Chapter 10.
Rain was pouring on the streets of London. The atmosphere, the air were once again filled with the lugubrious smell of rain on the dusty pavement. The sun was hiding somewhere behind the grey clouds and Hermione hoped she wouldn't see it for at least a few days. She was tired of it, and oh, how she loved the rain. It seemed that it was the perfect thing missing in order to complete her actual state: concentration, confusion, change, and all in a bittersweet way. This heavy falling rain was like the perfect closure that wrapped up all those feelings and packed them together in a well-organized pack. It was a peculiar sensation, really.
Hermione secretly enjoyed how her life was at that moment. She didn't know why, but finally, the balance between certainty and uncertainty had been reached to a perfect equilibrium. Her job was stable, as she was guaranteed a very good position for probably the rest of her life, a position from which she could easily crawl her way up through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, gain influence and finally manage to have a say in the important matters that happened in the magical world. She would, of course, help abolish for good the ridiculous Pure Blood Laws and the House-elf rights she felt were so deeply neglected. She was also certain they would find and capture Dolohov, so all this post war mess would come to an end. She was certain she made the perfect choice finishing things with Ron. She was uncertain their friendship would ever be the same, but if it had ever been real, they would get through things. Most of her uncertainties were, however, related to a certain blond haired, extremely handsome wizard.
When Harry walked in on them the other day, Hermione was certain she would evaporate on the spot of shame. She was moaning, her cheeks were flushed, her skirt raised, her hands were all through Draco's hair, whilst his were on her leg and under her shirt. She was sitting on the desk, with him between her legs, for Merlin's sake! And my, did it feel like the most natural thing in the world. Most natural, yet exciting thing in the world. They broke their kiss when Harry's presence became known, but Draco didn't fully turn around, as he probably didn't want his erection visible to whoever entered the room. When Harry's eyes lay upon them he stammered, frowned, stammered some more and then exited the room like a thunder. Draco moved from between Hermione legs, as she adjusted her skirt and shirt leaving the room without giving him another glance. She was quite sure she heard him smile before she closed the door, and she couldn't help but smile to herself as well. Her stomach still felt full, like a heavy rock dangled all its weight down her belly. Her breathing was ragged and she was pretty sure her panties were soaked.
She went back to the Ministry, alone, informed the Head of the Department that a curse breaker was needed at Epson's house and decided she had to confront Harry now rather than later. She was almost at his bureau when she realized a minor detail escaped her plan: What would she tell him? Why was she kissing the soul out of Draco Malfoy at an investigation site, merely a week after she and Ron had broken up? She had no good enough explanation for that, at least not for Harry. The funny thing was, she didn't feel like explaining herself at all, as of late. She had explained herself, given her whole self to others for almost all of her life. She had thought, sacrificed, closed her eyes, gone to hell and back for others and now she felt like she could do whatever she felt like. And God, now she felt like continuing this little seduction game she and Draco were playing. It made her feel alive, desired and oh, so incredibly sexy.
"Hi. Am I disturbing?" Hermione asked after entering Harry's office. He was raising his wand tip to his temple and releasing fine, silvery strands of memories from it, into a pensive.
"If I said yes, would you go away?" Harry responded.
"No." she shyly answered, almost inaudibly.
"Thought so. Fine, go ahead. I'm dying to hear what it is that you've got to say." He said, his eyes now on Hermione. She cleared her throat, took a seat across from him, and smiled.
"We haven't really discussed the Ron matter, have we? You have no idea what's been on my mind. And Harry, it's been for a lot longer than you can even guess. Trust me." She commanded. Harry's expression didn't change, so Hermione found it safe to continue.
"Harry, it was almost destined to fail, my relationship with Ron. The only reason we were together for this long is because we had huge pressure on our shoulders. Pressure to do things, to save the damn world, to remain together and hold everyone else together. Do you honestly thing this is a good enough reason to remain in a relationship?".
Harry threw a last drop of silvery memories into the Pensive and sighed. "We're not here to talk about Ron, are we?" he finally asked.
"No, you're right. But I want you to know that my soul hasn't been in it for a long time. And it's not like Ron was a saint, either. And it's not like I haven't tried to talk to him, tell him that we're not going in the right direction, but Ron is Ron and he chose to ignore everything constructive I had to say. And even though I remained with him from questionable reasons, I've never cheated on him, physically or emotionally. I am not guilty of anything, and I won't let you make me feel otherwise, I don't deserve it!" Hermione said, her anger levels rising. Harry sighed again, rose from his chair and circled the room once, his hands deep into his robe pockets.
"It still feels like betrayal, you know?" he finally said. "I mean, whatever was going on between you and Ron, did you have to go kissing another guy so soon? And Malfoy, nonetheless?"
"What is this? 6th year at Hogwarts? Really?"
"Hermione, it is one thing to accept and forgive him, have a reasonable work relationship with him and maybe chat with him at a few parties or in the corridors, but…"
"But WHAT? Flirting, kissing, isn't allowed? It's not like I'm marrying him, Harry. Get over yourself. Just because you're in a serious relationship with Ginny it doesn't mean everyone has to have the same. I'm just having fun, can't I do that. Haven't I earned that, after all this time?" Hermione screamed.
"Sure you can! But Malfoy will hurt you!"
"So what, now I'm a little girl that men have to treat with care so they don't hurt her? Just because Ron was a jerk to me an infinite number of times while he was my friend and then my boyfriend, doesn't mean Draco will! For all I know, he and I have been friends for over a year and he hasn't hurt me in any possible way, on the contrary! How's that for assessment?" Hermione screamed, throwing her arms everywhere, her wild hair flying all around her face.
Harry didn't respond. He simply stared back.
"Fine, 'Mione. But I won't be the one to tell Ron. And I won't be the one who'll comfort you when all this goes downhill, either. " Hermione pouted her mouth, pierced him with her "burn in hell" look and stormed out the door.
When she reached her office door she straightened her hair, took a deep breath, and entered. The room was in semi obscurity, as the fake windows were partially covered in heavy, matte, blue curtains. Draco was writing what looked like a very long letter. His handwriting was elaborate and beautiful, but not in the most obvious way. This was another thing she really liked in him: all men she knew had sloppy handwriting. Draco didn't. He didn't raise his head when he heard her entering, but kept writing, his brows slightly furrowed, biting his lower lip. Hermione could already feel her knees weaken. This wasn't fair. Nobody should have this effect on anyone, through only their sheer presence.
She took her place at her desk and started organising her files and notes. She still had some Ancient Runes to translate before heading home, and she was determined to finish earlier. She cleared her throat and started browsing her International Magical Ancient Runes for Advanced Translators. A few minutes later she heard a seat being dragged from the desk but chose not to look up, even if her concentration was more than compromised. This felt like a children's game, so she would play along. By not saying anything.
She heard the door open and close, a sign that Draco had exited the room. She exhaled deeply, releasing some tension. What had just happened? She felt safe to throw a look in his desk's direction: the letter was also gone. He probably went to send it. Hermione resumed her precious job, and in a few minutes she snapped into her concentration mode: eyes narrowed and chewing her lips or, like in this case, her writing feather.
It was in this state that Draco found her, entering the office. Hermione looked up involuntarily when she heard the door and found him dumbstruck, standing in the doorway. She then smiled involuntarily when she met his gaze. Draco frowned and then simply said : "Stop chewing on all the Ministry's feathers, Granger. You're blowing a hole in their office supplies deposit."
And that was pretty much it. After that, they didn't exchange another word for a couple of hours before he left with a simple "Have a nice day, Granger."
The strangest thing was that she didn't feel a hole in her chest like she expected to. This thing between she and Draco, it was a game. And it didn't bother her one bit.
Hi guys! I'm sorry for this horrible delay, but my summer's been kind of busy in the last month. I still have two more weeks of vacation and I plan on finishing this fanfic before things start to get serious in university. This is a shorter chapter that I mainly posted because I wanted you to know I'm still alive and writing, but the next ones will be longer and with more real content, I promise. Love you!