Disclaimer: The rights to Harry Potter belong to JKR. This is meant to be a work of transformative fiction, based on her characters. I do not make any money from this work.
Finding Hermione
By: eBookDragon
Chapter 10
The Malfoy Legacy
November 5th
"Malfoy!"
His witch's shout woke him abruptly out of his dreams. What was going on with her? It was too early in the morning for her to mad at him for something he did, not that he could think of anything that he'd done to piss her off. He got up and threw on a shirt and made his way to the door of his room. He opened it to find Hermione poised to knock.
"Good morning, lioness," he said gruffly, his voice still thick with sleep.
"Don't you 'good morning, lioness' me," Hermione said as she stomped into the room in a lavender camisole and lounge pants, the clingy fabric bringing to mind his lascivious dreams that he was rudely awoken from. Her hair was billowing out around her, practically crackling with fury and unrestrained magic.
He closed the door and cast a wandless muffliato on the room. He turned to face her, wiping his hand across his face trying to wake up. "What's got you so worked up this early in the morning?"
"Did you cuff me?" she asked angrily.
Whoa. "What?" he asked confused.
"Did you… put this… on me?" she said articulating each word slowly and brandishing her left arm. He caught a flash of silver before her arm was back at her side.
"No," he answered, still confused.
"It has your crest on it, Draco. Just because we started actually dating doesn't mean you can claim me as your property or whatever this is supposed to mean to you," she shouted at him.
It was too early for this. He couldn't think properly. He didn't like her shouting at him and he sure as hell didn't like her accusations. "I didn't put that on you," he said, gesturing at her arm, "Just take the thing off."
She growled in fury at him, "Don't you think I've tried? I can't get it past my wrist. Why would you put this on me?" she shrieked, waving her cuffed arm for emphasis.
He lost his temper then and shouted back at her, "How many different ways can I say this? I did not put that on you," gesturing at her arm, "I'm not fucking Weasley. You're not a piece of property to me. I hoped you would know that by now."
Draco stormed out of the room. He knew he shouldn't leave in the middle of a fight but he just couldn't stay there arguing with her right now. The argument was going nowhere fast. He knew their tempers would lead them into saying things that neither of them meant. Her panicked fury kept her from listening to anything he said. There was no point in continuing to fight a battle that he was destined to lose in her current state.
He went to his study, the one place he always felt the calmest. He stood looking out the windows watching the sun rise over the fields. They were charmed windows. The real view would have been the back of another house but Draco hadn't liked how dark the room was without some windows and natural light so he charmed them to look like the lawns at the Manor.
He replayed the fight in his head. He could understand her being upset about waking up with a piece of jewelry that she couldn't get off. He could even understand her thinking it would be him since she says it has his crest on it. He just couldn't understand her not listening to him when he denied putting it there. It hurt that she didn't believe him.
One day. They'd been together less than a day and they were already fighting. He knew they would fight and argue, probably a lot, considering their personalities. He could even admit to looking forward to the arguments. Things between them had always burned hot. He hoped they would burn hot in more fun ways, other than screaming matches at one another. Maybe he'd asked her to be with him too soon.
Draco tensed as he heard the door open and close quietly behind him. He wasn't ready for round two of this argument. He felt her hands slip around his waist and her head rest between his shoulder blades as she hugged him from behind.
"I'm sorry," she murmured.
He let go the breath he'd been holding and rested his hands on hers. His fingers brushed the cold metal of the cuff. A spark of electricity surged through him as he touched the cuff. He felt her shudder against his back. Interesting. "I didn't put that on you," he said quietly.
"I believe you. I saw the crest and I couldn't get it off and I jumped to conclusions."
"I can understand why you would but I wouldn't put something on you that you couldn't get off without your consent and full knowledge of what it was. I also don't think I need to resort to something so underhanded in order to get you to wear jewelry."
He knew there were pieces of jewelry out there that were impossible to take off. Usually, they were wedding rings though and meant to be a two-way magical bond. Since the only jewelry he had on was his signet ring, he guessed that whatever this cuff is was meant to mark her alone.
"Can I see it now? Maybe we can start to figure out what it is," he asked.
She released his waist and he felt her take a step back. He turned and looked at her. He was relieved to see there were no tears and no splotchiness to indicate that she had cried at all. She met his gaze steadily, her posture straight but not stiff. He pulled her to him, cupping her face before he brought his lips against hers. She sagged against him, fisting his shirt in her hands to pull him even closer. He poured his relief and forgiveness into the kiss until he pulled away leaving them both panting.
He took her left hand in his right and brought her wrist up so that he could closely inspect the cuff on her wrist. The cuff was made of platinum and about four inches wide all the way around. The Malfoy crest dominated the front of the cuff. The crest was a black and green quartered shield with a silver central letter "M" emblazoned across the shield. A silver banner scrolled along the bottom with the family motto "Sanctimonia Vincet Semper" written inside. Black dragons flanked each side. The band of the cuff connecting the two sides of the shield was decorated in intertwined Celtic knots in sapphire and alexandrite. He watched the light play across the blue of the sapphires and the reds and greens of the alexandrite. It really was beautiful.
Draco studied the band, carefully turning it around on Hermione's wrist. A faint familiarity niggled at him. The piece seemed familiar but he was certain he had never seen this cuff among the family jewelry. He tugged gently on the cuff to see if it would enlarge to slip off her wrist as most magical bracelets did. Hermione snorted at him when the bracelet refused to budge past her wrist. Well, at least she resisted the urge to tell him 'I told you so.'
"Well, it looks familiar but I can't place where I've seen it. I know it wasn't in the vaults or Manor among the jewelry collection. It is beautiful though," he finally said.
"Yes, it is rather impressive. Would your mother know something about it?" she asked with a curious lift of her voice.
"Maybe." A loud, angry gurgle interrupted him reminding them both that they hadn't eaten breakfast yet. "I'll call her after breakfast and see if she can come over."
His mother stepped through the fireplace later that morning, dusting ash off the shoulders of her black long-sleeve sheath dress. Draco was waiting on her arrival seated on the couch in front of the fireplace. Hermione was pacing anxiously behind the sofa, twirling the cuff repeatedly around her wrist.
Draco rose off the couch to greet his mother with a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you for coming, mother."
"Your call did make it sound important. What's going on? Did Ron try something again? Are the children okay?" his mother looked nervously at Hermione pacing behind him.
"The children are fine. It's not about Weasley. Please have a seat," Draco placated his mother. He turned to look at Hermione pacing and called out to her, "Hermione, come sit down please."
Hermione looked up from her pacing and finally noticed his mother sitting in the room with them. She came over and sat down on the sofa beside Draco. He draped his left arm over the back of the sofa behind her and twirled a curl around his finger.
"Thank you for coming over so quickly," Hermione said to his mother, "We were wondering if you recognized this piece," Hermione said as she held out her arm to his mother.
His mother moved over to sit beside Hermione on the sofa and took Hermione's arm in her hands. She examined the cuff slowly before she released Hermione's arm and beamed at both of them. "I just knew it would be you, dear. Oh, this is so wonderful! Amazing! At long last! And it's my boy!" she exclaimed as she pulled Hermione in for a hug and kissed her on both cheeks.
He could see Hermione tense as she returned his mother's hug, not really appreciating his mother's declarations about how wonderful the appearance of the cuff was. "Mother, maybe you could save the exclamations and tell us what's going on. Hermione is getting a little freaked out."
His mother looked at both of them before saying, "I think it would be best if I showed you. Come with me back to the Manor. Rose should stay here this time though."
Hermione let Tansy know that they were going over to the Manor and asked if she would watch Rose while they were gone. Then they both followed his mother through the fireplace to Malfoy Manor. Draco stepped out of the fireplace with Hermione's hand in his. He watched her as she looked around at the bright creams and golds of the front parlor. She squeezed his hand and followed his mother with a determined stride.
His mother had redecorated the entire Manor after her release from house arrest. The Ministry had confiscated all the dark objects in the house soon after the end of the war but the Manor was still left with a dark pall over the house from all the deeds done within its walls. His mother set about banishing all the darkness from each room, bringing a light into the Manor that it hadn't seen in centuries.
She led them through the house to the portrait gallery. Draco recognized the portrait of his grandfather, Abraxas, just inside the gallery. "You dare bring that filthy Mudblood into this house," his grandfather sneered at them.
"Show him the cuff, Hermione," his mother said with a bored air over her shoulder as she continued walking.
Hermione held her arm up and showed the portraits near her the cuff on her wrist. Draco watched in astonishment as the portrait of his grandfather and other nearby relatives, all staunch blood purists, bowed to Hermione and murmur, "My lady," as she walked by them. His mother came to a stop about halfway down the long gallery and stood in front of a portrait of an ancestor. The portrait was of a brown-haired witch and a wizard with the distinctive Malfoy hair. The name plaque under the couple read "Alexandria and Lucius Malfoy".
"Lucius?" Hermione asked.
"The first," his mother answered, "Please show her the cuff, Hermione."
Hermione held up her arm to the lady in the portrait. The lady responded by raising her arm and showing a similar cuff on her arm. This one decorated with emeralds and rubies. "Welcome to the family, my dear," the lady said to Hermione with a smile.
His mother led them on without offering an explanation further down the gallery to a portrait of a younger couple dressed in clothing that was reminiscent of three hundred years prior to the Elizabethan couple. The name plaque read "Leanora and Theophillius Malfoy." Hermione repeats the process and is shown a similar cuff in return. This one decorated with diamonds and garnets. The lady addresses Hermione and Draco with a smile, "You are a very lucky man, Draco. Welcome to the family, young lady."
"Mother, I don't think this is helping clear anything up," Draco said, impatiently.
"One more, Draco. Be patient," his mother chided.
She led them down four more portraits to the portrait of Lillian and Armand Malfoy, the first Malfoy to inhabit England after the rise of the Muggle king, William the Conqueror. Lillian showed them her cuff decorated with amethysts and opals and said, "Finally, another Malfoy finds his one true mate. I have long been disappointed that there are so few of us."
The two other ladies gathered into the painting of Lillian and Armand. "I'm not sure I really understand," Hermione said, "I don't understand what any of this means."
Lillian chose to act as the spokeswoman for the group and looked kindly down from her portrait at Hermione. "Many years ago my husband despaired of finding a wife who loved and valued him for himself, rather than for his position, power, or wealth. He was a strange man for his time, wanting to be loved by his wife. As a solution, he created a charmed cuff that would only appear on the lady whose soul was mated to his own. Being the romantic that he is, he charmed the magic to work for all future generations of Malfoy men and to appear after they've kissed their soul mate. He kissed me one night at a Yuletide ball and the next morning this appeared. I, of course, panicked much like I think you're doing right now, my dear. He saw the appearance of the cuff the next week at court and contacted my father about a betrothal. We spent many years very happy together."
Hermione's wide-eyed gaze met his, "So you're saying I'm Draco's soul mate."
"Surely, you've felt it, dear. I've been hearing about you for years, so I know you two have been around one another," Alexandria said.
"Felt what, exactly?" Draco asked, breaking the pull of her gaze to turn back to the portrait.
"The pull of your soul to hers. The desire to touch, kiss, and claim her," Armand answered.
He looked down at Hermione standing beside him and suddenly everything clicked into place. He remembered the first time he felt the pull of her on the train. He was sitting in a train compartment joking around with Crabbe and Goyle when she came by his compartment looking for Longbottom's toad. He'd been struck dumb by her eyes and his heart leapt in his chest. She'd stuck her hand out for a Muggle-style handshake introducing herself to him. He'd been surprised and embarrassed as Crabbe and Goyle snickered at her.
He'd been disappointed and angry to find out that she was Muggleborn and therefore off limits to him. They couldn't be friends. He couldn't have anything to do with her. Every time he saw her after that he felt the same irresistible pull toward her. It made him angrier each time he saw her, to want her and know that he'd be denied her because of her heritage. He'd started lashing out at her as only a spoiled boy can, with words that stung and hurt and a very memorable jinx that enlarged her front teeth, meant to keep her away from him so he could stop feeling like he needed to be with her.
Always. He'd always felt it. He'd always felt her. He'd known the second she was brought to the Manor by the Snatchers. He'd felt like he was dying as he watched her being tortured by his crazy aunt. He'd wanted to stand by her side during the final battle instead of crossing the line to save the lives of his parents.
"Does this mean we have to marry now?" Hermione asked the portraits, breaking him from his reverie.
"No," he said a little more forcefully than he intended, "I'm not going to be one more person that forces you to do something you don't want to do."
"But Draco, we're soul mates. Neither one of us can ever be truly happy without the other," Hermione said in despair.
Draco grasped both her hands in his, "That doesn't mean I'm going to let you be forced into marriage or anything else. Neither one of us would be happy if that was the only reason we married."
"Stop being so dramatic, you two," a gaunt old man growled from the painting to their left, "The bracelet only serves to identify the soul mate of a Malfoy. It is up to the wizard to convince his witch to be with him."
"How do you know this?" his mother asked, "You never married."
"I wronged my soul mate. I found out too late that she was mine, but by then she wouldn't have me. There was no convincing her despite spending my life trying to make amends. I lived alone rather than take a witch who would be a pale comparison to my Emilie. There are many other Malfoys here who never found their soul mate and lived perfectly happy lives."
"Hermione, Draco, I know that this is a lot for you both to take in. There are books in the library that might be of use to you. Let's go get them," his mother said, ushering them from the portrait gallery.
Draco watched his ancestors mumble as they walked by, all eager to see the future "Lady Malfoy" as they put it. He didn't hear the word "Mudblood" once from their lips. He found it odd to see how they treated Hermione with an awed deference.
"Is anyone else a little freaked out by how they're treating me?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"I'm not complaining, but this isn't how I expected them to treat you on your first official visit either." Neither one commented on the circumstances of her first visit to his former home.
His mother threw the open the double doors to the Malfoy library. Draco watched Hermione's face as she walked into the vast expanse of books. Taking Hermione into a library was like taking a child into a candy store. He could feel the hum of barely contained glee radiating from her.
The room was the biggest one in the house, even larger than the grand ballroom. Bookshelves three stories high lined the perimeter of the room, all filled to bursting with books. Aisles of bookshelves radiated outward from the center of the room. Spiral staircases led to the floors above. Comfortable chairs were interspersed across the main floor as well as near the landings on the other two floors. Windowed alcoves with seats made for curling up in took up the back corners of the room. It was a room that looked like it had been built with Hermione Granger in mind.
Hermione's look of awe and excitement erased the tenseness he had been feeling since they discovered the cuff on her. He had a feeling his mother might have taken them here last on purpose. The prospect of exploring a vast library would have erased even the worst mood from Hermione Granger.
"It's so vast," she finally said in awe and wonder.
"More books than even you could read in a lifetime," he said.
"Wanna bet?" she said with a grin.
"What would I get if I win?" he asked her.
"What would you ask for?" she replied.
"Another lifetime with you," he said with a smile, taking both her hands in his.
Hermione smiled at him through a haze of tears. "Deal."
"Wait. What do you get if you win?" Draco asked. He really wanted to win this bet.
"I'll tell you when I win," she smirked at him. He could tell he was rubbing off on her. Her teasing smiles were worthy of a Slytherin.
He scoffed, "There's no way you can read all those books."
Hermione didn't respond. She just smiled up at him with an unfathomable expression. Then she turned and walked away, following his mother into the stacks.