What A Malfoy Wants

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize. It all belongs to JKR. I make no money from this story.

A/N: I know, I know. It has been a ridiculously long time again. I will finish this story. It has been my new years resolution to find more time to write. I’ve been concentrating on a fic that I was working on for round 2 of the Dramione remix. I completed that and sent it on today. I can’t tell you the couple that I remixed but I am excited about this one. So here it is, Ron meets with Harry. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 8

Ron flooed to the Ministry first, thinking that Harry would be in his office. It was a dead end. Harry’s secretary informed him that he had taken a personal leave for a few days. He crammed his shaking hands in his pockets as he walked back to the fireplaces. He wondered what was up with Harry. He hoped that nothing was wrong. Merlin knew that he couldn’t handle any more bad news.

Ron dropped the green powder and shouted his destination, “Potter’s Place!” and whirled away in a flash of green fire.

He emerged in Harry’s living room only to find it empty. The house was eerily quiet. He swallowed as he set off to find his sister or his friend. He walked into the kitchen calling their names.

“Harry!… Ginny!” There was no answer. He walked upstairs to Harry’s study. There was light flickering from under the door. He pushed it open quietly. Harry was there on his leather sofa facing the fire. He didn’t turn to greet him. Ron noticed that he a tumbler full of what looked like Firewhiskey in his hand even though it was well before noon.

“Harry…” Ron called tentatively.

“I’m sorry,” Harry whispered forlornly.

Ron was confused. Why was he apologizing?

“Errr… Harry? Is everything alright?” Ron asked as he took a seat beside his longtime friend.

“I tried to help,” he began as he raised his glass to his lips. “Really, I did. Kingsley made me take a few days off after I blew up his office.”

Ron raised his eyebrows at his statement. Harry was usually cool as a cucumber. He didn’t overreact and blow his stack. That was his specialty.

“I don’t understand,” Ron confessed.

He was shocked when Harry turned to face him. He had huge, dark circles under his eyes which were bloodshot from the lack of sleep. It looked as if he hadn’t slept in a week.

“Hermione,” Harry explained. “I saw Malfoy in the Ministry. I heard what had happened. I confronted Kingsley. He told me that his hands were tied. I blew up. He’s made her miserable for years. How could they let him walk in there and take her away? Did you know that his son abducted her from school? And the bloody law gives him the right to do that! He can do whatever he wants in regards to her! He can force her to accept their bond! Force her to be intimate with them! Force her to drink their blood!”

Harry sagged against the couch exhausted. “I’m supposed to be a law enforcer Ron. How can I enforce the law when the laws reek of injustice. Hermione is a good person. She doesn’t deserve to be tied to those… those… arrogant pricks!”

Ron reached out and patted his friend’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Harry. It’s not your fault. So, there’s nothing that we can do. We have to just stand back and let him win.”

Harry got up and walked over to his sideboard. He refreshed his glass and poured one for Ron. He gave the tumbler full of amber liquid to him and gestured to the mess around them. The room looked like a typhoon had gone through it. There were books and papers littering nearly every surface. Ron hadn’t even noticed it before. He’d been too worried about Harry.

“I’ve been up all night researching,” he explained as he sat back down. “Kingsley was right. There is nothing that we can do. A veela’s life is directly tied to their mate. A veela without a mate never lives a full life. They live a halflife, merely subsisting until they succumb to the emptiness of their hearts. To deprive a veela of their mate is to deprive them of their life, which equates to murder. We can’t overturn his claim.”

“Well, what about Pansy?” Ron asked desperately, grasping at straws. “Malfoy has been married to her for years. How can he suddenly turn up and claim Hermione is his mate?”

Harry looked at him sadly. “I saw the pensieve evidence Ron. Hermione is his mate. And the mate to his son Scorpius. Malfoy married Pansy to provide the next Malfoy heir. She has known the whole time about Malfoy’s heritage. He’s already annulled his own marriage. He intends to claim Hermione on Christmas night, the night after Scorpius’ birthday.”

Harry paused to let Ron assimilate what he had said before continuing on quietly. “From what I saw, Malfoy was willing to let her go. He saw that she was happy and he had resigned himself to the fact that he was going to die young. But then his son had the dream. He wouldn’t allow his son to go through what he had gone through.”

‘Well, doesn’t that just make him father of the year,” Ron ranted. “So, what do we do now?”

Harry heaved a heavy sigh. “Nothing. We can’t interfere with the claiming. Not only does it count as an offense punishable by Azkzban but Malfoy could kill us and get away with it. As I said before, I don’t even know that I can do my job anymore. The laws are not fair.”

Ron buried his face in his hands. He knew deep down that he was going to have to let her go but hearing the words spoken aloud was almost too much. He loved Hermione with all his heart. He’d loved her since he was a boy. It wasn’t something that he could just turn off.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without her, Harry. She’d always been there,” he confessed as tears squeezed from his blue eyes. “I never realized what she meant to me and now she’s gone.”

Harry looked at his friend sympathetically. He really didn’t know what to say to comfort the man. He couldn’t imagine if it had been Ginny instead of Hermione that Malfoy had claimed. He can’t say that he wouldn’t turn violent and murder the prat.

“You still have me and Ginny, your father and mother, and all your other brothers. You still have your children. You know we will be there for you,” Harry commented. “And Hermione isn’t gone forever. I can’t imagine her letting the likes of Draco Malfoy dictate her life for too long. She may not be your wife anymore but I know that she will always be your friend.”

Ron sniffed once and wiped his eyes. Harry was right. He did still have his children and his parents, his family and his friends. He would get through this. And he was right about Hermione. She wouldn’t let Malfoy dictate her life. He almost felt sorry for the prat. He knew exactly what she was capable of. And he knew that she would be fiendish in her retribution.

End Note: So, short chapter, but now we know what is going on outside of Malfoy manor. Next chapter, we will return to see how the Malfoy’s are fairing with Lady Granger. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I will begin work on the next chapter later this week. : )