"You'll do it?" Draco asked, having expected to have to convince her way more.
"I can see that you love him, and he adores you. I wouldn't wish anything bad upon any child," she explained softly. She was unsure of her decision herself.
"How can I thank you?" he said, blinking back tears of relief.
"You can get me a job if I lose mine," she chuckled nervously. That was still a concern.
"Done. You can work at Malfoy Enterprises as head of whatever department you wish," he declared seriously.
"I was just kidding, Draco," she said.
"No matter. I mean it. I honestly can never thank you enough for this," he continued.
"It's just a matter of a year. It's not a big deal at all," she said, not wanting to make it a big deal in fear of scaring herself off the decision.
"We're going to have to meet your parents and I assume, your friends. You'll unfortunately also have to meet my parents. And, we'll have to be careful in front of Scorpius. We really cannot let anyone know-"
"that this is a fake marriage, I know," she completed. "Don't worry, we'll be careful. You won't lose him."
"Thank you, Hermione," he said softly.
"It's okay, Draco," she replied, slightly uncomfortable. "I think its best if we draw up a contract. Just so everyone's on the same page."
He nodded, having expected no less from the always prepared witch in front of him.
He watched as she shuffled around, opening various drawers in search of parchment and ink. She was quite an amazing woman, and he felt like he owed his life to her in that moment.
"Here we go. When were you thinking we should have the wedding?"
"Well, tomorrow is going to be a busy day meeting everyone. And my divorce hearing is July 10, so how about the morning of July 11?"
"Isn't that a little too soon?" she asked, still unbelieving of all that was happening, and so soon at that.
"Well, Scorpius' custody hearing is July 11. I don't see a choice..." he explained.
"Hmm, maybe I can convince Kingsley to have the custody date moved up. Until then, maybe the end date can be around the first week of August next year? We wouldn't want it to be too precise with the month and date lest someone suspect us."
He nodded in agreement. "You can put down the job stipulation in there, too."
"No, that's fine. We can handle that privately," she smiled appreciatively.
"And, um, anything about any pay," he said awkwardly, not knowing how to definitively ask her.
"No, no. I don't need anything," she said.
"Are you sure? Because I can-"
"It's fine, Draco. If it helps you keep your son, I'm happy to do it. I don't need any payment for it," she said gently.
"You're really amazing, you know," he said before he could filter his thoughts.
Hermione blushed at the sudden compliment. "Anyone else would have done the same."
Draco left the topic alone, knowing that not just anyone would agree to such a big request from someone they barely knew.
She passed the quill over to him and he signed his name neatly at the end. After she had done the same, she rolled it up and placed a binding charm over it to deter anyone other than the two of them from being able to open it.
"I'll see you tomorrow then? I can bring Scorpius over here, and we can go straight to your parents place around 12," he said, standing up.
"Yeah, I'll let them know to expect us," she said, following him to her front door.
"Thank you, Hermione. Really, I don't know how to thank you enough," he said, turning around in her front porch.
"It's okay, Draco," she said, flashing him a small smile.
"Good night, Hermione," he said.
"Good night, Draco," she said, as he apparated away.
(A/N: This is more like part 2 of chapter 9. Thank you for reading!)