Courting Miss Granger-Chapter 9- Most Eligible Bachelor, Taken!
By Marmalade Fever
Hermione was fuming. How dare he do that to her? Stupid, STUPID Malfoy! Whatever happened to the whole, "fall in love" thing? It was Sunday again, and she hadn't seen him since. The situation did not improve whatsoever when her copy of Witch Weekly was delivered. The front cover had a large picture of Draco Malfoy, smiling as if he weren't a complete jerk. The headline was what really got her though. "Watch out ladies! W.W.'s most eligible bachelor, taken!" She flipped angrily to the page listed. There was a very large picture of the two of them at the restaurant table. Malfoy was holding the ring and puckering up. At least her photo-self was putting up a good fight, though. She kept dodging to the side and trying to get out of the picture. An article followed:
"Tuesday night found the editor of Witch Weekly, Gladys Smudge, at a table with Minister of Magic McSneed. The real excitement, however, was happening at the next table over. Here sat Draco Malfoy, boy millionaire, winner of Witch Weekly's Most Eligible Bachelor, and son of accused, but excused, Death-Eater Lucius Malfoy, as well as muggle-born Hermione Granger, a good friend and supporter of Harry Potter. Malfoy, a very handsome young wizard, proposed elegantly to Miss Granger, right then and there! Miss Granger has been quoted of replying, 'Yes.' After a very passionate kiss, Miss Granger left, presumably to tell her family and friends the good news. Witch Weekly was able to get an interview out of Mr. Malfoy. The wedding, though not fully set, will take place in April--"
April! That was only five months off! April indeed!
"-at the Malfoy Manor. Miss Granger-or should we say, the future Mrs. Malfoy-will be wearing the current Mrs. Malfoy's wedding dress. When asked how long the couple had been seeing each other, Draco's reply was, 'awhile.' The young couple is registered at the following locations..." Hermione skipped ahead. "All members of the Witch Weekly staff would like to wish the young couple the best!"
If Hermione had had steam billowing from her ears before, it was nothing compared to now. Any second the fan mail and hate mail alike would be coming in hordes. Not for the first time, she was thankful that her parents didn't read wizard news. When the first note arrived, she groaned. It was from Ron.
Hermione! Are you under the imperius curse or something? My wife received her copy of Witch Weekly and I practically skyrocketed before I even read the article. What do you mean, "Yes?" Any question like that from Malfoy should be answered NO! What's he doing even proposing to you? Or has the dictionary changed? No, enemy does not mean spouse!
Ron ranted on for quite a while, but Hermione had just received two more envelopes.
I hate you! Drakey is mine, MINE! You horrible little Mudblood! You'll never make it as a couple, never! I don't care if there's a curse attached. You stay away from my Draco!
Pansy Bludwurm
Hermione turned to the next one.
Dear Miss Granger,
Congratulations on your impending marriage! We at Gringotts would like to inform you of our new account-type, specifically for married peoples. We are almost always open, so please feel free to drop by with your fiancé.
Hobskitch
Head of Marketing at Gringotts Wizard Bank
Hermione's kitchen was now flooded with owls. The next time she saw Draco Malfoy, she would curse him so badly his children would feel it! Children? Aw, shoot! His children would be her children as well! Was there no way to inflict revenge? She started shooing owls out through her kitchen window.
"Here too, eh?" came a voice from behind her.
"MALFOY!" Hermione practically screamed, turning around and glaring.
"Calm down, calm down!" Malfoy said, dusting some owl droppings off the closest chair and pulling it out for her. She just kept glaring.
"What is the meaning of this?" she spat, shaking with rage.
"What, can't a guy propose to a girl anymore?" Malfoy asked, calmly smiling.
"Not in a restaurant full of people and press he can't!" She could feel her throat tightening. She was going to cry and there was no way to stop it.
"Listen, I guess I should explain."
"You guess?" Hermione asked, voice slowly cracking. She blinked several times, fighting the tears. "Draco, I've been embarrassed beyond a simple explanation..."
Malfoy sighed, got out his wand, and muttered "Scourgify." All droppings and feathers disappeared from the room. He could hear her voice growing weaker. If there was anything that truly made him uncomfortable, it was crying women. He'd seen her crying once before, of course. That had been back in his fifth year. He recalled, rather ashamedly, that he had been helping keep her and her friends captive by wand-tip. If he'd known back then that he'd need her to like him even slightly in order to ensure his future, he'd have told Bulstrode to loosen her grip. "Well," he said, placating her the best he could, "it came to my attention that it would be best to try and keep the situation clear." Was his defense too weak? Granger's face was contorting under the effort of stopping herself from crying. He pressed on. "What I mean is, it seemed best to make the thing public so that...er..."
"I couldn't weasel out?" Granger croaked, eyes looking shinier than usual.
"Exactly," Draco said, nodding. Uh oh, here comes the waterworks. Tears were streaming down her face. "But I, er, didn't mean to make you so upset!"
"You idiot!" Granger croaked, voice fully nasally now. "You were already threatening me with DEATH! Why'd you think, argh!" She had stood up and ran for a box of tissues on the other side of the room and blew her nose, which had become dangerously wet.
Draco was feeling very uncomfortable. The sight of Granger, a girl he'd always detested but admired for her will, standing here and crying because of him was unsettling.
"What about the whole courting thing, anyway?" she asked, once she'd settled herself slightly, though she was still dabbing at her eyes. "Ever stop to think that that plan might have actually worked? But no! You had to go and stay your arrogant, slimy, Malfoy self! You never put any faith in me at all, did you?"
Faith? What was she talking about? Wait a second... Had he ever really had a chance at convincing her to be his wife naturally? If she thought yes, than he knew her better than she did! They'd hated each other too long for her to drop everything and simply be his wife forevermore... right?
"Why'd you come over, anyway?" Granger asked, arms crossed and sitting opposite him.
"Pajamas," he replied, tiredly. Her pajamas had changed to teal today. It almost felt like a sort of sport, coming over to see what color they'd changed to.
"Well, you've seen them! Would you mind leaving now? I suppose we really don't need to be seeing each other until April."
April? So that's why she was so upset! He'd moved the date up! She was staring at him intensely, as if daring him to confirm April as the next time they'd be required to see one another. Well, if that was what she thought, then-wait a second. "I still want to court you, Hermione."
Hermione shifted. Had he just said that he still wanted to court her? Well there was a surprise! Maybe the git had some sense in him after all.
"Look, I know you aren't happy with what I did, but you've got to see this from my perspective! The sooner we're married, the sooner I can start breathing again. If, for whatever reason, you manage to get out of this, I want to have plenty of time to prepare my will! I don't want to die!"
Well, at least he'd finally provided an explanation that didn't completely insult her. That was somewhat refreshing. "Fine, whatever!" she said, no-longer caring what he put her through.
"Good, good, good," Draco said, breathing again as he heard what seemed like a slight pardon. He drew her copy of Witch Weekly toward him and glanced at their picture. "So... How was the kiss?" he asked, suddenly struck with a desire to tease her.
Granger blinked, slowly. "I'm not even sure our lips touched," she said, flatly.
"Oh, they did," Draco said, smiling and looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "And trust me, they will again."
"Yay," she said in an even flatter tone.
"How about now?" he asked, not really meaning it but feeling oddly inspired.
"You're kidding me, right? You made me cry, you imbecile!" She said, eyebrows nearing her forehead.
"Worth a try," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders. She stood, and he took it as a cue that he was meant to leave. "At least let me give you a hug?" he asked.
Granger put her hands on her hips but didn't offer any real verbal protest. He approached, warily, and held out his arms. Was it his imagination or was she actually coming to him? SLAP! His face stung as he watched her walk away. She was good at slapping, he had to admit it. He looked at her for one last time and Disapparated.
