Waiting to Exhale

A/N: Look at that, two more chapters. I find myself drawn into my story and the further I go, the more I need to see what else might occur! Pretty weird, right? As I've said before, The next chapter or two will deal with various weddings before drifting into solid Dramione. Much like always, please R&R!

One week later and Hogwarts was in an uproar. The Daily Prophet, purveyor of ALL bad news had posted the first matches for twenty different couples and for the first four, the news could not have been worse. It seemed as if the Ministry had set out to ruin all good feeling. The fact that some of the most famous Gryffindors had been paired with some of Slytherins most well known seemed a set up of some kind and the Eighth-year dorm was filled with odd couples who were not in the least bit happy.

The First Prospective Couples Named Under New Law!

The stupid headline screamed, or at least it seemed to. What followed was the cause of such a fervent furor as each person glared at their own personal copy of the newspaper's front page. Of course, the damned thing went on for an eternity, listing each pairing along with a blurb concerning the matches that seemed to be made in Hell! There was absolutely NO way that many of the "happy couples" made any sort of sense!

• Draco-Malfoy/Hermione Granger~Former Death Eater and Brightest witch of our age
• Harry Potter/Tracey Davis~Savior of the Wizarding World and quiet Half-Blood from Slytherin 
• Ron Weasley/Pansy Parkinson~One third of the Golden Trio and known Voldermort supporter
• Blaise Zabini/Ginevra Weasley~ Only son of Natassia Zabini and co-leader of the D.A.
• Theodore Nott/Luna Lovegood~Supporter of Voldermort and daughter of Xenophilius Lovegood
• George Weasley/Pavarti Patil~solo owner of WWW and a beloved Gryffindor
• Neville Longbottom/Hannah Abbott~Killer of Nagini and his one true love
• Dean Thomas/Padma Patil~Member of the D.A. and quiet, studious Ravenclaw
• Tobias McLaughlin/Daphne Greengrass~Old money family and Draco Malfoy's intended

"Really," screeched Pansy as she noted her description. "Known Dark Lord supporter?"

Hermione glanced at the young, dark-haired female, a slight frown marring her dainty features. With a sniff, she answered the chit, her own voice much calmer, "Well, Pansy, you were, right? You tried to give Harry up!"

"Because I did not want to die!!" Pansy glared at the girl who had spoken in defense of the paper. "We are not all ready to rush into danger, Granger. We allow others to do that for us. If it a choice between myself and another? I will always choose ME!"

Hermione shrugged. "Regardless the paper did not lie, as far as it went."

Silence reigned for but a moment before Blaise spoke up. "What about you, Granger? How do you feel?"

The young woman paused and allowed slim fingers to twist a loose curl, one that had begun to frizz. She did not want to answer but she had to be honest, right? Others had already voiced their displeasure, well~ all but her intended.

"I am devastated. To go back to that place where I was t-tortured. To deal with the man who wished me dead, who hounded me for years? I don't want to do it but I have no choice, not if I want to stay here. I fought and killed to be allowed to stay and I will be damned if anything is going to chase me out or make me forget my magic."

At that? Draco rose from his seat and left the Common room, his head down. He had known that Granger would feel put out but he hadn't expected her to actually say it out loud. He hadn't expected her to be so angry. In all reality, he probably should have been prepared but he wasn't. He was not bothered by her background, not anymore. He didn't care about blood status or anything else that had caused so much death and destruction. In his mind, he and Granger could very well be a good match, at least intelligence wise and it was obvious, at least to him, that their blood made them more fruitful than not~ otherwise the Ministry would not have paired them. However, he did understand her reaction, he just hated it. 

Once the gray-eyed young man exited the room, Hermione continued to speak, her voice low and almost hesitant. After all, it might not be completely bad. With an air of thoughtfulness, she laid further information out, her words slow but crisp.

"We may be a good pair. At the very least, our book smarts seem well matched and I am sure I can pop out a child or two since the Ministry paired us due to our complimentary blood types in magic and such. It's our personality clashes that make me more worried than I probably should be, well that and having to return to the Manor to live. The latter thought terrifies me."

Another silence before Tracey spoke, "Maybe Drake will allow you to live somewhere else..."

Hermione sighed.

"One can hope, right?"