Chapter 2: Planning a Future

Draco sighed as he saw Hermione walk into the library, he wanted to talk to her alone but it seemed that he couldn't get her alone unless it involved being a prefect, which, incidentally, was why he had followed two gryf students for an hour this morning. Second years always did something wrong. He had found the perfect reason; they were doing more then snogging in Professor Vector's empty classroom.

Draco walked over to Hermione and Ron, usual smirk placed on his lips. "Miss Granger, I need to speak to you about something I caught some of your housemates doing. Could we go to the office?"

Hermione nodded and got up. Ron protested that Malfoy was up to something and that she shouldn't go but she just smiled and told Ron that it was her duty as a prefect and Head Girl to find out what her housemates did. Hermione and Draco walked over to the door and surprising everyone who was watching, Draco bowed Hermione through the door with a courteous smile in place; then he followed. They were silent the entire way to the Prefect's Office, once in side she sat at her desk. He stood before it.

"Who was involved and what did they do, Draco?" Hermione's voice was soft and gentle. Draco named them off and told her what they did and Hermione was shocked that second-years would already be that physical with each other. "What did you do, Drake?"

Draco smiled; he loved it when he and Hermione could be personal. "I lectured them and took twenty points from each student. Should I have done things differently, Herm?"

She smiled. "No, Drake, that was fine. You were better about it then I would have been. I probably would have taken fifty points each and given them a weeks worth of detention." Draco smiled; then sighed. He didn't want to go to class and from the look on Hermione's face she didn't either. "Drake, are you all right?"

Draco looked into her eyes and he knew the truth. "No, I'm not all right, Herm, I haven't been all right for quite a while."

Hermione frowned; she was worried about him. She stood and beckoned him to follow her. He did to be lead into the sitting room. She lit the fire and sat on the couch, "Sit with me Drake." He smiled and sat down next to her and smiled. "Tell me what's up, please, Drake."

He looked at her and sighed again. "Two months ago, school started and my life tipped upside-down." He paused before continuing, "Ron doesn't know about what happened between us, does he?"

"No, of course not, Drake, he'd kill you," Hermione replied.

"Harry knew, he told me what happened, I'm so sorry."

Hermione smiled sadly. "Things happened; I had to deal with the consequences, I…"

"Herm," Draco's voice caressed, "let me finish." She nodded. "I know you must be mad at me, and I understand why you would be mad at me, but Hermione I wish I would have known when it was happening."

"Draco, what happened between us was amazing," Hermione paused, "but Drake, you never lead me to believe that you would do anything about it, I was afraid."

"I know Herm, nobody thinks a Malfoy will take responsibility for anything other than being a Dark Servant, but I'm not a normal Malfoy. I haven't wanted to care, I tried to be the Malfoy everyone thinks me to be but I can't. I hate Pansy and I don't want to marry her, and unless I can give both our families a very good reason, I'll have to marry her. What's more is that I want more than anything to be able to try to have a real relationship with you…" Draco faded off, realizing what he had said; though, truly, he didn't care.

Hermione was speechless. Draco wanted to have a relationship with her, the Mudblood. Hermione smiled. "Drake, we have a Hogsmead visit on Saturday, do you want to go with me?"

Draco blinked; Hermione had asked him for a date. "I would be glad to but only if I can pay."

"Like I'd expect anything less from you Draco," Hermione winked.

Draco chuckled. "What are you going to tell Ron?"

Hermione smirked, "The truth."

"Tell me, Herm, what is the truth?"

"That we screwed in the beginning of fifth year a few times and now we're dating."

Draco smirked, gleefully. "How very Slytherin of you to reply, Hermione."

"Drake, I'll also help you get out of your betrothal, in any way I can."

"Thank you, Hermione, but I doubt that we'll be able to think of a way." Draco sighed as the bell of class rang. "I guess we should get to class."

Hermione smiled. "Why, we have work to do."

"Do you mean to say, Hermione that you are willing to skip class to help me figure out how to get away from Pansy?"

"Yes, I'll skip class for you, Drake, you are my boyfriend now," Hermione replied with a smirk. Draco smiled and reclined into the couch, Hermione reclined into him, and they talked about every situation they could possibly think of and some; trying to find a way to make Draco free of Pansy. Finely Hermione sat up and gasped. "I've got it!"

"What Hermione?"

She smiled. "Pansy will have to have children or else you have to be able to have children, right?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah, if she ends up unable to have children I have to produce a living heir by way of wench. Why?"

"Your father would sever the marriage proposal if he thought, and you could prove, that you were unable to have children."

"But I can have children, Hermione, you know that… And the only spells that would help prove it would make me infertile for the rest of my life."

"Actually, I can make it look as if you're infertile when you are tested. I found a rather simple Egyptian incantation the other day that is able to make a man able to have children but if tested they can't have children by test results."

"And you could perform this spell."

"Yes, but I'd need to get into Snape's office to get some things for the accompanying potion."

"All right, Hermione, I trust you. Let's go get the ingredients." They walked into the potions classroom and to Hermione's shock, the classroom was empty. Draco moved towards Severus' office and pulled his wand out. "Naiko Sevina." The door opened.

Hermione grabbed the ingredients and made the potion. It was rather simple and when she handed it to Draco he took a deep breathe. "Drink it, you know every ingredient that I used; you know it won't hurt you." She smiled, "Infentantes." He nodded and drank.

"I don't feel any different."

"That's half the point, Drake. Come on, we need to work out the details of making it obvious that you can't have children." They entered the Prefect's Office a few moments later.

"And how do you expect to do that?"

Hermione frowned. "Make you fall off your broom during the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match…but only after you get the snitch."

"How badly am I going to need to fill myself with painkillers before the match?"

"Depends, how high are you from the ground when you catch the snitch?"

"I'll take that as a lot."

"I'll try not to let you get too hurt but I can't make any promises."

"I know, Hermione." He smiled and kissed her cheek. He sighed, "On the match then."

"It has been one hell-of-a-game, Ladies and Gents. The Slytherin Seeker, Draco Malfoy has almost caught the snitch three times in twenty minutes. The new Slytherin Keeper, Harry Potter has done a fabulous job not letting one person score against his team for the last hour," Seamus called over the intercom. Lee's replacement has had his moments, and this seemed to be a challenge. He was complementing Harry and Draco in the same breath.

Suddenly Draco had the snitch and he held it up high. Then the Bludger hit his left thigh and he flew off the broom. Harry dove, he was closest, and he knew he couldn't catch him. Draco smashed into the ground, Poppy was already by his side when Harry landed. "Slytherin wins, but Draco Malfoy was tossed from his broom and is being levitated off the field."

Draco was unconscious for nine hours. When he woke up his father and Pansy's father was talking quietly in the corner. Draco smiled; he heard his father cutting the betrothal ties. It worked! "Water," he whispered. Harry handed it to him, which surprised Draco; he hadn't even realized that Harry was there.

"Drake, I have bad news. Poppy said that the accident has turned you infertile; your betrothal to Pansy has been destroyed. I know you wanted to have children, I'm sorry."

Draco smiled and pulled Harry close. "Ask Hermione, just ask her." Harry blinked confused. Then he got up and left to ask Hermione.

Draco sighed and closed his eyes when he heard his father. "Draco."

"Yes, father," Draco replied.

"Your useless now, my son… You may as well marry a Mudblood. I just hope I can get another child out of someone! I will not disown you, though I should. You can go to Malfoy Hall when you graduate, it's yours now. In the next few months I'll furnish it and I'll set up a medium account for you, your trust fund will be yours when you're twenty. So I suggest you get a job after school ends," with that said Lucius left.

Draco got up and got dressed, than he left. He saw Harry walking towards Hermione. He smiled. "Come with me, Mr. Potter." Harry followed Draco without hesitation. Hermione saw them and frowned. Draco opened the door to the Prefect's Office and bowed Hermione in, then the two boys followed. Draco locked the door and turned. Harry looked at Hermione and at Draco and raised an eyebrow. "Herm, it worked."

"So I've heard, Draco. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt in the fall." Harry froze, losing the ability to have kids was hurt, he thought. "Why's Harry here."

"He needs to understand, Herm," Draco answered.

Hermione smiled. "Drake needed to get out of being engaged and I figured if everyone thought that he couldn't have kids then he wouldn't have to marry her… Which worked, but the beauty of it is that he's not infertile, just he'll test infertile for the rest of his life."

Harry smiled. "Ingenious, Hermione, but, if you don't mind my asking, why do you care?"

"Drake's my boyfriend, Harry; I don't want him to marry Pansy!"

Harry nodded. "What did your father say to you Drake?"

"I've been sent to Malfoy Hall, the lesser of our London Estates. He didn't disown me like I thought he would." Draco smiled at Hermione with a bit of laughter, "He also said that I should marry a half-breed…only not in such nice words."

Hermione smiled. "I'll see you Saturday," Hermione told Draco as he left. Then she thought 'which is tomorrow.'

The Three Broomsticks was overly crowded as Hermione and Draco walked in. The waitress smiled and lead them to the only remaining table, it was small and only made for two but it was perfect. The waitress always saved that table for Draco and Hermione. They had been coming in every visit for about six months. She thought as she let them sit, 'I'll be amazed if he doesn't propose to her while here someday.'

Draco smiled and kissed Hermione on the cheek as they sat down. She reclined into his arms and sighed happily. Draco glanced at the waitress, "We've been here enough, and you know what to bring us…If you don't mind."

"Of course not, Drake, Herm, enjoy your time… I'll be back with drinks shortly." She left and Draco kissed Hermione's neck.

"Drake, are you trying to make me want to screw you?"

"Not entirely… I just love the way you taste, and I love you."

"I love you too, Drake." Their drinks were set down in front of them.

"Do you?" Draco asked softly.

Hermione spun around to look at him. "Of course I love you, Draco. God, I loved you before we started dating!"

Draco smiled lovingly and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away he took a drink and then pulled her back into his arms. She knew now and then Draco needed to be sure of her feelings but sometimes he picked annoying places to need reassurances. The waitress walked over and frowned. "Drake, the cook just informed me that he doesn't have anymore ingredients for your dishes. Would you like me to go get some or would you like to try something new?"

Draco smiled. "Why don't we just go with our second order?"

Hermione gasped. "But we only order that on special occasions!"

"So, I don't mind paying for it," Draco chuckled, "besides we always could find an occasion." The waitress nodded and left to place their substitute order. A little while later she brought their meals and smiled as they began to eat. The tenderloin was perfectly cooked and seasoned. They had a lovely vintage of gold wine, a specialty of the Wizarding world, and baked potatoes.

After they were done dessert was served. The chocolate, rum, and raspberry cheesecake was to die for. It was also something they had never ordered. Draco had just asked for the best they had and that was what was brought out. Hermione was shocked to see something so Muggle in a Wizarding city. Draco cut off a piece and picking it up with a levitation spell moved it for Hermione to eat.

She savoured the taste, the exotic flavours, and the sweet smile gracing Draco's lips. "Do you like?"

"Yes," she replied, accepting another piece from mid air. "You should try some," she said as she did the same spell for him. He bit it and blinked with the explosion of flavours. This continued for a while. They devoured both of their pieces and then ordered another glass of wine.

The waitress smiled and brought it over, thinking, 'Drake's spending a lot today, wonder why?'

"Thank you," Draco said as he accepted their new goblets. They sipped at their goblets for some time. Until Draco began speaking; "This isn't the best place for my plans but it is wonderfully perfect at the same time…it's annoying."

Hermione frowned and looked at her boyfriend. "Whatever do you mean, Drake?"

"I had hoped for something more elaborate but this will have to do."

Hermione frowned; he was being way too vague for comfort. "Draco." Draco stood and walked to Hermione's side. He kissed her tenderly and smiled weakly. He reached down and clasped her hands. Then he knelt down before her. He took in a deep breath. Everyone in the Three Broomsticks looked over to see what was happening. They gasped at Draco's first sentence.

"Hermione Granger, I love you with all my heart; I would do anything you asked me to without hesitation, because I know you would never steer me wrong. You know what I have been, what I am, and what might occur in my future, but I ask you. Will you stand by me in what may come in a future that I cannot imagine without you? Will you be my wife?"

Hermione froze, shocked. Draco had proposed! Draco had proposed to her in front of every Hogwarts student that could fit in the room. She looked into his eyes and smiled. Marry Draco Malfoy? 'Hermione Malfoy, it has a ring…' she glanced down at the box he was now holding up. It was an engagement ring, from Whitehall® Co.

He held it high enough for her to look at it and judge it. Hermione smiled. It was white gold; she hadn't thought Draco had caught the reference to her not liking yellow gold a few months back. It was small, thin, and dainty. It had around fourteen little diamonds Princess style cutting. By estimation it was around ¼ Ct. Hermione blushed.

"I would be honoured, Draco Malfoy, to be your wife." He smiled and removing the ring from the box, placing it on her fourth finger. She smiled. "I love you, Draco."

"And I love you, Hermione."