Muggle Marriage Law 51599

Chap

Draco drummed on his shirtfront, tapping the fabric over the thin cylindrical wedding band he wore on the silver rope chain around his neck. He snuck a peek at Hermione who had her eyes shut. He took in a deep breath as the thought of how beautiful she looked crossed his mind.

He quickly looked away as she opened her eyelids. He stood up abruptly heading towards the counter. “What the hell is taking so long? I thought this waiting thing would have ended in Hawaii.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at his comment. It was her turn to fidget with her wedding band. She pulled it to the tip of her ring finger and twirled it slowly. Draco watched her do this. He returned to his seat.

“So what are you planning to do after,” Draco asked sincerely as he locked eyes with her.

She took in a breath before she replied, “After we sign the divorce papers?”

It was Draco’s turn to take in a breath, “Yeah.”

She stopped twirling the gold band and replaced it at the base of her finger. “Maybe sleep in a day or two.”

“You should stay awhile. Say, ‘hi,’ to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Dean and Ginny would hex me if they thought I kept you from visiting them before you left.”

Hermione took a moment to answer. “I really . . . I really don’t feel up to seeing them,” she said with a slight hitch. “This was a business trip, Draco.”

“Business trip?” he smirked.

“I don’t think I can face them, right now,” she said looking him in the eyes. “Besides, I don’t want to get in the way this weekend; what with all the wedding festivities going on.”

Draco became slightly paler than he usually was. He quickly recovered, “Going back then?”

“Yeah,” she said weakly. “Lois will be waiting.”

“And Jon,” Draco added observing her reaction.

“Yes,” she gulped.

He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment and then softened his glare as he saw her eyes water. He gently took hold of her left hand, caressing her ring finger.

“You two aren’t really married, are you?” he asked, his eyes piercing through hers.

She shut her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek. He wiped it gently away. “He’s not her father is he?”

She looked at him wide eyed, “No.” She looked down, afraid that he put two and two together.

“Do I know him?” he breathed, turning her chin up with his fingers so he could look into her eyes.

He was unaware of the truth. “It doesn’t matter,” she breathed almost in relief. “It’s not your problem, Draco.”

“Did he hurt you? Did he abuse you?” he asked.

“We both decided to go our separate ways.”

“He doesn’t know about her, does he?” he asked.

She gulped. She didn’t know what to say for a while. “Yes he does,” she answered truthfully.

“You two can get back together. He can help to take care of her,” he said a little frantically.

Hermione stood up a little wobbly. “He has his own life, now,” she said quietly, looking up at Draco as he himself stood up. “And I have mine.

“We were too different,” she found it hard to breathe.

“Did you love him?”

She looked up at him. Tears welled up in her eyes again. “It doesn’t matter, anymore.”

“Yes it does,” he said, thinking of ways to make sure that this guy owned up to his responsibilities. He asked her again, “Did you love him?”

“Yes,” she said quietly.

“She means everything to me,” she said looking down at her hands. “I want to do right by her. I see . . . her father in her all the time.

“She’s going to be smart and athletic like him. She’s a bit more humble than he is.”

They both smiled. He wiped her cheek again for her.

“She has her father’s eyes,” she said smiling and then turned quickly away from him. A look of shock crossed her face as she kept her eyes on Mr. Norris’s door.

“Why is it taking Mr. Norris so long?” she asked quietly, almost pleadingly. She hoped Draco missed her little blurt.

Meanwhile, Draco’s eyes began to flash as he replayed her last comment in his head. His breathing was deep. Hermione looked straight into his eyes, knowing he had come to the correct conclusion.

They both looked up surprised as Mr. Norris’ door opened up. A short bespectacled wizard in a simple set of robes entered the small waiting room.

“Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,” the shorter, older wizard greeted them, laughing good-naturedly, “Thought I’d address you by that for the last time. Please step into my office and we’ll get to signing those papers.”

Draco locked on Hermione’s gaze. He turned to the older wizard. “Could you hold that thought, Mr. Norris? I haven’t had the chance to show my wife my office yet.”

Hermione shut her eyes for a second. She looked up at Draco’s grey eyes. “We can sign those papers first, Draco,” she said almost pleadingly.

“If you’ll excuse us, Mr. Norris,” Draco took a gentle hold of Hermione’s elbow.

“Of course,” Mr. Norris smiled, “You’ve waited this long.”

Hermione looked forlorn at Mr. Norris before Draco ushered them out the door. Hermione felt as if her whole world was crashing down on her. Draco pulled her into the lift and depressed the button for the 51st floor.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment as the lift zipped quickly upwards. She shut her eyes, as she felt a little queasy as the speed of the elevator was getting to her. Draco was used to the speed of the lift. He watched her; Merlin, she was beautiful, he thought. The lift stopped at the desired floor. Draco held the door open. “Hermione,” he said softly extending his hand.

Hermione reluctantly took it. He led her out to what seemed like a lobby. “This is the 51st floor lobby. The only way up to the ten penthouse offices is through here.”

He led her to another lift. He took out what appeared to be equivalent to a muggle card key. He waved it in front of the scanner and placed his right thumb on the pad next to it. The lift doors opened. He nudged her gently into the compartment. He pressed the 10PH button.

“One actually needs one of these card keys to get up to the penthouses,” he looked at her. “You don’t need one to go down, though.”

The elevator wasn’t as fast as the first one. Hermione, though, kept her eyes shut, trying to avoid Draco’s gaze. The doors finally opened to a large lobby as Hermione opened her eyes. She took in a deep breath.

Draco walked ahead of her. She almost thought about going back down the elevator without him as the doors started to close. She looked down before following him reluctantly.

There was a young wizard sitting behind a counter looking a bit anxious as he flipped through paperwork. His look brightened as he saw his supervisor enter the room. “Mr. Malfoy,” the young wizard stood up as Draco and Hermione approached the counter.

“Steven,” Draco nodded, “I want you to meet my wife, Hermione.”

“I thought you were marrying Ms. Profesi,” Steven asked as he shook Hermione’s hand.

“Ex-wife,” Hermione said.

“My wife and I,” Draco began.

“Ex-wife,” Hermione interjected weakly as Steven looked from Draco to Hermione.

Draco hid a smile, “My wife and I have a lot to talk about in my office. I don’t want us to be disturbed.”

“Uh, Mr. Malfoy, your meeting downstairs in Mr. Thomas’s office is in an hour, Sir.”

“Thanks for the reminder, Steven,” Draco said as he ushered Hermione into his office.