THE LOAN

Chapter 2

Two months earlier

'Don't you see the harm in this?' she shouted, slamming down the pamphlets that had reached her home last night. 'How is this not a gruesome example of a violation of everything we stand for?'

'Ms. Granger, I would request you to please lower your volume, the press are waiting outside.'

'Oh, to hell with the press, Minister – I have half a mind to give them a statement myself!'

'And your opinion matters because?'

Hermione's jaw dropped. 'My opinion matters because I am a free citizen, Minister Dolohov, and you would be better suited to remember that! This…this disgusting excuse for a law is essentially designed to take away all our freedom! You know what? I refuse. I refuse. You asked for my blood swab, and here's my answer. I refuse.'

'No one asked, Ms. Granger,' Dolohov replied disinterestedly. 'These are orders and resistance to them, as such, will be treated as a felony.'

'Oh, to hell with it! I don't care; you're not doing this sick experiment on my watch. And you most certainly aren't making me a guinea pig. If you think, for even one darned second-'

'The magical community is on the brink of extinction, Ms. Granger, and you're calling this an experiment? This is a desperate bid to save lives, and you know it.'

'The pureblood community is on the brink of extinction, Minister, there's a difference.'

'Is there, really?'

Hermione's eyes narrowed.

'Fuck you, Minister. My answer's final. I'm not having any part of this. I'm leaving. Tomorrow.'

'Then as of this moment, Ms. Granger, I am sorry, but I shall have to take you into custody. You can try running but you'll be an outlaw in every country, travelling without a Magical Visa - for you most certainly won't be granted one right now. It's pointless. Why put up a fight? You know what's happened to those who've tried to run away. Why want to be a part of that category?'

She'd apparated on the spot. Needless to say, it hadn't gone well.

-X-X-X-

Hermione Granger was lost. Just one day at the enormous mansion - and she was lost. She'd been wandering around with a bottle of whiskey in her hand. It was expensive and it tasted like crap. She'd always been more of a rum girl. But this was the only bottle she'd found in her room, and she'd made good use of the bottle service.

She'd set out with the motive of finding the library that Draco had said would be "at her disposal," but now, as she climbed up a staircase, for the life of her, she couldn't remember why she'd even walked out of her room in the first place. She missed her untidy apartment and she missed her stale bread and she missed her pathetic boyfriend. She MISSED everything. Ever since the law had been put into action, everything had changed. Everything that she knew about what she wanted to be and what she wanted to do had vanished into thin air. Poof.

She stumbled at the top step. Almost enough to send her tumbling down. But not quite. She trotted on, inebriated out of her wits, and stepped into an inconvenient grandfather clock. She couldn't help but giggle then – ever since she could remember, she'd wanted to own a grandfather clock. Now, the people who owned her owned one. It was ironic, and it made her want to cry.

'I guess we're buddies, huh?' she asked the clock, patting it on the side. It just ticked in response. She giggled a bit more, and set off again.

'Granger?'

'Aha! Just who I wanted to see. The man of the hour!'

'Are you drunk? Oh, for heaven's sake, you are.'

'It's your fault, you made me drunk.'

He raised an amused brow.

'Did I, now? Why, I didn't even know until now that Hermione Granger was allowed to drink. Quite the turn of events, let me assure you that.'

'Stop it,' she hissed, stepping close and jabbing a finger at his chest. 'I am not the person I was. You think your insults scare me? You fucking fool. You need me. Wasn't I supposed to be beneath you? Nothing but a fucking mudblood, am I right? Who's the mudblood now, Draco? The mother of your goddamn child?'

'Shut up,' he spat, grasping her finger in his fist and squeezing it fiercely. 'I told you that as long as you're living in my house, you're going to learn to behave yourself. And that,' he continued, twisting her finger painfully in his grasp, 'includes keeping your filthy thoughts to yourself. God, you're a foul mouthed imbecile. You think I like this? You think I like that I have to do this? We may be running out of time, Granger, but that doesn't mean I'm desperate to bed you for my child. I want to get this over with as soon as I can. These are orders and we're puppets. You get that? We're puppets and we do as they say.'

'Fine,' she said calmly, pulling her fingers out of his loosening grasp. 'Then get over with it.'

'What?'

'Don't pretend to be daft,' she said, turning around and clawing at the button at the nape of her neck. 'I know the healer's told you that I'm ovulating, so get this over with. Help me with the button.'

'You're drunk,' he whispered, stopping her fingers.

'As if any of this is going to be consensual,' she laughed darkly, prying open the difficult button at long last, letting the shirt that already hung lose on her gaunt frame hand lose. 'Bedroom? Or against the wall?'

'Jesus Christ, Granger, what the hell are these?' he breathed out, hovering a finger over what she knew were the countless scars decorating her back.

She rested her head against the wall before her, and did nothing but breathe for what seemed like a century. Then, the tears came, and along with her pride, they washed away her consciousness.

-X-X-X-

She awoke in an awkward position, her neck ached, and she felt like she'd been to purgatory and back.

The first thing she noticed was that the room she was currently in was a lot more pleasant than the one she'd woken up in the previous day. And the second thing was that she was not alone.

'If you're nearly done watching me, may I ask what I'm doing in your room? This is your room, I'm assuming?'

Draco chuckled, sitting up in his chair and fully pushing aside the Prophet. 'Good morning to you, too, Granger.'

'You got glasses,' she said groggily, sitting up, leaning against the headboard.

'So I did,' he hummed, touching them self-consciously.

No one spoke for a beat.

'I'm not going to compliment you by telling you they suit you.'

'Wouldn't dream of it,' he replied drily, turning his head to look out the window.

'Good. Because you look ghastly. Why am I in your room?'

'You had fallen asleep outside, my room was the closest.'

'You could've left me there.'

'Yes.'

'Then why didn't you?' she replied, moving out of the bed suddenly, clutching her head when the world swayed before her. 'Crap, my head.'

'You're quite the drunk,' he said, standing up to hand her a vial which she accepted with a dubious look on her face. 'And no, it's not poisoned.'

'Really? Crap, you'd got my hopes all high.'

'Are you normally this suicidal at eight in the morning?'

'You should see me at seven.'

'Charming.'

She smirked involuntarily, and brought up a hand to cover her mouth consciously, before taking a swig of the potion. 'Merlin, this is good. I feel better already.'

'It's a hangover potion imported from Australia, so, yes, it had better be good.'

'There you go,' she commented drily, moving towards the door. 'Two minutes in and you're rubbing your money in my face already.'

'A simple thank you would suffice, Hermione,' he said, emphasizing her name.

'Why are you doing this?' she said, taking deep breaths and running her hands through her hair. 'Stop being nice to me, I don't want your pity.'

'It's not pity - it's hospitality, surely a woman of your standing can tell the difference between the two.'

She swirled around and marched back to where he was standing.

'Don't talk to me about my standing – three months ago I was a free woman who worked at the Ministry, but now that that's been taken over by a couple of lunatics, it's all changed, so, no, Draco, I do NOT know the difference anymore.'

'Look, I'm just trying to-'

'I don't want your hospitality,' she spat out as if the word burned her tongue. 'I don't want your help, and I don't want your friendship. I. Don't. Want. It. All I want is for this nightmare to be over as soon as it possibly can, so tell me one thing, why didn't you come find me yesterday? I was waiting in my room; surely the Healer told you what a fruitful time you'd chanced upon? So humour me, Draco Malfoy, how you possibly think you can conceive an heir with you sitting in your fucking room, and me sitting in mine? I mean, it is quite possible, thanks to Muggles, but of course, the baby would then be born a squib, and that's the opposite of what you lot want to achieve, is it not?'

'You're crossing your limits, Granger, there –'

'I'm not finished! Then, when I find you, you refuse! I want to get out of here as soon as possible, and you refuse! I don't want to put up with your hospitality until you get in the mood to have sex! I'm sure you think it's beneath you, touching a mudblood, but tough luck, mate, because this mudblood is going to give you your healthy baby.

'I know what kind of sick game you're playing,' she continued. 'You want me here at your mercy for as long as you can, don't you? So that you and your wife can amuse yourselves?! Well, I won't have it. And where is she anyway? Does she not have the decency to come and show me her face – do I not deserve that? You tell me.'

Draco said nothing, simply stared at her for a moment, then stalked to her, invading her comfort zone.

'You were inebriated out of your wits, so pardon me if I thought against taking advantage of a woman who couldn't tell left from right. Pardon me for the shock that ran through my being when I saw what was on your back. Pardon me for having the decency to bring you back in here.'

'You were trying not to take advantage of me?! I'm in a situation where I'm getting paid for loaning my womb to you, and you were trying not to take advantage of me? Joke of the fucking century!'

His eyes hardened, and he rubbed his fingers on the bridge of nose. 'I don't have to put up with this. I can choose to throw you in some obscure little cellar. I can choose to force myself on you. But I'm choosing not to. I'm not that kind of person, and I didn't ask for any of this! Do I want a child? Gods, yes, more than anything in the goddamn world, yes - but not at the expense of this. You may think I'm a monster,' he whispered, breathing on her face, 'but I'm not and you're not going to provoke me into being one anytime soon.'

'Well, if you don't want this, then why am I even here?' she mumbled, stepping backwards to put some space between them. 'Send me back, then.'

'The law isn't just being forced upon the women, Granger, even those families who do not wish to participate in this godforsaken reproductive experiment are being coerced and showcased as willing members. We're dying out, and we're dying out fast – I'm sure you've done the research, you're the brightest witch of our age.'

She scoffed at that and clutched her head. 'Fat lot of good that's doing me, is it, now?'

'And, yes, as far as the numbers game is being taken into consideration, the Ministry is right – they've pretty much hit their bloody hammer on the nail. The magical race is falling apart, especially in England, and it's all because of the inbreeding. Pureblood women cannot conceive, and the ones who can – well, they're carrying squibs. It's all a probability thing, and it's not looking good for us. And while I am all for another solution, we're running out of time, and this is what our government has, unfortunately, selected for us, and all we can do is go along with it.'

'Without a fight?' she spat out superciliously, grimacing at him.

'You're the Gryffindor, and if I'm guessing right, those beauty spots on your back are from putting up a fight, are they not?'

She snorted at that, shrugging. 'I did what I could.'

'Look, about last night –'

'Can we not talk about it?' she winced. 'You could've been a lot worse, yes, but I think we're better off without this…chit-chat?'

'Agreed, yes,' Draco smiled, and she was taken aback, feeling proportionately more at ease around him, which lead her to say what she did next.

'Is it okay to ask about –'

'No.'

'Why?'

He sighed. 'It's a delicate situation.'

'Are you guys separated?' she asked, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

'No, it's a lot more complicated than that.'

No one spoke for a beat.

'Come on,' he said, then, ushering her out of his room into the sitting area that adjoined. 'Can I trust you?' he suddenly asked, when they reached a mahogany door.

'What?'

'What's inside that room has got to remain between the two of us - no one can know, is that right?'

She nodded mutely, her interests piqued at once, an unexplainable fear gripping her neck.

Because beyond that door, lay Astoria Malfoy, in the deepest sleep - perhaps never to awaken again.

-X-X-X-

A/N – Thank you to all those who read and review! (Happiness8000 and Rapidasher).

Rapidasher – Well, laws like these are laws, so yes, they are "legal" but they're definitive violations of human rights. But, for the sake of the story, it's a law that's been passed, no matter how restrictive and toxic it may be. And in my opinion, no marriage law is technically "legal" too, they're all violations. This one is just a lot more serious and grim.

Leave a review!