Chapter 2 - Friends or. . . More?
She landed beside of Malfoy, clearing her throat. The surroundings were unfamiliar, and she assumed it was Malfoy Manor, as it was a stately manor with a large fountain at the center. "Well Granger, you certainly went and got yourself in deep this time." he sighed and grasped her wrist, pulling her to the door of Malfoy Manor.
"Malfoy, what did he mean by a contract, and a ceremony - and wedding?" she asked as he led her into the manor. "Just shut it for a moment Granger, I need to think." he said when he heard a crack outside and his mother apparated. "There was no other way to get him to spare you - Granger, he was going to kill you!" he cried, and in his anger, he kicked the table.
"So, we have to get married in two weeks or he'll hunt me down?" Hermione said, feeling a little dizzy at the thought of that. He looked at her and shook his head. "No Granger, US. He'll be hunting both of us, maybe even our families." he said and turned away from her as he called for his two personal house elves, Ebony and Ivory.
"Ivory, go and prepare a room for my - fiancee." he said with a backwards glance at her and shrugged. It couldn't be helped. "Ebony, get Miss Granger's measurements. What's your favorite colors Granger?" he asked, pulling a spare piece of parchment from a drawer, a bottle of green ink and a silver tipped quill.
She paused, thinking of it. "Well, I like blue, red, and brown I suppose." she said, watching him when she mentioned red - and he had made a small face, but quickly got over it. He withdrew his wand from his pocket and silently summoned a pair of fashionable black framed glasses which he slipped on, going over the list he had just made, suddenly feeling something slip around her waist, hips, bust, head, and then having her foot raised gently to check shoe size.
She watched Malfoy write all of this down and set it down, removing the glasses. He left the ink behind as he motioned for her to follow him to a sitting room, where he took a comfortable chair, and she sat on the end of the couch closest to him. "I didn't know you wore glasses Malfoy." she said, surprised.
He smirked at her. "There are a lot of things that you don't know about me Granger. For this to work outside of the death eaters, we're going to have to make it believable. So, we'll have to let both sets of friends know - we could say that we were secretly going out or something. Maybe for a few months or so." he said thoughtfully. "And, we'll have to call each other by our first names - and I suppose we'll have to tell that oaf Dumbledore about it as well." he said and winked at her.
What he said made perfect sense - she had started to argue about him calling Dumbledore an oaf, but when he winked after saying it, she began pondering if she had ever really known Malfoy before all of this. The door opened and Malfoy's mother, Narcissa, entered the sitting room where they sat.
"I'm sorry Miss Granger, but I'll need to speak to my son, and then I will speak to you both." she said, and Draco followed her lead into one of the nearby rooms. Mrs. Malfoy closed the door with a snap and Hermione could see the electric blue of a spell she didn't know.
-
"Draco, you idiot! What in the world possessed you to do it? You could have been killed with that mudblood!" Narcissa growled. Draco's silver eyes narrowed. "Never call her a mudblood again. She is my fiancee, whether or not you want it. And she shall be my wife within two weeks time. So keep a civil tongue when you speak to my wife-to-be." he said curtly.
Narcissa looked at her son closely for a moment and a bitter laugh rose from her throat. "Don't tell me - you love the little mud- the filthy witch. Draco, you can't be serious!" she cried, falling to her knees to her son's stomach. "Oh Draco, think of the children! They'll be half-bloods!"
"I've always loved her - hell, she's the only one in Hogwarts that you can hold an intelligent conversation with, but its more. I love her fiery spunk, her deep love of books and knowledge, her complete revulsion of divination - I love everything about her." he sighed softly, and he could see that his mother's pale blue eyes softened a little. "You only went out with Pansy to cover that fact, didn't you?" she asked.
Draco's mouth twisted as though he had bitten into a lemon or such. "I couldn't stand Parkinson - but she did stand as a good distraction for father. He won't be able to touch her now." he said with a sigh of relief. "After all, the dark lord commands it." he said with a wide smirk. No, his father couldn't lay a finger on his precious muggleborn bride-to-be whenever he got out of Azkaban. Nor could his mother.
He stood a little straighter, and cleared his throat. "And now, I believe we should rejoin my wife-to-be. After all, I have three jobs to do now - to convince the people around us that we love each other, to convince 'Him' that she's mine. . ." he said and paused, looking directly at his mother in the eye. "And?" his mother whispered, awaiting the answer that would have her son smile so softly. "And, to convince Hermione Jane Granger that I love her."
Hermione quickly backed away from the door, returning to her spot on the couch just in time to see the two step out of the room. She glanced past them, and saw it was a guest bedroom. It was small and quaint, very cute. But her thoughts were on Mal-Draco. He had told his mother that he loved her. And that he was going to convince her that he loved her.
Draco took one glance at Hermione and shook his head - he had forgotten that she had been used as a demonstration for the cruciatous curse. Her school robes were tattered and there was a long slash in the side of her skirt that allowed quite an amount leg to show. As much as he would love to admire her long legs, he was a gentleman, first and foremost in front of the lady he cared for so much. Anyone else could go suck on a mimbletonia's cactus needle.
"Excuse me for just a moment." he said, and jogged towards the entrance hall to grab one of his coats, which would be long on her, but until they went shopping tomorrow, it was all that he had for her. "Here, put this on for now, until we can get some clothes for you tomorrow." he said, and motioned for him to slip it on her. With a faint coloring on her face, she stood and allowed him to do just that, zipping it up. It fell just past her skirt, he noticed with a nod.
She thanked him, and took a seat, him sitting beside her as Narcissa took the chair he had previously held. "So, as far as the wedding, what colors would you like? Naturally, nothing Gryffindor - we are a Slytherin family after all and proud of it." she said, making certain that the young Gryffindor knew that. In fact, this would be the first ever Slytherin/Gryffindor wedding in the Malfoy family.
Draco looked thoughtful for a moment before he took her hand in his, causing her face to light up again. She had a lot to think about when she went to her designated room tonight. "I do like blue as well, um. . ." she said uncertain - she knew nothing of weddings - she was an only child after all, so it was a foriegn concept to her.
"What about a snowflake wedding?" Draco suggested, raising her hand to his lips, his voice coming out in a slight muffle. Narcissa looked thoughtful and then nodded. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. We could accent it with silver as well." she said. At that moment, Ivory appeared and the son and mother stood. "I take it her room is prepared?" he asked and helped her up, while still holding her hand.
"Yes Master Draco!" she squeaked. "Well, goodnight mother. I will show Miss Granger to her room now." he said with a nodd at his mother, who returned it, and then the house elf lead the two humans down the hall towards the eastern wing of the house. He drew a key from his pocket, handing it to her, finally releasing her wrist.
"This is the key to your rooms. I'm right beside your room, in case you need anything. Ivory will be your house elf for now." he said as she started to protest. "And before you start on S.P.E.W., I pay each of my servants one galleon a week - they won't take anymore than that." he said with a bemused smile.
"And they're allowed to wear anything they like. Most prefer to wear the usual, but there are a few that are proud to walk around in clothing. You can suggest that Ivory wear what you want her to, or not. Its totally up to you." he said, fingering a second key that was bound around his neck with a black ribbon.
This immediately impressed her - that Draco wouldn't follow in his father's footsteps. She turned the key into the door and found the most beautiful rooms she had ever seen - it was a deep red and was decorated with gold accents, with touches of brown in the room. The furniture was a deep mahogany, similar to theirs in the gryffindor tower, and she saw two doors - one lead into her bathroom, she would surmise, and the other - the other. . . the other would lead to his rooms.
She ran her hand down the comfortable red loveseat and looked at the matching chairs - even the lamps and coffee table fit in with the rest. There were pictures on the coffee table, and there was Harry and Ron, posing with an arm over each other's shoulders. There was one of Ginny and Harry, his arms around her middle, and one of a first year Draco Malfoy.
He was so cute, she had nearly forgotten how he looked back then. She went a little furthur in the room, passing a beaded curtain in the same colors her room was, and found her bedroom in the same style. And, above her head where the same pictures, except the one of Draco - instead of his first year, it was this previous year's picture.
"Oh Mal - I mean Draco, its so wonderful! And the pictures just makes it feel so much like home." she said, beaming at him - and he could feel his heart speed up in his chest, leaping from where it was supposed to be to his throat. "One more thing. I was going to save this for later, but, well. . ." he said and shrugged, taking the key off. "Why don't you open that door?" he asked, coming into the room with him.
She looked quizzically at him, wondering why she wanted him to open the bathroom, and saw an odd door when she went in. "Now, use the key I just gave you. Red is your room, green is this room." he said, pointing to the marker marks on the keys. He waited with anticipation as she opened it slowly and gasped breathlessly as she went into the room the door had opened.
"Oh my god, Malfoy! This - thi- this is incredible!" she sighed softly and went immediately to the first bookshelf she saw - it was the starting of the potions collection books. "I'm glad you like it Hermione." he said, the name sounding foreign in the room. It was a little strange, since he'd always called her by her last name in public.
He couldn't help but smile when he saw how large her own was, and that familiar dreamy look in her eyes. "This library was built especially for you Hermione - if you don't like some of the books, then feel free to take them out - if there are any you'd like to request, just let me know." he said, turning to leave when she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you for everything. I guess there are a lot of things that I don't know about you . . . Draco, but I'd like to learn." she said with a smile, which only wavered when she saw the surprised look on his face. He looked as though he had been thunderstruck.
He couldn't believe what was happening at this moment - Hermione Granger was embracing him and saying that she wanted to get to know him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Hmm, I know a little game we could play - you can either ask me something or choose for me to tell you something, and vice versa." he said, looking down at her. They were so close that their noses could almost touch, if Malfoy bent his head down just a tad.
"Sounds fun. Alright, I'm going to ask you how you knew that I would come to live at your house - obviously you knew, because of the library you made here." she said, and saw the flash of quick thinking, yet nothing came. "Well. . . I. . ." he started to say, a bright blush touching his face. "I was going to. . ."
"You were going to tell me sometime this year that you loved me, weren't you?" she said, and it was her turn to turn pink and she began to squirm a little guiltily. "I - I didn't mean to, but I overheard you and your mom talking." she said quietly and looked a little worried when he closed his eyes in defeat.
"Yes, I was, and I thought you would be safe, safe from harm. But what I didn't think is that they would get to you on winter break, the one time I couldn't protect you. And when I was summoned tonight - it was all I could do to stop myself from running to where you were, to stop the cruciatous curses." he said softly, his gray eyes shining brighter all of a sudden.
With a start, she realized that Draco Malfoy, the boy she had thought hated her, was crying over the fact that she was forced to suffer. "Oh Draco, please, please don't cry. Its not your fault that I was caught." she said, using the sleeve of the coat to wipe at his teary eyes.
"I - I can't help it. Hermione, I thought you were going to die tonight! I thought I would never be able to confess that I love you. I've always loved you - ever since the day you first stood up to me. It took me a while to realize it though, so when I finally did, I threw that warning at the world quidditch cup about keeping your head down. So you wouldn't get hurt."
How hard he must have had it, she thought. It was hard enough confessing to a girl that you liked, she thought, without it being one of his enemies. "The truth is, I don't know quite how I feel about you - I know your definately no longer my enemy. That your my friend, that's a definate."
He looked momentarily disappointed but then smiled, wiping the rest of the tears away. "Then I have two weeks to capture your heart. And Miss Malfoy? You can be affirmed that the charmer of Slytherin will find a way to do just that." he said, and with a single movement, he had her up in his arms, bridal styled, her arms around his neck. "What the? Malfoy, put me down!" she squealed and he merely ignored her protests.
He was glad to see that her bed had been turned down and he lowered his princess on her bed, making certain to be exceedingly gentle. He pulled the silk sheets up to her chin before doing the same to the comforter.
Sleep well, Gryffindor Princess. Your Slytherin Prince has a few things to do before he goes to bed." he said softly and left the room, flicking his wand to cut off the lights.
He would send Ivory to wake her around eight for a quick breakfast before they jaunted off to make her a new wardrobe. But there were a few things that he wanted to pick up, and he had a few connections yet. He left the house after grabbing his coat that he wore now adays and exited, leaving on his broom, which he kept in the same closet as his coats.
