Round Eight, Challenge Warm Up Voting Poll
It’s time for the week one's Words of Love!
Welcome all to the celebration of Dramione's Tenth Anniversary.
A couple of things to remember when deciding which drabbles to vote for (most and least favorite):
Guidelines:
As a voter, you have the option of leaving a brief statement about why you voted the way you did, for both most and least favorite. Your feedback will then be given to the drabble writer (if they want the feedback) ANONYMOUSLY.
Example: Most - #40: the ending was brilliant - OR - Least - #57: the ending fell flat
Please remember writers, that you may not vote for yourselves.
Here we go for week one!
Choose your favorite and least favorite drabbles. Favorites will receive +1 point per vote, and least favorites -1 point per vote.
Voting ends at 11:59pm, Friday, April 22th.
Words: Commitment
Definitions: Draco's POV
Related Forms: 350 words, exactly.
1
Title: The Commitment Conundrum
Author: mihnn
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Hermione watched patiently as Draco walked back and forth along the length of the sitting room at Malfoy Manor.
"Draco-"
"Wait. I'm thinking."
She waited a moment longer. "It's not a difficult decision, really."
He stopped to eye her incredulously. "This is a very difficult decision. There are other people to consider besides ourselves."
"I know that, but-"
"Not to mention the level of commitment needed is outstanding."
"It really isn't."
"Of course it is. You're asking a lot of me," he mumbled before he resumed pacing.
"Then say 'no'."
He stopped mid-step. "I can't say 'no'," he said scandalized.
"Why not?"
"Because a Malfoy never says 'no' when he's already given his word that he would do something."
"But you didn't know about your father before."
"Which is why I'm faced with this conundrum," he sighed. It was almost as if he had to make an earth shattering decision when he didn't need to.
"Are you even ready?"
"Of course I'm ready. I've been bloody ready for weeks."
"Then it's decided!"
"No, it's not. Didn't you hear my father? He's forbidden it! To go against him would be-"
"Devastating?"
He looked at her seriously when he said, "Among other things."
"Then say 'no'. I'm sure that Harry or Ron would-"
"I thought we went over this. Under no circumstances will I allow Potter or Weasley to get the best of me."
"Then it's settled. Crookshanks is yours for a week!"
"What? But my father-"
"Will be fine. I've got to go, Draco." She leaned forward and pecked his cheek lightly. "I will be back from Australia before you know it." And with a small smile aimed toward that ginger cat of hers, she left.
Alone with the one animal who never really liked him, Draco turned towards it. "Alright, Cat. You stay away from my father and his allergies, and I just might feed you on time."
The demon actually hissed at him.
Draco's eyes narrowed at the creature. It was obvious that a battle was a foot for the coming week; and he had every intention of winning.
2
Title: The Easy Way
Author: dollfaced
Rating: T
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
“Hurry up!”
Granger was yelling at him again. Typical. Did weddings always make people behave irrationally?
“Keep your knickers on! I’ll be there in a minute.” Or never. Hiding in the loo wasn’t something he was proud of but it was better than the alternative. He’d been dreading this day since Blaise had asked him to be his best man.
“We don’t have a minute, Malfoy!” Hermione banged on the door. “The song is about to start and I will not let you ruin this for Ginny.”
Had she no mercy?
“Can’t Potter dance with you?” He suspected that she would reject that idea on tradition alone but it was worth a go. “I hear he’s quite the dancer.”
He heard a loud sigh. “Harry broke my toe two years ago at Percy’s wedding. I’ve sworn never to dance with him again.” Then she started to yell, “You’re the best man and I’m the maid of honor at this blasted wedding. We dance together! Get you cowardly arse out of there and let’s go.”
From the tone of her voice he knew she was going to blast the door open if he didn’t. “Fine. I’m coming out.” To meet my doom.
As soon as he opened the door he knew he was right. She was just as pretty and flowery-smelling as she’d been at the ceremony. Damn her! Didn’t she understand that keeping his distance was extremely important because once he got close to her - held her - it would be all over for him.
“Finally”, she said exasperatedly, grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the ballroom.
He’d already fallen for her but he’d been smart enough not to let that go to his head. Otherwise he’d do something rash, like kiss her. But now he wasn’t sure how long his will could hold. The idea of them together was complicated and fraught with difficulty.
He like things easy. Easy was good.
She slipped her hand over his shoulder and looked up at him expectantly. That’s when he succumbed and made the commitment.
Easy or difficult, he’d love her forever.
3
Title: Priestess
Author: mister_otter
Rating: G
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
Hermione believed he was cheating on her.
Draco hadn’t suspected his wife’s fear until Harry happened to let it slip. The realization that that’s what she thought had hit hard, like a fist. It left him shaken. He wouldn’t. Not ever.
Still, he supposed hers was a logical reaction to a spouse gone suddenly MIA in the midst of a long-standing marriage. He should have done a quick wrap-up of this thing that kept him from Hermione’s side. Except that he wasn’t the wrap-up-quickly sort. He liked to test things, to take his time, to be meticulous.
Standing among the jars, vials, and scarred tables that cluttered his private workroom, Draco studied the gift he’d created. A perfume for Hermione, in celebration of their 10th anniversary.
He’d wanted something that captured her essence. Sun-warmed skin, mossy woods, the creak of old leather that bound the books she loved. Her subtle sensuality. But for the life of him, he’d not been able to find an ingredient that mirrored her formidable intelligence.
It had taken hours of research, then numerous journeys into the magical underworld, to track one down-Nardis, a fragrance burned by Egyptian priestesses in the temples of Isis, gold-tinted and said to awaken the mind in all its brilliance. It had cost him thousands of Galleons to acquire a few drops, but Draco knew it would be worth it.
With a steady hand, he tapped the drops into the vial that held the other ingredients, the scent wafting below his nose as the liquid swirled.
He was out for perfection. Nothing less would do for the woman who was his sun, his woods, his fountain of wisdom. The high priestess who held his life in her capable hands, whose commitment kept him steady and strong.
“Cheating, my arse,” Draco muttered.
He breathed. Once. Twice. A smirky grin lit his face. The sweet smell of success filled his nostrils.
Satisfied that he had a gift worthy of Hermione Malfoy, he capped a bottle and pocketed it. Whistling as he closed the door, Draco headed for the temple he called home.
4
Title: Indecisively Yours
Author: bookishwench
Rating: PG
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
“No, I’m not!”
I was aiming for a mature, calm statement of fact. Judging by Hermione’s expression, I sounded more like a five-year-old with his hand caught inside a box of Ice Mice before dinner.
“Draco, the only thing you’re not terrified of committing to is your weekly Quidditch game,” she said, giving me a look worthy of McGonagall.
“That’s preposterous,” I retorted, modulating my voice better this time. “I’ve committed to many things.”
“Such as?” she said, crossing her arms.
“I finished my training as a Ministry barrister,” I said.
“After you tried and got tired of medicine, banking, teaching, running an inn, managing a potions emporium, and farming plimpies,” she said, ticking each of my failed career alternatives off on her fingers.
“I’ve been Blaise’s friend for fifteen years,” I said, firm in the knowledge she had no response to that.
“Except for the five years you spent not speaking after leaving Hogwarts,” she said.
By this point I was getting a bit nervous.
“I dated Pansy four years. That’s got to be a record,” I said, desperation creeping into my tone.
“Then the moment she started buying Bridal Weekly, you promptly fled,” Hermione said.
“Can you blame me? I mean, it was Pansy,” I said, shuddering. “Also, who in their right mind gets married at bloody eighteen?”
“Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Harry’s parents, Fleur,” she began. “Do you want me to keep going?”
“Look, she wasn’t the one, all right? She wasn’t- she didn’t have- she was lacking in-,” I stammered, looking for the right words.
“If the completed phrasing of those statements involves use of the word ‘rack,’ I am leaving,” she said.
“No!”
Well, actually yes, but I wasn’t telling her that.
“Then what?”
“She wasn’t you,” I finished lamely. “The idea of being with you doesn’t terrify me. Thinking what my life would be like without you does. I’m serious, Hermione, I really do want to marry you.”
She stood there for a few moments, then nodded.
“That was the correct answer,” she said, smiling.
And that was how I proposed to your mother.
5
Title: Countdown
Author: a_contemplare
Rating: G
Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 350.
Lying on his bed, a million questions run through his mind. Shutting his eyes has little effect in bringing him closer to sleep, and all he wishes right now is to cease all thought.
Can he really do it? Is he ready for this?
This next step he’s about to embark on will last much longer than a day, a month, or a year-it will last him ‘till death do us part.’ And he wonders… is he strong enough to last that long? After all, time is the greatest test, and he’s never been the most persevering of people.
Yes, it is without question that he loves her wholeheartedly; he has for so very long, and he knows she does too. They do have their quarrels like any other ordinary couple, because that’s what they are: normal. That doesn’t faze him. But is he ready to have her become his Mrs Draco Malfoy?
He recalls their turbulent childhood. The taunting, the hatred, the prejudice; they all seem so far away, and yet not so long ago, appearing vividly in his mind’s eye. Funny thing, time is. Several months ago, they had been busy planning for tomorrow, and now, tomorrow is mere hours away. In the background, he can hear the clock ticking, counting down the seconds with him.
Tick tock, tick tock.
Each second draws him closer to the next day, and he is discomforted by his uncertainty in himself.
He used to think that pre-wedding jitters were silly, and now-only tonight, the night before his wedding-he’s suffering from them, and they are definitely nothing to dismiss simply. Never again will he scoff at others.
“Go to sleep, Draco,” she murmurs, her warm body snuggling closer to him. His arm moves to encircle her waist and he sees her lips turn upwards in a sleepy but familiar smile.
The sight makes him smile as well, and the doubts vanish, the turmoil in his mind calms.
Yes, he is ready. He is certain … this is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
6
Title: Putting It Down
Author: strawberry_kait
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Mild language
Word Count: 350
The quill faltered, a bead of Indian ink building in the hovering nib, not dripping down onto the patiently waiting parchment.
Dear Granger -
Draco balked. Dear Granger, seriously? Yes, that’s quite romantic. No, won’t do at all. He siphoned the words away with his wand.
“Why must this be so troublesome,” he whinged, recalling how many times he’d started over. His thoughts wouldn’t come out right. The love was there, of course, or else he wouldn’t be so frazzled. A spectrum of emotions for the woman who’d promised herself to him for the rest of their lives was vivid in his mind, coursing over nearly his entire life, prompting his hand to bring just one down to the page for posterity’s sake. Yet he was at a loss.
My Darling One…
He blinked down at the page in utter revulsion. Such sentimentalities were definitely not his style. She would laugh her arse off. Draco flung the quill. It pricked the parchment, the ink blooming slowly. It was meant to be an example of one’s commitment to another, but honestly Draco believed it to be an exercise in ridiculousness and humiliation.
Hermione…
“Oh, Hermione,” he whispered to the parchment. Hermione, simple as that? Just Hermione? But she’s so much more than that. How could that ever be sufficient? He wadded the stiff page and held it tightly, sighing once more.
“How do I do this? It really shouldn’t be this hard, I’m certain. Damn her insistence on originality! Everybody knows I’m not up to scratch,” he muttered as he stood, squeezing the wad. “How do I say she’s everything I don’t deserve? That she makes me want to be better, because she believes I can be, that I am. I want… to be everything for her, to witness all her dreams, go with her everywhere, because I am nothing if not in love with Hermione Granger.”
Draco unclenched his fist, charming the parchment back as it was as he tried again to put his love into words. Hermione pulled back from the doorway, smiling as her disgruntled lover composed his vows.
7
Title: Smurfing
Author: pagan_toon76
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Draco glared at his partner in frustration. The object of his ire - seated across the shared desk from him - was singing la, la, la, surf the whole day long in soft undertones; soft enough not to disturb anyone else in the department, but loud enough to disturb him.
“Granger, will you stop that infernal singing?” he growled. Granger’s warbling - Merlin, the woman must be tone deaf! - coupled with her incessant use of la, la, la whilst attempting to sing, were driving him up the wall.
“What’s your problem, Malfoy?” she asked, frowning at his tone.
“You,” he pointed a finger in her direction, “and your wretched surf song. We’ve promised Gringotts we’ll figure out how Waitrose managed to deposit such large amounts of money without alerting the goblins. The money from his dodgy business deals and commitments are currently being laundered through Gringotts while you waste time singing about surfing.”
When he stopped, Granger actually smirked at him.
Not a good sign.
It always preceded her informing him she’d figured something out before he did, and in the Waitrose case, she seemed to be ahead of him in leaps and bounds. He hated that and scowled at her.
“Money laundering,” she began in what he termed her preachy voice, “can take several forms. So long as the money is introduced into the financial system and certain transactions carried out to camouflage its illegal source, it can be integrated easily and come out clean. What Waitrose has done is to make placements in small deposits. These won’t attract the goblins’ attention; ergo, no suspicions of money laundering. In Muggle parlance: smurfing.”
“Is that even a word?” he asked, fearing her answer.
She grinned at him. “Muggle cartoon, Draco. They’re little blue men. Oh, and one blue female.” Her grin widened. “You know, small deposits, little men? Get it?”
He rolled his eyes.
“And it’s the Smurf song, not the surf song. Would you like to hear it?”
He shuddered in distaste. “Thank you Granger, but no.” He then smirked. “But tell me, did the little men all share that one female?”
8
Title: Advanced Commitment
Author: eevilalice
Rating: G
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Her voice has gone brittle again, like a glass I want to break. It does this when I’ve disappointed her, which is more often than not.
I tell her people don’t change overnight. She says she knows, her expression sometimes softening, sometimes hardening. Resentful of the reminder, I guess, but she needs it.
She is patient. More patient, I suspect, than she ever was with Potter and Weasley, who couldn’t keep up with her brilliance.
“Our relationship isn’t Charms homework,” she says.
But I catch the fleeting frowns, the way her eyes shift away when I dismiss a house-elf too curtly, or forget to thank it (or refer to it as an “it”), or, Merlin forbid, state the fact that Weasley’s family is too poor to have had a house-elf at all.
Apparently, redemption means one can no longer state facts. At least, not ones involving freckle-plagued exes.
Tonight, the brittleness, the hardening behind her eyes, has an edge that’s sharper than normal. It worries at me like a splinter.
“We’ve been planning this for weeks.”
“I know,” I snap. Because how could I not? (Know. Snap.)
She moves in closer, her hair a cloud at my cheek. “Meeting my parents…it’s so important to me. Isn’t it to you?”
I scrape my immaculate nails lightly across the fabric of the couch, the warmth of her near body an accusation, a promised thing I’m not doing my part to earn.
“But I won’t…know what I’m doing. I don’t know Muggle…things.” I stare straight ahead, pretending to ignore the tickle of her curls. Their cherry blossom scent that lingers on my clothes everywhere I go, spring, summer, autumn, winter. “I’ll look foolish.”
Her hand coaxes my face to meet her expression, her eyes startlingly soft, like liquid chocolate. I don’t understand.
“You know me. And I know you. And you are foolish. And so am I. Yet here we are,” she smiles. “I love you. Let me.”
Her parents open the door, letting me into her childhood home, all its magical Muggle things, mysterious as what lets me keep trying. Failing. Trying.
9
Title: A Lifetime Decision
Author: akinriahtram
Rating: G
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Draco always thought that the word “commitment” was a scary word. It was connected to the word “eternity” and only when he was forced to, could he ever be committed. Maybe the fear came from his father forcing him to join the Circle of Death Eaters; it was not his definition of a voluntary commitment. In fact, he hated it.
He was the son of an aristocrat, surrounded by stunning women, but even so, he loathed his lifestyle. Arrogance and abhorrence sparked from this typical lifestyle and all he wanted was a more humane life - no banquets or business associations.
It was only in Granger could he find this normal life. Hermione Granger, his enemy, the witch painted his life with colours out of fury and snarky comments, but he couldn’t hate her. She saw the ugliness hidden beneath the rich façade that he put on. She saw the despicable side of aristocrats - things being done under the influence of power and money, but she never turned away; she never abandoned him.
Being together with him was a severe task. He saw the scars, invisible to everyone else caused by their relationship. He was a Malfoy, a Pureblood, and she was considered a Mudblood from his people. He never knew why she accepted the callous comments thrown at her when she was with him, but she was ready to reiterate when a comment was thrown his way.
“Maybe it’s love.” She said, but only ended up changing it. “…I was kidding, you know.”
Their relationship was one that never had a proper beginning, but he decided h wanted a proper ending. After ten years with her, Draco believed that he was ready to be committed - to spend the rest of his life with her.
“What are you doing here?”
He blinked and looked up into a pair of honey brown eyes.
“I was just in the area.” He answered nonchalantly, “Thought I would drop over and we could go and have coffee.” She stared at him and raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“It’s one fifty, Draco. And St. Mungo is not even close from the Ministry.”
He shrugged and took her hand.
“I had something important to do.”
“Like what?”
He wasn’t the romantic type. He wasn’t the boyfriend who showered his girlfriend with expensive gifts, jewellery, or heartfelt poems. He wasn’t the type to announce their relationship to the world, but that was okay. He knew Hermione accepted his flaws.
Convincing himself that he was ready, that she was worth it - worth his commitment, he locked his hands around hers and slipped a diamond ring onto her finger.
Staring into her eyes, he asked, “Would you like to marry me?”
ooo
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Poll Round 8 Challenge 1
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Come Celebrate Dramione's Tenth Anniversary
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This Week: Commitment
Voting ends 11:59 EST (GMT -4) Friday, April 22th
To Get this Pretty for your Journal - Spread the Drabble Love!
Come Celebrate Dramione's Tenth Anniversary
Click the Invite to Read & Vote!
This Week: Commitment
Voting ends 11:59 EST (GMT -4) Friday, April 22th
Please spread the word and thanks for dropping by!
Welcome all to the celebration of Dramione's Tenth Anniversary.
A couple of things to remember when deciding which drabbles to vote for (most and least favorite):
Guidelines:
- Which drabble best incorporates the prompt?
- Is the drabble clever, different, fresh? Does it evoke an emotional response (good or bad)?
- Does the drabble contain grammar, canon or spelling errors?
As a voter, you have the option of leaving a brief statement about why you voted the way you did, for both most and least favorite. Your feedback will then be given to the drabble writer (if they want the feedback) ANONYMOUSLY.
Example: Most - #40: the ending was brilliant - OR - Least - #57: the ending fell flat
Please remember writers, that you may not vote for yourselves.
Here we go for week one!
Choose your favorite and least favorite drabbles. Favorites will receive +1 point per vote, and least favorites -1 point per vote.
Voting ends at 11:59pm, Friday, April 22th.
Words: Commitment
Definitions: Draco's POV
Related Forms: 350 words, exactly.
1
Title: The Commitment Conundrum
Author: mihnn
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Hermione watched patiently as Draco walked back and forth along the length of the sitting room at Malfoy Manor.
"Draco-"
"Wait. I'm thinking."
She waited a moment longer. "It's not a difficult decision, really."
He stopped to eye her incredulously. "This is a very difficult decision. There are other people to consider besides ourselves."
"I know that, but-"
"Not to mention the level of commitment needed is outstanding."
"It really isn't."
"Of course it is. You're asking a lot of me," he mumbled before he resumed pacing.
"Then say 'no'."
He stopped mid-step. "I can't say 'no'," he said scandalized.
"Why not?"
"Because a Malfoy never says 'no' when he's already given his word that he would do something."
"But you didn't know about your father before."
"Which is why I'm faced with this conundrum," he sighed. It was almost as if he had to make an earth shattering decision when he didn't need to.
"Are you even ready?"
"Of course I'm ready. I've been bloody ready for weeks."
"Then it's decided!"
"No, it's not. Didn't you hear my father? He's forbidden it! To go against him would be-"
"Devastating?"
He looked at her seriously when he said, "Among other things."
"Then say 'no'. I'm sure that Harry or Ron would-"
"I thought we went over this. Under no circumstances will I allow Potter or Weasley to get the best of me."
"Then it's settled. Crookshanks is yours for a week!"
"What? But my father-"
"Will be fine. I've got to go, Draco." She leaned forward and pecked his cheek lightly. "I will be back from Australia before you know it." And with a small smile aimed toward that ginger cat of hers, she left.
Alone with the one animal who never really liked him, Draco turned towards it. "Alright, Cat. You stay away from my father and his allergies, and I just might feed you on time."
The demon actually hissed at him.
Draco's eyes narrowed at the creature. It was obvious that a battle was a foot for the coming week; and he had every intention of winning.
2
Title: The Easy Way
Author: dollfaced
Rating: T
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
“Hurry up!”
Granger was yelling at him again. Typical. Did weddings always make people behave irrationally?
“Keep your knickers on! I’ll be there in a minute.” Or never. Hiding in the loo wasn’t something he was proud of but it was better than the alternative. He’d been dreading this day since Blaise had asked him to be his best man.
“We don’t have a minute, Malfoy!” Hermione banged on the door. “The song is about to start and I will not let you ruin this for Ginny.”
Had she no mercy?
“Can’t Potter dance with you?” He suspected that she would reject that idea on tradition alone but it was worth a go. “I hear he’s quite the dancer.”
He heard a loud sigh. “Harry broke my toe two years ago at Percy’s wedding. I’ve sworn never to dance with him again.” Then she started to yell, “You’re the best man and I’m the maid of honor at this blasted wedding. We dance together! Get you cowardly arse out of there and let’s go.”
From the tone of her voice he knew she was going to blast the door open if he didn’t. “Fine. I’m coming out.” To meet my doom.
As soon as he opened the door he knew he was right. She was just as pretty and flowery-smelling as she’d been at the ceremony. Damn her! Didn’t she understand that keeping his distance was extremely important because once he got close to her - held her - it would be all over for him.
“Finally”, she said exasperatedly, grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the ballroom.
He’d already fallen for her but he’d been smart enough not to let that go to his head. Otherwise he’d do something rash, like kiss her. But now he wasn’t sure how long his will could hold. The idea of them together was complicated and fraught with difficulty.
He like things easy. Easy was good.
She slipped her hand over his shoulder and looked up at him expectantly. That’s when he succumbed and made the commitment.
Easy or difficult, he’d love her forever.
3
Title: Priestess
Author: mister_otter
Rating: G
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
Hermione believed he was cheating on her.
Draco hadn’t suspected his wife’s fear until Harry happened to let it slip. The realization that that’s what she thought had hit hard, like a fist. It left him shaken. He wouldn’t. Not ever.
Still, he supposed hers was a logical reaction to a spouse gone suddenly MIA in the midst of a long-standing marriage. He should have done a quick wrap-up of this thing that kept him from Hermione’s side. Except that he wasn’t the wrap-up-quickly sort. He liked to test things, to take his time, to be meticulous.
Standing among the jars, vials, and scarred tables that cluttered his private workroom, Draco studied the gift he’d created. A perfume for Hermione, in celebration of their 10th anniversary.
He’d wanted something that captured her essence. Sun-warmed skin, mossy woods, the creak of old leather that bound the books she loved. Her subtle sensuality. But for the life of him, he’d not been able to find an ingredient that mirrored her formidable intelligence.
It had taken hours of research, then numerous journeys into the magical underworld, to track one down-Nardis, a fragrance burned by Egyptian priestesses in the temples of Isis, gold-tinted and said to awaken the mind in all its brilliance. It had cost him thousands of Galleons to acquire a few drops, but Draco knew it would be worth it.
With a steady hand, he tapped the drops into the vial that held the other ingredients, the scent wafting below his nose as the liquid swirled.
He was out for perfection. Nothing less would do for the woman who was his sun, his woods, his fountain of wisdom. The high priestess who held his life in her capable hands, whose commitment kept him steady and strong.
“Cheating, my arse,” Draco muttered.
He breathed. Once. Twice. A smirky grin lit his face. The sweet smell of success filled his nostrils.
Satisfied that he had a gift worthy of Hermione Malfoy, he capped a bottle and pocketed it. Whistling as he closed the door, Draco headed for the temple he called home.
4
Title: Indecisively Yours
Author: bookishwench
Rating: PG
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
“No, I’m not!”
I was aiming for a mature, calm statement of fact. Judging by Hermione’s expression, I sounded more like a five-year-old with his hand caught inside a box of Ice Mice before dinner.
“Draco, the only thing you’re not terrified of committing to is your weekly Quidditch game,” she said, giving me a look worthy of McGonagall.
“That’s preposterous,” I retorted, modulating my voice better this time. “I’ve committed to many things.”
“Such as?” she said, crossing her arms.
“I finished my training as a Ministry barrister,” I said.
“After you tried and got tired of medicine, banking, teaching, running an inn, managing a potions emporium, and farming plimpies,” she said, ticking each of my failed career alternatives off on her fingers.
“I’ve been Blaise’s friend for fifteen years,” I said, firm in the knowledge she had no response to that.
“Except for the five years you spent not speaking after leaving Hogwarts,” she said.
By this point I was getting a bit nervous.
“I dated Pansy four years. That’s got to be a record,” I said, desperation creeping into my tone.
“Then the moment she started buying Bridal Weekly, you promptly fled,” Hermione said.
“Can you blame me? I mean, it was Pansy,” I said, shuddering. “Also, who in their right mind gets married at bloody eighteen?”
“Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Harry’s parents, Fleur,” she began. “Do you want me to keep going?”
“Look, she wasn’t the one, all right? She wasn’t- she didn’t have- she was lacking in-,” I stammered, looking for the right words.
“If the completed phrasing of those statements involves use of the word ‘rack,’ I am leaving,” she said.
“No!”
Well, actually yes, but I wasn’t telling her that.
“Then what?”
“She wasn’t you,” I finished lamely. “The idea of being with you doesn’t terrify me. Thinking what my life would be like without you does. I’m serious, Hermione, I really do want to marry you.”
She stood there for a few moments, then nodded.
“That was the correct answer,” she said, smiling.
And that was how I proposed to your mother.
5
Title: Countdown
Author: a_contemplare
Rating: G
Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 350.
Lying on his bed, a million questions run through his mind. Shutting his eyes has little effect in bringing him closer to sleep, and all he wishes right now is to cease all thought.
Can he really do it? Is he ready for this?
This next step he’s about to embark on will last much longer than a day, a month, or a year-it will last him ‘till death do us part.’ And he wonders… is he strong enough to last that long? After all, time is the greatest test, and he’s never been the most persevering of people.
Yes, it is without question that he loves her wholeheartedly; he has for so very long, and he knows she does too. They do have their quarrels like any other ordinary couple, because that’s what they are: normal. That doesn’t faze him. But is he ready to have her become his Mrs Draco Malfoy?
He recalls their turbulent childhood. The taunting, the hatred, the prejudice; they all seem so far away, and yet not so long ago, appearing vividly in his mind’s eye. Funny thing, time is. Several months ago, they had been busy planning for tomorrow, and now, tomorrow is mere hours away. In the background, he can hear the clock ticking, counting down the seconds with him.
Tick tock, tick tock.
Each second draws him closer to the next day, and he is discomforted by his uncertainty in himself.
He used to think that pre-wedding jitters were silly, and now-only tonight, the night before his wedding-he’s suffering from them, and they are definitely nothing to dismiss simply. Never again will he scoff at others.
“Go to sleep, Draco,” she murmurs, her warm body snuggling closer to him. His arm moves to encircle her waist and he sees her lips turn upwards in a sleepy but familiar smile.
The sight makes him smile as well, and the doubts vanish, the turmoil in his mind calms.
Yes, he is ready. He is certain … this is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
6
Title: Putting It Down
Author: strawberry_kait
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Mild language
Word Count: 350
The quill faltered, a bead of Indian ink building in the hovering nib, not dripping down onto the patiently waiting parchment.
Dear Granger -
Draco balked. Dear Granger, seriously? Yes, that’s quite romantic. No, won’t do at all. He siphoned the words away with his wand.
“Why must this be so troublesome,” he whinged, recalling how many times he’d started over. His thoughts wouldn’t come out right. The love was there, of course, or else he wouldn’t be so frazzled. A spectrum of emotions for the woman who’d promised herself to him for the rest of their lives was vivid in his mind, coursing over nearly his entire life, prompting his hand to bring just one down to the page for posterity’s sake. Yet he was at a loss.
My Darling One…
He blinked down at the page in utter revulsion. Such sentimentalities were definitely not his style. She would laugh her arse off. Draco flung the quill. It pricked the parchment, the ink blooming slowly. It was meant to be an example of one’s commitment to another, but honestly Draco believed it to be an exercise in ridiculousness and humiliation.
Hermione…
“Oh, Hermione,” he whispered to the parchment. Hermione, simple as that? Just Hermione? But she’s so much more than that. How could that ever be sufficient? He wadded the stiff page and held it tightly, sighing once more.
“How do I do this? It really shouldn’t be this hard, I’m certain. Damn her insistence on originality! Everybody knows I’m not up to scratch,” he muttered as he stood, squeezing the wad. “How do I say she’s everything I don’t deserve? That she makes me want to be better, because she believes I can be, that I am. I want… to be everything for her, to witness all her dreams, go with her everywhere, because I am nothing if not in love with Hermione Granger.”
Draco unclenched his fist, charming the parchment back as it was as he tried again to put his love into words. Hermione pulled back from the doorway, smiling as her disgruntled lover composed his vows.
7
Title: Smurfing
Author: pagan_toon76
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Draco glared at his partner in frustration. The object of his ire - seated across the shared desk from him - was singing la, la, la, surf the whole day long in soft undertones; soft enough not to disturb anyone else in the department, but loud enough to disturb him.
“Granger, will you stop that infernal singing?” he growled. Granger’s warbling - Merlin, the woman must be tone deaf! - coupled with her incessant use of la, la, la whilst attempting to sing, were driving him up the wall.
“What’s your problem, Malfoy?” she asked, frowning at his tone.
“You,” he pointed a finger in her direction, “and your wretched surf song. We’ve promised Gringotts we’ll figure out how Waitrose managed to deposit such large amounts of money without alerting the goblins. The money from his dodgy business deals and commitments are currently being laundered through Gringotts while you waste time singing about surfing.”
When he stopped, Granger actually smirked at him.
Not a good sign.
It always preceded her informing him she’d figured something out before he did, and in the Waitrose case, she seemed to be ahead of him in leaps and bounds. He hated that and scowled at her.
“Money laundering,” she began in what he termed her preachy voice, “can take several forms. So long as the money is introduced into the financial system and certain transactions carried out to camouflage its illegal source, it can be integrated easily and come out clean. What Waitrose has done is to make placements in small deposits. These won’t attract the goblins’ attention; ergo, no suspicions of money laundering. In Muggle parlance: smurfing.”
“Is that even a word?” he asked, fearing her answer.
She grinned at him. “Muggle cartoon, Draco. They’re little blue men. Oh, and one blue female.” Her grin widened. “You know, small deposits, little men? Get it?”
He rolled his eyes.
“And it’s the Smurf song, not the surf song. Would you like to hear it?”
He shuddered in distaste. “Thank you Granger, but no.” He then smirked. “But tell me, did the little men all share that one female?”
8
Title: Advanced Commitment
Author: eevilalice
Rating: G
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Her voice has gone brittle again, like a glass I want to break. It does this when I’ve disappointed her, which is more often than not.
I tell her people don’t change overnight. She says she knows, her expression sometimes softening, sometimes hardening. Resentful of the reminder, I guess, but she needs it.
She is patient. More patient, I suspect, than she ever was with Potter and Weasley, who couldn’t keep up with her brilliance.
“Our relationship isn’t Charms homework,” she says.
But I catch the fleeting frowns, the way her eyes shift away when I dismiss a house-elf too curtly, or forget to thank it (or refer to it as an “it”), or, Merlin forbid, state the fact that Weasley’s family is too poor to have had a house-elf at all.
Apparently, redemption means one can no longer state facts. At least, not ones involving freckle-plagued exes.
Tonight, the brittleness, the hardening behind her eyes, has an edge that’s sharper than normal. It worries at me like a splinter.
“We’ve been planning this for weeks.”
“I know,” I snap. Because how could I not? (Know. Snap.)
She moves in closer, her hair a cloud at my cheek. “Meeting my parents…it’s so important to me. Isn’t it to you?”
I scrape my immaculate nails lightly across the fabric of the couch, the warmth of her near body an accusation, a promised thing I’m not doing my part to earn.
“But I won’t…know what I’m doing. I don’t know Muggle…things.” I stare straight ahead, pretending to ignore the tickle of her curls. Their cherry blossom scent that lingers on my clothes everywhere I go, spring, summer, autumn, winter. “I’ll look foolish.”
Her hand coaxes my face to meet her expression, her eyes startlingly soft, like liquid chocolate. I don’t understand.
“You know me. And I know you. And you are foolish. And so am I. Yet here we are,” she smiles. “I love you. Let me.”
Her parents open the door, letting me into her childhood home, all its magical Muggle things, mysterious as what lets me keep trying. Failing. Trying.
9
Title: A Lifetime Decision
Author: akinriahtram
Rating: G
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Draco always thought that the word “commitment” was a scary word. It was connected to the word “eternity” and only when he was forced to, could he ever be committed. Maybe the fear came from his father forcing him to join the Circle of Death Eaters; it was not his definition of a voluntary commitment. In fact, he hated it.
He was the son of an aristocrat, surrounded by stunning women, but even so, he loathed his lifestyle. Arrogance and abhorrence sparked from this typical lifestyle and all he wanted was a more humane life - no banquets or business associations.
It was only in Granger could he find this normal life. Hermione Granger, his enemy, the witch painted his life with colours out of fury and snarky comments, but he couldn’t hate her. She saw the ugliness hidden beneath the rich façade that he put on. She saw the despicable side of aristocrats - things being done under the influence of power and money, but she never turned away; she never abandoned him.
Being together with him was a severe task. He saw the scars, invisible to everyone else caused by their relationship. He was a Malfoy, a Pureblood, and she was considered a Mudblood from his people. He never knew why she accepted the callous comments thrown at her when she was with him, but she was ready to reiterate when a comment was thrown his way.
“Maybe it’s love.” She said, but only ended up changing it. “…I was kidding, you know.”
Their relationship was one that never had a proper beginning, but he decided h wanted a proper ending. After ten years with her, Draco believed that he was ready to be committed - to spend the rest of his life with her.
“What are you doing here?”
He blinked and looked up into a pair of honey brown eyes.
“I was just in the area.” He answered nonchalantly, “Thought I would drop over and we could go and have coffee.” She stared at him and raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“It’s one fifty, Draco. And St. Mungo is not even close from the Ministry.”
He shrugged and took her hand.
“I had something important to do.”
“Like what?”
He wasn’t the romantic type. He wasn’t the boyfriend who showered his girlfriend with expensive gifts, jewellery, or heartfelt poems. He wasn’t the type to announce their relationship to the world, but that was okay. He knew Hermione accepted his flaws.
Convincing himself that he was ready, that she was worth it - worth his commitment, he locked his hands around hers and slipped a diamond ring onto her finger.
Staring into her eyes, he asked, “Would you like to marry me?”
ooo
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