The afternoon continued as the morning had with Hermione and Draco digging up as much information as they could about Ron's quidditch trips during and after the marriage. Draco contacted Ronald's teammates on the Chudley Cannons to set up interviews about Weasley's behavior while he was on the team. They also looked up all the pubs and taverns that would have been visited by Ronald on his away games. Draco was convinced the famous man had strayed and that was his reason for his divorce. Hermione, with some trepidation, looked for any birth certificates that might have her former husband as the father to a child that was not hers. She was distraught to think that her children's father and her old best friend could even cheat on her let alone father someone else's child. She was simply waiting for an owl from St. Mungo's with the information.
As the work day came to a close, the time came for Draco and Hermione to meet with the clerk to file for a marriage license. As the others left the office, Draco grabbed Hermione's petite hand with his large one as he walked her to the Department of Human Resources. The officiate, Mr. Carmicle, was very surprised when the young Malfoy sauntered into his office holding the hand of the most famous muggleborn witch in the world. He was momentarily skeptical as to why they were getting married until he looked upon their faces. Hermione's eyes were sparkling like chocolate diamonds and Draco had a smile on his face that was not expressed very often. To a man who had married hundreds of people, these two looked as if they were truly in love.
"Good afternoon. I assume you are here for a marriage license. Am I right to assume that you two have chosen to marry?" Hermione and Draco answered with what could be called affectionate smiles towards each other, Carmicle continued, "I would say very odd, but you look to be in love. At any rate I will need you both to fill out a slight amount of forms and then we can perform the short wand ceremony and sign the marriage license. I should have the two of you out of here within thirty minutes." As Carmicle spoke these words he handed Draco and Hermione the forms and quills to fill them out. The two sat down in the oversized armchairs in front of the oak desk and began filling out the necessary information. "I'm quite surprised that a couple as in love as the two of you seem to be didn't want to have a grand ceremony. I would have thought you two being who you are would want to show off to the world how in love you've become."
Draco and Hermione paused in their writing to look at each other at Carmicle's statement. Although their mouths were formed into "loving" smiles, their eyes showed their lack of enthusiasm at this observation. Hermione was, as always, quick to respond. "Well, Draco and I just want to be married as soon as possible. We love each other so much and he loves my children so dearly that we could not wait another moment to live together as a family. We are both so old fashioned though when it comes to living together that a swift marriage seemed to be the best answer. We might have a grand wedding at a later date. And if my love's mother has any say in the matter, it will be quite the extravaganza." She landed a short but sweet peck on Draco's cheek before returning to her parchment. Draco's face showed his shock for a fraction of a second before it again displayed his apparent joy of their upcoming union.
"Well, without any further wait, let's proceed with the wand ceremony." Mr. Carmicle stood from his chair and gave Hermione and Draco the signal to stand as well. "Now that we are all complete with the paperwork, the ceremony takes no time. First face each other and grab each other's left hand. Now I will place my left hand over your joined hands. Very good. Now with your wand hands, make a semi-circle; Hermione yours will go right and Draco yours will go left essentially making a circle. While you do this wand movement, you will all say the incantation 'with the love of the earth and the magic in my blood, I connect myself to you.' If there are no questions, let us continue." As Draco and Hermione began the wand movements and spoke the incantation, Mr. Carmicle spoke a blessing of love everlasting over them. When he finally completed the prayer, the two were pronounced husband and wife. Draco pulled the antique ring he had acquired from his mother out of his pocket to present it to Hermione. It was a circular half karat diamond encircled with emeralds on a white gold band. A huge gasp escaped her lips at the beauty of the ring as Draco placed it on her finger. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and gave him a tight hug. He was slightly taken aback at first, but then he slowly started to wrap his arms around her. It was only to keep their charade up, is what he told himself.
"Well, that is touching to behold, but you must kiss for me to officially seal the bond," said Mr. Carmicle with a slight gleam in his eye. Startled, Hermione and Draco jumped apart. Hermione had a slight blush on her cheeks accompanying a smile that gave off the impression of the perfect new bride while Draco squared his shoulders and placed a gigantic grin on his face. With two deep breaths, their lips met for a brief second. The peck was so quick, if Carmicle had chosen that moment to blink, Hermione and Draco would have had to repeat the intimate act. "Awe, good. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy just sign your marriage certificate and you can begin your happy life together as man and wife." Carmicle handed them their quills from earlier and watched as they signed their names.
"Well, it is official. You are now a Malfoy," Draco said in a slightly cautious tone. His feet carried him towards the apparition area without any effort, so he was able to occasional sneak glances at Hermione to ascertain her feelings on the past few events. He had just kissed, however briefly, his childhood enemy turned partner. He was a little shook up but tried to keep a cool appearance visible.
"Yes, I am. I'm also one step closer to having full custody of my children." Hermione's smile lit her face and she had a slight bounce in her step as she and Draco continued on their way. She kept rambling on though, like she didn't want to process what had just transpired in the officiate office. "I found some interesting articles and some fascinating revelations for leads on where to take our investigation tomorrow. I think we might have a strong case against Ronald. And with this marriage, nothing will go wrong. My excitement over all these events must be affecting my brain! I ramble on like this. "
Draco just awkwardly laughed at her and kept walking. His mind was focused on the next few hours in which Hermione and her children would be packing up important personal belongings and then moving to his family estate in South England. It was a quite cottage like villa in a private clearing in the woods. The house boasted a lovely dining room, living room, den, two offices, a library, five bedrooms, and extensive grounds.
"Now, let's go home. I need to get things ready for the kids to move. You can help me move everything. I'll meet you at my house." With her words, Hermione turned on her heel and was gone. Draco stood in one place for a moment thinking about his life and the last few days. In a matter of days, a miniscule amount of time considering how long he had been on the planet, his life had gone from just concerned with him and his mother to being concerned with a woman and her children as well. He had always imaged his life would come to this point at a much older age with quite a bit more planning beforehand. He especially didn't picture his family consisting of Hermione Granger and her two children by Ronald Weasley. His life had taken an abrupt turn and Draco wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad one yet.
Rose and Hugo stood next to the fireplace in their home with bags of their favorite toys and clothes resting on the floor beside them. Draco had shrunk Hermione's old Hogwarts trunk filled with the children's toys and placed it in his pocket. Hermione had checked all the wards surrounding the house and did one more run through of the rooms to make sure nothing personal had been left. The furniture and larger items would be left for the time being as their new villa had already furnished for them.
"Well, if everything is together, we best be getting on our way. I'll go first, Hermione, and then send the children through." Draco had been all business as they packed up. He was nervous about his new arrangement. After the night before, Draco already was feeling a slight connection to the children. He had hoped to distance himself from the two little Weasleys, but every time he looked into those freckled faces he could not help but feel his heart beat quicken and his exterior become less frigid. With these thoughts in his head and smile at his "family", Draco grabbed his luggage and floo-ed away.
Quickly after Draco's departure, Hermione sent Rose and then Hugo through the grate. While Hugo was being transported, Hermione did one last paranoid search of the house. Her mind was on overdrive. Her children had seemed so excited to see Draco again and even happy to be moving into a new house with him. Hermione was only slightly surprised with her children's reaction to the new series of events; she was more concerned with Draco's behavior. What had gotten into him? He had shut himself down since a few hours ago. She was a little confused and somewhat anxious over it. He had hardly talked while they had been packing up her flat and he had seemed distant from the children. He seemed like he had become all business which seemed slightly odd to her since what had transpired yesterday. She decided she would think about it later, when they went to bed. She froze at that thought. She was going to share a room with Draco. "No wonder he shut down," she thought as she bucked up the courage to floo to her new home.
It was official; the children loved their new home and found Draco simply wonderful as a father. After an hour of Rose and Hugo running around the house while the adults unpacked, the family settled in the grand dining room for dinner; Hermione had spent the last thirty minutes of the evening preparing a simple dinner of chicken and salad. The children ate like they had been famished only interrupting their chewing every few minutes to bring up an event that had happened during the day or to talk about their new home. Draco engaged in the children's conversation very willingly but to Hermione's eye it seemed liked there was tension in his face. She knew that once the children were down for bed, they would need to talk.
When dinner was done, Hugo and Rose went exploring the house a little more while their parents cleaned up. While cleaning the dishes and the kitchen, Hermione broached the subject of their sleeping arrangements. "Draco, I had a thought about something earlier that I don't think we have discussed yet. What do we plan to do about where we will be sleeping? I know we will obviously be sleeping in the master bedroom, but how will we sleep?"
Draco seemed to blanch at the subject. He stopped drying the dishes and looked at Hermione like he had just seen Snape's ghost. "We have not discussed that, have we? Well, we could split the mattress in halves. Each of us would then gain a decent size bed for ourselves to sleep in and during the day we could move them back together. Is that agreeable for you?" Draco held his breath when he finished speaking. He profusely hoped that she did not have any issues with that arrangement.
"No, that sounds like a reasonable solution. I have no objections what so ever. I would like to talk to you later though about your attitude if you don't mind. You have just seemed off since this afternoon. I don't want the children to hear though so we can talk once they have gone to bed if that's ok by you." Hermione seemed adamant about their upcoming conversation. Draco had no desire to really protest the discussion but before he even got the chance Hermione was calling the children for their baths.
Once the children were tucked in after Draco read them a story, Draco and Hermione met in their room for their previously planned conversation. Hermione stood in her large walk in closet changing into her oversized Gryffindor t-shirt and pulled her hair into a messy bun as she organized her thoughts. Draco stood in the bedroom separating their mattress while he waited for Hermione. He was not sure how much he would tell her about his thoughts and feelings, but he knew he had to be for the most part forthcoming with information or there could be potential for snags in their charade. He began to understand that he was a father and that what he did now was not just about him but about his new family as well. It was getting cleat to him that messing this up would affect others.
As Hermione came out of her closet, Draco could not help but notice how long and lean her legs looked coming out from that baggy shirt. He shook his head to clear it of the dirty thoughts and images going through his mind of what she would look like in one of his old Slytherine shirts. He needed to focus on the conversation at hand. He had no idea what Hermione wanted to discuss but he did know it was serious by the look across her beautiful features.
"Draco, after we got married today, you seemed to shut down. You seemed just fine at work today and even while in Carmicle's office. What is on your mind? I think we need to be honest and trust each other for this arrangement to work. Please tell me." Hermione had walked over to her bed during her speech all the while imploring with her body language and movements that she really needed to know what thoughts were going through Draco's mind.
With a deep sigh, Draco began to answer Hermione. "To be honest, I am just a tad bit worried. I do not want to mess this up by protecting myself. I am afraid I will grow too attached to your children though and so I am fighting my instincts to be rude and uncaring. I have started to revert back to old instincts like keeping my distance and I am attempting to combat them, which is hard. Granger, I am not a fan of yours by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I love your children. I do not want to ruin your lives when I am meant to be helping , but I do have some personal issues that I will be constantly fighting to maintain. You of all people should know how brooding I can become. While I deal with my person dilemmas, I will strongly attempt to keep them out of the way. However, I will need some personal space at times so that I can regroup when certain situations become too difficult. "
Hermione was experiencing some mixed emotions at Draco's words. She was a little hurt by Draco's admittance that he didn't like her, but it really wasn't that much of a surprise for her. She was shocked, though, that he had admitted to being attached to her children but was saddened by his compulsive need to push them away. She knew there was more to his attitude as of late that he wasn't letting on, but she expected his need to be reclusive and held her tongue. She let a weak but understanding smile pass her lips as she said, "Draco, whatever you are going through, I know must be tough. You can talk to me about it if you would like when you are ready. I just want to say thank you again though for what you are doing for my children and me."
When Hermione had finished speaking she turned down her blankets and crawled under them. Draco did the same and turned off the lights with his wand. Once in the darkness, his mind wondered to his childhood and how it was affecting his adulthood. He knew he needed to let go of the painful memories of the war and the effect it had on his family, but he understood that his release from his torment would take years. He was slightly thankful that if he needed someone to talk to, Hermione would be available; the reality was that it could take years or some extreme source of magic for him to ever like Hermione enough to even consider talking to her about what haunted his every moment. The one comfort he had been able to glean since the war was that no one child would have to go through what he went through as a child again and that no horrors like the ones he had witnessed as a child would happen to him as an adult. The rein of darkness was over. With the thought of his life finally free of pure evil, Draco began to let sleep takeover.
Draco and Hermione had not been asleep for an hour when a soft knock could be heard on the door. The mahogany door creaked open and tiny padded footsteps could be heard making their way across the floor. A "Mummy, I can't sleep," came from Hugo's mouth as he nudged Hermione's sleeping frame with his little hand. "I had a nightmare." Without fully waking up, Hermione moved over in her bed and lifted the covers up so Hugo could slide in. As she snuggled him close to her, Hugo's small voice broke the silent darkness once again saying, "Mummy, I want to sleep next to Draco too like with Daddy. Why do you not share a bed like with Daddy?" At Hugo's question, both Hermione and Draco jolted awake.