It Had To Be You
By Kate Dessi
Chapter 11
Hermione woke up to a ticklish sensation in the back of her neck. She reached around and tried to get rid of it. But it was back a second later. Suddenly, she was aware of a male arm thrown across her torso. Before she could scream, she suddenly remembered that she had asked Draco to stay the night.
Then the events of the previous night came over her. Her argument with Ron had been witnessed by Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass and Juliet Morrasut. She was more mortified than indignant over Ron's actions. She gave Ron a month at most before he would show up on her doorstep to apologize. It had always been like that before they got together, when they were together and after they broke up.
She clutched the arm that was wrapped around her in a protective way. She noticed that Draco deliberately baited Ron and she was supposed to feel angry about that but she wasn't and she wasn't exactly sure why.
Draco shifted but remained asleep.
A strange noise filled her ears and she couldn't help snigger quietly but then the sound consisted, sometimes loud and sometimes soft. She started cackling loudly.
The sound abruptly stopped and he groaned. "Bloody hell, Granger, go back to sleep."
She rolled away from him, shouting with laughter. "Malfoy! I can't believe it! You snore!"
Draco sputtered and he was now wide awake. "I do not snore, Granger," he growled as he sat up to glare at her. When she continued to laugh in his face, he tackled her. "Stop laughing this instant!"
"Draco Malfoy snores!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and she burst into another round of giggles. He yelled back something incoherent and he removed himself off of her and slammed out of the bedroom.
When she was finished laughing, she followed him to the living room where he was collapsed on the couch with a pillow over his face. She removed it gingerly and peered down at him.
"Not a morning person, huh?" She grinned.
"No," he replied vehemently.
She squealed in surprise as he grabbed her around the waist so she was on top of him. She made half-hearted attempts to escape but she was still weak from her bouts of laughter earlier and she was still a little disoriented from having just woken up.
"It's only six in the morning, Granger. It's too early to cause such ruckus. And also, I don't trust anyone who laughs before nine in the morning."
"Oh no, Malfoy. I'm usually cranky in the morning too but—but when I heard you—"
"Yeah, yeah. I bloody snore. So what? You talk in your sleep."
"I do not!" She cried indignantly.
"Yes, you do!" He smirked triumphantly. "Four in the morning and muttering 'no, no, you incompetent fool, you do not use episkey for deep gashes.' My, oh my."
Hermione blushed and she slapped his chest. "Whatever, Malfoy. Let me up."
"No." He tightened his arms around her. "Kiss me and maybe I'll let you up. You interrupted my beauty sleep and you made fun of me."
"No, let me up and I'll leave you alone so you can lick your wounds."
"I'd rather you lick it." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Pervert."
"Excuse me? I do recall that you were the one who suggested it."
She rolled her eyes and struggled against his body, wriggling nonstop.
He gritted his teeth. "Hermione, stop or I won't stop with just a kiss."
She stopped moving. "Sorry," she muttered, blushing faintly.
"It's alright. Your making fun of me seemed to have killed my libido."
"You're going to be the death of me, Granger." He groaned before her lips came to rest upon his.
Hermione pulled away after a few moments, a sober thought running through her head. She was frowning as she laid her head down upon his chest. "You know, sometimes, I'm scared to find that this is all a farce."
"What is?"
"Us. You and me. We've never actually parted in good terms several years ago, but several years later, we see each other and we were suddenly like old friends. And then we're here…"
"It's because you're a bloody good person," he responded gruffly. "I'm still a Death Eater to the eyes of other people but you gave me the benefit of the doubt. "
She smiled softly against his chest. "We are thirty years old, Draco. To bring up the past, call each other names and whatnot would be rather an immature thing to do."
"But there's too much history…"
"Oh, shut up, will you? We were just kids. And the past is dead as far as I'm concerned."
There was a pause. "The past is never dead," he whispered.
She sat up gingerly to look into his eyes. She was stunned to see them look a bit haunted. She knew what she went through and had been able to get past it. She wasn't sure what to say at this point because she didn't know what he went through and she didn't want to push. At least, not yet. "Let's make a deal."
He blinked. "A deal?"
"Yes, a deal. We focus on what's now and what's to come not where we came from."
He was silent still for a long moment, his intense gaze piercing hers. It felt like an eternity when he finally smiled at her. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"It's a deal. No past. Just now."
Hermione felt a burst of happiness inside her. She kissed him, intensely, deeply, her tongue meeting out to meet his. Her kiss was so passionate that Draco pushed her away in surprise. "Hermione, if I had known you were going to react like this—"
She cut him off with another kiss. This time he was prepared and he gave as good as he got.
There was just something about Draco that she was unable to resist. Maybe it was the vulnerability she had witnessed. Maybe it was the smile he bestowed upon her. Maybe it was the fact that they were the last two people who would ever get together in this kind of way and that thrilled her. Maybe the few barriers he had put up against the world were slowly crumbling because of her.
Or maybe she was starting to feel more than friendship and physical attraction for him, and she was finally acknowledging it.
She moaned when his tongue massaged hers masterfully. "D-Draco, we can't do this now. It's almost seven in the morning and we have to work."
He groaned in annoyance and his head fell back against the pillow. She removed herself away from him and he muttered a curse at the loss. She was right. They were expected to work both at eight in the morning. She disappeared inside a door adjacent to the bed, which was the bathroom.
It took a lot of effort but he finally got out of her bed. He waved a hand over the messy bed to fix it. An odd noise was coming from the bathroom, louder than the sound of the water. She was singing and quite terribly at that. Rolling his eyes, he walked outside her bedroom to make coffee.
Draco was the worst housekeeper in the history of worse housekeepers ever. The only decent thing he could manage was coffee. He had two house elves to serve him. One makes food and the other cleans for him, which Hermione still scolded him over, always sprouting her S.P.E.W. speech but no matter what she did or said, he would not pay them or give them time offs. At least, he didn't beat them.
When the kettle finally whistled, Hermione was already dressed in healer robes and she appeared in her flat's tiny kitchen.
Wordlessly, she walked up to the cupboards and grabbed two coffee mugs. Draco poured the brewed coffee for the two of them.
Hermione was smiling secretly to herself as he sat on a stool drinking coffee. They were acting so much like a couple who had been together for years instead of three days.
"Breakfast?"
He looked weary. "Just make sure they're edible."
She laughed and grabbed eggs, cheese and milk from her refrigerator. He knew that she was a terrible cook, but she was quite certain that she can fix a decent plate of omelet.
Hermione was on a roll today. She had not snarled at a single trainee healer today. She was smiling when she flooed to St. Mungo's. She greeted whoever she passed by a cheerful "good morning" earning wide-eyed stares.
At the emergency room, she was usually intense and all-business, but today she was calm and simply fixed whatever needed to fixed, treated the patients with the utmost care and even bid them soft goodbyes, telling them to take care next time as they left.
On the way to the intensive care unit on the fifth floor, she literally bumped into Healer Ansley's healer-in-training, Edward Sturgis, causing her to stumble against a wall.
"Oh sweet mother of Merlin! I'm s-so s-sorry, H-healer Granger. I did not see you coming. I swear. I'm sorry," Sturgis stammered, a few drops of sweat beading at his brow as Hermione straightened from the wall, adjusting her hair that had come out from its bun. His eyes were wide as he waited for her reaction.
To his utmost and utter surprise, she smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, John. It happens. Just be careful the next time, okay?" With that, she continued on her way to the intensive care unit, leaving the younger man staring at her in astonishment.
"She called me John. My name is Edward," he spoke to no one in particular. Shaking his head, he continued on his way. "I rather like this Healer Granger. I hope she stays."
Trainee Healer Deirdre sat in the fifth floor, sipping a cup of tea on her break. She did believe that Hermione Granger was one of the best wonders in terms of the Medical Wizarding World. She was four years behind her during Hogwarts, but she was in Ravenclaw. Almost everyone in Ravenclaw hated Hermione Granger because she was titled the "brightest witch of her age" but Deirdre Bronagh was an exception. Hermione Granger was more than brains, unlike some of the Ravenclaws she had come to know. It was a shame that her interests had fallen under Potions and Plant Poisoning, so she was unable to work under Hermione Granger's supervision.
In the middle of the year was the start of her training in St. Mungo's under Healer Fairfax, but she was looking forward more to meeting the great Healer Granger but everyone else was dreading her. She was a mean bitch, they said. She was ruthless, dominating and at times can be scary especially if one had the unfortunate mistake of messing a single incantation up. For Hermione Granger, there was no room for mistakes.
Recently, she had been noticing on Healer Granger's change in demeanor. Not everyone had been as observant as she, but Healer Granger has changed. It had a little something to do with Draco Malfoy and the day he came to the hospital looking for her. Healer Granger had been in a foul mood all morning but she had left the hospital that day smiling.
Halfway through her cup, the woman who occupied her thoughts barged in the tearoom carrying her own mug of tea.
"Hi Deirdre! Having a good day?" Healer Granger asked brightly.
Hiding her shock, she put down her tea and smiled at the older woman. "Yes, it's been a quiet day."
"I hope it will be like this for the rest of week." She giggled. "Anyway, I hear Healer Fairfax is submitting his semi-retirement at the end of the month. Are you ready?"
"I'm not sure," Deirdre admitted softly. "I feel rather apprehensive on this position but I'm confident with myself. I know I can be an excellent healer."
"I felt the same way when I took over for this position," Hermione responded. "But then I remembered that I had been waiting for this all my life. I decided that I wouldn't let a few uncertainties to get in the way of what I want." She smiled at Deirdre.
Hermione had meant those words to relate to work. But it seemed it backfired because as she uttered those words, she found herself relating the last sentence to her new-found relationship with Draco Malfoy.
Deirdre hesitated. "Healer Granger, uh, there's a gossip going around for a while now. Is it true that you're dating Draco Malfoy? Not that it's any of my business; you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Hermione looked surprised. "Yes, but only recently."
"Well, for the past few months he's been seen with you a couple of times in this tearoom. We figured that you were visiting over his former condition? It's not now, is it? Because I bumped into to him one day and he was looking for you and it didn't look like he came to talk about medical conditions."
"It's nobody's business but mine," Hermione said stiffly.
Deirdre paled a little; she had never experienced the wrath of Healer Granger but she was afraid that she was about to now. Deirdre nodded frantically. "It's nobody's business," she agreed. "But happiness suits you, Healer Granger," she added softly.
"Excuse me?"
"When I started my training here everyone said a lot of unpleasant things about you."
Hermione pursed her lips. "I am aware of that."
"But not anymore."
"Really?"
"Yes." Deirdre smiled. "You look happy. Especially today! You were greeting everyone a good day and now I'm drinking tea and having a conversation with you!"
Hermione frowned. "I am human, am I not?"
"Not a regular one, you're not," Deirdre teased. "You're the Hermione Granger."
"I'm just me, Deirdre," she replied somberly. "I'm not what the papers made out to be. I'm just a girl trying to prove my worth in this world. I'm a muggleborn and I have fought for my right."
"Healer Granger," the younger healer's tone was the same as Hermione's. "You have done that and more. Don't undervalue yourself. Is this why you're like—this—to the other healers?"
Hermione laughed suddenly. "No. It kills me to admit it but I can be a bit bossy."
"A bit? That's quite an understatement, Granger," a new voice piped in. Draco plopped himself on a seat beside Hermione, grinning at Deirdre. "She's bossy, domineering, and heavy-handed, the list goes on. I have more synonyms for you if you want to hear them all."
Hermione glared at him spitefully and elbowed him on the ribs, emitting a sound of pain. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"Surprise! I haven't had lunch yet and I thought I'd drop in to see if you have."
"I have." Hermione turned to Deirdre. "You've met, haven't you?"
"Of course," Draco replied before the young woman could. "She's come by the office a few times. She's dating my boss—who will be here in—three, two—"
On cue, the sandy-haired man that looked a bit past thirty years old came into view. He came to sit beside Deirdre who was seated cross Hermione and Draco. "Hullo, love," he greeted as he bent to kiss his girlfriend on the cheek whose face turned beet red at the public display of affection in front of her superior. "Healer Granger," he greeted, smiling at her. He then turned again to his girlfriend. "Ready?"
Deirdre nodded. "Healer Granger, would you like to accompany us to lunch?"
"I already—"
"Course she will," Draco said cheekily.
Hermione glared at him for his high-handedness. She hated when people made decisions for her without her consent. She allowed herself to be pulled towards the doors. Draco wrapped his arm around her waist. She blushed as she saw a few healers staring at the four of them with astonished looks on their faces.
With his arm around her, she felt comforted and she had forgotten why she had been annoyed at him in the first place.
