Wow, 9 reviews already, cool. Here's another chapter, mainly because I have so many stories to post/update, I thought I'd better get this one out of the way. not a lot happens, but meh.
Chapter Two
"HERMIONE!" Ron screamed, standing up, his chair hitting the floor with a thud.
"Sit down!" The teacher snapped. "Why are you making such a commotion? I would have thought that you would know your classmates last name by now." Ron remained standing and crossed his arms.
"Explain." His voice was mostly calm, but there was a slight tremor of anger on the edges of it.
"Explain what?" Hermione said quietly.
"WHY THE HELL YOU'VE SUDDENLY AQUIRED MALFOY'S NAME!"
"Sit down and be quiet before I give you a detention!" The teacher stood infront of him and glared. "I'm sure you and this Draco are brother and sister?"
"No, not really."
"Cousins then." The teacher nodded uninterestedly and returned to the front of the class. "Now, sit down and discuss it after class or I will talk to Professor Dumbledore about disciplinary actions." Ron sat down and stared at Hermione, who remained silent, not knowing what to say. As the teacher returned calmly to the register, but the air couldn't be cut with a chainsaw.
Ron stared at his girlfriend, trying to sort out all the possible reasons why she would have changed names… a practical joke, she found out she was distantly and unimportantly related to him, tax reasons… his face got redder and redder as he watched her staring at the table. By the time Professor DuBois got to his name, the last, he was close to tears. But he forced himself to raise his hand and stay in his seat. There was a reason, getting angry will just start a pointless fight; she had a perfectly reasonable reason why she was now a Malfoy…
Slam. He couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and upturned not only his chair but the table as well, scattering his, Hermione's and Harry's things all over the floor.
"Mr Weasley! I do not tolerate this behaviour in my class! You have not been in here for ten minutes and you have disrupted the lesson twice!"
"Sorry, but I need to talk to Miss Malfoy." He grabbed Hermione's wrist painfully and dragged her out into the corridor,
"Well?" Ron glared at her; Hermione stared at the floor, and then started laughing. "What?"
"You want to talk to Miss Malfoy? She's probably having her induction lesson. She's in Slytherin so you'll find her in Snape's room."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ron stepped back in the confusion, and then shook his head. "I don't care about Helena. I want to talk to you."
Hermione was still laughing, hysterical, mirthless laughter. "But I'm not Miss Malfoy. I'm Mrs Malfoy." The blow hit Ron full in the stomach and he sank to the floor. The fantasy that she had to change her name to escape an axe murderer bent on destroying her and the only name she could think of was Malfoy's shattered.
"But why?" Ron stared at the floor, still kneeling. Hermione leant against the wall.
"It's complicated."
"I have the time." He stared up at her face. "How could you do this? Malfoy? How could you-"
"Like I said it's complicated."
"Do you love him?" Hermione fell silent, tears slid off her face. "I thought you loved me!" Ron stood and touched her cheek. "Isn't that what you said when we said goodbye six weeks ago? Weren't we going out? Or was that my imagination."
"We did go out."
"So why did you marry Malfoy? I just can't believe it!" He shut his eyes, preparing himself for the ultimate truth. When he opened them, he was looking at Hermione's chocolate eyes looking at him tearfully; he slid his eyes down her left arm slowly, finally looking at her ring finger. "Ha!" He cried triumphantly. "No ring."
Hermione nodded. "So you aren't married after all. Geez, Hermione, that wasn't funny, how did you get the teacher in on it like that?" He shook his head, and then wiped his tears, letting out a relieved laugh. "You really got me, I should have guessed, marrying Malfoy, I should have known that you wouldn't have done that to me, it would have destroyed me." He stepped forward and kissed her. "We should get back to class before we get in serious trouble." He took her arm and walked forward, but Hermione stayed where she was. "Hermione?" Only then did he notice that the tears were still free falling down her face. "What is it?"
She reached into her robes and brought out the chain that was around her neck. On it were a beautiful diamond ring and a simple gold band. "Wearing them on my finger would have been too obvious." The wind was once again knocked out of Ron. Hermione stepped forward to hug him, but he sidestepped her. "I'm so sorry," her face soaked. Ron stayed silent, staring at her in an expression of horror, shock and desolation. "I-" but words failed her; she looked at him for another few seconds, than fled down the corridor.
The news of the marriage spread like wildfire around the school, although no one could even imagine why these two self-professed enemies had suddenly tied the knot. Hermione went missing after her talking with Ron, not turning up to any of her classes or for lunch.
That evening, Ron banged his head on the table, his food untouched. "Why, Harry? Why? She hated him more than we did! He calls her Mudblood! Why did she marry him?"
"I don't know. Maybe we should go and find her."
"No, I never want to see her again! Not only did she cheat on me, she cheated on me with my worst enemy, and then she married him!"
"So, that's it? You're never going to talk to her again. She's out of your life forever?"
"Yes. No. I don't know! I'm so confused." The whole school was talking about the marriage, which didn't improve Ron's mood. All of a sudden the hall went silent, and Ron heard Harry's sharp intake of breath beside him. He raised his head and saw that everyone was looking at the entrance. Turning his head, he saw Hermione, red eyed and pale, standing in the doorway. He looked towards Malfoy, and saw he was watching Hermione with an odd expression. When he moved his left hand to run his fingers through his hair, Ron saw the glint of a gold ring on his finger.
The next thing Hermione knew, she was descended on by a mob of girls, all asking her whether it was true, what was the wedding like, could they see the rings. She looked around the room, her hand to her throat, clutching the rings protectively.
Malfoy stood and strode over to the crowd, pushing his way through to Hermione, and then taking her other hand. All the questions ceased as he held up his hand.
"Hello, I'm Draco Malfoy, the other half of this freak show. I'd appreciate it if you would leave my wife alone. If you didn't get the memo, she's a Malfoy now and every knows what happens if you piss one of us off." When he was satisfied that no one else had anything to say, he nodded. "We'll be leaving now." He looked down at Hermione, who smiled up and him and mouthed a 'thank you' before he led her from the hall by the hand.
"That was strange." Lavender said from Ron's other side. "What the hell is happening?"
"I don't know." Ron stared at the spot where Malfoy made his little speech. "But I'm going to find out."
