Betrothal

The following morning, Professor Snape entered the Slytherin common room doing his regular check-ups, expecting it to be empty, as it was time for breakfast. He was surprised to discover Draco sitting by the fire on one of the couches. He was reading his book intently, and jumped in surprise, when the professor tapped him on the shoulder.

"Not hungry, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked his favorite student. Professor Snape had a fondness for the boy and the two seemed to have a bond similar between that of wise mentor and a diligent student.

"Not really, Professor Snape. So I decided to make use of my extra time and read."

The professor was surprised to see his student reading a book on powerful light-sided wizards. Could he possibly know, Severus wondered. He took a step to the left of Draco so that he could better see what he was reading. Severus' brow furrowed as he saw the Magnar family on the page Draco was reading from. What were the chances of it being a random coincidence that Draco had chosen to read up on this family?

Draco saw the look of puzzlement on the professor's face and assumed he was wondering why Draco was reading about them. He pointed to the picture of the Magnar couple on one of the pages. "There's something so familiar about them, I just can't put my finger on it. It's like I met one of them before, but I didn't realize it." He laughed. "It's impossible though, because they disappeared almost sixteen years ago." Professor Snape was Draco's favorite professor and he confided in him more than he confided in anyone besides his parents.

Draco was so busy looking at the picture and trying to find a connection with someone he knew, that he failed to see the professor's already stiff posture stiffen even more. "Has Professor Binns assigned this reading for his class? Or is there another reason you're reading this book? And looking up this certain Light-side family?" Severus asked, trying not to let any emotion show in his voice.

The blonde boy hesitated. "Do I need a reason?" he asked in a defensive drawl he usually reserved for Gryffindors.

"No, no reason, I was just curious, Mister Malfoy." Severus tried to choose his words carefully. He was waiting for Draco to let down his defenses.

Should I tell Snape or not, Draco wondered. Considering he didn't know about the betrothal until recently, he doubted that it was something several people should know and talk about. But then he remembered his mother once telling him a long time ago, that Professor Snape was to be trusted with anything. He didn't understand the relationship between his parents and his potions professor, but maybe it explained why the professor favored him so.

Draco looked around to see if there was anyone else in the common room, he didn't want anyone to overhear what he was about to say. When he was convinced no one was eavesdropping, he opened his mouth and began to speak. "Over the holidays... my parents told me I was betrothed... to the Magnar daughter. I had no clue as to who they were, so I decided to look them up."

Draco watched carefully as he saw several emotions cross the professor's face briefly. He felt his breath catch in his throat. "You knew about it, didn't you?" he asked accusingly, "You know something I don't, don't you?" He couldn't believe it. How many more knew? Was he the last one to know?

Professor Snape turned away from Draco's face and looked into the fire. "Yes," was all he said.

Draco wasn't sure whether he should feel betrayed. Why had they all kept this a secret? Who else knew? Did she know? "Tell me," he said hoarsely. "Tell me who I'm supposed to marry. I need to know."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione sighed as she flopped facedown on her bed and rolled over to her side to pick up a book from her table. She whispered the spell to turn on the light on top of her desk as she sat up comfortably on her bed as she began to read.

She was alone in her room today with nothing to do. Her homework for the next three weeks was done and she had left Ron and Harry in the common room to finish their homework, which was due the following day. She had left, not wanting them to get into the habit of copying off her work, but she realized without her down there nagging them, they were probably flirting with Lavender and Parvati.

Halfway through her romance novel, Hermione found herself closing her eyes dreamily, imagining herself in the heroine's place. She laughed ruefully though after that thought, she didn't even have a prince charming, how could she fall in love with him in some wonderfully romantic way? Even if they were only at the flirting stage and weren't involved, at least Ron and Harry had someone to picture themselves liking. Hermione didn't find any guy worth liking in that way at all. She turned her eyes back towards the text.

Hermione found herself sighing again. She found the story completely romantic. Love-Hate stories were her favorites, the idea of falling hopelessly in love with someone you hate with every inch of yourself. Falling in love with your friend or just any regular cute guy was such a common plot, which Hermione found boring because she knew it was easy to confuse friendship and admiration with lust. To fall for someone you hated was something you couldn't control, something that made her tingle and feel so electrifying.

But then again, Hermione thought sourly, she had no enemies who she would want to fall in love with. All the guys she disliked weren't just prats, they were disgusting prats. Hermione pictured all the guys she disliked... most of them were from Slytherin, she realized. Goyle, Crabbe, eww, yuck, never, she thought. Marcus Flint, no thanks, that sadist. Draco Malfoy... Hermione mused, then shuddered. Cute he was, but falling in love with that prick wasn't a nice thought. They would probably try to one-up each other the whole time.

She began to digress her former thoughts and went back to her book. Drew and Diane would have made a cute couple, she thought, as Drew was a bit on the short side and Diane even shorter. They were perfect for each other, even their level of passion matched. Hermione tried to see herself in Diane, but failed, as Diane was a very popular girl. Hermione had several friends, but she had doubts she would have had as much if she hadn't been smart and willing to help people study. Drew on the other hand, the weirdo that he is, was considered cute by a number of girls. Hermione giggled, as she compared Drew to Ron. She shook her head thinking it would be too weird to like Ron, her best friend. Besides, Drew was supposed to be super vain, Ron was far from that.

Hermione found herself sighing again. It seemed she wasn't meant to be part of an exciting romance. There was no one perfect to fall for. To fall in love in a way less exciting than what she had imagined, well, that would just be settling. And Hermione Granger never settled for anything.

In the meantime, her not settling had gotten her no where. It seemed like everyone was falling in love except for her. Ginny was getting over her crush on Harry because she had started to notice Dean Thomas, and Lavender and Parvati had several crushes they had been flirting with, some of whom returned the affection. Even her two best friends had someone to like! Ron and Harry had recently confided in her their crushes, Hanna Abbot and Mandy Brocklehurst, respectively. They flirted occasionally with Lavender and Parvati, but as Harry had told her once, it was just harmless flirting.

Hermione rolled her eyes. The two boys might be her best friends, but she couldn't believe it when they had confided in her their crushes. Didn't they know she might feel weird? Especially without having her own crush. Hermione then realized why she was probably having such a hard time finding her perfect someone. She was considered as one of the guys. That little detail probably scared off all possibilities.

Harry and Ron were great as friends, she could tell them lots of things and not have to worry about getting a biased view like what she could get from her girl roommates. They were also very protective of her, and although Hermione loved the feeling, she realized that other boys must be very intimidated by that fact.

Hermione sighed again. Maybe she wasn't destined for romance.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The Potions professor was silent for the longest time. With each passing second, Draco could feel the suspense and resentment build up inside of him. "I should have known you wouldn't tell me," Draco said bitterly. "Its not like anyone tells me anything. I'll probably find out who she is the minute before we get married."

Severus bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to find the right words to say. "I'm not sure if I am at liberty to tell you, Mister Malfoy. In fact, I was surprised to discover you knew about the developments. How much do you know?"

Draco pursed his lips in thought. What harm could there be in telling Professor Snape? He probably knew more than he did. Even if it was his own betrothal. "My mother told me about You-Know-Who," Draco said, not using the Dark Lord's name in case Professor Snape was uneasy with it, even though the Malfoys weren't, "and how he became the Dark Lord and how my family came into his service."

"She also told me how we can get out, and that I'm betrothed to a girl whose family is so into the light-side, she can get us out of old Voldie's clutches," he said with a smirk, watching as the professor's expression turn exasperated as the blonde boy made fun of the name he despised. "My dad gave me the name of the family, Magnar. So I got curious, wanting to know more about my betrothed, so I looked up their family. There's no mention of a daughter though. And so I don't know what to do."

Draco hesitated. "I was hoping you could help me, Professor."

Severus' fingers stroked the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. So Draco didn't know to who exactly he was betrothed to. But was it his duty to tell him who? His own parents hadn't told him, even though they had already told him so much. They probably figured he would be horrified and would rebel.

The professor started taking slow steps around the room, deep in thought. Of course, there were ways to lessen the impact of the blow. He could give hints to the Malfoy heir, hints that would lead him to like and maybe even admire his betrothed.

Annoyed by the silence from Professor Snape, Draco interrupted the professor's thoughts. "Look, I know you don't want to tell me who she is. But couldn't you at least give me a few clues? At least satisfy my curiosity a bit."

A small smile found its way to Severus' face. He couldn't believe his luck. Draco Malfoy had given him just the opportunity he needed. He turned back swiftly to his favorite student. "Okay, ask and I will answer the questions I deem possible."

"Is she pretty?" Draco asked right away, a question that had been plaguing him since he had discovered his fate.

"Oh, I do believe so. Quite up to your standards."

Draco smiled triumphantly, a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. At least he wouldn't have to put up with someone horrible looking for the rest of his life. "Has she ever gone to school? I don't want to put up with an ignorant wife. I'd sooner marry a house elf!"

"She's very intelligent I can assure you."

Draco frowned. "Very intelligent? That might be a bad thing. I don't want her contradicting me every time, and correcting me for every little mistake." Draco was so busy picturing his future wife, he didn't notice the professor wince slightly.

"Have I ever met her?"

Professor Snape grimaced. Now how was he going to get around this one? "Possibly... probably... yes," he said with a defeated sigh.

Now Draco looked very interested. His mind was spinning with all sorts of possibilities. He looked up at his favorite professor and asked in a timid voice that one never would have assumed came from Draco Malfoy, "Am I really not supposed to know who she is, Professor?"

Severus sighed. "No, I don't suppose so. The details were kept from you because you were too young to understand the importance of the situation. Now that you're older, and can handle the responsibility, I guess it is time for you to know. Although I'm still not sure how you'll handle the news. We're not even sure how she'll handle the news. You know more than she does actually," he added, hoping to give Draco's ego a boost of confidence.

"Really? Well, I'm not surprised, being the male, I'm naturally more calm in situations like these," Draco boasted, and Severus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Professor, I do believe I'm pretty courageous to marry someone I barely know. But my parents had so much faith in me, it's the right thing to do."

Because Snape remained silent, Draco fell back into his thoughts about her. She was pretty, smart, and he knew her. What else did he want or need to know about her? She was the daughter of a light-sided family, eliminating all girls with Slytherin traits. "If she's going to help me fulfill this prophesy, she's probably got to be as brave as me," he mused out loud.

"But of course," Professor Snape agreed.

Draco fell silent as a new thought crossed his mind. "Brave... surely she isn't from Gryffindor, please say she isn't, Professor Snape!"

When Severus turned to look away, Draco felt the dread fill him. No, not an annoying Gryffindor. What kind of life would he have? Wouldn't he have to protect his wife? How could he if she was a silly Gryffindor who would jump into danger at any cost?

Draco tried to look at the bright side. Not all Gryffindors were that bad. Some, in fact, were very easy on the eyes. In his mind's eye, he pictured Lavender Brown as his wife, almost forgetting the fact that she wasn't very intelligent and couldn't possibly be his betrothed.

He sighed when he realized this. Draco tried to keep in mind that not all Gryffindors were bad. "It could be worse, I suppose. I could be betrothed to Hermione Granger," Draco scoffed. And then he laughed. "That would be a laugh. Married to her, I don't think I'd survive her constant nagging. She'd probably--"

Draco stopped talking when he noticed the Potions professor pale and straighten up instantly. "Professor Snape, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Severus said dismissively, not meeting Draco's eyes.

"What's wrong? Was it something I said? I--" Draco's words died in his mouth as he instantly realized what made the professor pale.

"No. It can't be! Please! Not her! Anyone but her!"

Professor Snape turned back to look at his favorite student. He gave him an apologetic look. "I'm regret that I am the one to inform you, Mister Malfoy, but it is true. She is your betrothed."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco sat on his bed, alone in the room. His roommates and anyone who occasionally dropped by quickly left as they were swift to notice him sulking. No one ever wanted to be near him when he was in a sour mood, and that's just the way he liked it.

Despite his solitude, Draco refrained from ranting out loud. Walls had ears, and Draco thought he would die if anyone found out he had to marry Granger. Marry Hermione Granger, he thought to himself bitterly, what kind of life would that be? The pain and suffering that it would bring would be equal to that of serving the Dark Lord. What a choice!

[start of dream sequence]
"Draaaaaco! Get over here this instant!" Hermione yelled at him, her voice being heard all over the Malfoy manor.

Draco rushed indoors, wondering if his house was under attack by the way Hermione was yelling. "Where are you?" he called out to her, checking in every room he passed by, looking for his wife.

"Over here you idiot!" she yelled in return.

"Where is here?" he muttered to himself, cursing his wife for not giving him much information to go on. Finally, he found herself in the library, her arms crossed in front of her stomach, glaring at her husband as if he had betrayed her. "What's wrong?" he asked her breathlessly, collapsing into a chair now that he knew everything was fine.

"What's wrong? Everything's wrong! This puny library of yours has run out of books for me to read!"

"Puny?!" He stood up and screamed at her, insulted by her words. "I'll have you know this largest private library in all of England!"

"More books?" Draco exclaimed in disbelief. "Why should I?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as if he was stupid. "Because these next nine months I'm going to spend cooped up in this manor are going to be agony! I'll need new books for me to read when I'm bored in between reading the new baby books you're also going to have to purchase for me, by the way."

"Baby books?"

"Oh, haven't I mentioned to you yet? You're going to be a father soon. Now hurry up and get your coat. We need to leave for Diagon Alley soon."
[end of dream sequence]

Draco opened his eyes and growled in frustration. Eww, there was no way he was going to have a baby with her! Over his dead body! He extended his arm to his night table, looking for something to throw at the wall. When he looked at the object in his hand, he realized it was Hermione's book, and that he was supposed to return it soon, it was almost time for lunch.

He got up, headed for his bathroom and was horrified to see how terrible he looked. After a change into good, clean, expensive robes and applying much hair gel, Draco stood in front of his mirror, furiously styling his hair. He wasn't satisfied with his hair today, it seemed so plain to him.

But the mirror smiled at him and said, "My, don't you look handsome today. Will you be meeting a special girl today?"

Draco glared at the mirror. "No, no special girl, not special at all!" Why am I trying to look decent, he asked himself. I shouldn't even bother. He threw down the comb in disgust and quickly left his room.

He was on his way to the Library, the only other place he knew Hermione would be other than the Gryffindor tower, but as he passed by the Great Hall, he saw her seated at her table, reading a book. She was one of the few students hanging out in the Great Hall right before lunch, and Draco figured it was safe to approach her.

When he was only ten feet away, Hermione could feel his presence and quickly closed her book, stuffing it back into her bag. She looked at him, frowned and said, "Malfoy. What are you doing here in the Great Hall this early?" thinking he was up to something bad.

Draco gave her his famous smirk. "In case you've forgotten, Granger," he drawled, "you asked me to return your book right before lunch, so here I am." He took out the book from his robe and handed it to Hermione.

Hermione took it from him, looking back and forth between her book and Draco, eyeing him suspiciously. "Thanks, Malfoy," she said shortly, abruptly turning in the other direction, waiting for him to leave.

Draco raised an eyebrow as he watched Hermione as she tried to ignore him. Who does she think she is? She's my betrothed, ha, what a joke. I'll prove we aren't compatible one bit!

He sat down across from her, despite the glare she was sending him. "That book of yours was good, too bad I couldn't wait to return your book to you, it reeked of muggle."

Hermione carefully raised one eyebrow. "Whatever it is you're trying to pull, forget about it. I have enough detention because of you, and I'm really not in the mood for a fight." She took out her book and pretended to be absorbed in it, hoping he'd go away.

Draco began to sulk, for he couldn't prove to himself how incompatible they were because for once, Hermione didn't want to fight with him. How was it that she always took the fun out of everything? How was it that she always did exactly what he didn't want him to do? She was so anti-him.

"Aren't you even going to ask me what I really needed the book for?" he asked, hoping to start an argument based on academics.

"Not really," Hermione retorted. "I figure you'll say something along the lines, 'know thy enemy.'"

Draco's mouth twitched. "I'll have you know that contrary to popular belief, I have not sided with the Dark side."

"Sure... so you say... Death Eater."

Dracos's eyes grew wide in indignation. "I am not!" He grabbed the book she had been reading and threw it across the hall. "Damn you, Granger!"

Hermione's eyes then grew as wide as his had been. "Go to hell, Malfoy!" She picked up her bag, whirled it hard against him before huffily crossing the great hall to reclaim the book he had thrown.

She ignored the numerous eyes that were staring at her as she left, just as she ignored Malfoy and his screams of rage. Although she wished she could have ignored the voices of the two head professors of Gryffindor and Slytherin as they shouted in unison, "Ms. Granger! Mr. Malfoy! Detention!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

A week after the incident in the Great Hall, Hermione wearily headed up to the East Tower for that night's detention. It was Thursday, her fourth night in a row in detention with Malfoy.

Monday had been because they had squabbled over their potion in Professor Snape's class and ruined it.

Tuesday had happened because they had been busy yelling at each other during their prefect watch and Dumbledore had punished them for waking the students.

Wednesday's detention was the product of misbehavior during McGonagall's class. For someone as grade and conduct conscious as Hermione, she couldn't resist transfiguring Malfoy's twig into a furry, pink feather. Needless to say, Malfoy retaliated by transfiguring her twig into mud, followed by the professor giving them both detention.

Hermione mused bitterly to herself as she recalled the pathetic reason behind her detention that evening. For once, she and Malfoy hadn't been doing anything to each other, they had both been too wiped out to care. Naturally, Harry and Ron got upset with Malfoy for being the reason for her weariness and tried to pick a fight with him over at the Slytherin table. Crabbe and Goyle leapt to Malfoy's defense and the four boys started fighting, while Hermione and Malfoy tiredly watched them fight. Professor Snape came over, took twenty house points off the four boys for fighting, then had the audacity to scold the two prefects for not preventing the fight and gave them detention.

"The gods must be against me, what did I do to deserve all this?" Hermione mumbled to herself, as she reached the top of the stairs of the tower and entered the room where she would have her detention. She found Professors McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore, along with Malfoy, already waiting for her.

As soon as Malfoy laid eyes on her, his eyes narrowed a bit before he turned to face the other direction. Hermione realized that for the past week he had been avoiding looking at her. Monday's squabble had began because she had gotten frustrated at his cool and uncaring attitude, Tuesday's had been because he didn't want to look when she had pointed a student who had scurried past them after curfew. On Wednesday, she had finally gotten sick of Malfoy being all high and mighty, ignoring her, as if he could. But still, when he had retaliated, he hadn't looked her in the eye.

Hermione was getting more and more frustrated with the Slytherin prince, and her frustration grew as she realized she had probably started most of their fights the past few days and she might not have been in trouble had she left him alone.

"Glad you could join us, Ms. Granger," Professor Dumbledore said coolly, a faint twinkle in his eye. He looked a bit tired, but less harassed than the two professors behind him. Hermione winced as she wondered if she was the only troublemaker who was causing their extra stress. Some candidate she was for Head Girl.

"Tonight, you and Mr. Malfoy will be clearing out this storeroom." Hermione looked around for the first time and noticed the piles of boxes, tables and books scattered around. "Professor Vergabe, the new Dueling Professor, needs a new room for his dueling class after some rowdy first-years accidentally performed denting charms which hit the walls. Not that it can't be fixed of course, but the Professor insisted on a different room, secluded so as not to have any innocent students wandering nearby hit by any way-ward spells."

Draco glared at the Headmaster, wondering when he was going to finish with his story. "So what exactly are we supposed to do here?" he asked, receiving a glare from Granger for his rudeness.

"You two," Professor Snape answered in a sour voice, "will be placing the books neatly into these boxes, and then lining up the tables along the left side of the room, stacking them on top of each other, if possible."

"The tables and boxes will be taken away in the morning," Professor McGonagall answered in a short, clipped voice, "but in the meantime, they need to be arranged and will be your duty."

Both Draco and Hermione took another look at the room. It was huge, there must have been almost fifty tables and over a thousand books. Were they likely to live after cleaning up everything by the night's end?

As the two students stared at the room, taking in their task, Albus Dumbledore's eye twinkled brighter. Something would happen tonight. He could feel it. The passion and tension between the two had grown immensely the past year, and the saturation point was near. Something would happen soon. "We'll leave you two now, your professors and I will be back in a few hours."

Both Hermione and Draco turned back to face their professors, just in time to hear Professor Snape dryly comment, "Do try to stay out of trouble this time," before they left the room.

Hermione turned to look at Malfoy wondering if he shared her despair. He met her eyes for a split second before turning his back to her and grunted a, "let's get to work." Miffed, Hermione turned to the piles of books, while Draco started to work on moving the tables.

Shoulders tensed, Draco wondered how long Granger would continue to get him into trouble. He had been trying to ignore her the past week as he tried to absorb the fact that one day he would be married to her. Everything she did so far had made him all the more certain that he would dislike every minute of their marriage.

He listened to her work, as she took books and piled them into a box. He pushed the tables against the wall slower and softer as he listened to the sounds she made. After awhile he noticed the sounds stopped. He turned around to look, wondering what had happened. Draco saw Hermione reading the titles of the books she was holding, and he found out that, like in the past few days, he couldn't stop the insults from coming out of his mouth despite his trying. "Bookworm, do stop reading and fix those books. The sooner we're out of each other's company, the better."

Hermione glared at him, forgetting about what previously held her interest and dumped the books into the box. They landed with a loud, satisfying thud. She grabbed some more books and proceeded to pack them in neatly, but angrily. She didn't say a word, and tried to ignore him as she took her anger out on the books.

Draco had gotten what he had asked for, but wasn't pleased with the way she was ignoring him. Who does that witch think she is? She's angry? What about me! I ought to be furious with her! He grabbed a table and tossed it over his shoulder. It landed on top of a stack of tables with a loud bang.

His satisfactory smirk disappeared however when he felt something hard shove him from behind, almost toppling him over.

"Oops! Sorry, Malfoy," Hermione widening her eyes, trying to look innocent. "I was just trying to help you move the tables. I'll get back to fixing the books now." Hermione gave an I-dare-you-to-fight-me smile and sashayed to the back of the classroom to pick up more books.

Rage almost swallowed him. Draco was trying hard not to take out his wand to hex her with the curses that were already waiting to leave his tongue. However, tried as he might, he pointed his wand towards her legs and whispered, 'Soluma Lubricusi'. And then, Hermione landed butt first on the floor.

Hermione got up and took out her wand. "What the hell was that for? Petrificus totalus!" she yelled, causing Draco fell to the floor. "Serves you right, ferret-boy," Hermione stomped over to him, intent on kicking his face. She raised her foot and instead of it landing on his face, Draco had quickly grabbed it and Hermione found herself falling to the floor again.

Towering over her body, Draco pointed his wand on her and drawled, "You think I couldn't block that spell? Some genius you are. And don't even bother looking for you wand. It's right," he showed her another wand on his left hand, "here." Hermione gasped, and she tried to move. However, thinking fast, Draco took care of that and had Hermione's legs locked. Now pointing both wands at her, he whispered harshly, "Do you know what I can do with two wands, Granger?"

The Gryffindor prefect leaned forward and with fire in her eyes, she slapped Draco hard on the cheek.

Realizing how badly the situation was turning out, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape rushed into the room to try to stop it. They had been waiting outside, hoping to hear anything which would give their cause hope, or deflate it completely. The latter was looking more and more possible by the minute.

With eyes blazing, Draco saw the three professors, and turned to them. "That does it!" he bellowed at them, not bothering to wonder if all three of them knew about the betrothal, although it was likely. "Magnar or not, there is no way I'm marrying her!" he raged, placing emphasis on the last word as he pointed to Hermione.

Hermione's eyes grew wide and she gasped. "What did you just say?"