Fun time with friends. Enjoy. Ta ta.

S. White

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 21 - U is for Understanding

Draco had never stayed at Hermione's flat before but things worked out well regardless. When Hermione's alarm went off, Draco covered his head with the sheets, but then he paused and snuggled up to her, pressing his face into her chest. She laughed but convinced him to get up anyway and he relented. He asked whether she would mind him apparating directly back in and she said no, confused, and he disappeared after a kiss on the cheek. She went about her routine, having a quick shower and dealing with her hair, when, to her surprise, Draco appeared again. He had showered as well, his hair was still wet, but he had one of his suits on and he carried a plate with a silver cover over it.

"How much do you love me?" He grinned, kissing her cheek again.

"Why?" She said, eyeing the tray with suspicion.

"I brought pancakes for all of us."

"I really love you."

"I know."

"Then why did you ask?"

"To hear you say it."

"Well, I can't complain about that."

"Good," Draco said, kissing her lightly. "I love you, too."

They called Megan and all sat down for breakfast, as provided by Draco and Pelly. When Hermione and Megan arrived at the Ministry, Hermione was in a very good mood. Draco had left her with another kiss and gone off to his job as Megan danced excitedly behind them. As they walked to their offices in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Megan reminded Hermione who exactly had told them they should date for real months earlier. Hermione sighed with a resigned smile but her reply died on her lips when they turned the corner. There was a small crowd of reporters in front of their doors, although Hermione was glad to see that Rita Skeeter wasn't there.

"There she is!" Someone shouted.

"Oh no," Hermione groaned, wishing she could fade into the background, but squared her shoulders and faced the notebooks and poised quills.

"Ms. Granger! Ron Weasley told the Prophet he has broken off his affair with Lavender Brown now that he's seen the error of his ways. Do you have any comment?"

"Does Mr. Weasley want you back?"

"How does Mr. Malfoy feel about all this?"

She was barraged with questions and almost recoiled from the assault. So Ron had actually spoken to the press himself. She wasn't sure why, unless he really liked the notoriety, because it wasn't going to improve things with her. She continued to edge towards the safety of our office.

"Draco and I are fine, thanks for asking," She said, pushing a notebook out of her face.

"What about Mr. Weasley?"

"I wish him all the best, but I don't really have any interest in his love life," Hermione said firmly. "Please, I need to get to work."

"Ms. Granger, what do you really think?!"

Between Hermione and Megan they finally got through the press of people and into Hermione's office. Hermione sank into her chair and Megan leaned against the door, listening intently.

"Sounds like they're still there," She said, sitting on Hermione's desk. "Do you think this is part of Ron's plan to get you back?"

"I don't know," Hermione said truthfully. "He always liked the attention and I really hope for his sake that's not the reason for this. But, honestly, I'm not sure if I'd rather think it's part of an attempt to get me back or if he's just doing it for the attention."

"Neither are really in his favour."

"No, they're not." Hermione's shoulders slumped. "And again, I don't know whether I'd rather have: him not understanding what's he's doing, or knowing exactly how much he's hurting me."

"I don't know, dearie," Megan said sadly, but she opened the door a sliver. "I think they've left. You handled that well, though."

"I hope so, and I hope they didn't ambush Draco, too."

"Do people know where he works?"

"Probably not."

"You have your phone? Text him and find out." Megan shrugged. "Are you going to be okay, sweetie?"

"Yes, I think so. Thanks, hun."

Megan left, turning towards her own office before the door closed behind her. Hermione looked at the paperwork on her desk as she dug out her phone and turned it on. Once it started up the main screen informed her she had missed a call and 4 texts since turning her phone off a day ago. They were from Ron, so she ignored them and opened the messages to Draco instead.

I was ambushed by reporters at the Ministry. I hope they haven't found where you work, but I thought you might like a warning.

Thanks. No reporters here, I don't think they know where to find me yet.

Good. See you tomorrow night?

Definitely. I love you, my darling.

I love you, too, Draco.

Hermione felt better after that short exchange and was able to attack her work with all her usual vigour. She had lunch with Megan as usual but Hermione did receive a letter that showered her in red and gold sparks around her when she opened it. All that was in inside it was 'I love you, my darling Mione' in Draco's writing. She discovered that the letter did that every time she closed and opened it again, and tried to secret it away without Megan noticing. Her cheeks were hot, she knew, but she could hardly believe how sweet he was being. He had even made the sparks Gryffindor colours. She wondered if that had taken some courage on his part.

When she reached her office she wrote an equally short message and pressed her lips to the page, leaving an impression in lip gloss below her signature. It was a simple charm from there so that when Draco opened it he would feel a phantom kiss on his cheek. She sent it off with one of the Ministry owls, smiling to herself, and completely failing to notice the knowing grin on Megan's face when they left work together.

The next day after work Hermione and Draco went to the cafe in Diagon Alley. It was quiet and no one bothered them, except for the possible exception of the waitresses. There were two women working today and they were leaning over a copy of the Daily Prophet and giggling. Hermione and Draco ignored them, even if it took Hermione some minutes to get herself to stop listening. Her words to the reporters the day before were in there, as well as a reprint of Ron's artfully apologetic statement about kicking Brown out and realizing the mistake he had made in letting Hermione go. She wondered for a brief few seconds how Brown felt about all this, but it was only a second's concern. It was difficult to empathize with the other woman, after all, when you had been cheated on.

But for the hours they spent in the cafe Ron wasn't mentioned a single time and once Hermione got her mind off the waitresses neither she or Draco looked away from their tea or each other. They left together, returned to Draco's flat for dinner, and then they went to his room and shut the door. Hermione returned quietly to her and Megan's flat the next morning and was grateful that while Megan waggled her eyebrows she didn't say anything. That was an encouraging reaction, because she had invited Draco to stay again that weekend.

That didn't mean she was lonely or bored, however, for the time until she saw him next, especially since they had arranged a girl's night on Friday. Hermione and Megan went straight to Diagon Alley after work and ignored the few whispered comments easily. The Prophet was still running articles on her, Draco, and Ron, even if they were small and didn't have anything new. She was, unfortunately, getting used to it now since it seemed to happen every time she went out.

But Ginny and Angelina were chatting while they waited at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They had checked with George first and made sure there would be no encounters with Ron. George kept them occupied by throwing soft toys at them from the second level of the shop until Luna arrived. The five women left George to clean up his mess and went shopping, browsing robes and clothes, and helping Ginny buy some baby things. Hermione thought that, at their current rate of enthusiasm, Ginny would have enough things for maybe five babies before her one arrived.

Hermione was sure she saw Ron in the crowd once and he stopped and stared as they went by. None of the others seemed to notice him, although Ginny did move to her other side, placing herself between Hermione and Ron. Hermione didn't have time to react other than forcing herself to continue looking at Ginny and under no circumstances glance over. She had been laughing at a joke Ginny made, her face happy, a bag containing her purchases on her arm. If she had to pick a way for Ron to have noticed her, a time while she was obviously happy would have been her choice. They continued to chat normally until they entered their usual restaurant and were seated, piling their purchases on an empty seat.

"That was Ron in the crowd, wasn't it?" Ginny said, looking closely at Hermione, who shifted awkwardly.

"Yes, I think it was. I just saw him out of the corner of my eye," She said meekly. She felt her phone vibrate but she ignored it.

"Well, could have been worse." Ginny sighed.

"Maybe he had this idea that I would be miserable all the time and was so shocked he couldn't say anything," Hermione suggested.

"I thought I saw him and he did look shocked," Angelina said.

"I'm sure it'll work out," Hermione said with false cheerfulness as the waiter came to take their orders.

That worked for a while at least, but she had placed her bag with the rest of their things on the seat beside her and she could hear her phone buzzing. Finally, after half an hour she dug it out to check that it wasn't Draco, or her parents, or, well, anyone other than Ron. All the missed calls and texts were from Ron.

...you're putting on a brave face...

...must be horrible for you...

...you're better than this...

...deserve someone who loves you...

Yes, she thought, she did deserve someone who loved her, someone who respected her too, and someone who knew the difference between actions and empty words. Whenever she thought about Ron now, her thoughts inevitably also included Draco; how much she loved him, how much this must be hurting him, and how much better he was than Ron. She tried not to, but comparisons were inevitable and other than their pasts Hermione could find very little to fault Draco with. Her phone buzzed again, this time with a call, and she declined it quickly, hoping in vain the others wouldn't notice. They had.

"Was that him again?" Megan asked, annoyance in her face.

"Sorry. I'll turn it off," Hermione said, reaching for her phone, but Angelina stopped her.

"We're worried about you, not the interruption."

"Right," Ginny said.

"He still wants you back," Luna said in a matter-of-fact tone and Hermione wasn't sure if it was a question or not, but she nodded anyway.

"So he bothers you day and night?" Angelina said in horror.

"Well, I suppose so, yes," Hermione said glumly and again passed over her phone.

The other girls craned to read the messages and it went very quiet as they read the flood of disbelieving messages she had just received. But before they could pass it back it started ringing again. They all looked down at it in silence for a few seconds. Hermione looked around; the restaurant was still fairly empty, but she cast a ring of silence around them anyway.

"Put it on speaker," Hermione said with a sigh. "Maybe keep quiet, too." Megan nodded and answered the call for Hermione, pressing the speaker button and carefully adjusting the volume so they could hear Ron's voice.

"Hermione? Hermione? Are you there?"

"Yes, Ron. I'm here," Hermione said in a carefully even voice.

"Are you okay? I just saw you with my sisters and Luna and you looked like you were forcing a smile."

Megan made a gesture which clearly said "And what about me, hm? Am I suddenly invisible?"

"Did I? Where was this? Because I'm pretty sure I haven't forced a smile all night."

"Diagon Alley."

"That doesn't narrow it down much, but I've really been enjoying myself all night."

"Really?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

"Yes, Ron. If you don't mind, this is a girl's night-" She said, reaching for the phone.

"Out to cheer you up, huh?"

"What?" Hermione said in surprise and the other girls looked at each other in confusion. You didn't need a reason for a girls' night, it was just something they did. As much as the three of them loved their spouses and partners, they needed to get away once in a while, and Luna and Megan were always interested.

"Well, you must need cheering up all the time from being forced to be around the ferret," He said, sympathy in his voice.

"Ron, you know I'm not joking or lying, or anything, I really do enjoy Draco's company," Hermione said in exasperation.

"Yeah," Ron said, laughing. "Right."

"I'm serious. I'm happy with him. Please."

"Come back to me, Hermione, I can make it better. I can even overlook you kissing him."

All of them at the table were looking angry now and Hermione most of all. He really was in denial that she could be happy with anyone but him and the arrogance of it was really starting to annoy her. Besides, what did he mean that he could overlook her kissing Draco? He was talking to her like she was the cheating one, as if she was a naughty schoolchild and he was the forgiving schoolmaster. Like she should have been alone and miserable until he had screwed Lavender all he wanted and then welcomed him back again. But even if she did, would he ever be content with just her? Somehow she didn't think so.

"No, Ron. I'm really, honestly, happy with him, I'll kiss him all I want, and I really don't care what you think about that," She snapped.

"Right, Hermione," Ron snorted.

"Ron Weasley, you listen to me, I will do whatever I like with-" Hermione raged but stopped when Luna placed a hand on hers. She looked into her friend's dreamy face and Luna shook her head.

"Hello, Ron," Ginny said.

"What? Ginny?" Ron's voice was full of confusion.

"Yes, Ron. Now you get to listen to me. I don't care how you do it, but you get it through that thick skull of yours that Mione is happy now. You're the one causing trouble in her life, not Draco, who, I must admit, seems to be good for her."

"That can't be true."

"They love each other. You can tell just being around them," Megan said with a shrug.

"Who the hell is that?" Ron shouted angrily.

"I did tell you I was on a girls' night, yes?" Hermione said lazily, in what was unintentionally a very passable imitation of Draco's drawl.

"Ginny's been listening the whole time?!"

"Would you have said anything differently if you knew?" Ginny asked in exasperation.

"It's Megan Brand, by the way. One of Mione's best friends who you only met once, and only then by accident."

"You let them listen and you didn't tell me?"

"Ginny's got a point. You said essentially the same things to the Daily Prophet," Luna said dreamily.

"You have," Angelina agreed.

Hermione picked up the phone and brought it closer to her mouth. "Ron, please, please, leave me alone. I am really happy with Draco."

"I don't believe you! It's impossible!" Ron shouted into the silence.

"It's true. Good night, Ron." Hermione hung up and put the phone down slowly.

"He really can't comprehend the idea that Draco might be a different person underneath." Ginny glared at the phone.

"No," Hermione said.

"And he doesn't stop?" Angelina asked.

"No. It'll be an hour or two, maybe, and I'll probably get a text again."

"What are you going to do?" Angelina said in horror.

"I don't know." Hermione put her face in her hands and Luna patted her back. "Nothing seems to work."

"Ignore him?"

"He's been doing this for almost a week now," Megan said sourly.

"Confront him?" Ginny suggested.

"He doesn't believe her," Luna pointed out.

"No, I don't think he does. Draco even kissed me in front of him in the middle of Diagon Alley."

"You could always tell him you've done a little more than kiss Draco," Megan suggested and Hermione blushed bright red as the other girls laughed.

"I don't think he needs to know," Hermione said pointedly.

"I'm just saying it might deter him a little." Megan grinned and Hermione coughed awkwardly.

"Yes, well, perhaps I'll save that."

"You'll just have to see with time, I guess," Ginny said kindly as she tried to control her grin. "Just remember we're here for you."

"Thanks," Hermione said, grateful despite her embarrassment.

The night went well after that, Hermione removed her silencing spell, and they had had a very enjoyable dinner. Hermione had been right about her phone, though; it was two hours after the call when she received a text from Ron. It was mildly apologetic but also reproachful. She didn't really blame him for being annoyed about her putting him on speaker, but she was finding it difficult to care. Maybe he would get the hint sooner or later, but she wasn't holding her breath. He was really testing her patience and for a moment there she had been about to hint at the extent of her and Draco's relationship herself.

She ignored Ron's text but occasionally sent one to Draco instead. When she returned with Megan to their flat that night full of food and wine, their purchases in their hands, Draco was leaning on the wall outside their door, waiting for them. Megan quickly turned a laugh into a cough. Draco smiled at Hermione as he pushed himself away and sauntered over with aristocratic elegance, and kissed her on the cheek.

"What, no kiss for me?" Megan grinned.

"Do you want one?" Draco drawled back and Megan laughed.

"No, not really. Carry on, lovebirds," She said, disappearing into her room.

"Hey, Mione," Draco said quietly, pulling her close.

"Hey," She said with a smile, resting her head against his chest.

"Have I told you today that you are beautiful and I love you?"

"I don't think so. But I love you, too."