Bond

A/N: The end. Finally. I'm really sorry this took this long. Thanks for reading everyone.

Chapter 14 by WickedDiSaster

Moving out of the castle was a nostalgic event for Hermione, and a busy one for Draco. While nobody had dared mention anything about Hermione's vacant bed in her chambers since their marriage, he now had to look for a way to go just as unnoticed by his father. He opted for the safest choice, and declared Hermione wanted to live close to her friends, convincing his father it could only serve to get his vaults process flow faster.

Once that was done, he told his father the idea of protecting their new home with the Fidelius Charm had been Potter's and therefore he was their Secret Keeper. In reality, their Secret Keeper was someone much closer to Hermione and Draco. Ginny even gave them an Unbreakable Vow never to reveal their location unless they were in imminent danger, so not even Harry or Ron knew where they lived. Their fireplace was set to only allow fire-calls and let them Fire-call to Harry's place and back.

To add to his paranoia, they lived in the most inconspicuous of places his father would find him, in the middle of Muggle London; and not in the opulent luxurious area but in a neighbourhood not too different from the one in which Hermione had grown up.

Hermione's check-ups were both Muggle and magical. Draco had a Portkey activated by touch at the ready to direct them to one of the bathroom stalls of their Muggle Hospital, which was charmed to be permanently vacant. The Muggle Hospital had been Hermione's request, but Draco had deemed it the safest route of action. They still had St. Mungo's booked for a delivery, but it was more to keep appearances and be on the safe side in case the Muggle hospital failed them or in case of complications during delivery.

If all went according to plan, Draco would tell his father that he had made her go through natural delivery, since she had been the one to force the pregnancy upon herself to begin with.

Hermione spent most of her pregnancy preparing for her internship in the Reinforcement of Magical Law the following year, and controlling Draco's shopping spree for their newborn (after they had to magically expand their quarters twice to fit it all).

Whenever Draco wasn't busy manipulating the Malfoy Vaults so only he were granted control over them, he focussed on getting himself acquainted with the Malfoy Empire and the studies of Magical International Relations that his father forced him to take to start him on a career at the Ministry.

While Draco wanted to get his father as far away from them as they could, Hermione dedicated all her efforts on making him a part of their life; a fact that brought Draco to the brink of insanity. She deluded herself into thinking his father would eventually accept them, Draco knew better than to believe his father would settle to have the family line tainted perpetually. He was sure Lucius only saw her as a temporary nuisance, a nuisance he could take care of later.

Draco had gone as far as to point this out to Hermione, but she had told him he wouldn't find reason to do that if she proved herself to be useful. Draco almost ripped his hair out when he heard her say this. Hermione's belief that everyone was redeemable and deserving of second chances made Draco want to put her in hiding and never let her leave her chambers.

Why she had to be so obstinate about his father's soul was something Draco couldn't understand. He understood where it came from, he did. He knew that had she not entered in his life, had she not been linked to him the way she was, Draco would have most likely ended up like his father. He didn't care. He wanted her as far away from that monster as he could get her. Why couldn't she understand that?

Why did she have to engage in formal visits, luxurious charades, and disreputable galas? She had even taken it upon herself and made the announcement of the new Malfoy heir into an astounding success. She had even managed to make the Minister of Magic himself declare the new Malfoy heir was the marking of a new era, a living proof of what their crumbled society could accomplish united, a promise of the future.

His parents had been unable to control their exulting smirks as the cameras clicked at the end of his speech. Draco knew she had managed to impress his father, but also knew it wasn't enough, nothing would never be enough.

He was ready to make an unbreakable vow to renounce the Malfoy name if his father produced a pureblood heir he could marry to a reputable wife. He wanted to make her understand that he simply wanted to keep her safe, and there was nothing safe about his father for her. He should have known she would surprise him yet again.

She started it as a comment. A nonchalant remark about the old pureblood families and old curses used to avoid partners to go astray, or producing an heir.

"Have you ever heard of such a curse used in the family, Lucius?" Draco heard her say, and saw her eyes gleam mischievously. She was perfectly aware of how it irritated his father when she referred to the Malfoy family as her family.

"Perhaps," his father sneered, trying to hide his displeasure.

"How odd, I was sure you had, you see; and then you wouldn't be too mad at me for using an adaption of my own on Draco."

'What the Fuck!' Draco thought, his glass of wine hitting the table with a loud clunk.

"An adaptation?" His father repeated with a fake inquiring tone that did a better job of hiding his bewilderment.

Hermione waved her wand, making Draco jolt on his seat as a shimmering light emanated from his middle. "There, you see?" she continued casually, "It makes Draco unable to procreate with anyone that isn't me. Crafty, mind you, I made it so it works even in the case of my demise."

Draco choked on his food; she smiled warmly back at him. "That can't be," Draco whispered at her.

"But it is, dear; I used your blood and all. You are bound to me for life."

Draco could hardly contain his joy. "You bloody bitch!" He stood throwing his chair to the floor. He could have swept her off her feet in his arms, yet he glared the living daylights off her marvellous face instead. He let the glasses pour its contents on the table as he veered threateningly close to her, deeply enjoying how wonderfully close to her luscious lips he was.

She smiled cheekily at him, while his father destroyed his napkin in a wisp of smoke under his hands.

"Sit down, Draco, nobody wants to make your wife more suspicious of you."

Draco faked uncontrolled rage while his mother burst into tears.

"Such mistrust is not befitting of a Malfoy, Hermione. You would do well to leave your Muggle ways behind."

Hermione turned a feral smile towards his father. "Muggle ways? Why? I do believe I learned it all from my husband." She smiled brilliantly at Lucius, "And he learned from the best, didn't he?"

Draco's lips crushed hers as soon as they appeared in their home's Floo. "You minx! You magnificent, magnificent witch, you!" He twirled her around out of their fireplace, her stomach pressing lightly against him. "How did you-, when did you-, why didn't you tell me!"

"We have a history for making our plans work better when I don't tell you things. I thought it was good luck!" He was taking off her cloak, "Besides, it worked better this way; and I wanted to surprise you." She was pulling at his tie. "As to when, I took the blood when you were sleeping."

He kissed her furiously. "The spell, I found it in your library while I took a break from one of the galas at the manor. I knew your father would recognise the bright smoke, it's the spells trademark," she continued.

"But you tweaked it." He was struggling with the buttons of her dress; he ended up ripping them apart. She gasped.

"Only so the effects lasted after my death, your father knows it's unbreakable. It's been in your family for ages." They were leaving a trail of clothes towards their bedroom.

"How did you tamper with it?" He breathed in between a kiss.

"Instead of grounding it on our marriage, I based it on your love for me. Your father is never going to figure it out."

He drank the pure essence of her in his next kiss, "You make me wonder if the wickedness comes with the name, and not with the family, Hermione."

She laughed. He smothered her chuckles with his lips.

Hidden in between the shelves lay the book Hermione had stolen from his library, one of its pages containing the story of Martin Luke Malfoy, and his life spent on avenging his frustrated marriage to a commoner. Written in small runes in the footnotes, laid the legend of the curse he had invented to break the pure bloodline of the family, "The bonding curse."

*The End*