Discussing the Minor Details

Sunday passed in beautiful normality for Hermione. Draco and Lucius kept to themselves in their cottage except for meals, presumably planning for the arbitration between the councilors and the Malfoys as to the fates of Hermione and Draco. If she hadn't been constantly rolling over all that had happened in the last week, she might have forgotten about them all together, since her day was so peaceful and perfect.

She'd slept fairly well, considering the anxiety she had regarding the upcoming negotiations. It was with a great deal of relief that Hermione found herself walking back with the kids from the lake Monday morning. When Tiden, the man who supervised the media that came into the colony, came running toward her waving a newspaper, Hermione was nearly frozen in anticipation. What could have happened now?

Tiden thrust the newspaper into her hands, and she turned it to read the headline. Hermione's legs nearly gave out in one instant, only to start jumping up and down, running into the village centre the next, the children chasing after her.

Maank and Isova were sitting with Lucius and Draco as the food was being brought out. Hermione ran up to the table in between Lucius and Isova and thrust the paper under his nose. Hermione was breathing heavily, and Lucius arrogantly looked her over as though she were an insolent servant making too much noise.

"Law...amended," Hermione gasped, turning to put her hands on the table as she bent over and caught her breath.

Lucius took the paper and read the Headline: MANDATE MODIFIED: Muggle-borns and Half-bloods Now Allowed to Refuse Petitions. The article went on to explain how touted war vet Hermione Granger's protest had sparked a review by the Wizengamot. Since the major force behind that provision of the law, Lucius Malfoy, had been notably absent, there had been little cohesive resistance.

"This changes nothing," Lucius said, passing the paper to Draco before turning to Hermione. "The brand still marks you as ours." Then the elder Malfoy began filling his plate as though nothing interesting had happened at all.

"This is dated for tomorrow," Draco noted as he browsed through the paper.

"Tiden gets advanced copies before they go out to distributors," Isova explained as she too began loading her plate. "Also, there is a time difference, yes?"

"Doesn't matter." Hermione heaved a great sigh and sat down between Lucius and Isova. "The point is... I can go back to Britain now, if I so choose, like for Ginny and Harry's wedding and when babies are born. I'm almost happy you sods came all this way and took all that time, too. Still, if you'd like to bugger off, please feel free," Hermione said, leaning into Isova's one-armed embrace.

Lucius refused to acknowledge her, but Draco was watching her, enjoying her flushed state and noticeable release of tension.

A piece of Hermione's heart that she'd locked away was free again. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed the freedom to come and go as she pleased, but now that she had it back, she felt divine.

They had been negotiating for three and a half torturous hours. Hermione was beginning to feel very tired; her giddiness over the amended law still kept her jovial, but she certainly wasn't brimming with glee as she had been when she'd sat down in her chair. It would be an understatement to say that the Malfoys were thorough and firm negotiators. It was painfully clear after the first half hour that these men knew business and meant business, as well. Not that the Council didn't, but watching Lucius Malfoy move through a contract was sort of like watching the man duel...his precision, skill, and talent were a sight to behold. It was too bad that he was such a rotten bastard.

Draco, on the other hand, had said nothing. He had simply sat there, looking at Hermione since the moment this had all begun. His hands were folded on the table, and his eyes would go from smug to curious to intensely possessive and back again, depending on the topic at hand. Marcela and Isova were on her right, and Ariulo and Maank were to her left. The five of them against Lucius, and Draco watching Hermione the whole time. Isova and Lucius were going on about something now, and Hermione couldn't resist looking at Draco as he was looking at her. She was so focused on watching him that she'd tuned out the discussion and was utterly surprised when Draco spoke.

"I will not remove the brand."

Hermione shook her head a little bit, slightly confused, as if a statue had just spoken to her. She tuned into the conversation as Maank turned to him.

"If you do not remove the brand, then she cannot participate in the lifestyle of a mage, and this whole process is a waste of our time."

"I will not remove the brand."

"But, according to the contract, you will have three of your own children, if not two sons." Maank leaned back and rolled his head, clearly beginning to lose his patience.

"I will not remo..."

"Then brand the others," Ariulo spoke up. "We will make a clause that after two sons or three children, Hermione, as well as Draco, may take others, and Draco will brand them, including them in this." He finished with a flourish of his hand and leaned forward over the tables.

"That's never been done before." Lucius spoke neutrally. There was no guarantee that it would even work. No Malfoy had ever let another man share his wife, certainly not through an ancestral mark.

"What if it doesn't work?" Isova asked, looking between the men.

Maank scrubbed his face with his hands and said, "Then he will remo..."

"I will not remove her brand."

"Then we must try it now to see if it is a viable option," Marcela offered, as if the answer was as plain as day.

"What? No. No one touches her," Draco said, the fierce possessiveness returning to his gaze.

"Then you'll agree to remove the brand after you have your heirs," Marcela offered gently, looking at Draco as if she were trying to reason with a child.

Lucius turned to his son and spoke quietly into his ear. Draco nodded four times, then said, "The way the charm works currently is to prevent others with illicit intents from achieving their goal. I will brand someone and allow one kiss, if I am also allowed one kiss. His must be in front of me, and mine must be alone with her. I will remove his mark before surrendering my wand, and all charms will return to the present status."

"Excellent." Marcela smiled broadly, turning to Ariulo. "Would you like to volunteer?" Ariulo looked extremely pleased with his wife and her proposal and turned to look at Draco.

Draco had known he would be the obvious choice, but it still grated on his nerves, the thought of Hermione's mentor touching her. Still looking at Hermione, jealousy burning his eyes and his nostrils flaring, Draco said, "It will have to be on your chest." He beckoned to Ariulo to move to him and watched as the other man shed his tunic and made his way over. "I have no idea what will happen; this is a first." There was slight menace in his voice as he flicked his gaze back to Hermione, who was watching now with rapt attention.

"Malice will bring your death." Ariulo smirked. The blond giants had tried to play dirty after about ninety minutes, but when Maank kept the air from moving in and out of their lungs for a few long moments, they had learned a quick lesson. These two might be consummate Slytherins and some of the most shrewd business men in all of Britain, but they still needed to breathe, and Maank could deny them that, if he wished to.

"Quite." Draco stood and moved in front of Ariulo. He was almost a foot taller than the little brown man, which made the leverage awkward. Stern focus faltered for a moment as Draco shuffled his feet and brought his left arm around Ariulo's back before putting his right palm on his chest. Holding him like that, feeling Ariulo's body in his arms like he had held so many girls at school made him uncomfortable. He looked around at the others; finding a mixture of amusement and rapt attention from the crowd was unnerving as well. Lucius cleared his throat, and Draco gathered himself together.

Beginning the chant, he felt the magic once again move through his arm as he put a palm-sized dragon on Ariulo's chest. Ariulo gritted his teeth; he was no stranger to pain, but this was something else entirely. He could feel it burning, and as he watched Draco chant, he couldn't help but feel a strange bond forming. Quite unusual. Definitely something to consider further in the future.

When Draco was finished, the two men moved away from each other after a quick glance and a nod. Ariulo's gaze immediately found Hermione, and he noticed that she was breathing heavily and touching the back of her neck. When she looked up at him, he had to control himself to maintain dignity in getting to her. Maank laughed out loud, mumbling something about how pretty Ariulo was and how all the young ones liked him.

Ariulo stopped in his tracks and leaned forward, smiling and saying, "You're just jealous, Maank. I belong to the Dragon now, and you can't lay your covetous talons on me." Everyone but the Malfoys laughed. Ariulo did a fair impression of a lady walking, and even managed to bat his eyelashes at Draco without laughing out loud. Finally, he got to Hermione, and she was laughing and beautiful, and even though it was in front of all of these people and those blond bastards, Ariulo knew it was his chance.

He took her hand and pulled her up to stand in front of him, and Hermione felt the fire right away, the elemental fire they always shared when she was especially needy of him. Her hands met Ariulo's and they formed a link, burning ever hotter until cinders began to fall from their hair. Maank brought a breeze up to cool the others around the great stone table, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of the pair to his right. Hermione stepped forward as Ariulo pulled his hands up her arms, always maintaining the connection, over her shoulders and gently up to her face. She licked her lips as her mouth fell slack, and Ariulo's mouth finally met Hermione's, after all those months. Ariulo pulled her lower lip between his and sucked gently before Hermione opened her mouth and sucked his tongue inside. Just as it was getting good, she felt a sting at the back of her neck, and the arrogant drawl that she had hated for nigh on eight years cut through to her.

"I said a kiss, Granger, not a snog." Draco's tone was a mix of meanings, and it filtered through Hermione's highly aroused mental state. She broke the kiss and looked at Draco, the fire in her skin and hair receding even as the fire in her pelvis turned to hot coals. Ariulo pushed his fingers through her hair, enjoying the way it crackled with fire, and she smiled up at him. They moved to their more customary chaste position and rubbed noses for a moment. Finally, she sighed and smiled, turning back to sit across from Draco.

"So...that's settled." Isova breathed a sigh of relief. "After the agreed-upon heirs, Hermione will point out who to... induct... and they will be marked permanently."

"W-wha..." Hermione stuttered and cleared her throat, blushing as Draco raised an eyebrow at her, and Ariulo put his arm around her. "What about Draco? Won't he need to mark whomever he wants as well?"

"The charm is only relevant to wives. Men can perform beyond the brand, although his seed won't grow inside anyone without the brand. That is how we are certain of our line."

Hermione began to grumble about patriarchy and misogyny and the whole damned biased system when Ariulo spoke. "Then he needs to brand the women he takes as well. We want his blood mixed in, that is why we are here."

Draco by now had gone back to staring at Hermione, though now there was nothing but jealous possession in his eyes.

"I will give as many children to the colony as Hermione gives to me," Draco said simply. "Those mages will also receive the brand."

"Fair enough," Lucius said, flipping over to the last page of his notes and leaning forward. "As with the other Malfoy children, they will be registered as dual citizens until the age of majority." Lucius only paused for a moment to allow protest, then heaved a great sigh of relief himself. "Signatures, children, and then supper, I think."

The agreement had been made up on formal parchments as details were hammered out. Draco signed, smiling over at Hermione, and leaned back in his chair. He breathed deeply and rolled his head to watch as Hermione finally signed the document that would make her his wife. Then she stood up and gave each of the councilors a long hug, thanking them profusely.

"First, my kiss," Draco said, making no move to get up. He was looking cool and confident even though he was sporting a massive hard-on. He was confused to find the earlier kiss as... interesting as he had, in addition to enjoying the arousal the other two had felt through the brand. He had also seen Hermione's reaction to Ariulo's branding, and he was certain there was a level of connection among all three. Draco had spent the last brief minutes of the meeting deciding whether he wanted to remove the other man's brand before or after the kiss. On the one hand, Draco had always loathed sharing. On the other hand, he wanted to inflict the sort of... discomfort on his rival he'd been put through moments before.

"Oh. Right." Hermione turned and looked at him, clearly uninterested in the prospect. Lucius and Isova were already outside the Apparition wards, Isova smirking at everyone before taking Lucius along in Side-Along Apparition. Maank and Ariulo shared a look before each gave Hermione a passing squeeze on the shoulder, Dondi and Maank's falcon following them out of bounds. Marcela walked to Draco and smiled at him before turning and waving to Hermione. When she had her chinchilla tucked safely away in a pocket at the front of her dress, she too left the betrothed at the stone table.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other for a moment before Hermione walked over to him, impatient to get this over with. "Come along, then."

"Is that all you have to say to me?" Draco looked her body over before locking gazes with her.

"Yes, it is, actually." Hermione sat on a bench a little bit away from him, looking out over the cliffs to the ocean. "Now hurry up and kiss me. Dinner is starting."

"You're such a little bitch, you know that?" Draco asked, finally standing up. Before she could respond, he was standing over her, leaning in. His hands were on the table on either side of her body, and his face was dangerously close to hers. "Every witch in Europe would sell her very soul to be the next Lady Malfoy, and you couldn't be arsed about it!"

Hermione tried to move away from him, but couldn't. She could hear Acara growling, but Hermione was so boxed in by Malfoy that she had no idea where the cat was.

"I have done everything in my power to have you, and you have no appreciation. Did you know that if the Dark Lord had won, you would have been safe? You would have enjoyed many long years in the library of my ancestral home. Do you know what I lived through for that privilege?" Malfoy moved to touch Hermione's hair, pulling back slightly. "My father pushed the law through, at no small expense, mind you, so we could be together, and you ran. I find a way to bring us together in our sleep, which I know you enjoyed, Granger, I remember how you whimpered for me." Draco paused to watch his fingers in her hair. "...Not at first, but you eventually became extremely willing in those dreams. Do you deny that you would wake up those nights ready to shag?" Draco's hand closed to a fist around her hair and pulled her head back roughly before moving to smell her neck. "Do you?"

Hermione swallowed. She was not afraid. Besides the fact that Acara would pounce at the slightest sign from her, Hermione knew that she could push the fire through her body and protect herself from him. Instead, she was sort of intrigued. Draco really thought he'd gone out of his way to win her, and he had, in his own sick little way. He was radiating power, and if she weren't a mage, he might have had the upper hand. When she felt his breath in her ear, she shivered, then blushed, embarrassed by her body's reaction to him.

Draco licked her ear and whispered, "Answer me."

"I don't deny..." Hermione croaked. Draco was wicked, and he was having his way with her.

"Then, I arrive, and you treat me like filth. You insult me and avoid me when I am nothing if not civil to you." Draco moved his mouth down her neck, never touching, not willing to waste his one kiss before surrendering to the initiate program. Still, his breath was hot and fast on Hermione's neck, and Draco had to put very little effort into actually moving her as he wished. "Then, you flaunt your little fire man in front of me. Tell me, Granger, you seem to go to cinders with him awfully quickly. Just how do you get around my charms with him?" Draco let a shuddering breath move into her other ear before pulling her face just next to him. His deep grey eyes were boring into her.

"We don't...we've never kissed before just then," Hermione said, trying to hide the lie behind the truth. She shook her head as much as his hold would let her.

Draco stared at her for a moment, then brought his free hand up behind her neck. When he spoke, his voice was gravelly. "Don't lie to me. I could kill you, you know. You may have fire in your body, but I could snap your lovely neck. I don't give a fuck about that cat; my life is empty without you...I'd welcome death because we'd be together." Draco looked at her face and shook Hermione. "Now... how do you get around the fucking charm?"

"Draco, just kiss me." Hermione closed her eyes and let out a deep, shuddering breath.

"No, princess, I'm finished playing nicely. Tell me." Draco began stroking the mark on the back of her neck. She'd never lied to him before. He was so angry about it he couldn't see straight. Anger and loathing he could tolerate, but deception had no place in their future. "You're not the only one who can use a Portkey, you know."

Hermione's eyes snapped opened at his implied threat. "Then why haven't you done it?" she whispered, afraid of the answer. Her fragile sense of security was starting to crumble, and she was glad she'd brought two of her own Portkeys with her to the meeting.

"Good faith. Last chance, Granger. Either you tell me, or you never see this place again. I won't tolerate lies."

Hermione blinked slowly. She didn't want to tell her secret, letting him take even more from her than he already had. It didn't matter, she told herself; he'd already seen Ariulo kiss her. How had things gone to rubbish so quickly? "It's in the intent." Hermione swallowed and continued in a whisper, "If he doesn't intend to touch me like that, then the charm stays dormant."

"So you've been accidentally touching each other for how long?" Draco said, holding his breath.

"Since my spirit quest?" Hermione was still very afraid. Draco was keeping her physically immobile, and she wasn't sure what he would do. "So... since... graduation, I guess."

Draco looked at her. She was starting to tremble now; that was something she'd never done at Hogwarts, tremble because of him. Today it was anxiety and fear, but soon he'd make it out of joy or excitement, or maybe even lust. "You really are the cleverest thing, aren't you?" Draco smiled at her and pulled her body close to his, lifting her off the bench and spinning her around in a great circle.

The word bipolar lit up in neon lights in Hermione's imagination. Still, it seemed like his threat of Portkeying her away had passed. The spinning, though, was starting to get to her. "Draco?"

"What did you just call me?" Draco stopped suddenly, lurching Hermione's already queasy tummy. They stood together, Draco's arms around her as she leaned into him, trying not to vomit.

"... Draco?" Hermione was nervous. Had she done something wrong?

"Say it again." His eyes lit up. Draco squatted down to look her in the face.

"Draco." Hermione was starting to look at him suspiciously.

"Perfect! No more of this 'Malfoy' business. From now on, Hermione, we are on a first name basis." He was looking at her adoringly and stroking her hair. Hermione's stomach roiled loudly, and Draco looked down at her belly curiously. He had a strange expression on his face. If she'd seen it on Ron, she would have called it amused, but on Draco it could only be described as... watchful? "You're hungry. Good. I want you to gain a stone, okay? Not that you aren't fucking amazing looking right now, but you need to be a little... fuller to make babies," Draco said, sweeping her up into his arms and spinning her once more before bumping his nose against hers to get the angle he wanted for his kiss.

Hermione was still a little dizzy and completely baffled at this point, so when his mouth pressed over hers, she was more than a little surprised. She wasn't expecting it at all, not to mention that it was an amazing kiss. Draco, of course, went straight to the proverbial top, his mouth sealed against hers and his tongue completely in her mouth in the most delightful way. Then he sucked her tongue into his mouth and caressed it. Hermione forgot herself and wrapped her arms over his shoulders, pressing against him.

Internally, Draco smirked. He was certainly enjoying himself, and having Hermione lose herself while they were kissing totally vindicated him. The ends absolutely justified the means. Now they were snogging somewhere in Peru on a beautiful mountaintop, and she would be his! Draco pressed his hands down her sides, reveling in her beautiful body until he heard a sharp whistle and a smattering of applause.

Hermione pulled back and looked at the disturbance dazedly. It was Paruin, Lucius, Maank, and Kress. Hermione blushed red and buried her face in Draco's chest, hiding. Then she realised what she was doing and took three large steps away from him to be out of arm's reach. The bastard just smirked at her.

"Ariulo sensed trouble... and dinner is nearly over now," Paruin offered, thankfully breaking the increasingly awkward silence.

Hermione blushed again and cleared her throat. "There was some tension for a few minutes, but I believe we have come to an... understanding," she finished, looking away, not wanting to acknowledge what everyone had seen.

Lucius cleared his throat and said, "I told you it was much ado about nothing. Come, Maank, I believe you were going to show me that little pebble game." Lucius hated not being allowed to Apparate around the village like the grown wizard he was, but was not too perturbed by Side-Along Apparition with Maank for some reason. He suspected it had something to do with the new artwork on his chest. Sodding Mudblood.

Hermione made a clicking noise and bent down for Acara before she called out for Kress. "Whelp, come, and you can help me eat dinner?" So much for Gryffindor bravery; Hermione needed out of there. She didn't want to have to Apparate Draco back to the village centre. Kress couldn't Apparate to the town centre from here yet, so she made a quick decision to take the boy and run for it.

"Looks like you're with me, Dragon." Paruin smiled, and together they Apparated back to village centre where Draco would spend one more night with his wand before becoming an initiate the next day.