Courting Miss Granger-Chapter 29-Just a Pleasant Chat

By Marmalade Fever

Draco dragged Hermione by the hand down the crowded muggle sidewalk. His parents were walking at a fair pace just a little behind him.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked cautiously. Draco was not in a mood to be trifled with.

"Manor," he answered shortly. He slowed down, momentarily, as they came to a cross walk, look both ways, and pulled her across.

"Draco, don't you think you're being a little... presumptuous?" his mother asked, tripping over her stylish muggle stilettos, which Hermione found to be completely garish. Draco didn't answer but pressed on.

"Calm yourself, Narcissa, he's only a boy, after all," Lucius drawled, keeping up much better in his loafers.

"Only a boy," Draco muttered, quoting his father as if he were asking for confirmation of the statement from the stars above them. Only a boy... He hadn't been a boy since the minute he found out he'd be getting wed instead of getting a birthday present, back in his father's study. Only a boy, his foot. They were acting too suspiciously. If they thought he was overreacting, he knew them better than they did. No, no, no... there was something fishy asunder and he was going to find out what it was!

Hermione didn't really know what to think. She was truly terrified of Lucius Malfoy... her father-in-law, of all people! She hoped and prayed that whatever was going on would turn out in her favor. And what could he really do to them, anyway? Murder her, kidnap Antoine, and alter everyone else's memories?

Draco looked about and spotted what he'd been looking for. He gave a small cry of glee and pulled Hermione into the Leaky Cauldron, his parents entering just after.

Narcissa was truly winded. One of her long heels had broken off and there was sweat running down the side of her face. Lucius, though panting somewhat, remained calm and collected as he waved to Tom, the bartender.

"Smile," he said, through a fake one of his own. "Just a big, happy family..."

Draco rolled his eyes in frustration. "Save it, will you! We're just here to Disapparate." Draco bared his teeth to an onlooker before taking Hermione's hand and Disapparating to Malfoy Manor. Two seconds later, his parents appeared beside them with a sound like popcorn.

Hermione was almost surprised when she realized that she had just successfully Apparated to Malfoy Manor. She was truly a Malfoy now. The idea washed over her like warm water, leaving her shivering afterward. But Draco lost no time dwelling on such matters and began to vent his pent up rage as soon as he had the safety of privacy. Hermione's jaw dropped in shock as she heard him curse very loudly and for several seconds on end.

"DRACO!" his mother scolded, looking absolutely appalled. "I did not raise you to use such foul language, and against your parents, nonetheless! Shame on you!"

Draco panted, nostrils flaring like an enraged bull. "WELL?" he finally said, looking at his father, pointedly.

"Well what?" Lucius Malfoy asked, fairly calmly.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF ALL THIS?" Draco asked, speaking as if he were talking to someone very young and very deaf.

The elder Malfoy sighed. "I suppose there's no use in formalities if you're going to behave like this. What exactly is it that's troubling you, Draco? What can I do to offer you some peace of mind?"

"Peace of mind..." Draco repeated, finally seeming to have lost his adrenaline rush and sinking onto the steps. Hermione took it as a cue to sit down beside him, placing a hand on his knee for comfort. The elder Malfoys conjured up chairs and sat as well. Silence ensued and Hermione began to think that they would be there all night before Draco finally raised his head, turning it to his father. "I just... I just can't believe you. It truly pains me to admit it. I want to believe... more so than anything, really, but I can't. You are not that sort of man, Father. You do not care about my feelings. Any coddling was left to Mother, and believe me, that wasn't much. If it were up to you, I would have gone to Durmstrang and become the next overlord. Oh, you'd have loved that...

"I know you too well, Father. You're up to something, or at least you have some sort of agenda. You aren't allowing this marriage to thrive just because you think that I'm a grown up and deserve to make my own choices. You said I was only a boy just minutes ago. So... enlighten me, Father." Draco crossed his arms in a display of extreme maturity.

Lucius paused before answering, seemingly trying to find words. "I'm afraid, Draco, that I do have a very small hidden agenda, as you called it... However, it is not as grave a matter as you seem to think. I'm surprised, really, that neither of you have managed to figure it out yet. You're both so smart!" He glanced toward Hermione, who blanched, slightly. "You're really making a mountain out of a molehill, you know. Tell me, Draco, how exactly do you expect me to be reacting?"

Draco considered the question carefully. "I think," he began, "that by now you would have forced this marriage to an end by one mean or another. You would have forced me to marry Antoine. And as punishment, I would have thought that you would have taken away my inheritance, crucio-ed me, banished me... ANYTHING."

Lucius surveyed his son, coolly. "And what, praytell, would the media think?" Suddenly, both Draco and Hermione were hit with a wave of understanding. OF COURSE! Lucius Malfoy would most certainly have been blamed if Hermione had winded up dead in an alley somewhere, especially after the very public displays that had gone through the news to explain the entire ordeal. And there were sure to be plenty of people who questioned what was really going on. If Draco and Antoine were to suddenly marry even after he had left her at the altar, there would be many skeptics. More than likely, there had been more than one witch or wizard to have already put two and two together and realized that Hermione wasn't pureblooded and Antoine was. It all made sense now.

"Besides," Lucius continued, after giving them time to react, "if I am correct in guessing, I believe Dumbledore may have married you with not only law but magic as well. Your rings are still giving off a faint aura of magic."

Hermione, for the first time in many, many years, didn't feel quite as up-to-date with what someone was talking about concerning magic. Married by magic... married by magic... What had she read about being married by magic? There had been a case in Professor Binns class about a couple who had been married despite their loved ones wishes, and possibly they had been married by magic, but... then they had been murdered by goblins? Try as she might, she couldn't remember what was so special about it...

Draco, on the other hand, snapped his fingers and smiled. "Of course! I should have known..." He glanced over to Hermione and grinned. "You know what this means?"

"Er, no, actually," she said, feeling deeply embarrassed. She hated being left out of the loop. It was one reason why she read and studied so much.

"A couple who are married by magic can only be split by either death or an extreme mutual hate. No one else can intervene, unless they want to do a bit of murdering!" Draco smirked again and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "And I take it that because of the media, there's no way you could even think about doing that, dear parents."

"Exactly," Lucius said, shrugging his shoulders. "You might even say I'm getting lazy. So you can thank the media, Miss Granger, I mean... whatever I should call you... that you are currently alive, well, and living in comfort."

Hermione smiled. They were safe! They were really and truly safe! Thank the heavens for Dumbledore and gossipers everywhere! Hermione couldn't resist the temptation and stood, leaned over, and gave Lucius Malfoy a hug. "Thank you!" She felt Draco yank her back to him, looking just a little bit frightened by her actions.

"Er, that's, that's... don't do that again, Hermione," he said, looking panicked.

"Yes... It would be better if you didn't," Lucius said, frowning at her in a semi-disgusted way.

Narcissa stood. "Now that that's settled, I hope you'll still be having a traditional wedding?" She glared at Hermione a little bit.

"Yes, Mother, we will," Draco said, smiling sweetly at his mother. "Soon, too." He paused, "However, if you wish to merit an invitation, there are a few... conditions that you'll need to abide by."

Lucius' eyebrow arched. "Such as?" he asked.

"My parents will be coming, and my friends, so..." Hermione said, leaving them to fill in the rest.

"Ah," Lucius said, smirking, "I see."

"Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione continued, turning to Narcissa, "I was wondering if I might be able to wear your dress?"

Narcissa sniffed. "Perhaps."