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Red Cockatiel Feathers	By : PhoenixAshSecrets Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 5987 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I am the author of the original "Red Cocatiel Feathers" on fanfiction.net.

Chapter List
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She didn't remember the rest of that night's events very clearly. She saw the cockatiel woman from her dream after disapparating from her home. Not long after, she was led into a dark room. The cockatiel woman told her she'd be sleeping in there. In the darkness, someone had introduced themselves drowsily, and they slept in a very comfortable double bed together. It all seemed weird and distant, as if it too had been a dream. Perhaps that was what she thought when she woke up, confused, in an unfamiliar room- with a confused and nervous Draco Malfoy at the end of her bed.
"Hermione?" She was pretty sure he had never used her first name before now. "You're the Selwyn heir? You said you were...well you never mentioned you were a pureblood, I would have remembered that."
"What the hell?" Hermione whispered to herself, sitting up. "Explain yourself, Malfoy."
"What am I supposed to explain? This is my room. I'm Draco Malfoy. And apparently you're Hermione Selwyn."
"Why am I in your room, Malfoy?" she growled. As much as the soft blankets called for her to stay, Hermione stood up to face him on even ground. His silver eyes met her gaze, though he kept considerable distance- a little more than her arm's length.
"Because we're both heirs to our pureblood names, our mothers are best friends, I don't see what you're getting at."
"Yeah, well I don't see what you're getting at. What does your stupid blood status have to do with me being in your bed?" She couldn't even remember what happened, for all she knew he could have been taking advantage of her in her semiconscious state. She crossed her arms indignantly. Draco, on the other hand, was not really angry at all. He just looked confused as to how she didn't know the answer to her own question. To him it was obvious.
"Wait, your mom didn't tell you why you're here? You have no idea?" Hermione shook her head. "How long have you known you were a pureblood?"
"It's been a few hours. Just tell me what I don't know, stop stepping around it."
"Our parents are trying to see if we're a good match. For marriage," he said, with obvious difficulty. Hermione stared at him, trying to discern if he was telling the truth.
They were only fourteen, for god's sake.
"Our parents are trying to set us up? That's disgusting."
"No, that's called being a pureblood. For one, there aren't many pureblood lines left, so it's kind of a necessity. And more importantly for my family, the Malfoy line has had arranged marriages for the last six generations. Thankfully, we get to meet each other before they make their decision. I'm thankful to have some input, as you should be. If not for that, today would be our wedding day."
"Don't say that!"
"Say what?" Draco seemed legitimately confused as to why she was upset, though Hermione looked ready to slap him for it.
"We're just kids, and they know that we're full of hormones at this point of our lives. It's inhuman. Like they're trying to breed us." Draco sniggered and looked like he was going to make a filthy joke, but evidently decided against it.
"Perhaps that's how it seems from the outside, but that's just how our families work. You're not on the outside anymore, so we have to deal with each other until they've decided it won't work out. Or until it does." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"There is no way in hell I could ever like you."
"But you know me, at least. What other families does your mom have lined up for you over the holidays?" Draco was now legitimately curious about how much she knew.
"I don't know! I didn't even register that arranged marriages within pureblood families could still be going on in our age. A horrible assumption, apparently."
"Well, I doubt you personally know any others. Your mom would mostly know former Death Eaters and other Slytherins, whose kids are going to have high ambition and be Slytherins themselves."
"So what are you saying? That you are an option? I'd date a blast-ended skrewt before you. Anyway, what if I tell my birth mother to leave me alone or I just don't decide on anyone? Because that seems like the most reasonable option at the moment."
"Everyone would do that if they could, wouldn't they? The Ministry allows for wizarding parents to wed their underage children without their consent. At least one parent from both children has to agree, and the parents have to be a witch or wizard. If you tell your mother you want to marry some Mudblood-"
"Don't you use that word!"
"You're not even a muggleborn, Hermione. Why do you care?"
"Because it's still offensive."
"Anyway, if you say you don't want to marry anyone she's picked out, she'll just pick for you. Having a choice is really a privilege. I appreciate mine." He seemed to think himself better than her for what he considered graciousness, though to her it just seemed like he didn't want to stand up for himself.
"Never thought you'd try to lecture me on privilege. You're a rich, white, pureblood wizard."
There was a knock on the door before Draco could even open his mouth to respond, and Draco's mother entered the room. Hermione realized, to her surprise, that she was the cockatiel woman from her dreams. It was silly to think of her that way though, as she had met Narcissa Malfoy before. She had the same saccharine smile and the same caring blue eyes. The only difference was that this time her sweetness was directed at the both of them.
"Good morning, dears. It's wonderful to finally see you as yourself, Hermione. I hope Draco has been kind." She stared meaningfully at her son, who kept silent.
"He made an effort." Hermione said, forcing a smile.
"Wonderful." Narcissa's attention went back to Hermione. "Come with me, dear, we got you gifts in anticipation of your arrival. Come, come." Hermione did not want to come, mainly because she felt like she was being called like a dog, but she did anyway. At the moment, she felt rather helpless, since it seemed she wouldn't have a choice in anything. Narcissa led Hermione, with Draco following them, downstairs into a large living room. Everything looked expensive, from the heavily detailed design on the rug to the ornate chandelier above them. In the velvet chairs sat Lucius Malfoy and Hermione's mother. The center of the living room was full of at least a dozen wrapped gifts.
"These aren't all for me, are they?"
"Of course they are," said the smooth voice of Lucius Malfoy, whose fake smile made her very uncomfortable.
"You can open them." Draco whispered. Hermione gave him a harsh look and began to unwrap her gifts. As she suspected, they were all either expensive or rare items, with which she assumed they hoped to win her over.
She had received an olive cockatiel named Emmeryn, a silver and red jewelry box, three real silver necklaces, a pair of silver snake earrings, dress robes of an assortment of colors, a Malfoy genealogical book, a guide to raising magical birds, two new black silk cloaks, a pointed white hat decorated lovingly with a bow and black lace, and a silver cauldron with her name, Hermione Selwyn, engraved on the side.
It was very kind of them, but she felt awkward being bombarded with all these things from a family that would have collectively sneered at her a few days ago.
"Thank you." Hermione said softly. She knew they could sense the nervousness in her smile and the snappishness when Draco offered to help her carry her things. She didn't ask for any of this, she didn't want it. She wanted her books and Crookshanks and the parents who actually loved her. She wanted Draco Malfoy to stop being calling her 'Hermione' and being weirdly nice. She wanted everyone to stop subtly trying to earn her love when they hadn't deserved it.
How could her day have just begun?
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Red Cockatiel Feathers