Finding Hermione
By: eBookDragon
Chapter Seven
Pictures of Us
September 20th to October 19th
Draco settled into a routine with Hermione and Rose. During the week, they ate breakfast together and left together for school then work. Draco would pick Hermione up for lunch. Sometimes the Snakes or Harry and Ginny would meet them at a café. Most days they went home together. There were times Draco had to stay late and would meet them at home for dinner.
Hermione and Ginny went out with Tracey, Daphne, and Helena for a girls' night at his club the Friday after Parents' Day. When Hermione wasn't home by ten, he got worried and went over to check on them. He found them dancing together on the dance floor. Hermione looked stunning in an amethyst, spaghetti strap, v-neck dress that hugged her curves. The slit up the front gave an enticing view of her thigh. Her hair was swept up off her neck with curls framing her face. Ginny had smirked at him when he saw them coming down the stairs before they left for the night.
He stood near the door watching her dance with the girls. Her cheeks were flushed now with alcohol and dancing. She spun and swayed with the music. She threw her head back and laughed at something Daphne said to her. She looked like the carefree witch he'd been hoping would emerge from the sadness.
"Busted!" Ginny said when she caught sight of him. He made is way over to them since he'd been spotted.
"Hey! It's girls' night. No men allowed," Daphne told him, her words slurring slightly.
"I'm not here to ruin your fun. I just got worried since it was so late. Just pretend I'm not here," Draco said to them, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Yes, but I'm sure our husbands aren't far behind you," Helena said. Sure enough, Theo, Blaise, and Greg walked in the door moments later, looking for their wives.
"We'll be at the bar. You ladies go back to your dancing," Draco placated them when Hermione pouted that she wanted to dance more.
Draco led the men over to the bar where they sat down for a drink. A half-hour passed with them laughing and joking around about the girls' antics. Harry walked in the door obviously looking for Ginny. He spotted Draco at the bar and walked over to him.
"They look like they're having fun," Harry said by way of greeting.
Draco looked over to the girls dancing together in a group. They were starting to get a bit carried away. Ginny had started slow grinding against Hermione. "Yeah, they've been dancing since I got here around ten. I don't even want to think about how much they've had to drink."
Harry sat watching his wife. Draco thought he caught a hungry look in Harry's eyes as he watched Ginny dance with Hermione, "Since Ginny has her shoes off, I'm going to go with a lot. I caught her dancing like that with one of her teammates during a victory party when she was playing the Harpies. That's how we got James," Harry chuckled, "You know, I think I'll go get my wife."
"TMI, Potter!" Draco called after him. They all watched as Harry walked over and picked up Ginny's shoes and purse. He said something to Ginny then picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, swatting her backside playfully. Ginny grinned mischievously and waved bye as she and Harry disapparated from the club.
"Potter may have a good idea. Drunk sex is awesome and my wife is wearing a killer pair of fuck-me heels. See ya," Blaise said. The lure of sex was more than Theo, Blaise, and Greg could resist and shortly they apparated home with their wives, leaving only Draco and Hermione left at the club.
"I guess girls' night is over," Hermione said as she walked up to him at the bar. She grabbed his drink out of his hand and drained it before setting it back on the bar.
He put his hand on her waist and drew her to stand between his legs. "I blame Harry. He put the idea of drunk sex in Blaise's head and that was pretty much it for the guys." Hermione laughed at that. "Are you ready to go?" he asked her. Before she answered the Draco heard the opening chords of "You And Me" by Lifehouse. "Dance with me, Hermione?" he asked, holding out his hand for her.
She nodded and he led her out onto the dance floor. He twirled her around then settled his hand back at her waist. Her hand came to rest on his shoulder. He led her through the familiar steps of a waltz as the crooning voice of the lead singer started to sing. Her chocolate eyes met his, making him feel like he was drowning in their depths. He tightened his arm around her waist pulling her closer.
This song had always spoken to him where she was concerned. The years went rushing by him, all the times he had watched her across the Great Hall at school or in the hallways, all the times he saw her after the war wanting to speak to her but not able to find the right words. People had always surrounded her but his eyes always found her in the crowd. He never understood the hold she had on him. He had never known until that day on the boat that she felt the same.
"Happy birthday, Hermione," he said quietly, staring down into her smiling eyes.
"You knew?" she asked, her expression unfathomable.
Draco shrugged it off, "Of course I did. I wanted to throw you a party but Ginny said you didn't like celebrating your birthday anymore."
"Not since I lost my parents, but thank you for wanting to." They both fell silent as he spun her around. She twirled back into his embrace and rested her hand on his chest, leaning her cheek against him.
"Take me home," she said as the song ended. He twirled them around once more as they disapparated from the club into the foyer of his home. She stood on tiptoe in front of him. He felt her soft lips graze his cheek, feather-light across his skin. Her enticing scent enveloped him as she brushed against him. "Goodnight, Draco," she said before she was gone up the stairs. He placed a hand on his cheek as he watched her walk up the stairs and disappear into her room.
A picture of them appeared in the paper the next day. He watched the moving picture show them waltzing across the page over and over again. They both stared at each other as they glided along. He saw the expressions on their faces and wondered if that was really what they looked like when they looked at each other.
Hermione had a meeting with on Thursday with Shacklebolt. She stormed into his office afterward in a tearing rage. Draco got up and told his secretary to cancel his appointments. He then locked and silenced his office. It wouldn't do to have the whole floor hear her raging. "I take it you aren't a newly freed witch," Draco said as he lounged against his desk.
Hermione glared at him, clearly not liking his levity of the situation. "No, obviously. I told him I wanted to be granted a divorce from Ron. I told him about what happened at the cottage. I even offered to let him inspect my memories. He refused to listen to me. He wouldn't even hear me out."
"I did try telling you it was pointless to try to get Shacklebolt on your side. He's not the same wizard the Order decided to put in power at the end of the war," Draco said. It would probably be one of the few times he would ever get to say "I told you so," though he hated being right about this.
Hermione started pacing his office from the windows along one wall to the bookcase along the other wall."You haven't even heard the worst part," she said, gesticulating wildly, "He told me that wizarding folk don't divorce, that the magical bonds of matrimony are not meant to be severed. If they make a poor choice in their spouse, then they must find a way to live with their decision. I tried arguing with him. I tried convincing him that Ron had abused me psychologically. He told me that I would have to find a way to live with it and to cut out all my nonsense about running away. He even had the nerve to tell me that as Ron's wife, I was his to do with as he saw fit like I was nothing more than a piece of property."
"So, do I need to get Theo so we can hide the body?" He was only partially joking but he wouldn't really be all that surprised to find out something nasty had happened to the Minister. Some people just had no sense of self-preservation. Shacklebolt must have been out of his mind telling Hermione Granger that a wife was the property of her husband.
"Har, har. Do you think this is funny?" she said, poking him in the chest, looking like she was about to hex him.
"You know I don't," he said, making a grab for the hand that had been poking him and missing.
She spun away and started pacing the room again, "This can't be allowed to continue. We're in the twenty-first century and we're still following archaic laws that treat witches as nothing more than chattel. Witches have more than proven that we are the equals of wizards. How many witches are there in our world that are stuck in loveless, abusive marriages?"
"What do you suggest we do about it?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
She turned in her pacing and looked at him like he was being dense, "Make new laws. It's time to take the Wizarding World out of the Middle Ages and into the modern era."
Finally, he thought to himself. He'd promised her he wouldn't push her after their argument in the dining room. He just bided his time, waiting for her to decide when she was ready to start tackling the issue of her divorce.
They took Rose to the park for a picnic and to spend the day in the sunshine before the weather turned. Rose exhausted herself running around and fell asleep on the blanket after lunch. Draco lay stretched out on the blanket. Hermione had lain down perpendicular to him, her head resting on his chest. She was reading a book aloud to him. He had worked the elastic from her braid and was unraveling it with his fingers while he listened to her story.
She stopped reading and turned her head to look at him. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" he asked, playing dumb as he continued to toy with her hair.
She rolled her eyes at him but still answered, "Every time we relax together lately, you pull my hair down and start playing with it."
"I like your hair. It's so soft," Draco said as he continued to run his fingers through her curls.
"You're insane. It's a bushy mess," she protested as she made to sit up but he grabbed a handful of her hair to keep her in place.
"Stay still, please. I like it. I like how it feels running through my hands. I like how it smells. I like the little noises you make when I do this," he started massaging her scalp with one hand to make his point.
She made these cute purring noises every time he rubbed her scalp. It only further fueled his fascination with her hair. She turned onto her side so she was facing him and gazed at him. He pillowed his head on his arm so he could look at her and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Why am I not more upset about him?" she asked seriously.
He frowned at her, "Are you looking for a reason to be more upset?"
She shook her head and started tracing the pattern on the blanket with her finger, "No. It just seems weird to me that it's only been a month after I found out and I'm laying here on a blanket with you, content and at peace. I stopped crying myself to sleep a few nights ago. Does that mean I didn't love him or something?"
He didn't know that she cried herself to sleep. He ran his over her hair and cupped her face. She leaned into his touch. "I think you might be the only one that can answer that question. Do you still love him?"
"Merlin, no!" she said with a shudder, "That feeling is well and truly dead. I keep thinking that I should be more upset and I was at first but now, I'm just relieved that it's over. I was tired of fighting with him but I didn't really try to work it out either. Who knows how bad it really was since he managed to take some memories away? Isn't love supposed to be eternal though?
He twirled a lock of her hair in between his fingers and watched her hair glint red and gold in the sunlight, "I think some love is. But it's also like a fire or a living thing. Love needs to be fed in order to survive and grow. I don't think you got that from him."
She looked at him, her mouth turned down and pain in her eyes, "I just keep thinking how much of my life he wasted. If he had told me he wanted to be with her, I would have let him go. I could have spent those years with someone who wanted to be with me."
He understood how she felt. It was one of the things that made him angry about the situation too. Weasley's stupidity had kept him from possibly being with her all these years. His own cowardice had kept him from pursuing her as he should have.
"I know. You can't live thinking about how things could have been different, though. It will just make you bitter and angry. How do you feel about your life now?" he asked quietly.
Her smile was as bright as the sunshine. She answered him in a breathy voice, "Free. More like myself than I have in years."
He cupped her face, stroking her cheek again. "I'm glad. I killed me to see you so sad."
She grabbed his hand stroking her face and held onto it, "It's because of you. You didn't let me wallow in misery for long. You wouldn't let me take the blame. You reminded me who I was. Why couldn't this have happened years ago when we were in school?"
Why indeed? He answered her honestly though, "Because I was an idiot. I had to learn to be a better man."
"Mummy, can I have some cookies?" Rose asked as she came awake.
Hermione sat up and he re-braided her hair for her as she gave Rose a cookie and juice box. Rose begged to ride his broom and he couldn't turn down her pleading. He set her on the broom in front of him, wrapped an arm around her, and sped off flying around the park. He heard Hermione calling after them not to go so fast. Rose squealed with delight as they flew over the river. Little Rose was a thrill-seeking, speed demon.
He glided them to a stop in front of Hermione, who stood with her hands on her hips and an exasperated expression on her face. "Must you go so fast?"
He shrugged it off as he helped Rose dismount his broom, "It's fine, Hermione. She likes it."
"What if she falls off?" Hermione asked, still exasperated with both of them.
"I didn't fall off, mummy. It's fun," Rose interjected.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to her," Draco soothed, running his hand down Hermione's arm.
Rose grabbed Scorpius' old training broom and mounted. It only hovered about two feet off the ground. She flew in circles around them. Draco took a snitch out of the pocket of his jacket. He caught Rose's eye and showed her the snitch before he released it.
The snitch was meant for five-year-olds just learning how to fly. It moved in slow, lazy circles around them, never moving more than five feet away from where Draco and Hermione stood. Rose maneuvered the broom around, trying to catch the snitch. She was a natural on a broom. Thankfully she hadn't inherited her mother's dislike of flying. They stood there side by side watching Rose as she flew around. They shouted encouragements to her.
She fell off at one point when she banked too hard into a turn. They ran over to check on her but Rose insisted on getting back on to try again. Draco helped her back on and showed her how to get low on the broom and lean into the turn. Rose flew off again looking for the snitch.
"She's fine," Draco soothed as he came back to Hermione and draped an arm over her shoulder. Both her arms came around his waist as she hugged into his side. "She fell just like I taught her to."
He wouldn't deny that his heart had been in his throat as he watched her tumble off the broom. She had thrown her arms over her head and rolled as she hit the ground just like they had practiced when he first took her out flying. He was so proud that she hadn't panicked or been too afraid to get back on.
After twenty minutes of chasing the snitch, he watched as Rose stretched out her hand, as she was lying low over the broom. The golden ball was just inches from her outstretched fingers. It darted in front of her face and she snatched at it, catching it so fast her hand was just a blur. She landed with the snitch fluttering in her hand.
Draco and Hermione cheered as she ran over with the broom and snitch. "I caught it! I caught it! Did you see?" Rose said jumping up and down.
Hermione dropped down to a knee and hugged Rose to her. "Of course we saw. You did a great job."
"That's some good flying, princess. We'll make a seeker out of you yet," Draco praised her.
"Like you and Uncle Harry?" Rose asked.
"Just like me and Uncle Harry," Draco answered. He took the snitch from her and put it back in his pocket as Hermione started peeling her gloves off her hands. He charmed the picnic blanket to fold itself up and packed it into the basket.
Hermione levitated the basket and brooms to float behind them as they made their way back home. They each held one of Rose's hands and swung her between them on the walk home.
Pictures appeared in the paper again the next day of their picnic in the park. He and Hermione lying together on the picnic blanket. He and Rose flying over the river. Him teaching Rose how to turn properly. Hermione hugged into his side. The three of them walking back to Spinner's End.
Harry and Ginny met them for dinner at Samorn's Kitchen, a Thai restaurant near his club in Cokeworth. The restaurant was small and quaint. They took a booth near the back of the restaurant.
"Another one of your properties?" Hermione asked as they took their seats.
"No. I sold this place to Samorn after I met her in London." He told them about meeting the little Thai witch working in a struggling restaurant in London and enticing her to open up her own place in Cokeworth while he was rebuilding the town. He'd given her the start-up money and let her create the restaurant she had always dreamed of. She'd repaid his investment in three years and was now full owner of the restaurant. The place was always busy and he made sure to reserve a table when he planned on coming in. "The chicken curry will blow your mind," he finished. They ordered chicken curry, pineapple fried rice, and pad Thai to share among themselves.
"Hermione tells us that you're teaching Rose how to be a seeker," Harry said to Draco.
"She's a natural. She didn't inherit any of her mum's flying skills," Draco joked. Harry and Ginny laughed, both knowing Hermione's aversion to flying.
"I know how to fly. I just don't understand why anyone would want to when they can Floo or apparate," Hermione said dryly.
"Because it's fun, Hermione," Ginny said, "Has Ron contacted you at all about seeing Rose?"
Hermione took a deep breath and shook her head, "No. I haven't gotten any owls from him. Has he said anything to either of you about seeing Rose?" she asked.
Ginny looked angry as she answered, "We haven't seen him since Parents' Day. He hasn't been by the Burrow either according to mum. She's sent him a few howlers. I imagine those were fun."
"I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he opened those up," Draco chuckled maliciously.
"You would," Hermione said as she jabbed him in the side, smiling up at him.
Draco smiled down at her, "He deserves it and you know it."
"Anyway, it's sad that he hasn't contacted anyone about seeing Rose," Hermione said, looking back at Ginny.
"I know. Mum and Dad would like to see you both though. Draco is welcome to come too," Ginny said.
Harry started laughing. "I can just imagine seeing Draco Malfoy walking through the living room of the Burrow or eating dinner at the kitchen table. In a suit." Ginny and Hermione started laughing as well. Draco cracked a smile at Hermione's reaction.
"They're welcome to come to Spinner's End, as well. You all are. You have an open invitation to come over anytime."
Harry and Ginny looked astounded by the invitation. Ginny had come by before going out to girls' night with Hermione but they had never come over to spend time with them. "You just don't want to go to the Burrow," Harry finally said.
"I wouldn't mind if that's what Hermione wanted, but I also want to make sure that you all know you're welcome as well."
The rest of dinner passed uneventfully. They laughed together as they shared stories of the antics of their children. Draco paid the check before Harry could grab it, insisting that he get this one. Harry and Ginny apparated home after dinner was over and they hugged Hermione. Ginny hugged Draco and Harry shook his hand before they left. Draco and Hermione walked off dinner by walking home rather than apparating. They took off down the well-lit street. Hermione wrapped an arm around his waist and he pulled her close to him as he put his arm around her.
More pictures appeared in the paper the next day of their dinner with the Potters. The four of them laughing at some story Ginny was telling. The hug from Ginny. The handshake from Harry. He and Hermione walking home.
"We really have to find out who's been following us around," Hermione said as she surveyed the paper at breakfast.
"I've tried. It's an anonymous photographer. They owl the pictures to the Prophet with a comment on what they saw. The owl waits for payment, then leaves," Draco said as he looked up from the letter from Scorpius that he was reading.
"I'm not sure I like that someone's following us around taking pictures and we haven't even been able to spot him or her."
"I'll keep trying to find out who it is but I don't think they're dangerous. Probably just some photographer out to make a quick buck off the latest gossip. They'll find something else more interesting and move on eventually."
Draco went with Hermione and Rose to visit Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for dinner on Saturday. Hermione had told him she was fine going alone if he was uncomfortable going but he didn't want her going alone just in case Weaselbee was there. He was tempted to come dressed in a full three-piece suit just to see Harry and Ginny's reactions. He chose instead to wear his navy jacket, a gray tee, and dark blue jeans.
They apparated to just outside the wards of the Burrow and walked up the path to the front door. The door opened at Hermione's knock and Ginny let them in. "Damn, I hoped he would show up in a suit."
"Nice to see you again, Ginny," Draco said dryly.
They walked inside and Draco took Hermione and Rose's jackets and hung them on the hook by the door. Draco walked over and greeted Arthur and Molly. He expected them to be cold to him, especially for his part in the war and the loss of their son during the final battle, but they greeted him warmly.
"You'll want to take your jacket off too, Draco. It gets warm in here with everyone gathered around," Harry said, loudly.
Draco glared at Harry's lack of sensitivity, "I'm fine with it on," he ground out.
"Draco, it's not as if we don't know it's there. Hermione doesn't hide hers," Ginny said.
"Hermione wasn't branded a Death Eater. I just prefer not to inflict the sight on that mark on people, especially those who lost loved ones during the war," Draco retorted.
"We're not going to judge you, Draco. Take the jacket off and get comfortable," Arthur said.
Draco relented and took his jacket off and hung it on the hook alongside Hermione's. He was uncomfortable facing them with no way to hide his forearm. Hermione took his arm and draped it over her shoulders allowing him to hide the brand. "Thanks," he murmured into her ear.
"They're really not going to judge you. They may miss Fred but that doesn't mean they blame you for being on the wrong side of the war," Hermione reassured him.
Rose and Albus rushed by, chasing after one another. They crashed into Draco, sending him into Hermione. "Slow down, guys. You're going to hurt someone," he chided.
"But he has Norbert," Rose complained.
"You can share your dragon with your cousin," Hermione said.
"Her dragon's name is Norbert?" Harry asked, laughing.
"What's so funny about that?" Draco asked. Hermione and Harry started laughing louder now, barely able to control themselves. Tears were running down Hermione's face because she was laughing so hard. The elder Weasleys, Ginny, and the children were looking at the two curiously.
"Will one of you control yourselves enough to clue us in on what's so funny?" Arthur asked.
"Hagrid's….dragon….First year," Harry wheezed before bursting into laughter again.
Draco remembered spying on the Golden Trio at Hagrid's hut and finding a newly hatched dragon on his kitchen table. He had tried getting them expelled and Hagrid sacked by telling Professor McGonagall that they were sneaking the dragon away, but he couldn't find them and ended up doing detention instead.
"Astronomy Tower," Draco said. Harry and Hermione started laughing louder. "I knew it. I knew you were there. I had to do detention because of you."
"You tried getting us expelled and Hagrid sacked! I think detention is a small price to pay for all the trouble you caused," Hermione said.
"Why don't we sit down while you tell us the whole story?" Arthur suggested. They all seated themselves in the sofas and chairs around the room. Draco sat beside Hermione on a sagging sofa that he thought at one time might have been red but was now faded to a pinkish hue. Rose climbed up and sat on his lap, playing with the dragon Albus had given back to her.
Harry and Hermione related the story of Norbert the dragon to the group. Draco chimed in during his part. They all had a good laugh about their antics with a scolding from Molly about sneaking out of the castle at night.
"So, you named the dragon I gave her Norbert," Draco said.
"It was all in good fun. I thought it would make a great story." Hermione said.
"Devious witch," he said with a grin.
They sat around the kitchen table eating dinner. The table had been shrunk to seat the eight of them comfortably. Rose sat between Draco and Hermione. Harry, Albus, and Ginny were seated across the table from them with Molly and Arthur seated at the head and foot of the table. Hermione and Draco filled Rose's plate for her.
Rose cleaned her plate. Harry laughed when Rose used Draco's shirt as a napkin and wiped her greasy hands down the front of his shirt. "Rose, Draco is not your napkin," Hermione admonished.
"My hands were greasy and I dropped my napkin on the floor," Rose reasoned sweetly.
"Just say something next time, princess. Let's go wash the rest of the grease off your hands." Draco picked Rose up and took her off to the bathroom to clean her up and Scourgify his shirt. Draco came back into the kitchen carrying Rose.
Hermione came up to him as he entered the room. "Draco, would you mind doing me a favor?" she asked.
"Of course," he answered readily
"Would you take Rose and Albus into the other room so we can talk about Ron?"
"Sure thing," Draco said. He walked over to where Albus was still sitting between Harry and Ginny. Draco leaned down to pick up Albus too. "Up you go, buddy. Let's see if we can find a story to read."
"On the shelf in the living room, Draco," Mrs. Weasley called after him. Draco got down the Weasley's copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and settled them on either side of him on the couch. He opened the book to "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" and began to read.
"High on a hill in an enchanted garden…." The children settled against him to listen to the story of the three witches and the Muggle knight and their trials to reach the fountain. These stories had never been read to him as a child. His father didn't like the Muggle elements of the book and refused to allow his mother to read it to him. When he arrived at Hogwarts his first year, he snuck into the library and read the book cover to cover. He read it many times over the years as a child growing up and to Scorpius then Rose.
Hermione and Ginny walked into the room as he was finishing reading "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot."
"I always preferred "The Tale of the Three Brothers"," Hermione said to him.
He looked up at her, "A bit dark don't you think, especially for children."
"Well, yes but that story is one of the reasons we were able to defeat old Voldy and Hermione figured it out before anyone else," Harry said. Harry picked up a sleeping Albus. Ginny followed behind him carrying their jackets. Draco picked up Rose, who had also fallen asleep, and followed Hermione out the door. He took his jacket from Hermione and draped it over Rose to protect her from the cold night air. Molly and Arthur walked with them down the path outside the wards. They all said goodnight as they disapparated from the Burrow.
"What did you talk to the Weasleys about while I was distracting the children?" Draco asked after they tucked Rose into her bed.
Hermione looked up at him as they walked across the landing to their rooms, "Visiting with Rose mostly. I invited them over for a picnic next weekend."
"How are they taking the separation? Are they going to give you a hard time over wanting a divorce?" Draco asked.
Hermione leaned against the doorjamb to her room, "They're hurt, like everyone else, but Molly accepts that I shouldn't have to accept that sort of behavior from anyone. I didn't tell them everything though. Ginny was glaring at me to tell them but I just couldn't do it. We were having such a good evening with them and I didn't want to ruin it."
Pictures of them standing outside the Burrow appeared in the paper the next day. Draco's platinum blonde hair stood out amidst all the red and brown. Rose's head peaked out over Draco's jacket. Hermione stood at his side hugging Molly while Draco shook Arthur's hand.
"How do they manage to take a bloody picture without us seeing a flash? It was dark outside." Draco asked. He handed the paper to Hermione.
"Whoever they are, they're good. They've taken plenty of pictures without us knowing anyone is there. Who knew were going to the Burrow for dinner?" Hermione asked.
"No one that would say anything," Draco answered.
"We're being followed then," Hermione concluded.