Granger insisted on having lunch with me today. She took me out to a little Muggle café down the street and we got sandwiches and coffee. We sat in silence for a while, and then she suddenly started talking about you.
"Harry's like a brother to me," she said. "He's my best friend, and all I want is for him to be happy, and well-" She stopped talking as abruptly as she started. She appeared to be thinking.
I didn't say anything, and she continued.
"Alive," she said. "I want him to come out of this all right. And… um…" Eloquent, isn't she? "Um… I'm not exactly sure what has been going on between you two, but if being with you is what makes Harry happy, then that's what I want." She took a long sip of her coffee. "For you two to be together, I mean."
She looked like she had finished, and I guessed I was supposed to say something intelligent then. I came up with at least three good insults regarding Mudbloods and Weasels, two sarcastic responses to what she said, and a babble of incoherent mush amounting to, i is Harry, the guy I love, going to be all right? /i
I opted for the incoherent mush. "Harry - is he - what's going on - alive - theywon'tletmeseehim - so…I don't know…"
You would have been proud of me.
"Pardon?" Granger said.
"I mean, have you heard anything about Harry's condition?" I asked her more coherently.
"No one knows much. I'm sorry. It's kind of up in the air right now," she said. She did look sorry.
"They won't let me see him," I said. She already knew that of course, and nodded. "Look Granger," I started again, but she cut me off.
"Call me Hermione," she said. I scowled. I'm good at that. She looked put off, so I nodded. "Can I call you Draco?" she asked, and I nodded again. I supposed it couldn't hurt.
"Hermione." The word was foreign on my tongue, especially in relation to the frizzy-haired girl in front of me. "I want to see Harry."
"I'm sorry, Draco, I don't think I can help. It's hard enough just getting the people close to him in-"
"I am bloody close to him! I've fucked him!" I said this a little too loud. People around us turned to stare.
We waited for them to turn away again, then Granger- Hermione- said in a reasonable voice, "I know, but what the St. Mungo's mediwizards see is that Dark Mark on your arm. When I say 'close to Harry,' I mean the people he has adopted as his family. The Weasleys, me, Remus. McGonagall gets through too, everyone knows her, and Tonks, as she's an Auror. She gets through on 'Ministry business.'"
I had to laugh at that. Not a happy laugh, exactly, more like a knowing laugh. "Yes, that sounds like my cousin."
"Tonks is your cousin?" Granger- Hermione asked me.
"Yes. Most of the purebloods are related. It's getting harder and harder to keep it pure, actually. I'm even distantly related to your boyfriend." I'll admit, this was said with a bit of a sneer.
Okay, more than a bit.
"Oh." Grang - Hermione sipped her coffee. It's not often that she has nothing to say, is it? So, is it bad that there are so many long silences between us? Maybe she's just thinking. I can just see the little (and I do mean little) wheels in her head turning sometimes.
"So I can't see him?" I confirmed.
"I'm sorry, Draco," Hermione lamented.
Hearing Grang - Hermione say my first name was strange. Only Slytherins and you call me Draco. No one else at Hogwarts gets that close to me, not even some of the people I've fucked.
That doesn't include you of course. You're different. You're so much more than a good fuck to me.
Another awkward silence ensued.
"When is your trial?" Hermione asked.
"In a month. Merlin." I placed my head in my hands. "The only two people who knew what was going on with me were Harry and Dumbledore. Dumbledore's dead, and Harry is…" I couldn't finish. As the days go by, it gets harder and harder to talk about you like this.
Hermione understood. She reached over the table and took my hand in a surprising gesture of friendship. Why is it that I keep getting shocked by bloody Gryffindors?
"Draco, I want you to tell me what happened between you and Harry. The whole story."
So I did. Well, not the whole story, but the important bits. And not the parts that hurt. Mostly, I told her about you, but as she's your best friend, she already must know you're wonderful. I neglected to mention how you reacted to the Dark Mark on my arm, and skipped over the bits when we were arguing. So really, I guess I didn't tell her much, but it was enough for her to understand that we had been through a lot together, and that we loved each other.
And I didn't call her Mudblood, or Ron, Weasel, or go out of my way to insult any of your friends the whole time.
You would have been proud, Harry.
Look, I'm even starting to get along with your friends.
You can wake up now.