Chapter 3: An Engagement

Draco cursed under his breath. Of all the times Hermione could have passed out, she chose now. That's when he heard the footsteps. Draco pulled Hermione closer and hoped that whoever it was would walk right past the room. No such luck. The door of the classroom burst open but Draco didn't see anyone. He heard more footsteps and that when he started to panic. Before he could do anything however, Harry, Ron and Lillia appeared. Ron glared at him and Draco thought that was odd until he noticed that he was holding onto Hermione and she was looking at him with her eyebrows raised.

He quickly let her go and mumbled a quick sorry. He thought that no one had heard him say sorry except for Hermione but he was wrong. Lillia had heard it too and wondered. Hermione nodded then remembered why they were in the classroom in the first place. She groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"I see you remember," Draco said lightly. Hermione just groaned.

"Dumbledore is of course going to want to talk to you," he replied, ignoring Hermione's groan. Hermione just groaned again.

"Well, I'd best be off. Goodnight Hermione, Potter, Weasley and Riddle," he said. Lillia smiled, amused.

"I'm amazed. You're actually calling me by my last name instead of Lillia and my lady," she said.

"Over the summer I actually thought about it. I was only doing that by my father's orders and I decided that I would be rebellious," Draco replied as he walked out the door.

Hermione however hadn't been paying any attention to the conversation. She was thinking over the whole prophesy fiasco.

"Well, if it were to help Harry win then I'll do it. I mean Dumbledore is on his side. I know he'll win but with my marriage to Draco then for sure, we'll win," Hermione thought.

Her only problem was the best way to explain this to Harry and Ron without them blowing up. If she could get them to see the pros instead of the cons and that they would win the war then they might agree to it.

"Hey Hermione, are you coming or what?" Lillia asked. "Oh yeah," Hermione said.

As they were walking back towards Gryffindor Tower, Hermione whispered, "I need to talk to you. Come with me to the Head Rooms." Lillia nodded.

"Hey, Harry, I'm going to the Head Rooms with Hermione. We're going to talk about girl stuff," Lillia said.

Ron and Harry nodded as Hermione and Lillia stole away to Hermione's room. "So what's so important that you want to talk to me alone?" Lillia asked once they were in Hermione's room.

"Well, hear my entire story and then you can comment," Hermione said. Lillia nodded, though a bit reluctant.

"Um, well I had been finishing Head Girl duties when I came upon Draco. He said that he need to speak with me and took me to that classroom. Once there he told me that Voldermort had shown his father a prophesy about him. In it Draco had to marry me in order for the powerful wizard to win the we're in right now. I guess it wouldn't be too bad. I mean at least I won't be married to a Death Eater. His father won't allow it now that he's changed sides. But however I don't know how Harry and Ron will take this," Hermione said.

"Do you have feelings for him, Draco I mean?" Lillia asked grinning mischievously.

"Well, I really don't know. I mean when he kissed me tonight it was great. It felt right and perfect," Hermione said. Lillia laughed.

"I'm guessing that's a yes. Then marry him. I can deal with Harry and Ron. They'll agree to it, even if it's grudgingly. They'll do it because they want to defeat my father," Lillia said. Lillia smiled.

"Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning Mione," she said. Hermione sighed then slipped into her bed. She fell into a dreamless sleep.

Meanwhile at Gryffindor Tower...

"She has to what!" Ron roared.

"Shhh," Lillia warned. "I said no interruptions," she added.

"If she marries him which no doubt she will either by force or free will, she could help us. If that powerful wizard is Harry then we'll win just because of the simple marriage between Draco and Hermione. Draco has changed. He's not the same and I think I know why. 1) His father switched sides. He's also acting rebellious. 2) His father isn't around anymore. I visited their house because I was invited by Narcissa. She's quite a nice woman and doesn't care about blood. He's been hanging around his mum quite a lot. I also believe that he's had a crush on Hermione for quite awhile but just never wanted to admit it," Lillia said. Ron was tomato red from suppressed rage.

Harry however was silent. "I give my consent if that means anything," Harry finally said. Lillia smiled and threw her arms around him.

"How can you do this! She's our best friend and she has to marry our enemy! Her enemy!" Ron fumed.

"Actually, Draco and Hermione are no longer enemies. They became acquaintances last year," Lillia said. Ron just glared then stormed up to his dorm.

"Well, I had better try to cool him off, Goodnight," Harry said as he kissed Lillia and ran upstairs. Lillia sighed, hoping everything would turn out okay...

Hermione woke up the next morning, refreshed. She quickly got dressed and pulled her hair into a messy bun at the back of her head. She grabbed her bag and went to eat breakfast. When she got into the Great Hall, she took a seat next to Lillia. She noticed that Ron's ears were bright red.

"What's wrong Ron?" Hermione asked.

"I'll tell you what's.." but he was cut off by Lillia who said, "Can't we have a nice breakfast?"

Ron shut up and Hermione ate in peace. As she got up from the bench, she heard someone call her name. Hermione turned to see Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore motioning to her. She quickly walked over to them.

"Would you come to my office?" I would like to discuss the prophesy issue," Dumbledore questioned.

"Oh there's no need for that. I've already come to a decision. I'll marry Draco," Hermione said bravely.

Professor McGonagall looked shocked. "You've already decided!" she said. Hermione nodded as Professor Dumbledore smiled.

"Well, then we'll just need to tell Draco and then his parents," he said. Hermione walked back over to Lillia who asked,

"What was that about?" "Oh, they wanted to discuss the prophesy but I told them that it wasn't necessary as I had already decided to marry Draco," Hermione replied. That was it for Ron.

"I ABSOLUTLY REFUSE TO ALLOW YOU TO MARRY FERRET-BOY!" Ron roared. The entire hall went silent and stared at him.

"That, Ron, is my decision," Hermione replied leaving the hall quickly. Draco however sat in his seat smirking. So he knew the answer.

The Next Day, Dumbledore's Office...

Dumbledore stood up with the letter clutched in his hand. Lucius would be very pleased when he heard that Hermione had agreed. Dumbledore called his owl to him and tied the letter to its leg. Then he watched her fly off. Dumbledore sighed then stepped into his sitting room behind his desk. He sat on a loveseat and looked at the portrait of his wife.

"I miss you so much Veronica. My life seems to have grown harder since you left it," he told the portrait. Dumbledore sat there for a long time before his owl, Jocasta came back. He hastily untied the letter from her leg.

Dear Dumbledore,

I'm surprised. I would have thought that she would put her foot down. Well this is much easier and I prefer it. Narcissa can't wait to meet her. She also wants to know when the wedding will be. The sooner the better.

Sincerely,

Lucius Malfoy

Dumbledore laid down the letter and picked up another piece of parchment. He penned a quick note to Professor McGonagall then sent it out. If he was not mistaken, Hermione and Draco were both in Advanced Transfiguration right now. Right after the class ended and the students began to go to lunch, Draco and Hermione showed up at his office.

"What do want to talk to us about, Professor?" Draco asked after they had taken a seat.

"I just got the owl back from your father. He feels that the sooner the wedding is, the better it will be," Dumbledore replied. Hermione bit her lip.

"Uh, when would you suggest we get married?" she asked nervously.

"Well, it is almost Christmas Time. Why not get married over Christmas break?" Dumbledore suggested. Draco and Hermione nodded. At least it was a few weeks away.

"Is that all?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I believe it is, good day," Dumbledore said. Hermione greatly went to the Great Hall for lunch.

The rest of the week passed very uneventfully unless you count the fact that Draco asked her to Hogsmede. Hermione was really happy when the weekend came. She woke up on Saturday and got dressed. She decided to leave her hair down then pulled her cloak on. She went into the Great Hall and ate breakfast. She was really surprised when a beautiful owl dropped a letter and parcel onto her plate. She grabbed the parcel first and unwrapped it. A small black box tumbled out. Hermione grabbed it and opened it. Inside was a beautiful emerald emblazoned with an M for Malfoy on a silver or maybe platinum band. She closed the box and picked up the letter.

Dear Hermione,

We've never met but my name is Narcissa Malfoy. I am very happy that you agreed to marry my son. You will make a great wife. Draco told me all about you and I already like you though I've yet to meet you. Oh, the parcel I've included is your engagement ring. You will be coming to the Manor for Christmas as you're getting married. I can't wait to meet you and hope that we get along.

With Love,

Narcissa Malfoy

"Wow, look at that ring. Oh you got a letter from Narcissa. You know that I might be coming to the manor to stay a bit," Lillia said staring at the ring.

"It is nice but well.." Hermione trailed off.

"Well what?" someone behind her demanded. Hermione turned around to see Draco staring at her.

"What's wrong with the ring?" he asked.

"Oh nothing. I just always imagined the guy putting it on my finger not me," Hermione replied.

"Oh," Draco said. Then he quickly grabbed the box from Lillia and took Hermione's hand.

"Will you, Hermione do the honor of marrying me?" he asked. Hermione's mouth fell open.

"Y-Yes," she replied and he slipped the ring on her hand.

"Well, let's go. You do want to go to Hogsmede, I hope," Draco said as he grabbed her arm and led her into the Entrance Hall. When Filch had checked off their names, they set off. They talked about random things until they got to Hogsmede.

"Do you want to go to the Three Broomsticks?" Draco asked.

"Yes, it's freezing out here," Hermione said. Draco smiled and led them in. He left her at a table and went to fetch some butterbeer. Hermione thanked Draco as he handed it to her.

"Do you really like the ring?" he asked, glancing at her hand to see if it was really there.

"Yes, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I expected it to have something to do with Slytherin," she said. Draco smiled.

"The Malfoy's never spare any expense," he said matter-of-factly.

Hermione shook her head. The rest of the day they laughed and joked together. Then, finally they made their way to the Head dorms. When they got into their common room, Draco pulled Hermione close and kissed her. She threw her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. He lips pressed insistently against hers and she opened her mouth. They stood there for what seemed forever, just making out. Finally, Hermione got enough of her wits about her and pulled away. Then she went to her room. She had had a great day.