A/N: First, thank you so much for all the reviews so far, and thanks to all who are reading along. Second, an update on the timeline of the story. Right now, Ginny and Harry's timeline is different from Hermione and Draco's:
Michael rapes Ginny two weeks after she returns from St. Mungo's. Harry comes to see Ginny the next day, and she calls and goes over to his house that night (which was the last chapter). So, in their timeline, only about TWO WEEKS have passed since Ginny left St. Mungo's.
Hermione and Draco have their coffee date about three weeks after Ginny leaves St. Mungo's. Draco makes the bet with Blaise that same day. A few days later, Hermione consults on McGonagall's case, and Hermione and Draco share a kiss. This chapter takes place a week after the consultation/kiss. So, in their timeline, about FOUR WEEKS have passed since Ginny left St. Mungo's.
In the next chapter, Harry will visit St. Mungo's for Sirius at Hermione's request. When Harry visits, he and Ginny have been carrying on their affair for about three weeks (FIVE WEEKS have passed since Ginny left.). After that, all the timelines will match up.
Hope this helps!
Chapter 9: Days 8-11—One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
Why had he done that? Why had he kissed Granger? What the hell was he thinking?
Well, you were thinking that you want to win this bet. It's been a week of nothing. Do you really want to be out two hundred dollars?
Draco shook his head in order to get the voice in his head to shut up. He'd heard enough from that stupid voice. But if it wasn't that voice clouding his thoughts, it was the memory of his lips against Granger's that kept his mind completely occupied. He liked Granger. That was the bottom line, and he couldn't deny it to himself anymore. He was so scared of this surgery, and she had provided him with so much comfort. She really would never know what that comfort meant to him.
When he thought of this surgery he would be performing tomorrow morning that would decide the fate of an entire family, he was afraid. He wasn't sure why. He usually never got afraid before surgery. He was usually outrageously confident with himself and his abilities. If she hadn't told the story about those damn kids, Draco wouldn't feel this way. This woman deserved more time, and he wanted to give it to her. He had been preparing for weeks for this surgery, and tomorrow would be the day. And the only thing that gave him comfort was the thought of Granger's comforting words… and the thought of her lips against his.
He had to either get her out of his mind or into his bed, and since there was a bet riding on it (not to mention the fact that he desperately wanted it no matter how many times he told himself that Granger was just another woman), it would have to be the latter.
Malfoy had been desperately avoiding Hermione since he had kissed her a week ago. She had been so busy with her caseload and caring for her patients that she hadn't had much time to think about it, but any time her mind had a moment to wander, she was brought back to that moment. He had been so vulnerable after hearing Minerva and Rolanda's story. When he had taken her face in his hands, her heart had nearly leapt into her throat, and that moment—that look he gave her right before their lips met—Hermione couldn't get it out of her head. She wanted to kiss him again even though she knew she shouldn't. She knew his reputation, she knew he was an arrogant, entitled ass, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. What would it be like? She was dying to see. And just when her thoughts started to run away from her, a voice interrupted her.
"Hermione?"
Hermione turned around at the sound of her name being spoken softly. Her mouth nearly gaped when she realized that it had been spoken so softly by Malfoy.
"What's up?" Hermione was currently sitting at a table in the cafeteria getting a quick—and very late—dinner. She tried to retain her calm. Malfoy sat in the chair across from her, rather than the chair that was open right next to her. Hermione frowned slightly.
"McGonagall… You know, the woman with the uterine cancer…"
"Yeah?" Hermione knew what he was going to say. Her surgery had been today. Hermione could see what he was going to say in his eyes.
"She didn't make it."
Hermione felt as if a hand had clenched her heart. She had known what Malfoy was going to say, and she had known what her chances were, but it was still hard to hear. She had thought McGonagall would be one of the lucky ones. Malfoy was still wearing his scrub cap and his surgical gown. He must have just gotten out of the surgery. And she was the first person he had come to. Her heart fluttered in spite of everything.
"Her wife is sitting in the operating room with her. She won't leave. Could you… Could you talk to her?"
Hermione looked up at Malfoy and thought that in the weeks she had known him, he had never looked more vulnerable than he did right now. Even in that moment outside Minerva's room last week, he hadn't looked the way he looked now. He looked like a scared little boy who desperately needed her comfort. With a bit of hesitation, Hermione moved to the chair next to him and put a hand on his leg. She squeezed, and he looked at her strangely, but he didn't move away.
"We did everything we could," Malfoy said quietly.
"Of course you did. They understood the risks, and they came to terms with what might happen," Hermione said consolingly.
"I know, but—"
"Malfoy," Hermione said firmly. "You did everything you could." And with a small smile and a pat on his leg, Hermione stood up and walked away so she could go talk to Rolanda. She had to get away from him before she said or did something stupid.
"Granger."
When Hermione turned around to answer him, she instead let out a surprised "Oh!" when she felt arms wrap around her in a tight hug.
"Thanks, Granger," Malfoy said into her hair as his arms held her around the waist tightly. Hermione didn't really know what to do. She knew he was just feeling upset because of the surgery and that's why he was reacting like this, but she still felt confused and unsure. She felt like he regretted the kiss since he had clearly been resolutely avoiding her for a week, so why would he hug her like this? Hermione put her arms around his shoulders and patted his back hesitantly as he held onto her. Then, without letting her thoughts from the past week get the best of her, Hermione leaned in and smelled Malfoy. His skin smelled like soap and musk, and his hair smelled like cheap coconut shampoo, and Hermione was certain that his smell was the sweetest thing she had ever smelled in her life. Just as she was starting to get used to the feeling of his strong arms around her, he pulled away. "Thanks again," he said quickly before he turned and walked away.
Hermione couldn't help but humph in frustration as she watched him retreat. She wanted him to hold her like that again. And dammit, she wanted him to kiss her again. He was exactly the opposite of the guys that Hermione was usually interested in, and they had gotten off to a rocky start, and after that kiss, things were weird, but for some reason, Hermione was determined to get closer.
"Ms. Hooch?" Hermione said as she approached the gray-haired woman in the empty operating room. She did not look up at Hermione. Instead she sat on a stool with her hands desperately clutching her wife and her head bowed on the operating table next to her wife's lifeless body.
"I didn't want to do this surgery." Rolanda's voice was muffled.
"I know," Hermione said closely as she came up behind Rolanda.
"I could never say 'no' to her," Rolanda said with a short, humorless laugh. "I just… I love—" her voice broke. "I loved her too much," Rolanda said through a choked sob.
"Rolanda…" Hermione said softly.
"I c-can't do this," Rolanda said through her sobs. "I ca… I can't l-live without her." Hermione stepped forward and put a hand on Rolanda's shoulder and for a while, the older woman simply cried on her dead wife's body while Hermione stood still, trying to be a comfort when she knew she couldn't be.
Eventually, Rolanda sat up and wiped her tears away. She still didn't turn to Hermione. "We met in the 60s," she said as she brushed a hand across Minerva's face. "San Francisco in the 60s and 70s was its own world. I grew up in a small town in Arizona, and I moved to San Francisco for college. Where I grew up, it was unheard of for two people of the same sex to be together. There was no such thing as 'gay rights.' It… I didn't even know what it meant to be gay. All I knew was that I wasn't interested in any men that tried to date me." Rolanda paused as she continued to lightly stroke Minerva's still face. "When I was fifteen I kissed my best friend when we were having a sleepover one night. She never spoke to me again… Then I moved to San Francisco and it… was perfect. Minerva was a hippie." Rolanda smiled. "The biggest hippie you've ever met… and when I met her, my life changed. I haven't been the same s-since that day." Rolanda began to cry again, and Hermione stood silently behind her, waiting. After several moments, Rolanda finally turned to face Hermione, and Hermione could almost feel her heart break at the sight of her. She was certain she had never seen anyone look so anguished in her life. "What do I do?" Rolanda said as tears streamed down her face. "What d…"
Hermione bent down and wrapped her arms around Rolanda. Rolanda immediately pulled Hermione close and sobbed into her shoulder. Each agonized wail ripped Hermione's heart apart. When the crying began to subside a bit, Hermione gently pulled Rolanda up and pulled away so she could look at the woman.
"I saw Hector and Harlow outside," Hermione said as she brought her hands up to Rolanda's arms. "They're waiting for you, Rolanda…" Hermione inhaled deeply. "They need you," Hermione said as she exhaled.
Rolanda turned back to Minerva and put a hand on the top of her head, stroking her wife's hair. "What do I say?"
"There's nothing you can say," Hermione said quietly and bluntly. "You've lost your wife, they've lost a mother. But they still have you, and you… you still have them. All any of you can do is be there."
Rolanda turned back to Hermione and for a long moment, they looked at each other, and Hermione tried to give Rolanda comfort with her presence.
"I'm scared," Rolanda whispered.
"So are they," Hermione said.
Rolanda turned around and bent down close to Minerva's face. "I love you," she breathed as she began to cry again. "You were the spiritual one, not me… but no matter where you are, I know we'll be together again. I was born to be with you, and not even d… not even death can k-keep from you." Hermione felt tears sting her eyes as she watched Rolanda lay a kiss on Minerva's forehead. "I love you, Minny Mouse," Rolanda whispered against her forehead. And with one final kiss, Rolanda turned back around to Hermione, and Hermione took her hand as they left the operating room together.
When they exited the room, she saw Malfoy standing outside with his arms crossed and his jaw clenched tight. She nodded to him as she walked past with Rolanda. He smiled.
A few days later, Hermione was walking through the psychiatric unit after doing some evening rounds when she spotted a tall red-headed man standing at the currently abandoned nurse's station.
"Can I help you, sir?"
When he turned around, a nervous look spread across his face, and Hermione recognized him instantly. He was the brother of a patient she had had about a month ago.
"Dr. Granger—"
"Hermione," she corrected him. "Is Ginny all right?" she then asked quickly.
Ron Weasley shrugged and looked at the floor. "She won't really answer my calls, and when she does, she hurries me off the phone." When he looked up at her, she noticed how sad his blue eyes looked. He sighed. "But I talk to Harry a lot, and he told me she's doing okay."
A light bulb lit up in Hermione's head. "Harry Potter?"
Ron smiled weakly. "Yeah. He came to the hospital to visit Ginny. You remember him?"
Hermione smiled and nodded. Ron had finally helped her remember where she had heard the name before. He was the man she thought Ginny Weasley had been in love with. And he was the officer who had allegedly had an attempt on his life when he was a baby, only to free the man accused several decades later. Sirius Black, a man who was currently her patient in a room just around the corner. What a small world it was.
"What brings you back here?" Hermione said after a moment of silence. A look of concern flashed across her features. Ron smiled.
"You, actually."
"Me?"
"Yeah… well… I know it's been a while, but I… I wanted to thank you. For Ginny."
Hermione smiled. "Of course. But I was just doing my job," she said.
"Well, you're very good at it," Ron said.
"Thank you," Hermione said with a smile and a nod. There were a few moments of silence, and Hermione began to feel a bit of awkwardness in the air. "Well—"
"Um," Ron said at the same time Hermione began to speak. "I was just… wondering… Would you… Would you like to go out with me sometime… maybe?"
"Oh… Ron…"
"I mean, I know we don't really know each other," Ron said quickly. "But you… you seem great. And… you're beautiful and—"
"I think it might be a conflict of interest," Hermione said gently. Ron was right. They didn't know each other at all. And she had just moved to L.A. not long ago, and she didn't really have the time to start up a relationship during this transition period. She'd left Boston partly to escape relationship drama, and with her hours at the hospital, she barely even had time to do anything except eat and sleep when she got home. He seemed nice, and normally he would be exactly the kind of guy she would date. He was handsome enough, and he was kind, and he had a nice smile. But… Suddenly, a blonde head and a pair of grey eyes flashed in her head as the smell of coconut shampoo flooded her senses.
"Right," Ron said, interrupting her thoughts. He shook his head. "You're Gin's doctor… I don't… I was being stupid." Ron chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "So dumb… I've been trying to work up the nerve to come back here for a month, and I didn't even think this through." He turned away.
"Ron…"
"Look," he turned back to her quickly. "No. I know it's stupid, but…" he smiled and Hermione couldn't help but smile in return. He really was very sweet. He grabbed a pen and a post-it note from the nurse's station. "I can't just leave here without at least trying a little harder," he said as he wrote. Then he handed her the post-it and she took it with a grin. He smiled back. "That's my number. Just… I don't know. Maybe. If you change your mind… Call me, okay?"
Hermione bit her bottom lip. "Ron…"
"Just don't say no," he said through his grin. "I'm not so bad. I've got a job. I work down at the LAPD with Harry. Forensics. I don't have a criminal record, I'm terrible at bowling, and I make a mean lasagna. It's really the only thing I can make."
Hermione laughed.
"Think about it," Ron said. Hermione smiled and nodded. Ron sighed happily and waved as he walked backwards. He bumped into a frazzled nurse, and she shot him a dirty look. Ron apologized as Hermione laughed and covered her mouth. He mouthed 'bye' to Hermione and she waved right before he turned to go.
"Isn't he cute?" a deep voice said in her ear.
Hermione jumped a turned around to see Malfoy standing close, leaning against the counter with an eyebrow raised.
"Malfoy," Hermione said with a frown. "Were you spying?"
"Can't really call it spying when you were clearly in public for all to hear," he said with a smirk.
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to go, but Malfoy moved to walk in step with her.
"Are you going to call him?" Malfoy asked. Hermione looked at him, but he was looking straight ahead. She could tell that he was trying to act casual. Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"Do you care?" Hermione asked.
Malfoy shrugged. "Don't see why I should," he said.
Hermione gritted her teeth and huffed in frustration before she sped up to walk ahead of him.
"Hey," Malfoy said with a laugh as he jogged a few steps to catch up with her. He put his hand on her shoulder and she whipped around angrily.
"You know, you have some nerve Malfoy," she said loudly. A few people who were walking by looked over at him. And with an angry grunt, she grabbed Malfoy's arm and dragged him into a nearby empty patient room. He crossed his arms as soon as they got inside and looked at her with an amused smirk.
"Geez, Granger—"
"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione said as she took a step closer to him with her hands on her hips. "You… you can't…"
"Use your words, Granger," Malfoy said, his smirk only widening.
Hermione growled in frustration. "Ugh! You can't ask me out for coffee. You can't come to me all vulnerable. You can't… you can't kiss me. And you can't act like it never happened and ask if you should care that another guy asks me out. You can't—"
Hermione was cut off when Draco grabbed her face between his hands and brought her mouth to his. Her hands went up in shock at first, but she responded not a moment later by wrapping her arms around Malfoy's waist and pressing up to him. His lips were so soft and they seemed to know exactly what Hermione's lips wanted. She knew she shouldn't. She knew she should pull away, but as soon as she got a whiff of his coconut shampoo, Hermione let her tongue slip out. It played across Malfoy's lips for a moment before he growled and opened his mouth and their tongues met for the first time. He tasted so sweet. And for a few moments she let the feeling of his tongue intertwined with hers sweep her away. She felt dizzy and her stomach was rippling and her fingers were tingling as she slid her hands up his sides and let her fingers clutch at his hair. He moved his big hands down to her hips and held her so close that she knew if he stepped back she would fall against him.
His mouth separated from hers for a heartbeat so he could catch his breath, but Hermione shook her head and breathed "no" right before she brought her mouth back to his. She wasn't ready for this to end yet. He smiled against her mouth, and she gasped in surprise when he picked her up, turned them around, and set her on the empty bed behind her. Hermione smiled right before their mouths met again, and she let her hands find his hair again as he wrapped her legs around him and leaned into her so she was at an angle with the bed. One of her hands slipped from his hair so she could use her elbow to prop herself up.
"Hermione," Malfoy growled as he moved his mouth away from hers and found her neck. Hermione arched and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly so she could use him for support. They were both breathing heavily, and when he found a sensitive spot on her neck, she moaned softly. He grunted and began to make small thrusting motions with his hips, and Hermione could feel that he was getting hard under his clothing.
"Draco," she breathed in between heavy breaths. He grunted in response and assaulted her neck further. His hands untucked her shirt from her skirt so they could slip under her shirt, and when she felt them on her stomach as they began to trail toward her breasts, Hermione said his name again, but this time she put two hands on his chest and pushed him away gently.
Malfoy dropped his head as she leaned away from him, and he tried to catch his breath. She watched him as his chest heaved, and she had the sudden urge to see what that chest would look like with nothing covering it. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again, he was looking at her. The intensity in his gray eyes almost alarmed her. Her eyes flitted down to his lips. She bit her bottom lip and shifted her hips a bit. She noticed that his eyes watched her every move.
"We should…" she breathed.
"Yeah…" he said right before he brought his mouth to hers again. She put her hands around his neck and leaned back against the bed to bring him down with her. His hands slipped under her shirt again, and this time one hand slid up quickly to her breast. Before she knew what was happening, Malfoy pulled the cup of her bra down and massaged an erect nipple in between his fingers. Hermione broke away from the kiss as she tilted her head back and bit her lip in an attempt to stifle her moan. Malfoy began pressing open-mouthed kisses against her neck, and he continued to massage her nipple as he found one spot on her neck and began suck. Hermione was breathing so heavily that she was sure someone outside would hear, but her brain was too clouded to stop what was happening.
After a few moments, Hermione felt Malfoy's other hand trailing up her thigh and underneath her skirt, and with that, Hermione sat up as much as she could and pushed him away.
"We can't do this," she said, looking into his fierce, grey eyes with her hands on his chest. He tried to lean in to kiss her again, but she stopped him. "I'm serious," she said. "We can't do this. Not now. And not here."
Malfoy's head dropped in between them, and Hermione fell back against the hospital bed. Her shirt was still pushed up, leaving her stomach bare, as she brought an arm up to cover her eyes. Malfoy took a step back so that he was no longer between her legs.
"So…" he said after a moment.
Hermione let her arm drop away from her eyes so she could prop herself up on her elbows and look at him. He looked vulnerable again as he crossed his arms and looked at the floor, which only made Hermione want him again. She smiled at him.
"I think maybe you should ask me out," she said with a tilt of her head. He looked up at her and when he saw she was smiling, he grinned back.
"How's Friday?"
"Awful," Hermione said, still smiling. "I work all night."
"Me too," Malfoy said, still grinning as well. "Maybe we'll run into each other."
"Maybe," Hermione said. And with that, Malfoy turned and walked out of the room, leaving Hermione slightly dumbfounded.
As Draco walked away from the room with a satisfied smile on his face, he began to plan in his head what he could do to make both his and Hermione's Friday night better.
Next Chapter:
Hermione finds out a secret, and Harry comes to visit his godfather.
