June 23rd, 2013

Harry stood by the backdoor of Hermione's house with a huge grin on his face. He had brought his kids over and now they and his niece and nephew were enjoying themselves playing "Where's the Witch?"

"Don't you wish you were still a kid sometimes?"

Hermione chuckled at Harry's question as she put on a kettle for tea. "Not to be rude, but you had an awful childhood. Why would you want that?"

"It wasn't all bad. There were good moments thrown in there."

"True."

Hermione hummed quietly to herself as she set out cups and the tea that they liked. A rustling noise behind her indicated an owl flying in, and so she supposed it was the post. However, it was Sunday, and the post didn't usually come on Sundays unless there was an emergency.

Frantic, Hermione turned and yes, just as she had expected, Falcon was on her kitchen table with a letter from Draco in his beak. She eyed Harry for a moment before anxiously moving over to the bird.

"Thank you, Falcon," Hermione said with the letter now in hand, but he didn't move and gave a gentle hoot. Again, she side-glanced at Harry who was now intrigued. "You can go, Falcon."

Hoot! Hoot!

"I'll Floo Call him," she compromised. "Alright?"

Falcon tilted his head slightly, his wide eyes gazing at her before hooting yet again. This time Hermione angrily lashed out, "I'll talk to him later, Falcon! Now go!"

An equally angry squawk escaped the owl before he finally heeded Hermione's words. She refused to look at Harry by now and moved away from the table.

"You and Malfoy have a fight?" Harry questioned. He watched his friend go over to a drawer and stuff the new letter inside. There were others more like it. At first glance it seemed like a dozen or more. "Hermione?"

"Yes, it was a fight. Of...sorts."

"Really? He must've really messed up if he's writing you that much. What did he do?"

Hermione sighed deeply before turning off the stove to the whistling kettle. "He didn't do anything. Our conversation ended on a sour note last week and, quite frankly, it's for the best."

"For the best?" Harry repeated in shock. "What happened with you two? Malfoy's been nothing but a saint, odd as it is for me to say."

"I know that, and like I said, he did nothing wrong. It's Rose and Hugo. I'm worried about them."

"Rose and Hugo? What do they have to do with you and Malfoy?"

"Everything!" Hermione yelled exasperatedly. Harry was taken aback and she groaned bitterly before leaning her back against the sink. "I told you what happened on Father's Day. They were crushed. I realized then that they're not over Ron's death. For me to be seeing someone… It's not fair to them."

Harry stood with his mouth agape. He glanced through the window of the door yet again and found Rose and Hugo. Happy smiles. Laughing. Playing. He had seen them earlier in the week too, sad and brokenhearted, but...they weren't like that anymore.

"I can't let you do this."

Hermione furrowed her brow as she stared at him. "Do what?"

"Use Rose and Hugo like this," Harry said sternly. "They're not the problem. You are."

"Excuse me?"

"Face it, you're using them as a crutch. They're an excuse just so you can push Malfoy out of your life."

"How am I using them as a crutch?!" Hermione huffed loudly. "You've seen them! They were not the picture of 'okay' kids! How can you expect me to date while knowing that?!"

"'Were' Hermione!" Harry shouted at her. "They weren't okay, but that's in the past! They had a moment, and they faltered, yes, but look at them now. They're fine!" Harry had gestured to the backyard, the sound of joy coming from outside. He could see Hermione's sadness now, clear as day, and he frowned as he moved closer to her.

"Listen," he said softly, taking her hands in his. "I'm not saying that they don't miss Ron, because I know that they do. I know you do. I miss him too, you know. There are things that happen in my day to day that I think, 'Oh, Ron would love to hear about this,' I grab a quill and some parchment and then realize that I can't write to him. I sit, and I cry. I look at old photographs. When my fit is over I go about my business and do what I have to do because life moves on whether I like it or not. Rose and Hugo's fit is over, Hermione. Stop pretending that it isn't so that you can keep pushing Malfoy away. You have to move on in your day to day just like I do."

Hermione's hands were trembling. All of her was shaking honestly, and the only thing she could think of to stop herself from falling was wrapping her arms around Harry in a hug so that he could hold her up.

"What if I keep doing it?" She asked desperately. "Pushing him away because I'm trapped in my own misery? He deserves better than that."

"This is the same man that once held you hostage when you were in an emotionally destructive state. He's also the same one who's been writing you all week despite your last conversation," Harry smiled. "I think you're underestimating how much he cares about you. He may even love you, however premature it may be to say. Don't be afraid to love him back."

Hermione gently let Harry go and bit the inside of her jaw. Her eyes gravitated to the drawer with Draco's letters. All sixteen of them. Seventeen, if she counted the one from just a moment ago.

"Do you mind watching the kids while I-?"

"Go," Harry encouraged, and Hermione fled. She went straight to her fireplace and Flooed to Draco's house, exiting into a child's dream filled with toys.

"Hi, Ms. Weasley!" Scorpius greeted. He was surrounded by a sea of Lego blocks as he worked on his latest creation.

"Hello, Scorpius," she smiled fondly. "Did you and your father have a good weekend?"

"Yeah! It was fun even though my dad was a little sad."

Hermione's face immediately fell. "He was sad?"

"Uh huh. He didn't even laugh at my jokes!"

"Oh…. I'm sorry to hear that." She shuffled uneasily on her feet before tentatively adding, "Say, I'd like to try to make him feel better if that's okay? Where is he?"

"In his quiet room," Scorpius replied and went back to his child's play. Hermione could've guessed that's where he would be, and so she took her time in the trek upstairs to the room where Draco often drowned in his sorrows.

The door to Draco's quiet room was slightly ajar and Hermione could hear him inside. Well, not him, per se. What she heard rather was quill on parchment and her heart ached at knowing that he was probably writing her yet another letter. "Anxious" was too lax of a term for how she was feeling, and she stood outside of the room, still as a statue for what may have been a full five minutes. Eventually, she did get her bearings and slowly pushed open the door. She didn't know what to expect really, but it certainly wasn't Draco sitting in his armchair, writing away, with crumpled balls of parchment in a rubbish bin and all around the floor when the bin itself was full.

"Oh my Merlin… You must hate me."

Draco fumbled in his writing and the quill fell from between his fingers. When he looked up at her Hermione realized that he hadn't shaved. Despite the slightly disheveled mess it represented, it looked good on him.

"Granger," he breathed in disbelief. Whereas he hadn't cared before he was suddenly aware of the mess his quiet room was in and used his wand to clean it up. Draco stood then and ran a hand through his hair. "I was hoping for a letter in return, but this is… This is better."

"Do you hate me?" Hermione repeated her question. The silence that loomed in after that choked her as she waited for a response, relief coming soon after seeing Draco slowly shake his head.

"No. You're not ready for a relationship and I should be okay with that considering everything you've been through. It's what I've been saying in my letters."

"Oh." Now Hermione felt guiltier than ever for not opening them and she hung her head low in shame. "Malfoy, I… It's not as simple as you're making it out to be. I'm constantly at war with moving forward and staying exactly where I am. It's easy to say that I'll do this or do that when I'm ready, but the truth is…I'll never be completely ready. Ron was my life."

Draco rocked back on his heels and took a deep breath. "So…what does that mean exactly?"

"It means...that I hope you keep trying? That you don't give up on me when I've given up on myself and my ability to move on?" Hermione said hopefully. She waited with a hitched breath on what he would say. She also analyzed every movement he made like his clenched jaws, downcast eyes, and his tightly held fists in his pockets. The longer it took for him to say something, the more she realized that she had gone to him for nought. "Or maybe not."

"Granger-"

"No, no, it's fine," she backpedaled, her chest tightening at the outcome of this adventure. "It really is okay. No one wants a trainwreck for a girlfriend, so we'll leave it at that."

Hermione turned quickly, ready to run for the nearest fireplace, when she felt a tug on her hand. Draco had pulled her back and she soon found herself in his arms. He kissed her too, and oh how she had missed him. When they finally pulled apart they didn't go very far. They'd been far enough from each other already these last few days.

"You are one stubborn witch. You know that?" Draco asked her with a happier tone in his voice. Hermione laughed and snuggled her head into his neck.

"I think you mean 'broken.'"

"I like my word better."

July 3rd, 2013

Draco had scaled back quite a bit after Hermione's temporary freak out (not that she blamed him). She tried to tell him that it was okay and that if anything made her feel uncomfortable that she would let him know. It helped some, but hesitancy still lingered in the air. Tonight was the first night that Hermione felt things were turning back to normal as they would be going out for dinner instead of having it indoors. What made it special was that they were finally having that double date she had accidentally asked for back in May with Theo and Franny.

"It's only now that I realize I don't know much about Theo except that he was in our Year, has Healer training, and works for McGregor's. Aha!"

Draco glanced over at his witch and shook his head amusedly. She had been chasing away a fly for the past fifteen minutes and had finally managed to get a good hit with her clutch purse. "Satisfied?"

"Very," Hermione happily huffed. "Now, Theo?"

"Well, you wouldn't know much about him, would you?" Draco shrugged. He was standing in front of his bedroom mirror trying to decide if to forgo cufflinks or not. It wasn't until Hermione got up from sitting on his bed and began putting his cufflinks on that he "decided" to use them. "He was far less of a troublemaker than me or any of my other friends. He mostly kept to himself and studied. That's when we would spend the most time together actually."

"Studying," Hermione shook her head as she finished with one cuff and moved on to the other. "Despite knowing that your marks were rather good, I can't quite put that picture of you together."

"Unfortunately, you have a very tainted image of me for that to be a possibility."

"Oh, I don't know." She was finished now and stepped back a moment to admire the view. Tall, blond, beautiful eyes, a curious yet endearing expression, and an attractive way of adjusting his sleeves. "Thinking of you as an unusually thoughtful and doting man has replaced that quite well."

"Well, glad to know that I've managed to right one wrong in my life," Draco answered proudly. Soon after that the sound of the Floo rang through the house as well as a male voice telling Draco to "get his arse to the living room." He shook his head and appealed to the witch who was holding back giggles. "He has more decorum than that, I promise."

That was a bet Hermione knew very well not to make and instead followed Draco out of his bedroom and downstairs where Theo was waiting with his girlfriend. They had been talking amongst themselves, and Hermione quickly analyzed them as she took one stair at a time. Franny seemed friendly and obviously in love with Theo if her enamoured gaze was anything to go by. As for Theo, his smile and the way that he carried himself held an approachable charm. She briefly wondered if he was like this at Hogwarts or if time had matured him this way.

"Theo, Franny," Draco gestured with a slight tilt to his head. He had been leading Hermione by the hand and now she stood beside him completely unsure of how to introduce herself when one of these people she knew through abstract association. Luckily, Theo took the lead.

"Lovely to meet you," Theo greeted with a stretch of his hand. "Properly, at any rate. Knowing of you is quite different than actually knowing you. Also, might I say wonderful job you've done on him?" He nudged with his chin to Draco. "He's as gentle as a pygmy puff since he's been seeing you."

"Franny, please tell your boyfriend that I'll still skewer him."

"Oh, don't do that," Franny laughed. "What would I do without him then? It's a pleasure to meet you," she said to Hermione once Theo was through with his introduction.

Hermione shook her hand just as she did Theo's and, despite meeting two strangers, she felt at ease with them. "Wonderful to meet you both. I hear that you're the one to thank for where we'll be eating tonight?" She added to Franny and she beamed proudly as she confirmed with a nod.

"Oh, yes! It's a muggle restaurant in Hastings called La Bella Vista. Aside from the great food, it's right on Saint Leonards-on-Sea."

"You can never go wrong with food and a view," Theo cosigned while offering Franny his arm. "We should get going if we want to take advantage of the sunset on our way to the restaurant."

Draco and Hermione locked hands with Theo and Franny so that they could properly disapparate together. They landed at a well-conceived apparation spot some six blocks away and began the slow trek along Saint Leonards-on-Sea's edge.

"Draco tells me that you work for the Ministry's Department of Magical Welfare," Theo nonchalantly chatted. "Forgive me, but it was a bit of a surprise. If I remember correctly, you were all about books and learning so I figured something in their research sector might have interested you more."

"Oh, she's still in love with books, trust me," Draco smirked, and then rubbed his side when Hermione playfully elbowed him in it.

"It was an interest of mine at first, yes," Hermione nodded, "but after…events towards the latter end of our Hogwarts years I figured magical welfare would be better."

Theo frowned and briefly caught Draco's eye before clearing his throat. "Right. Of course. It makes sense."

"I hear that you have two children," Franny jumped in. "They must be adorable."

"Oh they are," Hermione beamed. "I've got pictures of them if you'd like to see?"

"Yes, please!"

Franny unlatched herself from Theo while Hermione did the same with Draco, and the two of them walked up ahead as the latter showcased a set of two-by-two photographs of Rose and Hugo. They were far enough in distance so that Theo could let go a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, mate."

"No need to be sorry. It can be a bit difficult when speaking with her to know what could be a trigger or not."

"I can imagine." Theo paused for a moment as he adjusted his collar. "And how's she been doing since…well, since?"

"Better," Draco smiled. "Honestly, out of the two of us it's me who's the hesitant one now. I just don't want to make a mistake."

"You've handled her when she's been in a fragile state before," Theo pointed out. "Why would any other time be different?"

"Because then it'll have to do with me. Make her rethink being with me. This time around she came back to me, yes, but who's to say that she'll do that again?"

"Poker."

"What?"

"Think of Granger like a game of poker," Theo suggested. Draco continued staring at him like he had just downed a Babbling Potion, but Theo plowed on. "You, Mr. Gambling Problem-"

"-Habit. And I haven't played in a long time, thanks."

"Fine, fine, but follow me, yeah? Granger's a poker game. Think of all her triggers, the ones you know of anyway, like other poker players. Read them, pick out the signs, and then act accordingly. It can't hurt, right?"

Draco pursed his lips together, mulling over what Theo said. He took this moment to look ahead of him and see Hermione interacting with Franny. Her smile. Her laugh. Genuine happiness. If he did as Theo said, this would be his biggest gamble yet, but one that he was willing to make. And if he ended up losing (Merlin forbid), it would've still been the best poker game he had ever played.

"Look at them. They're best friends now."

Draco broke free from his thoughts and stared at the pair of women who looked like they had known each other for years. He couldn't help but laugh and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Bloody hell, what have we done?"

"Doomed ourselves to double dates they'll plan on their own and tell us the day of."

"Sounds about right."

Silence flooded in, but only for a moment. Theo swallowed deeply before uttering words that made Draco stumble while walking. "What?"

"I said that I want to ask Franny to marry me."

"Yeah?"

Theo nodded, not once taking his eyes of the woman in question who had just laughed at something Hermione had said.

"I've got a ring and everything, but I haven't a clue how to do it. It's been plaguing me so badly that I've taken up carrying it everywhere."

"Is that so?" Draco questioned, side-glancing at his friend as he analyzed him. "So, you have it on you now?"

"Left pocket."

"Do it now then."

It was Theo's turn to stumble where he stepped, and Draco had to grab his arm before he slid down into the water on their right.

"Now?" Theo choked. "You want me to propose now?"

"Why not?" Draco shrugged. "We're walking along the water's edge, there's a sunset, and our dinner could turn out to be a celebration of your engagement. If Franny says no, you'll cry on Granger's shoulder and I'll try to set you up with the prettiest waitress."

"Merlin, you're awful."

"Only a little. Now walk a little faster."

Draco gave Theo a gentle push and the two of them quickened their steps to reach their respective witch. Theo reached Franny with a neat pull on her waist while Draco held onto Hermione's hand and discretely guided her to hang back with him.

"What are we…?"

"Watch," Draco whispered in Hermione's ear to settle her confusion when the other couple stopped their steps a little ways from them.

Hermione looked from Draco to Franny and Theo and it wasn't long before she realized what was happening. Theo was getting down on one knee and Franny looked absolutely beside herself, although it was clear that she was over the moon. It was a beautiful sight, and she was more than happy to be part of this moment. She felt happy tears for the couple spring to her eyes as Franny shouted her "Yes!" and a happy sigh escaped her when Draco wrapped his arms around her and he settled his chin on her shoulder.

"How did you propose to Astoria, Malfoy?"

Draco was surprised at the question, but he kept it to himself as he answered. "I didn't. Astoria and I already knew that we were getting married. When the courting season was over I gave her my grandmother's ring and that was it. How…did Weasley do it for you?"

"He made me mad."

"Sorry?"

"Ron had made a really insensitive comment about house elves. Naturally, it wound me up. While I was ranting and raving I was too busy to see him getting down on one knee."

"Huh," Draco chuckled. "Risky move with your temper, but a good one."

"Yes," Hermione grinned, her happy tears mixing with sad ones, but an overall contented feeling in her heart. "I thought so too."

Author's note: A general THANK YOU to all of your comments. Most, if not all, included words of encouragement to me personally. Yes, there were tears, and yes I think I was sad for about three days, but it's a new week and my "fit" as Harry describes it, is over. I love that Hermione boldly admits how hard it is for her, but she doesn't want Draco to give up on her. I think that's true courage on her part. The fact that Draco's up for that challenge really shows how much he cares (or even loves) her :)

-WP

Replies to Guests

Guest: LOL, do you still hate me? At least they're better now :D