Taking Advantage

The next afternoon, rather than wait to meet Hermione at the tea shop as planned, Draco decided to find her office at Gringots and prove a point to Goldstein. After intimidating his way past the reception witch, Draco made his way to the curse-breakers\' division. It was a good thing to be so familiar with Hermione\'s workplace, Draco decided, pleased for the first time that so many of the Malfoy relics he had found hidden in the mansion\'s dungeons and attics since his parents\' deaths were cursed.



Granger\'s office was clearly marked, but just as he was about to knock on the open door and ask permission to enter, he heard Goldstein\'s voice.



“But Hermione,” the wizard asked. “I really need a chance to talk to you privately. Why can\'t you just owl your lunch date and reschedule? This is important, and I\'m sure Ginny or Harry wouldn\'t mind, and we both know Lavender isn\'t letting Weasley out of her sight until after the wedding.”



"I already told you, Anthony," Hermione began, ignoring the pain mention of Ron\'s upcoming wedding always caused her. "I have other plans. We can talk another time, tomorrow perhaps."



Hermione already knew that her hopes of avoiding an unpleasant scene with Anthony were in vain. She was going to have to be very clear about her lack of interest in a romantic relationship with him, or he was going to pester her forever. Observant he was not.



Deciding that he couldn\'t ask for a more amusing time to make his entrance, Draco called out, “Ready for our lunch, Granger?” before sweeping through the open door.



Seeing her chance to escape the inevitable one last time, Hermione readily agreed, excused herself from Anthony, and gathered up her wand and cloak before allowing Malfoy to lead her out of the wizarding bank.



An hour later she was nearly as speechless as Anthony had been when Malfoy so smoothly outmaneuvered him in her office.



“You think we should do what?” she screeched. “That\'s... that\'s...”



“That\'s the best plan you\'ve heard yet, and you know it, Granger,” Draco finished. “In case you had a hard time following my arguments, let me reiterate them.



Point one: In nine days the Ministry will without a doubt pass a law requiring you to marry a pureblood and me to marry a half-blood or muggle-born.



Point two: Neither of us is with anyone or has any attractive prospects.



Point three: If we wait until the law is passed, we will be forced into an archaic wizarding marriage ceremony with no chance of escape even if the law is later repealed.



Point four: Even if we get married in the ceremony of our choice before the law is passed, wizarding marriages cannot be ended if children are produced.



Conclusion: We both need to get married to someone we trust not to want to stay married to us, and we must both do so within the next 9 days if we want any chance at ever controlling our own destinies.



Now I ask you, is there anyone you are more certain won\'t try to trick you into staying married than me? Goldstein, perhaps? How long do you think it would be before your darling Anthony would sabotage your monthly potion to catch you a frizzy-haired little Ravenclaw get?”



“But... but...” Hermione sputtered quite unlike herself.



“I\'m really disappointed in your reaction, Granger,” Draco needled. “I had expected logical arguments about my need for a prolonged stay in St. Mungo\'s mental ward at the very least, and all I\'m getting is stuttered but-but-buts.”



“Listen, Malfoy,” Hermione tried again irritated into clarity this time. “I\'m not going to say that your points don\'t have merit, but I haven\'t given up the hope that I will find someone acceptable before the deadline.”



Hermione didn\'t mention that she still held out the tiniest sliver of hope that Ron would break free of Lavender\'s clutches and see what a prat he was when she was around. Could he really prefer that simpering idiot to one of his best friends? Apparently he could, but Hermione was still having a hard time believing it. She supposed that that was why her attempts to find an alternative kept going badly. Maybe if she had given Anthony a real shot instead of always comparing him to Ron in the back of her mind he would have been more appealing to her.



“In nine days, Granger?” he sniffed interrupting her thoughts. “Merlin, I thought you had better sense than that. Look, why don\'t we pretend as though you have given up that hope just for the sake of argument. What about my offer to marry you to get us both out of the marriage law market do you have issues with?



Let\'s figure out our differences just in case you do eventually give up hope. I\'ll have my barristers draw up a pre-nuptual agreement, and if you haven\'t found someone within the next week, we\'ll sign it. If you have, I\'ll go ahead with my second choice. She\'s a bit younger than I\'d like, but I suppose I could find some entertainment value in marrying a girl straight out of the school room. At least I wouldn\'t have to put up with a constant struggle for dominance in my own home if I married her.”



“I suppose that\'s a reasonable offer, Malfoy,” Hermione admitted. “Let\'s see, where to begin? First of all, I would question why I had to concern myself with possible pregnancy, because if I married you I wouldn\'t be consumating the marriage.”



“Ahh, Granger, that\'s where you\'re wrong. I happen to have an advanced copy of the law, and while there is no provision to prevent barely pre-law marriages, there is a provision for unconsumated marriages. They will be magically annulled as of January 1st, and the participants in those \'sham\' marriages will be added to the lists of prospective spouses.”



“No,” groaned Hermione. “Well, alright, I suppose one time is unavoidable, but why is potion sabotage a long-term concern for either of us?”



“In addition to annulling unconsumated unions, there is a mandatory weekly make-little-witches-and-wizards-for-the-good-of-wizarding-kind session for everyone under the age of 60. Anyone who doesn\'t participate is in danger of losing his or her wand and having each of the next four sessions observed by a ministry official.” Draco explained.



“Observed?” Hermione shrieked. “Observed! The nerve!”



“Quite right,” Draco agreed. “You begin to see why I\'ve invited you here today. They can and will make us marry by Valentine\'s Day, or they will choose our spouses for us. They can and will demand intimacy with these spouses. What they may not be able to do is force us to stay in these marriages if we don\'t have children, and I suspect I\'m not the only one stock-piling the ingredients for the montly potion. Am I right?



I\'m also betting that the backlash from this law is going to be crippling to the current administration, and I\'m willing to bet that the next Minister of Magic will make repealing the law his first order of business. I just want to be sure that I\'m able to take advantage of that eventuality.”



Draco knew he had her now. She was nodding along with his words.



“Are you with me?” he asked.



“Yes,” she answered, making his heart sing despite her glum tone.