Sold-Chapter 13-Perfection

By Marmalade Fever

A.N.: Please note that this will be my last chapter until I have finished reading HBP. I have decided to put off the "How Harry Saved the World" question for a while.

Draco arrived back at his home, wondering if he had gone completely mad. It was nearing ten o'clock as he made his way down to the dungeon. His father was planning on visiting in the morning to "inspect the Mudblood." What had that conversation at dinner been about? He certainly could find a better woman. No problem. He couldn't very well continue the Malfoy line with tainted blood. Right? But just the same, he was still curious. It was so seldom that he felt that sort of attraction toward anyone.

And then there was that single, daunting fact. In Evander's timeline, he had been married to the wretch… by his own volition. The thought had become firmly imbedded in his brain. Perhaps he was destined to be with her. Perhaps she was the one thing in his life that had been missing. Despite the fact that he was extremely rich, powerful, and overall well off, he was miserable. The world the Dark Lord created was not what it was cracked up to be. The genocide of the muggles and the persecution of the others had not left him beaming, but instead had left him… lonely. What was the use of being better than everyone else if there was no one left to be better than? What did that hags, the scum, and the other lowlife care if he had property? They could simply take what they pleased, without anyone to stop them.

No, this world was actually quite boring. Sure, he could do anything he wished, but was that true? If Potter had won the battle and the Dark Lord had been defeated, Draco Malfoy could have had greatness. He could have married anyone he wanted; Evander was the living proof. He could have broken away from his father. The man would have been powerless in the face of all those goody-goodies.

And so, Draco Malfoy was ready to conduct a little experiment. He wanted a glimpse into what his alternate life might have been like. He wanted to see what it was like to hold a woman in his arms who didn't just want him for his power and bloodline.

But he was missing one vital component to his plan. Hermione Granger absolutely, positively hated him. She would never be willing to be a part of this… experiment. But maybe… what if… what if she found a way to not only return the children to their world, but the two of them as well? There really was nothing left here to fight for. There was no good, only evil and trash.

What was he thinking? Draco banged his head against the wall several times. He had arrived outside of the dungeon cell, and he could see through the little barred window that Granger was lying on her back, resting.

Draco opened the door and entered, taking a deep breath.

Hermione rolled over when she heard the door's squeaky hinges and in her tired state thought at first that the children had come to tell her something. Indeed, the words were on the tip of her tongue, "He'll be here any minute, go upstairs!" But she didn't say anything, for it wasn't the children. It was Malfoy.

"You're back. I hope you redirected Lily into her own room for the night?" she asked, sitting up to glare at him. She had managed to regain much of her old strength. During the two hours that Malfoy had been gone, she had taken time to raid his medicine cabinet and swallow several revitalizing potions.

"Only minutes ago," Malfoy replied, briskly. He looked odd. Not that he didn't usually look odd in some way or another, but he really did look odd. He had a look on his face. In three quick strides, he arrived before the bars.

"Was there something you wanted to discuss with me?" she asked, frowning. It had been a long day and all of that flying had worn her out.

"I've been thinking," he said, tilting his head to one side.

"So it is possible. Good for you," she retorted quickly.

"That isn't funny, Granger. I actually have a bit of a proposition for you."

"Go on."

"You see, I haven't been able to get Evander's story out of my head. The way he explains it, it sounds as if our counterparts were… well, you know."

"No, for once I don't. What's your point, Malfoy?"

Hermione was a little frightened as Malfoy did something funky with his eyes so that he was staring at her with amusement. "Kiss me," he said, quietly.

Hermione jumped in surprise. She certainly hadn't expected that. "What? No!" She shivered at the very thought.

"Come now, it isn't as if you aren't curious as well. Besides, who are you to deny an experiment in cross-dimensional repercussions? This is for science's sake, Miss Granger."

Draco had never seen her look so flustered, and certainly not during the last two days. She had finally dropped her "dead" façade and was looking frightened. She finally looked like a human being again.

"Do you remember just a few short hours ago when you thanked me for telling you that I was retrieving Miss Potter?"

"Yes." Granger was still shaking.

"Weren't you the one who practically flirted with me?"

Granger lowered her eyes, as if in awe. "Is that how you interpreted that?"

"Is that not what you had been trying to portray? And do you remember when I left here so abruptly this morning? Do you know why that was?"

She shook her head. "I felt something." Draco turned his head to avoid her gaze. "Attraction."

Granger looked as if she were about to go into hysterics. "But you can't possibly be attracted to me! I'm… I'm… and you're… ARGH!"

"Just one kiss, Miss Granger. For science. And please, do remember that we can do this the easy way, with myself as a gentleman, or the hard way."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"If you can say that with all honesty, then you don't seem to know me as well as you pretend."

"And what do I get out of this if I'm willing?" she asked, looking up.

Draco looked thoughtful. "How about a new set of clothing?"

Granger looked down, as if contemplating the proposal. "There's something else you don't know," she finally muttered, looking dejected.

Intrigued, Draco turned to her with interest. "Which is?"

"I've never been kissed," she mumbled.

"You've never…" Draco caught his breath. "Seriously?" Now that was difficult to believe. The woman was thirty-eight years old, after all. "But… how can that be?"

"Well, contrary to popular belief, Victor Krum only kissed my forehead. I never saw him in person again after fourth year. And once the Dark Lord took over, there was just never any time to get into a relationship…" Draco let out a low whistle. Granger uttered a low chortle. "And apparently I didn't fair much better in the other timeline. Evander told me that that kiss on our two-week anniversary was my first one then, too. So now you know. I'm a failure at love in any timeline."

A surge of emotion swept through Draco's chest. In one timeline, he had been the one and only man to ever kiss her, and in this one… he had the exact same opportunity. The information swirled through his head. He had made his mind up once and for all. But then her last words came to him again. "Failure? Hardly. You were married to me, after all." He didn't know what possessed him to say it. He just suddenly felt an urge to be compassionate to the poor woman. He unlocked the door and took her hands up in his own. "I don't know what's come over me," he added, before taking her chin gently in his hand and staring into her once again lively brown eyes. He stared at her lips for a moment. They were shapely, full, and he could only think of one word to describe them: perfection. He bent his head and captured them with his own. Once he had done so, he almost couldn't get himself to stop. How could he have ever kissed another woman and thought that there was nothing better out there? Hermione Granger was, in one simple word, perfection.

A.N.: Aww! That was so sweet! I loved this chapter. I hope you did too! Now all of you have fun reading Half-blood Prince. (And I sincerely hope no one kisses Hermione in this one, or I'll be very discouraged. Oh well, it's AU anyway, I guess.)