I Choose You

Ch 1 : Where Power Lies

"Hermione, I need to speak to my friends," Draco said, his eyes not even looking at her.

He had interrupted her explanation about the true nature of Merfolk and the way their songs worked in soundwaves underneath the water, and she took a deep breath, reminding herself to not snap at him for it, before finally looking up.

"That's fine, I can hear what you have to say-"

"Alone."

Hermione had been unaware, until that point, of his return to the Castle. She had thought he was gone for the entire weekend, on whatever business he had for his father. She tried not to ask questions, tried to understand all of the intricacies that came with being a Pureblood heir, but something was amiss with her husband and his father.

Dismissing her while she ate dinner with Theo and Blaise? Something was certainly the matter.

"Of course," she said with a false smile, and she knew from the look in Theo's eyes that he was aware of it. "I have some studying to do, as it is - after they have left, be certain to eat yourself."

Her hand reached out to touch his lower arm, one of the few bits of kindness between them, and she could feel how tense he was, his jaw set, muscles tight, a sure sign that something was wrong.

She left their small welcoming room, which served a variety of tasks from eating to sitting before the fire to study, and turned to walk towards what should have been their studying area, but was instead his room - they had not shared a bed since the bonding ceremony, and Hermione was unsure as to when that would change. Rather than walking too far away, however, she stayed just in the shadows, watching and waiting. It took a few moments before she heard Draco speak.

"We swore to our fathers that we would do whatever it takes to keep our legacy alive. To do whatever it takes to keep our traditions alive. We're going to have to break those vows."

"What does he want? Why now? Does it have to do with Hermione?"

"Blaise, she can't know about this-"

"Draco, you have to tell her-"

Whatever Theodore had been saying was cut off, as if by magic. A silencing privacy spell. He was shutting her out, keeping their conversation quiet. It was worrying - they both had their secrets, had their separate lives, him the Slytherin Prince, her a studious little Gryffindor, but at no point during their four-month marriage, nor the year-long betrothal before that, had Hermione truly been so worried.

When she had arrived at Hogwarts over six years earlier, everything had been like a dream, like it was truly magic. There were so many unimaginable wonders, so much to study, so much to explore. It had felt as though nothing could stop her, nothing could hold her back, not even the fact that she was not born into this world. An outsider she may be, but Hermione knew she would find her place in it.

It was not until the start of Fourth Year when the other girls in her year began worrying about boys, that she realized that a place may have already been chosen for her. Marriages between Purebloods had been ended after the Great Wizarding War, an effort to keep any issues of blood purity arising again, but in exchange, Muggleborns were no longer able to keep to those like them - if you wanted to remain in the Wizarding World, you joined a Wizarding family.

Suddenly, exams had no longer been the top of her concerns. She had always known that she was smart, the brightest witch some even said, but there was no way to study her way into a Wizarding family. She had had to look around, take stock, and as betrothal pieces began falling onto the wrists of so many girls around her...

She was forgotten. She was ignored.

It was at the end of Fifth Year that she found out why - The Malfoys were the best, and if their son was unable, by law, to marry a Pureblood girl, then they would have the best of the rest. And if a Muggleborn was the brightest witch of the age...