Draco Malfoy stared back at me with a smirk, so this was why he didn't come to the house if he did he knew Harry and Ron would hang him by his ears on the roof and leave him there. I turned to run not knowing where I was going and soon finding myself hitting a brick wall, it was so dark in here I wish there were some lights so I at least knew where here was, how can someone have a room this dark in the middle of the day anyway? Malfoy stayed still not moving or speaking and when I turned back to him was that his brow was no longer furrowed in confusion but raised in amusement. "oh for merlin's sake granger you look like a wild animal in a cage stand still will you watching you bound around everywhere is giving me whiplash" I answered his request with a scowl and reached for my wand out of my back pocket, it was empty, Malfoy twirled my wand between his long fingers. He was no longer smirking at my frustration and when I took a step towards him ready to give him a piece of my mind he stepped back sheepishly, "Hermione … Granger, your eyes, calm… down…here take it back" I'd never seen Malfoy stumble over his words and he held my wand at arm's length. I took it from his grasp spun it and pointed it at him, he held his arms up in surrendered, another Malfoy first, I slowly lowered my wand to show I meant no harm "Malfoy what's going on why are we here, why are you acting… human" I paused "and did you just call me Hermione, since when did you use my first name I thought you only referred to me as granger or mudblood" Malfoy visibly flinched at my choice of words and then his ego slipped and his eyes closed off.
"Granger you're supposedly the smartest witch of the century, you know why we're here. Whether you like it or not were stuck with each other because if you refuse me I die, and I did not survive a lifetime of my father and Voldemort to die because of my school enemy" his voice broke towards the end and I remembered how serious this was, Malfoys hands was literally in my hands I decided if he lived or died. I could just walk away and live a life without the ferret but would I be able to live with myself knowing I was the reason he died a painful and lonely death. I knew what I had to do, I had to be with Malfoy, I had to tie myself to the ferret, forever. I sighed knowing what I said next would change my life forever, I was losing so much and I wished more than anything that this was a dream but it wasn't and I had to face up to the harsh reality that I was tied to a wanna-be death eater "fine Malfoy I'll be with you but don't accept love from me, I would quite happily walk away and never see you again but I don't want murder on my conscience, some of us aren't evil like that" Malfoy breathed a sigh of relief his ego was falling away again and I didn't know what to make of him when he cared I was so used to trading insults with him and his nonchalant attitude. I kept my distance from him, just because I had to spend my life with him didn't mean I totally trusted him not to sneak attack and kill me.
"granger I realise this is pretty forward seen as 20 minutes ago you hated me"
"20 minutes?" I joked "more like 20 seconds" I interrupted him
"right ok anyway, the house elves make an amazing lasagne and its nearly dinner time, would you like to stay here for dinner, we could try to get to know each other better or at least try to spend an hour alone without killing each other?" I debated in my head how likely it was for us to both sit down and have a civilised conversation before giving in knowing that I had to stay and talk to him, fine just let me go back and tell the Weasleys where I am then I'll be back, incidentally where are we?" Malfoy laughed "Malfoy manor of course" my stomach twisted and an involuntary shiver ran down my spine as I thought of the last time I was here. I gave a curt nod and disapperated without saying good bye. Once back in my room at the Weasleys I went down stairs and told them anxiously what happened, excluding who my mate was I wasn't ready for them to hit the roof just yet, Ginny dug for information but I drip fed her the bare minimum before going back to my room , I decided I should change out of my chilling clothes this was after all a very serious meeting with my soulmate/enemy if tonight went well then maybe my life wasn't doomed, I was sharing it with Malfoy of course it was doomed. I changed into a short black chiffon skater dress and pulled my new hair into a bun on the top of my head before accessorizing with a bright red bandana and a clear gloss, I slipped my ballet flats on and picked up a cardigan to cover the scar on my arm I slipped m wand into my purse and took a deep breath before apperating into my own personal hell.
Malfoy waited by the gates to let me past the wards and answered my questions about the wards and how I managed to come through with the port key but not alone I found we were at the front door, behind us was the front garden which was pruned to perfection there was not a single leaf out of line and I felt sorry for the person who had to groom the intricate bushes that lined the gates. Malfoy opened the front door and I was astounded by the opening hallway it was so light and airy with fake windows allowing in permanent sunshine, the walls were a pale cream and were decorated with moving picture of the Malfoy family the only darkness in the room came from a two pairs of black curtains closed next to each other halfway up the wall, I stared at them in confusion until Mrs Malfoy answered my unasked question form the stair case " the curtains cover the portraits of my husband and his master" she said the words with disgust and her nose wrinkled as though there was a bad smell. After a moment she continued "I tried to remove them but my husband seems to have placed a permanent sticking charm to the back and now that he's dead it can never be removed."I had no idea how to respond to that so I decided to give the woman my condolences on the death of her murderous, evil husband "Mrs Malfoy , I'm sorry to hear about Lucius, I didn't really know him but I understand that you loved him very much and I'm sorry he died" Malfoy scoffed besides me and I elbowed him in the ribs Mrs Malfoy glided down the rest of the marble staircase and came to stand in front of me before replying "firstly don't be sorry, I'm not he was my husband and when we first got married I loved him very much but miss granger you have to understand he was very different back then, I'd rather he be dead now, it means I can truly be myself , do not worry miss granger you are safe here my prejudices died with Lucius and please call me Cissa or Ms Black if you feel the need to be formal." I breathed a sigh of relief and my body relaxed, I dint realise I was that tense."ok mrs…Cissa please call me Hermione" Malfoy shifted restlessly beside me, he told his mother that he wanted to show me the house and bid her good bye.
Once we were out of earshot he begun talking again "well that was suitably awkward, why is my mother allowed to call you by your first name but im restricted to your last?" I sighed I should have known this was coming I heard veelas could be possessive and jealous sometimes the best thing to do was give in " you can call me by my first name if you want Malfoy" he replied with lightning speed "well one day we are going to get married, unless you want to live in sin and then this whole last name thing would become very confusing because we'd both be malfoys" I took a step back "married? Officially , like a real couple? Ive never really seen myself getting married and if you think im ever going to change my name to Hermione Malfoy then you have another thing coming" he looked perplexed "Hermione we will be a real couple once the courting process is done you will be as much in love with me as I am with you, not only will you marry me but you will want to , we will have the perfect relationship , we were made for each that's why you're a witch so that you can become a veela and be with me, always" I am pretty sure I went into shock I was not a witch only to be his I was a witch because of magic and magic alone and why all of a sudden did Malfoy apparently love me veela magic surely couldn't be this strong. I huffed and walked off leaving him standing alone. He caught up with me before long "fine if you don't believe in our destiny let me show you, follow me the dining room is this way we can have our first date and I promise it will be perfect.
I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and… he was right it was perfect.