A/N - Sorry about the lack of update yesterday, but when I put the computer on to post the new chapter I couldn't get on the fanfiction site and that went on for over two hours until I eventually gave up and went to bed.
Thanks for all the reviews/faves/follows, I appreciate them all. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter and I hope it answers a few people's questions about why Hermione married Ron.
Chapter One.
Six Months Earlier.
Hermione awoke to the pleasant sensation of lips trailing over her bare skin. Opening her eyes, she smiled softly at the sight of her boyfriend trailing kisses down her stomach. Tangling her fingers in the soft blond strands of his hair, Hermione moaned quietly as he moved further south. At the sound of her moaning and the feel of her hands gripping his hair, her boyfriend looked up and Hermione found herself staring into the sparkling grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"You're awake." He said. "I was just about to wake you up in a more fun way."
"Don't let me stop you." Hermione grinned. "I may be awake, but I'll still appreciate the fun thing you're about to do."
Draco grinned back at Hermione, before returning to his previous actions. As usual Draco's oral skills soon had Hermione moaning and writhing around in ecstasy, with her orgasm arriving not long after. Their morning activities quickly led to full blown sex, which left both Hermione and Draco sated but tired. Collapsing back onto the bed, the couple settled in each other's arms as they made the most of their time together.
The relationship between Draco and Hermione was a partial secret, although they were getting ready to tell everyone now they were sure they were going to last. No-one close to Hermione knew about the relationship, whereas a couple of Draco's closest friends knew they were together. They both knew that some of the people closest to them wouldn't approve, but they loved each other and were getting sick of hiding. All the couple wanted to do was forget the past and make a fresh start together, they just hoped Hermione's friends and Draco's family would be on board and not turn against them.
"I have to be going." Draco sighed, looking at the clock on the bedside table. "Mother will be expecting me in an hour, and I need to shower and change first."
"I guess I should be getting on with some work." Hermione said, making no move to leave the comfort of Draco's arms. "I've brought a pile home to do over the weekend, and I haven't touched it so far."
"It's only Saturday." Draco pointed out. "The weekend's barely begun."
"Yeah, but today is my only real opportunity to do some. Tomorrow I'm due at The Burrow for lunch, and tonight I'm coming to yours. Unless of course you don't want to see me."
"After what I'm going to do today, I'll really need to see you." Draco said, placing a soft kiss to the top of Hermione's head. "I hate having to go to that place and see Mother getting herself so upset."
"I know." Hermione whispered, snuggling closer to Draco.
Draco was accompanying his mother to Azkaban, where they would visit his father, Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was serving a life sentence for his part in the war and Hermione knew that every visit reminded Draco of how easily he could have ended up joining his father in prison. After the war Draco had endured a trial like the rest of the Death Eaters, but his lawyers had fought hard for him and convinced the court he was just a scared boy, trying to protect his family. Instead of going to Azkaban, Draco was given community service and a ten year good behaviour bond. The bond meant that even a small infringement of any law resulted in the blond going to Azkaban, but that wasn't really an issue as Draco had changed and would never do anything to jeopardise his freedom.
After lying in bed for another ten minutes, Draco and Hermione finally had to get up. Hermione pulled on some jeans and a top, while Draco redressed in the clothes he had been wearing the previous night. Wandering into the front room of Hermione's flat the couple stopped beside the fire, where Hermione unlocked the floo network.
"I'll see you tonight." Draco said, leaning down and giving Hermione a deep kiss.
"I'm looking forward to it." Hermione smiled, as Draco prepared to leave.
After Draco had left Hermione made herself a cup of coffee and some toast before heading to her study, where she settled down to work for a few hours. Hermione worked in the Department of International Co-Operation at the Ministry of Magic and her job involved a lot of paperwork. On a brighter side her job also involved a lot of travelling, which was how she ended up getting involved with Draco.
Hermione had been working in Italy when she had re-met her former classmate, Blaise Zabini. Blaise owned the company the Ministry was trying to set up a deal with and he agreed to talk to Hermione if she had dinner with him. As it turned out dinner was a group affair, which just so happened to include Blaise's best friend, Draco. Blaise had seated the pair next to each other and Hermione was surprised to find she hit it off with the blond Slytherin.
After getting along so well Draco had asked to see her again and things had progressed from there. Initially they had kept their relationship quiet because they knew her friends and his family wouldn't approve and they didn't think it was worth causing trouble unless they were serious about one another. Now they knew they were serious and for the last few weeks they had been discussing telling people about their relationship.
Hermione worked solidly for a couple of hours, before a knock on the front door disturbed her. Packing her work away, Hermione left the study and headed to answer the door. She wasn't expecting anyone but when she opened the door and found Ron standing there she was pretty surprised. Her two best friends, Harry and Ron, often popped round unexpectedly to see her as they were all so busy they didn't have a great deal of time to socialise. However, Ron's appearance was surprising considering Hermione was due to have lunch at his family's home the following day.
"Ron, I didn't expect to see you today." Hermione said, stepping aside and letting her friend enter the flat. "You do know I'm coming to The Burrow tomorrow, don't you?"
"Yes, I know." Ron nodded. "But I want to talk to you in private."
"Okay, come in." Hermione said, leading the way into the front room. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No." Ron replied, settling himself on the sofa. "Sit down, Hermione."
"This is sounding serious." Hermione said, sitting down on the chair opposite her friend.
"It is." Ron replied. "I'm here to discuss your relationship with Draco Malfoy."
Hermione gasped and looked at Ron in surprise. "How do you know?"
"That doesn't matter, the important thing is that I know." Ron replied.
"I was going to tell you." Hermione said, feeling guilty that she had been caught out rather than being upfront with her friends. "In fact I was going to tell everyone soon."
"You won't be telling anyone anything about Malfoy." Ron stated. "He's going to be our little secret."
"But we're not planning on keeping quiet much longer." Hermione argued. "We're telling everyone, and moving in together."
"No, you're not." Ron shook his head. "You're going to do exactly as I say, unless you want him to go straight to Azkaban where he belongs."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione stared at Ron, not sure what was going on.
"It's simple really, you do what I say and lover boy doesn't go to prison. If you don't agree to my terms then I have some pretty compelling evidence that will send Malfoy down for a long time."
"This is making no sense, Ron." Hermione said, still not understanding what her friend was talking about. "Draco hasn't done anything wrong, you can't have evidence against him."
"Who's going to believe a former Death Eater over an Auror, especially an Auror who's best friends with Harry Potter and helped defeat Voldemort." Ron replied, grinning evilly. "At home I've got a file load of evidence that proves that Malfoy's been dealing in dark artefacts and several of his business dealings are fronts for dealing in dark magic."
"You're setting him up, why?" Hermione glared at Ron, hardly able to believe her best friend could stoop so low.
"He has something that belongs to me." Ron answered. "You."
"I've told you before Ron, I'm not interested. We tried a relationship before, it doesn't work." Hermione said, annoyed that Ron's former feelings seemed to have resurfaced.
Directly after the war Hermione and Ron had embarked on a short lived relationship. Almost immediately Hermione realised they simply weren't suited as a couple and after a few disastrous months, where all they did was fight, she ended the relationship. Ron had been bitter at the time but he'd come around and eventually they had returned to their previous friendship and she had assumed his feelings were long gone.
"It didn't work, because you didn't give us a chance." Ron retorted bitterly. "But this time we're getting our chance."
"There is no we." Hermione shouted, getting annoyed with Ron. "You and I are over, I'm with Draco. I love Draco, not you."
"I know you love him, that's why you'll agree to my deal." Ron smirked.
"What deal?"
"The deal that's going to keep Malfoy out of Azkaban." Ron replied. "You're going to marry me, or I'll produce all of my information and send Malfoy to prison."
"You can't be serious." Hermione murmured, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Deadly."
"It won't work, you can't frame Draco like that. He'll be able to prove you're lying."
Ron laughed at Hermione's arguments. "As I said before, who's going to believe him over me? He's on a good behaviour bond, one whiff of trouble and he goes straight to Azkaban. True he might be able to fight the charges, but it will take a long time. This isn't a spur of the moment decision Hermione, I've been gathering information for months."
"You bastard." Hermione spat, recognising that Ron was serious and everything he was saying was true. Fake evidence or not, just the mention of dark magic would be enough to send Draco to Azkaban and with his track record no-one would give him a chance to prove he was being set-up.
"So do we have a deal?" Ron asked, ignoring Hermione's slur.
"No, we do not have a deal." Hermione snarled. "I want you to leave and never return."
"I'll give you a week." Ron said as he stood up. "You've got until this time next week to come and accept my offer. Either you agree to marry me, or Malfoy ends up in Azkaban. It's your choice. And just so you know, if either of you try and run I hand over the information."
"Get out." Hermione repeated, glaring at Ron and for the first time in her life hating the sight of the red-haired git.
"See you tomorrow, Hermione." Ron grinned at Hermione as though nothing was wrong before turning and leaving the flat.
Hermione remained frozen in her seat, wondering if she had just imagined the whole thing. It was hard to believe her best friend had just sat in her front room and openly blackmailed her. Unfortunately for Hermione the entire thing had just happened and she knew Ron well enough to know he wasn't bluffing. If she wanted to save Draco from going to Azkaban, she would have to marry Ron.