Forced Love

Chapter 2

After the announcement of her marriage, Hermione Granger was forced to stay with Jean, Narcissa, and Draco and keep them company.  She was waiting, because she was sure that in a few minutes, her mother would cry out, "It was all a joke!", and she'd be free to be with whoever the hell she wanted to be with.

But no.  Hermione waited and waited, sitting on the edge of her seat, waiting for the moment to come, but it never did.

By now, it was early evening, and Hermione was almost ready to lose her mind.  She had to marry DRACO MALFOY.  What kind of an imbecile forced her to do that?

"Thank you for having us today," Narcissa Malfoy said graciously to Jean Granger, who smiled and said that it was no big deal; she was happy to.  "We'll be back everyday for a week so we can plan this wedding.  Ooh, I'm so excited for my baby to get married!"

"Yes, yes! We have a lot to do!  Make sure you bring Draco, Sissy." Jean said, hugging Narcissa tightly.

Draco sneered at Hermione.  She made a face back.  This was the most civil they had probably ever been with each other!

As Draco and his mother walked out the door, Jean bidded them farawell.

Hermione sat back in her seat and sighed.  She was so tired.  As she was about to get up, her mother sat next to her.

"You may not be happy with it now, but I know that you'll be grateful in the long run." Jean simply said, her confidence showing through in the tone of the sentence.

Hermione just nodded, and walked off to her room.

Once inside her safe haven, Hermione changed into something more comfortable, and crawled into her bed.

Reaching underneath the mattress where her secret stash of chocolate lay, she started thinking. 'Why, out of EVERYONE in the entire world, WHY did her mother have to be friends with her mortal enemies?'

Hermione chewed thoughfully.  Was there anything that she could do to persuade her mother to back out of her decision?

No. Jean Granger was a woman of her words.  No matter what happened, she would always keep her promises. There's no point in wasting time trying to persuade her mother to do something that she would never back out of.  Plus, she really loved the idea of Draco marrying her daughter.

While she let the creamy milk chocolate melt on her tongue, Hermione realized she had a very tricky decision to make.  Either refuse to marry Draco and live a miserable life full of resentment from her mother, or agree to the marriage and have Draco *shudder* Malfoy strapped to her ankle for the rest of her life, not letting her live the life she wanted to live.

Decisions, decisions.

Finishing off her beloved chocolate bar, Hermione decided to randomly choose the path of her entire life.  She would take a random chocolate from her stash (with her eyes closed) and take a bite.  If it was plain milk chocolate, she would refuse the marriage.  If it was dark chocolate, she would marry Draco without (much) of a fight.

Hermione closed her eyes, and reached into the stash.  Her fingers caught a chocolate bar.  She unwrapped it with ease, and took a chunk of chocolate off with her fingers.

With her hand shaking with nervousness, Hermione put the chocolate into her mouth.

Hermione tasted a mild bitter flavor, with a hint of berry.

It was dark chocolate! She had to marry Draco.

With a bleak future ahead of her, Hermione closed her eyes and tried to forget about everything.