Chapter Three
The smell was the first thing that Draco noticed, cherry and vanilla assaulted his senses. It wasn't a bad smell, in all actuality it was quite pleasant and feminine. Draco stiffened at the thought before the memories of the day before flooded his head. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the back of Hermione's head, her bushy hair almost blocking his view. He could see the gentle rise and fall of her shoulders and knew she was still asleep. Draco instinctively pulled her closer. Waking up next to a women was a very different feeling for him. Draco had his fair share of women, but they were gone before the next morning. They were there for a couple hours at night, nothing more and nothing less. In the old ways it was a sign of respect, only your wife would get to share your bed the whole night. Only your wife would wake up in your arms, welcoming a new day with you, and only your wife would be allowed the protection that a man could give during the night. It was a silly tradition, but most of the old ways were. The old ways didn't care about purity, they just cared about honoring and respecting the domestic partnership with one's future spouse. The old ways ensured that you both created a bond by only allowing you to experience certain milestones with your future spouse. Draco thought it must work because he woke up feeling different than he ever has.
He felt Hermione start to stir and stiffen, probably just now realizing that they were entangled in each other. He felt her gently try to wiggle out of his grip. When that didn't work she tried to pick up his arm and physically move it from across her body. Draco gripped her tighter instead of letting her go. He felt her groan in annoyance beside him and he had to suppress a chuckle. He wasn't going to make this easy for her, if only to annoy her. Annoying her was his own little reprieve from this situation. She laid next to him silently and Draco could almost picture her thinking of solutions on how to escape his grasp.
"Trying to escape me all ready?" He whispered in her ear.
She jerked up quickly in shock and Draco let her go. He chuckled at her edginess.
"I am glad that his is amusing to you," she said, "but I don't find this amusing. I actually find it quite appalling. You were supposed to stay on your side of the bed!"
"I was supposed to, yes, but I can't help it if you tried to attack me in your sleep. You just couldn't keep your hands off of me," He said, not really lying to her. She had in fact attacked him in her sleep, but more violently and not with the intention of snuggling. She didn't need to know that.
Hermione was sitting on the bed and was turned away from him staring at the wall. She was trying to avoid looking at him. She had felt his bare chest against her cheek and did not want to embarrass herself by staring at him. She was unsure how to act in this situation. The witch who had the answers to everything had no strategy, no plan, and no idea on how to deal with a half-naked enemy waking up next to her.
"I highly doubt I attacked you," she replied coolly, "I don't attack people."
"Really? I seem to remember you attacking me quite violently in school, did I imagine it?" He countered.
"You deserved it!" She said as she turned her head sharply to glare at him, this only seemed to amuse him further and he began to laugh. "What is so funny?" she demanded.
"Nothing, I now understand why you are a Gryffindor Lion," he responded. She just narrowed her eyes at him waiting for an explanation. "Your hair, it's surrounding your face like a lion's mane, all over the place, sticking up and out." He gestured with his hands indicating just how out of control her hair was. With that comment she shot up out of the bed and ran to their bathroom, slamming the door behind her. This only caused Draco's laughter to get louder.
He rolled over on his back relaxed and feeling at ease until his mind started thinking about how today was going to go. The ministry had said they would receive owls today with further instructions. It worried him, what other restrictions could they possibly have for them? What more could they possibly ask of them? The ministry was also going to inform them of the date for their public marriage. Draco could only hope for a date further out. Not that it mattered much, he mused, a couple months would really not make that much of a difference.
He heard Hermione walk out of the bathroom and looked toward hers. Her hair was now in a neat little bun at the back of her neck. She was studying him, a small blush gracing her cheeks. He was on his back, with his arm bent behind his head, the sheets pooling at his waist. "See something you like?" He asked knowingly. He saw her eyes shoot up from where she was staring at his chest and glowered at him. He just winked at her in response.
"No," she said. "I could never admire a body, when the person associated with it is so horrible."
"I don't think that is true," he replied. Her eyebrows shot up in question. "You admired the weasel, and he was pretty terrible. His intelligence was dismal, his smell was atrocious, and I am sure his body left much to be desired."
Her cheeks reddened in anger, "How dare you," she responded to him, "You do not know anything about Ron. He is a great guy."
"Let me guess," He responded to her dryly, cutting her off, "He has a great personality and he makes you laugh. Yes, I can see the lifetime of happiness you could have had together." He rolled his eyes at her.
"Ronald is a great guy!" she shouted at him, "He is funny and nice. He's not stupid. He is better than you in every way!"
"Ah yes, Granger, he is quite a catch," Draco said mockingly, "I forgot how smart he is, how he was always at the top of our class with grades, not competing for a mediocre spot in the middle. I am convinced you are the only reason he wasn't dead last in our grade. Did you do all of his homework for him? I'll admit he is funny…..to look at at least, but he lacks the intelligence to land a truly funny joke. He doesn't quite have the wit about him…." Hermione's whole face was red in anger. She looked like she was ready to throttle his neck, but he barely paused from his assault on Ron not really caring how angry she was. "And I noticed you didn't even mention your dear Ronald's body, it is hard to tell what is beneath his baggy hand-me-down clothes that he always wears. Hmmm…. I always thought he was chubby, not really fat, but not in shape either. I don't think that Quidditch helped him much in that department because I am sure he didn't work out like he was supposed to, or I imagine it was much like how he does everything else, sparingly, if at all."
Draco didn't notice Hermione cross the room but he did notice the sting he felt against his cheek. He glared up at her and saw the black depths of her eyes reflecting her hatred for him.
"Ronald is more of a man then you will ever be! He stands up for what he thinks is right and helps his friends. All I have seen you do is run and hide!" She hissed at him. "I'm sure the only reason you were holding me in your sleep is so you could hide if there was an intruder! Poor Draco, always hiding behind someone, whether it be your father or your group of snakes! At least when I slept with Ron, he held me like I was the most precious thing in the world."
Draco's face heated from the assault on his character. He didn't know how to respond, none of that was true, Draco didn't hide. He had always protected those around him. He always had plans, whether they were known to others or not. He couldn't tell her this though, it would fall on deaf ears and honestly, he didn't feel it was necessary to defend his character against the weasel. The weasel may 'stand up' for what was right but he did so stupidly and blindly. Draco had witnessed countless times when the weasel had gotten himself into trouble by acting before he spoke. The thought of even being compared to him made him angry. He wanted to throw her nightmares in her face but he knew that was not the right route to go. Instead he grasped on the one thing Hermione said that he could easily discuss.
"The weasel is irrational and doesn't use the half a brain that he might possess," He spat at her, "and yet you have stayed the night with him?"
"Yes, I have quite a few times," she said punctuating each word with a flourish of her hand. She looked very proud of herself, "You will just have to settle for being second AFTER Ronald," she said smugly.
Draco shot up from the bed and stood towering over her. He grabbed the hand that she was waving around in the air and held it firmly. She tried to struggle out of his grip but it was no use, he was too strong.
"You are telling me that you have stayed all night with that, that boy?" He growled at her.
"Yes Malfoy, I did say that. Now let go of me!" Hermione said, still trying to pull her wrist out of his strong grip.
His silver eyes turned to dark stormy clouds in anger. He tried to maintain his usually calm demeanor, but he was failing. Not only had she insinuated that he was second best to that sorry excuse for a boy, but she had stayed the night with him and woke up beside him. "That was supposed to be my right!" He shouted at her without thinking.
"Excuse me, your right?!" Hermione whispered confused. "You can't honestly believe I was going to save my virginity for YOU? I thought I was going to marry Ronald, of course I have spent the night with him. We have been dating for quite some time and there was a WAR. I didn't think I was going to live to see nineteen!" Her anger had been replaced with disbelief. She looked up towards his face, her eyes wide with astonishment.
"Not your purity, Granger, I don't care about that," Draco mumbled quietly. Her words hit him hard. She had really thought that she was going to marry Ron. He couldn't really fault her, she was muggle born and probably didn't even know the old customs. Ronald did, but if they really thought they were going to be married, then he couldn't fault him either. He tried to figure out why he was really upset. It was a silly tradition, he had even thought so just this morning. He tried to sort out his feelings and then it hit him. She had already experienced something that was new to him. It was new and strange to him and he didn't like being the last to know things. He quickly smoothed out his features before looking down at her and letting go of her wrist. "Never mind, it doesn't matter," He said under his breath. It was true, it didn't matter, this was something neither of them wanted, something neither of them would ever want. He walked off to the bathroom and heard Hermione try to say something after him but he quickly shut the door behind him.
He stared at himself in the mirror and saw that the bags under his eyes were not as distinct today. He really had slept differently last night. He had woken up feeling refreshed. His mind had been clear until Hermione had started talking. That infuriating witch could turn everything against him and would try to for the rest of their lives he concluded. Why couldn't he have just had a normal arranged marriage? He wanted to stay out of trouble and the spotlight after the war, but now he would be front and center with Granger by his side.
Draco took his time getting ready for the day, he didn't want to enter the bedroom to more questions and he knew the longer that he took, the more likely she was to have already left their bedroom. When he could stall no more, he walked into the empty bedroom and grinned. She had left him in peace. He walked to his wardrobe and changed into black slacks and pulled a grey sweater over his head. It was casual for Draco, but he did not put it above Hermione to throw something at him today and he didn't want to ruin his good clothes. They probably weren't going to be allowed to leave the house anyway. The ministry had made it clear that there first public outing would be at the celebration.
He sighed before exiting the bedroom, mentally preparing for whatever the day held. He walked down the hallway and heard Hermione talking. 'Does this bloody girl ever shut up?' He thought to himself. He could sense his normally calm and quiet days were now far, far behind him.
"Draco is still upstairs, would you like me to get him for you?" He heard her say and quickened his step. Who was in their new home and at this early hour?
"No, dear, I am sure he will be down here shortly," his mother cooed at her, "besides, we want to get to know our new daughter-in-law. Tell me, what do you think of our son, Draco? Are you happy to have made such a match? I know this is more than what you could have hoped for."
Draco quickened his pace down the stairs, almost at a run. He didn't want to walk in on Hermione killing his mother. This family visit was starting off swimmingly he thought. First some good morning hexes, then a good old fashioned fight of insults and wit, and then maybe a nice lecture from his parents on what it means to be married to a Malfoy. This day was not going to be any easier then yesterday. Hermione let out the most unladylike noise that Draco had ever heard. It was a snort, laced with contempt and disbelief.
He walked into the room and saw his mother's face and then Hermione's face as she glanced back at him. His mother's face held intense interest, hope, and worry waiting for Hermione's answer. Hermione's expression, however, was drawn into an angry scowl. He quickly decided he couldn't let Hermione say whatever nasty retort she was planning. His mother was concerned about him and the strange turn of events, he didn't want to worry her.
"My darling, darling wife," Draco sing-songed as he walked over to her, "You left the bedroom so quickly this morning, you must be famished from last night." He wasn't really lying, he was sure that she was famished, but from not eating dinner yesterday, not from the dirty things he insinuated. She turned towards him again, her face filled with disgust. If this bloody women could just be a better actress and cooperate with him he wouldn't have to take such drastic measures to curb her reactions and emotions. He mentally sighed and bent down to capture her lips. He could feel her try to back up so he put his arms around her and pulled her closer towards him.
His lips gently brushed hers, electricity dancing across his them. He quickly pulled his head away from hers and looked down into her eyes. Her eyes were wide with shock, she must have felt the same electricity that he had. How odd, he frowned. Now was not the time to deal with this though. He quickly bent down and kissed her cheeks and then moved to whisper in her ear, "Time to practice your acting skills, my dear, and you need A LOT of practice." He pulled away hoping that she got the message. As he stared down at her he could see her thoughts and emotions playing across her face, warring with each other on what she should do.
He turned towards his mother, letting Hermione figure herself out, and saw that the worry from his mother's face had been wiped away and replaced with a small smile. He put on his most charming grin for his mother. Better to let her think that they were happy and that everything was going to be okay. Who knows what trouble his mother would get into if she had thought Draco was unhappy. "My dear wife is hungry. Would you like to join us for breakfast?" Draco asked politely, hoping his parent's would not accept. He was not sure how much he would be able to control Hermione during breakfast. He could only shut her up with kisses so many time before he was sure to get hexed.
Luck was not on his side though, his mother gladly accepted. He let Hermione tour them throughout the house, letting her play the part of gracious host. Once they arrived in the kitchen he saw house elves busy at work. He immediately went to Hermione's side knowing how she felt about them. No one could forget her stunt of trying to liberate the house elves while in school. She had protested outside of the great hall, yelling at students who entered about the injustices done to the magical creatures. It was very ineffective, the students didn't care, and the house elves didn't want to be freed. Draco was pretty sure that Dumbledore had to step in and make her stop harassing students. He pulled her back against him in a hug while his lips found their way towards her ear again. "We will discuss this later. Please let it go for now, Granger." He felt her head give a slight nod. 'Good,' he thought as he let her go. But held on to her hand and dragged her to the dining room.
"Oh Draco," his mother whispered in wonder. He turned towards her and followed her gaze. She was staring out awe-struck at the backyard. Draco had to admit it was magnificent. It looked like they had been dropped in the middle of an enchanted forest, wildflowers dotting the backyard in wistful clusters. It reminded him of his mother's gardens back at home. They were meticulously planned though, not a strand of grass out of place. His backyard seemed to be guided by the spirit of the great outdoors. It was not overrun, but it wasn't neat and orderly. It looked like freedom. Draco's eyes scanned the rest of the backyard taking it all in. He noticed the patio furniture outside on their large wooden deck.
"Mother," he said as he gestured towards the furniture, "Would you like to eat outside?"
Narcissa brought her hands to her cheeks, embarrassed by getting caught looking so wistfully. "Oh, that's not my call, dear Draco, your wife is the mistress of this home, and whatever she says goes."
All eyes turned to Hermione now, who seemed to be lost in her own mind, a favorite past time of hers it seemed. It took her a couple minutes to realize that everyone was staring at her. "What?" She asked confused. Hermione caught Lucius sneer at her for her lack of attention. She turned her head and focused her eyes on Draco, hoping he would get her out of this.
"My dear, would you like to eat outside? It seems like nice day to get acquainted with our new backyard, and what better timing then to enjoy it with family."
She looked at him incredulously, was he insane? They weren't playing house. They weren't some happy family. She could see the plea in his eyes though and he never seemed to ask for anything, so she relented. She nodded her head slowly at him, agreeing to eat outside with his parents.
Hermione enjoyed the sun beating down on her and the gentle breeze that cooled the back of her neck. She heard Draco and his family talking but it was nothing more than a distant murmuring. She couldn't focus, all she could think about was her situation. The events that had happened in the last twenty-four hours had completely turned her life upside-down. She hated Malfoy. He was cruel and mean. He made her time at school a living hell, taunting her, calling her names, and playing tricks on her. Now that same man was her husband. She was eating brunch with his family, people who had witnessed her being tortured, in their own home. Now, she was helping him by playing the part in some happy family fantasy. She didn't understand why she was helping him. She really didn't care what his parent's thought of their arrangement, they couldn't have thought that they were blissfully wed, yet his mother seemed to think that was exactly what had happened. She understood that Draco was trying to protect his mother, but why did she go along with it? Would he have done the same if her parents were there?
She felt a deep longing in the pit of her stomach and felt the ache of emptiness in her heart. She was almost immediately overcome with grief. Her parents would never be here. They could never play house with her parents, never put on a happy charade for them. She had the sudden urge to cry. She looked up and her eyes immediately locked with Draco's. His eyes were clouded with confusion. What thought had just stumbled in her head that made her feel like that? He saw that she was on the verge of tears and knew that he had to get her out of there. How would it look to his parents if she just burst out in tears while his mother talked about gardening? They would think she was insane.
Draco quickly got to his feet and pulled Hermione out of her chair, he buried her head in his chest while he acted like he was hugging her. He turned to his parents. "Mother, Father, I am sorry but my wife doesn't seem to look that well. I think she is unused to all of the excitement that happened yesterday and she didn't get much sleep. I am going to take her up to our room and tuck her in so she can rest up before tonight," He said suggestively. "Please excuse us for our rudeness. Feel free to stay and I will hurry back down as fast as I can."
"Do not fret, my dear, you are newlyweds after all. It's expected." His mother responded with a sly smile. "We will show ourselves out, but we would love to call upon you again soon. Just because you are a married man now does not mean that you can forget about your mother!"
Draco rolled his eyes and bent down to give Hermione a kiss on the cheek and whisper in her ear. "I am going to pick you up now, don't do anything stupid." He waited for a response but she didn't even move. He couldn't even rile her up that was not a good sign. He could feel her anguish in the pit of his own stomach, while she stood there motionless. He slowly lift her up into his arms, her head still against his chest. His arms were draped underneath her legs as he turned to carry her inside. A house elf opened the door for him, letting him into the house. He slowly made his way through the house careful not to disturb the fragile person he held in his arms. He could feel her teetering on the edge of breaking.
The house elf followed them all the way to their room and opened their bedroom door for him as well. Draco made a mental note to give thanks to the elf later. He was going to fight to keep the house elves in their home if they were this intuitive. They were handy little buggers and he would have most definitely had trouble getting his wife to their bedroom without their help and he knew this would not be the last time that he carried her to their room.
"Was there an'thin else ya be needin mastah?" The little elf questioned.
"Not at this moment, thank you….uh….?"
"Bimble," the elf provided him, bowing.
Draco nodded at the elf and made his way towards the bed. He gently deposited his wife under the covers and looked at her. She was as still as a statue and had a glazed look on her face. She looked lost in her thoughts and this time she wasn't plotting, she was reliving old painful memories.
"Hermione?" He whispered. When she didn't answer he tried calling her name louder. She just continued to stare at a spot on the bed instead of turning towards him. He sighed and gently reached out to grab her chin. He turned her face towards him and saw her lips trembling. Her eyes were glassy pools on the brink of overflowing. "Hermione," He tried again. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean what's wrong?" She said quietly. "What is right? Everything is wrong!"
He sighed. "That's not what I meant, what is causing your anguish right now? I can feel it, Granger, and don't say it was breakfast with my parents," he added lightly.
Hermione looked in Draco's eyes, his silhouette blurry to her, but she didn't see any malice or ill contempt on his face. "It was your parents," she barely whispered. She knew Draco heard her though because he bristled at her comment and straightened his spine. He stepped away from the bed, distancing himself from her.
"What do you mean my parents? They were nothing but nice to you, my father barely talked to you, which believe me is a kindness from him. Do you think that they wanted or expected this match?" He cried at her, "Answer me!"
She barely flinched at his elevated tone and kept her head down. She stared at the quilt on the bed, worrying the stray fabrics with her fingers. Draco could tell that he lost her again, stuck in her own mind, oblivious to what was happening around her. He sighed and asked her to talk to him one more time. When she continued to stare glossy eyed at the bed, he stormed out of the room. The door slamming behind him brought Hermione back to reality.
The tears came before she could even register what was happening. She hadn't planned on saying that. She shouldn't have said that. His parent's, while not overwhelming welcoming, had been polite. But his parent's had just reminded her of her own. She should call him back and clear up the confusion. She should tell him that it wasn't his parents' actions that had caused her this despair, but what his parents represented for her. She should try to fix things, but she couldn't. She couldn't draw up enough energy to care what he thought of her right now.
The tears from her eyes flowed freely down her face. This is the second time in the last twenty four hours that she had cried uncontrollably. Is this what her life was going to be? Pain and sadness? She wallowed in her self-pity. This was not the life that she had planned for herself. She thought she would have a happy life, but right now all she could see was the big line that divided her and her husband. Her plans were quickly getting thrown down the drain and she felt like she was drowning with them. The uncertainty of her life was overwhelming her now. Hermione always had a plan and a back-up plan. She was always in control of her life, but now she had no idea where her life was going to lead her. She needed to find herself again and fast. She needed a plan. She quickly began thinking of the facts. She was stuck with Draco that was a universal truth now. The Ministry had too much invested in their relationship to allow them to break up and find new matches. She was living with Draco and had a set of rules that they needed to follow. They had to make sure that they were on their best behavior and that they could convinced everyone that they were in love. She knew she hated him, so how was she supposed to convince people they were in love. The first step would be to try and not hate him. Yes, that was it! She was going to have to try and move on from the past, move on from everything that had happened between them. With a plan in mind Hermione drifted off to sleep.
Draco went straight to his potions room. He needed to distract himself from that bloody women. She was so hot and cold with him, he couldn't stand it. One second she was yelling at him, the next doing favors for him, and the next just shutting down and ignoring him completely. He rubbed his hand through his hair, it didn't matter. That seemed to be his mantra lately. The hate that she had for him was too great. Draco didn't blame her, he had done terrible things to her in the past. He didn't think he was to be truly blamed though, but he knew she wouldn't understand, he had to keep up appearances for his families sake, the Dark Lord was living with them in the manor, for bloody's sake! Ignoring the biggest mudblood target would not have been forgiven or ignored and he would have been severely punished for his oversight. What he had done to Hermione was minor compared to some of the other things he had had to do under the Dark Lord's command. It doesn't matter he told himself again. He slouched down into the chair behind his potions table. He felt exhausted. If this was how he felt after a few hours of being married to that women he couldn't imagine how he was going to feel after a couple of years. He was positive that his life expectancy had been halved already. He again reminded himself that it didn't matter and buried himself in his work.
Hermione woke a few hours later. She felt better now that she had a plan. She got up and straightened her clothes and smoothed out the quilt on the bed. She left the bedroom and immediately felt the pull towards Draco at the end of the hall. She walked up to the engraved door and knocked on it. No one answered but she could hear someone moving around in the room. She tried knocking one more time before she opened the door. She gasped at the sight before her. There were several cauldrons brewing with potions. She recognized a few of them by smell, skele-grow, a dreamless sleep draught, and a blood replenishing potion. Interesting. What was Draco doing? She spotted him standing over a boiling cauldron. His hair was messed up and his shirt was untucked from his pants. She just stared at him, this was not the Draco she was used to seeing. His eyes were scrunched as he concentrated on adding ingredients to the cauldron.
"Draco," Hermione called trying to get his attention. He ignored her, not even glancing at her. "Draco," she whined at him again. She sighed. She needed to get his attention somehow and then an idea came to her. "Draco, you owe me for earlier." He just grunted at her in response, still not looking up at her. "Draco," she warned, "well if you don't want to talk to me about the house elves, that's fine, I will just go and free them then." That got his attention. He looked up at her then and said a simple, "No." He returned back to his work, effectively dismissing her and ending the conversation. Hermione tried to get his attention several more times before turning on her heels and walking out of the room. He was going to make not hating him hard.
Hermione walked down the stairs and went to the kitchen. The house elves were hard at work cooking dinner. She walked over to them and told them they were released from their duties. They all abruptly stilled their actions and turned to her. Their eyes wide as they stared at her. Hermione grinned and continued, "Thank you all so much for your services, but we no longer have need of them. You are all free!" She exclaimed proudly. If Draco did not want to have this conversation with her then she would do what she saw fit.
She turned to walk to the library. Once she was in the library she set out to find a cookbook. She would be just fine cooking all of their meals. She was an independent women after all. Once she located a cookbook she made her way back to the abandoned kitchen. She looked inside the refrigerator and matched up ingredients with a recipe. Chicken soup it is. She got to work setting out all of the ingredients she needed. She began chopping, peeling, and cooking their meal. Once the meal was finished she found a tray and decided to bring Draco his dinner upstairs so he didn't have to leave his work.
She walked up the stairs and struggled to get the door open. She decided to set the tray down on the ground and open the door. She then held the door open with her hip while she bent down to pick up the tray. She slowly stood straight up, careful not to spill any of Draco's dinner. She walked into the center of the room and set his meal down on a table. "Draco, I brought you dinner." She glanced around the room and noticed him over a different cauldron. He stared at her. "I cooked it myself," Hermione said proudly.
"Why, did you poison it?" Draco asked.
"No, of course not, I let the house elves go." She responded.
"You what?!" he exclaimed at her.
"I let the house elves go,' Hermione repeated, "They are now free elves!"
"You stupid, stupid girl," He growled at her, "Did you even ask if they even wanted to be free? House elves like serving families. They take great proud in the work that they do and you have just given them the biggest insult you could. Bloody hell, Hermione, Where are they going to go now? Did you ever think that most families aren't going to want to pay for free elves when they could have free house slaves? Did you ever think what could even happen to them if they worked under a different house, the mistreatment they might receive? If they could even get another job?"
"But they are free," Hermione said meekly. He just shook his head at her. "I didn't know! Oh Draco, what… what can we do now?" Hermione asked him. "We have to make this right."
"We," He said incredulously, "You did this!"
She walked over to him, "Please Draco?" She reached out to him, trying to touch his arm, but all she grasped was air. Draco took a step back avoiding her touch. "Please Draco, we'll be even. We need to find them! I didn't even think about the alternatives." Her eyes welling up with tears again.
He looked at her and sighed, "That's the problem with you Gryffindors, you jump head first into everything without thinking about the consequences. Fine, I will fix this Hermione, but I will not spend my lifetime fixing your mistakes, use that bloody head of yours!"
"Well if you would have talked to me about it earlier and explained the situation to me than I wouldn't have done it."
"Don't try to blame this on me, Granger, it won't work. This is on you. I am going to go fix your mess. Don't touch anything." Draco said as he left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Hermione didn't know what to do, so she fled from the room and hid in the library. A while later, she decided she should find Draco and see if he made any progress with the house elves. Plus, they needed to spend their bonding time together before the night got away from them. She could feel that Draco was back in his potions room and immediately set off to find him. She walked in and easily spotted him across the room.
"Draco," She said tensely, "Did you fix everything?" He just grunted in response. "Thank you, well since that matter is settled, I think we need to spend our two hours together tonight. What would you like to do?" He didn't answer and continued to busy himself around the room. Hermione concluded that Draco was not going to answer her. She looked found an empty chair in the corner of the room and settled into it before cracking open the book she was reading.
A couple of hours later she stiffly got up from the chair. Her back hurt from sitting in the uncomfortable chair for so long. She reached her arms towards the ceiling, stretching her back and arms. At least their bonding time went without any incident. If it could be called bonding, seeing as how they hadn't even spoken to one another. She looked over and saw Draco still busy at work. She was about to exit the room before Draco called out to her. She turned back to him and he nodded at a piece of parchment on the table in the center of the room, sitting next to the forgotten tray of chicken noodle soup. She stared at it for a couple of minutes, her stomach working itself in knots. She walked over to it and snatched it off of the table. It was opened, so she knew Draco had already read the contents of the letter. She turned and walked out of the room, leaving Draco behind her, busy with his work.
She walked into the bedroom and quickly got herself ready for bed. Once she was changed and settled in bed she brought the letter out. She took a deep breath before opening and reading the letter.
'Dear Malfoy Family,' Hermione cringed, she wasn't sure if she was ever going to get used to being called a Malfoy.
We, at the Ministry, are pleased to announce that your engagement will take place on the night of the war celebration. In one day's time, there will be a breakfast celebration at Mr. Harry Potter and Mrs. Daphne Potter's place of residence at the time of 10 o'clock sharp. After breakfast, all of the men will go on a bonding experience to pick out appropriate jewelry for the said engagements that will be taking place in the next couple of weeks. The women will also go on a similar outing to find dresses for the celebration event. If approached by reporters, you will only mention your newly found friendships, no word on your new relationships. This is a time for you to create new friendships and bond together. Remember that this particular group of people will be your support system during this time of adjustment.
The Malfoy Wedding, will be held last, in six months of time, at a chosen date in the month of September. By allowing the Malfoy wedding to commence last, we are ensuring that there is enough time to plan a grand event. This will mark the beginning of time when the general public will be expected to start to get married. Our services are at your disposal to create an event that won't be forgotten.
We hope that your first day together has been nothing short of magical and that tomorrow you are able to create and deepen your bonds of friendship. We have included a set of questions for you and your partner to help enhance the bonding experience. Please go through these questions in the next coming days, it is important that you create a believable bond before the celebration. I do not need to remind you of the repercussions if the general public does not accept your new relationships.
Best of Luck!
The Ministry of Magic
Hermione stared at the letter in horror. There was no emotion in the letter, nothing, just simple straight forward directions and thinly veiled threats. She looked in the envelope and pulled out the questionnaire cards that the ministry had so generously provided. She examined the cards and almost dropped the first one after reading it.
Describe a sexual fantasy to your partner.
'What the bloody hell?' Hermione thought. They can't all be that terrible. She shuffled the cards and read them as she went. They weren't all that bad, but they were still going to be just as difficult to answer. Hermione didn't know what some of the questions would achieve but she was sure that the Ministry had thought of everything, they were much more prepared to deal with the situation than she was.
She created a wall of pillows along her body, she agreed to TRY to not hate Draco, not to cuddle with him. There would be no repeat of last night. Once she was settled in the bed she put the letter and cards on her side table. She tried to wait up for Draco, but she could sense that he was trying to avoid her. She fell asleep with the reassurance that she was going to be seeing her friends tomorrow.