The Only Thing to Give

Draco was sitting at the kitchen table staring into his cup of tea when he heard someone enter the kitchen.

"Hello." Draco looked up to see Hermione standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Hello," he said before patting the seat next to him willing her to sit down. She complied and sat down. "Would you like some tea?" he asked in a soft voice. She nodded.

"Thanks," Hermione said as he handed her a freshly poured cup of tea.

They sat in silence sipping their tea for a couple minutes before Hermione worked up the courage to tell Draco what she had sought out to tell him. "I heard what you said to Ron." Draco looked up at her with an unusual expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," Draco said in an awkwardly sincere voice, catching Hermione off-guard, "... but when Ron left the kitchen... tha-that face Harry made, like his heart had just been ripped out. I-" Draco sighed loudly- "I just had to do something...." Hermione was surprised at Draco's slip of raw emotion. As if he sensed her surprise the emotion quickly disappeared from his face, leaving not even a hint of what had been.

Hermione smiled softly. "Yeah, I know. Actually, I'm glad you did what you did."

"You are?" Draco raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Of course! Ron...well Ron is the kind of person who needs the answer to hit him on the head before he admits he was wrong, and you threatening him the way you did showed him how much you really care about Harry while knocking some sense into him," Hermione said in a sweet but matter-of-factly kind of tone. Draco just nodded and took another sip of his tea.

"I think he has a bump to prove it," Draco said in a joking voice.

Hermione smiled. "Mal-uh...Draco?" Hermione asked boldly calling him by his first name.

"Hmm?" Draco said, caught off guard by the lack of use of his surname.

"Can I ask you something?" She said with an unsure look.

"Go ahead."

"You and Harry have been married for eight months right?" Draco nodded. "So you were both sixteen when you got married?" Draco nodded again. After a short pause to think she continued, "I don't want to sound rude or anything... but that's impossible."

"What do you mean?" Draco said as he knitted his eyebrows together in a confused look.

"Well... you were both underage wizards when you were married. How is your marriage legal?"

"Oh," Draco said when realization hit. "It's quite simple really. All we needed was our legal guardians at the ceremony so they could sign the marriage contract, well that...and a witness," Draco finished with a little smirk.

"Oh...oh, that's why Sirius didn't look shocked when Harry told everyone at dinner... but what about you? I highly doubt that your father would jump at the chance to sign his son's marriage contract to the person who is number one on his lord's hit list."

"That's because he didn't," Draco said as he tapped Hermione's nose as if she was a little girl who made a cute face so her mum would give her a cookie.

"Your mother then?"

Draco let out a dry laugh. "Yeah right... if I had told either one of them that I was gay and getting married to Harry Potter they wouldn't have hesitated to use the killing curse."

"But if neither one of your legal guardians signed the contract, if I'm not mistaken, you're not legally married." Hermione stared at Draco as if daring him to contradict.

"Yes I am." Draco tried to sustain the smirk that crept onto his face.

"How?" Draco stopped to admire his handy work before answering; it's not often that you can stump Hermione Granger.

"Well, do you remember at the end of fifth year when my father was caught in the Department of Mysteries and sent to Azkaban?"

"Yes... how could I forget, I was there." Hermione said, somewhat displeased at having to recall the memory.

Draco just sighed, "Well my mother went into a bit of a depression and had a nervous breakdown. She went to St. Mungo's and legally signed me into the care of my godfather until she recovered. By the time my father escaped Azkaban and my mother was stable again, Harry and I were only a couple of weeks away from the big day. So I convinced my father to leave me in Severus's care for a couple more months so no one would get suspicious and he agreed, so Severus signed the contract as my legal guardian, therefore making everything legal," Draco finished, not even trying to sustain his smirk.

When Hermione heard Draco say Severus her eyes went wide in shock. "Snape is your godfather?" Draco nodded. "Snape actually agreed to sign a legal contract linking you to the spawn of his childhood nemesis?" Hermione was shocked. Draco looked at the expression on her face and smiled inwardly. Shocking Hermione Granger twice in one day. Damm I'm good, he thought.

"Well I didn't say he agreed now did I, I just said he signed the marriage contract."

After a long silence Hermione noticeably calmed down "What about the person who performed the ceremony? Aren't you afraid they'll tell, I mean wouldn't that blow your cover as 'You Know Who's' right hand man?"

"I highly doubt Dumbledore is going to knock on Voldemort's door and tell him that his number one enemy and the heir to his dark throne are married." Draco leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face.

"I didn't know the headmaster was qualified to perform matrimonial ceremonies," Hermione said more to herself than to Draco, and then after a long pause she gave a look as though she felt she was missing something. "Right... that just leaves the witness then."

"Well...Remus is a good man so I don't think we'll have any problems with him either." Draco smiled; he was beginning to like Hermione's company.

Hermione just smiled back. Who knew Draco Malfoy could be such fun to talk with, she thought as she took another sip of her tea.

"What about you?" Draco smirked; he was up to something.

"What do you mean?" Hermione had no clue what he was getting at, but whatever it was it couldn't be good.

"When are you and Ron going to get serious?" Ah, so the truth reveals itself, Hermione thought.

"I don't know what you mean, Ron and I are... just friends," she said as she re-filled her cup of tea, avoiding his eyes.

"Right... friends, even though you two have been making googily eyes at each other ever since second year." Hermione was shocked at her secret being discovered. That's three in one day. Draco was on a roll.

Hermione gave in to her defeat "Am I that obvious?" she said resting her head in her hands.

"Not really, but I am a Malfoy... I have to be observant. You never know when someone is plotting something against you," Draco said with a light chuckle. Hermione smiled at that, she had never heard Draco chuckle before. She liked it. "Why don't you just pull him aside and snog him senseless? It would save you two a lot of awkward silences."

"Sorry Draco but it's a little more complicated for Ron and me than it was for you and Harry."

"Who said that it was easy for Harry and me? What, do you think I kissed him, fireworks exploded from all directions and that was it, happily ever after?" Draco sounded somewhat irritated. Hermione just looked at him.

"Well Hermione, for once in your life, I am pleased to be the one to say... you're wrong." Draco took a deep breath. "When I first developed feelings for Harry it was third year, I was so confused. I thought it was wrong... I'm a Malfoy, Malfoys are not allowed to be having feelings for other guys especially guys that were supposed to be your enemy... but were secretly your only real friend. I blamed my feelings on everything, stress, hormones; I even blamed it on Harry for being too cute." Hermione smiled at this, Draco took a deep breath before continuing, "So one day I just decided that if I kissed Harry I would see how gross it actually was to kiss him and everything would go back to normal right? Ha...was I stupid. When I finally kissed Harry, not only did my feelings not go away but Harry freaked out and wouldn't talk to me anymore." Draco let out a dry laugh at the memory. "It took two months before I finally started to realize that my feelings weren't just hormones and that they weren't going away anytime soon. I decided that I would rather have Harry as a friend than not have him at all. So I cornered him one day after potions, I don't even remember what I said to him, all I remember is one minute him yelling at me, telling me that we could never be 'just friends' again after what had happened and the next minute Harry pushing me against the wall and kissing me." Draco smiled at that.

"So let me guess," Hermione said with a bitter tone, "It was a wonderful kiss and then the two of you fell in love and now you're married. It doesn't really seem all that complicated to me," Hermione snapped, you could tell she was starting to get very irritated and impatient with Draco.

"You know Hermione you really can be as stubborn as Ron." Hermione snorted at this, Draco just shook his head before continuing, "Don't get me wrong, the kiss was nice and all but the relationship wasn't all love songs and happy snogging sessions if that's what you think." Draco closed his eyes and sighed loudly, when he opened them he noticed Hermione was staring at him with a concerned look in her eyes, but he continued as if he hadn't noticed. "It was easy to hide the relationship at first, we were like two little boys playing with matches; we didn't know what we were getting into. It was thrilling because it wasn't supposed to happen; it wasn't allowed to happen... not between Harry and I anyway." Draco shook his head, "as the feelings became stronger it became harder and harder to hide them in public... oh, our raging hormones didn't help much either. Fourth and fifth year were the hardest on our relationship. What with the Tri-Wizard tournament and Voldemort coming back in fourth and all the shit with Umbridge, the Department of Mysteries and Sirius's death in fifth, I truly didn't think that we would make it. I mean... sometimes love, just isn't enough. I couldn't make Harry's pain go away and it killed me to see him hurt so much and not be able to do anything about it." Draco clenched his jaw and closed his eyes trying to push his emotions back into the cage they have been enclosed in for so many years. Hermione noticed Draco's emotional struggle and put her hand on is for comfort.

Draco opened his eyes and smiled at her reassuring gesture before continuing. "When Dumbledore brought Sirius back in the beginning of sixth year, it was the first time I had seen Harry smile in... two years. Well... except for that night after the second task in the Tri-Wizarding tournament, but that was for a different reason." Draco smirked and Hermione raised her eyebrow as though she really didn't need him to share that. "And then when he asked me to marry him... the way his eyes lit up when I said I would..." he sighed and smiled, "that was worth everything I went through, everything our relationship went through... the pain... the tears... the fights. It was all worth it just to see his eyes light up and him smile the way he used to before his life became so dark and complicated."

He stopped to compose himself. "So, the point I'm trying to make here is you have to tell him how you feel, Hermione no matter what the complications might be. It's not going to be easy, trust me, Harry and I are living proof that relationships aren't as easy as everyone says they are, but do you really want to spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been? Think about it, if I had never gotten up the courage to confront Harry after that kiss, I'd probably be on Voldemort's side for real, not just playing spy for Dumbledore. Not to mention I wouldn't have Harry, and without him... I really don't think I would have lasted this long." Draco's voice broke with his last words.

Hermione noticed Draco's tear filled eyes and pulled him into a comforting hug; to her surprise he hugged back. When he finally pulled away composed, he smiled at Hermione. "Well I think I've had enough emotional moments for one day, what do you say we go and see if Ron is finished apologizing to Harry yet."

"Wait... Draco." Hermione grabbed his arm preventing him from getting up.

"What?"

"Now that we're friends... can I ask you a somewhat odd question?"

"Sure... anything," he said with a warm smile.

"Can I touch your hair?" she pushed out her lip in a mock pout.

Draco looked at her as though she had sprouted another head "Uh...ok."

Hermione reached up and stroked the soft white-blond tresses of Draco's beautiful hair. After a few seconds she put her hand back on the table. Noticing Draco's still puzzled expression she explained. "Sorry, I just had to find out for myself if it's as soft it looks."

"Well... is it?" Draco said with a smirk.

"Is it what?"

"As soft as you thought it would be?" Draco said impatiently.

"Draco," Hermione said with a big smile, "your hair is as soft as a baby's bottom."

"Um... thanks, I think." Draco scrunched his nose and Hermione laughed.

As Draco got up he stretched, causing his shirt to ride up. Hermione noticed a black looking thing right above the waist of his pants. "What's that?" Hermione said giving Draco a weird look.

"What's what?" Draco looked down at the brunette and raised an eyebrow.

"That!" Hermione said lifting his shirt and pointing to what looked like a tattoo that was just above his right hipbone.

"Oh... it's a tattoo," he said, brushing his fingers over the black letters.

"Well obviously... but why do you have the word Lion tattooed on your hip?"

"Well in the summer right before sixth year Harry and I decided to get tattoos."

"Harry has one too?" Hermione looked shocked.

"Yep," Draco said with a yawn.

"But why Lion? Oh wait let me guess... Lion... Harry... Gryffindor... courage, very clever." Draco just smirked and shook his head.

"That's probably what Harry thinks as well, but it's a little more personal than that. You see, Harry fell asleep on the couch in my common room one night about... three... no, two years ago; he was really upset because he had had another dream about Sirius' death. I was just sitting there on the couch watching him sleep when, all of a sudden he kind of arched his back and made this low growling noise as he stretched in his sleep... just like a lion does." Draco smiled at the memory, "I remember looking at him and thinking how calm and peaceful he looked.... and how I would do anything to keep him safe, even if it meant giving up everything. I guess that's when I realized how much I really love him." After a short pause he put his arm around Hermione's shoulder. "I never told anyone that before. You tell anyone I was opening up to you Granger... and I won't hesitate to use Cruciatus," He said with a smile.

"Aww... Draco that is so sweet," Hermione said sarcastically. "What does Harry's tattoo say?"

"His says Dragon... Harry always said that my name describes me better than any other word ever could."

"Why, because Dragons are slimy and mean?" Draco smiled, shook his head and started walking out of the kitchen. Hermione caught up with him and he laughed as he put his arm around her shoulder again. "I'm just kidding, Draco... but seriously tell me why."

Draco shook his head. "Oh no. If I tell you you're going to laugh."

Hermione pouted. "Please?"

"Fine!" Draco said with a defeated look. "Well... Harry said that dragons are misunderstood... judged by their fierce looking exteriors and intimidating characteristics, but once you break through the first couple of layers of rough skin you find the real beauty and gentle nature that a dragon really is." Draco just shrugged as if unimpressed and kept walking.

"Wow Draco, I had no idea that you were so.... sensitive inside," Hermione said with an evil-like smirk.

"Yeah well, if you tell anyone I'll... I'll hurt you!" Draco said in a mock threatening voice.

Hermione laughed, "Why Draco, you have only threatened me twice today. I think you're losing your touch." He just smiled at her and walked up the stairs with his arm still draped lazily over her shoulder.

As they started to climb the second set of stairs that lead up to the third floor they almost ran into a bemused but happy looking redhead sauntering down the stairs.

Instantly the smiles on Hermione and Draco's faces vanished. "Ron," Hermione said as she looked down at a little spider web on the side of the second step.

"Hermione ... I... I'm..." Ron stuttered.

Draco rolled his eyes and laughed inwardly at the tension in the air. "So, is everything settled then?"

Ron looked up from his shoes, "Everything is fine, now... except-" Ron turned to look at Hermione whose eyes were still fixed on the stair. "I'm so sorry Hermione, for yelling at you like that. I... I was just being stubborn and thick and..."

"I forgive you," Hermione said in a low voice interrupting Ron's meager attempt at an apology.

"You... you do?" Ron looked at Hermione in shock; he obviously hadn't thought she would let him off this easily. Hermione nodded and smiled weakly at the redhead.

After what seemed like a long uncomfortable silence for Draco anyway, he decided to break the peace. "Well... I think I'm going to see what Harry is up to." And with that he slid his arm off Hermione's shoulder and down, placing the palm of his hand on the small of her back. He quickly kissed her on the cheek and started to walk up the stairs. As he did he lightly pushed her forward causing her to loose her balance and fall onto Ron for support.

"Uh... uh... um...s-sorry," Ron said and gave a nervous laugh as he realized his left hand was dangerously close to resting on Hermione's breast.

Draco couldn't see Ron's face, as he was already halfway up the stairs but could tell that the redhead was blushing horribly as was Hermione. He smiled wickedly to himself as he finished climbing the stairs and walked to the bedroom.