A:N: Hello again dears! I hope you've all had a good week? I have! I would like to wish a 'Happy Mother's day' to any mum's who are reading this… not sure if there are any, but yeah(:
I would like to thank all who reviewed last chapter. I replied to every one, except the one's who have disabled the private messaging feature, so I'll reply to those at the bottom.
I would just like to ask, does anyone think I need a Beta? I've been thinking about it for a while, but I'm in two minds about getting one. Let me know!
Any way, read on, darlings!
Chapter Three:
Thursday 3rd September 1998. (words: 2545)
When Hermione woke the next morning, it wasn't by her alarm clock, but by her room mates, Lavender, Parvati and Eloise rushing around, packing up their things.
"What time is it?" Hermione asked as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Seven o'clock. You best hurry up and pack your things before you get ready. They're going to take our stuff to our new flats when we're in class and unless you want them leaving anything behind, I suggest you pack yourself," Lavender said, muttering.
The two of them hadn't exactly been on good terms since sixth year, when Ron was dating Lavender, but had
unexpectedly broke up with her when he had gotten poisoned (funnily enough by Draco, though it was not
intended for him) and in his sleep, he'd muttered Hermione's name over and over instead of Lavender's.
Getting out of bed, Hermione dragged her trunk out from underneath her bed and grabbed her wand from the
bedside table.
"Accio books," she muttered, watching all of her books fly out from here there and everywhere and land on her bed.
After shrinking them and putting them in her trunk, she did the same to her clothes (except her school robes and clean underwear for the day) and her personal belongings. Within half an hour, she was done.
She then proceeded to have a quick shower before spelling her hair dry and into loose curls (thankfully, her hair was no longer frizzy and bushy, but had grown into light ringlets) and changing into her school uniform.
She grabbed her rucksack and went down to the common room with the other three, who immediately left for breakfast.
"'Mione," Ginny called from behind her as she made her way over to the portrait hole.
"Oh, hey, Ginny," she said, turning around.
"How are you feeling today?" Ginny asked as they left the Gryffindor tower.
"A lot better, thanks. I feel so embraced for how I reacted yesterday. I completely over reacted about things. Do you
think I should apologize to Malfoy?" Hermione said, frowning. She'd done a lot of thinking in the shower. She did have a habit for over-reacting.
"No! You had every right to be pissed off. You need to plan your wedding. After all, you only have twenty-eight days exactly till it's your deadline," Ginny said fairly. "Speaking of your wedding, have you written to your parent's yet, explaining what's happened?"
"Ohmygosh. I completely forgot all about my parents! What are they going to think?" Hermione said, panicking.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand. I'm heading to the owlery now to write mum and dad a letter, seeing as
it's still early. Wanna come with me?" Ginny offered.
"Yes, thank you," Hermione smiled and they rushed to the owlery.
Once they'd climbed the many steps, both Hermione and Ginny pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink and sat down on the floor to write their letters.
Hermione sat there for a few minutes, unsure what to write.
But once she got started, it wasn't hard to write it, like she'd thought it would be.
It read:
"Dear mum and dad,
I know it's only the second day in, and I'm already writing to you, but I just ... had to.
How are you both?
I just thought I'd let you know ... well, I don't quite know how to put it, actually.
Last night, a law in the wizarding world was passed. It's called 'The Marriage Law.' Basically, anyone from the age of 17 to 45 has been arranged by the ministry to be married to someone of their choice. Crazy, I know. The reason for it though, is reasonable.
We need to repopulate. Ever since the war, our numbers have dwindle extremely, and if we don't pair up, the
wizards in Britain may become extinct.
So anyway, yesterday I found out who I was to marry. His name is Draco Malfoy. He's in my year at Hogwarts, though in a different house than me. He's in Slytherin. Do you remember me telling you about the houses? Well, we've never exactly been friends, well actually, we've practically hated each other since we were both eleven, but that's not the point.
If we do not get married, then we will be banished from the wizarding world and our wands will be snapped. I
must have conceived a child within eighteen months and a second child within five years. It's absolutely insane, but it is necessary. Any way, I must be married to him by the end of the month, and I would very much like it for you to be there. I will arrange for you to get to Hogwarts where the ceremony will take place, and I'd very much appreciate it if you came, for moral support.
I'm unaware of the exact date yet, but once I find out, I'll let you know immediately. I know this may come as a shock, but I hope you will trust me in this.
I love you both and I'll see you soon, hopefully?
Love,
Hermione."
"Geesh, Hermione, you writing an essay there?" Ginny laughed, tying her letter to a barn owl.
"It's just ... harder to explain to them that it would be to your parents. Your mum and dad read the Daily Prophet, it's bound to be in there. They would have been informed easily. But my mum and dad are so cut off from the wizarding world, they barely know anything about it," Hermione said, shrugging as she tied her letter to a pure black owl. She watched her's and Ginny's 'owls' fly through the huge window with a sigh.
She hoped her parent's would understand. She need's them.
"You ready to go? Might be able to fit a slice of toast in before class," Ginny said, linking her arm through
Hermione's as she looked at her wristwatch. It read: 8:30. Classes didn't start for another half an hour, meaning they had a little bit of time to squeeze some breakfast in.
As they trudged back through the grounds towards the school, they talked about their futures.
"You know, it's going to be so weird, not being a Weasley anymore," Ginny said. "I should have expected this, you
know, with getting married normally. But having a Slytherin as a husband, no matter how yummy he is, it's going to take a while to get used to it."
"What if our children get put in Slytherin?" Hermione said suddenly, looking worried.
"Then Slytherin will have gained wonderful students," Ginny reassured her friend as they entered the Great Hall.
Hermione's eyes automatically went to the Slytherin table where she saw Draco sipping a cup of tea. When she and Ginny walked in, he looked up and placed his tea down on the table. He gave her a slight nod in greeting before continuing with his breakfast.
Letting out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, she made her way over to the Gryffindor table with Ginny.
The day passed quickly, which Hermione was surprised at, considering she was dreading later today when she would officially move into her new flat with Malfoy.
When Hermione was finishing up her dinner, a miserable look on her face, her head snapped up suddenly when someone coughed from beside her.
Her eyes widened when she saw it was Draco, standing next to her awkwardly with half the Gryffindor table staring at him.
"You ready?" he said silkily.
"For what?" she said stupidly.
"To fly to the moon," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "To go move into our apartment, Granger."
"Oh - right," she said, standing up, blushing furiously.
"You know, Malfoy, you really need to start calling her Hermione. After all, she isn't going to be a Granger for much longer," Ginny smirked.
"And I suppose you're going to say I can't call you Weaslette for much longer, either?" he snapped.
"Her name is Ginny, Draco," Blaise said, coming up from behind them. "And no, you can't call her that anymore. It'll have to be Zabini," Blaise joked, causing Ginny to giggle.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione turned to Draco.
"Come on, Malfoy, let's go before all hell lets loose," she said, chuckling slightly.
As they walked off, a voice came from behind them.
"And you have to stop calling him Malfoy, too, Hermione!" Ginny had called to them.
Looking over her shoulder, Hermione glared at her friend.
They walked to their new apartment in silence, not knowing what to say to one another.
When they entered the bedroom, Hermione saw her's and Draco's trunks, a large, eagle-owl in a cage and
Crookshanks in his pet carrier by the bed.
Sighing, she walked over to her trunk and flipped it open. 'Better get it over with' she thought. Nearly an hour and a half later, Hermione put her last book on the bookshelf in the living-room and practically collapsed on the sofa.
Malfoy walked in and sat on the opposite sofa to her, just looking at her silently.
"Can I help you?" she said, noticing his gaze.
"You were right yesterday," he said quietly.
"About what?" she said, frowning.
"About having to talk about the wedding. We're getting married in less than a month, and we need to sort out the finer details ... plus..." he said, trailing off, looking uncomfortable.
"Plus?" Hermione said, urging him to continue.
"I think we should call a truce between us," he said very quickly.
Hermione didn't know what to say. Draco Malfoy, a boy who'd detested her for many years, wanted a truce? This was just not normal.
"You want a truce? With me, of all people?" she said, surprised.
"Oh, don't sound so shocked, Granger. We do have to spend the rest of our lives together, after all. What's the point in hating each other for the next 90 years or so? And also, I don't want that for our kids. Being raised in a family that is so full of hate," he said almost silently.
"Wow, you know, I never thought you'd be the paternal type, Malfoy," Hermione joked lightly. He didn't laugh
along, though. Awkward.
"Yeah, well, I know what it's like to grow up with your parent's hating each other, knowing that the only reason your there in the first place is because they were forced to get married. Not having a parent give a shit about you," he said coldly. "It's not a nice feeling for a child," he added a little more softly.
Hermione instantly felt bad. Who knew that the spoilt brat that was Draco Malfoy, just wanted a little T.L.C?
"You know, that makes me feel like shit, when you put things like that," she told him quietly.
"Why's that?" he asked, confused.
"Well, you've grown up with no love and support, whereas my parents still love each other now just as much as they did when they first fell in love. And they've done nothing but love and be there for me as I grew up. It just makes you think about life, you know?" she explained, not daring to look him in the eye.
He was silent for a bit.
"That's what I want for my children. You know, I vowed to myself when I was younger, that if I was ever privileged to have the gift of children, I'd be everything to them that my father wasn't to me," he said quietly.
This must be hard for him. He didn't seem like the type of person who willingly shared his emotions.
"I understand that, Malfoy," Hermione said, smiling lightly at him.
"You know, Blaise was right, we really need to start calling each other by our first names," Draco said, the corner's of his mouth turning up in a light smile.
"I agree, Mal- er, Draco," she stuttered, not being used to calling him Draco out loud.
"Now, how about we talk about, you know... our wedding, Hermione?" he said, cringing slightly as he said it.
"Good idea. We should start with a guest list. We don't want it too big, considering it's to be done here at Hogwarts. Just friends and family," she said, getting into her 'study mode'.
"It'll just be my mother coming, because father is in Azkaban, and I don't particularly want him there either. And as for friends, it'll just be Blaise, Pansy, Theo and Goyle," he said simply.
"We should put a plus one on the invitation, so they can bring their other half's if they choose too. As for me, it will be both my parents, hopefully, then all the Weasleys if they can make it, Harry, Luna, Neville, Dean and Seamus,"
Hermione said, grabbing a piece of parchment, ink and a quill to write it down.
"We'll just have simple decorations, like fairy lights, flowers, you know, stuff like that. Then you need your dress and my dress robes and that's it, really," Draco said, leaning back in his seat.
"I'll ask Professor McGonagall if Ginny and I can go to Diagon Alley to get our dresses like, a week before the
wedding," Hermione said thoughtfully. Then something dawned on her. "What day are we doing the wedding?"
Draco thought for a moment, until a small smile came onto his face.
"What?" she said when he looked at her.
"Your birthday... it's on the 19th of this month, isn't it?" he said suddenly, shocking her.
"How do you know that?" she asked, surprised.
He shrugged in a nonchalant way.
"Know thy enemy," he said, chuckling. "I'm rather observant when I want to be."
"Oh, right. Any way, why'd you ask?" she asked.
"It's a Saturday, I think. Perhaps, we should have the wedding on your birthday?" he said curiously.
She thought for a second, utterly flabbergasted by this whole experience. She was planning her wedding. At the age of 18.
"Sounds like a good idea," she said, shrugging. "I'll book it with Professor McGonagall tomorrow after Transfiguration. Now, if that's all, I'm going to bed," she said, gathering her roles of parchment and placing them in a neat, tidy pile.
"Good night, Gra- Hermione. I'll er - join you in a little while," Draco said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Okay," she said nervously before walking into the bedroom.
She'd have to share a bed with Draco Malfoy. Good lord, they go from having no physical contact to sharing the same bed. Well, in sixteen days, they would be doing more than sleeping in this bed. Hermione wanted to shudder at the thought of sleeping with Draco, but she couldn't bring herself to, for some odd reason.
Changing into her spaghetti-strapped, white pajama top and lilac silk bottoms, she brushed her teeth and climbed into the huge bed, looking up at the canopy in silence.
Less than ten minutes later, Draco walked in silently, and changed in to nothing but silk green panamas bottoms.
They both laid there, on there backs stiffly.
"This is so weird," Hermione murmured.
"You think?" he joked. "But we have to get used to it, I suppose."
"Yeah I know," she sighed, before rolling onto her side, facing away from him. "Good night, Draco," she whispered.
"Goodnight, Hermione," he replied.
(End Authors Note) … I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know it's not exactly long, but it's just a chapter to get the story moving along, I suppose. Yes, Draco is a little out of character, calling a truce with Hermione, but I just see Draco as the type to want a good future for his children, considering he had a rubbish childhood.
Next chapter will be up next Saturday/Sunday, hopefully. Also, if there are any error's of any kind, please point it out, and I will try to fix it… though at the moment, isn't letting me edit my stories. Well, it's letting me edit it, but it just doesn't save what I edit, if that makes sense?
Reply's to reviews:
Teamrosalie21137: thank you for the recommendation of the story! Do you know the Author? Because will not let me search for stories! It's only letting me search Author's at the moment. I think the system might be down or something.
And it will be a while till he drops his attitude. In this chapter, he seems to have toned it down a little, but there's still more to come! As they say, old habits die hard! Thanks for the review! And also, you asked about my Icon … I got the picture of Tom Felton of google. Go onto google images, then type in Tom Felton … I think the picture I have is either on the fourth or fifth page. Then I added his name myself using . Hope this helps!