{ Chapter Seven }
Draco had returned to the Great Hall and spent the rest of the evening drinking, laughing and relaxing for the first time in ages. When he returned home he had been so tired that he collapsed into bed still in his dress robes. Sleep had come quickly for him and soon he found himself dreaming.
He was at Hogwarts after the battle. Everywhere he looked he was surrounded by destruction and death. Looking past the rubble he was able to see that he was also surrounded by survivors. Heroes. Victors.
He walked the corridors, or what was left of them anyway, until he found the library. He knew she would be here. She was always here.
And there she was. Sitting on a pile of stone. She held her head in her hands and she sobbed, loud, hard, heart-wrenching sobs that echoed off the fallen stone.
He swallowed thickly before stepping through the rubble. She heard him coming, of course, but she never looked up. She just sat there crying, as though she had held the tears in for so long that now she had no choice but to let them flow.
He stood next to her now. Gently his hand came up to caress her shoulders and she leaned into his touch. He wasn't sure if she realized it was him yet, but for the moment it didn't matter. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. She came easily, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around his waist.
He held her as she cried, rubbing his hands in small circles over her back, until she sniffled one final time and stepped back. He looked down into her chocolate brown eyes, expecting to see surprise there, instead he only found gratitude.
In a heartbeat he found himself leaning closer to her. His lips brushed against hers with just the lightest of touches but it sent a jolt of electricity through his system. Before he even knew what was happening, his lips were on hers again. He kissed her deeply, his arms wrapped around her back pulling her in close. She responded readily, tangling her fingers in his hair.
One of them moaned. He would never know which one it was and it hardly mattered. It was enough to shock his system into waking up. He sat straight up in bed, his head spinning from the alcohol in his system.
"Well, fuck," he muttered into the darkness of his room. He had fantasized about Hermione many times over the years, but this had felt much to real. It had to be the firewhiskey, he thought. That was the only explanation. Firewhiskey and to many walks down memory lane earlier in the evening.
He lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a long time before he realized he wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon. He stumbled his way into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
The dream had felt so real, he could almost still taste her. Standing under the spray, he let his imagination continue where his dream had been cut off. While he palmed his erection, he let himself imagine kissing her, touching her, making love to her. It didn't take long before he was spent and collapsed against the tile.
He would blame the alcohol for it, of course. It had been years since Draco Malfoy had resorted to jerking off in the shower. Maybe, just this once, he would blame it on Hermione. She was the one that got into his head, that took over his life, that occupied his every thought. Maybe it was all her fault, after all.
Draco woke the next morning with a hangover. Nothing a little pepper-up potion wouldn't fix, though. After taking his potion and a strong cup of coffee, he dressed in his MLE robes and went to work.
It had been quiet around the office lately. Several of the MLE agents had even been laid off or re-assigned to other departments in the ministry. Draco, Harry, Cho and Theo Nott were the only four full-time MLE agents left. There were part-timers that only worked special security detail or were on-call in case something big were to happen, like Dean Thomas and Weasley. Security had been bumped up a notch for the five year anniversary of the Final Battle, but there had been no attacks to speak of.
Today was another slow day at the office and he found himself counting down the hours till he could leave work and go to the Wizarding Library. He had one book left to find, and he was anxious to see what it had to say. When five o'clock finally rolled around he bolted as quickly as possible.
1915 – A Year in Review was the last book on Hermione's list. Now that he knew he was looking for a piece of legislation, he found it easily in the section on wizarding law. It felt as if he had been working tirelessly for years for this very moment. With a deep breath, Draco opened the book to the section indicated on her list.
There it was.
He ran his fingers lightly over the text before reading.
By wizarding law a wizard may file to have his marriage bond disolved after one year of marriage, while a witch must wait until five years of marriage have passed before she is eligible to petition the court for the same.
However, a woman that has been cursed with 'The Perfect Wife' marriage rite is unable to speak for herself in such matters by nature of the rite. Therefore, it is hereby determined that in such a case a third party sponsor may come forth to speak on behalf of the witch.
The sponsor will file with the court a request to disolve the marriage bond. The sponsor and the husband will be required to testify under veritaserum regarding the state of the marriage. Upon disolving of the marital bond between the witch and wizard, the sponsor takes responsibility for the witch. The sponsor must marry the witch for no less than one year, as stated by wizarding law.
This law has been a long time in coming, but it is still unclear how much help it will really be to a woman inflicted with this curse. She is unable to ask for assistance from a sponsor, unable to tell anyone that she is under this curse. The sponsor must figure out for himself that she has been so cursed, and take it upon himself to release her from the marriage bond. This is the primary reason why the sponsor is required to take the witch as his own wife. It is the sponsor's responsibility to take care of the witch and to protect her from any possible retribution.
He read through it several times before making a copy of it and leaving the library.
He had the solution in his hands. He did not feel the relief that he thought he would feel in this moment. He did not feel pride at figuring out her puzzle. He did not feel satisfaction that he would be able to help her. What he felt was dread, pure and simple. This was not an easy solution. There were other factors to take into consideration, things that he simply couldn't ignore just because she needed his help.
He immediately went to see Blaise at the bar. He walked in the front door, caught Blaise's eye, and headed back to the office. His friend followed him, aware instantly that something was wrong.
Draco was already pacing back and forth in his office by the time he got there. He stopped his pacing as soon as Blaise walked in and pulled two pieces of parchment from his pocket.
"I found it, Blaise. The last two on her list."
Blaise's brown eyes widened and he stepped forward to take the parchment from his friend. As agitated as Draco was in that moment, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what they said. He did, however, sit down on his desk and start reading.
"Wow." He set the parchment down on the desk when he was finished reading and watched his friend warily. Draco was pacing back and forth in the small office. "Okay, so we've got like six months, right? We just need to find an eligible bachelor that wouldn't mind being married to Granger for a year to step forward and be her sponsor. That doesn't sound too hard. Thomas is single, right?"
Draco shook his head almost violently.
"No. The sponsor has to testify that no one told them about the rite."
Blaise stared at his friend for a long moment before his eyes widened in understanding.
"Draco, you can't seriously be considering this? Did you read the whole article?"
"I read it." He ran his hand through his blonde hair in frustration.
"Then why in Merlin's name would you be thinking about it? You cannot do this!" Blaise couldn't believe his ears. Draco would actually consider marrying this girl? Why?
"Let me ask you a question, Malfoy. How many conversations have you had with Granger in your entire life that did not consist of yelling insults at each other, hexing each other, or her punching you in the face?"
"Not many," he admitted, his hand automatically reaching up to feel the spot where she had broken his nose back in third year. A small smile flitted across his face at the memory.
Blaise saw the smile and threw his hands into the air.
"Look mate, I know you have some kind of wierd obsession with this girl. I can understand the whole moral imperative of figuring out the puzzle of her journal. But marrying her? That goes way above and beyond the call of duty. There has to be another way."
"There's not."
Silence hung thick in the air as the two stared at each other from across the room. Draco's gray eyes were filled with resignation, but also the beginnings of determination. Blaise's brown eyes were imploring him to see reason.
"Why, Draco? Why would you consider doing this?" He asked one more time.
Draco paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair before turning to face his friend. He wasn't sure why it was so important to him that Blaise understand. He needed his friend on his side if he was truly going to go through with it.
"You want to know why, Blaise? I'll tell you why. Because the last time she needed help I stood by and did nothing. Because she fought alongside me at the Final Battle. Because she saved my life and I owe it to her to return the favor. That's why."
Blaise was struck by the amount of passion in his voice. It almost left him speechless. He swallowed thickly as the realization of how important this was to Draco finally started to sink in.
"Alright. I understand where you're coming from. But you have to know what will happen if you do this." He picked up the parchment for emphasis. "You need to decide if she's truly worth it or not, Draco, because at the end of the day she's still a muggle-born, and you, my friend, are still the only heir of one of the oldest pure-blood families still in existence."
"I know that, alright? I'll be disowned, disinherited, and probably burned off the family tree." He sat down heavily in one of the armchairs and put his head in his hands.
"That's exactly right, Draco. For a witch that no one has seen or heard from in almost two years? You yourself have had like one conversation with her since Hogwarts! Could you really give up everything for her?"
Draco stared at the wall in front of him, though his stormy gray eyes saw nothing.
"I think that maybe I already have."