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Draco Malfoy had never told his wife he loved her.
They had been together for five years and the words had never left his lips once. They had never been uttered by her either.
And now, their marriage contract was coming to an end.
Years after the war, divorce rates were skyrocketing at the same time as birth rates plummeted. During the rise and fall of Voldemort, many young witches and wizards had been frantic to find love in a time of desperation. Many of those young witches and wizards married people in the heat of the moment, and once the dust settled they realized they had no connection to their spouses.
So a Marriage Law was enacted to unite potential spouses by way of attributes that would benefit their potential future children. Upon five years or the successful birth of a child of magical abilities, the marriage could be granted null and void and allow the partners to go their separate ways. Of course, the system to decide partners had been created in such a way that it weighed everyone’s characteristics and matched partners based on probability of a continued relationship.
The majority of partners had remained together beyond their five year requirement.
When Draco had been informed he was to marry Hermione Granger, he had been livid. Out of all the possible witches, it had to be her . The only one who infuriated him like no other. The one who tried to best him constantly in the field when they were paired together for Auror field work. The one witch who constantly corrected his paperwork before they turned it in.
Their marriage contract was due to end in a month.
Just thirty more days and they would be free of each other, to go about their lives as if this had never happened. A complete waste of five years.
But it hadn’t been a waste.
They had one child together, as the marriage law required in order for it to be considered a success. They could have separated them, but yet they didn’t. Neither had said anything about the fact, they just continued to cohabit together.
And now, almost five years after he signed the contract, Draco was in the library watching his wife as she carried their little girl, Cassie—short for Cassiopeia— on her hip to search for a new book. Over the last few days he frequently found himself lost in thought over his soon to be ex-wife. Reminiscing over memories he never thought he would have made with Hermione Granger.
Hermione had been accepting of their marriage by the simple fact she agreed their combined genetics would greatly benefit their children. Their intelligence was undeniable, their expertise in magic, their determination and drive to succeed.
And at first things had been tense and awkward between them, which was to be expected after their tumultuous past. She had moved to the Manor in an attempt to make things as normal as possible. There was nothing normal about the arrangement but Draco went with it.
It was just five years.
Their first intimate night together had started out with questioning touches and fumbling hands, broken by nervous kisses. Draco didn’t know why he had been so anxious with her, it was just Granger. But he had been. He has felt like a school boy with his first crush. But their moments together became longer as they started to grow more confident with each other, more trusting, exploring their new found relationship as it started to blossom.
In the beginning, their intimacy remained strictly reserved for the bedroom. They barely acknowledged each other at work beyond the usual pleasantries, they kept to themselves when at home. But suddenly the lines blurred when he had found himself alone with her in his office and he couldn’t think of anything but claiming her right on his desk. And he did.
They started to break their own unspoken rules, falling into each other more and more often.
They had their first goodbye kiss almost a full year into their pseudo-marriage. The moment had caught them both off guard. Draco had fallen prey to the instinct to lean in and capture her lips for no other reason than he wanted to.
Just four years left.
Cassieopia was born on the anniversary of what would be their second year, if it was to be considered a real marriage. There was no denying the immense amount of pride he had felt seeing his daughter, holding her in his arms. The little girl looked so much like Hermione it created an odd ache in his chest to look at her. Blonde ringlets that he knew would be a wild tangle, just like Hermiones. Large brown eyes that stared up at him imploringly. Freckles that dusted her porcelain skin. He had never thought he would get to be a father, because who could ever want to be with a reformed Death Eater?
Draco had no way to articulate his thoughts of Hermione in those moments either. Watching her bring his child – their child – into the world. The way she had clung to his hand as she conquered the pain that accompanied child birth. The way Hermione had cried tears of pure joy, drawing him down for a kiss as the nurse brought their daughter to her arms. Draco left the Ministry to stay home with Cassie so Hermione could pursue her career.
Just three years left now.
They attended their first holiday party together as a couple. While it was common knowledge they had been wed through the Marriage Law, they rarely acknowledged it in public. Their relationship was kept behind closed doors, everything they did was done in privacy. Draco found himself continually drawn to her, no matter where she went. And it seemed she felt it too. The undeniable pull between them. More than a simple attraction, but an overwhelming need. They could barely keep their hands off each other any longer and they ended up stowed away in the coat closet for what felt like hours.
Just two years to go.
The miscarriage was hard on both of them. At first Hermione had wanted solitude, locking herself in the nursery for hours on end whilst all Draco could do was listen to her heartbroken sobs through the nursery door. Eventually, she found her way to him and all Draco could do was hold her in his arms while she broke down. His heart felt like it was splintering to see her so distraught over their loss, so vulnerable. Her apologies hurt the worst, because he knew it wasn’t her fault.
Hermione was an excellent mother and had been so careful during her pregnancy. He was fortunate to have someone like her to raise his child with. He knew there was nothing they could have done to prevent this from happening.
One year left.
By their fifth year of marriage, patterns and routines had formed in their little family. Cassie would sit on the stool at Hermione’s vanity, watching her mother get ready for work. Hermione would then slip over to Draco to press a kiss to his cheek before leaving for the day. He would spend his entire day with his curly haired daughter, watching as she started to discover her magic. They would then eagerly show Hermione her new tricks and his witches face would glow with pride over their daughter.
Evenings were spent together as a family– was it even pretend anymore?
Most nights Draco found Hermione curled into his side on the couch, her nose tucked into a book as her curls tickled his nose. Curls he twirled around his finger as he read over her shoulder, a gentle tug a signal to her thathe had finished and they could go on to the next page. The perfect little picture of domesticity.
Just one month left.
Draco realized he loved Hermione Granger.
He had never told her.
But he didn’t want her to leave. He knew she would never be truly out of his life because of Cassie, but she had been forced into this just like him. They had never discussed what would happen at the end of their arrangement.
Were they supposed to part ways?
He no longer wanted to.
Did she love him?
One week left.
Draco summoned Hermione to the library, finding himself pacing anxiously amongst the shelves. He was clutching the tiny leather clad box in his hand, flipping the lid open and shut as he waited for her. She joined him, pressing a kiss to his cheek in greeting as she always did now.
“You wanted to see me?” Hermione asked as she moved to straighten a book on the shelf, gently sliding it back into place.
His stomach was twisting with anxious excitement as he watched her, taking in the way the sun slipped through the massive windows to fall across her face. The reality that this could be one of the last days she would be in this library, her library , struck him.
What if she said no?
Draco reached for her hand, drawing it to his lips to press a kiss to her knuckles. Her brows drew together ever so slightly at the gesture, the corner of her lips lifting. He had rehearsed an entire speech for this moment but he suddenly found himself at a loss. What he had in mind was no longer good enough. Nothing but pretty words meant to flatter his own ego.
Hermione would never accept them.
“Our Marriage contract ends this week,” Draco started and he felt her start to withdraw her hand from his, “But I don’t want it to, Hermione.”
He had never spoken her name in five years. For five years he had called her Granger and she had continued to call him Malfoy. Out of habit, he supposed. Or as a way to keep their relationship where it had been, a reminder that one day things would come to an end.
Hermione’s head had tipped slightly at his words, her lashes lowering to conceal her thoughts from him, “Malfoy…”
Draco stepped towards her as he slowly slipped his fingers through hers to link their hands together, “I don’t want this to end. I want to marry you, for real this time. Not because we have to, but because I want to . I love you and I love Cassie. I love the family we’ve created together. Being thrown into this has been the best thing to ever happen to me and I don’t want to let you go.”
He could feel her hesitancy as she quietly studied him, a tell that she was turning over his words in her mind. Weighing them.
Draco fumbled with the little jewelry box, taking advantage of her momentary silence to flip it open. He felt his hands starting to sweat as he held it open to her, “Please, Hermione. Please say yes. Be my wife. Stay with me.”
One day left.
They hadn’t had a real wedding because of the Marriage Law. They had simply gone to the Ministry courthouse and signed documents. Nothing more. Nothing grande or elaborate. Nothing that even hinted at a real marriage. Because it had never been intended to last.
But Draco wanted to give her the wedding they never had. The wedding his beautiful witch deserved.
In a matter of days after he had proposed to her, Draco found himself standing in the gardens of the Manor beneath an arbor of climbing roses. He was anxious, fiddling with the buttons of his tuxedo as he closed his eyes. He was taking deep breaths to steady his nerves. He had never felt this level of excitement before, not when it came to Hermione Granger. Potter stood besides him, patiently watching and waiting. The raven haired wizard had been more than eager to be their official for the ceremony.
A hush fell over the crowd, a smattering of close friends and family, and Draco knew it was time.
That she was here, walking down the aisle towards him .
Draco took one more deep breath before he opened his eyes, which immediately found the witch he realized he loved most. And that breath he had taken was stolen from him as their eyes met. Hermione looked like a dream, draped in a white wedding gown made of silks and lace. Her auburn curls were draped by a veil as they cascaded freely about her shoulders. His chest was constricting as each of her steps drew her closer to him, feeling her nervous energy as she neared.
Hermione took his outstretched hand as he held it out to her, her fingers curling into his as he tugged her beneath the arbor at his side.
With her before him, everyone else fell away.
It was just the two of them in the garden, wrapped in a gentle breeze scented of rose and lilacs. He couldn’t hear Potter’s words over the rushing in his ears, the sound of his heart racing like a thoroughbred as she looked up at him. Her mahogany eyes were wide, glistening with unshed tears as her lips moved. She was repeating words but he couldn’t hear them.
Draco could only see her .
He knew he was speaking, repeating what Potter was saying as his fingers clung to hers. Draco felt a silk ribbon being wrapped around their joint hands, feeling the faint magic twining through their bodies with each twist of the fabric. As the ends came together, there was a rush of magic through his body as it rose to meet Hermione’s, binding them together. The wind swept through the gardens, showering them in rose petals as her veil wrapped around them.
“I love you,” Draco was saying, almost in disbelief that this was real and she was his wife. She had been for the last five years, but now it was by choice.
Hermione’s lips tipped upwards into a faint smirk as she looked up at him, her hands coming up to his face to draw him down for a kiss, “I love you too, Draco.”
And now he could spend the rest of his life with Hermione Granger-Malfoy.