Unrequited

Contrary to my confident pose, I was actually really quivering inside. I\'d had the idea to be as pompous as I could be - to bully Granger into giving in. One would think that my experience heretofore would\'ve told me that no amount of bullying would make those proud knees buckle to the Malfoy will. What worried me the most was that she would run off and do something foolish. Yes, Hermione is practicality herself, but since we\'ve been entangled, neither of us has exercised our common sense.

I sat in my room and thought a bit. I wasn\'t pleased about the fact that I was to be a teenaged father. (God, what a cliche!) But that child was mine and I wasn\'t going to let any unpedigreed little witch dispose of it without my consent. It was a Malfoy, for good or for ill, and at the end of it, she would be a Malfoy as well.

Now, how best to achieve this was a complete mystery. I\'ve found that backing Granger into a corner tends to work well. We know that bullying, threats or demands don\'t work. That stubborn little Gryffindor spine doesn\'t respond well to coersion of any kind. But if she were given no choice at the end of it...well, that\'s an entirely different tale, now isn\'t it?

But how? At times like this I sometimes wished that Father were still alive for me to consult with. Say what you will about Lucius Malfoy, but the man was absolutely brilliant - even more so when it came to devious acts and unsavoury practices. Now, how would he react to such a conundrum?

I searched my brain and remembered a useful tool that I\'d taken advantage of in the past. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
***************

After Malfoy left me, I curled up into the covers of the hospital bed. I dozed off for a couple of hours, waking when Madam Pomfrey brought lunch. Despite my workaholic attitude, I was enjoying the rest. Madam Pince brought up a stack of books she thought I would like and Professor McGonagall brought me my assignments - with the condition that I would not throw myself into finishing them before time. \'You are in the infirmary to rest, not to exhaust yourself,\' she said to me.

I didn\'t argue, but merely opened the scrolls and set to work. It was near to five o\'clock when Cervantes came swooping the front door. He landed on the bed and didn\'t nip me, for which I was extremely grateful. Just seeing an owl, even my own, makes me somewhat jittery. He dropped the evening Prophet in my lap along with a copy of Witch Weekly.

I unrolled the newsprint and stared in openmouthed horror at the front page.

It was a snap of Draco and I snogging in a hallway. I looked at the photo cap. It was taken by Colin Creevey. I\'ll kill that little golden haired tosser as soon as I see him. The headline accompanying it wasn\'t any better.

\"HOGWARTS HEAD GIRL ENTANGLED WITH PUREBLOOD FALLEN ANGEL.\"

*It has come to the attention of this reporter that Hermione Granger, Hogwarts\' Head Girl and Draco Malfoy, the son of fallen Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy, are in a confirmed romantic partnership. From my source, none other than Malfoy himself, it seems that the two of them have been dating since the beginning of the school year. This makes the latest in the long line of famous wizards Ms. Granger has had relationships with. I\'m sure my readers will know how peremptorily she cast off Quidditch great Viktor Krum for Ronald Weasley. Weasley, as you know, is the son of Arthur Weasley, who is rumoured to be the next Minister of Magic. The girl\'s *friendship* with Harry Potter is well known. My, doesn\'t she move in rarefied circles?

Apparently, the boy Prince of Slytherin has fallen under the spell of this enchantress. Mr. Malfoy says that he\'s been trying to get Ms. Granger to marry him but to no avail. When I asked if this seemed a bit sudden, the rakishly charming blond smiled and admitted to me that he and Ms. Granger were to be parents in less than eight months. Well, you know that *I* was knocked out of my socks!

When this reported wondered aloud if he were betraying the long-standing Malfoy tradition of only marrying purebloods, Mr. Malfoy only laughed. He then charmed me by saying that Malfoys are accustomed to having the best and that Ms. Granger is the best witch of their generation. He then ran down a list of her sterling qualities. Frankly speaking, it made me blush to hear a man speak of a woman in *such* glowing terms. It is my opinion that Ms. Granger could scarcely do better than to marry someone who, not only is so obviously very fond of her, but is also from an established family of impeccable lineage. Not to mention the fact that she liked him well enough to get herself with child by him.

Now, dear Readers, I do ask: what would you do in this situation?

Yours truly,

Mango Franchetta, Society Editor for the Daily Prophet*

I snapped the paper closed furiously. I didn\'t bother to read the Witch Weekly article. I knew it would more of the same lurid tripe inside. How dare he? The little bastard is attempting to make me do what he wants. Damn the man. Now that all eyes are on me, I\'ll never get rid of it. I didn\'t need, nor did I want a child. At least not now.

I felt unmitigated rage filling me up inside. I got up from the bed, grabbed my wand and left the infirmary. The stones were a bit nippy under my bare feet, but I barely noticed. Anger carried me along on a crimson-tinted cloud until I reached the library. I peeped in and saw Draco sitting there, reading the paper and fielding furtive questions from his fellow students. Unusually, Madam Pince was nowhere in sight. No matter if she had been there. Before I knew it my wand was raised and the demon in my life went flipping out of his chair to be suspended upside down.

Another whispered incantation and his clothes began peeling from his body as leaves from an artichoke. A swift glamour was applied and sheer mental torture was at work. I smiled in savage satisfaction as heard Malfoy\'s screams.

It looked as if the flesh and blood were being stripped from his bones as easily as a banana is peeled. The other students were seeing what he was, thus the nosy buggers were getting an eyeful for their catty curiousity. Disgusting yes, disturbing, oh, yes again. I loved it. There were shrieks and the sounds of retching in corners and in bins. The best of all was Draco himself. I do believe the little darling was ready to expire. I think I might have let him if a soft, yet stern voice hadn\'t broken into my concentration.

\"Hermione.\" An old, weighty hand dropped onto my shoulder. \"Stop torturing young Malfoy.\"

I knew that voice. Wretched Dumbledore. Always interfering. Normally I\'m happy to see or hear from the headmaster - except for right now. I ended the spell abruptly and watched Draco drop to the ground, shrieking like a banshee.

\"Yes, sir?\" I enquired in my most innocent voice. There was a small twinkle in Dumbledore\'s eyes even as his visage was stern.

\"Go to my office and wait there whilst I collect Draco.\"

\"Yes, Headmaster.\"

\"The password is \'raisinettes\'.\"

I left and once I turned my back I couldn\'t help the smirk that crossed my face. That was sure to fuck Malfoy up but good. Splendid. Psychological torture was always better than actual physical harm. I made my way to Dumbledore\'s office and gave the password to the gargoyle who let me in without delay. The space was just as I remember it: at once cluttered and spacious, welcoming and cozy. I sat in one of the armchairs opposite the large desk. Phineas Nigellus winked at me from his portrait and settled in to converse.

\"So, I hear you\'ve gotten yourself tangled up with a Malfoy.\" I was somewhat distracted. He looked quite like an older version of Sirius.

\"So I have.\"

\"That\'s the last of the Blacks you\'re holding, too, missy.\"

I hadn\'t thought about that. It gave me pause.

\"Well, I think I hear Dumbledore coming up the stairs. This should be interesting.\" I watched Phineas settled down to eavesdrop on the coming lecture and gloat.

The Headmaster and Draco came through the door. Draco was still a bit twitchy but more or less recovered. Well, recovered enough to glower at me. I gave him a sunny smile. Dumbledore seated himself behind his desk and offered Draco and I lemon drops.

\"No, thank you, sir. But if you would have a bit of chocolate?\" I was hopeful. And I also had the most incredible craving for a Toblerone.

\"Draco, have a seat.\" He motioned Malfoy into the chair next to mine and red ind into a desk drawer and pulled out a small Toby. I was ecstatic and nearly fell onto the candy.

When I caught both men staring at me wide eyed, I slowed down and ate it like a normal human being. \"Sorry. Craving.\"

\"Ah.\" Dumbledore dimpled at me from behind his beard. \"Understandable.\"

\"Sir.\" Draco\'s voice cut through unpleasantly. I frowned at him over my chocolate. \"Let\'s dispense with the pleasantries and get down to business.\"

\"Of course.\" Dumbledore\'s normally dancing blue eyes had gone as serious as slate. \"You can\'t imagine how pleased I was to read of your wonderful news. I just wish that you had seen fit to consult with me before going to the press, Draco.\" The Headmaster had a bit of a twinkle at that. \"I\'ve gotten some very angry letters from parents and the regent\'s board calling for my head and for Hermione to be expelled.\"

\"Expelled? I\'ve less than a year left. You can\'t expel me!\"

\"Indeed, I can\'t. It would be paying back an enormous debt with the worst sort of treachery. But you do see the folly in having an unwed mother running about the corridors, don\'t you?\" Dumbledore looked at me levelly. I knew what was lurking behind those flashing spectacles.

\"Oh no, sir. You cannot expect me to - to marry this, this *person*!\"

\"Indeed I can. It\'s the only reasonable solution.\"

\"Indeed it\'s not, sir! I hate him.\" And I wasn\'t very surprised to find that I meant it.

\"You obviously were able to overcome that emotion to create that child, were you not?\" Dumbledore asserted dryly.

\"Still. It would be an unmitigated disaster for me to marry Malfoy.\"

\"Why, Hermione?\"

\"Ask him.\" I hitched a thumb over to where Malfoy sat, quietly brooding.

\"Well, Draco?\"

\"As you well know, Headmaster, I\'ve been trying to get Hermione to marry me. She refuses. I have no objections to the match.\"

\"Well I bloody well do! Am I to be rushed off to the altar without so much as a by-your-leave?\"

\"Hermione. Would you really want to live the rest of your life being shunned? Do you want to subject your offspring to that? The wizarding world is particularly harsh regarding this.\"

\"Don\'t I know it,\" I muttered. \"What about my parents? I haven\'t even informed them. I was hoping to have it settled so that I wouldn\'t have to tell them.\"

\"I\'ve dispatched a letter to them. Hermes should be returning very shortly with their missive.\" On cue, the owl came tapping at the window. It held a very ordinary white envelope in its beak.

Dumbledore flicked his wand to unlatch the casement and in flew the avian. It dropped the letter in his hand and went to perch next to Fawkes\' cage. The Headmaster opened the envelope and read the contents of the letter.

\"It seems that your parents are, understandably, angry about this turn of events. But they are willing to come up here and hear your side of the story. To that end, I\'ve sent Tonks over to enable the fireplace there to be hooked up to the floo system. They should be here shortly.\" Dumbledore gave me the letter to read. It was as he said.

Before I was prepared, two great thumps came from the unlit grate and out stepped my sooty and livid mater and r. Dr. Dumbledore got up to assist them and give them a good cleaning charm. Livia and Andrew Granger were your ordinary, middle-class dentists. Mother was wearing those tweed trousers from Marks again. Dad had on a blue jumper. Both wore matching expressions of anger and disappointment.

\"Headmaster.\" My father addressed Dumbledore curtly. His eyes searched the room for me and finding me sitting in the chair, swimming in the enormous hospital gown, stalked over.

\"What on earth have you gotten yourself into, Hermione? And why are you in a hospital robe?\" Dad caught my chin and looked at the still healing scabs on my face. \"What happened?\"

Mother was a little slower to react but when she did, her eyes immediately softened. \"Darling.\"

She came over and pulled me into a much-needed hug. I winced and she felt me do so and pulled back. \"What is all of this?\"

\"Why don\'t the two of you sit down?\" Dumbledore conjured up a pair of chairs to sit in. He took his place at his desk. My paremts sat. They gave Malfoy dirty looks and he gave them right back to him.

Dumbledore looked at me to begin telling the story. I didn\'t want to shatter my parents\' illusions anymore than they had been, so I gave them a sanitized version of the events heretofore. They were appropriately pissed with Ron, disappointed with me and enraged at Draco. Basically, they were calling for his head - something which the headmaster would not allow. Just when I thought things couldn\'t get worse, another thump resounded in the room.

Narcissa Malfoy had decided to show up. How wonderful.
**********

When Mother unfolded herself from the flue, I was both relieved and anxious. She would defend me against these...*muggles* but then she would also be absolutely livid with me. Her gimet glare lingered on me before travelling over to Dumbledore, who only smiled inanely, to the Grangers and then resting on Hermione herself.

She shook the wadded up newspaper in her hand. \"What in the bloody hell is going on here?\" Her normally pale-beyond-pale face was mottled red with rage. \"Draco! You are going to marry this-this MUGGLE????\"

At least she didn\'t say mudblood. \"She won\'t have me.\"

I thought Mother\'s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. I certainly played that card right. \"Won\'t have you? She bloody WILL have you. Who in Hades does she think she is? You are a Malfoy, she cannot possibly have any hope of doing any better than that! Besides,\" And here a malicious gleam came into Mother\'s eyes. \"She had you enough to get herself pregnant.\"

Hermione\'s mother jumped up from her seat. \"Look here, you odious hag, don\'t you malign *my* daughter\'s character. Why don\'t you look to your own offspring? He\'s not exactly innocent here.\"

\"Obviously *your* daughter is the temptress. My son would NEVER have sunken so low as to consort with the likes of her!\"

\"You bitch!\" Mrs. Granger slapped my mother so hard she reeled across the room. \"From what I hear, your son lifts his tail for any piece of arse that wiggles his way! And I do mean ANY!\"

I was shocked at what Hermione\'s mother was implying. I looked at Hermione. She had a look of sheepish satisfaction on her face. I knew then she\'d told her mum about my varied adventures amongst the student body. Merely experimentation, really. But still, to have my dirty laundry aired that way...

\"Granger, you didn\'t tell your mother about all of that, did you?\"

\"Let us say that Mother is well-informed about your character, Malfoy.\"

\"You little bitch. I\'m going to marry you if only to make your life hell.\"

\"I\'d like to see you try.\"

Mr. Granger heard my last comment to Hermione over the squawking of the two women. \"Now see here, young man, you\'re not going to lay another finger on my daughter.\"

\"Oh., really?\" I gave him my best sneer. \"I\'ve laid enough on her thus far. I didn\'t see you stopping me then.\"

\"You pompous little prick!\" He leapt from his chair and socked me one right in the eye.

\"SILENCE!!\" Dumbledore\'s voice rose over the din. Everyone stopped dead. The old man conjured up two ice packs, one for me and one for Mother. \"Sit down.\"

Everyone sat, seething silently.

\"It seems here that we have a dilemma. This child needs to be born in wedlock. But the parties here are violently opposed to such a thing, correct?\" He took our continued silence for assent. \"Thus, I propose a compromise. Draco and Hermione will marry.\" He held up a hand to stem the flow of words. They will only stay married until the child is born. Unless, of course, they wish to make it a more permanent arrangement.\"

\"Not bloody likely,\" Hermione muttered.

\"Be quiet, young lady.\" Dumbledore was the sternest I\'d ever seen him. \"This way, everyone gets their way. The child is legally a Malfoy, Hermione and Draco will only be married a short time and then be able to go their separate ways.\"

\"But Albus, how will that work? There\'s no such thing in our world.\" Mother spoke around the ice pack she held to her cheek.

\"You of all people should know that there are ways and there are *ways.*\"

\"Dark magic? I\'m surprised at you.\"

\"Not dark, but decidedly murky. It\'s not as if they\'re committing themselves to Vita Mia, Narcissa.\"

\"True.\" I saw my mother touch the inside of her left wrist. It was the place where I knew her mark resided. My father had a similar mark on the inside of his right wrist. My parents had had Vita Mia performed when they wed. I\'d often taken the ceremony for granted, but when my father fell in service to the Dark Lord and I saw the effect his death had on Mother, I knew then that the rite had serious implications.

\"Is everyone agreed?\" We all nodded. There was something forebidding about Dumbledore and no one wanted to cross him. Especially in light of his providing an excellent solution to the matter.

\"Now then, it shall take a bit of time to gather everything together. I say we schedule the nuptials for Saturday.\"

Hermione\'s mother turned to her. \"Are you sure this is what you want?\"

\"No,\" she replied. \"But what other choice do I have?\"

\"You can always leave here and come back with us.\" Hermione\'s mother\'s eyes were pleading with her daughter to say yes.

\"I can\'t, Mum. I belong here. You know that.\" Hermione was on the verge of tears. And, even though I wanted to thrash her, I also wanted to wipe those silvery drips away. Must be that protective instinct I\'ve heard that expectant fathers get.

\"So you say, but it seems as if it\'s been one big heartache, love.\" She held Hermione\'s hands. \"Every year you end up in the hospital wing for something or other. I just don\'t think it\'s a very safe environment. Especially not for a child to grow up in.\"

\"What about the Muggle world, Mum? Not very safe there either. Besides, I belong more here than I do there. Not doing magic, being what I was born to be, would kill me. I would shrivel inside and you know it.\"

Hermione\'s mother sighed heavily and released her daughter. \"Alright. Your father and I will always be here for you.\"

\"You make it sound as if I\'ll never see you again. Stop being so dramatic. It\'s not practical to get all weepy on me now.

Hermione\'s father laughed. I was startled. He had a deep, booming chuckle. \"Ever the practical one.\"

She gave her dad a self-deprecating grin. \"Not lately.\"

\"Well...things happen for a reason. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.\" He put an arm around Hermione. I was amazed at how supportive a parent could be. My parents supported me as long as my aspirations didn\'t run contrary to their ambitions.

\"Please. Spare me the sentimentality.\" My mother\'s acidic voice cut through the sweet right on cue. \"You just want to take care of your own.\"

My mother\'s words echoed the Malfoy creed - and the reason I was in this farce in the first place.

\"That\'s right.\" Her father answered. \"I can\'t see how the wizard world has taken very good care of my daughter since she set foot in it. I\'d like nothing better than to take her back with me and put her in a good university.\"

\"And live a completely boring, magic-free life.\" I spoke up, surprising myself. \"Is that what you want Hermione?\"

\"You know what I want, Draco.\" She looked at me with those huge golden-brown eyes. And for the first time ever, we completely understood one another.

\"So I think that settles it,\" I said with more authority than I was feeling.

\"I suppose it does.\" Mr. Granger stood up. \"I want weekly updates from you, young lady.\"

Hermione smiled the first real smile I\'d seen on her in quite some time. I\'d forgotten how lit up her face was when she did that. \"Yes, sir.\"

She gave her father a little salute and he pulled her into a huge hug. Her mother did the same. \"Write and tell us what time the wedding is to be. I think I should like for you to wear my mother\'s gown.\"

\"Mum, it\'s not as if it\'s to be a *real* marriage.\"

\"All the same.\"

\"If you insist.\"

\"And I do.\" She kissed Hermione\'s cheek. \"Goodbye my darling.\" They flooed back to wherever they\'d come from.

My mother sat in her chair making sour faces at the Muggle couple. She never could stand overly sentimental people. Which, I suppose, was what made my parents a perfect match. She stood briskly.

\"Now that that\'s settled, I shall want regular reports from you also, Draco. Don\'t forget to come to the Manor and pick out a suitable ring. I don\'t want you using the emeralds. Don\'t waste them on a temporary arrangement.\"

And with that, she flooed back home, leaving Hermione and I with Dumbledore, who was, oddly enough, grinning like a loon. Or perhaps not oddly, considering it was him.

\"Excellent. Now, Hermione, I want you to get yourself back to the hospital wing. Floo there. You\'d be assailed by your schoolmates if you were to walk back there. Draco, go back to your rooms and begin to make arrangements.\"

\"Yes, sir.\" We said in unison. Hermione flooed back to the infirmary and I left the office.
********

In the space of perhaps an hour, I\'d been outed by none other than Malfoy himself and found myself engaged to him. If this didn\'t turn my little world topsy-turvy, I didn\'t know what would.

This little bit of invading flesh was making bigger ripples than an asteroid landing in the north Atlantic. I rubbed my stomach a bit, looking at the nearly non-existent pooch. It was causing more problems than I had anticipated. And now I was to be stuck with the kid. I didn\'t even *want* a child right now.

What in the world was I going to do with a baby?

I wasn\'t even sure that I liked children. Potions, books and research interested me far more than most other people did. A kid would just be in the way and underfoot. I would be constantly worried about it getting into poisonous things. Or making sure that it didn\'t knock anything over or break anything or just generally getting hurt. I\'d never have time to brew even the most fundamental of household potions, let alone complicated potions research.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn\'t go running to mummy and daddy anymore. I was legally 18 due to the the whole time-turner fiasco. Rotten luck, that. Then again, no one could force me into this thing, if I was so against it. But there was nowhere in the world I could go. My choice of companions assured that I would have no anonymity whatsoever in the wizarding world. I wouldn\'t contemplate going back to the muggle world. If I were to go back and be the closest thing to a Potions Mistress, I\'d tear my hair out in the first week. That\'s what frustrated me so much about the muggle/wizard separation. Ordinary muggles died every day of diseases that wizards had conquered millenia ago.

Then again, the mores and morals of the wizard world were still stuck in the dark ages. This whole insistence that a witch has got to be married or a stay a ruddy spinster was just so Victorian. I got up from where I sat cross-legged on the bed and took out my wand.

And I, Hermione *never make a fuss* Granger, indulged in a full out hissy fit.

Beds and chairs were overturned. Windows rattled and lightning flashed. I was so thoroughly frustrated. When I\'d finally calmed down enough to breathe and think clearly, I was appalled at the damage I\'d done.

\"Oh, Lord. Did I do all of this?\"

\"Yes, you did,\" came a very amused male voice from the doorway.

I turned to see Snape lounging there, looking at me as if he were ready to shout with laughter. That was an expression I\'d not seen there unless he were delivering an arse-load of detentions. Thus, I was annoyed with his barely-contained snickering.

\"Well?\" I snapped. \"What is it that you require?\"

He swished his wand and cleaned the mess up. \"We *are* a bit touchy today, aren\'t we? I\'d heard that pregnant women are emotional.\"

\"Not today, Professor Snape. I\'ve had about all I can stand.\" I sat back on the bed, fully composed. If he hadn\'t seen it before, he was seeing it now. Hermione Granger was in a killing mood and there was nothing he or anyone else could do to change it.

\"Ha. Bravo, Miss Granger.\" He gave a short round of applause. \"If I didn\'t know any better I\'d say that the little Gryffindor was ready to bare her claws.\"

\"Cats kill snakes all the time.\"

\"What a wonderfully Machiavellian thing to say. You\'ve been studying Lucius Malfoy, haven\'t you? Or should I say, *his son*?\"

\"You\'re a right bastard, Snape.\"

\"Twenty points from Gryffindor for being so familiar. It is Professor, to you, *Miss* Granger.\" He slithered his way from the door and came to stand in front of me. \"Enough with the pleasantries. You\'ve deduced that I\'m here for a reason.\"

I nodded, he continued. \"That reason is this: allow this marriage to happen.\"

\"Why should I?\"

\"For all the obvious reasons and those not to obvious to you.\"

\"Such as?\"

\"You\'ve been concentrating only on yourself and what this would do to you. A trait totally unlike you, but not unexpected under the circumstances. Do you realize what the repercussions would be if a Muggleborn witch and the scion of the most staunchly Pureblooded family were wed?\"

I silently admitted that I hadn\'t given the matter a damn bit of thought.

\"It could mean the end of this muggleborn/pureblood nonsense. We\'re all wizards and witches, in the end. It\'s only logical to not exclude Muggleborns. The wizarding population is, was and always be on the wane. To increase our numbers by accepting the muggleborn among us, can only make us stronger - increase our power. Your child would be the bridge between our two worlds, Miss Granger.\"

I could see where his little speech led and I wasn\'t liking it one bit. \"You\'re still a Death Eater, through and through, aren\'t you?\"

\"Not in the least. I am a realist. I always was and I always shall be. Whatever is best for wizard kind, I advocate. This is what Voldemort and Lucius could never understand. That for wizards to truly be victorious was to lift the veil between us and *them*. It is so simple, but so utterly beyond them. If you were to succeed now, in your plan to abort that child it would set the wizarding and the muggle world upside down. The few remaining purebloods, half-bloods and so forth would be so incensed at your actions that they would be ready to wage a war so terrible that the end would never come. Have you never wondered about the lack of information during the so-called Dark Ages? What about the Black Plague? The results of an ongoing struggle between Muggles and Wizards. There were those who managed to end it by withdrawing and eradicating all evidence of any interaction between the two kinds. But I know there is a sort of...leniency, shall we say, on the part of muggles now. That is why this is a prime opportunity, a golden chance, to reconcile the two parts.\"

I was shocked and not just a little impressed at the thought processes of Snape. He wanted what all of us wanted in our secret hearts. The end of the war with Voldemort hadn\'t made Muggle-Wizard relations any better than they had been. If anything, there was even more distance placed between the two kinds. Still, I didn\'t like the way Snape talked of Muggles being some sort of macabre subspecies of human.

\"And just why should I let myself or my offspring become the poster children of this brave new world you\'re proposing?\"

\"Because you\'d be repaying a debt, Hermione. And considering who you owe, I would say that you have a rather large obligation.\" Snape looked at me levelly and I knew exactly who he meant - old, doddering and most decidedly powerful Albus Dumbledore. Damn the man. He was right, but I hated zealots. Especially the dungeon dwelling, potions brewing kind.

\"I can\'t very well slip away and have some secret abortion now, *Professor*. Besides, I\'m warming up to the fact that Lucius Malfoy\'s line will now forever be mixed with that of a Muggle. The thought alone is sending me into a near-swoon.\"

I saw Snape\'s thin lips curl up into a self-satisfied smirk. Apparently the thought gave him no small measure of pleasure. I must admit, visions of Lucius spinning in his grave consoled me more than anything anyone, up until this point, had said or done.

\"I\'d deduced as much. Am I to attend the your upcoming nuptials?\"

\"I\'ll send you an engraved invitation.\"

\"I shall depend upon it.\" And with that, he left.

I flopped back onto the mattress and curled up. Verbally sparring with Snape was an exhausting enterprise. The man had the uncanny ability to suck all of the intelligence out of your brain until all that was left was a quivering mass of jelly. I felt as if I\'d managed to hold my own against the wily old Slytherin. That was all to the good. It meant that I was ready for whatever Malfoy wanted to throw at me.

I\'d gotten myself into this mess. Now I had to deal with the consequences. As Grandmother Granger was wont to say, \"If you lie with dogs, you\'ll get up with fleas.\" I must say, this was a rather large flea to have arisen with.

Like it or not, there was now another person who carried on the Granger genes. Even as coerced as I felt, I couldn\'t help but be a little gratified by it. I was still a little freaked out by the situation. Although, it could\'ve been worse. My parents could\'ve disowned me. But they actually stood by me. I don\'t think I could\'ve handled it if they\'d totally shunned me. I smiled, thinking of my ordinary Muggle dentist parents taking on the all-powerful Malfoys. I don\'t think I\'ve loved them as much as I do at this very moment.

Now...now I turned my attentions to other matters. I had a shotgun wedding to plan and ridicule to face down. I was surprised that neither Harry nor Ron had come with a barrage of questions and accusations. I suppose I had the staff to thank for that. I got out of bed again and transfigured my nightdress into something more appropriate for the situation.

The flannel became a soft black knit dress with long, tight sleeves and a slightly off the shoulder neckline. I made my house slippers into plain ballet flats. Yes, I know it was something a femme fatale would wear, but somewhere between my fourth and fifth year I\'d discovered that what one wears sometimes makes more difference than what one knows. Securing my hair with an elastic, I left to go take my very late dinner in the Great Hall.
********

I don\'t think I\'d ever seen Granger looking as delicious as she did when she stepped into the Hall. The black dress hugged her slight form and the colour played up the translucent quality of her skin. Madame Pomfrey had been able to get rid of the scarring on her face and so there was nothing to mar it anymore.

There was a new toughness on her face I hadn\'t noticed. She heard the hush falling on the entire room as she walked in. She gave an audible sniff of rueful amusement as her mouth curled into a half-smile. Granger kept her head high and walked to her place at the Gryffindor table. When she sat down, the murmuring started up again. She bore the questioning glances and furiously working mouths admirably.

For my part, I was ready to Avada Kedavra more than a few of my schoolmates. They were the most awful gossipy little people. My Slytherins were the worst of the bunch. Blaise was whispering to Millicent and casting me furtive looks. Pansy was ignoring me outright. I sup she she saw all of this as a massive betrayal. Oh well. She\'ll recover. And if not, that\'s her fault. The rest were staring at me. Some had shock and revulsion on their faces. Others were looking at me with something resembling awe. I did, after all, manage to pry the tightest knickers in the school off.

I gave myself a mental slap for thinking that with such smugness. It was that persistence which got me into this mess in the first place. And now I was to be a husband to that little shrew. The only time she had shown me anything resembling sweetness was when we were bed together. Even then there was less sweetness and more a \"I\'ll show you what I can do\" mentality.

I was guilty of it, too. The both of us had grown in our ego and our arrogance. It would take a disaster of this magnitude to pull us down from our pedestals. Thinking of that made me look at the girl - no, woman - fielding nosy questions with all the aplomb of a queen. She looked up suddenly and caught my eyes, caught me staring at her.

For the first time in a fortnight, she grinned at me. A smile filled with regret and bitter amusement at the whole thing, but a smile, a *real* smile nonetheless. I felt the strangest thing happen. I felt some of the empty spaces inside me fill up a bit. Not a lot, just a bit. Things didn\'t seem so bleak. Perhaps we *could* get through this after all.

That\'s when I felt it.

She was sitting there all the time, maintaining her composure - or so I thought. When through the air came a whizzing and a very loud smack. It landed right on my cheek.

\"Cor, Draco. What is that on your face? Looks like a handprint, that does.\" Goyle had the bright and jangling idea to point out that the miserable little witch managed to slap me silly from fifty feet away.

\"Brilliant observation there Goyle. Did you come up with that all by yourself?\" I sneered. Too bad my sarcasm was lost on the lunkhead.

I eyed the little swot at her table, picking at her dinner, with a phony smile pasted on her face. I knew what that look meant. I\'d seen it once before. It was when she\'d slapped me back in our third year. She was barely holding it together. Apparently, venting some of her frustration on me wasn\'t enough to stem the tide. There was a wicked wellspring of violence in Hermione Granger. I\'m man enough to admit that it intrigued me.

The crowd of student edged closer and closer to her and I could hear voices all across the student body rippling louder and louder. The smile slipped a little and then fell altogether. Just when I thought that Granger was about to be suffocated by the gossiping of her schoolmates, her voice cried out.

\"ENOUGH!\" There was enough power and stentorian authority in that one word to make the entire hall go silent. Even the ghosts stopped their meandering in mid-air. She got up and walked out of the room, leaving wide eyes in her wake. I found myself being impressed in spite of myself.

All heads then turned to me. I gave a charmingly rakish shrug as if to say \"Women!\" and then left to go find her. I head the mutterings begin as soon as I left the chamber.

I caught up with her easily. She was nearly shaking with anger. \"You! You did this to me!\"

I stepped back. \"I don\'t think it was I who forgot the potion. Besides, I wasn\'t in that bed alone, now was I, Granger?\"

\"No, damn you. But you could\'ve just left me the hell alone! Why did have to tell the whole bloody world what happened?\"

\"Because, like it or not, you\'ve got something that belongs to me. And as often as you and countless others have told me, I\'m a selfish prick. I want it; it\'s mine.\"

\"No matter if you ruin my life and my repuation in the process?\"

\"You can always break your wand, Granger.\" I saw the angry desperation in her face. \"But you won\'t, will you? You\'re secretly pleased, aren\'t you? Deep down in that wormy little Muggle soul of yours you\'re really keen on the fact that you\'re not just one of billions of ordinary Muggles - with absolutely nothing special about them. Magic makes you special, makes you feel good about yourself, doesn\'t it?\"

I moved closer to her, towering over her, seeing her wide honey coloured eyes staring at me. \"Yes, that\'s it. You\'re not just plain Hermione Jane anymore, are you? No, you\'re Hermione Granger, Sorceress Extraordinaire, the brightest witch to come out of Hogwarts in an Age, best friend to Harry bloody Potter and helped bring about the end of Voldemort\'s second rise.\"

She had tears in her eyes as everything I said hit home. \"No, you won\'t break your wand. You won\'t go back to that humdrum existence. You\'d be bored to death within six months.\" I grinned cunningly. \"That\'s why you\'re going to marry me. That way you get the best of everything. You get to keep your sparkling reputation, your life here in the wizarding world and you get a rich, notorious and, if I do say so myself, devilishly handsome husband in the bargain.\"

I began backing her into the hourglasses where the House points were tallied. \"If I were you, I\'d count myself damned lucky. Imagine: all the prestige of the Malfoy name, even tarnished as it is, at your fingertips. All the money you could ever want. Security, the freedom to do anything you wanted, even become a fully fledged Potions Mistress. All you have to do is this one little thing.\"

I ran my finger down the line of her jaw and saw her eyes drop closed. Bingo. I put my lips to her ear. \"You will do this for me Granger. Won\'t you?\" I was rewarded by the feeling of her nodding against my cheek. \"Good,\" I purred, pleased with my powers of persuasion.

I felt a light tap tap on my thigh and stepped back. The little witch had drawn her wand and was currently running it up and down my leg. She was grinning at me perversely through those crystalline tears.

\"You think you\'re so smooth, don\'t you, Malfoy?\" She brought the wand up into duelling position. \"You know, I still don\'t think I\'ve paid you enough in return for that lovely prank you played on me.\"

\"If you think I\'m going to fight you when you\'re pregnant then you\'re stupider than I thought.\" I don\'t know where the words came from, but judging by the red spark behind her pupils, calling her stupid was a grave error in judgment.

\"Don\'t.\" A beam of red light shot out and stunned me. \"Call.\" Another jet of light, setting all my nerve endings to jangling unpleasantly. \"Me.\" And another. \"Stupid.\" Soon it seemed like every bit of skin, muscle and bone was twitching on fire.

She stood over me, watching me mercilessly. The flames picked their way around my body and I ached so bad I wanted to vomit. \"Let us get one thing perfectly clear. No, I will not deny that the marriage will afford me all the amiable, innocent and, let\'s face it, not so innocent pleasures. No, I will not break my wand. Not for you or anyone else. But the arrangement is strictly temporary. I will not have you lording it over me. Do you understand? You can be so very vile sometimes.\"

She walked around my jerking body complacently, watching as the spell brought me to my knees. I could hear her humming approvingly at my distress. The worst part was that there was nothing I could do about it. I just had to sit there and take it. She leaned down and whispered to me.

\"You can be so very persuasive sometimes. But know this: you cannot cow me into your bidding.\" She ended the spell abruptly and I jerked to the floor, still twitching.