Hermione waited nervously until the waitress brought their butterbeers, then silenced the table.
"Now are you going to tell me what this is all about?" Harry asked.
She shook her head, getting that same excited but dreading look she used to get in school. "Harry, I know this is mad, but Ginny has somehow gotten this idea. She is convinced you're seeing someone else."
The shock caused the breath to leave him in a whoosh, because of all the things he thought Hermione had brought him here to talk about, this wasn't one of them. He probably should have expected it to be, though.
"How did she find out?" he questioned softly, kicking himself the moment the words left his lips, realizing he should have made Hermione tell him what Ginny knew first.
But the first thing he thought was of his lover pounding the word "discrete" into his head.
Hermione's eyes went enormous. Harry mentally kicked himself again, realizing that they hadn't known, it had just been suspicions, until he had confirmed the truth.
"How long?" she snapped, the anger building in her voice.
"Fourteen years." Harry murmured, taking a sip of his butterbeer, not meeting her eyes.
"Harry!" she reached across and smacked him on the head, and Harry was thankful she had chosen the back corner booth, where they were mostly hidden from the few other patrons. "How could you?"
"I never meant for it to happen." he shrugged. "It just ... did. And neither of us was strong enough to stop it or walk away."
"You've been carrying on outside your marriage for fourteen years, Harry? Almost the entire time you've been married! Are you crazy? Do you think just because you're the Chosen One you're allowed to keep a wife and a lover for the rest of your life?"
"No." he shook his head, willing her to understand. "I love Gin. I do, with all my heart. She makes me feel safe and secure, and with her is home. She and the kids are the family I always wanted. After the childhood I had, it's like heaven on earth. I'd die before I'd give it up, and I never, ever, for one moment wanted to hurt her. But the other one makes me feel alive. We fight constantly. We've even hexed each other several times, and then laughed about it afterwards. No one else can bring out the best and worst in each other like we do. It's the highest of highs one minute and the lowest of lows the next and we're both addicted. We'll never be together full time. We'd probably kill each other if we tried. We're both happily married. We just can't stay away from one another."
Hermione's eyes were suspiciously damp. "Harry, you've got to end it. Ginny loves you so much. She deserves more than half your heart, or whatever part you haven't given to that other woman."
Harry took a swig of butterbeer and looked guiltily at the table.
"What is it, Harry Potter?" Hermione demanded. "I know that look. You're not telling me something. Do you have children with the other woman?"
"No!" he looked at her like she had lost her mind.
"Then what is it, because I know there's something." she put her hands on her hips, which almost made Harry laugh, because she was sitting down.
"Tell me." she pleaded.
He took a deep breath, let it out, then met her eyes. "It's not a woman."
Hermione blinked, as her mouth opened and closed several times and swallowed reflexively before she found her voice. "You're really gay?"
"No." Harry shrugged. "I've never even looked at another man, and he hasn't either. It's just the two of us, together. I don't rightly know what you'd call it."
She stared at him for several minutes, and he could see the wheels turning in her head, the thought processes working out the equation.
"Bloody hell." she finally gasped. "It's Malfoy."
Harry took another sip of his butterbeer. "Yeah." he breathed.
"Harry," she continued breathlessly. "He's married and has children and ... "
"Luna knows."
That tidbit shocked Hermione more than anything else had so far. "What?"
"Not only is his wife aware of it, it was her suggestion in the first place." Harry rolled his eyes. "They had only been married a few months and were headed toward separation. They were arguing, which means Draco rants and raves and Luna waits until he takes a breath and then says whatever she has to say and usually leaves him speechless. But anyway, that particular day, he was carrying on, and when he stopped, Luna said 'Maybe if you just have sex with Harry and get it out of your system you'll be easier to live with.' He was even more shocked than you are, because what they were arguing about had nothing to do with me. But it put the idea in his head, and a month or so later, it actually happened. We both planned it just to be a one-off, but eventually we settled into meeting up once or twice a month. According to Luna, it does make Draco easier to live with the rest of the time. But I'm sure their kids don't know anything about it."
Hermione continued to stare at him in shock. Harry drank the rest of his butterbeer, thinking about telling Malfoy about this later. The thought made him smile. Then he thought of Ginny's reaction and the smile faded.
"Out of everyone we know, Luna is probably the one person open minded enough to deal maturely with the situation." Hermione nodded.
"Malfoy loves her." Harry said, reaching over to pat Hermione's hand. "He loves her like I love Ginny. But he can't stay away from me any more than I can away from him."
"Ginny would not deal well with this." Hermione shook her head, staring at the space in the middle of the table.
"Bat bogeys from hell would probably be the least I'd have to worry about." Harry gave her a wry smile.
"She would castrate Malfoy." Hermione nodded and then laughed aloud at the expression on Harry's face.
She sobered and looked hard at Harry. "Tell me the truth." she leaned forward, placing her arms on the table. "Have you ever looked twice at another woman since you've been married to Ginny?"
"No." Harry shook his head, answering honestly. "I swear I haven't."
"Then that's exactly what I'm going to tell Ginny." Hermione smiled at him.