Chapter 10 – The Proposal
Some 45 minutes later Hermione rolled off Draco, both of them completely spent and both panting heavily.
"My God." Draco gasped.
"You can just call me Hermione, love." she grinned as she ran her fingers through her sweaty hair.
Draco turned over and popped his head on his arm to face her.
"So, tell me more about your business proposition." he said.
"Is this how it's going to be now? The second your balls are empty it's back to business?" Hermione said half-serious and turned to face him as well.
"Well, can you find some solace in knowing that when you're around my balls are always half full?" Draco smirked.
"Ready for another go then?" Hermione asked and raised a suggestive eyebrow.
"In a minute." Draco said.
Hermione let the cover fall exposing her naked breasts.
"Right, I'm ready." he said and lifted the blanket to roller over on top of her.
Another 20 minutes later Draco rolled off Hermione. Both of them, yet again completely spent and both panting heavily.
"Glad to know I've got this power over you." Hermione mocked and she snuggled up on Draco's side.
"And I'll bet it'll last for at least a year before the novelty wears off." Draco smirked and wrapped his arm around her.
Hermione slapped him across his chest.
"Right, probably three if we keep things interesting." Draco corrected.
"You're a horrible man, Malfoy." Hermione concluded.
"You knew that, and yet, this is the man you fell for." Draco said as he played with a lock of her hair.
"Yet, indeed it was." Hermione sighed. "Who could ever understand the logics of the heart?"
"All I need to know that this feels right. And I don't just mean shagging you, Granger. I mean having you as a business partner as well." Draco said.
"Well, are you ready to hear my proposition?" Hermione asked.
"I'm all ears." Draco said.
"Alright, so we expand by starting brewing potions. We keep growing magic plants. I checked; growing them like this is not outlawed. We'll then grow more plants attracting unicorns, as we'll use the hairs they leave all over the forest in potions. We'll make different kinds of potions, once that we sell to the Wizarding World and the kind we sell to the muggles. Now, the ones we sell to the muggles obviously can't contain unicorn hair. But it can contain muggle plants such as Plantago major, only harvested at maximum potency." Hermione said.
"You're bloody brilliant, you now that? Now we have a completely legal side to our business." Draco said and kissed her.
"Only catch is; we've got to tell Tom the whole truth." Hermione winched.
"That won't be a problem. He won't tell anyone." Draco said.
"I know he won't, that's not my concern. I'm concerned about us legally not being allowed to tell Tom what we are. And we should make sure to operate within our league rights as much as possible not to draw attention to the more shady parts." Hermione said.
"There are ways around that." Draco said and waved her off.
"Right, you're allowed, for example, to tell a muggle spouse that you're of magical decent." Hermione said.
"So you'll marry Tom, then?" Draco suggested.
"That wouldn't have been my primary suggestion." Hermione said.
"Even though you're not his type I'm sure he wouldn't mind. It's just on a piece of paper, right? And I could still have you all to myself." Draco said and started kissing trails down her neck.
"Right, it would just be on a piece of paper. But do you think the people in town would say Tom and I seem married should they be offered Veritaserum by the Ministry?" Hermione asked.
"Probably not. I don't know if you've noticed, but Tom is gay." Draco said, still kissing Hermione's neck.
"Right. That I did notice. That's why I think I shouldn't marry him." Hermione said.
"Hang on!" Draco jerked up from Hermione's chest that he'd just been kissing. "Are you suggesting I should marry Tom?"
"Like you said; it's just a piece of paper. And you could agree to have an open relationship. You know, so I could have you all to myself." Hermione smirked.
Draco rolled off Hermione, out of bed and pulled on a pair of slacks.
"Oh, so you're fine marrying me off to Tom, but when it's you it's not an option?" Hermione spat angrily as she sat up. "Aren't you the bloody king of hypocrisy?"
Draco stopped in the doorway and sighed deeply.
"Ever heard the expression better to have double standards than no standards?" he sneered.
Hermione slid out of the bed as well and put on one of Draco's lumber shirts that reached down to her thighs. She walked over to Draco and put a hand on his arm.
"You know, if we're going to make this business work we'll all have to make some sacrifices." she whispered and gave him a peck on the cheek.
They had spend the majority of the day arguing over which one of them should be the one making the sacrifice, as it were. They finally agreed on letting Tom decide. That's why at eight o'clock that same evening Draco, Hermione beside him, knocked on Tom's door.
"Draco and Hermione, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Tom asked cheerfully as he opened the door.
"May we come in, Tom? We've got something we'd like to get your opinion on." Hermione said and gave Tom a broad smile.
"If it's on whether or not you can pull off sporting Draco's lumber shirt the answer is yes, love." Tom grinned and winked at his guests.
Draco rolled his eyes at Tom and they walked into the house and sat down in Tom's sitting room.
"So what are we drinking then?" Tom asked and searched through his liquor cabinet. "Is rum alright?"
"Tom, bring out the whiskey, will you?" Draco asked.
"Why not rum?" Tom asked.
"Rum is for celebrating, whiskey is for business." Draco smirked.
"Right, do I hear a business proposition coming? I take it Hermione is now included in the circle of trust?" Tom asked as he poured them each a glass of whiskey.
"Well, she figured it out, sort of." Draco mumbled.
"And I have a suggestion for expansion of supply. And this includes making me an equal partner." Hermione said as she accepted the glass Tom handed her.
"This sounds interesting. I'm very interested to hear what this expansion entails." Tom said and sat down in the armchair opposite Draco and Hermione.
"And we want to tell you. But in order for us to do so there is something else you need to understand, and this includes what you've called my mysterious past. But in order for us to be legally allowed to tell you what you need to know…" Draco paused to clear his throat. "…erh, in order for us to be able to tell you, you'll have to marry one of us."
Tom's jaw dropped.
"I know what this sounds like, Tom. But trust us, this is a business arrangement, nothing else." Hermione said and watched Tom carefully as he seemed to have forgotten how one breathes.
"Right, we'll just give you a minute then, mate." Draco said and patted Tom on the knee.
"Um, so how will it work exactly? Does there have to be a wedding before you can tell me?" Tom finally asked.
"No, I think an engagement with an intention of marriage will be enough. But there will eventually have to be a wedding that will have to last for at least some years to make it plausible. The thing is, if some people found out the marriage is a mock both you, Draco and myself could suffer serious consequences." Hermione said.
"Hm, it's Draco now, is it?" Tom smirked. "You had sex, didn't you?"
Draco stared blankly at Tom and Hermione turned her attention to her drink.
"Might as well get it all out there." Draco shrugged. "Yes, we did. We had a lot of sex today and I intend to keep doing that regardless of how this business arrangement works out."
"Alright, I'm in. But this better be good." Tom sighed and drank a mouthful of his whiskey.
"Great! So, who do you wish to marry?" Hermione asked.
"Who are we supposedly persuading? The people in our lives or some authority?" Tom asked.
"If questions are asked it's a sort of government which will investigate us and be asking questions to people we interact with in our normal lives, family and friends." Draco said and sipped on his whiskey.
Tom let out a deep sigh.
"Draco." he then said.
"Smart choice, mate." Draco said and raised his glass in a toast.
"Great, let's make it official!" Hermione cooed and handed Draco something out of her pocket.
"Right. Granger, you're now our official Ministry witness." Draco said and stood up and walked over to Tom's chair where he got down on one knee.
"For fuck sake, Draco don't you dare!" Tom snapped when he understood what was happening.
"Thomas John Garret, will you marry me?" Draco asked as sincerely as he could possibly manage as he presented the two rings Hermione had handed him.
Tom rolled his eyes at both Draco and Hermione.
"Yes, Draco. Yes I will marry you." he muttered.
Draco placed one ring on Tom's finger and then the other on his own. As he stood up again he gave Tom a quick kiss.
"Oi!" Tom protested.
"Sorry, couldn't resist mate." Draco grinned as he resumed his seat in the armchair next to Hermione.
"I hope that's all the consummating there has to be in this relationship. I mean no offence, mate. You just not my type." Tom said and took another sip.
"Don't you dare say I'm not tall and handsome!" Draco sneered.
"Yeah, but look at your hair, it's got the same tone as your bloody skin. I like a man with some contrasts, you know, so I can tell where the hairline begins and the skin ends." Tom shrugged.
Draco gave Tom a sour look and Hermione fell over double laughing.
Once all parties had collected them selves and their drinks were refilled Draco and Hermione started telling Tom everything. Everything about Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, the War, Draco's sentence, Hermione's job at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the unicorns in the forest and how the magic plants currently growing in Draco's vegetable patch had drawn them there. When they finally had explained Hermione's business expansion idea Tom's head was spinning.
"Right, this is a lot to process. Hang on." he said and refilled their glasses again. "So you can do magic? I mean actual magic?" he turned to Hermione.
"Oi, I can do magic too, you know." Draco pointed out.
"Yeah, but you're not allowed to, right?" Tom smirked at Draco who answered by showing Tom a very rude hand gesture.
"Yes, I can do actual magic. Want me to show you?" Hermione smiled.
"Of course I want to see bloody magic!" Tom exclaimed.
Hermione smiled mischievously and pointed her wand at Draco's hair, which instantly became dark and untamed.
"Oi! Knock it off, Granger!" Draco shouted once he got a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the window.
"Now you're more my type." Tom smiled content.
"Change me back! I look like bloody Potter!" Draco growled.
"You've got a friend who looks like that? Can I meet him?" Tom asked eagerly.
Hermione chuckled and reinstated the original colour to Draco's hair.
"Hang on, you're marrying me. Remember?" Draco said, now calm as his hair was once again back to its characteristic white blond shade.
"You're obviously not going to be monogamous, why should I?" Tom complained.
"Oh, I plan to be, just not with you." Draco retorted.
"Alright, you're newly engaged but you're already sounding like an old married couple. We might have to work on that a bit." Hermione chuckled.