all characters belong to JKR

Chapter 25: Give a Man a Fish, and Give Draco Malfoy a Break:

There's a Chinese proverb that goes, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Hermione Granger had a proverb that was similar. It was, "Give a man your heart, and love him for today. Give a man your hand in marriage, and love him for a lifetime."

Draco Malfoy had a similar proverb. It was "Give a woman a half-hearted proposal, she will timidly tell you yes. Give a woman a large ring, and a serious proposal, and she will commit to anything."

Hermione Granger was going to marry Draco Malfoy. He really did ask her, he was not under too much duress when he asked, and she said yes. Now, she had to clarify some things.

Draco was still on top of her, his weight almost crushing her into the floor, when she said, "Yes, yes I will marry you."

He looked confused at first. He regarded her with suspicion. He said, "Repeat that."

"Draco, get off me," she said.

"Not until you repeat that," he repeated.

"Draco, get off me," she said.

"No, you idiot, repeat your answer."

"I said yes," she said. She pushed him off her with all her might. "But, I have a request," she added. She sat up and leaned her back against her couch.

He crawled over and sat beside her. "What, a large square cut emerald ring surrounded by diamonds?"

"No, well, maybe, but that's not what I was going to say," she said.

"What is it?" he asked wearily.

"Let's go on some more dates before we make it official. Maybe a lot of dates. And let's not tell anyone for a while. I would like to get know you better, see what makes you tick," she said.

"Fine," he said. "But I'm not that complicated. I'm not so much like a fine Swiss timepiece as I am an old wind up alarm clock. I'm not as complicated as you may think."

"I don't think you're complicated, but I think you and I have known each other for so long, without really knowing each other that it would be nice to really get to know one another for real," she stated.

He thought that sounded reasonable, and frankly, he wasn't anxious to get married. He thought she was, though. At least she was before now. He didn't mind taking time. He didn't mind waiting. He could postpone a wedding as long as she was his. He moved on his knees, and then climbed up to sit on the couch. She stayed on the floor with her back against the couch. She leaned her head back and smiled at him.

He leaned down and kissed her face sweetly.

They left it like that. She told him she was expected at her parents' for dinner. He rather thought she would invite him, after all, if they were engaged now, officially or not, they would have to get to know each other's families. Nevertheless, she didn't invite him and he didn't pursue it.

The next day, Sunday, he went up to her apartment with a bag of scones and two black coffees.

She wasn't there.

On Sunday afternoon, he went up to invite her out for a nice Sunday stroll.

She wasn't there.

On Sunday evening, he went up and knocked on her door to see if she wanted to pop down for dinner.

Damn, she wasn't there.

This was the oddest engagement Draco had ever imagined. It was one thing to keep it from everyone else, but it almost seemed like she was trying to keep it from him as well. No, what it really almost seemed like was that she was avoiding him.

On Sunday night, he did the unthinkable, he apparated into her flat. She probably didn't know he had the ability to do that, but the wards were set up so Draco could apparate anywhere in the whole building.

He apparated directly in her bedroom, because he half hoped she might be undressing. He chuckled at his own perverseness, if that was even a word. He then walked all around the flat and he only saw Iggy, but he noticed that the cat had fresh water and food down in the kitchen, so she must be home. He went back to the bedroom, to search once more, when his attention was drawn to the French doors that led to the balcony. A brilliant flash of lightning appeared in the sky, illuminating the inside room, and forcing his gaze to the window, where he saw her silhouette.

Another silent burst of light flashed around her before he opened the door. He opened it silently, or at least, as quietly as he could. Once outside, he heard the distance thunder. There was no rain, not yet, but another flash of lightning. He walked over to where she leaned against the balcony ledge, she turned her head to look at him, and he asked, "Where have you been all day?"

"My parents' house," she said. She turned around so she was no longer looking at him. Why did he feel strange about that? He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come back inside, the lightning is dangerous," he said.

"You go on," she answered. "I need to think."

He looked up at the sky as another flash, followed by another roar, went off overhead.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, really," she said. She had yet to look at him.

He licked his dry lips and pulled on her arm to force her to look at him. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No."

"Do you not want to be together? Is that it? Are you having doubts?" he asked. He really couldn't think of any other reason why she would be so reserved and pensive. He also couldn't imagine that a woman who was so resolved to be married that she broke up with him only months before, could now be having second thoughts, yet that was the only conclusion he could fathom upon seeing her so preoccupied and distant.

She sighed and it seemed that the weight of the world was upon her. He pulled her into his arms. "Is that it?" he asked softly, his hands stroking her back up and down in a calming fashion.

"No," she said, her voice reverberating against his chest, as he held her close. She pushed away from him again, but took his hand.

"You've seemed distant," he remarked.

"I'm fine, it's your imagination," she said. She pulled her hand from his and went to sit on the bench.

"Are you having second thoughts?" he asked again.

"Of course not," she said. She wasn't, was she?

"I won't allow you to have second thoughts," he stated plainly. He smiled at her and said, "The only one that can have second thoughts around here is me."

"Are you? Having second thoughts that is?" she asked.

"Not at all," he said plainly. That statement shocked even him. My goodness, when did that happen? He actually wanted to marry her. He really did. He felt the need to express his feelings so he said, "I think we just need to learn to be ourselves. I think we just need time to heal from the hurt. I think it's time we became friends again, first and foremost, and let our love grow from that point. That's always been what I wanted the most."

She didn't say anything to that statement. She looked up as another flash of light lit the night sky. How could she tell him that she felt guilty for forcing him to propose? For that was what she felt. She gave him no other option, and now she felt guilty.

"Let's go on a date," he said, "right now."

"It's almost ten o'clock at night," she said.

"So?"

"I have to work tomorrow," she said.

"Don't be an old stick in the mud," he said. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure and fun? Aren't you the one that said we should date and get to know each other better?" He pulled her up from the bench, took both her hands, and said, "Dance with me, Granger."

She smiled and chuckled. "Is this my date?"

"It's mine too, and I want to dance, with the thunder as our music and the lightning as our mood lighting. What do you say?" he asked.

Her response was to smile.

As a result, they started swaying back and forth to music that didn't exist. The thunder grew louder, the lightning more severe, and they stood outside, exposed to the elements, in complete silence, in each other's arms.

Hermione was having second thoughts. She didn't like that she was, but she was. She was happy that he finally wanted to marry her, and while that was what she wanted, too, somehow she just knew that he was forced into it. Would he come to regret his decision? Would he come to resent her for forcing him to make this decision?

She had to prove to Draco Malfoy that marriage between them was a good idea, and that a happy ending was in the cards for them, but first, she had to convince herself of that. She knew she wanted to be married someday. She always had. That didn't mean she had to get married today, tomorrow, or even in a year. She just wanted to get married someday. It would make her happy. She was a complete and happy person to begin with, so marriage would just make her more so.

She had made such an error, almost a fatal one, when she backed him in the corner the first go round. She made him feel like he had to ask her to marry him to keep her. The problem was, she had begun to believe that as well.

That wasn't the truth. Her heart believed it to be so, now she just had to convince her head.

She lifted her head from his shoulder as the first raindrops began to fall. She said, "We must be crazy." She took his hand and led him inside. She started to pace back and forth like a caged animal. She said, "Draco, what do you really want, deep in your heart?"

"A full head of hair and the ability to still have an erection when I'm seventy years old," he said. She turned to him, mouth agape, and he seemed perfectly serious. She began to laugh.

He laughed as well and said, "Well, you asked."

"What do you want when it comes to us?" she clarified, sitting on the bed.

He sat beside her and started with, "A full head of hair and the ability…" but he got no further. She pushed him off the bed.

She laughed some more and said, "Be serious."

He looked up at her from the floor and said, "Believe me, when I talk about my hair and Mr. Happy, I am always serious."

She laid on her belly on the bed, peered over the edge at him as he lay on the floor and asked, "Mr. Happy?"

"That's his name, however, I wouldn't mind if you gave him a new one. Do you want to name him, now?" he asked.

"Who named him Mr. Happy?" she asked.

"I did, but since he will belong partially to you after we marry, you might want to find a new nickname," he said with a lascivious grin.

"Mr. Happy, huh?" she said. She thought for a moment, her hand rubbing his chest absentmindedly and said, "I can't come up with a single thing, sorry."

"Not even one?" he asked.

"The Little Snake?" she asked.

"LITTLE!" he screamed, sitting up. He stood suddenly and jumped on the bed, trapping her under his body, her front pressed into the mattress.

"You have been very physical with me lately," she said with a muffled voice. "Please, get off."

"Apologize, or suffer the consequences," he said.

"Should I apologize to you or him?" she asked.

He rolled off her and sat up on the bed. She rolled to her back and he said, "I think you should confront him face to face and apologize."

"You're not right, are you? Did your mummy drop you on your head when you were a baby?" she asked.

"I doubt if my mother even held me when I was a baby," he answered.

She propped herself up on her elbows, and he mirrored her, facing her, his head propped on his hand.

"That's just sad."

"No, that's a lie, Granger. You are so gullible that it's pathetic," he said. "Now, what name have you decided?"

She pushed on his shoulder, pushing him to his back. She leaned over him and said, "How about, Willy Wonka?"

He laughed and said, "That's a Muggle movie!"

"I know. When I was little, I thought it sounded like a dirty name. I don't know why. I guess I had a weird sense of humour. When I was little, I watched that movie, and I swear, the character of Veruca Salt always reminded me of you. Spoiled rotten to the core, and a father who would do anything for them, whether it was good for them or not," she said.

"I can live with that," he said seriously. "I mean, I am slightly appalled you equated me with a little girl, but the rest really does fit my upbringing, so I'm fine with the comparison. If you were a character from that movie, you would probably be Mike Teevee. A little know-it-all, annoying, brat," he said.

She was quiet for a moment, and then nodded her head. "I can live with that," she repeated what he said.

"The whole Weasley family would be the Oompa Loompas, because of their ginger hair," he said.

She looked confused for a moment and said, "I think they had green hair and their skin was orange, so I'm not sure about that one."

"How about because there were so many of them? That's a fair comparison," he declared.

"No, I still don't see it," she said. "They would be more like the Bucket family, poor but happy."

"Whatever," he said with a sigh. "Although the phrase 'poor but happy' is an oxymoron."

"Better than just being a moron," she said with a grin.

"Don't call yourself names," he retorted with a grin to match hers.

She just smiled and asked, "Who would Harry be?"

"Probably Charlie Bucket. Annoying, self-righteous, moralistic, and in the end, he saves the fucking day," Draco said.

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Dumbledore would have been Willy Wonka. Slightly mad and with a slight father complex to Charlie," Hermione surmised.

"I think Willy had a sick crush on little Charlie Bucket. I think he was a right old letch, and possibly a child molester in the making," Draco said.

"That's not true, take that back!" she shouted. She was appalled.

"That's how I saw it. There's a parallel between Willy and Charlie and Dumbledore and Potter, after all," he said.

She looked like he hit her in the gut. She hit his arm, very hard, and said, "There was nothing perverted about Dumbledore and Harry's relationship!"

"Oh, I'm not so sure. I think the old Flamer had a thing for Potter that extended beyond a fatherly feeling," Draco sneered with a wicked grin.

She took a deep breath in and hit him again. She climbed on his body, straddling his hips with her knees, and hit his chest several times with her open hands. "Stop that! Dumbledore's love for Harry was platonic and fatherly, and he wasn't gay!"

"Oh, yes, he certainly was," Draco said with a laugh.

"NO HE WASN'T!" she said, hitting him again. This time he placed his hands up to block her hits.

"Not the face, Granger, that's my bread and butter," he stated. She stopped hitting him and he said, "And he really was a poof. Did you not know, really?"

"I think you've totally rocked my very soul with that information, and I don't think I will ever get over the shock if that's true. There's nothing wrong with being gay, but there was never any indication that Dumbledore was gay, so why tell me now?" She got off his body to lie back on her side, facing him, still in a state of shock.

She did look slightly traumatized, so to lighten the mood Draco asked, "Who would have been Augustus Gloop?"

Hermione smiled and then at the same time as Draco, they both said, "Crabbe!"

They both started laughing. She cuddled up against his chest and he stroked her arm.

"I miss these types of moments. Friendship moments," he said.

"Lovers can be friends. Lovers should be friends. Married people should be best friends," Hermione said.

"Then you should have married Potter," Draco said with a laugh.

She leaned up on his chest, looked in his eyes and said, "You're my best friend now, not Harry."

He thought that was the nicest thing she had ever said to him. It might have been the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. He kissed her lips slowly, pressing her down on the bed, on her back. His lips lingered on hers for a moment and he said, "I've never had a best friend before."

"That's part of your problem," she said, jokingly.

However, he thought she was serious, and he couldn't agree more.

Would marriage mean that he would spend the rest of his life with his best friend? If that was the case, then he should have agreed to marry her a while back. He could get used to being married to his best friend. Marriage to his best friend would mean that he would never be lonely again. He would always have someone to talk to, who would listen, offer advice, and perhaps make fun of him from time to time. He could even make fun of her from time to time, and have a good laugh.

"Granger, I need to do something," he said suddenly, climbing over her body.

He started down the hall toward her door. She stood up and followed. "Where are you going? I thought you might want to spend the night."

"I'll be back," he said.

She stood in her living room, confused. Draco ran down the stairs, only to come back a short while later.

He grabbed her hand and got down on one knee. Her eyes widened, and her heart beat loudly in her ears. She even felt a rush of nausea hit her. Was he doing what she thought, hoped, wanted, him to do?

He said, "Hermione Granger, I love you more than life itself. You are my best friend in the world, and I would be honoured, and frankly appalled if you said no, but I would be honoured if you would consent to be my bride." He took a small box out of his pocket. He opened it up. Inside was large, square cut, emerald ring, surrounded by diamonds in a platinum setting. Just like the ring he had described earlier. It looked to be an antique.

He placed the ring on her finger. It was too large. He would fix that later. It belonged to his grandmother Black, and she was a considerably 'large' woman in her day.

"Where did you get the ring, Malfoy?" she asked.

"Is that your answer?" he asked back, still on one knee.

"Did you just happen to have this in your possession the whole time?" she inquired.

He rolled his eyes, stood up, and placed his hand over her mouth. He said, "Nod for yes, shake your head for no. Those are your only two options."

She nodded.

He smiled.

He was getting married to his best friend and for the first time it felt right. He pulled her into his arms and swung her around.

Hermione looked at the ring on her finger as he twirled her around and thought one thing… 'This is really real now. I'm getting married.'

Coming up:

"You know, if you hadn't taken me back soon, I was the one that was going to beg to you. I would have gotten down on my knees and pleaded with you to take me back."

To his surprise, and with her eyes still closed, she said, "I'm glad it didn't get to that point. I find begging an unattractive quality."

He chuckled and said, "I rather enjoy for people to beg. I know I love it when you finally said please."

She said, "Shut up and go to sleep."