The yoga instructor
Warnings: M-rating for language and more smut.
I'm unsure if I should include more warnings for this chapter without spoilers but it's a heavy one.
Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot is mine. HBSJ
Chapter 21, Girls night
Honestly, she wasn't sure her plan was actually going to work but they had to give it a go. They had called for a massive press conference in the atrium of the ministry for he next day and they were going to flaunt their captives, the seized money and show the press large pictures of the dragons and eggs along with the state in which they found them. She, Draco, Harry and Charlie even had to endure an interview by bleeding Rita Skeeter. This stunt was going to create a complete media circus about this case, but they needed Marietta and Jack to know that they had it all in their possession and then trick them to come right into their waiting arms. Hopefully.
She sighed and almost slumped into the chair behind her desk. She was tired from her very long day and she knew she had a lot of paperwork to do before seeing with Ginny for dinner and drinks. She almost couldn't wait to crawl into her bed later that evening, tired from her day and from laughing with her friend, probably with a bit of a buzz too.
She sort knew that she was starting miss Draco when he wasn't around but she didn't want to think about that too much. It boded a conversation for them that she wasn't sure if he was ready for yet. She knew he had fun with her and wanted to enjoy the moment but she didn't have a clue if he was actually serious about her. The rumors flying around about him for quite a few years had made him out to be some sort of womanizer, going from one witch to the next without a care in the world. The problem was that she didn't want him going anywhere because she had realized that she liked him. A lot.
She really ought to talk with him about it instead of burying her head in dark depths of the Black Lake. She just needed to scrounge up some of that Gryffindor courage and speak to him when the time felt right. And sooner rather than later because she was truly falling hard for him.
As she wrapped up for the day and walked to the floo, she tried to put those thoughts from her mind. As soon as she was in her flat, she put on some loud upbeat muggle music on her old battered boom blaster and started the shower. She checked her watch, she had forty-five minutes before she was meeting Ginny at eight thirty so she had plenty of time for a dance or two in the shower accompanied by her loud and less than marvelous singing voice. She figured what the hell, there was no one to hear her anyway so she sang her heart out and shook her booty to the beats of the music blaring through her small flat.
Charlie was nervous, his palms were sweaty and he was fidgeting with the collar of his button up. He couldn't believe that Daphne actually still wanted to go out with him, it felt like a phantom or maybe a trick. He felt deep within his bones that she was just right for him. It scared him a bit but mostly it excited him.
Now he just had to convince her of that too. That was probably going to be the hard part.
They were meeting at the Leaky Cauldron and he wanted to pace about the room but Tom the barman was already eying him suspiciously because of his fidgeting so that was definitely out of the question.
When she arrived however, she looked like something out a dream. He blinked a couple of times to make sure that he wasn't just imagining things but no, there she was. She was dressed simply in a black long-sleeved dress that ended just above her knees, she had on Gryffindor-red shoes and her long blonde hair was flowing freely down her back. Her spectacular sea-green eyes were sparkling when she spotted him and it made him grow hot around his collar.
He wasn't sure what to do with himself but he got up and waited the painfully long seconds before she was right in front of him, smiling enchantingly at him. He resisted the urge to look around behind him to see if it was really him she was smiling at. She was so lovely and sensual and bloody attractive.
He was in big trouble with this one.
"Hello Charlie." She purred. "Or should I perhaps continue calling you sir?" Yep, he was in serious serious trouble.
"Hello Daphne." He smiled and tried to appear much less affected by her than he actually was. He coughed to rid his voice of that damn huskiness. It always seemed to there when Daphne was around. "You can call me whatever you want Daphne." Nope, that husky gravel was still there. Damnit.
She took the last step that separated them and placed both her hands on his chest, ever so slowly she leaned in to kiss his cheek and he just stood there, completely mesmerized. Her lips felt soft and bloody perfect. He felt himself turn to mush and he suggested that they sat before he fell down.
"I can?" She smirked at him, it was sinful to the extreme.
He nodded. "Of course." He cleared his throat a couple of times. He really was sounding rather gravelly.
Her smirk turned to a grin and she leaned in, resting her hands on his thighs. Her face was right there, just a breath away waiting to be kissed. He shook himself mentally to not do anything stupid. "Okay, how about I call you sir in private and Charlie in public?"
His eyes widened and he choked om his beer. And then he started coughing again. She laughed that tinkling laugh that just captivated him. "Okay, I'll stop being so forward. I don't want to make you uncomfortable." She grinned and he couldn't help but smile at her. He wanted to answer but she beat him to it. "I like you Charlie, quite a lot in fact. And I want to get to know you properly." She seemed at bit contrite but her sparkling eyes belied her apprehensive demeanor.
He smiled and took her hand. "I meant it,-" His voice had softened, finally. "-you can call me whatever you like, whenever you like. Because I like you too and-" He grinned. "-I'm insanely curious as to how the hell you leaned how to handle baby-dragons that well."
"Well, I didn't exactly learn in a legal way, so maybe that story should wait until you come back to my flat later? Because I'm assuming that you'll escort me home." The sauciness in that statement almost had him on his knees in front of her.
He grinned. "Why don't we just skip dinner, get takeaway and go there now?"
She shook her head with a smirk. "I think not sir,-" His groin tightened. "you invited me to dinner so we're going to dinner. Mainly to keep up pretenses that you, being pureblood and all like me have to court me." She winked and leaned in to give him a quick peck on the lips. "You know, the proper way." By the gods he wanted more of this woman.
He stood and held out his arm to her as properly as he'd been taught. "As you wish my lady."
Hermione had decided not to talk about work that evening, so that case and that man would just have to take a backseat to general gossip and fun. It wasn't often that she had these nights, so she was going to make the best of it. They were meeting at Vici before going to the restaurant, Ginny had dropped her last name to get a very late reservation at some very fancy restaurant and it had worked like a charm. Sometimes it was a definite advantage to be married to the Boy Who Lived. Harry absolutely hated all of the attention but Ginny used it to her advantage every now and then.
Susan was behind the bar where they were sitting and she made sure that they were never thirsty. Hermione was having a great time with Ginny, it had been a while since it was just the two of them hanging out. They were talking and laughing about their time at Hogwarts and their last couple of times out, some of those memories were not for Harry to hear.
When there was a short lull in their conversation, Ginny turned somewhat serious. "I went home to mum and dad yesterday by the way, Ron was there."
Hermione's eyes widened and she felt guilty instantly for forgetting all about Ron. She honestly hadn't given him a thought in days between that all-consuming case and Draco. "Oh right, I forgot all about that, he's under house arrest isn't he? What was the sentence for him again?"
"Yeah, he had a right fit when he finally understood what it all meant. He's under house arrest for a full year from the day of the sentencing and during that time he won't be able to use magic, they have fitted his ankle with some sort of magic-cancelling device. It seems like a dead clever invention but Ron hates it."
Hermione rolled her eyes, Ron had never been much for any sort of work. "Of course he does, now he has to do everything by hand."
"I know, he's a right grump these days, mum and dad are trying to get him to come around but he just keeps on sulking. Having dinner there last night was a complete disaster, Ron went off on Harry for arresting him and mum had to force Ron to go to his room. I really hope he'll come around. I don't want him and Harry fighting, it's exhausting."
Hermione couldn't help remember all of those times that she was on the receiving end of Ron's wrath. "Trust me, I know exactly how you feel." She thought about how Ron didn't like being helpless but he also wanted everything to be done for him. He was a complex all in himself. "But why did he choose the Burrow and not the flat he and Lavender live in? He could stay away from his family and do whatever he wants."
Ginny gave her a grimace. "Yeah, but can you imagine Lavender actually cooking?" They both burst into giggles. "Mum's food is way better than hers I'm sure." Ginny snorted through her giggles. "And could you imagine being stuck in a flat on the third floor with only Lavender and no magic? Ugh, no thank you." They both laughed.
"How's it going with him alone with your parents? Are they all getting along?"
Ginny shrugged. "Oh you know mum, she won't accept him being sulky and whiny. She keeps on telling him that he brought all of the misery that he keeps on moaning about on himself. And she gives him endless unsolicited advice. I'm not so sure he thinks choosing the Burrow was the best idea anymore but he can't undo it, the ministry asks you to choose and then you're stuck." She grinned. "And then there's the housework she makes him do. That's my favourite part."
Hermione couldn't stop her answering grin, despite all of her earlier revenge-plans for Ron, it seemed like a fitting punishment. Of course, the Wizengamot didn't really know how Molly would treat him when they'd gone over Ron's case but still, she relished that bit and she couldn't wait to tell Draco about it.
They each hugged Susan before going to the restaurant just down Diagon Alley in high spirits. They had reservations at nine and the Maître d who'd taken Ginny's booking had warned them not to be more than a couple of minutes late. When they arrived and saw the cue outside the restaurant they were both smiling, pleasantly buzzed from their cocktails at Vici and looking forward to a deliciously sumptuous dinner.
The hostess showed them to a table at the far end of the restaurant by a window overlooking Diagon Alley. It was a beautiful space that looked almost like an orangery, every table was full and the interior design was spectacular. There were little lovely details everywhere in the intricate design intermingled with clever magic that made the centrepiece of the room, the ethereal woman painted on a large mosaic, move. She was serenely eating grapes and rearranging her dress and hair every now and then. Hermione was captivated.
They settled into their table happily, both taking in the magnificent room when Charlie walked in with Daphne on his arm, smiling happily at each other. Ginny waved them over and they both grinned when they saw that Charlie had lipstick on both his cheek and his lips.
"What?" Charlie seemed nonplussed as to why they were laughing at him.
Hermione tried to hide her grin and Ginny just pointed. "You got something on your cheek. And on your lips." His eyes widened and he pulled out a handkerchief to fix it, but Daphne took it from him and wiped his face. Their casual interaction in public made her long for that sort of thing with Draco.
Charlie and Daphne went to the table the hostess had taken them to and they'd just ordered their wine and food when an angry shriek made them both turn towards the opposite corner behind Hermione.
She froze.
Everything seemed to ground to a halt.
There was none other than Draco Malfoy on a date with some woman.
A bloody date?!
Her heart sank and she just wanted to go home and curl up with Crooks.
She could see Draco looking around, clearly embarrassed by the display his date was making. When his eyes locked with hers, he blanched and she could easily see the horror in his eyes as he got caught.
A couple of tears escaped her eyes before she even realized she was crying. Her eyes were still on Draco's. She thought about trying to breathe but she couldn't. It was like a weight had settled on her chest and she choked out a sob before grabbing her purse and bolting towards the exit.
She needed to get out, to get away, to get anywhere else than that suddenly horribly stifling restaurant.
She ran out into the night towards the apparition point but a few steps before she reached it, a strong hand stopped her and spun her around.
Her heart was breaking and she couldn't do this. She didn't have the strength. Without realizing it, he had grown to become a part of her over the last couple of weeks and now she was crumbling because obviously he didn't feel the same.
She pulled herself together and gave him a hateful glare. She didn't care that he flinched, she didn't care that his eyes had softened when looking at her. She wanted to feel his arms around her, to comfort her, to tell her that it wasn't what she thought but then why hadn't he told her that afternoon? He'd told her that he would go to dinner with his mother, but that was all a lie it seemed.
"Hermione,-" He hesitated, clearly not knowing what to say. "Please don't go, let me explain." He hesitated again. "I…"
Another sob escaped her but she was trying to reign them in. To not fall apart in front of him. To salvage the last of her pride. But is wasn't easy. It was breaking her heart having to do that.
She gave him a few moments to explain but when he stayed silent, she just knew he wasn't going to say anything else. "No Draco." Her voice was gravelly and sad, she just couldn't find the energy to pretend to be strong. She felt so broken. "I'm going home, don't follow me… please." Her voice broke on the last word and her misery showed clearly to the man she'd fallen so hard for in such a short period of time.
Her heart was shattering into a million tiny little pieces.
She took the last step backwards and apparated to her flat, succumbing completely to the sobs raking through her body. She fell into her bed fully clothed and had Crookshanks curled up with her. Tomorrow she would get up and be the strong woman she knew herself to be, both physically and mentally, but for now she needed to cry and feel so very sorry for herself.
Only hours later did she fall asleep with tears still streaming down her face.
Please let me know what you think about the drama in this chapter!
What will they do now?
Also, sorry (not sorry) about the cliffie :-)
HBSJ