I just wanted to say that you are all wonderful! I hope this chapter is to your liking!
When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Hermione sunk down on the sofa and burried her head in her hands, her breathing shallow.
"This is real, isn't it?" she said, her voice trembling slightly. "We're stuck together for the next five years, I'm going to have to lie to almost everyone I know, and most people are going to see me as a silly, lovesick girl unable to make rational decisions."
In a strange moment of camaraderie Draco sat down next to her, looking just as forlorn. "I'm afraid so. We really fucked it up, didn't we?"
"I still don't understand how this could've happened. Alcohol doesn't really seem like a sufficient explanation, somehow."
"I've been thinking the same thing, and I have a theory for that," Malfoy said.
"Really?" Hermione asked, sounding doubtful. "And what would that be?"
"You have always fancied me, and when you saw how drunk I was you decided to seduce me and make sure I couldn't get away easily once I was back to my right mind. I have to admit that it's far more original than a love-potion, but still, Granger, a bit desperate, don't you think?"
She hit his arm, hard. "Fancy the bully that had nothing better to do than insult me and my parents for years? Yeah, Malfoy, sure."
"Yes, about that," said Draco, forcing out the words as if they were causing him physical pain. "I have recently come to realize that the beliefs I grew up with weren't all founded on the truth, and so I apologize for the pain I caused you repeating them at Hogwarts."
Hermione was speechless, shocked beyond words.
"Which beliefs, exactly, have you relinquished?" she asked at last.
He grit his teeth. "You have my apology, Granger. I don't see the need for us to have a heart to heart about it."
"It's Malfoy now, remember?"
He froze. "I'd rather not."
"Malfoy, whether we like it or not, we're in this together. And while I am glad you finally apologized, this whole affair would be a lot easier if I knew exactly where you stood."
He sighed deeply but gave in, knowing enough about her to realize that she wouldn't stop bothering him untill she knew.
"The truth is that I'm not sure. All my life my parents have raised me to believe pure-bloods were superior and Muggle-borns were a stain on our world, but, as it turns out, the man my father followed blindly was a Half-blood, and there is no significant difference in magic between Muggle-borns and pure-bloods. You're the living proof of that. Add to that the way people have been judging me not for my own mistakes, and those were plenty, but for the sins of my father, and I guess I finally have had a glimpse of how it must have been for you and other Muggle-borns."
"Look at you, Malfoy," Hermione said with a grin, bumping her shoulder into his. "Finally thinking for yourself. It took a while, but better late than never, right?"
He scowled. "Fuck off, Granger. Anyway, I think the others have planned to stay away for as long as possible just to spite us, so I'll be off. I owe my mother an explanation, I fear."
Hermione grimaced at the thought. "Good luck with that."
"I'll need it," Draco muttered, before disappearing in a whoosh of green flames.
His apology left Hermione with quite a lot to think about. One thing was certain: she would be spending far more time with him than she had ever wanted to in the future. At first, she had been convinced all of it would be horrible, but now, a different idea was forming in her mind. This situation would be far easier to deal with if they actually learned how to get along.
Where a few days ago this idea would have seemed ludicrous, now she thought that maybe, just maybe, it was a possibility. Theo had made a good point: they somehow had managed to get along, and rather well at that, the night of Ginny's hen-party. It was worth a try, at least, she decided. From this day on, she would actually give Malfoy a chance, and attempt to befriend him while she was at it.
One week later found them both at Grimmauld Place again, with Blaise, Theo, Ginny, Harry and Ron. Blaise cleared his throat.
"Let us start this meeting," he said solemnly.
"Meeting? Blaise, you really need to stop taking yourself so seriously," Theo said.
"Quiet, Theo. First things first: did you tell anyone else what the true story was?"
"I told George, and only George," Ginny admitted. "He needed something to cheer him up, and he seemed to find the whole situation very entertaining." She offered Hermione an apologetic look. "He did ask me to tell you, Hermione, that if your husband caused any troube, all you had to do was write him and he'd make Malfoy regret it."
Hermione looked smugly at Malfoy. "You might want to keep that in mind, Malfoy. Being on the wrong side of George's ideas is not something you want to experience."
No one said anything about Fred, but they were all thinking about him. It felt odd to talk of one twin without the other, and if her unfortunate marriage had brought George some joy at least it had been good for something, Hermione thought.
"Did you tell the truth to anyone, Hermione?"
"Not yet. My parents don't know much about the Wizarding World and they've decided to stay in Australia, so I'm going to have to visit them to explain. This isn't exactly the kind of news you tell over the phone." The pure-bloods seemed confused at the mention of a 'phone', but they refrained from asking about it.
"I told my mother," said Draco. He then turned to Hermione. "She wants to see you."
"What? Why? That really isn't necessary, this is a fake marriage!" Hermione sounded panicked.
"I know, I told her, but we're still stuck for five years so she wants to meet you, properly. She really insisted."
Hermione was about to refuse when she got an idea. "Fine. I will go with you to your mother, who watched me get tortured by her own sister and only complained about blood on the carpet, by the way, but only if you come with me to my parents."
Judging by his expression, one would have thought she had asked him to get attacked by a hypogriff again.
"But," he mumbled. "They're Muggles! What am I supposed to say to them?"
"Have you seriously never talked to a Muggle?" Hermione asked.
"Of course not!" he exclaimed.
"Then how is it you're so sure they're inferior?"
"Don't start with me, Granger, that's not what we're talking about right now, we—"
"You're right it isn't. I offered a perfectly reasonable compromise for doing something I really don't want to do, and you overreact like you always do!"
"Overreact? I am asking if you wouldn't mind visiting my mother, while you plan on dragging me to the other side of the world to meet people who probably hate me already!"
"Oh, because your mother has always been nothing but kind to me, hasn't she?" Hermione shouted, furious.
"ENOUGH!" Ginny yelled. "You two are terrible! Just shut up for a minute before I hex the both of you!"
It worked; Hermione and Draco quieted, looking sullen and displeased.
"Thank you, Ginny," said Blaise. "Now, Draco, you know I'm on your side, mate, but I think Hermione is perfectly within her rights to ask that of you. Quid pro quo and all that?"
The look of betrayal on Draco's face was one that could have been framed.
"Look," Hermione said. "If you're really that reluctant to meet my parents, it's fine for me. We'll just avoid the whole 'meet-the-parents' part."
Malfoy crossed his arms on his chest. "Fine," he conceded. "I'll come with you to your parents."
"Oh, Blaise, would you look at that. Draco is finally growing up!" Theo said, lifting his hand to his heart.
"Married and mature now," Blaise played along. "Whatever happened to the little kid that fell in the fountain when he tried to show off his awesome levitation skills? Or—"
"If you two don't shut up right now I'm going to hurt you," Malfoy growled, embarrasment reddening his cheeks.
Hermione observed him calculatingly. Having friends who were obviously fond of him and yet perfectly able to call him out on his bullshit, friends who he seemed to appreciate despite his sometimes rude behavior, it spoke in his favor. She had always dismissed him as being utterly disagreeable, with followers instead of real friends, but either he had changed drastically over the last year, or she had been very unobservant while at Hogwarts. Either way, maybe there was hope for him, and they could even try and become friends to survive the next five years.
Hermione almost wished Malfoy had kept refusing to meet her parents, because she was now convinced it would end worse than she had imagined at the time.
To say that her parents had not taken the news of her accidental marriage well would be a gross understatement. In fact, they had taken it so badly Hermione was convinced they wouldn't want to see her again before Hogwarts started, but, right before she took the Portkey back to England, her father had told her to bring her husband to dinner on Sunday.
It was now Sunday, and she stood next to Malfoy on her parents' porch, both exhausted and absolutely not hungry due to the time difference. Add to that the fact that she could feel the stress emanating from Draco, and she just knew that someone was going to insult someone before long, and...
She was dragged out of her negative thoughts by the door opening and revealing her mother.
"Oh, there you are. I wasn't sure you'd be able to convince your husband to join us, dear." When she said the word husband, her lips tightened in a way that Hermione knew meant nothing good.
Her parents had been furious with her once they regained their memories. Even if they understood that Hermione had tried to protect them, they still felt betrayed and scared with the knowledge that there were people, their own daughter amongst them, that could mess with their thoughts like that. Needless to say, the relationship between Hermione and her parents had been strained since then, and hearing of her unplanned marriage so shortly after had only added to the feeling of not recognizing the person they had raised.
But none of that changed the fact that Marianne and Henry Granger loved their daughter, loved her very much, and when Hermione revealed the identity of the boy she wedded they had been angry on her behalf.
"That horrible little brat who bullied you?" Marianne exclaimed, aghast. "Hermione, how could you?"
"Well, in mine and his defense, he grew up since then. Mum, dad, as much as we both hate it, we're stuck together for five years now, so I'm going to try and get along with him."
As much as the doctors Granger hated to admit it, that did sound like the most sensible plan. And they were proud to say that they had raised their daughter to be a sensible young woman (occasional lapses of judgment aside, like erasing herself from her parents' memories and marrying a boy she hated).
"Come on in, Mr. Malfoy. My name is Marianne, and my husband is in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches to our meal."
"Please, call me Draco," Malfoy answered, obviously uncomfortable. But nervous or not, Narcissa had taught him how to behave, and his manners kicked in automatically. "It was very kind of you and your husband to invite me, Mrs. Granger."
Marianne harrumphed at that and preceded them to the dining room. Hermione shot Draco an apologetic look.
"They don't like you very much," she whispered. "They still remember the stories I told about you. Just stay polite, and I'll make sure they don't get too mean."
"Granger," he said urgently, stopping her before entering the room. "Do they know I was a..." He touched his left arm.
She shook her head. "I never told them about all the dangerous things happening at school. I was afraid they would make me go to a Muggle school again, for safety."
"Is it so much safer at Muggle schools, then?" Draco asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes," she answered. "Yes, it definitively is. But let's talk about that later. Go on in!"
"Ah, Mr Malfoy. It was about time we met, I suppose," Hermione's father said.
"Nice to meet you, Sir," Draco said. "Please, call me Draco."
"I am Henry, but feel free to keep calling me Mr. Granger."
"Dad!" Hermione hissed. "Can you at least be polite?"
"Let's sit and eat, shall we?" Marianne said. "Henry has gone to such trouble making it for you, so I hope you're both hungry."
Hermione knew her mother well, well enough to realize that Marianne was perfectly aware that it was quite a lot earlier in England right now, and that they wouldn't be hungry at all. Not for the first time, Hermione wondered if her mother would have been sorted in Slytherin, had she been a witch.
"So, Hermione, explain to me again what the plan is?" Henry asked.
"We're going to pretend this was planned. Draco was bethroted to another girl, and the only way to get out of that is being already married, which means that the only way for us to be together was to tie the knot a bit sooner than expected," Hermione explained hurriedly, having had this conversation with them several times already.
"I still can't believe such things still happen in your world. What was your father thinking?" he asked Draco.
Draco shrugged. "Probably the same as his father before him. He didn't do it out of spite or a desire to hurt me, of that I'm sure, but he genuinely thought that to be the best decision for me."
"But what about what you want? Surely you must have told him how you felt about it?"
The blond looked uncertain and his eyes locked with Hermione's for a moment before he answered. "He wouldn't have understood if I had brought it up. I never did. In most of the old families, it is expected of the children to follow in their parents' footsteps and to do it without asking questions."
Hermione noticed the change in her father's expression, and knew a lot of the things that angered him about Draco's past behaviour made more sense to him. He might actually give him a chance now.
Her mother, however, was not so easily swayed. Her snide comments and pointed questions made for a rather horrible dinner. By the time it was over, Draco couldn't help but think that Granger's mother would have most certainly ended up in Slytherin had she been a pure-blood, and probably become friends with his own mother at that.
It also shed some light on where Hermione got her evil and very cunning streak from.
Still, as terrible as it had been, it was also a bit reassuring; if Hermione was used to this kind of dinners, she might survive the evening with Narcissa.
When they got back to Grimmauld Place, Hermione's temporary home, they sank down on the couch, too tired to care that they were sitting next to each other.
"That went well," Draco remarked.
"Sorry I had to put you through that," Hermione said. "They're very nice people, normally."
Draco was a little surprised by her apology and swallowed the cruel retort he had been about to make. "Don't be," he said instead. "My mother is going to be a lot worse."
Hermione hummed tonelessly. "I don't suppose I can meet her anywhere else than the Manor?"
"She's on house-arrest, so no."
Hermione worried her lip but nodded. She disliked the idea of going back to that place immensely, but a deal was a deal, and she wouldn't go back on her word.
"Don't worry," Draco said, almost as an afterthought. "She lives in the west wing of the Manor, so you won't... revisit any location you have already been to."
That being said, he stood up and Flooed out of the house, leaving Hermione once again surprised about him. She appreciated the thoughtfulness of his words and found considerable relief in the knowledge that she wouldn't have to see that drawing room again.
When she had traded an evening with his mother for an evening with her parents, she hadn't really paused to consider what it would be like. Now that the dinner was only one day away, however, reality came crashing down on her like a brick wall.
One day at a time, Hermione, she reminded herself sternly, reciting what had become her mantra since she woke up next to Draco Malfoy with a ring on her finger. She would deal with what tomorrow had to bring, just as she always had managed to overcome her problems. No matter what Narcissa had in store for her, she was sure she would be able to handle hersef.
She had survived far worse than a dinner with a mother-in-law, after all.