I know, I know, it's been a while. Work's hell, Christina has been sick. So if you see anything that hasn't been britpicked, it's because I'm nothing without her. Lol. If there is anything to be edited plot wise, I will come back to it, but I think we're good. Literally all of the beta love to MrBenzedrine who edited this as soon as she got it today! She's amazing.
I'm going to let you all in on the secret that after you finish this chapter, there's likely only going to be ONE chapter left and then a time skip for the epilogue. It's really hard to accept this will end soon, which is why I drag my feet on writing it. Let me know what you think, or if there's anything you'd like to see. (There's a oneshot with Lucius, Frank and Severus driving around on the night of the Halloween party!)
His mobile rang the moment Hermione and Draco were out of his driveway, and he answered without looking at the caller. "Lucius," he greeted, shutting his front door behind him. "I'm surprised you weren't over here to see her walk out. She nearly tripped over her own two feet."
A low laugh came from the other end of the line. "I believe it. As much as I live for embarrassing my goddaughter, I had some work to do. I learned the boy, Cormac McLaggen, was enrolled in Durmstrang. Severus rang earlier to give me the news."
"Likely for the best that the animal attends an all male school," Frank said, his cheerful mood dissipating. "I'd rather see him in a prison."
"As would I," Lucius agreed. "His parents hired an expensive defense. You've heard of the Lestranges? My sister-in-law married one of their sons?"
"I've had the displeasure of meeting Bella, yes," he replied. "The lot of them are scum."
"Yes, they defended Tom Riddle Jr in court. Jean faced off with them more than once. The point is: they lost. McLaggen will not be attending Hogwarts ever again, nor will he set one foot on that campus. Hermione was granted a restraining order. He cannot come within a hundred yards of her."
Frank sighed, his chest deflating. "She'll be relieved."
"That's not all," Lucius continued smugly. "That little bastard that shall not be named ever again is on his way to a juvenile detention center as we speak. Sirius found something interesting when he spoke to the students; he'd tried to force another girl into having sex with him."
"Christ," Frank grumbled, throwing himself into is recliner and propping his feet up. "She's going to be so happy when you tell her."
"Which concludes the good news. The bad news is that my son is an idiot. And a prick," Lucius told him. "I've no doubt Hermione will be extremely happy when she gets home, just like Draco. Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to last."
"Fucking Hell, can my daughter just have a break?"
"By all means, take that anger and speak with my son. The damned little fool dated the Greengrass girl to make Hermione jealous. It worked spectacularly. The thing is, when she learns of it, she won't trust him."
Frank could only sigh again. "I hate teenagers."
"Cheers to that."
"Careful," Hermione whispered as he slipped through her window. "Dad is asleep, but anything will wake him up."
Draco grinned, kicking his shoes off before closing the window and locking it behind him. "Like he'll be angry. He's always expected it." Before she could reply, though she'd already opened her mouth, he cupped her face and leaned down. "Shut up, Granger."
She pinched his nipple through his shirt out of spite, smirking when he jumped in surprise. Not saying a word, she slid her arms around his neck and walked him towards the bed. "How long?" Hermione asked softly.
The backs of his knees met the edge of her bed. Draco sat down, taking her hand and pulling her to sit in his lap. He snaked one arm around her waist. "How long I've felt this way or how long since I've realized it?"
Hermione grinned. "I know you well enough to know that when you answer a question with a question you're trying to change the subject. It's okay if you're embarrassed," She teased.
"One thing I'll never be embarrassed of is the way I feel about you," he replied smoothly, his hands coming up to frame her face as he brushed his lips against hers. She sank into him, blissfully ignorant at the guilt that seemed to be eating away at him.
It would be for the best to tell her. She would learn eventually, and she'd be so much angrier if the truth didn't come from him. Yet, doing the right thing required him to let go of her, to stop tasting strawberry lip balm, and to lose the warmth of her being tucked against him. So, being purely selfish, he didn't let go of his best friend.
"Ah, fuck." She whimpered in pain, and he broke away from her. "Uh," she stammered, blushing. "Foot cramp. It's nothing. Ignore me, please?"
He snorted, lifting her by her hips and pushing on her shoulders so she'd lay down. "You're such an idiot. Just tell me it hurts, and we can stop."
"Well," she began teasingly. "the kissing part isn't what's hurting me, and I really didn't want to stop that." Hermione's laugh was too loud, and he jumped forward to cover her mouth. "Sorry," was her muffled reply.
Draco slipped her shoe off, pressing his thumb into the arch of her foot, massaging gently. "Does this help any?" he asked.
Hermione's chest rose and fell with each ragged breath. Her cheeks were heating up in the darkness as she looked down at him. "It feels..really good," she managed, squeezing her eyes shut as he laughed lightly. "Don't quit," she whined once his hand fell away.
"I thought you wanted to keep kissing," Draco drawled, one eyebrow arched as she glared at him.
"Would you please shut up?" Hermione groaned, covering her face with her hands. Not that it did much good since she peeked between her fingers. "Is this real? Did tonight actually happen, or am I dreaming?"
His fingers worked slowly, creeping up her calves while he gently massaged the muscles there. "I must admit I would be irritated for this to have been a dream," he told her.
Hermione seemed to melt against her pillows, hair fanning out across them as her hands rested, interlaced, across her stomach. "Talk to me - about anything. The silence is awkward."
He snorted. "You're the awkward one, Granger. Though, just to point it out, you're the one who kissed me."
"I will throw you out of my second story window, Malfoy," she snapped, jerking her head to look away from him.
"Fine, fine," he conceded. "What are you thinking about right now?"
"Not that," she stuttered. "It's embarrassing."
"With a reaction like that, you'll have to tell me. Or else I might,.." He pulled away from her, putting his hands to his sides. A chuckle slipped between his lips as hers parted in mock anger. "What will you do about it?"
"Prick," she snarled, jumping forward and grabbing him by his shirt. In her haste, however, she hadn't accounted for how close Draco was kneeling to the edge of the bed, nor had she considered just what would happen after she chose to lightly tickle his sides.
"Fuck," Draco hissed, clapping a hand over her mouth as the two of the tipped over the side of the mattress. Cradled against him, Hermione landed on top of him.
"Are you all right?" she hurried, probing the spot on his head that he smacked against the floor. "Do you imagine he heard?"
"I imagine my father heard," he replied. "There's only one way you can make it up to me." There was nothing good about the grin he wore. "You'd better tell me what you were thinking."
Hermione tucked her hair behind her ears, shifting to where she was sitting up, straddling his waist. She moved to get off of him, but he held her there. "If you really must know," Hermione sighed, "Ron and I have a bet. A completely ridiculous bet that I was obviously always going to win, but he more or less demanded we put money on it."
Draco snorted. "And how much money do you or Weasley stand to lose?"
There was something about the way he was staring up at her that kept her heart pounding. Something between the lines of longing and wonder; she thought it might be promises of what was coming next for them.
"About fifteen pounds," she replied easily, trying not to react as his thumbs stroked the bare skin of her hips. "Are you unable to keep your hands off of me?"
"Are you serious? Of course I can't keep my bloody hands off of you," Draco shot back. "You're intoxicating." He propped himself up on his elbows. "What did the two of you bet on?"
She laughed, already imagining his reaction as she thought about it. "He bet me fifteen pounds that we'd shag before the weekend was over."
Draco choked.
Continuing, she added to that shock, quoting Ronald, "He said, 'I'd be surprised if you weren't walking funny come Monday morning.' He also mentioned the locker room talk that entails you are a very good at…well, whatever it is you do."
"Weasley bet on my sex life?" Draco's eyes were wide. "That prat! How insensitive is it to say that after you, well, you-?"
She stopped him, laying her palm on his chest. "Do you remember how I told you in that very first week I was scared I would never be able to be in a relationship? That I was scared to be a virgin, and scared Cormac ruined whatever experiences I would have?" Hermione spoke easily, tilting her head to the side.
He nodded, moving to completely sit up.
"I'm not all that scared anymore. Maybe today is better than yesterday, or maybe it's going to be worse tomorrow," Hermione mused. "I do know, however, that it's easier with you. Ron wasn't being insensitive with me. I'd rather laugh about sex than be afraid of it for the rest of my life."
"I'd like to point out that you'll never be laughing about sex with me." She giggled at this, bending down to brush her lips against his. "And that if you ever do, my pride will be deeply wounded."
"Poor thing."
"My real question is how did this bet even come up? I'm trying to think here, but I can't imagine any normal conversation that Weasley asks you if you plan to shag me."
She shrugged. "It was random. We were sitting by the fountain, and he asked me if I planned to tell you how I felt-"
"What? You can't expect me to believe that Weasley was calm about this. The two of you broke up, Granger. He was crazy about you."
She laughed. "I know. I was there, Draco. It was inevitable, and he accepted it. It might have had something to do with the fact that he called me, and I also quote, a raging bitch since I'd had to see Astoria with you so often. I was not happy. Separating was his idea. We're still going to be friends, of course. We get along too well not to be. Anyway, Ron made it a point to mention that all boys have some sort of want to take a girl's virginity."
"Well, I-" he stammered awkwardly, his normally pale cheeks turning red.
"Which then I pointed out that I wasn't even ready for that sort of thing and Ron should really stop trying to see how red my face can be." Hermione smirked, not letting this rare opportunity to leave Draco speechless get away. "Is that true though? What he said?"
"Well, everyone is different, Hermione. I couldn't possibly know what every male thinks about that topic and-"
She rolled her eyes. It was a rare occasion indeed for the blond below her to ramble. "Draco," she said softly. "I wasn't asking about everyone else. I don't care about them. I'm asking about you."
He froze. "You're going to be the death of me," he muttered.
"That's not an answer."
"You already know the answer, Granger."
It was as the sun was rising that he woke her up, muttering a quick goodbye and kissing her forehead before he climbed out of her bedroom window. Hermione caught him just before he made his way to the tree, kissing him in a way that nearly made him come back inside with her. She'd told him, albeit shyly, that she would see him later.
Hermione had laid back down, curling into her blankets after covering the windows with the black curtains. It was only six am, and she was sure she'd sleep until noon after the long night she'd had.
The early stirrings of her father had just begun as she fell asleep.
At half past eleven, she was shaken awake by Luna, who hovered over her. Her eyes were misty, bright and blue. "Hermione-"
She sat up immediately, the sheets falling away. "Are you okay? What's happened? Did something happen with Theo?"
"No," she hesitated, biting her lip. "I don't know if it's better or worse to tell you, love. If it were Theo who had done it, I like to think you would tell me. So, Draco-"
"You aren't making a lick of sense. I just saw Draco, all night in fact," Hermione replied, crossing her legs as Luna sat in front of her. "Is he okay?"
"Quite fine," Luna told her quietly, taking her hand and brushing her thumb across Hermione's knuckles. What was meant to calm her only made her stomach twist. "I take it the two of you have stopped dancing in circles now?"
Hermione nodded.
Luna sighed. "Then I've given him the chance to be truthful with you. What do you know about Astoria Greengrass? About their relationship?"
It was as if lead had formed in her stomach.
Theo was positive this was the worst way to go about it, but Luna had a point. He doubted Draco would tell Hermione a thing. And the truth about Astoria, which really wasn't that bad, combined with the fact that he'd felt this way for a long time, far before her relationship with Weasley was serious at all would be detrimental to any relationship they worked towards.
Having been his best mate since their earliest years, he felt a small twinge of guilt as he knocked on the Malfoys' front door. He thought he was going to be sick. At least he had the pleasure of scolding Malfoy. His girlfriend had to sit down with Hermione and tell her news that should have come from Draco.
The door swung open, revealing said prat. "Theo? What are you doing here?"
"We need to talk." Theo pushed past him, storming into the living room. "Can you just fucking explain something to me?" His anger had set in again, squashing any guilt he had. Draco eyed him warily.
The living room, being the exact same as it always had been, was laid out meticulously: a long sofa in front of the flat screen television, the glass coffee table with ebony legs beneath it. All Theo could think about was bringing his hand down and knocking the marble vase from the small table beside the leather recliner and watching it shatter against the floor. At the very least, it would be an inanimate object he destroyed.
"I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about, Theo," Draco snapped, shoving his hands into the pockets of his joggers. "I can't think of any possible reason for you to show up here just to yell at me like a toddler."
"You can't?" Theo mocked. "Can you not think of anything, or are you so daft that you don't believe you've done anything wrong? You lied to me, and I'm your best mate. It makes me wonder what you'll do to Hermione." Theo snarled, "Greengrass. You really shouldn't have conversations where you could be overheard."
"Astoria and I broke up last night. I saw Granger last night, all night in fact, and I haven't lied to her about anything," his friend replied, but his voice wavered at the end. His eyes gave him away as they shifted, and he stared at his sock-clad feet. "What do you know?"
His temper bubbling over, Theo lost the calm he'd barely held onto. "I'm talking about the fact that you've been in love with Hermione goddamn Granger for months, and you wanted her relationship with Weasley so badly that you wanted to sabotage it by making her jealous!" Theo thundered, his hands curling into fists at his sides.
To say Draco paled would be laughable, but his face drained of color. "You don't know a sodding thing-"
"Oh?" Theo mocked. "Did you forget about all of the times you tried to convince her he was bad for her? The only one I see that's bad for her is someone who would lie to her."
"All right!" Draco yelled. "I was jealous. I was furious that he was with her, and I was sick of wallowing in my own self pity. So when Astoria brought it up to me, I said yes. We have finally admitted it though."
Theo froze. "What the fuck do you mean you've admitted it. You've told Granger you love her?"
"Fuck no, I don't want to overwhelm her," he said. "She and I both admitted our relationships failed because we wanted each other."
Dragging a hand down his face, Theo groaned. "Mate, please tell me that Hermione knows Astoria wasn't your girlfriend. And that you've already groveled at her feet for forgiveness."
Draco shook his head. "I'm a selfish bastard; I knew she would be upset. We were having such a good night, and I couldn't stand to ruin it."
"Well," Theo drawled, "if you thought she was going to be upset, she's going to be livid now. Luna is over there telling her every last damn thing. You fucking idiot."
Ginny slid into her bedroom just as Luna had begun to speak once more. "So sorry I'm late. Ron isn't the best driver." The redhead took a seat on the bed, crossing her legs and resting her chin on her knuckles. "What's going on? Luna said it was an emergency. I came as soon as I could."
Hermione looked from one friend to the other nervously. "I haven't the slightest idea. Luna woke me up. You said Draco lied to me? I know that Astoria was his girlfriend and they broke up last night. Did they...not really?"
"No, nothing like that. I overheard a conversation between she and Malfoy a few days ago. It doesn't sound like he told you the truth. The first part, which we should keep to ourselves since it's not our secret to tell, is that Astoria is gay."
Hermione stiffened. "Then why…? Was dating him just to hide that? Perhaps it was just a favor, and that's why he didn't want to tell me?"
"There you go, believing the best in people," Luna sighed. "No, it was a fake relationship designed to make you jealous because Malfoy wanted to sabotage your relationship with Ron."
Hermione looked above their head, counting ten blemishes in the ceiling to stop herself from exploding. Taking a deep breath took more effort on her part than she cared to admit. "So," Hermione began, clasping her hands together in her lap. "That would mean all of the times they conveniently snogged in front of me, or took those sappy bloody photographs together, it was for the sole purpose of making me angry?"
"That wanker. I'm going to kick his arse," Ginny growled, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Please carry on without me. I'm no help at comforting you. My skills would be put to better use elsewhere." She threw the bedroom door open, rushing for the stairs. There was a nearly inaudible, "Hi, Mister Granger. Bye Mister Granger."
"That week was awful for me," Hermione whispered. She hated crying, loathed the weakness it made her feel. She'd had enough of it to last her a lifetime. "He should have told me last night instead of kissing me, and cuddling me, and making me feel like I was the only person who mattered," she spat.
"Not in the interest of taking his side, but all of those are still true. I assumed he wouldn't know how to tell you, but you needed-"
"I know that it's not as bad as what I feared you were going to tell me. Yet a lie by omission is still a lie," Hermione said, raising a hand to wipe her eyes. "And I wish he had just told me his feelings had changed. I did."
"You're braver than he is," Luna pointed out.
"That's not an excuse!"
"I know. I wanted to make you laugh so maybe you wouldn't cry." Luna pulled her friend forward as Hermione burst into tears, hiccuping. "It's going to be okay, Hermione," she whispered, rubbing her back. "The two of you have already been through so much. This is just one more thing, and the two of you will work it out. You know it as well as I do."
"Tell me I can still trust him then, Luna. I can already feel it, doubt slowly creeping whenever he tells me anything at all," Hermione mumbled into her collarbone.
"I somehow doubt he will have an issue with earning your trust. That can come after you have time to yourself, but not really by yourself since Ginny and I will be here."
"Luna, I'd really rather-"
Her bedroom door opened, revealing a frantic Ginny as she slammed it shut, locking the door. "Uh, Malfoy might have chased me and wouldn't believe me when I told him to go home."
Hermione laughed when he pounded on the door, tears still rolling down her face. "Yeah, he doesn't listen well. Just - just let me handle it. Can the two of you leave for a minute?"
Luna grasped Ginny by the elbow, telling her to keep her opinions to herself as they stepped into the hallway.
"Malfoy, you can come in, but lock the door behind you so none of our eavesdropping friends come in." Hermione stood up from the bed, smoothing her pajama bottoms down. "Hey, so Astoria, huh? I would have never guessed."
"Don't talk about Astoria right now, Hermione," he begged, taking two long strides towards her.
She immediately stepped away. "If you come within arms length, I might slap you. How could we not talk about her, Draco? She's part of the reason this is happening. I'm not blaming her, to be clear, but you had a choice. A choice to tell me how you felt. Which do you think would have meant more to me?"
"Hermione, please, I-"
"I thought you had told me the full truth last night, you see, and my heart was full. I didn't think I could be that happy - not after the last few hellacious months. As it turns out, I can't be that happy. Not without something falling out of the sky and tearing it apart." Hermione folded her arms across her chest, her voice small as she tried not to cry.
"You have to believe that I never, ever wanted to hurt you. Hermione, you're everything to me. I don't care how sappy it is, and I don't care if you slap me." Draco stood against her, the tips of his fingers grazing the underside of her wrist. "I've made a monumental mess of things, and I couldn't blame you if you didn't forgive me."
Hermione caved at the way his eyes were just as watery as her own. At the way his shoulders were slumped and he looked like a shell of himself. "Don't say that, Draco," she whispered, placing her palm on his cheek. He leaned into it, nuzzling her hand. She could feel her heart splintering. "Luna said it herself, but I know it's true. We will somehow come out of this. Likely not fully unscathed, but we will. I don't forgive you right now, but I know I will."
"Can I just say, I-"
"No, you can't say it. Not right now when I could believe it's said for forgiveness," Hermione told him. "Tell me when we're happy again."
"You already know then." Draco bent down, leaning his forehead to hers.
"It was a guess, but I know now." She laughed, her eyes closing. "I'm still furious with you." Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist for a moment, giving herself at least the knowledge to know she needed to savor this last embrace. "Don't forget that we have Star Wars soon, so try not to piss me off anymore before that."
"That's three bloody weeks away. Surely you can't plan to be angry for that long," he groaned. "Fine, even if it is. I'll give you the best goddamn date of your life."
She snorted. "I've no doubt. Get out of my house."
"Kiss me?" Draco pleaded.
"I want you to know this is punishing myself as well, but no. Not until I can look at you without wanting to cry," Hermione told him quietly. "And if you steal a kiss from me right now, I'll bite your lip off."
"That sounded pleasant until you said 'off'," he smirked.
"Out!"