A/N: That is the first time I had written anything close to smut, so I hope that it met your expectations. As usual, thank you for the reviews, I appreciate it greatly! As a note, I'm hoping that this story will be continually updated as frequently as I have been doing it, but I'm sure I will inevitably hit a block and won't update for a while. However, today is not that day! As of late, the story has been more fluff than drama, but I assure you it will not stay that way for long. If you don't believe me, keep reading!

Disclaimer: I wish, but no.

Chapter Four: The Meaning of Peace

Draco woke the next morning with his head cradled on Hermione's stomach, rising and falling peacefully with her breath. He sighed, content, and tightened his arms around her only momentarily. As his brain started sluggishly churning to life, he realized where he was. Or rather, whom he was with. He lurched upward suddenly, jostling Hermione, but she slept on. Quickly, with fumbling fingers, Draco checked the time on his pocket watch.

It was almost eight o'clock in the morning. He was due for a meeting with his father and the privy council in less than an hour. He turned back to his slumbering fiancée. She was still in her dress from last night, and her hair, once carefully pinned, had fallen down around her shoulders. Her face held the child-like innocence that he so wished they could both still possess.

Unwillingly, he prodded her arm gently to wake her.

"Hermione," he whispered. "My sweet, you must wake up."

She woke in a flurry of motion, first jumping upward, then reaching for her wand to hex her intruder, and then turning any which way to try to determine her whereabouts. Draco had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing, she looked so dumbfounded.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said cheerfully.

She looked horrified that she was in Draco's chambers, and even more horrified when she remembered what she had done. Her big doe eyes filled with tears and spilled over, and suddenly Draco was at her side, cradling her against his chest while she sobbed.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

She pushed him away and stood up, trying to press the wrinkles out of her dress. Draco followed, watching her closely with thinly veiled hurt on his face. He wasn't sure if she was crying because she was scared or because she regretted waking up in his arms, but he was pretty sure he had never seen Hermione cry because she was scared of him. His heart ached in a way he couldn't quite define, and he wordlessly held out an arm for her to take. She clutched it and he silently Disapparated them back to Grimmauld Place and, without thought to Splinching, let her go alone and Apparated back to his chambers midway through.

He changed from his formal dress robes to his normal ones, fastening the black material tightly over his still flushed chest. He was more confused than he thought he could ever be. He had done everything she wanted, except rob her of her virtue. He had been the noble one, and she still made him feel lecherous with her pure face and quiet tears. What had the tears been for, anyway? He didn't have the courage to ask her, but Slytherins had never been known for bravery. He paced in the space of his room, trying not to look at the bed, where images of her writing underneath his ministrations would haunt him until he died.

Knowing there was still at least twenty minutes before the meeting was supposed to start, Draco flung the doors to his chambers open and stalked sullenly to the council's chamber, ignoring all calls from servants and family members along the way.

His father, aunt, uncle, and mother found him slouched in his chair, head in his hands when the meeting was supposed to start.

"Draco, do sit up straight," his mother chided as she took the seat at the end of the table. "You look like a commoner."

"We are commoners," he said under his breath, but straightened up anyway.

"We are royalty," Bellatrix insisted, taking the seat to his left. "You would do well to remember it, future King."

He rolled his eyes but did not answer. His father took the seat to his right and addressed his son. "We have the treaty, signed and accepted, correct?"

Draco's eyes slid from his father's to the table as he thought. "Yes," he said slowly, "Is there any way we can change the marriage?"

Narcissa cocked her head. "Change the marriage?" She repeated. "What exactly would you prefer?"

Draco pursed his lips. "I would prefer not marrying that girl," he said quietly. "Clearly, we are not compatible."

Rodolphus snickered. Draco's eyes swiveled to him in a menacing manner. "Is there something funny?" Draco asked.

Rodolphus met his eyes without flinching. "Well, you claim that you aren't compatible, and yet you spent the night with her in your chambers."

The room erupted in sound, and Draco found he could no longer handle the wave of talking that was burying him. He stood and, without warning, left the chamber and the council alone to gossip.

Lucius had turned to Rodolphus. "What do you mean, he had her in his chambers?" He asked.

Rodolphus looked, momentarily, like he regretted opening his mouth. "He Disapparated with her at the Potter wedding and brought her back here, his guards told me so."

Lucius's face flushed. "I wrote that treaty because I wanted my son to marry a woman who was pure. I don't want his future line tainted."

Narcissa's voice from the end of the table was cold. "It will still be tainted, Lucius. She's a Mudblood."

Lucius turned to his wife. "She is the brightest witch of the age, it doesn't matter what her parents are, with magic that strong. Would you rather he married a Greengrass girl, the most dimwitted of all the purebloods?"

Narcissa's silence gave him the answer he wanted. Bellatrix chuckled, and Lucius turned his radioactive gaze on her.

"What would the Dark Lord say if he could see you now?" She said, her voice calm. "Fumbling around a room, arguing about a Mudblood that's better off dead? How you have disgraced him."

Lucius lowered himself to his seat. Bellatrix continued, "We have been defeated by a ragged group of children and forced to make a treaty that puts a Mudblood on a throne, and Draco just handed you his refusal to marry her and you're not going to take it? Why do you want him to marry her so much, anyway? Because you want your grandchildren to be smart, frizzy-haired bookworms? Or because you want the next Dark Lord?"

Lucius did not respond. "I want the next Dark Lord," Bellatrix shouted. "And if Draco is going to turn into a sniveling brat because of a Mudblood, then I don't think we need her anyway. All we're doing is biding our time, but why? We have the Ministry, the Order is disbanded. Why can't we fight now?"

"Because we gave them our word, because we lost half of our members, take your pick, we are not fighting another war!" Lucius finally found his voice.

Bellatrix frowned. "You're scared, is that it? You don't want a little more bloodshed before you die? I thought that's what men lived for! But I guess I was wrong. Men are just as weak as women."

Rodolphus was staring at his wife with something that looked a lot like fear.

"If you don't want to throw gas on the flames that Draco already gave you, then I will," she said, and with a loud crack, Disapparated.

Lucius stayed where he was, staring at the table. It was a few seconds before Narcissa spoke.

"Well? Aren't you going to do something?" She asked. "Bella is about to ruin your treaty, and you aren't going to do anything?"

Lucius slowly turned to her, his face impassive. "She's right. All we need to end this in our favor is one opening, and Draco just gave it to us. Let her go. There's nothing that can be done anyway."

~DM&HG~

The loud crack that accompanied Bellatrix's entrance almost scared Ronald off his chair in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. He jumped magnificently and turned to her, alarmed.

"What do the Soldiers want now?" He asked irritably. Bellatrix gave him a mocking curtsey that made him raise his eyebrows.

"I wish to speak to Hermione Granger," she said sweetly. "It's about her engagement."

Ronald rolled his eyes. "Great. I'll get her," he said, trudging up the stairs. He found her in her room, still in her dress from the wedding, her eyes red and raw from crying.

"Hermione, what -," Ronald paused. "What did Malfoy do?"

Hermione shook her head as more tears shook loose from her eyes. Ronald was beside her in half a second. "What did he do, I swear I'll kill him if you want me to," he said, taking her shaking hands. She shook her head again. "Bellatrix is downstairs," Ronald said gently. Her face snapped up to him. "She wants to speak with you. Do you want me to send her away?"

Hermione wiped her face with the back of her hand and stood, straightening her hair. "No, I'll see her," she said, her voice clearer than she anticipated. Ronald watched her leave with something like awe on his face.

Hermione found Bellatrix poking at Ronald's forgotten food. When she spotted Hermione, a dark smile took over her face, lighting up her dark eyes in a way that made Hermione nervous.

"How may I help you, Madam Lestrange?" Hermione said, giving her a low curtsey. Bellatrix almost laughed.

"I have simply come to inform you that Draco wishes to nullify your engagement," she said primly. "He has decided that he does not want to marry you, come what may." She stared at Hermione's stricken face, already tearstained. "But you had to know this was coming," she said, indicating Hermione's red eyes.

Hermione lowered her eyes. "Did he say; did he name my transgressions?" She asked.

Bellatrix turned her eyes to the ceiling, thinking quickly. "He said that he simply did not want to marry you, and hoped that we could find him anyone else, literally anyone," she said, smirking. "It seems he no longer thinks you worthy."

Hermione's eyes slipped from Bellatrix's and landed on a random spot on the floor. She felt her eyes begin to swim again, but from tears or shock she could not tell. She had returned to the house, ran from Draco, because she was ashamed of her wanton behavior the night before. She had behaved improperly, and anyone finding out about it could jeopardize her relationship with Ronald, already fractured beyond recognition, and anyone who sought to take her place.

But Draco had been patient with her, tender, and loving, and she had run from him. And now he didn't want to marry her. Because she had tried to surrender her virtue or because she had run from him, she did not know, but it was not within her power to ask. Not anymore. She lowered her head in acquiescence to Bellatrix's statement and turned to leave.

"Don't you want to know why?" The older witch asked. Hermione did not turn around, but only shook her head and kept on her course.

Ronald was waiting for her at the top of the stairs. He watched her carefully as she ascended, her face a perfect mask of indifference, until the telltale crack of Bellatrix Disapparating. Her face crumbled, and he held out his arms for her. She fell into them, sobbing with abandon, clutching at him like she was afraid he would disappear.

"I'm so sorry, Ronald," she said through her tears, hiccups interrupting her speech. He did not respond, but only held her tighter as he led her to her bed. She fell on it, pulling him with her, and laid her head on his lap, sniffling quietly as tears continued to run.

"What will happen with the treaty now?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The hoarseness of it hurt his heart, and he ran his fingers through her hair absently.

"It doesn't matter right now," he said, matching her volume. "Shh, just sleep and we'll talk about it when you feel better."

She shook her head defiantly, but her tears had already worn her to the point of exhaustion, and she slipped gracefully into sleep almost a minute later. He gently extricated himself from her embrace and whispered a Patronus to Harry as he closed her door gently behind him.

~DM&HG~

Harry twirled a piece of Ginevra's bright red hair around his finger in their honeymoon suite at the Leaky Cauldron. Under the circumstances of their friends and the recently ended war, they simply got a small suite close by and closed themselves off from the world for a few days as a honeymoon. They would take another one when everything was stable.

Ronald's Patronus sailed in through the window as he was leaning in to kiss his new wife. She groaned and fell back onto the pillows.

"Malfoy broke the engagement," was all it said. It dissipated in a puff, and before the silver tendrils were completely gone, Harry was already on his feet with his wand in his hand. Ginevra was right behind him.

They appeared in Grimmauld Place the same moment that Ronald was making it back to the kitchen, throwing out his food.

"What did he do?" Harry asked, his voice almost a shout. Ronald held his hand up and held his finger to his lips.

"Bellatrix came by to tell Hermione that Draco said he would rather marry anyone else," he said. "At least, that's what I heard. Hermione's asleep upstairs. She was devastated."

Ginevra's face went, if possible, even whiter. "I have to go see her."

"No, you don't, not while she's this upset," Ronald said. "Why does it matter, anyway? Malfoy messed up."

"Yes, he did, but…" Ginevra trailed off.

"But what, Ginny!" Ronald exploded. "What could be so important that you need to speak with her right this second?"

Ginevra turned to Harry, her eyes pleading, but Harry's eyes were just as curious as Ronald's. She stomped her food in exasperation. "It doesn't matter, I need to see her," she said, turning on her heel to go anyway.

Ronald had her blocked before she got to the stairs. "What happened," he asked again, this time his voice deadly calm. "Speak."

Ginevra retreated back to the dinner table and motioned for everyone to sit. Harry did, Ronald did not.

"She might have slept with him already," she said quietly. Harry, who had just sat down, jumped up again. Ronald let out a breath that was much quieter than Ginevra had anticipated.

First she looked to Harry. He looked furious, but knew that chiding Hermione meant damning his own marriage, which had been consummated before the vows were exchanged. But Hermione's marriage was not one of love, and she could not, should not, have trusted Draco to honor it. Ronald, despite his track record, looked positively crushed.

"How could she…" his voice trailed into nothing. "There was so much…"

Harry glared at his wife for half a second before turning to his heartbroken best friend. "We don't know if that's true, do we Ginny?" He asked, his voice hard. Ginevra shook her head.

"She seemed pretty against it when we talked about it last night," she said.

"And why were you talking about it?" Harry asked, his arm around his friend. Ginevra widened her eyes and looked at Ron's tearstained face, unwilling to talk about something that would so much hurt her brother. Harry gave her a 'get on with it' look.

"Because it was obvious that she wanted to, and that he wanted to," Ginevra said with a sigh. "She asked me for advice."

Ronald's voice was soft. "And you told her to do it, didn't you?"

Ginevra didn't answer, but that was all the answer he needed.

"So she gave it up for Malfoy and now he doesn't want her," he said, his voice rising in volume.

"We don't know that," Ginevra protested.

"But she always does what you say anyway, doesn't she?" Ronald shouted back. "So why would she ignore your advice now?"

"I didn't do it," said Hermione's soft voice from the top of the stairs. "It isn't her fault."

Harry's voice was harder than steel. "So he's breaking the treaty for no reason. Rally the Order."

Ginevra looked horrified. Hermione slowly slid to the floor. Ronald looked hopeful.

"It looks like we're going back to war."