Ten minutes later, Lucius looked up from his tea as his son entered the breakfast room.

"Father!" Draco said. "I didn't expect you. Is everything all right?"

"Calm down, Draco," Lucius said coolly. "There's nothing wrong." Removing the package Narcissa had given him from his pocket, he enlarged it with his wand, then set it down on the table. "Your mother sent you this," he said with a chuckle. "Apparently, she thinks good food is unavailable here."

Ripping into the package eagerly, Draco said, "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"However, I do have something I need to discuss with you," Lucius said. Gesturing to a chair, he added, "I think you might want to sit down for this."

With a worried expression, Draco did as his father directed. "What is it?"

"You have a subscription to The Daily Prophet, correct?" Lucius asked.

"Yes," Draco affirmed, wondering what his father was getting at.

"Did you read the article about the Ministry of Magic establishing a Repopulation Department, in order to address the number of lives lost during the war?" the older man asked.

"Yes, I remember reading that," Draco replied. "All that rot about how purebloods should marry half-bloods and mudbloods in order to avoid having so many squibs."

"It also suggested that married purebloods should enter into secondary partnerships in order to help increase the population and improve the gene pool," Lucius added. "The Ministry has dubbed such relationships as consort relationships."

"Go on," Draco encouraged, somewhat nervously. He sincerely hoped that his father didn't expect him to take up with a mudblood.

"After reading this article and in light of the fact that your mother is unable to have more children, I decided to do as the ministry suggests," Lucius said. "I thought that taking a muggleborn consort would help repair my reputation in the wizarding community and speed up the process of putting my allegiance to the Dark Lord behind me.'

"Surely, you're joking," Draco said. "You can't be serious."

"I assure you that I'm quite serious," Lucius said. "Above all, Malfoys are survivors and if we're to regain our influence with the Ministry we must be adaptable. And I believe that this was an excellent opportunity to show my willingness to adapt."

"Does Mother know about this?" Draco demanded. "I can't imagine she'd be pleased."

"She knows," the older man said. "And while I won't pretend that she loves the idea, she understands and accepts the reasoning behind it; that's it's for the long-term benefit of all of us." After a pause, he continued, "And with my taking a muggleborn consort, that will deflect attention from you when you marry a pureblood witch, just as your mother and I always intended for you."

"So, who is the witch?" Draco asked. "Or have you not decided?"

"It's Hermione Granger," he said simply, waiting for his son's predictable reaction.

"Have you gone mad?" Draco exploded. "Out of all the mudbloods in the wizarding world, you couldn't come up with anyone better than Miss Know-It-All, Harry Potter's sidekick?" Shaking his head in disbelief, he continued, "You forbid me from getting engaged to Pansy Parkinson because you said 'she's not our type', but then you turn around and start shagging the mudblood Granger! At least Pansy is a pureblood! I just can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"Calm yourself," Lucius ordered in a sharp tone. "I don't have to explain my actions to you, but I will for your mother's and Miss Granger's sakes. First of all, I forbade you from marrying Pansy Parkinson because she would be a liability to our family. She's loud, obnoxious, and undiplomatic. As your wife, she would have hampered the rehabilitation of our good name and she would have hindered your advancement in wizarding society. Her family remains unrepentant of their support of Voldemort and it is essential that we rid ourselves of such associations."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but Lucius cut him off with a gesture, then continued, "Unlike Miss Parkinson, I believe Hermione Granger will be an asset to our family. By making a public alliance with someone from Harry Potter's inner circle, I am making a clear statement that I have repudiated my years as a Death Eater, and with Miss Granger accepting my suit, I have gotten the seal of approval from a witch who is currently highly regarded in the wizarding community." In a softer voice, he concluded, "And I've found that she and I have quite a bit in common. She's extremely intelligent and I find I enjoy talking with her."

"Among other things," Draco muttered under his breath.

"If you intend to remain my primary heir, you would do best to keep such inappropriate remarks to yourself in the future," Lucius said coldly. "Like it or not, Miss Granger is now a part of this family and you would do well to make the best of it and attempt to get along with her."

"Understood," Draco said in a sullen tone. "So, it's all official, then?"

"We are waiting until she conceives to register our union with the ministry," Lucius told him. "We thought it best so as to avoid any unpleasant interference from Potter and the Weasley family."

"I find it hard to believe that she agreed to become your consort," Draco said. "What did you do; put the Imperius on her?"

"Nothing of the sort," Lucius told him. "Since that dolt Ronald Weasley conveniently got himself killed in the last battle, Miss Granger has been at loose ends on how to proceed with her life. Molly Weasley, as you know, is a meddling battleax who has been pressuring Hermione to marry one of her remaining sons. Miss Granger has lived with the Weasleys since the end of the war and has seen first hand just how suffocating and limiting life would be in that family, with Molly Weasley trying to run her life. She had decided she wanted no part of it; indeed, she'd decided not to marry at all, but to devote her energies into pursuing some sort of career. However, she still wanted to have children."

"I ran into her in Flourish and Blotts the day the Daily Prophet article was printed," he continued. "She and I discussed the article and after that one thing led to another. I soon realized that entering into a consort relationship with her would be beneficial for me on both a public and private level. And I was able to convince her that a consort relationship with me would provide her with the kind of life she wanted. She'd be able to have the children she desired, yet would be able to maintain a high level of independence. And with my support, she'd be able to pursue any career she wishes on her own timetable, while not neglecting the children we would have."

"Do you love her?" Draco demanded. "And does she love you?"

"No, this isn't a love match," Lucius admitted. "But we do like and respect one another. She provides a stimulating challenge to me than has never been present with your mother."

"What about Mother?" Draco asked quietly. "Where does she fit into all of this?"

"I still love your mother and our marriage will continue as before," Lucius assured him. "Rest assured that our family relationship will not change. Miss Granger will not reside at Malfoy Manor, as I've provided my penthouse in London as a home for her and any children we will have."

"This will take a lot of getting used to," Draco said. "It's hard to wrap my mind around this."

"I understand," the older man said. "I've brought Miss Granger with me -- she's waiting in the library -- so that you can get to know her better and begin to adjust to our relationship. She and I will remain here over Christmas, after you go home to spend Christmas with your mother. I want her pregnant as soon as possible, and having an extended period of time here to ourselves will assist in her conceving sooner rather than later."

"She's here?" Draco was incredulous.

"Yes," Lucius said, his patience wearing thin. "We came here expressly to tell you about our relationship privately, rather than you hearing about it from someone else. I thought it better to give you a chance to deal with it here first before going home."

"I appreciate that," Draco said.

"Do you have any classes this morning?" Lucius asked him.

"No, not until this afternoon," Draco said. "I'd gotten up early to go watch some of the younger students in Quidditch practice."

"Excellent," Lucius said. "Then you will have time to meet with Miss Granger and put away your differences." Noticing Draco's sick expression, he continued, "I don't expect you to suddenly become best friends with her, but I insist that you treat her with respect. It's not as if you will have to spend large amounts of time together in the future."

"I understand, Father," Draco said. "I'll do it...for you."

"That's all I ask," Lucius replied smoothly. Noting that Draco had finished his breakfast, he continued, "Now, shall we join Hermione in the library?"

A few moments later, Hermione looked up from her books as she heard the library door squeal open to admit Lucius, followed by a reluctant Draco.

"Hello, Draco," she said in a small voice as Lucius seated himself beside her.

"Granger," he acknowledged gruffly, taking a chair across from the couple.

Looking at both Hermione and Draco, Lucius said, "It's important to me that you both make an effort to get along with one another. I know you've had your differences, to say the least, but that's over with now. It's time to leave the past in the past and to look ahead." After a pause, he focused his attention more on Draco and said, "I don't expect you to become best friends, but it is important that we present a united front to the outside world."

"I'm willing to give it a chance," Hermione said. "It's not as if we really ever got a chance to get to know one another properly in school, what with house rivalries and all."

"I'll do my best," Draco said, clearly uncomfortable.

"Excellent," Lucius said, considering the matter settled. Looking at Draco, he asked, "What time were you going to go to watch Quidditch practice?"

"They start in fifteen minutes, so I need to get going if I want to make it," he replied.

"I won't keep you then," Lucius said. "You go on ahead and we'll see you later."

"I shouldn't be home before this evening," Draco told him. "I have a couple of classes this afternoon and I'll eat lunch at the school."

"All right," Lucius said.

"See you later," Draco said, rising to leave.

After he was gone, Lucius turned to Hermione and said, "Let's go upstairs. There's a new bed for us to try."

"I'm right behind you," Hermione said, grinning.

--
A/N: I've reached the triple digits in reviews! Thanks to all my readers for their kind comments.
A/N: New Entry on my companion blog: Sharp Dressed Man
A/N: Next Chapter, "Hermione: Conversation With Draco