Last Will and Testament

Chapter Twelve: Andthe Loophole is Revealed

"I still don't think you should have hit him," Pansy said, placing a cold washcloth on his chin.

"Is that why you're refusing to heal my bruise?" Draco asked, forcing himself to ignore the pain that shot through him when he moved his jaw.

"She has a point, Malfoy," Potter put in.

"Oh, shut up," Draco said. "Besides, he was asking for it. No one punches me and gets away with it."

Potter rolled his eyes as he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. "Pans, I don't think he deserves the cold compress. You should let him suffer."

Pansy paused, pulling the washcloth away. "I think you might be right, Harry."

"Am I really? I thought you were the only one who got to be right."

"Well, I do need to humour you every once in a while, dearest," Pansy replied saucily.

"She has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" Draco asked, looking awed. "Congratulations, Pansy."

She rolled her eyes in response. "So," she said, "where is Hermione? I haven't seen her since our wedding, and so much has happened. The last I heard, she hated you."

"And that feeling was mutual, I assure you." Even though that wasn't true anymore.

"I wanted to come home at once," Pansy said, "as soon as I saw the news, but we couldn't leave no matter how much we wanted to find out why Hermione had married you. Commitments, and all that. Harry had plenty of games to keep him busy, and he kept me busy afterwards."

"Believe us, though, it was hard not to come home," Harry said.

"Especially," Pansy said, a little grin on her face, "After we saw an issue of the Prophet with Professor Trelawney saying, and I quote: 'I always knew they would marry after the constellations I saw in their first year. It forever broke my heart to see them fighting such an obvious attraction to each other throughout their school-years.'" Pansy started laughing, tears coming to her eyes.

"Please," Draco said, rolling his eyes, "I never looked twice at Hermione while we were at Hogwarts."

"When did you start looking, though?" Potter asked, his eyes betraying his curiosity.

"It was the will, wasn't it?" Pansy guessed.

"How did you know about that?" Draco asked.

She shrugged. "Your father contacted me about it when he drew it up."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"It wasn't my place."

"Pansy!"

"Hey, Malfoy," Potter said, stepping up next to his wife. "Calm down. What's done is done. Besides, you seemed rather willing to defend Hermione's honour when that git questioned it. Something must've happened, and I, for one, would like to know what it is."

"And I," came a voice from the doorway to the kitchens, "would like to know why my best friend and his wife are in the kitchens with my husband, who is sporting a rather bruised chin." Hermione grinned at Potter. "Come here, Harry."

Potter grinned, walking over and sweeping Hermione up into a hug that had her gasping for breath. Draco ignored the twinge of jealously he felt; he knew that Potter loved Pansy, and despite the man's other faults, Draco knew he was genuine. Besides, when had he ever been jealous of Potter before?

"Pansy," Hermione said, walking over to the blonde, "it's wonderful to see you again." She leaned forward, hugging her tightly. "I hope you and Harry had a good time on your honeymoon."

"Oh, it was wonderful," Pansy said. "But I must say, it was very interesting to hear of yours and Draco's escapades in Italian, German, and Portuguese."

Hermione blushed.

Potter grinned. "Come on, Hermione, she's just funning you. We never heard of it in Portuguese."

Hermione smacked Potter lightly on the arm, her eyes dancing. "I don't remember you being this fun before. I do believe Pansy has done some good for you after all."

"I should certainly hope so," Pansy said, raising a brow. "I've worked hard enough on the man." Just as Potter opened his mouth, Pansy said, "And don't you dare crack a joke about that, you fiend."

Potter just smirked.

And what was Potter doing, smirking? Potter never smirked. Pansy certainly had gotten him to loosen up.

"But why is my husband sporting a bruised chin? I do hope it has nothing to do with Harry," Hermione said, glancing at her best friend.

Draco shared a glance with Pansy. "Well..."

"You see," Pansy began.

Potter rolled his eyes. "Your ex-boyfriend punched him."

"My..." Hermione's eyes widened. "Jeff. That bastard," she hissed. "Are you all right, Draco?"

Draco, who seemed rather amazed by her concern for his welfare, simply nodded.

"Well, I certainly hope you taught him a lesson!"

Potter's eyes widened considerably. "Looks like I wasn't the only one who changed. Who knew you had such a vindictive streak in you, Hermione?"

"Well, the git had the presumptuousness to assume he could just walk up and hit my husband in the mouth! He deserved whatever he had coming to him. I have half a mind to go and find him to punch him myself."

Pansy raised her brows. "My, my. It looks like there may have been a very good reason for the two to marry, don't you think, dear?" she asked, directing the question towards her husband.

"Oh, very much so," Potter smirked. "Who knew those two would come to care for each other, though?"

Much to his surprise, neither jumped up with allegations to the opposite effect, which prompted both Harry and Pansy to raise brows at their respective friends. "Well, I certainly did not expect this," Pansy said. "I suppose you two didn't know about the loophole in the will, then? Or didn't care?"

"What loophole?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"I would think that is a no," Harry said, glancing at his wife.

"As I told Draco," Pansy said, "his father met with me when he rewrote his will. He wanted to insult you one final time, Hermione. It was, after all, your ingenious plan which foiled him in the end. Any betrayal he felt on Draco's part didn't matter, because Draco was Lucius' heir. He definitely did not want a halfblooded grandchild.

"So, in what was not quite as 'ingenious' an idea as he had thought it was, he made it seem as though Draco had to marry you. However, he did not. The will states that the money goes to me if Draco does not wed you or if the two of you divorce. There was no stipulation for what would happen if Draco and I married--just as Lucius intended. He wanted to tempt you with the entire Malfoy fortunes and then have Draco laugh in your face. He knew that, despite his allegiances, Draco still did not like you or your friends.

"But I suppose he overestimated your intelligence, Draco, because you never figured it out, did you?"

"Not until today," Draco said, feeling rather stupid about the whole thing. "Earlier today, that is."

Hermione was staying very quiet, looking at her feet with her arms crossed.

"I think," Harry said, looking at his friend, "that it is past time we excused ourselves. We'll be finding our way out." He wasn't certain either of them heard him, so intent Hermione was on her shoes, and Draco on Hermione. He shook his head, pulling his wife with him out the door, despite her protests.

"Hermione?"Draco asked, stepping toward her hesitantly. The hesitance was what shocked him; Draco Malfoy had never been hesitant in his life.

Yet here he was, feeling as though his entire life--no, his heart, which at the moment seemed so much more important--was depending on what she might say within the next few minutes.

"A divorce, then?" Hermione asked abruptly, bringing her head up and looking him in the eye. Her face seemed cold, her demeanour...distant.

"Hermione," he began.

"Don't bother trying to let me off easily," she waved a hand. "I'm fine." She headed for the door. "I'll just pack and be out of your way."

"Hermione," he said, grabbing her wrist. "Don't go."

She paused. "Why not?"

"Because..." he swallowed. He was not nervous. "I don't want to divorce you."

She turned around, her eyes betraying a curiosity that seemed almost more like a need, it was so fierce. "Why not?"

What the bloody hell was he supposed to say? 'Because I love you,' seemed so cliché, and completely unlike him. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Bloody hell," he mumbled, pulling her to him and kissing her fiercely. The kiss wasn't like one they'd ever experienced together, so much more longing and--maybe--affection in it. He was kissing her with a need he had never felt before, with a fear that it might well be their last, that she wouldn't care to stay now that she had a way out.

After all, she could have Weasley--or any other man of her choosing once she got a fair amount of money out of the divorce, which he fully intended to give her. She could have anyone she wanted, so why would she choose him?

The kiss grew more desperate as it continued, and Draco knew it would escalate into something she would no doubt regret, yet he didn't care. He continued kissing her, backing her out the kitchen door, towards one of the guest bedrooms on the first floor he knew would be unoccupied. "Hermione," he whispered, pulling away from her mouth to kiss her neck. She arched against him, calling his name...

Which made it all the more shocking when she pushed him away.

"Wha..."

"Why?" she demanded, crossing her arms and staring at him, something he could not read in her eyes.

"Why what?"

Tears came to her eyes. "I don't understand you, Draco! I thought you would be relieved that you could divorce me and still keep your father's precious money, and yet you're saying exactly the opposite! And now, you're kissing me like... Like you care about me," she whispered.

"And what if I do?" The words shocked Draco. He hadn't expected to utter them aloud.

Hermione's mouth fell open.

Draco was immediately on guard, though he said nothing.

"Y-you..." She seemed unable to speak coherently.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, Draco," she whispered. "You care about me?"

He crossed his arms, unsure of what to say and not wishing to incriminate himself further.

She stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm. He tensed. "Draco?"

"Why is it so hard to believe?" he asked, looking directly into her brown eyes, eyes which were shining with--was that happiness?

She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Draco was thrown slightly off-guard. "Oh, Draco," she sighed, placing her head on his shoulder.

He had never been good at shows of affection. He still wasn't. But he could not resist hugging her back when she seemed so amenable to him.

"Draco," Hermione said, seeming rather breathless as she pulled back. "I have to tell you something."

He waited.

"I-I rather think I care about you as well," she said. "More than care, really. I think I might love you, Draco."

Something about the sincere way she said it made Draco believe her. There was something with the way she was smiling, the way she was pronouncing the words, slowly, as though she wanted to make sure he understood what he was saying--or perhaps to make sure she said that right thing.

She hurried on, quickly, "You needn't feel pressured to say you feel the same, of course, but if you feel you would like to try to stay married, then I would not be completely averse to the idea."

Draco smiled. He really, truly smiled. "And I completely agree with you," he said, leaning down to brush his lips across hers. "We should definitely try this marriage thing a bit more, don't you think?"

***

"What do you mean, they're making up?" Ginny demanded of her brother's best friend, who was refusing to let her go inside the imposing castle. "Why should they need to make up?"

"This is why I should do the talking," Pansy said, glaring at her husband. She turned to Ginny, saying, "They aren't making up precisely. It's really a rather long story that would best be told over a bottle of firewhisky."

"I'm not drinking," Ginny said primly.

"Why not?"Harry asked, looking bewildered.

"Because," she said, looking rather hesitant, "I'm pregnant."

"Congratulations, Ginny!" Harry grinned at her. "I didn't know you and Seamus were back together."

"If one more person makes that assumption, I am going to castrate him and tie him to a cursed broomstick, naked," Ginny hissed.

Pansy laughed. Loudly. "Oh, my, Ginny, what a wonderful imagination you have. We really should tell stories over firewhiskysome day. Maybe after your delivery." She put an arm around the girl. "But as for Draco and Hermione, they just discovered they could get divorced if they wanted to--the only problem is,I don't think he wants to."

"So he really does care about her," Ginny said, her tone awed.

"Oh, yes, that's for certain," Pansy nodded decisively. "I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at Hermione--like she holds the entire world and the stars in her hands. She probably holds his heart, at the very least, whether she knows it or not."

"I'm sure she does," Harry said, "she isn't entirely oblivious, after all."

"No, she's not," Pansy agreed.

"I do wonder how all of this happened, though," Ginny said thoughtfully.

"Isn't it obvious?" Pansy asked, raising a brow. "It was because of Lucius, whether he wanted it to happen or not."

"I do rather like the thought of him turning over in his grave at the thought of the grandchildren he is going to have," Harry said, a smirk on his face.

"Don't we all, Harry," Pansy said wistfully, "don't we all."