Harry eventually found Ron sitting by the Black lake, throwing stones into the water and causing the Giant Squid to repeatedly splash its tentacles about in the water. After talking for a few minutes the boys went for a walk, ending up at Hagrid's hut.
Hagrid was amazed that they didn't already know about Hermione and Draco, he then pointed out that if they had kept in touch properly they would have known and would have witnessed for themselves how in love the couple were. Hagrid was appalled to hear about the way they had both reacted to Hermione's marriage and he berated them for some time for treating their friend so badly. After Hagrid had finished his lecture, the trio then set about reminiscing about old times and the adventures they had had in school.
By the time Harry and Ron left Hagrid, the Half Giant had made them promise to apologise to Hermione. All the reminiscing had reminded the boys of all the good times they had shared with Hermione and they both agreed that they had acted harshly towards her earlier that afternoon. Ron especially wasn't sure if he could ever come to terms with her marrying Malfoy, but they both agreed they needed to try and make things right with her before they left.
When Harry and Ron left Hagrid's there was still time before the Quidditch match to talk to Hermione so they headed back into the castle. Unfortunately Hermione wasn't in her classroom, nor was she answering when they tried knocking on her office door. They did briefly wonder about going to see if she was in the dungeons, but they decided against it. Not only did neither of them want to see Malfoy but they knew that if he knew of the way they had spoken to Hermione earlier he would be furious, Harry knew he certainly would be if anyone had spoken to Juliette the way him and Ron had spoken to Hermione.
Without managing to speak to Hermione, Harry and Ron trudged out towards the Quidditch stadium. As they weaved through the crowds of students, making their way towards the staff stand, the pair reminisced about their own playing days. Harry and Ron reached the stand just as McGonagall arrived with Justin and Dave. After a quick catch-up, in which Harry and Ron failed to mention Hermione, the group headed into the stand.
Juliette was already in the stand when Harry and Ron sheepishly made their way over to her. Apologising for what had happened earlier the duo sat down next to her.
"What did you do after we left?" Harry asked.
"I spoke to Hermione, she had a free period after the lesson she was taking so we had a coffee and got to know each other." Juliette said.
"Did she mention us?" Ron asked.
"Briefly. She was clearly upset by what had happened so we didn't dwell on it." Juliette responded. "We spent most of the time talking about her husband and our respective careers."
"Talking about Malfoy, what fun." Ron muttered. He may have been feeling guilty for yelling at Hermione but he still wasn't planning on accepting Malfoy had changed.
"She told me all about their school days and how things had changed between them once they started working here." Juliette explained. "Maybe if the pair of you hadn't flown off the handle, she could have told you the same thing."
Harry was about to agree when he heard Hagrid's booming voice behind them. Turning round Harry and Ron watched their old friend ascend into the box and settle in the back row. Following Hagrid into the box was Hermione, when she saw her friends she looked away, causing both Harry and Ron to wonder if she would even agree to speak to them at all.
"Hermione, come and meet our visitors." McGonagall called out to the younger witch. "Mr Marks, Mr Townsend, this is Hermione Malfoy. Hermione is the Transfiguration Professor and Head of Gryffindor."
Hermione greeted the two men and smiled at Juliette before taking her seat. Harry and Ron were both dismayed by the fact she sat as far away from them as possible. Harry was just about to suggest to Ron they head over and speak to her when there was another commotion at the back of the box. Turning round again Harry and Ron saw Neville entering the box, the smiles that had appeared on their faces at the sight of their friend dropped when they saw who he was talking to, Malfoy.
While Draco pointedly ignored Harry and Ron as he made his way to his seat next to Hermione, Neville greeted them both cheerily before sitting down next to the couple. Harry and Ron watched with interest as Draco slung his arm around Hermione's shoulder and quietly said something to her that made her smile in his direction. For a few minutes Harry and Ron watched the easy interaction between the couple before the start of the game was announced, drawing the duo's attention back to the reason they were in the stand.
When the game started Ron immediately lost himself in the match, his entire focus was on the pitch as he cheered for Gryffindor. Harry however was more interested in watching Hermione. He'd never seen her cheer and shout so much during a Quidditch match before, but she was totally into the match as she encouraged Gryffindor. Harry also couldn't help but notice how she was constantly talking and laughing with her husband, not to mention the continued physical contact they seemed very keen on.
Nearly two hours after the match started it reached a gripping climax as both seekers suddenly dove towards the ground. There were screams and shouts all around as everyone was on their feet, waiting to see which seeker would emerge triumphant. When it was the Slytherin seeker that held up the snitch, half the stadium erupted in cheers while the other half groaned loudly.
At Slytherins victory Ron groaned loudly and dropped back into his seat. Harry however had once again turned his attention towards Hermione, while she looked disappointed her team had lost she was still smiling slightly. Malfoy on the other hand looked positively giddy as he turned to his wife and said something Harry didn't hear over the noise of the crowds. Harry then watched in amazement as Neville handed Hermione a Slytherin scarf, which she wrapped around her neck.
"What the hell?" Ron questioned, looking up just in time to see Hermione in Slytherin colours.
"It's a tradition of theirs." McGonagall said from behind a stunned Harry and Ron. "If Slytherin win, Hermione has to wear a Slytherin scarf and if Gryffindor win, Draco has to wear a Gryffindor scarf."
"Malfoy in Gryffindor colours, that's something I would love to have seen." Harry said.
"It's only happened a few times, but it is rather a sight." McGonagall chuckled. "It's made even more entertaining by the fact he clearly dislikes it, whereas Hermione has no problems wearing Slytherin colours."
"Hermione seems to have no problem with anything Slytherin related." Ron muttered.
"And why should she?" McGonagall asked, unimpressed with Ron's attitude. "Times have changed Mr Weasley, perhaps you need to change with them."
Turning to the rest of the group McGonagall began to usher her guests back down to the ground. The rest of the staff also began making their way out of the stands, including Draco and Hermione. Harry and Ron also left the stand and when they reached the ground they found Hermione, Draco and Neville slowly walking back to the castle in front of them.
"Sort things out." Juliette told Harry. "If you don't do it now, you'll not get the chance. We're leaving soon."
"Shall we?" Harry asked, turning to Ron.
"Yeah, I feel bad for the way I spoke to Hermione." Ron admitted. "Malfoy may be a git but Hermione didn't deserve to be insulted."
Leaving Juliette hovering a bit behind them Harry and Ron quickened their pace so they could catch up with Hermione. Harry was a few paces behind his friend when he called her name.
"Hermione."
Hermione stopped and turned round, finding a nervous looking Harry and a sheepish looking Ron approaching her. Hermione stood where she was as she waited for either Harry or Ron to tell her what they wanted.
"Can we talk?" Harry asked.
"Sure." Hermione replied.
"Alone." Ron glared pointedly at Draco, who had stopped with Hermione and was standing beside her.
"Whatever you have to say you can say in front of Draco." Hermione told her friends.
"We're sorry." Harry said. "We never should have spoken to you like that."
"Yeah, it was really bad of us." Ron muttered.
"I forgive you." Hermione replied. "I suppose you did get a bit of a shock, so I can sort of understand your reaction."
Draco snorted beside Hermione, clearly disagreeing with his wife. Before he had a chance to object however Hermione glared at him, which had him backing down from the scathing comment he was just about to hurl at her friends.
"Is that all?" Hermione asked. "We have a feast to attend."
"We also want to keep in touch, if that's okay." Harry said. "We're sorry for not writing more often, we promise to write every week from now on."
"But we're still not talking to him." Ron said, sneering in Draco's direction.
"You can write if you want and I'll write back, but if you ever expect to have some sort of meaningful friendship again then you have to learn to accept Draco. He's my husband, I love him and he'll always come first. If you're going to be awkward and try and cause trouble, I'm not interested."
Harry and Ron were slightly taken aback by Hermione's steely words and demeanour. Even though they weren't willing to accept Malfoy they still thought Hermione would be more bothered about keeping in touch, it sounded as though she wasn't fussed about what happened between them.
Hermione waited a few minutes to see if she got a response but when none came she turned to Draco and the couple continued to head towards the castle. Still slightly stunned Harry and Ron watched their friend go, unsure if they would ever be able to accept her choice of husband.
"What a mess." Juliette tutted. She'd been watching the entire thing and was amazed by how Harry and Ron had made a pig's ear of apologising. "Come on, the others will be waiting for us."
Juliette passed the boys and began walking back towards the castle. Harry and Ron soon caught up, both of them silent as they wondered how their day had gone so wrong. Earlier that morning they had expected a day of reminiscing about the fun they had in school and maybe a nice friendly catch up with Hermione and Neville. Instead they had spent most of the day either in a state of shock or anger over what had happened in their best friend's life while they'd been away. And to top it all off they had probably lost Hermione as a result of their terrible reaction and inability to let go of the past.
Hermione stood at her office window watching as Harry, Ron and their group left Hogwarts. She half expected one of them to try and speak to her either during or after dinner in The Great Hall, but both had kept out of her way. After their earlier conversation she had no idea whether they would keep in touch or not, although she suspected the latter was more likely.
"You could go and see them at the weekend." Draco said, coming up behind his wife and wrapping her in his arms. "Neville said they were planning on visiting The Burrow on Sunday to catch up with the family before they return to America."
"They know where I am if they want to speak to me." Hermione said, dismissing Draco's suggestion. "They've known where I was all the time, they just chose not to keep in touch."
"Do you think they'll keep in touch now?" Draco asked.
"I doubt it." Hermione sighed. "Maybe Molly can talk them round but I'm not holding out much hope."
"I'm sorry."
Hermione turned round and wrapped her arms around Draco's neck. "It's their loss, not mine. If they can't accept you and accept I'm happy then they're not the friends I thought they were."
Draco carefully tucked a strand of loose hair behind Hermione's ear. "Maybe we should change the subject to a more cheerful one."
"What did you have in mind?" Hermione asked with a smirk. She had a very good idea what her husband was talking about, earlier that week she had agreed to wear a Slytherin Quidditch jersey in bed if her husband's house won the Quidditch match.
"I thought I could receive my prize for Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup." Draco replied, briefly brushing his lips against Hermione's.
"We have to go home first." Hermione whispered.
Draco gave Hermione a mischievous grin before he picked her up and carried her to the fireplace and flooed home. Once at home the couple headed to bed and Hermione forgot all about her friend's disastrous visit to Hogwarts. She wasn't going to bother worrying over whether Harry and Ron wanted to get in touch with her, if they did they knew where to find her and as long as they weren't going to insult her husband Hermione was more than happy to keep their friendship alive. If however they couldn't forget the past and move on, it was their loss. Hermione had a great life, whether Harry and Ron choose to be a part of it or not was up to them.
The End.
A/N - Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing.
