The Wizarding World was ripe with rumors spreading about Draco's newest conquest after the column by Rita Skeeter. Even Draco could feel the effects all the way within the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. But he was mum about his private life.
Mr. Lucius Malfoy on the other hand, had no answer for all the conjecture. 'Who was his son seeing?' he thought. 'No Pure-blood British families were claiming their daughter to be the one who had won the Malfoy heir's heart. Could it possibly be a foreigner to have captured his eye? He would have to ask the boy; that confounded boy. What kind of Malfoy would take up such a lowly profession? The end of the academic year will soon be at hand and he would finally come to his senses.'
o-o-o
Draco had rolled his eyes after Neville showed him the article during Sunday dinner. The young staff members had a laugh.
Ginny looked at the article. "Well, your parents will have a field day with that," she said.
"So, Draco," Greg said, "You gonna tell us who you're with or not?"
Ginny took a sip of her pumpkin juice, averting Neville's eyes. Draco smiled. He looked at Greg and shrugged.
After dinner, he penned an owl to his parents. He wanted to have dinner with them that Saturday. He hadn't spoken with them since the winter holidays. He tactfully mentioned he'd like it to be a family dinner, no special guests that his parents would have wanted him to get to know.
o-o-o
12 March, Saturday, 2030 GMT
The head chef elf had made steak and lobster for the dinner. The family had made small talk at the dinner table for the most part of it.
"So what should we make of the rumors flying about regarding your significant others?" the older platinum blonde asked his son pointblank as he took a sip from his wine glass.
"That would deem me some sort of playboy heir if all those rumors were true," Draco answered as he, too, took a sip of his wine.
"If we shall assume that there is a lone witch for you, then which British Pure-blood family should we be welcoming into our folds, Draco," Lucius Malfoy asked as the house elves began to bus the table.
Draco nodded at the house elf, silently thanking him for his service. Narcissa Malfoy hid a smile.
"Father," Draco said, "Rita Skeeter is going to speculate about whatever she wants to. I don't think my love life is that interesting."
"Well half of the Wizarding World does, Son," Mr. Malfoy said standing up.
The three made their way to the downstairs library. Mrs. Malfoy sat on one of the couches. Her husband joined her. Draco stood in front of a shelf that housed some leather bound books.
"So, do tell," his father pressed.
Draco took in a breath. He looked at the both of them before he started. "She's not from a wealthy family. She lost her parents several years back. But she's done right by herself," he smiled as he thought of the Muggle-born witch. "She's smart, funny and beautiful."
"Is she foreign?" Mrs. Malfoy asked.
He shook his head. "She's English," Draco said.
"Yet she has been able to escape the meddlesome journalist," Mr. Malfoy said.
"Maybe she hasn't been looking in the right places?" Draco said as the older Malfoy narrowed his eyes at him.
"Where is the right place then?" Mr. Malfoy asked icily.
Draco smiled. "London," he said, looking directly at his father.
Mr. Malfoy threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Do we know this witch of yours?" he asked.
"You've met on several occasions," Draco said.
"You're being very cryptic, Draco. Give us a straight answer," Mr. Malfoy practically shouted. "Who?"
"Hermione Granger," Draco finally said
Mrs. Malfoy gasped. Mr. Malfoy's facial expressions ran the gamut.
"Are you kidding, Draco?" the older wizard said haughtily.
"Since when?" Mrs. Malfoy asked, actually smiling.
"Last May, Mum," Draco answered.
"This is rubbish," Mr. Malfoy said, slamming his hand on the end table as he stood up. The lamp shook. "You and a Mudblood!"
"Don't call her that," Draco said, taking a step toward his father.
Mrs. Malfoy stood up as well, ready to step between them.
"She's the one that probably gave you the idea about teaching at that damned school!"
"She suggested I follow my heart," Draco said. "Taking the position was my decision alone."
"She is a filthy Muggle-born, Draco. I forbid you to carry on this relationship!"
"Forbid me?" Draco said, looking at him in disbelief. "I'm twenty-eight years old, Father. I think I can choose my own mates thank you."
"I will disown you," his father said coolly.
"Lucius," Narcissa Malfoy scolded her husband.
Draco took in a breath and then slowly exhaled. "You'll do what you have to do, Father," Draco said as he walked out of the library and straight to the foyer where the fireplace to floo was located.
At the fireplace, he sprinkled some floo powder onto the flames, which turned green. He didn't realize someone was following him.
"Draco," Mrs. Malfoy stood behind him as he stood. He felt her bring him into an embrace. She gulped looking into his face. "You have to give your father a break. The news came to him quite surprisingly."
"You weren't as shocked to the news, Mum," Draco said.
"I must admit, Draco. I don't think I could've imagined you and Ms. Granger ever being cordial to each other given your history," his mother said. She ran a hand over his cheek. "I trust that you know what your doing, Son.
"Your father is right, though," she said, shrugging. "People will talk."
"I don't care, Mum. She makes me believe that there's so much more to our world than the divisions of blood status," he said. "She's made me realize that there's not much difference between Pure-bloods, Half-bloods and Muggle-borns; we all bleed the same red."
Mrs. Malfoy smiled. She pulled his face down. She kissed his forehead. She looked at him and nodded.
Draco gave her a hug. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'd better get back to Hogwarts."
She nodded at him as he walked into the fireplace. He dropped the floo powder and vanished. She blew out a breath. 'Now to go tend to Lucius,' she thought.
o-o-o
Draco tried to forget what had happened at the dinner at Malfoy Manor. His father was unbearable, but Draco should have expected his reaction. 'How would they have reacted if he told them about Drew?' he thought to himself. He pushed that thought out of his mind. He kept himself busy with Hogwarts' business.
Along with keeping up with his instructor duties, he found himself in Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing for much of his off-time. He spoke with both Ginny and the old veteran mediwitch regarding cancer and the latest research on it.
There he again read up on the Spanish doctor and his oncology background. 'What he would give to be able to pick this Muggle's brain,' he thought to himself.
"Ah, Draco, here you are," his former Transfiguration teacher surprised him.
He stood up quickly from the desk in Madame Pomfrey's small medical library. The Headmistress smiled.
"Pomona is taking her fifth year Herbology students to Spain for a daytrip tomorrow," Professor McGonagall said as she leafed through the book through which the young Potions professor was flipping. "She needs another chaperone; Neville is already accompanying her. Would you be open to going along?"
The synapses in his brain were firing. He grinned. He nodded at her. "Yeah, I'll give it a go. I'll have to ask Professor Snape to cover my classes tomorrow."
"I've already spoken with him," the witch said. "He actually recommended you. I concur."
"Thanks, Professor," he said.
o-o-o
15 March, Tuesday, 2230 CET
Draco had used the down time during the lunch hour to enter the Muggle World, scouting the little private practice in the Madrid office building. The doctor was a balding, older, thin gentleman; about a good twenty centimeters shorter than he was. He followed the man home during the allotted lunch/ siesta time.
Draco had accompanied Professors Sprout and Longbottom back to Hogwarts with the tired bunch of Fifth Years. It was a very successful daytrip.
After dinner, Draco retired to his room in the dungeons, looking over work that the students were issued today during his excursion. He looked at his pocket watch, 10:30 p.m. 'That would make it 11:30 p.m. in Madrid,' he thought to himself.
He stood up and paced for a moment. He grabbed his coat and exited his room. He headed for the main foyer outside of the Great Hall where he would be able to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron.
There he took a breath. He looked at the floo network connected fireplaces; several for local travel and a bank of five for international travel. They had used all five that morning. He entered one of them and said the name of the travel point in Madrid, Café Olla.
The streets of Madrid were bustling, even at 11:30 p.m. local time. He took a breath as he walked down the Muggle street. He would travel by foot, not wanting to apparate to the doctor's home. When he arrived fifteen minutes later at the apartment building, he hoped that the older gentleman didn't enjoy the nightlife.
'Here goes nothing,' the platinum blonde said as he knocked on the door of the doctor's apartment. He waited patiently.
The door opened as the shorter older man, still in his khakis and dress shirt, answered it. Just returning from the usual late dinner, his tie loosened, he canted his head at the taller younger man. "¿En qué puedo servirle?" Doctor Mago asked.
Draco anticipated this. He had "borrowed" a Spanish/ English dictionary from Professor Serhumano's resource books and enchanted it so that he would be able to understand as well as speak the language adequately.
"Uh, Doctor Mago," Draco said, sticking his hand out. "Yo me llamo Draco Malfoy. Soy profesor de … química en Inglaterra."
The doctor looked at the young man. He smiled. "So what can I do for you at this late hour, Draco?" the doctor spoke in English with his Spanish accent, putting the younger man at ease.
Draco smiled. "I've been reading some of your articles regarding cancer treatments."
"Pase," the doctor said, waving Draco into the apartment.
o-o-o
Draco had told the doctor of what he understood of his article in the latest medical journals. When he finished, Dr. Mago nodded his head and discussed the nuances of the experimental drug with the enthusiastic young man.
"Cancer is a very tricky disease, Señor," the older man finally said as he rubbed his head. "So what is your interest in all of this?"
"I know someone," Draco began. "She was diagnosed ten years ago."
"That's a long time to live with cancer. How is she?"
Draco was silent for a moment. He gulped. "Hermione's fine now. Her cancer has been hard to pinpoint; it's always fluctuating.
"Her last prognosis was last July," Draco said, "They gave her six months. She went for her monthly in January and the cancer cell growth decreased. They gave Hermione another six months to a year."
"I see," Dr. Mago nodded.
"I'd like you to come see her," Draco said, looking straight at the older man.
Dr. Mago raised an eyebrow. "Alright," he said. "Which Madrid hospital is Hermione in? I can probably check on her tomorrow."
"I'd like for you to see her tonight," Draco said, nonchalantly pulling out his wand as the doctor stood up.
"Mr. Malfoy, be reasonable, here," Dr. Mago said, scoffing at the idea as Draco stood up.
The older doctor flinched as Draco grabbed onto his arm. Draco waved his wand and they side-along apparated.
Dr. Mago's legs wobbled as they touched down on the wooden floor of the Wizarding Spanish café. Draco walked the both of them into one of the international travel fireplaces where he called out the name of the Wizarding British pub.
Dr. Mago looked around at his surroundings. The old pub was quite dark. Draco walked him into a local travel fireplace and quickly said the address of the one-story Muggle home.
o-o-o
15 March, Tuesday, 2300 GMT
Dr. Mago fell to his knees as they walked into the Muggle home. Hermione was just exiting the nursery when she spotted Draco and the older gentleman walk out of the fireplace.
Hermione rushed to the older man's side, grabbing his upper arm. She looked back and forth between Draco and the fallen man. "Are you alright, Sir?" the Muggle-born witch asked as she helped him up.
"Where am I?" the doctor asked quite confused.
"You're in London, England," Hermione said, checking the man out for injuries.
"Dr. Mago, help her," Draco said, sternly, pointing his wand at him.
"Draco," she said loudly, standing in between the older man and the blonde wizard. She looked at her boyfriend, breathing hard. He screwed up his face, turned around, and walked into Drew's nursery in a huff. Hermione's hands were shaking as she turned to the balding doctor.
She walked him to one of the couches in front of the coffee table. She couldn't speak for a moment. She looked at the older man. "I'm so sorry about this, Dr. Mago," she gulped. "Please forgive him."
The doctor took Hermione's hands into his and gave her a toothless smile. "It's alright, Hermione, isn't it?" he said looking at the woman whom the young man had been describing in Spain. "I'm very sorry about your condition. Cancer is a very serious and complicated disease. It's good that you have someone who's very concerned about you.
"I won't say a word about how I got here. I've encountered many a strange folk before, Hermione," he said squeezing her hand for reassurance. "Your husband sure cares about you."
"Draco and I," she shut her eyes, tears started to stream down her cheeks. She looked up at the Muggle doctor, "We're not married."
Dr. Mago smiled at her again nodding. "Things will work out."
"I'll go get my checkbook," Hermione said, standing up.
"I'll find my way home, Hermione," Dr. Mago said, standing up as well.
"Dr. Mago," she said, looking at the man. He nodded.
"I just need a way to London Heathrow, that's all."
"Are you sure?" she asked, slightly surprised.
He nodded. Hermione shrugged as she flipped through the phonebook. She looked up the number for the London Taxi Company and dialed it. She looked again at Dr. Mago who just nodded. She gulped as she waited for someone to pick up.
o-o-o
The wait time for the cab was only ten minutes. Hermione waited with Dr. Mago outside on the short porch. Dr. Mago patted her shoulder before heading to the cab. Hermione looked upwards for a moment. She wiped her cheeks before reentering the house.
She walked into the nursery, seeing Draco standing next to Drew's crib, just watching her sleep. She joined him by his side. He turned to her, gulping, his eyes wet with tears.
"You are so lucky Dr. Mago wouldn't press charges," she said, in a harsh whisper, not wanting to wake up Drew.
He took a gentle hold of her hands. He looked into her face, "Marry me."
Hermione flinched, surprised at his request. She looked at him, her tears sliding down her cheeks. She shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said as she pulled her hands out of his. She exited the room.
Draco was in shock. He looked at the doorway. He took in a deep breath, trying to figure out what had just happened.
He walked to their bedroom. He knocked on the door. She didn't respond. He pulled his wand out and concentrated.
"That isn't fair, Draco," she said standing in front of the bed as she heard a pop, her back to him.
"Magic, Hermione," he said as he gently took hold of her wrist, turning her to face him.
He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Do you love me?" he asked.
"Draco," she said, looking into his eyes.
"Hermione, this isn't a difficult question," Draco said.
She gulped. "I love you," she said.
"Not enough to marry me?" he said letting her go.
"I love you enough to not allow you to marry me," she said.
"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" he asked, a look of frustration crossing his face. "Hermione?"
She turned away from him. He pushed his hands up in the air exasperatedly. She turned back to him.
"I don't want to be your biggest regret, Draco," she said, gulping.
Draco's eyes grew large. He couldn't breathe for a moment. He grabbed her upper arms gently. "Why would you think that?" he asked looking for answers in her eyes.
"Draco, you deserve someone who'll be there for you," she gulped, "Someone who your parents won't be ashamed of; someone better than me."
"Better than you?" he asked, his breath caught in his chest.
"Why would you want to marry a corpse, Draco?" she cried.
He kissed her, surprising her before she finally gave into the kiss. When they broke the kiss, they looked into each other's eyes, synchronizing their breaths.
Draco went to one knee. Hermione's legs wobbled. She sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Say, 'no,' because you think we would be wrong together," he said, breathing deeply, "Say, 'no,' because you don't love me.
"Don't say, 'no,' because you're scared of what my parents think, or that you have some foolish thought that you're not good enough for me. Hermione Jean Granger," he said, pulling out a red, velvet covered jewelry box. Hermione gulped. He held onto her left hand. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Draco, no," she said shaking her head, knowing that was an irrational notion.
"So that means you'll just have to live forever," he said as he pulled out the three-carat diamond ring. She laughed, as tears rolled down her cheeks. He held up the ring, "Marry me."
"I love you, Draco," she said. She nodded her head. "I'll marry you."
Draco's jaw fell, in surprise. His hand shook as he placed the engagement ring onto her ring finger. She looked into his eyes as he stood up. 'I love you,' she mouthed.
Draco interlaced his hands with hers as he kissed her on the mouth. She laid back onto the mattress, kissing him back. When they finally came up for air, Draco smiled down at her.
"I'm crushing you, aren't I?" he asked.
"I'm alright," she said, smiling up at him.
He moved off her and lay down next to her. He watched her look at the diamond ring again. "It's beautiful, Draco."
"It's been burning a hole in my pocket since Valentine's Day," he said, smiling.
She leaned into his chest. She took in a deep breath. "You really want to do this?" she asked, looking up at him.
"I love you," Draco said, running his finger over her jaw line. "Merlin, I just want to stay here for the night."
She smiled. "You're supposed to be doing rounds in another ten minutes, Draco," she said as she sat up.
He sat up as well. He took her hand into his. "That should be enough time to get married, right?"
"Draco, one step at a time," Hermione said as he gulped. "I want to be able to tell Harry, Ginny and the Weasleys; they're the closest thing to family for me.
"And you should tell your parents, too," she said.
Draco sighed. "What would it matter?"
"They're your parents, Draco. You love them," she said, touching his face. "It doesn't matter what they think of me. They have a right to know that their son is going to do something life-changing."
"What if I don't want to invite them to the wedding?" he said.
She laughed. She looked up at him.
"So what you're saying is the lone hang-up to us going forward is me inviting my parents to the wedding," he asked, smiling, giving her a look that said, 'nothing good could possibly come of this.'
She shrugged. He kissed her on the cheek before standing. He held onto her hands, squeezing them.
"I'll be back on Friday evening," Draco said. "I'll tell Ginny, you can tell Harry and the Weasleys?"
Hermione nodded. "We're getting married," she said as he watched her nod. He took her hand and walked with her out of the bedroom to the fireplace where he would floo back to Hogwarts.
18