The Proposal

[Lissandra Sylvania]

Ok, ma panen siis siia uue Fic´i teile lugemiseks ja loodetavasi meeldib see teile sama palju kui eelmine. See on poole lühem võrreldes "Draco: Phoenix Rising" fictioniga. Sellel lool on 28 peatükki kõigest. Kui keegi on huvitatud, kes on loo autor siis selleks on tüdruk nimega Dia.
Aga nüüd detailid loo kohta ja jutustuse kokkuvõte ehk siis summary:

Chapters: 28
Characters: Harry, Hermione, Molly, Draco, Ginny, OC
Genre(s): Drama, General, Romance
Era: Post-Hogwarts
Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Draco/OC, Hermione/OC

Summary:

One day Draco appears out of the blue. He proposes to her, but she can't figure out if he does it just for the money he says he'll inherit if he marries a muggle.
And even if that's the case, is that reason enough for her to accept his proposal?[/i]

Aga nüüd siis esimene peatükk, enjoy !

---

Chapter 1

It had been another of those days. One of those days, where she had been working overtime at her job at the Ministry of Magic trying to climb up the career latter but not seeming to get anywhere. One of those days where she had been trying to get her boss Amanda Wickly to remember her name and another one of those days where she hadn’t gotten anywhere at all.


This wasn’t what she had expected working for the Ministry to be like when she first applied for the job just after graduating from Hogwarts as Head Girl and top student of the year. In the real world it didn’t matter that she had gotten the good grades, all the real world cared about was how much money one had. And she didn’t have much.


So now she was sitting in her usual coffee shop with her usual cup of tea in her usual gloomy mood after work a cold Tuesday afternoon in January.


“Will you marry me?” a voice suddenly said behind her and she turned around to see who was talking. Draco Malfoy was standing right behind her and clearly asking her.


“WHAT?!” was her only response.


“You heard me, will you marry me?” Malfoy asked again and slower this time like she was too dumb to understand a normal question.


Normally she was very bright, but for every galleon in the world she couldn’t understand why Draco Malfoy her long time enemy was standing behind her in the half filled Mary’s Coffee shop asking her to marry him when she hadn’t seen him the almost seven years that had passed since they left Hogwarts.


“Why?” she couldn’t help but ask. He wasn’t the marrying type, and definitively not the type to marry a mudblood as he used to call her. And they hadn’t seen or talked to each other in seven years.

His grey eyes narrowed as he sat down beside her.


“I need a mistress at Malfoy Manor,” he simply said, sounding very business like, “So? Will you marry me?” he asked again.


“NO!” she cried in horror making some of the other customers stare at the young couple.


He smirked.


“I though you would say so.”


If eyes could kill he would have dropped dead, but unfortunately for her, they didn’t and he remained alive.


“But before you turn down my offer; I want you to know what you are saying no to,” he continued. She couldn’t believe his nerve, first he asked her to marry him and now he wouldn’t understand that she was declining.


“First off all,” he said just as she opened her mouth to ask him to leave, “I have a Manor, a quite large Manor.”


She had never seen Malfoy Manor, but often heard of it. It was said to be one of the most expensive and large Manors in Great Britain with over thirty rooms, including a ballroom, it was three stories high, and attached to the manor lay a forest and a large lake. It was said that the Malfoys owned the land in a fifteen-mile radii of the manor itself, so it was quite a grand affair.

But to him she pretended she didn’t know this.


“Yes I’m sure your little shack is lovely, but hardly a reason to make me marry you.”


“Well good thing I wasn’t finished then,” he smirked and made her really want to hit him.


“Also by marrying me you’ll get the very prestigious Malfoy name, which will get you in everywhere and provide you with enormous power without ever having to lift as much as a finger.”


That was right she knew, ever since they were first years Malfoy had been able to manipulate everyone just by saying his name or maybe mentioning his fathers, then all obstacles were out of the way, he could do whatever he wanted because of that name. That name was pure power. She tried to focus on the fact that the name also was an equal to one of the most evil wizard families in the history of magic, a family who didn’t need to think about other people and who didn’t care about them anyway, they had had enough in themselves and their fancy friends with whom they shared no real bond other than their blood and their money. She didn’t want to be associated with that lot.


“Like I would want a name that reeks of blood and evil.”


He looked around in the shop, which was only halfway filled and then looked back at her.


“Some say evil, others say powerful,” came the solemn reply.


“Oh, stop trying to be poetic, I’ve known you since you were eleven and you aren’t exactly a nice acquaintance.”


He just smirked and ignored her insult.


“Then there is the money,” he continued to list the benefits of marriage, “The Malfoy family is worth approximately seventy million galleons, and for a girl who gets two galleons per hour, that’s a lot of money.”


She was almost fuming, how did he know what her salary was? And why was he trying so hard to convince her to marry him by listing all his assets?


“I don’t need your money,” she said coldly and tried to act tuff even though she knew what she could do with all that money. First there was the loan she had put up to pay for her apartment and the Weasley family who deserved the money more than anyone in the whole world for they had always been the sweetest, warmest family and they didn’t care about your blood. There was so much she could do with seventy million galleons and so many people she could help to get a better life.


“Oh I think you do,” Malfoy said, “after all you are still paying back on that loan on your apartment.”


Again she felt the urge to smack him in the middle of his pretty features. How dared he come tempt her with money, power and a marriage she knew would never work out? They were too different and all the money in the world couldn’t change the fact that he was a Malfoy and she was a muggleborn.


“I need more than just money to go into matrimony with you,” she said and stared into her almost empty teacup.


“I know that,” he said and was quiet for a bit waiting for her to say something. She shifted her stare from the teacup to the window. On the street people hurried by on their way home from work not noticing her or Draco sitting just on the other side of the glass separating them from the rest of the world.


“What more do I get if marrying you?” she finally asked sounding defeated. He cleared his throat.


“The most well equipped library in Britain.”


She looked up in surprise. Never had she pictured Malfoy as the kind of person who read. But if he wasn’t he wouldn’t have a good library and she was somehow completely sure he was telling the truth. Before her eyes she saw a grand library with shelves from floor to ceiling with ancient books on mystic languages, small and large in all the colours of the world. All that wisdom she always wanted to tap into but didn’t have to chance to see because many of the most powerful books were in private hands and not to be seen if not a close friend of the family owning them.


It was easy for him to lure her in with his books it was common knowledge that she loved books more than anything.


Why was he so clever?


“And?” she asked letting him know she expected another reason.


“What more can you possibly ask for?” he asked frustrated.


“Love? Closeness? Safety?” she answered in a low voice. He was right; it seemed almost greedy to ask for more than what he had already offered her. But the emotions were missing.


“Malfoys don’t love. Closeness disappears in time anyway and no-one are ever really safe,” he blurted.


“Malfoys must learn to love if Malfoys wants to marry Grangers,” she quietly said turning away from him intensity burning in her brown eyes.


“What if Malfoys promised to learn to care about Grangers, would Grangers then marry Malfoys?”


She turned to him again and looked him in the eyes trying to figure out if he meant it seriously.


“I don’t know.”


The silence came back and spread between them, the muffled conversations
from the other tables suddenly sounding much louder. She played with a lock of her hair thinking hard. He sat patiently waiting.


“What’s in it for you anyway?” she finally asked voicing the real issue, “What do you get from marrying me?”


He didn’t seemed to be surprised that she asked him that, and she was pleased he didn’t, at least he hadn’t underestimated her.


“What’s in it for me...” he repeated the question as if he was thinking about whether it was wise to tell her or not.


“If I marry you I’ll first off all get a lady of Malfoy Manor and avoid all questions about why I haven’t married yet.”


That made sense but she knew it couldn’t be the only reason, if he just wanted a wife he could have stopped some random person on the streets, many would be easy to persuade into matrimony with the view of being multi millionaire.


“Secondly I would get a wife with a mind of her own and not some snotty little spoiled princess who hasn’t got a sensible thought in her little ugly head.”

She was impressed, he wanted someone opinionated and strong, not a Pansy Parkinson, the girl he always hung out with back in school.


“So very noble of you,” she remarked, “now tell me the real reason.”


He looked angrily at her, but answered her question: “I’ll inherit about thirteen million galleons from a second cousin, but only if I marry a muggleborn. That crazy bastard has a cruel sense of humour, making me do this.”


She laughed hearing this, and she also felt a bit surprised that he had referred to her as a muggleborn and not a mudblood as he used to call her back in school.


“You’re supposed to marry a muggleborn and you went to me....”


“How many other muggleborns worthy of me do you think I know?” he said sarcastically.

She was surprised that he though her worthy of him, but still she wasn’t sure that was basis enough to marry him, on the other hand it was not like she had a boyfriends or anything. She had been single ever since she broke with Ron just before the three of them defeated Voldemort. After that she hadn’t had the extra space in her head that needed be there to have a real relationship. Besides that she simply worked too much.


“Are you even sure about what you are getting yourself into? Marriage isn’t just piece of cake,” Hermione said but he shook his head.


“I though about that before asking. I’m not dumb enough just to jump into matrimony without thinking first.”


The whole situation hit her as completely and utterly absurd. She laughed hysterically at him and at herself for even considering marrying the ferret. And she was considering it even though she knew her friends might not.... Okay probably would not understand her reasons, but she found it very difficult to resist the urge just to say yes.


She put her hand to her forehead.


“Malfoy I have to think about this before answering. Sorry.”


He nodded. He couldn’t expect her to just drop everything and run away to marry the worst enemy of her schooldays.

She got up and gathered her things. Then she stood for a moment looking at the man who had just proposed to her.


He looked at her and took something from his pocket.


“Here,” he gave her the little jewellery box which she knew contained an engagement ring.


“Take this, and if I see you here tomorrow wearing it I know it’s a yes, if not, it’ll find it’s way back to me.” She nodded, accepted the box and left the shop with a lot on her mind.

---

[/color]

Esimene petükk on nüüd läbi. Järgmises peatükis saame teada, kellega Hermione oma otsust arutab ja mida ta lõpuks siis otsustab - kas ta võtab ettepaneku vastu või lükkab selle tagasi. Andke siis teada oma arvamus, mida te sellest jutustusest arvate!

[Lana Marye Allen]

See ettepanek oli küll üllatus..hehehee...summary järgi vist võib arvata et ta võtab vastu, aga ei tea veel midagi... et teada saada siis uut ptk palun!

[Lissandra Sylvania]

Chapter 2

Her apartment was quiet when she entered but after living alone for seven years it didn’t bother her any longer, she was used to the silence.


In the small living room Mimpfy, her grey-striped cat sat on the windowsill looking out over the streets of London. The weather was bad as usual, it was foggy and sometimes the rain poured down all day. Most days she couldn’t even see the building cross the street, it was one of those days. She put out the food-bowl for Mimpfy and filled fresh water in.


But her heart wasn’t in it. All she could do was to think of Draco’s proposal. It had so many benefits and very little downs. With a name like Malfoy she wouldn’t have to work a slave job for her annoying boss Amanda or live in a tiny apartment that cost her almost two thirds of her monthly salary. She would be free to do whatever she wanted. Live the life she always wanted and be the witch she always wanted to be.

Quietly she strode back and forth in the narrow hallway leading from the kitchen to the bedroom. Back and forth. She needed to make this decision, he wanted an answer by tomorrow and it was only fair that she would have one by then.


She stopped midway in the hall and turned to look at the photos on the wall. Photos of her along with Harry and Ron at Hogwarts, at the Burrow and other places smiling. Would they understand? Could she ask them for advice?

She decided that she had to if they simply couldn’t accept it then she would turn down Draco’s proposal.


Glad that she finally had made some kind of decision she headed to the living room where her fireplace would take her to Harry’s apartment.




He was sitting on the couch with his legs up reading a book when she arrived, but closed it and stood up to greet her as she stepped into his living room.


“Hi Harry,” she smiled and he smiled back and offered her to take a seat.

She seated herself in the comfy chair by the fire facing the green velvet couch where Harry sat down again. His apartment looked a little messy, there were books lying in piles on the floor and papers spread all over the couch, but she knew he worked a lot to on his auror training and all that so he probably didn’t have the time to clean that often.


“So,” he said, “What brings you here?”


It didn’t surprise her that he had sensed she was there for a reason. She closed her eyes for a second trying to calm herself. Explaining was more difficult than she had thought.


“I wanted your advice on something.”


He sent her a questioning glance she usually made all decisions herself.


“Okay,” he said and muffled his hair just like everyone had said his father James used to do.


“I have been proposed to,” she admitted and he looked at her with wide eyes.


“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”


“I don’t. And it came completely out of the blue, but it’s has a lot of advantages and I’m seriously considering to say yes,” she explained.

He didn't answer right away chewing the end of his pencil thoughtfully


“If I marry this guy I will have part in a fortune of about seventy million galleons plus a Manor and a good name.”


Harry looked even more surprised.


“Who is this guy?!” he asked.


Hermione went quiet; this was the most difficult part.


“Draco Malfoy,” she whispered.


“Could you repeat that?” Harry asked, “I thought I just heard you say that Malfoy asked you to marry him” he grinned. She looked down and his smile faded.


“He did.”


“WHAT! WHY!?” he started pacing up and down the floor, looking confused and not noticing that he was stepping on some of his notes that had fallen of the couch as he got up from it.


“Because he will inherit a lot of money if he marries a mudblood and I was the only one he found worthy.” He stopped and turned to her.


“And now you are asking me for advice?”


She nodded. He sat down on the armrest of her chair.


“I can’t make the decision for you. Marry Malfoy if you want, I trust you can take care of yourself.”


That was an extremely mature answer that she actually hadn’t expected to get from him. She had expected the confusion and the surprise but not this. Not the sudden sensibility. She had expected him to advice her to decline.

She smiled at him; “Thanks Harry”.

He smiled back: “For what?”


“For not telling me that I’m completely insane and should be taken to Sct. Mungos immediately.”




Later that evening she lay awake in her bed still thinking. What if she married Malfoy and they tried to kill each other after living together for a while? There was no assurance that they could even get along, let alone live together. They didn’t know each other that well and it had been several years since they were in school together. How much had he changed over the past seven years? How much had she changed? Could they make it work, would they have to sleep in the same bed, should she talk to a lawyer?

All the thoughts were playing in her head making one big mess and she had no idea what to do or how to sort them out. Being Mrs. Malfoy would definitively make a lot of things easier, but which things would be harder, and were the advantages larger than the disadvantages? She twisted and turned through the night only sleeping in short periods interrupted by strange dreams, guilty thoughts and crazy ones too.


At two thirty she got up and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

Outside the fog was still lying suffocating all noises. She stood in her small nightgown with bare feet on the cold wooden floor. The kitchen was so small that there was barely room enough for a one-person table and a chair but it had a large window and on the windowsill she had placed a few plants trying to light up the atmosphere of the boring grey room that had no personality at all. But it was also just a room she used to keep her kettle and teacups in.

With a sight she thought that it had been a long time since she had actually lived in her apartment, most of the time it felt like she was just sleeping there, but it had nothing to do with her as a person.


Often she had considered to re-decorate, but then Amanda had called and she was off to work before she could set any of her decorating plans in action. There were so many things she had thought she wanted to do but over time it just didn’t seem like she had the time and energy to make then plans reality. With Draco’s money maybe she could?


With her cup in one hand and Mimpfy in the other she walked back into her bedroom and lay down again eyes wide open.


Could she only decide if it was madness to accept or madness to decline, no matter what she did it would be the wrong choice. It would be insane to decline seventy million galleons and it would be completely insane to marry the ferret.


She wasn’t getting anywhere.


After lying down for about five minutes she got up again and went to get her coat in the hallway. From her left pocket she took the little jewellery box Draco had given her earlier. She hadn’t opened it yet. She hadn’t dared open it. Now she put it on her nightstand and lay down on her bed again.


She still couldn’t sleep and it felt like the box was daring her to open it. She reached out and pushed it out of her sight behind the pile of books she always kept beside her bed. She still couldn’t find peace and again she got out of bed and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.


More time passed twisting and turning. Suddenly her small bedroom seemed claustrophobic and her normally peaceful looking picture of water lilies on the opposite wall seemed scary and nightmarish. She hid her head under her duvet but it didn’t help, she knew that the box was waiting for her to open it and it wouldn’t let her rest in peace before she had.


Finally when her alarm clock shoved fifteen minutes past five in the morning she pushed back her duvet, turned on the light and quickly with a sudden feeling of urgency opened the box with a little plop. Inside the dark green velvet box she found green silk surrounding an elegant silver ring with several bright green emeralds. It was beautiful but clearly came from a Slytherin family. Green and silver.

Now the box was open she picked up the ring examining it closely. Inside it she found that an inscription was engraved in the silver: Malfoy.


It was an old piece of family jewellery!


Thinking the word family suddenly a new thought hit her; What happened with Draco’s parents? She thought she remembered something about Narcissa being killed in the final war and she knew for sure Lucius was dead because Ron had sent a bodylock curse after him and Lucius had stepped aside trying to avoid it but instead stepped in front of Bellatrix’ killing curse and had died. But what about Narcissa, had she really died and if not how did she feel about Draco’s proposal?


None of these thoughts were helping her so finally she got up for the twentieth time that night, found a light sleeping potion in her bathroom cabinet, and swallowed enough to make her sleep for two hours. At least then she would get two whole hours of sleep that night.

That morning her head was clear, she had made her decision and was happy about it, no more twisting and turning.

She got up, made tea and got dressed feeling happier than she had in a long time, finally she had had the chance to make a real decision and even though it had cost her a night of sleep she had had something real to think about, she was alive she could do things.

For the first time in a long time she had the energy to sing in the shower and even though it didn’t sound very well and her neighbour banged on the wall to make her stop, it still made her feel happy inside.

Not even Amanda could get her down that day, because she was floating around in her own little bubble not noticing the world around her.

She couldn’t wait to see Malfoy’s face when she told him.
He would be surprised, very surprised.

[Liz-Miia Parker]

Hhaha. Nojah, arvata on, et Jah ütleb sellisele pakumisele. Ma ütleks kah..põrgusse see armastus xDxDxD Draco on niiig kuum - aga Hermi sellele ei mõtle, et järeltulijad peaksid ka olema ? ;D ;D

[Hanna Mia Sunrose]

Umm ... see on natuke kahtlane nagu, et Draco just Hermione valis ... nad siiski vihkasid üksteist võinii.
Aga see selleks, mulle tegelikult päris meeldib.
Ja kusjuures on tegelikult totaalselt mõttetu seda juttu kommenteerida, sest niisama mingi jutu üle arutamisel pole pointi, ainult siis on point, kui seda selle kõige autoriga arutada.

[Lissandra Sylvania]

Kommentaaride näol saan aru, kas ma jätkan seda jutu üles panekut või mitte, selles mõttes andke ikka teada.

Aga nüüd siis järgmine osa !

Chapter 3

Time seemed to fly at the office and she got a lot of work off hand. She was surprisingly energetic when she considering the fact that she had only gotten about two hours of real sleep. But as the clock started to move closer to five where she was officially off, she also started to get a little nervous. Who knew how he would take it? Even though she was nervous she was still determined, and was keeping to her decision; now was not the time to back out.


The few blocks she had to walk to come to the coffee shop seemed endless, it usually only took about three minutes and it probably only took three minutes that day too, but it felt a lot longer.

When she got closer she could see that Draco was sitting at a table near the window, the same table as they had been sitting at the day before. She wondered how long he had waited. He didn’t seem impatient though, but maybe that was because he knew it wouldn’t help his position. She wouldn’t let anyone push her into doing something she didn’t think was right at the moment.


The café was warm and she noticed that there were fresh flowers on the tables and it smelled deliciously of pie. Did it always smell that nice? She asked herself and concluded that she just hadn’t noticed before. As the door opened Draco turned around to face her and she walk over to him freeing herself of the coat and scarf and put it on the back of the chair.


“Hello Malfoy,” she said and he nodded in response as she sat down beside him. He looked closely at her apparently noticing the hint of makeup on her face and the natural rose on her cheeks from walking in the foggy air outside.


Then he saw her finger and his eyes went wide.


On her left ring finger was the ring he had given her the day before. It sparkled in the light of the shop and spoke it own very clear language.

She had chosen to accept his proposal.
They were getting married.


“So Mrs. Malfoy-to-be, can I buy you some tea?” he asked as if nothing was out of the ordinary.


“Yes, you may,” she answered with a happy smile.

It was the strangest of situations she felt, she was about to marry the ferret and was actually looking forward to it. Or maybe more like looking forward to marry the ferret’s library. It was a pro forma marriage and with a lot of benefits to it.


A quite awkward silence followed, now the practical matters were out of the way the two of them didn’t really know what to say to each other, it had been a long time since they were in school together and none of them really knew what the other had been up to in the meantime or if the other had changed.

She had no idea what Malfoy was thinking, he had always been hard to read and that hadn’t changed over the years he was still a mask of perfection that she couldn’t look beyond.


Since none of them knew what to say they just sat looking at each other waiting for the tea to arrive. Draco had always been a handsome boy and as a man he was still quite nice looking with pretty features, the same handsome grey eyes as always and the pale blond hair that was his signature. Over the years he had become a little less boyish and his face now looked grown up and serious instead of gloomy and evil like in his younger days. He was still as well dressed as always. She couldn’t help but admire his tasteful choice of clothing, classic black that suited him perfectly.

She knew many boys with horrible sense of fashion, like for example Ron had had no idea what was nice and what wasn’t. It was a nightmare to try to teach him that orange-and-purple striped ties weren’t pretty at all. Maybe it was because he had grown up with a wizard family that he had no idea how to dress properly.


Mary, the owner of the shop, came over with their tea and as she put the teacups on the table she noticed Hermione’s new ring.


“What a pretty ring,” she said with a warm smile, she knew Hermione well.


“Yes, Draco got it for me, were engaged,” she said tasting how the word felt in her mouth. The only thing that she could think of was, strange.


“Congratulations!” Mary replied her smile growing wider, “It was about time you found yourself a pretty young man to share your life with. But dears then you shouldn’t just have tea, I can make you a nice cake, would you like that?”


The two of them looked at each other, then Draco nodded and said: “That would be very nice of you.”


She smirked as she looked at him and he sent her a what-did-you-expect glance.


“You have matured since we left school that’s all.”


“Yeah,” he said sarcastically, “Not having my father looking over my shoulder all the time does help at lot.” She laughed; Lucius hadn’t exactly been the most pleasant person to be around. Luckily she hadn’t met him more than a few times and not for very long except from the times he had tried to kill her or her friends or the other way around. She wondered if that could be a problem in the future but decided it probably wouldn’t be since it didn’t sound very much like Draco had liked his father either.


“Ehm...” he said after another moment of silence and eyed Mary, who was standing at the counter making an extraordinarily tasty looking cake for them.


“Should we like... celebrate?” he asked in a funny voice. She hadn’t thought about that yet.


“Well we probably should....” she answered it was a part of getting married, wasn’t it?


“Perhaps, I could buy you dinner?” he suggested and she nodded, dinner was nice.




After eating Mary’s fancy happy engagement cake they left for Hermione’s apartment so she could change before going to some upper-class restaurant where Draco had reserved a table for two. Her clothes weren’t fit for a fancy dinner and she didn’t want to feel too much out of place at the restaurant.

After walking up the stair to the fifth floor she unlocked the door and invited Draco inside.


“Feel free to look around, I’ll be back in a minute,” she said leaving him in the living room and heading for her bedroom. Looking at the contents of her closet she yelled to Draco.


“How fancy is this restaurant exactly?”


She wasn’t sure she had anything fancy enough most of her clothes were practical items with no colour and big comfort.


“Quite fancy,” he yelled back. She gritted her teeth and went into the living room.


“How fancy exactly is ‘quite fancy’?” she asked again and looked at him with her hands on her hips.


He sent her a smug grin: “Do you want me to pick an outfit for you?” She sent him another of her death-stares.


“It’s okay, I’ll just take a look at your closet,” he said following her back into the small bedroom. She was glad her apartment was at least properly cleaned if not the prettiest place on earth, or else she would have been ashamed of bringing Draco in, because he was used to something much more grand than a two room apartment the size of a small broom closet.


“God Granger, do you even know what the word colour means?!” he cried as he took a look at her closet. She sent him an evil stare.


“Well...The Secret Garden is a quite elegant restaurant so this definitively won’t do,” he said as he examined her closet closer going through all her everyday clothing. Then he came to the fancy end of her wardrobe. Finally he picked out a dress and held it out to her with a satisfied smile.


“What!? I have only worn that dress once and that was at my cousins wedding where I was the brides maid!” she exclaimed as she saw the bright pink dress he held out to her. It was the most elegant piece of clothing she owned. It was light and fluffy, and had broad straps and a wide skirt down to her knees.


“It’s perfect so just wear it Granger,” he said coolly and left her to change.

She did as she was told and also added a little makeup and a nice hair-do. Then she came into the living room to get Draco so they could leave. He was sitting on her sofa like he belonged there with a book in his hands reading.


“Shall we?” she asked and he rose to her side and they went to get their coats. It was almost impossible for the two of them to be in the hall at the same time, but they managed to get their coats on without hitting each other too badly and left for the restaurant.


“Now we are engaged and all I must say you like real nice in that dress,” he said as they walked beside each other down the stairs, she smiled. Maybe this marriage wasn’t complete insanity after all, she though. If the ferret tried to be civil then she could be most civil too.


“Thank you Draco you too look fairly handsome,” she replied politely.


As they came out on the street Draco offered his arm and she took it grinning slightly, being with Malfoy was definitively different than being with Ron or Harry or any other boy she had ever been with.




At first the restaurant had been a bit of a shock for her. It was extremely extravagant and decorated like its name, like a secret garden. Every table were sitting in it’s own little world separated by big plants that looked exactly like trees just fitted to be inside and between the tree trunks were smaller plants so all the tables were completely undisturbed and isolated from the others.
The tables were set with elegant white and silver, candles and white flowers and in the air soared white shiny bubbles that lighted the room in an almost dreamlike way. It was truly magical both figuratively and literally and she couldn’t believe her own eyes when they entered, it was just amazing, and awestruck she didn’t speak for approximately fifteen minutes, just stared at the beautiful scenery around her.

Draco ended up having to order for her too because she didn’t seem to be able to find her voice. Besides that she didn’t understand a word of what was on the menu, because it was all in some strange language that she didn’t know of.


“This place is fantastic!” she finally said smiling goofily at the man opposite her.


“Thought you might like it,” he answered and unfolded his napkin as the waiter arrived with the first course. It didn’t look familiar, but when she asked Draco he explained to her that it was some kind of pancake with salmon and spinach. When their plates had been taken away Hermione said:

“I guess we should settle some of the practical details now?”

He nodded.


“What about finding a wedding-date?” she asked looking him in the eyes questioningly.


“Do you want to wait a while before marrying or is it okay to do it soon?”


“Mind as well get it over with, there is no meaning in waiting,” she replied business-like.


“How about this weekend?” he asked checking his calendar. She found hers too this weekend was open as all her weekends were up until the time, when Amanda asked her to work at the office.


“That’s fine with me,” she answered and made a note in the calendar that said getting married, remind Amanda that I will not be able to work.


“What time?” was the next question and they agreed that Draco would take to the priest and set a time, then call her back to make the final arrangements. She noted that too. Then she put her calendar next to her plate.


“Do you want a fancy dress too or shall we make it casual?” his question came a little absent-minded. She considered it for a moment. She never really pictured herself in a wedding-dress and hadn’t thought of buying one before he asked her if she wanted to. It was a difficult question; on one hand she didn’t want to make that big a deal of it, after all it was only a pro forma marriage, but on the other hand it would be really nice to stand there in a big fluffy dress that all her family would admire.

Well, they hadn’t actually talked about whether they should invite their families or they should just make it a totally private ceremony.


“No...I don’t think I’ll be necessary,” she ended up answering to Draco’s obvious surprise.


“You don’t?” he asked with a lifted eyebrow and she shook her head. Then he said something that completely surprised her.


“Hermione, I think you should have a dress. You won’t get the million galleon wedding with friends and family so the least I can give you is a proper dress and knowing the contents of your closet, you need one!”


Then she shut up and agreed to let him take her dress-shopping one of the upcoming days. That ferret was a strange person she thought to herself with a chuckle as she pictured the two of them running around in a muggle wedding store looking for that big poofy dress. Funny thought.


“Then Friday morning I’ll send a carriage to fetch all your stuff and move it to the manor,” he continued their planning.


The process lasted through the main course too and they discussed a lot of different things like where they were going to eat after the ceremony, if they should go on a honeymoon, whether Hermione wanted the room with view over the garden or the one next to the library and so on until they reached the final question; the terms of their relationship and not just the business part of the matter.


“You now,” Hermione said, “This is strictly pro forma and I will let you do whatever you want to with whomever you want to, as long as you don’t invite any brainless blondes to dine with us.”


He grinned at her last comment: “Deal!”


“This is just a juridical marriage with no strings attached, you are still free to go, just not to marry,” Hermione concluded and they smiled in unison. This was a good deal with many benefits for the both of them.


The waiter brought in the final course a delicate dessert made of ice cream and chocolate and along with that a bottle of champagne to celebrate with. Draco poured some into their glasses and held up his to make a toast.


“To our upcoming marriage.”

And she repeated: “To our upcoming marriage.”

[Liz-Miia Parker]

See tuleb alles huvitav..naqnii nad armuvad lõpus. xD

[Hanna Mia Sunrose]

Muidugi armuvad, selles ongi kogu jutu point!
Aga kusjuures, see on väga imelik, siin on pidevalt mingid sellised kohad, kus võiks punkt olla, või koma asemel punkt, või koma, igatahes sellised kirjavead.
Tegelikult mulle tundub, et see autor küll kirjavahemärkidest eriti ei hoolinud XD

[Lissandra Sylvania]

Chapter 4

The next day Hermione enjoyed the silence at work since her co-worker Mary was in New Zealand there was no one to talk all the time and that really helped a lot on her general mood and made her more effective.


She sat at her desk all morning writing rapports, but it didn’t bother her as much as it could have, because now she knew she had the option to just quit if she wanted to. With a husband who had a fortune of seventy million galleons she didn’t have to work if she didn’t wish to, and she planned on telling Amanda that as soon as possible, but first she needed to finish the rapport and clean out her desk.

It had become quit a mess over the last month where she had been working overtime almost every day. Paper was piled up all over and underneath it were old teacups and messages that she had already forgotten.
She found her garbage bin and threw it all out, if any important notes were there she would find out later but there probably wasn’t, her job wasn’t very important so she didn’t get any real important tasks to do.


After cleaning out and putting all the teacups out in the staff kitchen to be washed she felt much better, it was such a relief to finally be able to see her desk again and she really hated mess.


Amanda also noticed the change when she came back from her meeting with the minister of magic and came over to chat with Hermione.


“I see you’ve cleaned out,” the tall blonde witch said and leaned on Hermione’s desk with a coffee cup in one hand.


“Yes I felt like it,” Hermione answered and threw out another stack of useless papers.


Amanda didn’t seem to know what to say to her, but that didn’t exactly surprise Hermione, after all Amanda had never bothered to actually got to know her. Ever since the first day she stepped into this office Amanda had just treated her like some assistant without a name or a personality and when Amanda had her annoying girl-talks with Mary, Hermione wasn’t included.

In that particular case when it came to girl-talks she was happy she wasn’t included though, girl-talk was just boring.


“Now I have you,” Hermione then said, “I just want to tell you that I will not be able to work this Saturday.”


Amanda looked a bit confused behind her fake glasses.


“You are not supposed to work on Saturdays.”


Hermione sent her a death glare that made the other witch shrink a couple of inches.


“I know, but somehow I always end up doing so anyway.”


Amanda looked offended, but couldn’t really say anything against it though, it was the truth.


“Anyways...” Hermione said cheerfully, “I’m getting married Saturday so don’t count on seeing me.” Then she walked out to the kitchen leaving Amanda behind speechless.


But it didn’t last long before Amanda’s prying personality made her follow Hermione to ask more questions.


“So who is the lucky guy?” she asked trying to build up some confidence between the two of them but failing miserably.


“Draco Malfoy,” Hermione answered matter-of-factly and continued to pour water over the teacups where the tea had had time to dry and was now stuck inside the cup.


“The Draco Malfoy?!” Amanda cried in surprise.


“Yes the Draco Malfoy,” Hermione rolled her eyes.


“I didn’t know you knew Mr. Malfoy.”


“Well obviously I do or else we probably wouldn’t be engaged now would we?”


That shut her up for a brief moment while she digested this new information she had been presented with.


“So how come you didn’t invite your co-workers to the wedding?” Amanda asked and tried to sound casual but really ended up sounding very jealous. A devil came up in Hermione as she answered: “Because I don’t like my co-workers.”


Amanda didn’t speak to her again that day.




Ten minutes to five she received a note from Draco saying that he would pick her up and take her dress shopping, he had also spoken with the priest and they should set the time and place for the ceremony. She smiled to herself, finally a person who didn’t just sit around waiting for others to make decisions!


At precisely five o’clock Draco appeared in the doorway wearing the sign that all visitors got when they entered on his it said ‘Draco Malfoy – here to pick up Hermione Granger’. The look on Amanda’s face when he walked in was priceless. She looked like she had just swallowed a couple of lemons; apparently she hadn’t believed Hermione earlier when she told her that they were engaged. Hermione just smirked at her as she took her coat and left with Draco by her side, stupid fake hag.




Together they apparated to the nearest bridal store Magical Dresses for All Occasions in Diagon Alley where a cheerful looking young witch received them and followed them to the dressing rooms where the sales witch and Draco left her to try on the dresses they brought her.

The shop was all light pink and beautifully decorated with bows and dresses all over. Never in her life had she seen so many dresses in one place, they were everywhere in every spot of the room was beautiful dresses just waiting to be tried on.


The day before she had said that she didn’t want the fancy dress, but standing surrounded by thousands of pretty gowns made her want one badly, or at least want to try some of them on. They were just so pretty all of them, how could she resist putting some of them on and seeing how she would look in them?


Luckily she didn’t have to resist. The young sales witch who was named Selina kept bringing her dresses and putting them on a hanger just outside her dressing room so she could try them.


The first was a plain white dress with embroidered top and thin straps that looked pretty on the hanger but not on her, besides that wasn’t what she was looking for.


The next was a slim dress with long thin sleeves that shoved of her shoulders and neckline, then a huge poofy, strapless dress with a skirt like a bell, but Draco didn’t like that one.


Selina brought her an antique dress with long sleeves, lace all over and an enormous bow on the back.


“I look like an idiot in this,” she said as she walked out of the dressing room to show the other two the dress. Draco smirked and said: “Well, pretty much yes.” And she went back in to try on the next dress.


She was a critical nature and didn’t just accept some random dress; she wanted the perfect one. One that complimented her figure and her colours but it took time to find the right one and she probably tried on a hundred dresses and only chose about six she wanted to try again.


After two hours she felt like she had tried on half the store, but she had narrowed it down to only six dresses and after a second try she was able to narrow it further down to only two different ones. A poofy dress with a low-cut back and halter neck with pearl embroideries on the top and a slim dress with quite a deep v-neck that fitted her body perfectly.


“You were actually quite quick to narrow it down,” Draco said as they stood trying to decide between the last two, “I’d expected it to take an eternity, most girls do.”


She stroked her hand over the fabric of the halter neck dress and smiled while she noticed that she had been doing that a lot lately.


“I don’t have the patience to use five hours to pick one dress,” she answered.


“You’d be surprised how many young women have both the time and patience to do so,” Selina said with a laugh. It didn’t surprise her that much though, after all she had been living with Lavender and Parvarti for seven years at Hogwarts and they managed to spend two whole hours just getting ready to go down in the Great Hall and eat breakfast.


“You should try on both dresses again, then I’ll take a picture of you in both and we’ll have a look at it afterwards.” Hermione nodded and went back into the dressing room for what she felt was the thousandth time that afternoon.




Fifteen minutes later the newly engaged couple sat in the café next to the bridal store and had some dinner. It had taken a lot of energy to try on all those dresses, but she had made her choice and was happy about it. The pictures Selina took helped her a lot since it was difficult to see herself from all angles in the mirror but on the picture she spun and turned in front of the camera making it possible to see both the back and front of the dress and determine whether it looked good on her or not.


Seeing the photographs it only too two short minutes for her to decide that she wanted the v-neck slim-fit dress because that looked the best on her.

So now she sat tired, but happy with the big pink box containing her wedding dress beside her.


She still felt a little weird when she though about the fact that she was actually getting married in less than three days. And if she looked three days back in time her life was still empty and starting to get a little meaningless, but looking forward she now had a lot of options lying ahead all because of the bouncing ferret sitting with her.


Soon she could call herself Mrs. Malfoy and sit at her manor in her huge library and read all day. Suddenly she felt like there were several weeks till Saturday.




Even though she felt like there was a lot of time till Saturday there really wasn’t. Time seemed to fly with the preparations of her moving away from London and getting married and all. She had to call her parents to let them know, and she didn’t find it easy to tell them that she was getting married not out of love, but out of convenience and so soon also.

Her mother was a little disappointed that she didn’t get to throw her daughter that big fancy wedding that was the dream of every mother, but after two hours on the phone Hermione finally convinced her that it wasn’t a big deal, and that she did get the fancy dress after all. She didn’t have a problem with not having her family around for the wedding, most of them were a bunch of weird old people anyway, so she didn’t mind them not being there.


Her mother didn’t understand why she suddenly decided to marry this guy that her and her husband had never met, but Hermione wasn’t about to explain that it was because she used to hate the guy she was now to marry, and that she actually hadn’t seen him in the last seven years. She would never get her mother to understand that, but she wouldn’t pretend that it was her true love she was about to wed, that would be the biggest lie of her life, and she knew they would never be able to lie to her parents for the next many years.


Then her father had gotten on the phone and she had to explain it all over again. He looked at the matter a bit more practically and only asked if Draco was a nice guy, which she could only answer that he had been perfectly nice to her ever since they met again, and if he would take good care of her. To that she told him that Draco had seventy million galleons and a manor.

Then her father was satisfied, she would be taken care of and the guy she was with was nice, that was enough for him.


Inside Hermione could only laugh at her parents and of how differently they took the news, but in these situations it was clear that women and men simply had different minds that worked differently.


Her father also asked if she wanted him and her mother to come help her pack her things for the movers on Friday, she thanked him but said no she would rather have them visit her at Malfoy Manor when she was settled. Besides she didn’t have that many thing and only her books really mattered to her the rest of the furniture she would leave for the next person to live in the apartment, in the manor she didn’t need them.

Malfoy had told her that the manor was furnished and only if she had a strong wish to do so should she bring more furniture. She couldn’t have been happier about it, she had no desire to bring memories of that grey, lifeless hole into her new life.
She would just leave it.

[Lissandra Sylvania]

Chapter 5

Friday came sooner than expected and soon she had packed up all her things in big boxes that sat in the middle of her living room, which now without furniture seemed more lifeless than ever.
Mimpfy didn’t quite understand where all her things had gone, but Hermione tried to explain to the cat that they were moving out on the countryside so from now on Mimpfy would have a lot more room to play in. Hermione didn’t actually know if Draco liked cats, but she thought he probably wouldn’t mind the small grey cat being there, it wasn’t like Mimpfy ruined the furniture or anything, she just sat a lot on windowsills and looked out and once in a while came down to eat or drink.

Cats were quiet animals that mostly didn’t bother the people living with them.

To greet the movers Hermione had to get up a little earlier than usual, but she was looking so much forward to leaving that she didn’t mind being up early, she probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway because of sheer excitement.


They came precisely as all people who worked with the Malfoys had a tendency to do. She offered them a cup of coffee that they politely said no to before starting to carry her boxes down the five floors to their truck which was parked on the street just below her kitchen window.


The boxes were quite heavy, she had all her books in them and through the years she had collected a lot of them that she just couldn’t leave no matter how many books she would get access to at the manor. Her books were the ones, who helped her through all the boring days of rapport writing for Amanda and all the useless hours she spent at the office.
They were her true companions and as good friends as Harry, Ron or Ginny would ever be.


Speaking of those Hermione was going to sleep at Ginny’s that night and then go to the manor the day after in time for the ceremony. It was some old superstition that the groom wasn’t supposed to see the bride before the wedding or they would catch bad luck.

Hermione didn’t see how this situation could in any way be unlucky, but agreed to stay at Ginny’s for the night. It would be nice to have a real girl-talk with someone she liked to talk with, it had been a while since they had last been in the same room long enough to say hallo. They were both very busy people and had their jobs to attend to which took up a lot of their time.

Ginny was currently working at a private hospital in London as a nurse, but she was new to the job and therefore got the annoying shifts, which made it almost impossible to see Hermione, who worked when Ginny was off.

Ginny was going to pick Hermione up after work and they would cook something in Ginny’s little kitchen and talk until two in the night.


After the movers had taken her few boxes downstairs she went to work at the office. When she arrived Amanda wasn’t there yet and she enjoyed the moments of peace until the other witch came and disturbed her with her chit-chat and other annoying things like her high heels that clicked on the floor and music that played on the radio constantly.


It was almost ten o’clock when Amanda arrived and received a disappointed stare from Hermione like the one Amanda usually sent her when she was two minutes late.


“A bit late I see,” Hermione said sarcastically and watched Amanda twitch.


“Playing boss now you finally found yourself a spouse?” Amanda tried to get back on her.


“Well with my future husbands fortune it’s not like I have to pretend I actually like you,” Hermione said and after six years let Amanda know all her frustrations about being at her job there, “I could just leave if I wanted to.”

That made Amanda white in her normally fake tan face, she hadn’t expected that Hermione would actually get spine enough to leave.


“You can’t, there is a three month notice!”


“Three month, maybe for you,” she said voice dripping with sarcasm, “but in my contract there is no notice, so, I almost don’t need to tell you that I’m leaving I could just take my things and go. Then you’d get to see how fast you could find a replacement that wouldn’t complain about your annoying behaviour. I’ll tell you, it’s not going be easy!”


It had taken her a long time to admit it, but now that it was out she felt liberated. Truth to be told she had come to hate Amanda after six years working for her, it wasn’t going to be long before she would leave her job and never come back to that part of the ministry. And she wouldn’t even be sorry.


She felt very much like just going already, but some until now unknown part of her personality wanted to wait until the moment she was badly needed and her departure would hurt the most. She laughed at herself, finally she saw the devil inside her coming out other than on a few rare occasions like the time in third year when she hit Malfoy hard on the face, times when she snuck out to help Harry and Ron and a few other times where she had suddenly acted strange.
This time she would let the little devil get its way and be really mean to Amanda, after all if there was anyone who deserved it; it would be her.


“You’re getting a bit cocky now that you are engaged,” came the smug reply on Hermione’s speech.


“Well I can afford to be,” she smiled devilish.


“I could just fire you,” Amanda said as a final attempt to win this battle.


“Yeah, but what would it matter, you need me whether you want it or not.”

Then the quarrel was officially over and Amanda had officially lost to the last person in the world she ever thought would be over her in the hieraki.




Hours later she sat in Ginny’s kitchen with a glass of red-wine laughing heartily.


“You should have seen her face Gin, she so wanted to hit me!” Hermione laughed as she told the story of the argument she had had earlier that day.


“Mione, you were quite mean you know,” said Ginny and pulled a delicious lasagne out of the oven.


“Oh well, she deserved it,” Hermione kept laughing.


“And the misuse of your new position, who would have thought Malfoy would do you so much good,” Ginny placed the lasagne on the table between them and sat down on the chair with her glass. She had been quite surprised when Hermione had called her the day before to tell her of her upcoming marriage, no one had seen it coming, but she didn’t think less of her long time friend for accepting the generous offer Malfoy had presented her with, who wouldn’t want that?


In the small but nice looking, personal kitchen both girls felt at home and comfy. Ginny had excellent taste in kitchens and had decorated the small room too perfection. Maybe she had inherited some of Molly’s talent for cooking and making a home.


“Enough about my situation; how’s it going with Thomas?” Hermione asked curiously. Four moths earlier Ginny had started going out with one of the doctors, who worked at the hospital and after what Hermione had heard it was quite a hot romance, but she hadn’t actually met the famous Thomas yet, Ginny had promised her that she would soon though.


“It’s going quite well,” Ginny answered with a light blush that made her face slightly red to match the beautiful red hair that was the signature of the Weasley family. Hermione had always admired the pretty hair colour because she herself only had the bushy brown hair that didn’t seemed to be able to behave without using at least an hour to flatten it down, and she didn’t have that kind of patience.


“When do I get to see him?” she asked curiously and Ginny blushed even more.


“I don’t know, maybe when you are settled at Malfoy Manor you could invite us to dinner?”


Hermione thought that a good idea, then Ginny could get to see her new home and se would get to see Ginny’s boyfriend. They agreed on that Hermione would invite them over as soon as possible, but it was difficult to find a night where both Ginny and Thomas was off work for they both worked a lot. They were ambitious people in the beginning of their careers and had lots of shifts to advance in the system.


“Thomas works really hard to become head healer, he is so ambitious, but it makes it difficult to be together when we both work so much...” Ginny told her friend as they ate their way through the lasagne.


“Maybe you should just get married at get a private clinic out on the country?” Hermione joked, “Then Thomas could be the doctor and you could help him as a nurse.”


Both girls laughed.


“You know that wasn’t such a bad idea. But maybe I should introduce him to mum before I go into matrimony with him...” Ginny added.


“Maybe yeah,” Hermione nodded and took a sip of her wine, “I have yet to present Draco to my parents. But I think they’ll like him.”

Gin shook her head with a grin.


“Never thought I would see the day... That ferret must really have changed over the years.”


Hermione smiled and thought about it for a second. She wasn’t sure Malfoy had actually changed, he just seemed to have matured a lot and his father dying also helped a lot on him becoming more independent and grown up. She told Ginny that.


“So you don’t think he is a Death Eater?”


Hermione shook her head she didn’t know whether Draco was still into that kind of thing, but she had the feeling he wasn’t, after all he had failed to kill Dumbledore that time in sixth year when Snape ended up doing it for him that meant that he couldn’t possibly be evil to the chore.


“I don’t know Gin... I simply don’t know,” she ended up answering, “But even if he is it wouldn’t affect me that much, it’s not like we are deeply connected or anything.”


The other girl understood her point, Hermione had thought all the possibilities through before accepting, no coincidents were allowed here.




The next morning Hermione felt a little groggy, her and Ginny had stayed up quite late just talking and now she woke up in an unfamiliar house on a mattress on the floor in Ginny’s living room. The first though she had in her head when she woke up was; I don’t have to work today. Finally a whole day off for the first time in almost two years. And she was getting married.


This was supposed to be her big day. The day girls waited all their life for, the day she would get to wear that fancy dress.


She wasn’t overly excited but silently looking forward to becoming Mrs. Malfoy and get the money and power that was needed for her to become something big in the wizarding world and the normal world for that matter.


From where she was lying on the floor she could faintly see her dress hanging on a hanger on the door waiting for her to get up and wear it. She felt a sense of closure now that she hadn’t even had when Voldemort was finally defeated, now she new she was going to be taken care of and a lot of worries she didn’t have to have any longer, that part of her life was over now. All that she thought about in the hour she lay on the mattress between the sofa and a small table waiting for Ginny to wake up.


“Good morning,” finally Ginny was up and stood in the doorframe and looked at her.


“Ready to get married?”


Hermione laughed and hid her head under her duvet.


“This is going to be the strangest wedding ever in the Granger family...”


“Without doubt,” Ginny replied and helped her get up from the floor.




The ceremony should start in the middle of the afternoon at Malfoy Manor. Together they had decided that they didn’t want to married in a church, none of them were religious, like most wizards they thought religion was a bit overrated and came with some complicated explanations on rather simple things so they had just arranged for a ministerial wizard to come out to the manor and wed them.


Hermione walked in the winter garden where the ceremony was to be held with a single pink rose in her hand and that beautiful dress they had bought only days before. Her hair was just hanging down in her normal curls with a little rose to keep it from falling down over her face. She liked the simplicity of her look.


With slow steps she walked towards the wizard in a long black robe like most wizards from the ministry and Draco who both stood near the windows in one end of the winter garden waiting for her. Draco was in a simple black robe and black tie as he stood quietly waiting for her to arrive. She could see that he liked the way she looked and she thought him very handsome too.


It was the strangest feeling walking down “the aisle”. It was both hysterically funny and yet she felt it was too much of a solemnity to laugh, but a small smiled played upon her face and in the beautiful lighting of the plant-filled room she looked like an angel just come down from heaven.


The winter garden was a pretty place, almost like a greenhouse just with real furniture and a lovely couch standing just in front of the windows so there was a view over the park-like garden which lay outside covered in fog like a mystic fantasy landscape. Malfoy Manor itself sat at the end of a long driveway with straight oaks on both sides with grass fields on both sides.


Then when she had finally reached the Manor she were overwhelmed by how intimate it seemed, just seeing it no one would believe that it had over thirty rooms and all the other things that were said about it.


It was a renaissance castle with lots of big windows built in a brownish grey material partially covered in ivy. She liked it immediately and thought that a lot of bad things could be said about Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, but they had good taste when it came to housing. Even though she knew that the Manor had belonged to one of the most evil pureblood wizard families in the history of magic she still had an instant feeling of belonging there.


She reached Draco just when the enchanted harp stopped playing and his hand closed around hers. He seemed nervous. She smiled at him to give him some confidence and apparently it helped, because the tension in his hand disappeared and they stood still together waiting for the wizard to make a move.


The plump little man said a couple of words about marriage in general, about loving and respecting each other, about being loyal and helping each other.

Hermione breathed silently and listened to the man’s words. She didn’t for a second doubt that it was the right decision she had made, she felt strong and confident and in complete control of her future.


“Will you Draco Malfoy take Hermione Jane Granger, who with you stand to be your lawfully wedded wife?” the wizard asked and stared Draco in the eyes seriously, he breathed deep before answering in his masculine voice: “I do.”


Then the wizard turned to Hermione and asked her: “Will you Hermione Jane Granger take Draco Malfoy as your lawfully wedded husband?”


This was it.
The moment.
She knew this was her last chance to say no, but not even for a minute did she consider doing so and her voice sounded clear and strong as she answered: “I do.”


The wizard smiled at her and as she smiled back he then said the closing words for the ceremony: “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” then he turned to Draco, “You may kiss the bride.”


He smirked but kissed her lightly on the cheek as the harp started playing again. With one final glance at the smiling wizard in black the newly wed couple left the winter garden.




They left for the photographer so that they could send a wedding picture along with their marriage certificate to Draco’s uncle Burge’s lawyer and get their money.


“That old man had a wicked sense of humour,” Draco said while they waited for the photographer to be finished photographing a little wizard boy on a pedestal with a little wand soaring in the air right next to his face causing major damage to the studio, but the person behind the camera didn’t seem to notice it at all, she just stood still and tried to focus. Hermione was immediately reminded of Rita Skeeter when she saw how the young photographer witch was dressed, in neon pink robe and plastic glasses with little rhinestones on the frame, horrible taste but if she could manage to both take a picture and keep her patience while dealing with the little devil babies of the wizard world, then Hermione couldn’t but admire her at least professionally.


“I believe he did... but he’s dead now isn’t he?” she asked with a smile.


“Yeah, and we have his money!”


They laughed in unison. She felt a little out of place in her pretty dress standing beside a tired mother of twins who struggled hard to keep the two little wriggling children in place and the general chaos in the atelier. But at least Draco was also well dressed like always and kept her company in his handsome robe.


“So how does it feel to be Mrs. Malfoy?” he smirked as they took their places following the witch’s instructions.


“It feels just like being Ms. Granger,” she answered, there was no difference other than in her head, and even there the difference was too subtle to determine wherein it actually lay.


They posed with Draco’s arms around her and at least seven other poses before the photographer was satisfied, but then they also had lots of picture to show their grandchildren, the young witch who looked like Rita Skeeter said with a cheerful smile as she handed them the envelope containing the pictures.

Draco sent her a not so real smile and snatched the envelope from her hands and left the atelier dragging Hermione after him onto the streets.


“Can’t take that type of person!” he muttered as an excuse.



After a light dinner the couple apparated back to the Manor that was now her new home. She was tired after all the commotion of her wedding and now she just wanted to lie down in a comfy bed and sleep. He showed her to her room in a hurry as she was almost sleeping standing leaned against him and made sure she took of her dress before she lay down on her bed. He actually had to carry her up the stairs because she had fallen asleep in the hall and it was impossible to wake her up again.

[Liz-Miia Parker]

Hhaha, küll on alles väsitavad pulmad

[Hanna Mia Sunrose]

Ma just kuskil selle osa alguses mõtlesin, et mida Draco teeb, kui tal pruuti suudelda kästakse, aga kuskil seal samas osa alguses jõudis mulle kohale ka, et ilmselt ta teeb põsemusi
UUT!

[Lissandra Sylvania]

A houseelf with maternal instincts and the first three weeks.

---

Chapter 6

The next morning she woke up wondering where on earth she was. She didn’t recognise the nice room she was lying in and the soft bed beneath her didn’t trigger her mind either.


Getting up and seeing the white under-gown she was still wearing from yesterdays wedding she remembered, but she still didn’t recognise the room. She figured she must’ve fallen asleep the night before and he had showed her to bed without waking her up.


The room was large and light, not at all how she had pictured the rooms of Malfoy manor to be and yet again she was struck by the elegant way the whole house was decorated. From the large windows she had the perfect view over the garden and the lake, and out in the horizon she could just see the forest like a big blue bunch of leaves.

The sun was just rising bathing the scenery in a magical light and made her fall even more in love with her new surroundings than she already was.


Her own room was also very elegant with a large light-pink four-poster, a bookcase and a three-piece suite in one end to her private use. It was all done in pretty light colours with lots of air between each piece of furniture just as she liked it. At the end of the bed were her boxes with things from her old room that she had to unpack later that day.


She had just opened the one on top and found that it was the one containing half her books when she heard a light knock on her door. She turned around as Malfoy opened the door to tell her that breakfast was in ten minutes. She nodded and he disappeared again.


Not until after did she notice that he was dressed already and looked as if he had been up for long. At her nightstand she consulted the alarm clock and found that it was already past nine. She usually never slept longer than eight!

She hurried getting dressed and stepped onto the hall outside her room. For a moment she just stood there not knowing what to do.


She had no idea where the kitchen was.


Or if Malfoys even ate in the kitchen.


She quickly grew tired of just standing and decided to try and go one way, she could always go back if she didn’t find Draco. She walked left and looked in some of the rooms she found on her way. A drawing room, a living room with a large fireplace and a tiny library, but no kitchen or dinning room. When she turned around and walked back she couldn’t even find her own room again. Why does this place have to be so large? She asked herself as she looked in yet another useless room.


She completely lost orientation and was on the verge of sitting down sobbing as she heard Draco’s voice from behind.


“Here you are!”


She turned to him, her face slightly pink.


“Well I kind of ... got lost,” she explained and he smirked at her.


“It is also a quite big house you know, I might need to draw you a map.” She smiled at him, maybe that would be a good idea, just in the beginning she wouldn’t want to get lost again.


“Now, breakfast,” he said and pointed down the hallway. She followed him to the kitchen.


The kitchen was just as extravagant as the rest of the manor and on the table was two plates of freshly made pancakes. It was enough to get her mouth to water, she loved pancakes for breakfast and almost never got it at home and definitively didn’t get it when she was living by herself.


“You didn’t make these yourself, did you?” she asked her husband as they both sat down opposite each other.


“No. I don’t cook,” he answered and started eating hungrily as if he hadn’t eater for days. She took on her pancakes with almost the same expression.


Then she remembered something from when she was still in second year at Hogwarts; Dobby had been the Malfoys houseelf. Just because they had lost him it probably didn’t mean that they didn’t have a new one somewhere.


“So you have a houseelf?” she asked curiously.


“Yep, Dinny,” he answered and waited as if to see her reaction. Well he had probably heard about her organisation to better the Houseelves options in society. That was a long time ago though she had grown up and gotten less idealistic after six years at the ministry. Now she didn’t even flinch when she heard of the misuse of non-magical creatures as they were called officially.


“She had been with the family since father killed Beak, our last houseelf, just before he died,” Draco explained her. She thought that pretty interesting. If this houseelf had come to the house after Lucius had died, then the elf would reflect how Draco himself treated his personnel and not how his family was against their servants.

Somehow she wanted to know that, she wanted to know if he was just being, well, nice to her to get the money or if he was had really grown up a bit since she had seen him last. He was after all her husband.


“Dinny!” he said in a clear voice and not seconds after the small houseelf appeared beside him with a smile and a good morning master on her lips.


“Dinny this is my wife, Hermione and you may treat her with the same respect you pay me,” he said seriously and the elf nodded and turned to Hermione.


“Welcome to Malfoy Manor,” she squeaked, “It was about time master found a companion.” Then the elf disappeard and Hermione laughed heartily at Draco’s expression. Poor guy, put in his place by a houseelf...


“She seems fond of you,” Hermione said between fits of laughter.


He shook his head before answering: “Ever since my mother died she her maternal instincts has been awoken.” She still couldn’t help laughing.




After breakfast he gave her a quick tour of the house to make sure she didn’t get lost again, and knowing how it was arranged it wasn’t that hard to find out how to get around.


She also showed her the grand library, which was everything she had ever dreamed of and more. First of all it was huge no doubt about it, but it was also very intimate and she felt at home immediately between all the books, which were placed on many large bookcases around the walls of the room. It was a two story room with enormous windows that covered both stories and gave an incredible view over the lake, a better view than even the one she had from her room, it was truly spectacular.

Already when she stepped in the first time she was sure that this was going to be her favourite room of the house and she could clearly see herself sitting in there many nights studying and reading. It was simply a dream come true to finally step into that room, it was half the reason why she had even agreed to this marriage and after seeing it she wasn’t disappointed at all. It was worth it.




All in all her settlement at Malfoy Manor was easy. Draco wasn’t hard to live with and most of the time they did separate things anyway. Hermione kept her job at the ministry, but since she had gotten married it took up less of her precious time and she began to have real spare-time where she could do whatever she liked. Draco never asked what she was doing when she wasn’t home, and she never asked him, but they told each other where they were going almost every time or left a note in the library, where they both spent a lot of time. It was the least they could do, but they didn’t interfere with each other’s lives that much and it suited them both well, they were just getting to know each other for the first time.

Those years at Hogwarts didn’t really count, a lot had happened since then and Hermione felt a lot older now Hogwarts seemed a mere dream from once upon a time, when she was young and innocent, too much had happened for her to remain like that.


In her short life she had seen many horrible things and survived many horrible situations that most young witches had been spared, but being who she was and being friends with Harry and Ron automatically put her in a dangerous situation, but never did the thought occur to her that she was sorry she had chosen the life she had. She knew that every move she had made had been taken of her own free will and she could have done it any other way.


The final war, as many people called it, had ended six years ago after dramatic events and loses too big to speak of, but it still came back sometimes to haunt her in her dreams, that was why she almost never spoke of that year. Neither did Harry, they both tried their hardest to move on and find out who they were without the threat of Voldemort hanging over their heads and it wasn’t always easy.


She had had to construct her new identity as a free woman and learn how to get on with her life after losing one of her best friends. That was another reason why they didn’t talk about the war. They had lost Ron during the final battle, when he was killed by Voldemort himself with an avada kedavra. Nothing less could have killed him, she though, Ron was a true fighter and a true friend to both Harry and her, they missed him a lot even after three years the guilt hadn’t gone away.

She knew without it had ever been put into words that Harry often blamed himself for dragging his friends with him into those events, but she had assured him many a time that they chose to come with him, they could have stayed at Hogwarts for their seventh year, but they didn’t, they chose to come with him and help him destroy the evil that was slowly soaking through the wizard society like a sponge eating off all the good people in the world.


Maybe the prophecy just said that neither Harry nor Voldemort could live as long as the other existed but Ron and Hermione felt the same way. Voldemort had to be eliminated. And so he was. But not before the good side had paid a huge prize, and some paid more than other, resulting in Ron paying the ultimate prize for their victory, his life.

It had been horrible to see him fall slowly down to earth with his face carrying the mask of death, but somehow she thought that moment, seeing their friend lying on the ground had helped them pull up their last and truest strength and finally enabled them to defeat Voldemort forever.




Thinking all those thoughts made her want to contact Harry and tell him she was okay with her new life it was important that she kept contact to her friends since she didn’t have that many she needed to kept those she had close.


She found Draco in his study where he spent a lot of time reading and writing important looking letters managing the estates and so. She leaned on the doorframe after gently knocking on the wood to get his attention. He sat at his desk dressed in black as always and looked very concentrated at the letter he was writing, but he looked up as he heard her knock.


“I was thinking of inviting a few of my friends over for dinner tomorrow, would that be okay with you?” she asked curious to hear his answer. Back in Hogwarts he hadn’t exactly been the best of friends with Harry and Ginny, who knew how much that had changed over the years?


“That would be fine,” he answered, “then I’ll invite Eliza and Jonathan to come by too.” She smiled at him even though she didn’t know who neither Eliza nor Jonathan was. It sounded only fair that he also invited some of his friends.


“I’ll just call Gin and Harry now then and arrange for Dinny to make a special dinner,” she had already started planning inside her head, “Do you have any special wishes for the menu?”


He shook his head and returned to his letter while Hermione proceeded to the kitchen fireplace. As she took the floor powder the thought struck her that they really did behave like an old married couple the way they had just handled that situation. The thought both amused and scared her.

After just three weeks of marriage they already acted as if they had been together for twenty years even though there was still so much about each other they didn’t know yet.


Both Ginny and Harry immediately agreed to come by for dinner the next day. Obviously they were both very curious to see what the manor looked like and to meet Malfoy again, to see what he had become after all those years and see if he took good care of their friend.

[Hanna Mia Sunrose]

Mind kudiagi häirib see, et nad nii vanad on .. või ma ei tea
Eelmine jutt oli sellesmõttes ägedam.
Aga mind ajas naerma see, kui Draco ütles majahaldjale, et see on mu naine.
Nagu, kahtlane XD
Igatahes, uut!

[Liz-Miia Parker]

Mmmmm. Huvitav siiski, et keegi teeb fice..kui sõda läbi. Mõtlesingi kus Ron on .
Muidu, järgmist siis.