Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far! This chapter was really fun to write so I hope you like it :)
Amber Neagaze- Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad you like it :)
Disclaimer- I do not own the amazing work of Harry Potter
Chapter 4- Draco…
Two weeks later Hermione sat at the dining table looking through papers for work when she lost concentration. She was thinking about the upcoming weddings of Ginny and Luna but her mind kept drifting of to Malfoy. She wondered why he hadn't contacted her yet ready to express his fury but that's to say she hadn't done so either.
As if he could read her mind, a brown and black eagle owl with mysterious looking yellow eyes, came flying through the window. Sighing in frustration, she stood up and took the letter from the owl before it quickly flew off, as if it hated the thought of staying their too long.
She opened the letter and read the note, written in unusually neat handwriting for Draco.
Granger,
I know it took me a while to contact you but I've been busy. I'm assuming you've received your letter from the ministry by now I'm sure your no happier about this than I am but you and I know there is no way out of this.
Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at twelve o'clock tomorrow and will discuss things.
Don't be late,
Malfoy
"Arggg!" Hermione let out an angry shout, scrunching up the letter and throwing it on the table.
"Hermione!" Ginny came running out with Luna not far behind. "Are you alright?"
"No, I am not alright! It's that… that… Malfoy!" She said, angrily pointing to the scrunched up letter.
"Finally contacted you did he?" Ginny said, crossing her arms.
"Mhm, he said he was 'busy.' Yeah right he just wants to try and avoid me for as long as he can because he hates me and he's afraid I'm going to be some creep of a fiancée! Well I've got news for him…"
"Hermione… calm down," Luna said, leading her to the chair she was previously sitting on. She sighed and put her head in her hands.
"What are you going to do?" Ginny asked, she had been reading the letter.
"I don't want to but I have to go… he's my fiancé," she said, disgusted by the last word.
"Maybe he's changed?" Luna said. You can always trust her to look on the positive side of things.
"If this letter says anything, he defiantly has not changed." Hermione sighed before walking off to her room and slamming the door behind her.
"There is only one person that can make her that angry… and she's marrying him.
It was 10:30am when Hermione rolled out of bed that morning. She usually didn't sleep in very late but today, she would just prefer to stay in bed and avoid going out at all.
"Morning!" Ginny said cheerfully as Hermione walked into the kitchen.
"Mhm…" she mumbled, running her hand through her hair.
"You ready for today?" Luna asked from the lounge where she was reading the Quibbler.
"Mhm," she mumbled again. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Wait, so you're going like that?" Ginny laughed, observing Hermione in her pyjamas with her hair a wild mess of slept in curls.
"Yes Ginny, I'm going to meet my future husband like this," Hermione said sarcastically. "It may be Draco, but I still need to look at least decent.
"Well you better hurry up then it's already a quarter to eleven," Luna said, looking up over her paper.
"Your right, thanks Luna," Hermione sighed.
"Wait! Don't you want breakfast?" Ginny called before she had a chance to leave.
"No thanks Ginny, don't think I can stomach anything at the moment," she said before closing the door.
It took a while looking through all of her clothes before she finally settled on something to wear. She decided on a red sundress that came just above her knee, matched with a stylish black jacket and a pair of matching heels. She wore minimal make-up and straightened out her hair, before letting it fall into her natural brown curls.
"Bye Luna, bye Ginny!" she called. She didn't want to go out to see them encase they thought she was trying too hard.
"Bye Hermione!" Luna called back.
"Good luck!" Ginny added.
She checked herself over for the hundredth time before appariting to the Leaky Cauldron. The usual busy place was not as crowded as usual but had a few customers here and there, along with some students Hermione recognised were from Hogwarts.
"Hermione!" A voice called from behind the bar. She smiled and recognised the former Hufflepuff Hannah Abbott, who was now the new landlady.
"Hannah! It's good to see you," Hermione said as she walked over and gave her old friend a quick hug.
"What are you doing here? How's Harry and Ron?" she asked enthusiastically.
"Their good, studying as Auror's at the moment," Hermione said as both the girls took a seat.
"No surprise there," she laughed. "I'm guessing you've heard about the law by now?" she asked and Hermione just rolled her eyes.
"Who'd you get paired with? Do I know him?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.
"Yeah, you know him… I'm supposed to meeting him here actually. What about you?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.
"Seamus," Hannah smiled with confidence.
"Finnigan? From Gryffindor?" Hermione asked, once again, having someone else she thought was luckier than her.
Hannah nodded before getting up and saying, "I should probably get back to work, but I hope you'll come to the wedding,"
"Wouldn't miss is," Hermione smiled but it quickly faded when she saw who walked through the door.
Taking a deep breath, she sighed and walked towards him. "Malfoy…"
"Granger… good to see you again," he replied, making no effort but to stand there staring at her. If anything she was surprised to hear him say it was good to see her, even if he didn't mean it.
"Likewise," Hermione replied. Neither of the two said anything else for a while, they just stood awkwardly staring at each other, not quite sure of what to say next.
"Do you want to sit down?" she swallowed hard, turning around and taking her eyes off him. To her, he was still the same nasty Slytherin of a death eater he was back in school. He may have no longer been a death eater but she still didn't trust him.
"Sure," he replied simply. The two took a seat and ordered a drink, Hermione receiving a shocked glare from Hannah.
"So… how have you been?" Draco asked, his hands clutched together on the table.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" was all Hermione said in response.
"What? You don't want me to be? I know neither of us are happy about this but there is no way out of it, so we both have to accept the fact that this relationship has to work!" he said, raising his voice slightly at the end.
"So this is a relationship?" Hermione sat back in her chair, folding her arms. She was confused as to what you would call any sort of interaction with Draco Malfoy.
"We're engaged!" he said, frustrated.
"Oh yes, that is exactly how every girl wants to be proposed to," she said angrily.
"What, you expect me to get down on one knee and pour out some sort of feelings I don't even have for you?"
"No, I don't but I do expect you to treat me with some sort of respect."
"I was trying!" he fought back.
"Is this what I met you here for today? For us to fight!" Hermione said, struggling to control her anger.
"Actually, I hoped for us to at least be able to talk about this, without fighting but I guess it's to late for that! At least I've tried to change. You haven't even been able to figure out that maybe; just maybe I've changed. Maybe I'm not the bad guy anymore!"
"Yeah right!" she shot back.
"Yeah… well obviously you haven't, you're still the same mudblood you were when we were in school." He gave her an evil glare.
Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes. She was usually so strong but when she was called that, it hurt, she couldn't help it. "You think you've changed? Well obviously you haven't."
And with that she walked out and apperated back home, leaving a very annoyed, angry and guilty Draco behind.
By the time Hermione appeared home, she was glad to know Ginny and Luna hadn't even left yet to go and see Harry and Ron.
"Hermione? Is that you?" she heard Luna knock on the door. Hermione sniffed back tears as she went to open the door.
"That was quick," she saw Ginny appear behind Luna. "Oh, Hermione, what happened?" she asked sympathetically when she noticed the expression of her friends face.
Without answering, she left them at the door and collapsed on her bed in tears.
"Hermione…" Luna sighed sadly, as her and Ginny sat on the side of her bed.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Ginny asked as she ran her hand comfortingly through Hermione's hair.
"Did he hurt you?" Luna asked, seemingly knowing what had happened.
"He called me something… something that hurt," she cried into her pillow.
"What was it?" Ginny asked.
"He called me… he called me a mudblood," she cried harder.
Ginny and Luna exchanged sympathetic glances to each other before Luna spoke, "don't listen to him…"
"Luna's right…We know you hate being called that but it's never affected you this badly before, it there something else?" Ginny asked.
"I deserved it…" she sighed into her pillow. "I mean, I should have seen it coming," she added, sitting up and rubbing her tear stained eyes.
"What do you mean?" Luna asked, wondering why Draco had any sort of reason to call her such a thing.
"He was just trying his best to be nice and I didn't let him. I thought it was some sort of act…"
"Hermione…" Ginny wrapped her friend into a hug.
"It's alright… I'll be okay. We'll just have to work things out I guess,"
"Do you want us to stay here? We can go and visit Ron and Harry tomorrow if you like." Luna asked, knowing Hermione might not want to be alone.
"No, it's okay, go…" she started. "Actually, would you mind if I came?"
"Of course, I'm sure they'd love you to come," Ginny smiled.
"Thanks… I'll check on George while we're there," she said, her tears finally stopping. Her and George had become so much closer since their talk after the law had been put in place. It was nice having a friend like him, she liked being needed. George didn't mind expressing all of his feeling to her but she knew that wouldn't last once he and Angelina were married, but for now, it felt good.
"Come on then, lets get your mind of him," Ginny said, helping her up before the three friends left for the Burrow.
I hope you all liked it! Please review, it means a lot! I'll always thank you at the beginning of the next chapter :)
