Lines in the Sand
The shift between them was subtle, but undeniable.
For the first time since this marriage had been forced upon them, they were on the same side of the battlefield—an uneasy alliance forged in shared uncertainty. But alliances, even the strongest ones, were still fragile. And the world around them had no intention of giving them time to find their footing.
Hermione
Hermione hadn’t expected immediate answers, but she had expected effort. And so far, Draco was delivering.
He didn’t deflect as much when she asked questions. He didn’t avoid conversations about the future. He still had his walls, of course, but she was starting to find the doors hidden within them.
It wasn’t perfect. But it was something.
And something was more than she had expected when this all began.
"You’re distracted," Theo observed, leaning lazily against her office doorframe as she tried—and failed—to focus on her notes. "That’s new."
Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples. "I’m just thinking."
"Dangerous habit." Theo smirked. "Let me guess. Malfoy?"
She shot him a glare. "Are you always this nosy?"
"Absolutely," Theo said without hesitation, stepping inside and taking a seat across from her. "Especially when it comes to things that amuse me."
Hermione huffed. "Well, sorry to disappoint, but there’s nothing amusing about this."
Theo tilted his head, studying her. "You really care about him, don’t you?"
She hesitated. The answer should have been simple—no. Of course not. But the words wouldn’t come.
Theo’s smirk faded slightly, replaced by something more thoughtful. "That’s going to make things harder."
Hermione frowned. "Why?"
Theo exhaled, standing up and adjusting his cuffs. "Because, my dear Hermione, people are starting to draw their own conclusions. And conclusions? They’re far more dangerous than facts."
Before she could ask what he meant, he was already gone.
Draco
Draco was many things, but naive wasn’t one of them.
He knew the whispers were growing. He knew that every move he and Hermione made was being watched, dissected, used as ammunition by those who wanted to see them fail.
And yet, he hadn’t expected it to escalate this quickly.
"You have a problem," Blaise informed him casually, dropping into the chair across from his desk with all the ease of a man without a single care in the world. "Well, more accurately, we have a problem."
Draco leaned back, unimpressed. "You’ll have to be more specific."
Blaise tossed a folded piece of parchment onto the desk. "Congratulations. You and Hermione are officially the subject of a Prophet exposé."
Draco’s jaw tightened as he unfolded the article.
The Marriage That Changed the Malfoys: Alliance or Betrayal?
His stomach twisted at the subtext beneath the headline.
Does Draco Malfoy’s marriage to the war heroine signal the beginning of a new Malfoy legacy—or the end of the one we’ve always known?
Draco clenched the parchment in his fist. "How bad is it?"
Blaise shrugged. "Not the worst thing they’ve ever written about you. But it’s enough to stir the pot. Enough to make certain people question just how loyal you really are."
Draco exhaled sharply. "And what do you think?"
Blaise leaned forward, meeting his gaze. "I think that if you don’t pick a side soon, someone else is going to pick one for you."
Draco swallowed back the frustration rising in his throat. "And what if I don’t like the sides being offered?"
Blaise’s smirk was slow, knowing. "Then you make your own."
Hermione & Draco: Drawing the Line
By the time Draco arrived home, Hermione was already waiting.
She didn’t even give him time to take off his coat before shoving the Prophet article into his chest. "Care to explain this?"
Draco sighed, skimming the words again as if they’d changed in the last few hours. "It’s nonsense."
"It’s not nonsense, Draco!" Hermione snapped. "This is exactly what we were trying to avoid."
He tossed the paper onto the table. "And yet, here we are."
She crossed her arms. "You don’t seem nearly as worried about this as you should be."
Draco ran a hand through his hair. "Because I knew this was coming. So did you. We both knew this was inevitable."
Hermione exhaled sharply. "Then what’s our next move?"
Draco hesitated. Then, in a low voice, he said, "We draw our own line."
Hermione stilled. "What does that mean?"
Draco met her gaze, his expression unreadable. "It means that if they want to speculate, we give them something to speculate about."
She frowned. "Draco, if you’re suggesting—"
"I’m suggesting we stop playing defense and start playing offense," he interrupted. "They want to know where we stand? Fine. We show them."
Hermione considered him carefully. "And what if that backfires?"
Draco smirked. "Then at least we burn the board before they can use it against us."
Silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken possibilities.
Finally, Hermione exhaled, nodding. "Alright, Malfoy. Let’s give them something to talk about."
And for the first time since this began, they weren’t just reacting.
They were making their own move.
End of Chapter 15