Chapter 8:

"Why can't I come along?" Ginny huffed at Harry, her arms crossed at her chest, eyebrow twitching. "And me?" Ron added indignantly, as he loomed over Hermione who was tying her scarf loosely around her neck. Harry shuffled backwards, reeling under Ginny's angry gaze. "Hermione will explain everything!" he shouted abruptly after giving Hermione a pleading glance and bolting out of the room "I need to pick up some stuff...". They could hear him shouting his non-excuse as he sped to his room.

Hermione turned towards the siblings, "You read the letter from Kingsley too. The Margaret Jones, soon to be Malfoy has finally arrived at the Ministry after going through all the crazy checks. I mean I didn't expect those checks to take an entire week" she rambled a little, disconcerted at the look Ginny was giving her. "So if all things go well, Harry gets to introduce Malfoy to Margaret and the whole thing will be signed and sorted today" she continued flashing them a small smile.

"Right! I get that part, but why can't Ron and I come with you and Harry to the ministry?" Ginny scowled.

"Well, Harry has to be there to honour the deal and approve Margaret and I... well I'm kinda involved aren't I?" Hermione stared down into her beaded bag as she leafed through its contents, pretending to be busy.

"That's exactly the problem" Ron gasped. "If something goes wrong, it's better you were further away." He was clearly agitated.

Hermione looked up sternly at Ron. "Look, let's not fight. The approval has come in for Harry and me, whatever the agenda of the ministry and I just want this to be done."

"But what if it's a trap?" Ginny spoke softly, her face showing pure concern.

"Then, I'll inform you immediately and we can work it out." Hermione assured Ginny, holding up the Galleon indicating the medium of communication.

Ron looked unconvinced but Ginny nodded softly. "Alright, take care. Remember - constant vigilance" she whispered with a smile. Hermione turned to Ron who reached out and squeezed her hands expressing his concern for her, distrust of the Ministry and dislike of Malfoy and the incident with a glance. Squeezing his hands back, Hermione pulled away, leaving the room and the Weasleys for the fireplace.

Sure enough Harry was waiting for her there. He gave her a lopsided grimace like smile. "I don't understand why they are so mad" Harry shook his head.

"It's because of the newspaper articles Harry! All those nasty thinks they have been writing about." Hermione bit her lower lip and gave a scornful glance at the newspaper bundle in the corner of the room.

When Hermione had reached out to Margaret Jones and informed the Ministry about this match, the newspapers had somehow got wind of this and when they were unable to reach out to Margaret, they had turned vile and spiteful. Some papers wrote that Harry was using his Chosen One status to bully innocent Muggleborns into marrying Malfoy, after all who in their right mind would want to do so. Rita's most successful article explored the theory of how Dumbledore should be the one honouring the Poena Magnus" which made Hermione the lawful Malfoy bride due to her being mentioned in his last will. The Ministry's lack of response contradicting these stories only meant that the media were having a field day in vilifying Hermione.

"Its okay Hermione, after today, we can finally get a press statement from Margaret and the nightmare will be over." Harry held out the Floo powder "Let's go" he said, motioning towards the Floo. "Let's get this chapter over with."

Turning towards Harry, Hermione blinked hard. His naive optimism constantly surprised her. She needed to think clearly. It wouldn't do to get emotional at this stage. There was a lot they still didn't know. Why did the check for Margaret take so long? Why was she invited to the Ministry today and not Ron? In fact, the letter had explicitly stated that no one else would be permitted inside. There were too many unanswered questions and that wasn't a good sign. Straightening her body, she held her chin up and reached for the Floo powder. They had fought a war together and they could deal with anything. Harry was right after all, either way this chapter would finally end today. With a curt nod, she stepped into the large fireplace and enunciated loudly "The Ministry Towers".

The room was white. Too white. The walls appeared to be made out of white stone as were the ceilings and Floor. There were no furnitures anywhere in sight and the only wall hanging turned out to be a creepy white tapestry with strange bumpy lines all across giving it a maze like impression. They had entered the Floo to find themselves in a large vacant dungeon. Having never been to the Ministry Towers before, Hermione had been a little alarmed until Harry had walked through the Floo, seconds after her.

Together they explored the eery room until Harry discovered a door hidden behind a suit of armour. With no better options, they had opened it to find themselves in a white corridor where they came face to face with two Aurors. The one who had introduced himself as Rubbards offered no explanations except to insist that only Harry was to be taken to see the Death Eater and that Hermione was to wait in the waiting room, that Henriett the other Auror would lead her to. With a perceptive glance at Hermione, Harry had followed Rubbards while Henriett had brought her to the strange white room before exiting just as suddenly.

Hermione stood in front of the tapestry trying to make sense of the strange lines. With nothing else to engage her interest, she was attempting to identify what the tapestry could represent.

"It is a map of the Ministry offices" came a heavy voice.

Hermione spun around towards the voice. "Kingsley" she gasped, pleasantly surprised. Last she had heard, he had joined Mr Weasley in France, trying to settle the international issue. "I thought you were in.." she stopped just as suddenly when she saw that there was another man behind Kingsley.

"Ms Granger, I am Head Councillor Farringer. It's a great pleasure to meet such an accomplished and beautiful woman like you." Farringer reached towards Hermione, extending his hand. Hermione extended her hand intending to give a handshake was alarmed when he turned it around, kissing the back of her hand before standing up straight in a large dramatic motion. "The pictures in the newspapers do you no justice. Beautiful" he exclaimed making Hermione extremely uncomfortable.

Luckily for Farringer, before Hermione could hex him or express her opinion on the matter, Kingsley said "Now, now, Butley, why don't we explain why we are here." Then without waiting for Farringer to respond, he continued, "Hermione, I just met with Harry, who should be discussing the matter at hand with Mr Malfoy right now and we were hoping that you could do the same with Ms Jones. I have been informed that the Ministry under Farringer's supervision..." Farringer beamed at this point, bobbing his head proudly. ".. have finished running background checks on Ms Jones and today, we will officially introduce Ms Jones to Mr Malfoy and if there are no trepidations from either side, we can consider the matter settled."

"Why me?" Hermione asked squarely.

Farringer opened his mouth and fearing his tangent, Hermione added "Any of you could have updated her as well. Ginny could have done it. Why me?"

Kingsley nodded his head as Hermione questioned him. "It's fairly simple, when we asked Ms Jones if she wanted any one with her, she asked for you."

Hermione squinted at the Minister. It was true that she had struck up a correspondence with Margaret over the week so it wasn't too impossible that what Kingsley was saying was true. "Alright, take me to her" she said, flashing the two men a beaming smile.

Harry frowned at the unkept, ragged man in front of him. Malfoy was sitting on a heavy wooden chair in front of Harry, his hands bound to the top of a steel table that separated him from Harry. Malfoy had his head down and didn't appear to have noticed Harry's entry. He was wearing his prisoner robes, which proudly displayed the number 190979 on its front. Harry felt sudden pity for the prisoner in front of him. He was just a boy, a boy who Dumbledore had believed still had some good in him, a boy who at the time it mattered most had decided to switch sides, at least that's why he must have thrown Harry his wand at the Battle of Hogwarts, he figured.

Was Malfoy sleeping? Harry cleared his throat loudly, shuffling his feet where he stood.

Malfoy stirred, looking up wearily, his eyes almost hidden by his dirty locks of overgrown blonde hair. "Potter, it's a pleasure to see you. I would offer you something to drink but.." he shook his hands making the shackles that held his hands to the table appear "I'm afraid I literally can't be hospitable."

Harry snorted, unable to hide what he really thought of Malfoy's hospitality. "Right, let's get to business shall we. You will be released with restrictions on wand usage for the first three years when you wed a witch I recommend."

Malfoy cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to be an Auror, Potter. Didn't really think you would become a pimp so soon." He smirked at Harry who was visibly getting flustered.

Harry remembered what Hermione had told him this morning - "We are doing him a favour Harry, don't let him forget it and don't let him goad you. He's all bark, no bite, remember?"

"Want to tell me why you threw me my wand at the Battle?" Harry's voice took on an edge as he looked at Malfoy sternly.

Malfoy stared back at Harry silently. He noticed Potter continuing to glare at him but he could see his fingers gently fidgeting in his periphery and knew that this was a round he would win. After all, he was used to enveloping silences since that's all he had had for months together at Azkaban.

Harry finally broke the silence "Don't you want to know who you are marrying?"

Malfoy jerked abruptly, staring at Potter in amazement. "You found someone?" he asked incredulously. Almost immediately he appeared to regret his outburst and started staring at his hands.

"Umm, yea. You didn't know? They are all over the newspapers."

"Oh, sorry, my house-elf must have forgotten to hand me my newspaper this morning along with my morning tea and scones when she woke me up at my I-am-in-a-fucking-prison land." Malfoy spat out, sarcasm dripping with every word.

Harry flushed. Of course Malfoy didn't have access to newspapers. But he had thought that someone else would have at least informed him by now.

"Eh, right. Of course. Well, yea, so we found someone. Why did you think I was here?"

"To gloat? To kill me? To tell me that Dumbledore awarded Gryffindor 500 points and that you won the house cup?"

Harry stare at him. "Why would I want to kill you?"

"Well what do you think happens if you don't find someone who can marry me?" Malfoy huffed. "Of course you never thought of that, you wanker" he added under his breath.

Harry breathed deeply. If he couldn't find anyone, all that would happen to him was that he would lose face in public but then there was always Dumbledore's beneficiary - Hermione. Luckily, Malfoy didn't seem to know about it.

"This whole Poena bullshit was just a way to spit on me. If you hadn't found a girl, I would be found in violation and sentenced to death. But looks like you did so 10 points to Gyffindor."

Malfoy was continuing to be obnoxious but he could sense the relief coursing through him. Ron was wrong, prison hadn't broken his spirit. In fact, Malfoy seemed starved for conversation and eager to get a rise out of him.

"Umm yea, so I'm going to go get her okay. Maybe you could clean up in the meantime?" Harry suggested blankly.

Malfoy stared at him in disbelief. "Was that a joke? You're a..." he seemed almost embarrassed as he ended with a "..moron."

Harry rolled his eyes and knocked on the door, which was promptly opened by Auror Rubbards. Harry found himself breathing freely only when he was back in the corridor. Malfoy had always been a piece of work and today had been no exception. He couldn't help wishing he was far far away, perhaps on a Carribean island, sunbathing on the beach with Ginny.

"Hi, I'm Margaret Jones."

Margaret wore large grey matted robes that covered her body head to toe. She wore a large green hat that appeared to be in its last leg and seen better days. As she held out her hand, Hermione was startled to see scratches on her wrist that were too severe to be from that of a cat. Over all, there was no doubt, that if Pansy Parkinson was on one side of a spectrum, Margaret Jones was in the opposite end. Based on her letters, she appeared to have been born to Muggle parents out of wedlock and her father had run out on them within weeks of her being born. Her mother as a single parent, raised her with her waitressing money. She had chosen not to attend Hogwarts, since that would have left her poor mother alone which was a dangerous position for a single lady to be in, in that neighbourhood. Margaret had gone on to explain that her mother was recently diagnosed as a narcolepsic and had therefore become unable to work anymore since she would constantly fall asleep wherever she was, whether at work or on the roads. So, that made marrying Malfoy a lucrative opportunity and she didn't mind the Death Eater stigma because with the money she could finally take care of her mother.

"Hi Margaret. It's nice to see you." Hermione shook her hands, trying to subtly ascertain what the scratch marks on her wrists were.

"Oh you noticed my scars." Margaret blushed. My ex-boyfriend used to tie me to the bed when we were, you know.." she blushed some more.

Hermione's eyes widened. Margaret was a year younger than her but they clearly came from different worlds. At least sex was not something that Hermione would ever speak of so lightly, openly, especially about something so deviant.

"Eh. How are you?" Hermione sought to change the topic.

"I'm fine. They have had me come in every day this last week, to check some record or the other. It's been so tedious but I'm looking forward to meeting Draco Malfoy. Tell me, is he as horrible as everyone makes him out to be. Should I be worried."

Hermione blinked as she processed Margaret's concern. "Malfoy..., he's not horrible, I don't think he will ever physically hurt you, also that would revoke his deal, but he is harsh with his words. He says horrible things, called me a Mudblood for years but if you followed his trial, what the court didn't show was that he would have probably been acquitted of everything although it may have taken some time. I think it's good for you to be cautious but I don't think you should fear him. He's alright."

Margaret turned quiet at her words. The cheery disposition she had portrayed disappeared and once more Hermione was left with a feeling that they were from different worlds. The expression on her face was dark. Had she scared the poor girl?

"Do you have any other questions?" Hermione asked, flashing a friendly smile and trying to look cheerful.

Margaret shook her head as she sat down. But after a few seconds she spoke up "I thought you hated him. He was a bully and a death eater but you sound almost sympathetic."

Hermione looked amused at the comment. "Oh he was a terrible bully and one time I even punched him, but I don't think he was ever death eater material. I guess I do feel sorry for the position he was in. I don't like him but that doesn't mean I want him dead, you know." she shrugged.

Margaret appeared to shrink within her robes as she nodded her understanding before retreating into solitude.

Hermione sat next to her impatiently. Where was Harry? This was fairly uncomfortable and disconcerting. They were convincing this poor girl into a lifetime with Malfoy. She was a little surprised to find that everything she had said had come from her heart. She hadn't been lying for the sake of persuading Margaret. At the same time marrying Malfoy was not a picnic in the park and Hermione hoped that she wasn't misleading Margaret.

Rubbards had left Harry alone in the corridor with a promise of returning soon with the girls. Soon enough, he could see Hermione walking towards him with another girl. The famous Margaret Jones. Harry's first impression of her was that she was very forgettable. She looked like someone you would pass on a street without a second glance. On closer glance, he noticed that she had bright eyes that watched him with visible interest. He was used to people staring at him, but Margaret was looking at him like she knew things that he didn't. Frowning, he looked at Hermione and gave her a worried smile. Hermione looked a little conflicted, like she wasn't sure what they were doing in the corridor.

"Malfoy's right through here. Hi Margaret." Harry gave her a nod.

She smiled back, her eyes unexplainably large. "Hi Harry, nice to meet you."

"Eh, just a head's up, Malfoy's been in prison for a while now so he looks..eh.. pretty shoddy. But he's ususally.." Harry looked panicked and gave Hermione a pleading look.

Hermione hid a grin. She couldn't believe Harry was trying to butter Malfoy up for Margaret. "Pretty fit. Most women seem to think he's hot" Hermione continued, now openly grinning at Harry's visible discomfort.

Margaret shrugged. "Sure" she said. "Can I meet him?"

"Yea, of course. Through here" he pointed, opening the door and walking in first. Auror Rubbards, who had returned with the girls held the door open as Hermione walked in. Margaret paused outside the door for a few seconds. Taking a deep breath, she walked in steadily, purposefully.

Malfoy could hear voices outside the door. He was curious and anxious to see his bride. It was bizarre but he had never imagined marrying so young but the idea of his marriage being arranged didn't shock him as much since Purebloods typically had arranged marriage contracts drawn up when they are of age. He had always known to expect an arranged marriage. The only problem was that he was sure she would be a Muggleborn and that would be disgraceful. But given that the other option was currently death, he was willing to settle. He sighed thinking about the terrible possibilities. What kind of insane girl would want to marry him anyway. She would have to be certifiably insane.

So when the door opened and Harry walked in, Malfoy was on full alert, intrigued to see his future wife. Was she someone poor, someone crazy, someone old? Who could it be? Whatever Malfoy expected, he had never thought to see the familiar head of brown curls enter the room. "Granger" he spluttered before he could help himself. She stared at him curiously with wide inquisitive eyes.

Hermione was confused by Malfoy's reaction. He appeared shocked to see her which was odd given that she was always around Harry. It took a few seconds for the realisation to hit her - that he may have mistaken her for his bride. With horror, she shook her head, moving her hands to indicate that someone else was entering the room.

Harry appeared to have made the same realisation for he inarticulately coughed out "Eh.. Malfoy, this is eh..Ms Margaret Jones, and Margaret umm... this is eh.. Draco Malfoy"

Malfoy stared at Margaret in confusion for a few seconds.

"Hi Draco. Happy to see me?" Margaret sauntered into the room, waving at Malfoy.

A look of pure fear and shock appeared on Malfoy's face. "This isn't Margaret, this is Missy Travers!"

Even as Malfoy finished the sentence, Missy produced a wand from her robes and pointed it straight towards Draco. "Aww you remember me, my poor little Death Eater" she spat, venom in her words, her personality instantly turning dark as her eyes shined crazily.

Author's note: Hope you like it. Dramione in the next chapter, Promise. I didn't want to stop here but the chapter was getting too long for me.