The Marriage Decree

Chapter 66: It's Your Name

Hermione must have dozed off in the bath since she's awoken by a knocking at the bathroom door.

"Hermione?" Draco's voice comes from the other side. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, what time is it? I thought you were having lunch with your mother?" She questions as she stands up out of the bath, wrapping herself in a towel.

"It's only three o'clock. Mother was quite angry when she came home." He tells her and she can hear the smile on his face. "Mitty said you are welcome but it's her job to feed me whenever I'm at the Manor."

Hermione smiles as she thinks to herself that she should visit Mitty again soon. "I didn't mean to anger her. What did she say about me?" She asks as she pulls on her dressing gown.

"Just the usual name calling and wondering how we were paired together since we obviously have very little in common besides our intelligence." He admits as she opens the door to find him leaning back against the bannister. "I defended our honour. Although, I admit that might have been the wrong thing to do. She really hates you now she knows I love you. Clearly, I'm under the power of a love potion." He smiles softly.

"You'd know if I poisoned you with a love potion," Hermione assures him as she heads into their bedroom. "You knew when I drugged you with a sleeping draught." She reminds him as she takes a clean pair of pyjamas out of her drawers.

Draco perches on the edge of their bed, looking away from Hermione as she changes. "That's true. I told her as much. Not that you drugged me, but that I would know. I also told her about the apprenticeship."

"What did mother have to say about that?" She asks coming around to sit beside Draco on their bed.

"No self-respecting Malfoy would ever be a professor." He repeats.

"You don't need her approval," Hermione tells him, taking hold of his hand.

"I know," He squeezes her hand. "My parents' approval is all I've really wanted and I'm finding it hard to leave that behind." He admits, surprising Hermione slightly which he seems to realise as he stands up abruptly. "How was your interview?" He asks, making his way downstairs.

Hermione follows him into the kitchen, taking a seat at the breakfast bar to watch him cook their dinner. "The interviewer was very eccentric. He seemed to be under the impression that Harry, Ron and I weren't ever really friends but promised to protect our image in the article." She says.

"Who was the interviewer?" He asks as he cuts some vegetables up.

"Magnus..." Hermione tries to remember his surname.

"Maddox. Lucius got him the job after the whole Rita Skeeter incident in our fourth year." He admits then pauses to look at her. "I'm sorry about my involvement in that." He apologises.

"I'd forgotten all about it." She smiles at him and he goes back to chopping. "He asked about our careers, our partners and the decree." She mentions.

Draco pauses his chopping again, but this time he turns himself around to face her. "What did you tell him?" He asks.

"About what?"

"Us?" He clarifies.

"The truth." She admits with a shy smile.

"That being?" He prompts her.

"That I never hated you, just disliked you but I respected the change you were putting yourself through during our eighth year." She glances down at the countertop. "That we have some arguments like any other marriage but we work through them and that we've developed our new-found friendship into a relationship." She looks up to find him smiling sincerely at her. "I also may have mentioned we were in a loving relationship." She hesitantly tells him.