A/N: I wasn't very satisfied with reading the Marriage Law fics because they were too unrealistic, so I tried to write something more natural for that situation. This isn't very romantic fic, especially at first, but we will get there, I promise. This is my first Dramione fic and I'm not a native speaker, so I apologize if there are some mistakes. Here are the first two chapters of the story, because the first one is that boring Prologue part which just introduces the story and the second one is the actual beginning of the plot. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Chapter 1

"I would rather die." She gritted through her teeth, causing one drop of blood from her bruised lip to drip down her chin.

"And I would rather grant you that wish, but you know our circumstances." Draco Malfoy casually replied, as if he was talking about the weather.

Oh, she knew the circumstances, all right. Those circumstances have been constantly ruining her life for two years. The Battle of Hogwarts was a disaster- Harry, her best friend, a beloved part of her soul, died along with Voldemort. They both cast killing curse on one another and they collided, causing a great explosion and ultimate death of the two greatest people in the wizarding history. After that moment all hell broke loose on the Hogwarts grounds. The Death Eaters wanted to avenge their master and upon seeing his dead body they started shooting curses at everyone in sight. The Order was desperately trying to fight them off, but they weren't evil or ruthless enough. All of them were broken because of the fact that their Boy Who Lived wasn't alive anymore, and their last shred of hope died with him.

So, the battle raged on, many people from both sides were killed, but of course, as it was in every war, someone had to prevail. That someone was power-hungry blonde boy with no ethics, no empathy and no care for people, but with exceptional strategy-filled brain. Seeing death and destruction on every step, instead of panicking, for the first time in his life he wanted to make the order. He wanted to save himself and his family, and seeing, in those chaotic moments, flashbacks of his future if they survived and if the Light won, he realized he had to use his brain to accomplish the victory and secure his life outside the prison. Draco Malfoy quickly helped his fellow Death Eaters go back up on their legs, and seeing the fury, anger and some big goal in his eyes, his aunt Bellatrix ordered every single soldier to blindly follow their future master. For the first time in her life, she had some motherly feeling for the boy and she was proud he finally started showing the famous temper of the Blacks.

And it was exactly like she sensed it would be- Draco, afraid only for his own life, made a strategy in his head with the speed of the light and found a way to surround the enemy and trap them in the Forbidden forest, and of course, kill anyone who would try to fight back. The Death Eaters successfully cornered The Order with the incantations and spells which made some kind of force field all around them, so the only way to escape was into the forest. Draco (curse his bad fortune) wasn't the one to kill the whole ginger family. Dolohov and his man had that honor. Every single one Weasley died at the same time, consumed by some cursed acid which turned them to ashes.

Hermione (curse her bad fortune) was only half a mile away from them and she could clearly hear their screams. When she realized what exactly had happened and what caused those awful screams which filled her nightmares even years later, she started to run. The it occurred to her that any fight was futile and that it didn't even matter would she survive or not. Everyone who she ever loved was dead, and that in the place where she came to meet and love them in the first place. But basic survival instinct kicked in and she ran and somehow managed to hide in some burned part of the woods, where no living soul was left. And she lied there and waited, and waited, and waited until all she heard was silence. There were no more war howls, no more cries and screams, no more Death Eathers making plans and laughing. But she heard enough. She knew they've lost, she knew the Dark won even without Voldemort and, instead of Bellatrix Lestrange, a new leader and master would be the strategist behind this abysmal battle- Draco Malfoy.

Under some lucky coincidences which aren't very important for this story, Hermione managed to run away, far away from Hogwarts and led if peaceful, if not boring life in Dublin. But from time to time she would hear some new information from some witches who lived next door, in Muggle neighborhood. She knew Draco was some kind of leader behind every branch of social life in Wizarding Britain, but didn't want to bore himself with the place of the Minister. Instead, that responsibility fell on none other than his best friend and closest companion,Theodore Nott, who adored Draco and followed him blindly, like a puppy. So, basically, Draco Malfoy was new Voldemort. Only he didn't really care about Mudbloods. He didn't encourage his people to torture and kill them, but didn't punish them for torturing either. Muggleborns could technically live like anyone else, if they survived constant attacks and general rejection. Law didn't acknowledge their existence, neither did Purebloods who weren't killers or maniacs. So basically, in that kind of world there wasn't a place for Hermione. Or she thought so...

Exactly two years after the Battle have passed, and still not one single baby in the Wizarding world of Britain was born. Purebloods didn't want to marry the lower breed, Muggleborns and Half-bloods who wanted to raise families didn't want to live there, so there was a huge problem, which would be solved only with the help of the mentioned lower breed. So, Draco Malfoy, realizing that he would be ruining his pureblooded line one way or another, remembered someone who would at least give him the brightest child in London.

At first, the idea was as repulsive as having to marry a slug. But desperate times called for desperate measures, the Ministry passed on the Marriage law, ordering every single Pureblood in London to marry a Mudblood and produce at least one child in the first year, and of course forbidding every way of fleeing the country. All escaped Mudbloods would be searched for and brought back to serve a new purpose.

At second, the idea was still as repulsive as having to marry a slug, but at least he would marry a smart slug. He had to make an example of himself, after all he was some kind of royalty now. So, in order to show his people that having half-blood spawn of a heir was better than having no heir at all, he had to find that know-it-all, bushy haired, ugly wench. It wasn't an easy task. After all, Mudbloods were hard to find nowadays, in London, without the whole search party, since they've been cast aside like some animals. Those who wanted to stay lived mostly at streets, losing dignity and offering to do disgusting stuff to perverted men, who were denied that sort of attention from their prude well-bred wives, or even working as housemaids and servants. He knew Granger enough to exclude those options; she was too proud to serve any man, let alone Pureblood.

So he searched. Secretly, the whole search party was made from his most capable men and they literally turned the whole Britain upside down, until they got an information from those Hermione's neighbors,in exchange for 1000 galleons. As soon as the group of wizards, all in black cloaks but without masks found her, they took her to the place which she assumed was Malfoy's dungeon, having heard them talking about the master. Master apparently didn't give them any sort of instruction on handling her,so when he came to visit her two days later, she was beaten up, chained to the wall and horribly dirty and hungry. Luckily, they didn't rape her, even though they threatened they would, but assuming their master needed her, they left her be.

"I know the circumstances, all right. But why me?" She hissed, trying to control a whimper at the end of the question.

He sighed, looking thoroughly bored with the conversation. After all, he knew he would get his way. Escaping wasn't even an option; nobody would kill her and she wouldn't be able to kill herself after all the protective spells he was preparing to cast on her, securing that she wouldn't have her wand or any wand for that matter and securing that no sharp objects could be found near her when she was in such... state.

"I'm not in the mood to explain myself to you, and you are not in the position to pose questions. I'm merely here to inform you that from tomorrow, you will be my wife. We will live together and you will not leave my side, no matter what. After a year and the birth of my heir you can live separately, although you know that divorce is not an option. Or I can kill you, if that's what will satisfy you.''

"You're poison. You're rotten bastard of a- I will kill myself. I won't eat. I-I will find a way to..." she was rambling and trembling with fury and fear and... Oh God, what will her life look like?

Her skinny body was openly shaking and she had a panic attack, she saw it coming, but she couldn't calm down.

Malfoy just stood there watching her icily, not caring for her state. Actually, he was a man who wasn't caring for much nowadays. He had his smarts and he used it, that was what got him so high in ranks and away from Lucius' fuck ups, but he didn't regard his own life worthy. He was living as simply as was allowed for a ruler, honestly worrying only about his widowed mother, who was very depressed since his father's death in the Battle, and she didn't even looked at him the same. She behaved strangely, as if she was afraid of him.

And really, Draco Malfoy was far from the same. He grew up, used all of his potentials and leadership skills in building an empire. And the empire was built, but now he had to make it better. He had his visions of wizarding utopia and he acted on them, making himself if not the most loved, then definitely the most feared and followed man in the wizarding history. His power attracted people from all over the world and he knew if he showed any sign of humanity, he was doomed. So he buried it all deep inside, leaving only thirst for knowledge and power and feeding his calculating genius with it.

And this girl, this little twit shaking and on the verge of crying, hungry and probably hurt did nothing to him. After all he saw many people in much worse state, begging for death and bleeding on his feet, under the rule of Voldemort. But that was not his style. He, personally, rarely killed and sullied his hands and conscience. Instead, he let his people do as they saw appropriate.

He watched her for some time, just looking at her plain bony face with big, boring brown eyes, small nose and mouth, not at all interesting or appealing. She was too skinny for her not so small height, her hair was awful and she wasn't attractive at all. On the top of it all, she was a Mudblood. How was he supposed to look at her and not feel repulsed for the rest of his life, he didn't know. But then he remembered that she was the best of her kind and all the other ones were probably too stupid to at least learn how to behave. He knew for a fact that Granger could be a proper lady when she wanted to, the proof was the Yule Ball in their fourth year. He hoped to teach her how to be civil, no matter how long it took. She was a smart and fiery girl, and after the first shock she probably wouldn't want to get killed... he hoped.

So he took out his, one and only Elder Wand and released her from her chains. She fell down from the force of the spell, but he ignored her and cast those protective spells he had in mind. He was too disgusted with her state to help her, so he called for two house elves to take her to her new bedroom, separated with only one door from his. He hoped that they would patch her up enough to be functional tomorrow.

Finally being sure that his job with the Mudblood was currently finished, he cleaned his shoes off the dungeon dirt, straightened his expensive black robes and strode off, apparating to the Ministry, to announce his engagement.