Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Harry Potter. At least not yet… hehe.

A/N: Oh my God! An update this quickly? It can't be! Hope y'all like this chapter!

Only a Shadow of What I Used to Be

Chapter 4

Hermione woke up the next morning, feeling comfortable for the first time in three years. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. The walls were painted a deep red color with Celtic knots painted in with silver. The trim was painted black and went rather nicely with the beige colored carpet. There was a beautiful mahogany desk and vanity on the wall across from her bed, which was a four-poster with sheer, black curtains and silk, silver sheets and a black, silk comforter with red, silk pillows. There was a nice sitting area in front of the double doors that led to the balcony. The room was exquisite.

She stretched before getting up and walking to the in-suite bathroom. The bathroom was as beautiful as the bedroom. The walls were a simple cream color, but the green marble sink, tub and shower more than made up for it. The floor was white marble and seemed to warm up the room. There was a stained glass window above the sink with the image of a rose in the center.

After taking her shower, Hermione found a warmed towel waiting for her. She smiled slightly and wrapped it around herself.

Hermione walked into the bedroom after drying off and found the closet. When she opened the door she was delighted to see that it was a walk-in. staying at Draco's was going to be wonderful.

She picked out some black, lace boy short underwear and bra, black jeans, a royal blue bodice-style shirt with silver ribbons tying up the front, all black converse with white laces, and some accessories. Once dressed, she did her make-up and went down to breakfast.

Finding the dining room was harder than she anticipated, but she finally made it. Hermione walked through the doors and noticed that Draco was already there, reading the paper. He had an adorable pout on his features and Hermione assumed that he was doing the crossword puzzle. But that wasn't the only thing that she thought looked good. He was wearing blue jeans, a brown shirt that had an iron cross on it, and his hair was left down, falling in his eyes. He had definitely changed for the better. She just hoped that his attitude was still the same as last night.

Draco looked up when Hermione cleared her throat and his breath was taken away. She looked absolutely stunning. If this was how she looked when she was wearing regular clothes then he was in trouble when she got all dressed up. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Morning," Hermione responded cheerfully. She was relieved that his attitude was the same, or this could have been incredibly awkward. "So what are you doing today?"

"Well I'm supposed to help the happy couple pick out their reception spot, but I can cancel if you don't want to be alone."

"That's okay," she said, looking a bit crestfallen. "I actually want to go with you. If that's okay, that is."

"Of course it is. But why do you want to go? I mean, Ron will be there and he isn't exactly on your favorite person list right now."

"I can ignore him easily enough. I just have to get over Harry some time; it might as well start today. He's getting married soon, and I don't want to be all blubbery over it."

Draco nodded his head, understanding why she had to come. It had to be tough to come back and find out that the man you loved was getting married.

"Well alright then," he said. "We should leave in about fifteen minutes."

"Alright."

Fifteen minutes later Draco appeared in Harry and Ginny's house. Hermione would be there shortly, and Draco need to tell Harry she was coming.

"Hey Draco," greeted Harry, walking over to him.

"Hey Harry," Draco replied. "Listen, I hope you don't mind, but I sorta invited Hermione to come along."

"What? Why?"

"Well, I didn't want her to be alone, and she has to get over you, right? You are getting married after all."

"I guess you're right."

"What do you mean 'you guess'? Of course I'm right."

"Oh Draco, you're so modest," said a sarcastic Ginny. "Everybody ready?"

"Almost," said Draco.

Just then Hermione appeared next to Draco. There was silence for a few seconds before Ginny asked, "What's she doing here?"

"It's nice to see you too, Ginny," Hermione said dryly.

"I'll explain later, Ginny," Harry scolded, never taking his eyes off of his true love. Sure he loved Ginny, but he felt a greater sense of completion when he was with Hermione.

Ginny saw the stare between the two and wrapped her arms around Harry possessively.

"Don't worry, Ginny," said Hermione, breaking her gaze from Harry. "I'm not going to steal your fiancé."

Draco had to smirk at Ginny's foolishness. Hermione was a good friend and wouldn't do that to her. The fact that she could even think that she would was insane. Plus, he could tell by the look in Harry's eyes that if Hermione wanted him, she could have him in a heartbeat.

Soon Ron walked in and said, "We all ready to go…?" trailing off when he saw Hermione. "Um," he said uncomfortably. "Maybe I should stay here. Five people is a lot to show around."

"Oh don't be ridiculous, Ronald," bit out Hermione. "Five is a perfectly good number. Plus, I'm not one for leaving people behind."

"Yeah," joined in Harry. "Come one, mate. It'll be great fun. You and I and Hermione can catch up."

"Okay," replied Ron, a bit tentatively. He hadn't missed Hermione's comment. "Sounds great."

Draco noted his hesitation as they all piled into the ministry limo that was waiting for them.

When they arrived at the place where Harry and Ginny wanted to have the reception –which was just outside of muggle London –Draco and Hermione noticed that it was the same place that Hermione had wanted her reception with Harry: the Summit House. The house was on a hill overlooking the ocean and –at night –the lights of London. If the inside was as beautiful as the outside, then this was it. They all got out and walked around the yards.

Hermione tried her hardest to suppress her anger and pain at seeing their choice of reception area. She almost lost it, but reminded herself that she was supposed to be getting over Harry. Draco saw her inner turmoil and walked over to her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I will be," Hermione said. "But right now it still hurts."

"I can't imagine how much it sucks, but I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

He was about to walk off when Hermione grabbed his hand. He looked questioningly at her.

"But for now can you just hold my hand? I need some form of support."

He smiled and said, "Sure."

He held on to her hand and led her through some doors to continue their tour. Harry had seen the display between the tow and seethed with anger. There was no way he was going to let Draco have her. She was his, and always would be.

"And over here we have the deluxe suite. This is where you two will spend your first night together," said the owner, shaking Harry out of his stupor.

"Oh it's absolutely splendid, isn't it, Harry?" asked an enthusiastic Ginny. Knowing that Hermione was with Draco, and not distracting Harry, seemed to raise he spirits.

"Yeah," said Harry, half-heartedly. "Wonderful."

Meanwhile, with Draco and Hermione, the two crossed paths with Ron. There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Hermione just walked away.

"What? No threatening words before you go?" said Ron. "I know you're all talk. I bet you even faked your own death, just to get out of marrying Harry. Maybe even to make people feel sorry for you."

This stopped Hermione in her tracks. She'd shown him her temper last night, but he probably didn't take it seriously, just as he did with everything else in his life. Everything he said was a load of crap. But the comment about Harry was uncalled for. She turned around and glared at Ron.

"I'm sure you can talk tough when you're out in public, but get me alone in a room and you'll regret it. I will kill you; before the wedding if you keep pushing it," she said in a monotone. "You have no idea how much this is killing me."

With that said, she walked off. Ron stayed quiet, his plan of getting her to leave London shot down. Suddenly, Draco threw him against a wall. Ron rubbed his head as Draco pushed him to the floor.

"She may be able to hold in her anger, but I won't," he said menacingly. "I know what you did to her, and it's bullshit. You have no right to treat her like that. She's been through hell and you treat like she's nothing.

"Well let me tell you, I won't take it as easily as she does. One wrong move and you're dead."

Draco walked off in search of Hermione, unaware that she was standing just outside the door. She smiled and walked away so Draco could 'find' her. She had a friend in him after all.

After Harry and Ginny had signed the papers booking them the entire house for the day of November first, the group headed home.

Once inside Ginny said, "Hermione, we're having an engagement dinner tomorrow night. I would be delighted if you would join us."

Hermione almost rolled her eyes; earlier the girl had wanted to rip off her head, but now it was back to pleasantries.

"Sure," she answered, albeit unenthusiastically.

"Great. It's at five-thirty at that new place in Diagon Alley: Pompey. It's nothing fancy, but we would like you to dress nicely casual."

"Alright," cut in Draco. "We'll be there, but we must get going now."

"G'night," called Harry and Ron

"Night," Hermione and Draco said simultaneously before they vanished.

A/N: Oh man… am I on a roll or what? Well probably not because I probably won't post the next chapter for a while because school is starting up again. Damn. Oh well. It happens, right? Right. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. PLEASE REVIEW! I love reviews! Till next time kiddies! Random: "Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?"