaurant so I wouldn't have to go to several different places to find the right one."
"Sorry, I thought Miss Know-It-All Granger would have been able to figure out where she was going to have dinner."
"Obviously I did, Malfoy, with no thanks to you." She retorted coldly as she looked over her menu.
They sat in silence as their waited for their waiter to come and take their orders. Once their orders were in, Hermione played with her wine glass, trying to figure out the best way to break the awkward silence.
"So when did you found out about our glorious news." Draco asked in a bored tone as he gazed out the window.
"About two days ago. You?"
"Same."
"Oh."
"Yea."
Again an awkward silence settled between the two of them.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked quietly, looking into her half empty wine glass.
"Get married of course. Its not like we have much of choice her, Granger." He scoffed.
"Well obviously, Malfoy. I'm talking living arrangements and such."
"And obviously you would be moving into the Manor until we establish our own estate." He turned to look at her, his gray eyes hard and boring into her honey ones. "Regardless of our relationship or lack-there-of, and how you and your friends view me, I am still a Malfoy and have certain standards to uphold to. Now that you are going to bare the Malfoy name, those standards will also apply to you. Some of those standards are making certain public appearances, hosting and attended balls and galas, and what not, but you will learn more about that in time. Until then you and I must put up a certain appearance and that means you have too look and act a certain way. It isn't all shit and giggles, Granger."
"Are you suggesting I'm not up to it Malfoy." She challenged.
"I'm saying that being a pureblood is harder than Weasley as let on." He explained.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the insult towards her friend. However, instead of retorting back she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to cause a scene in the restaurant. When the food finally arrived, the couple ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
When dinner was done, Malfoy paid for the meal and they walked out of the restaurant in silence. When they reached the curb, Hermione turned to meet her future husband.
"My parents wish to meet with you. To discuss everything and get to know you." She told him. Malfoy looked down at her, discontent and disgust clear in his steely eyes.
"Who are your parents to demand anything from me?" he asked.
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and stared him straight in the eye. "Malfoy, we're getting married. There is no getting passed this. Trust me, if there was a way I would have done it already. Out of all the wizards in the world, why I have to marry you is beyond me! I'd rather marry Neville than even think about spending more than a week with you, let alone a lifetime. However, since there is no way around this we have to make compromises. I refuse to be your little lap dog following you around like some housetrained puppy. This is an equal partnership. Therefore, you will meet with my parents and I at our home Sunday at one thirty for tea. Thank you for dinner." And with a pop she was gone.
Malfoy ran his hand over his face and huffed out a breath. Of all the bloody witches it just had to be the one that was stubborn to a fault and annoyed the living hell out of him. He almost hoped she would be one of those crazy wives who would put arsenic in his morning coffee. At least he would be put out of his misery.
Sunday smoothed out her pale yellow sundress as her mother fixed her hair. Hermione glanced inside the kitchen and saw her dad was cleaning an old revolver that once belonged to her grandfather.
"Daddy! Put that away!" she yelled.
"I'm not gonna kill him, Hermione. Its just…for show." He muttered as he concentrated on the task at hand.
"Harold!" his wife shrieked and he visibly cringed. "Put that away this instant! That's the last thing we need right now!"
Her father grumbled under breath but said in a defeated voice, "Yes, dear," and put the gun in a drawer.
At exactly one thirty the doorbell rang and Hermione answered it. Malfoy stood before her in light khaki pants and a light blue button up. He looked her up and down quickly, Hermione not missing how his eyes lingered a second longer on her chest.
"Malfoy," She greeted as she stood aside to let him in. "Come in."
"Granger," he greeted with a nod. He looked around their home quickly, not finding anything too interesting. "I hope you know we're hiring an interior decorator for our own estate. Merlin forbid it look as horrid as this." As she walked by him to lead him to the garden she stepped, very hard on his foot.
"Oh I'm so sorry Malfoy. Guess I wasn't paying attention. I was remembering the time a certain Slytherin was turned into a ferret and bounced along the corridors at school." She said nonchalantly and continued walking.
Malfoy didn't have time to retort as her parents came into view. Mr. and Mrs. Granger stood as they approached the small garden table. Mrs. Granger had a kind and welcoming smile on her face while Mr. Granger looked like he wanted to rip his head off.
"Father, Mother, this is Draco Malfoy, my fiancé." Her voice tightened at the last word, but seemed to notice.
Jane took Malfoy's hand in both of hers and shook it gently. "Hello there, Draco. I'm Jane Granger, but you can call me Jane. I'm very pleased to meet you."
Malfoy returned her smile and said in a sincere voice, "The pleasure is all mine, Jane."
Harold extended his hand and grasped Malfoy's tightly. If Malfoy didn't have such an extreme tolerance for pain, he would have winced. Apparently Mr. Granger was just as pleased about the arrangement as Hermione and himself were.
"Mr. Granger." he said simply, but he did not miss the hidden meaning in the tone of his voice. I'd rather drop dead then have you marry my daughter.
Jane noticing the tension growing within the group decided to break the silence. "Well let's sit down and have some tea, shall we!" After they were all seated with a cup of tea, Jane looked towards Malfoy. "So Draco, what do you do? I'm sure now that school and the war has been over for quite awhile, you must have a job or something. I would like to know how you plan to support our daughter." Mr. Granger's head perked up at question.
Malfoy cleared his throat before continuing answering. "When Hermione and I are wed, I will receive my full inheritance and my own private estate."
"Oh, so if you don't mind me asking this, you are financially set and well off?"
Malfoy had the sneaking suspicion that Hermione got a majority of her calculating personality from her mother.
"Yes I am."
"So you don't actually have a job." Mr. Granger asked. "You'll be living off of your inheritance."
Malfoy quickly caught on. They wanted to see if he was going to be one of those lazy rich gits that did nothing but live off of their parents' wealth. Of course they're Hermione's parents, and since their daughter was a workaholic, they wanted to make sure he could pull an equal load.
"Well when I become twenty five I'll become a partner with my father in our family business. As of right now, I am overseeing some of the family businesses and the political and social aspects of the family name. So to answer your question, yes I am and will be working." He stated. He wasn't sure if he should be insulted by their accusations or impressed that they were so smart for muggles.
And so the day went with Malfoy playing 21 Questions with the Granger family. When it was time to go the family walked him to the door.
"It was very nice to finally meet you Draco." She said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I feel bad for you two. Pushed into this at such a young age, but hopefully things will work for the best."
"I hope so too, Mrs. Granger."
"Oh please, I told you to call me Jane." She laughed.
Malfoy turned towards Mr. Granger and extended his hand. Harold just gave him a rough handshake with no verbal farewell.
Hermione walked out with him and shut the door behind them for some privacy.
"Thank you Malfoy, for being civil and such."
Malfoy gave her his trademark smirk. "You and I may have our differences, Granger, but I was taught to be a gentleman, especially when it comes to future in-laws."
"Could have fooled me." She mumbled under her breath. Malfoy acted as if he didn't hear her.
"Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that your father hates me and wants me dead." He asked in a dry tone.
"Because he does." She replied in a similar tone. "I'm sure your mother is just as thrilled about this situation as he is."
"You have no idea." He muttered, "Well I bid you farewell Granger. I'll get in contact you some time tomorrow about the move and other things."
"Goodnight Malfoy."
"Goodnight Granger."
And with a pop he was gone. Hermione tiredly returned to her house and retired to her room early. She planned on taking a long bath and catch up on some reading. When she walked into her bedroom she saw a black envelope lying on her pillow.
Granger,
Dinner at the Manor at 6 o'clock on Thursday. Please be prompt, Mother hates to wait.
Malfoy
She grumbled under her breath and threw the letter onto her desk. Dinner with his mother? She knew it was only a matter of time before she had to actually meet the woman. She was going to marry her only son. Hermione's stomach turned nervously at the thought of eating dinner with the women who was married to the man who wanted nothing more than to torture her and then kill her and her best friends. She started to draw a warm bath and as the tub filled up she conjured a wine bottle and glass. Merlin, she needed a drink.