Chapter 25
The party stared at the spot in the room that had just been occupied by Ron Weasley.
"Sorry about him," Harry began, "He can be a bit of a meathead sometimes."
"A bit?!" Ginny exclaimed. "He's a total arse, Harry! Someone ought to punch him in the face!"
"I already tried that," Draco said, "it didn't help anything."
They all chuckled awkwardly, each and every one of them desperately wanting to get away from the scene and go home. Unfortunately, when you're invited to a dinner party thrown by Ginny Weasley, you have to stay the whole time. She urged them to sit down and enjoy the rest of their meal.
oOo
Getting through the awkwardness of making small talk with Draco Malfoy, and the fact that he and Hermione were holding hands, was very difficult for Luna and Neville to grasp at first. But as the evening progressed, they both became more and more comfortable with the new arrangements.
When the night came to a close, they didn't leave as friends by any means. But they were, however, respectable acquaintances, and that was more that Hermione could have ever hoped for.
oOo
After hugs goodbye and handshakes, Draco and Hermione went back home to Draco's. Once they got to his bedroom, Hermione, hands on Draco's chest, kissed him on the lips.
"Thank you for coming with me tonight."
She pushed him onto the bed.
"Wait right here."
He sat on the edge of the bed and waited while she made her way to the bathroom. Minutes later she emerged wearing flannel pajamas with books on them.
"What do you think of my lingerie?" She asked as she flopped into bed with him.
He laughed as he cupped her cheek with his hands.
"You look beautiful."
oOo
They lay in each other's arms silently for what seemed to be an eternity of bliss. Their heated breath filled the room with warmth. Hermione, catching her breathe, finally said "wow."
"Yeah, wow." Draco replied.
They lay staring up at the ceiling when Draco suddenly said, "Hey, I just thought of something."
"Hm?"
"At dinner, when Weasley was freaking out, you didn't say a word."
She sat up, clutching the blanket to her bare chest. "Yes I did."
"No… you didn't."
"I'm sure a said something." She bit her lip in concentration.
"What did you say then?" He asked imploringly.
"I…I don't remember."
"Exactly." He said coldly.
Her voice rising she said, "Well, what does it matter anyway?"
"It would have been nice to have someone on my side that wasn't mute, that's all." He retorted casually.
"Do I have to fight all of your battles for you?!"
Her words stung him. "You know that is not what I meant at all. Why are you getting so angry?"
"I'm not angry!" She yelled. Draco smiled at the obvious irony. She looked at him wildly. "Why are you snickering?"
"You look cute when you're mad."
"I'm not mad! Why'd you have to go off and ruin a perfectly good moment and spoil everything?!"
"Now you're acting mad in the crazy way. I haven't done anything wrong." He said coolly.
She sighed heavily. "I just can't figure you out. First you punch Ron in the face, and now you don't even bring your wand to dinner to fight him. You freaked out when I got close to you and now we're perfectly comfortable being intimate! I don't understand!"
Draco's face grew stern. "That's what this is about? I'm some impossible arithmancy problem that you can't get? You're upset because you can't SOLVE ME?" He yelled.
The rise of volume in his voice frightened her. "Yes." She whispered.
"I don't understand you. You don't understand me. What else do we have in common?" "Understand me? What's not to get?" She asked. "Merlin! Everything. You're so headstrong and professional, and then two second later you're spontaneous and carefree. I don't know how to deal with that." They looked into each other's eyes and laid back down. "Can we be open with each other from now on?" Draco asked. "That's the only way that this is going to work, isn't it." "Don't ask me, you're the know-it-all." He teased. "Shut-up, you cockroach." She said as she hit him with a pillow.