"Please tell me this is a joke," Draco said softly, staring across the desk at the newly-elected Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"I'm afraid it is not, Mr. Malfoy," came the soft reply.

Draco had escaped Azkaban because of Harry Potter's testimony, while his father had been imprisoned for life, and his mother had fled to France. He also knew that Potter's testimony had saved his godfather as well, and that the pair were revealed to be in a committed relationship, with rumors circling that a bonding ceremony was imminent. Other than escaping Azkaban, Draco had been permitted to keep the manor in Wiltshire, but all the Black properties had passed to Potter, who was likely doing something heroic with them.

"I don't fully understand what's expected of me," Draco went on, forcing himself to speak again, and feeling altogether uncomfortable.

"A pool of candidates for bonding has been presented to the Wizengamot for you, and the elimination process has already begun," Shacklebolt explained.

Draco swallowed, clasping his hands together. "And they've taken into account that I cannot bond with a witch?" he asked quietly, not making eye contact with the minister.

"There is no need to be ashamed of your sexual orientation, Mr. Malfoy, considering my own, as well as the Savior of the Wizarding World," the minister said kindly. "I know that your father was...is a traditional and prejudiced man, but with the new reforms to the Wizarding government... I feel you will understand, in time, that there is nothing wrong with you, and nothing to be ashamed of."

Draco rubbed his sweat-filled palms up and down on his trouser-clad legs; he didn't think he'd ever be able to think of himself as normal. Sure, he'd escaped the horrors of Azkaban, and had been permitted to keep his ancestral family home, as well as most of the Malfoy monies, and he was better off than most people who had been marked by Voldemort, save for probably Severus, who was as much as a darling to the Wizarding public as Potter was.

"It need not be a public affair, although the bonding will be recorded in the Hall of Records, which you now know forbids reporters from accessing it without solid reason," Shacklebolt went on, as if this information would soothe Draco's fears.

"Who has been eliminated so far?" Draco whispered.

"The witches who applied have been," Shacklebolt assured him, "as well as wizard candidates who have been deemed too old, or who entered the process for potentially nefarious purposes. I suppose I don't need to tell you that you have made a fair few enemies, Mr. Malfoy."

"No," Draco said softly, shaking his head, "you don't." He hesitated for a moment, his eyes drifting around the office; he caught sight of various paintings—there was a Da Vinci, a Holbein, a Waterhouse, and even a Pollock, to name a few, and Draco found himself surprised that the minister had such a wide array of tastes when it came to fine art.

"I don't suppose I need to remind you that keeping yourself sexually pure for this ritual is considered a necessity," Shacklebolt said, breaking into Draco's thoughts.

Draco felt himself redden as he sharply turned his face to gaze at the minister. "One thing my own father did for me within those meetings I was forced into was that I was not to be made a plaything for the more senior Death Eaters," he snapped. "Our house was used as a base for operations, and my father was forced to give up his wand. Riddle took enough from us, and he wasn't about to sacrifice his son's virginity as well."

"I know this topic is touchy, Draco," Shacklebolt said soothingly, and Draco's skin prickled as the man used his first name without permission, and watched as the man made a note on the parchment in front of him with an eagle quill. "However, in order for the magicks to work properly, and to establish the bond fully, we must be sure that everything is in place for the ceremony to go off without a hitch."

Draco rolled his eyes and turned away from the man again; he had seen it in the eyes of the most senior Death Eaters that they would've loved nothing more than to rape him. He knew that Riddle was tempted to renege on his deal to his father, due to his failure to assassinate Albus Dumbledore, but it had been Severus who stepped in, promising to make Draco's punishment a painful one. Of course, it involved immediate house arrest, once the Order had come and seized control, and he was made to continue his Hogwarts education by mail.

"Ah," came the minister's voice a moment later, as an owl flew into the office. He accepted the scroll the owl provided, and then indicated where it should go for an owl tidbit. The minister unrolled the scroll, as Draco peered at him from the corner of his eye, and the older man nodded to himself. "From Alastor," he said fondly, and Draco had to admit, even to himself, that he was surprised that, not only had the man survived the war, but had taken over the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and had been bonded to the minister himself for years. "It is the results of the final elimination of your contenders," the minister explained.

"Final elimination?" Draco asked, curious now.

"Before a match is chosen," Shacklebolt informed him. "Seven names are remaining on this piece of parchment, which means..."

"That one of them will be my bondmate," Draco said softly.

"Precisely," Shacklebolt said with a nod, and turned back to the parchment. "The final wizards who are contenders are Gilderoy Lockhart..."

"Has St. Mungo's cured him?" Draco demanded.

"Oh, no, of course not," Shacklebolt said with a chuckle. "But he would certainly be safe for you to bond with, of course."

Draco crossed his arms. "I won't have someone who cannot fully understand what is going on. I was in that same position, or did you and your Wizengamot friends forget that?"

Shacklebolt nodded in understanding. "If you give me good reasons for them to be eliminated by you, then they shall be," he said softly, and struck out Lockhart's name. "The next contender is Charles Weasley." He turned and looked up at Draco. "Any objections?"

"Other than the fact that he could kill me with his bare hands, none at all," Draco replied. "The man is a dragon tamer, minister. I simply wouldn't feel safe."

"Very well," Shacklebolt said, and so too struck the man's name off the list. "Viktor Krum has been selected as the third."

"No," Draco said immediately. "He was hopelessly in love with Granger during the Triwizard, and he is involved in a courtship with the Weasley girl," he went on, and Shacklebolt looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Severus tells me things," he finished lamely.

Shacklebolt looked pleased with the information. "An oversight on behalf of the Wizengamot, I'm sure," he said, and struck the Bulgarian Quidditch player's name from the list. "For the fourth, the Wizengamot has selected Oliver Wood."

Draco sneered openly at this. "He's bonded to Katie Bell," he said, throwing his hands up into the air. "Part of me thinks that they're deliberately wasting our time."

"Ah, yet another oversight, I see," Shacklebolt said, rubbing his chin, and yet again used his quill to strike the name off. "For the fifth, Marcus Flint."

Draco shivered, remembering Flint's hands upon him as the Slytherin Quidditch Captain "thanked" him for the Nimbus 2001s his second-year. "Flint only likes children," he said, and felt himself continuing to shiver all over. "If anyone should be in Azkaban, it's him."

Shacklebolt appeared shocked by the revelation, and scrawled a note to himself, before immediately striking that name off the list. "Xenophilius Lovegood is the sixth—"

"No!" Draco shouted. "Other than the fact that he's still clearly not over his wife, I am related to the Lovegood family," he said, staring at the minister as if he was mad. "Isn't there anyone on there who's considered suitable, where I won't get killed, or resented, and may just have a chance at happiness?" He lowered his eyes, shocked at the passion in his voice. "I mean, I know that the Wizengamot thinks they're doing this for my own good, but they need to understand that I'm human, and I was just a child, with my mind manipulated into my way of thinking, and that my actions weren't me. All I wanted was for my mother and father to love me, to be proud of me, and that childlike mindset never left me, all because I never had it. It's a fundamental thing, having your parents be proud of you, and even Potter had that. I never did. My godfather was the only one truly there for me growing up, and, while he showed me favoritism, he was never particularly demonstrative towards me. I'm literally starved for affection, but afraid of wanting it, minister, and I cannot understand why the Wizarding governing body seems hell-bent on making my entire life miserable..." Slowly, he looked up, and wasn't surprised to find that tears were rolling down his cheeks. "Just... Please. Tell me that there's someone on that list who can give me a ray of hope."

Shacklebolt looked amazed at the display of emotion, and cleared his throat awkwardly, before he resumed looking at the list. "There is only one name left."

"Who is it?" Draco whispered, his tone defeated, knowing he had, quite literally, backed himself into a corner. He didn't know what would happen if he refused the final name; would the Wizengamot vote for him to be sent to Azkaban, like his father? Would they take away his home, and the Malfoy fortune, leading him to live on the streets and face starvation? He didn't know, and he was afraid of every eventual outcome presented, either in or out of his mind. "Just tell me," he begged, his nails very nearly slicing into his palms.

"The final contender is Remus Lupin," Kingsley said at last.

Draco looked up at him, shocked. "I thought he was married to my cousin..."

"Oh, no," Kingsley said, shaking his head. "That was a farce put out because of the fact that he already had a target on his back, due to being a werewolf," the minister explained. "As for your cousin, she is happily married to Stan Shunpike, who was working as a double-agent on behalf of the Order."

Draco looked shocked by this piece of information. "What? But Shunpike was..."

"Dressed as a Death Eater during the final battle, I know," Shacklebolt said with a smile. "In fact, it was Severus who trained him. Did quite an excellent job of it, too. He is currently at their home in Wales, raising their son, Teddy, while Tonks herself is working her way into becoming Head of the Auror Department."

Draco shook his head. "So, were the rumors about Lupin and my other cousin true?"

Kingsley shook his head. "No. I believe, even if Sirius was gay, he was too scarred from his unlawful stint in Azkaban to ever find himself a partner."

Draco leaned back in his chair. "But, the whole werewolf thing," he said softly. "Wouldn't I be in danger there, too?"

"No, of course not," Shacklebolt reassured him. "Severus has actually come up with a new form of Wolfsbane, which makes the transformation completely painless, due to the adding of willow bark. He has also added valerian root to ensure that sleep is a guarantee, so Remus merely sleeps through the transformation, without pain. He doesn't even need to be locked away in a windowless room anymore, thank Merlin."

"He told me his research was going well, ever since he handed over the position of headmistress to Professor McGonagall, and left Hogwarts to be with Potter," Draco mused. "I suppose he was telling the truth."

"He was," Shacklebolt confirmed with a nod. "His next task is to reverse the effects of the Cruciatus Curse, in the hopes of restoring the memories of Frank and Alice Longbottom. Neville is actually helping him with the herbs and such."

"He would," Draco said with a nod. "Anything to have one's parents back..."

"You have yet to give me a significant reason as to why you deem Remus Lupin to be an unsuitable match for you," Shacklebolt said in the silence that followed.

Draco lowered his eyes; he couldn't deny that he found Remus Lupin attractive, and, now that the fear of the man's werewolf had been prevented, he supposed that there was no reason to refuse the proposal. The only thing he was saddened about was the fact that werewolves had mates, but, if Lupin married Draco, he would never have the opportunity to find his. Still, he supposed that this was not something Lupin had entered into lightly, and he would, Draco assumed, have been sure to consider all possibilities.

"And Lupin," Draco said softly, "he is fully aware and consenting to this arrangement?"

"Bonding," the minister corrected him, "which is a process that cannot be reversed."

"Right," Draco said quietly, looking up at the minister. "He is fully aware and consenting to this...bonding?"

"Remus is fully aware," Shacklebolt confirmed. "He is consenting to the bonding, but doesn't expect that you will accept him."

"My prejudices are not my father's," Draco said, sitting up as straight as he could in his chair. "I won't deny that I am afraid, if the Wolfsbane does go wrong..."

Shacklebolt nodded in understanding. "Of course. However, you know as well as I do that Severus is one Floo-Call away."

Draco nodded; he did know that. "All right," he said, although he hated the fact that he was singlehandedly taking away the man's chance of finding his true soulmate. "I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, hereby accept the proposal of Remus John Lupin."

Shacklebolt looked amazed by this turn of events, but nevertheless snapped his fingers, and a piece of parchment came sailing towards him. He placed it upon the surface of his desk, and slid it over towards Draco, and dipped his eagle feather quill into its pot of ink. "You must sign where indicated at the bottom," he explained, the feather lightly tickling the surface of the official-looking parchment.

Draco swallowed, reaching forward to pick up the quill, the words Bonding Contract glaring back at him from the top of the parchment. Shivering, he scrawled his name, and noticed that Lupin had already signed his own name upon the other side of the parchment. Once he'd signed it, the contract rose up on its own, rolled into a scroll, and disappeared with a poof.

"What..." Draco cleared his throat, and handed back the quill. "What happens now?"

The minister smiled across the desk at him. "Now, Mr. Malfoy, you get yourself a new pair of dress robes, and any accoutrements you wish," he explained. "I presume you will meet with Remus to discuss a venue, but you now have a fortnight to become bonded and get all the things you need."

Draco nodded, straightening his shoulders, knowing when to make the best out of a potentially bad situation. "All right," he replied. "I'll make an appointment with Madam Malkin." He hesitated for a moment. "And... Remus?" he asked, testing out the name on his tongue.

"Remus will be notified that you signed the Bonding Contract, and will be in touch forthwith," came Shacklebolt's reply. "I presume you will discuss witnesses to your bonding as well as its location in the coming days."

Draco nodded a second time, and forced himself to his feet. "Thank you, minister," he said, and held out his hand.

Kingsley Shacklebolt got to his feet as well, and accepted the hand on offer. "You're welcome, Mr. Malfoy," he responded.

Draco gave the man a nod, and moved to leave the office, the words, What in Merlin's name have I just gotten myself into?, rolling about in his head.