Muggle Marriage Law 51599

Cap

Draco quickly walked through the house. He took in a deep breath. He patted his pants pocket and smiled to himself.

* * *

The ride to the travel point was quiet. The music from the radio was soft and peaceful. Draco watched Hermione the whole time, from when they pulled out of her driveway to when she pulled into the parking stall at the shopping complex near his travel point.

He smiled at her as she turned off the ignition. She gave him a weak smile in return. They sat quietly for a while. Hermione took a deep breath.

She dug into her wallet. She held something in her hand, Draco noted. She looked up at him. She handed him the 3X5 muggle photo.

“My student e-mailed me the picture. I want you to have this,” she looked up at him. “A family photo; so you can remember how dysfunctional we are.”

Draco couldn’t help laughing. Hermione eventually joined him. “We’d better go, Draco,” she said as she opened her door.

Draco had no choice but to follow. He got out of the car and almost had to run to catch up to her. He held the bar door open. They entered. He placed the photo into his pocket and gave it one last pat.

* * *

“Mom, Dad,” he nodded as he entered the large dining room. “Celeste, Mr. and Mrs. Profesi.

“Dean, Ginny,” he said, actually smiling as he headed toward the place setting between his best man and the witch that he had proposed to months ago. Draco ignored the sour look on Celeste’s face. Draco smiled as he looked down at his chocolate cake; Hermione was right, he had made it in time for dessert. He noted that everyone seemed to be done so he quickly gobbled up the sweet tort in three gulps. He took a quick swig of the water in his glass and then nonchalantly wiped his mouth with his napkin as if walking in two hours late was no big deal.

“So, what’s up?” Draco asked.

“This is inexcusable, Lucius,” Cecil Profesi said, throwing his napkin to the table as he stood up signaling his family to depart.

“Look, Cecil,” Lucius Malfoy said calmly. “Everything will be taken care of by tomorrow. We will see you then.”

Mr. Profesi narrowed his eyes at his former Deatheater colleague. He eventually nodded his head in agreement, as he followed his wife and daughter out of the dining room.

Mr. Malfoy looked back at the remaining dinner attendees. He narrowed his eyes at Draco.

“Wow, Hon, look at the time,” Dean said, looking at his empty wrist. He held his hand out to Ginny. “We’d better go as well.”

She got out of her chair gingerly. She nodded at Mrs. Malfoy and Draco before she allowed her husband to lead her out.

“I need to speak with you in my den, Draco,” Mr. Malfoy said tersely.

“Can’t this wait until tomorrow, Father?”

Mr. Malfoy slammed his open hand down on the table causing his wife to jump. Draco studied his father’s face. He stood up and headed towards his father’s den. Mrs. Malfoy grabbed a hold of her husband’s forearm. She looked him in the eye. The glare in Mr. Malfoy’s eyes softened. She was the only one who could ever make him do that.

She kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sure he has a great explanation.”

Mr. Malfoy rolled his eyes. His wife smiled at him before she took her leave. Mr. Malfoy took a deep breath and turned to walk towards his den. ‘Let’s hear that bloody great explanation,’ he thought.

The older Malfoy walked into the den. His son was sitting on one of the couches looking at a small rectangular paper as he turned his wedding band on his chain. Lucius’s face softened a little. It was in this den that he had Father-Son talks with Draco as a child. The young man almost seemed like that small boy he remembered. He took a deep breath as he sat on the opposite couch from his son.

Draco placed the paper at his side and allowed the necklace to hang outside his shirt. He looked up at his father.

“I take it you were with Ms. Granger,” Mr. Malfoy said, interlocking his fingers.

“Yes, I was with my wife.”

“This rubbish has got to stop now, Draco,” his father’s voice boomed. “That Mudblood is not your wife.”

Draco’s face colored. But he found himself taking in a breath and calmed himself down, “According to Wizarding Laws, she still is.”

“Not for long,” Mr. Malfoy said picking up some paperwork from the small coffee table between them. Draco looked at his father a little suspiciously.

“Family Service documents have to be original and undoctored, Father. I tore up the divorce decree before I could sign it. I’m still married to Hermione. I am not marrying Celeste tomorrow,” his voice escalated.

Mr. Malfoy gave him a smirk identical to his own. Draco was slightly taken aback. “You tore up a blank piece of paper, son.”

Draco was speechless for a moment. “What are you talking about, Dad?” he said eying the paperwork that his father had just handed to him.

He gulped as he saw the same parchment as he had torn up the day before. It was seamless, no apparent signs of repairs. He looked back up at his father.

“I asked Mr. Norris for a favor,” the older Malfoy said. “A Time Turner is a wonderful thing. I’m sure Ms. Granger can attest to that.”

“I’m not signing this,” Draco said standing up.

“Sit down, Draco,” the older Malfoy said. Draco hesitated before he sat back down.

“What is that filthy Mudblood lording over you?” Lucius narrowed his eyes at his son.

“Don’t call her that,” Draco said in a measured tone.

“You are signing the divorce decree. Then you’ll sign the marriage license. Celeste has already signed it. Mr. Norris is waiting for me to owl it back to him so he can have the marriage certificate ready for tomorrow morning,” he handed Draco a self inking quill.

Mr. Malfoy’s eyes softened. “I know how difficult it is to be a part of this family, Son. You’ve had to live up to so much. Generations upon generations of Pureblood unions and then the Ministry had to go institute that stupid law.

“Draco, I’m sorry you had to endure that. Marrying that particular muggle born was your mother’s idea. She’s usually right on the nose about things. I’m not quite sure what she was thinking.”

Draco could only laugh. He shut his eyes for a moment. He pictured Hermione’s smile. He finally looked up at his father.

“Draco, everything has righted itself. You helped to repeal the Muggle Marriage Laws. Son, you’re marrying your Hogwarts sweetheart. Draco, this Pureblood union will make both of our families more powerful.

“Draco, you have a familial obligation to take care of,” his father said gesturing to the divorce decree in his son’s hands.

“What did you say?” Draco asked, flinching as he heard his last comment.

“I said you have a duty to this family,” his father reworded his last comment.

Draco looked down at the parchment paper again. He looked at Hermione’s shaky signature. He ran his finger over it, the same way he did the day before. “She said the same thing.”

“What sort of spell does she have over you, Draco?”

“No spell, Dad. She hasn’t practiced magic in years,” the young man gulped.

“Then what the hell is going on?”

“I just found out that she’s just as much in love with me as I am with her,” he laughed a little. “So in love that she signed these divorce papers because she thought I deserved to move on with my life. She even thought Celeste and I make a great couple. Can you believe that, Dad, your ex saying that about your new fiancée?”

Draco looked down at the divorce papers again. He took a sharp breath. He signed them quickly as if it would hurt less. He did the same with the marriage license. He looked up at his father and dropped the two forms onto the coffee table as he stood up.

“It’s getting late. I’m going to turn in,” Draco said as his father stood up as well.

“I’ve got a 10 o’clock wedding to be at tomorrow morning,” the younger wizard started for the door. He felt for his chain. The Wizarding wedding band disappeared after he had signed the divorce decree. He felt a tear roll down his cheek. He took another deep breath.

He turned to face his father. He saw the same grey eyes that he had inherited. “She and you think alike in certain respects,” Draco said. “Family means a lot to her, too.”

The older Malfoy nodded, “Yes, it does. You and Celeste will have a great life together, Draco.”

“Yeah,” Draco said, looking back at where he sat, the small rectangular paper resting on the cushion. “We’ll have blonde haired blue or grey eyed Pureblood prats wreaking havoc at Hogwarts.”

Mr. Malfoy smiled at his son. “Draco, you’ll soon forget about Ms. Granger. Like you said, ‘she wanted you to move on with your life.’”

“She’s got a two year old daughter, Lois. She’s the cutest thing, Dad. You should see her. She looks just like Hermione,” Draco paused. “She’s the coolest two-year old in the world; the nicest, purest, probably even the smartest. She takes after her mother, that way. Thank Merlin, the only things she inherited from her father are her eyes.”

Draco closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. He looked at his father then quietly added, “Good night, Father.”

“Good night, Draco,” Lucius watched his son walk out of the den.

He picked up the divorce decree and the marriage license. He placed both of them in an envelope and headed towards the window where one of his courier owls sat patiently waiting to fly. The older blonde wizard tied the parcel to the bird. He nodded at the owl, which returned the nod before flying off.

Lucius watched as the owl flew off into the distance. He sighed as he walked slowly towards the door. It had been a long day; heck, it had been a long week.

He stopped as the small rectangular paper that Draco had been looking at as he entered the den, caught his eye. He sighed again and went to retrieve it.

He studied the 3x5 thick piece of paper. He flipped it over. The scene in the photo did not move. Then he realized it probably was a muggle still photograph.

He studied the photo as he walked up the stairs to his and his wife’s wing of the manor. It looked like a muggle laboratory, probably Ms. Granger’s classroom, he thought.

His wife was already asleep. He propped the little photo up against his lamp. He changed into his pajamas. He looked at his wife again as he smiled to himself before climbing into bed next to her.

He kissed her on the forehead before turning on his side facing his nightstand. His wife draped her arm over his hip. He smiled to himself again as he reached for the light switch.

He stopped himself. He looked at the photo more closely. Draco sat next to Hermione. Lois, his son had called the little girl, sat on Draco’s lap. Draco was right. The young girl did look just like her mother: dark brown wavy hair up to her shoulders and a large smile. Mr. Malfoy smiled in spite of himself.

Then he sat upright. Mrs. Malfoy stirred. “What’s up, Hon,” she asked still barely conscious.

“Nothing. Go back to bed, Narcy,” her husband said, kissing her again on the forehead.

Lucius’s heart rate increased. He had to take several deep breaths as if he were hyperventilating. What was it that Draco had said? The child had inherited her father’s eyes. “Oh, Merlin,” Lucius said holding the photo more closely. He looked at the picture again wondering if anything else could happen to screw up the already long week.