Love Thy Enemy

CHAPTER 11: Friendly Advice







“Hermione?” Ron Weasley thrust the billiards cue forward, missing the cue ball and tearing through the green felt on the table.







“Ron! This table is brand new!” Harry yelled, reaching for his wand and repairing the damage done to his new toy. “Hey, Mione.” He said smiling.







“What….I mean you look….wow.” Ron said, his face reddening slightly.







“Thank you, Lucius bought me new clothes.” Hermione said as she tossed her little handbag into a chair.







“You looked bloody fantastic last night Hermione.” Harry said, lining up his next shot. “Everyone was talking about it; Kingsley was rather surprised to see you looking so good, and on Lucius’s arm.”





“That should please Lucius; it was what he was hoping for. He means to make a point of hauling me out with him to prove that I will not be used to control him.” She picked up Ron’s glass, sniffed to make certain that the soda wasn’t fortified with something else, and took a sip.





“How did you end up married to that git?” Ron asked, trying to find an open shot on the table. “I mean, how do you to go from practically dueling in public to married?”





“I ask myself the same question over and over again. It’s my own fault for letting my temper get the best of me.” Hermione said,







“So what, is it like a real marriage?” Ron asked, missing his shot.





“It’s perfectly legal, but not conventional.” Hermione held out her hand, sliding the diamond ring forward to show them the band. “There were no words, no vows, they told us to step forward and then put these rings on us and announced us wed. We can’t take them off; we can’t even cut off our finger to be free of them.” She said, sliding her diamond back into place.





“Did they provide you with the boulder you wear with it?” Harry asked with wide eyes.







“No, Lucius said the band was ugly and he wouldn’t have people saying he couldn’t afford for his wife to have a decent ring, so he went shopping and bought me a small fortune in jewelry.”





“And the clothes?” Harry asked, indicating the obviously new, expensive clothes she was wearing.





“He set my other clothes on fire, then took me shopping for new ones.” She flopped down into a chair and watched the boys shoot pool while they talked with her. They both seemed to think it was funny that he had burned her old clothes.





“So tell me about the terms set for this marriage, Kingsley wasn’t very forthcoming with the details.” Harry said.





“These stupid rings have an enchantment on them. If we even think about harming one another we find ourselves physically locked together. The only way to break free is to kiss, but we have to mean it, it has to be a kiss of mutual affection or shared desire.”







“No kidding? How have you managed so far?” Harry asked, curious.





“It doesn’t say we have to have desire for one another, so we usually just debate a point until we’ve reached a conclusion where we both desire the same outcome, and then kiss.”





“What else do the stipulations require?” Ron asked, heading to the bar and pouring a shot of whiskey into his soda.





“We have to live together, sleep together, socialize together and we have to remain faithful. The only way to break the enchantment is if we fall in love with one another.”





“You’re sleeping with him?” Ron asked, sputtering his drink down the front of his shirt.





“I sleep next to him.” Hermione said laughing. “The rings will pull us together if we try to sleep in separate beds.”





“So that’s why he wanted to see Arthur.” Harry said. He looked at Hermione and frowned. “Mione, I think it may be my fault you are married to Lucius.”





“You’re an auror Harry; you are only responsible for arresting us.” Hermione laughed.





“No, Kingsley asked me why I thought you and Lucius were always fighting. I told him that you were both very clever, intelligent, passionate people and that maybe if you hadn’t had such a volatile past and weren’t so far apart in age you might have been a good couple.”





“He said almost those exact words in court.” Hermione said softly.





“It was a joke, I didn’t think he would take me seriously, I just didn’t want him to send you to Azkaban!” Harry squat down in front of her and clasped her hands. “I’m so sorry.”





“It’s not your fault Harry. This is all my own doing and I will deal with it.”





“Is he cruel to you?” Ron asked.





“No, he isn’t. We argue a lot, almost all the time. There are times when he is almost sweet, but he opens his mouth and ruins it.” She laughed. Hermione smiled when she saw Ginny enter the room.





“So, this is the new Hermione Malfoy everyone is talking about today.” Ginny smiled as she made her way across the room. She kissed Harry’s cheek and sat in a chair beside Hermione.





“Where were you last night?” Hermione asked, hugging her friend.





“I had a match in Bulgaria. I’m sorry I missed it though; it’s all I’ve heard about since I got back! Rumor has it there will be a photograph of you and old Lucy snogging on the front page of tomorrow’s Prophet!” Ginny leaned back in her chair and crossed one long leg over the other. She played Women’s Professional Quidditch and frequently traveled, leaving poor Harry on his own. Thankfully Kreature was still grumping around to tend to the house Ginny had painstakingly redecorated.





“I wouldn’t doubt it, that Skeeter bitch was watching us most of the night.” Hermione frowned.





“So, how is it being married to the wealthiest man in wizard history?” Ginny asked.





“Never dull.” Hermione said, then closed her eyes and began to cry.





“Whoa! Hey now, what’s this all about?” Ginny sat up and reached for her friend. Hermione was hot tempered and a bit of a know it all, but she was not emotional, she did not cry easily. Ron and Harry began slowly backing out of the room. They couldn’t deal with Hermione’s tears; the few times they had been faced with them had torn her two dearest friends apart.





“I’m going insane Ginny.” She sniffed into her friends shoulder.





“I overheard you talking to the boys. Is he abusing you?” She asked, fearing what the former deatheater was capable of.





“No, maybe it would be easier to bear if he were.”





“What could be so bad that you would rather he abuse you?” Ginny asked, pulling back and handing Hermione a tissue from her pocket.





“You heard the terms right? That he has to kiss me to release the spell once we are bound?”





“Yes, is he a really bad kisser? Bad breath?” Ginny asked, trying to lighten the mood.





“No, he’s really good Ginny, better than anything I have ever known and I’m responding to it more enthusiastically than I should.” Hermione groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Maybe I’m a slut and I didn’t know it.”





“A slut? You have to have sex Hermione, a lot of sex with a lot of people to be a slut.” Ginny laughed.





“How can I be turned on by someone I hate? How can I enjoy it so much?” She asked.





“Same reason I can still shag Harry even when I’m ready to strangle him. The fact that I’m mad at him doesn’t take away from the fact that the little sod is sexy as all hell.” Ginny said, smiling at Hermione’s horrified expression.





“Harry? Sexy?” Hermione didn’t see it. Harry was….Harry. Sweet, adorable, clueless Harry, her best friend in the entire world.





“To each her own Mione. I wouldn’t worry so much about it. I have every reason in the world to want to see Lucius Malfoy dangling from a short piece of rope, but even I can see that he has sex appeal.”





“The stipulations say we have to remain faithful, and he wants to discuss our physical relationship. Ginny, what am I suppose to do?”





“Whatever feels good to you Hermione. Take all the good you can from this situation, you’ve always been able to find the good in everything, in everyone. Maybe you can find something in him too.”