Author's Note: So I got in trouble for not doing this the first time I posted this - but there is one chapter left after this.
Best Friends and Boyfriends
Hermione spotted Harry and Ron across the Entrance Hall and hurried outside. She really didn't feel up to a confrontation with the boys right now and had been avoiding them for the past few days, which had just made them look angrier and angrier with her. Unfortunately, today she was out of luck - she barely got across the courtyard before she felt someone grab her arm and spin her around.
"You can't keep running away from this, Hermione. You have to talk to us eventually," Ron said.
"I wasn't aware that I was the one who'd been giving you the silent treatment."
"We need to discuss this."
"Are you going to talk to me or are you going to just scream at me?"
"We want to understand."
Hermione looked at Harry's closed off face. He didn't look like he wanted to understand at all.
"Are you sure? Maybe you do, Ron, but I don't think Harry does."
"I don't think I can understand," Harry replied. "But I do want to know why."
"Feelings aren't easily explained. It's not like I woke up one morning and thought 'you know what? I think I'll fall in love with Draco Malfoy today. That should shake things up around here.' It just happened."
"How can it 'just happen' with someone like him?" he asked, frustrated.
"Because he's not the bad person you think he is. I spent time with him, I got to know him and he's different once you get past the prickly exterior."
Harry snorted. "Please, Hermione, are you really going to give us that old chestnut?"
"It's true! How can you suddenly think so differently about Snape but you can't think the same way about Draco?"
"Snape's actions showed us the true quality of his character."
"So did Draco's! We know what kind of pressure he was under. You said yourself that he couldn't go through with murdering Dumbledore - he lowered his wand - and he didn't tell Bellatrix who you were at Malfoy Manor. His reluctance to follow through any order he was given as a Death Eater shows that he wasn't capable of being such a person!" she cried passionately.
"Are you really trying to make out that Malfoy being a massive coward is some kind of redeeming feature?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yes, I am. He was a coward in the sense that he knew deep down that he was doing the wrong thing. He lacked the conviction to fully throw himself into his role as Death Eater. Is that really cowardice? Or is that wanting to do the right thing but not having a clue how to go about it?"
"Merlin, Hermione. He's really done a number on you if you're spouting such rubbish," Ron scoffed.
"Oh right! That must be it! Stupid Hermione is too naïve to be able to tell the difference herself. Or maybe it's because I have some weird fetish for Dark Wizards. Is that it, Ron?" she yelled.
"You are always too compassionate for your own good. Malfoy sells you some sob story about how misguided he was and you drop your knickers for him," Ron responded crudely.
Hermione flinched as if he'd hit her. She felt hurt that he would throw such a thing in her face. "You really think that about me?" she asked quietly.
"We think you are inexperienced with guys and you are keen to always believe the best in people," Harry jumped in.
"I'm not an idiot. When will you get that?"
"When you make better decisions."
"I've stood by you in every decision you made, Harry, even when I disagreed with them. I do one thing – one thing –that you disagree with and you're so quick to judge."
"This is hardly a small little mistake," he countered.
"And neither was the Department of Mysteries."
Harry drew back, his face as white as paper. He raised a shaking finger towards her. "You know the circumstances around that," he hissed. "That was hardly comparable to this situation."
She chewed her lip. She felt bad that she had thrown that in his face, but was tired of always being held accountable when neither Harry nor Ron was. "Look, I didn't bring that up to say it was your fault. I was just pointing out that this isn't as black or white as you are making out, either."
"It's a damn sight more black and white than that was," Ron growled.
Hermione wearily rubbed her eyes. "You know what? You can happily exist in a world where you keep all your prejudices from before Voldemort's demise, but I'm not going to reside there with you. I won't be held back by petty grievances."
"What we feel about Malfoy is hardly petty," Harry interrupted.
"No, it's not. But if you gave him a chance, you'd see that there needn't be grievances at all."
"What? He's going to say sorry for all the shit he's caused over the years?"
"Yes," she replied simply.
"Please, Hermione! Get your head out of the sand," Harry scoffed.
"He apologised to me."
"Yeah, because he knows a soft touch when he sees one," Ron mocked.
"Oh right! Because that makes so much more sense than the fact that he might actually be sorry."
"It's Malfoy. He's a git."
"Is that your answer to everything?"
"What other answer is there?" Ron insisted stubbornly.
She shock her head sadly as she looked at her best friends. "You know, I feel sorry for you. You're so narrow-minded that you cannot see the good in people."
"Not people like Malfoy."
"Then I guess we have nothing to say to each other."
"Don't walk away, Hermione!" Ron shouted.
"Why not? Are you going to actually listen to anything I have to say or are you just going to demand I break up with him?"
Harry and Ron only stared at her. She gave them time to answer but they said nothing. "I thought so," was all she said before walking away.
She waited until she out of their sight before she collapsed against the nearest wall. Arguments with Harry and Ron always left her feeling shaky and vulnerable and today was no exception. All this emotional upheaval was playing havoc with her N.E.W.T preparations.
Ginny watched the argument from the top of the stairs into Hogwarts. The rift between Harry, Ron and Hermione was actually widening. She had thought that Harry would start to calm down after the conversation she'd had with him, but that had been days ago now, and he was still incandescent with rage over the situation, having worked himself back up over it. Ron would be easier to bring around if Harry wasn't so adamant that Hermione had lost her mind.
Ginny was officially stuck in the middle. She was trying her hardest to make Hermione's case with the boys, but they were stubbornly refusing to listen. She could see that a lot of it was wounded pride. For some reason, Harry was convinced that Hermione wouldn't be with Malfoy if he had known about her interaction with the Slytherin earlier. However, Ginny doubted that. Hermione wouldn't have stopped helping Malfoy because Harry demanded it, just as she refused to stop dating him now because Harry ordered her to.
Ginny sighed and slowly made her way down the steps.
"When are the pair of you going to accept it?" she asked, coming up behind them.
"How can we accept that?" Ron asked belligerently.
"Because it's what she wants. Would you have listened if she had told you that you couldn't be with Hannah?"
"That's different. Hannah isn't some slimy snake who made our lives a misery."
"Imagine it was Parkinson, then. If you felt for her the way that you do for Hannah, would you give her up because Hermione told you to do so?"
"Ginny! Have you lost your mind? I'd have more luck imagining myself with Buckbeak!"
She rolled at her eyes at her brother and turned to Harry. "You're doing nothing more than driving her further into the arms of Malfoy. I didn't think you'd be this stubborn about it."
Harry looked unsure of himself. "I don't know why I can't accept it. I just…can't."
Try!" she commanded. "Before you lose her for good. If you don't buck up your ideas, that's what will happen."
Harry looked at her and she could read the conflict in his eyes. It was obvious that he missed his friend but his stubborn inability to listen to what Hermione was telling him, and his desire to hold on to his hatred of Malfoy - justified or not - was destroying any attempt to try and get him to see reason over this. But at least he wasn't completely dismissing her words.
"I'll try," he said with a nod.
Ron just snorted, but Ginny ignored him. Her brother was full of righteous anger over the situation, but if Harry backed down and grudgingly accepted the situation, then he would, too.
Ginny, pleased that she had made Harry think, walked back into the castle.
Hermione stayed outside, hidden away around the back of the castle for the rest of lunch. She wasn't remotely hungry and her stomach was a swirling mass of nerves and had been for days. So she sat and contemplated what to do if Harry and Ron wouldn't forgive her. She was never going to ditch Draco because they told her to do so. Besides, giving them that much power over her was not a smart idea. They would get ideas that they could meddle in her love life whenever they wanted. But she also didn't want to give up on her friendship with them. Yes, they were being infuriating and stubborn and – frankly - gits about the whole thing, but she knew it came from love and concern for her. It didn't excuse their impossible behaviour but she couldn't hate them for it. She could never hate them.
She heard the bell go for the start of afternoon classes and slowly got to her feet, wiping the dried grass off her robes. At least she'd have a break from their glares as she had Arithmancy next, although that brought a whole new set of problems in the form of Dean and Seamus. Not that Hermione was going to give them the time of day. If she wasn't listening to Harry and Ron then she sure as hell wasn't listening to them.
As she rounded the corner to the Arithmancy classroom, she saw Draco anxiously waiting by the door. He saw her and his tense expression loosened. "There you are!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry, I spent lunch outside."
He came up to her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "I was worried."
"I had a run-in with Harry and Ron and I didn't feel like coming back in to eat."
His expression darkened. "What did they say now?"
"Nothing new. I think they are still hoping I'll get rid of you."
Draco scowled. "Hey!" she said. "It's not going to happen."
"I wish Potter would pull his head out of his arse."
She smiled. "Would you do things any differently if it was Pansy dating Harry?" she asked, unconsciously echoing Ginny.
He clenched his jaw. "Pansy would never be so brain dead."
She raised an eyebrow. "And the situation between us is so different because?"
"I'm not a prick like Potter."
"That's debatable."
He ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I see your point," he conceded grudgingly.
"See, that wasn't too hard."
"That's what you think," he mumbled.
"I wish I knew when he'll come to terms with it."
Draco looped his arm around her shoulder as he steered her into the classroom. "He'll come round. Probably when he wants to borrow an essay for revision," he said, kissing her temple.
Hermione wanted to hope it would be that easy but she knew it wouldn't be the case. At least Draco was trying to make her feel better about the whole situation rather than firing up and adding to her woes with his ranting.
She probably would have been less sanguine about Draco's reaction if she knew what was going through his head. He'd observed her problems with her two best friends with a deepening gloom. He wasn't stupid and understood that they wouldn't work in the long run if Potter and Weasley didn't come to terms with their relationship. Stubbornness and a desire not to be dictated to would only get them so far, but Granger would not be happy if she didn't make it up with her friends soon and it would start to take a toll on their relationship and nothing would break them up quicker.
It might have taken Draco a while to come to terms with his feelings for her, but once he had accepted and acted on them, he was in for the long haul. He wasn't going to give her up without a fight and if that meant having to do what he was about to do then so be it. It was worth the hit on his pride if it meant that she could be happy and at peace.
The whispers and glares of others would mean nothing to Granger if she had her two best friends standing by her side. But with them remaining so angry with her, the stares were beginning to get her down. He felt it in the tensing of her shoulders as they'd walked into the Arithmancy classroom where Finnigan and Thomas had glared at her and curled their lips in distaste. She'd looked stricken and he knew she cried during the night about it as he'd woken up more than once as she suppressed her sobs into her pillow.
He had been a loss to know what to do, but with his newfound conviction, he was more positive about the whole situation. There was no way he was going to allow a bunch of outsiders to break them up. He'd spent his life living according to the dictates of others and wasn't settling for that any more. He had her and was damned if he was going to let her go. He could feel the glares of Thomas to the side of him so threw the Gryffindor a smirk. Fuck him and fuck every other judgemental bastard out there.
Draco waited until Potter was coming back up from Quidditch practice that evening. He placed himself by the door and intercepted the Boy-Who-Lived when he entered the Entrance Hall.
"Potter, if I could have a word?" There was no way he was adding a 'please' to it.
The small group around Potter stopped and stared at him. Weasley had his mouth open in surprise - how Granger had ever found him attractive, he would never know - whilst her other best friend was frowning at him.
"In your own time, Potter," he drawled.
The Gryffindor Captain waved the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team away and soon Draco was left with just him and Weasley. "I was hoping we could talk alone."
"I'm not going anywhere alone with you, Malfoy. Last time that happened, you put me in a Body-Bind Curse and assaulted me."
"This is an invitation rather than you sneaking around in your Cloak of Invisibility, eavesdropping on conversations that are none of your business."
"You becoming a Death Eater was very much my business. It should be Hermione's, too."
"Are we going to stand here and rehash history or do you actually want to know what I have to say to you?"
"I'm not sure I want to hear anything you have to say."
"Fine! Well, I'm more than willing to tell Granger that I tried but you weren't interested."
The Chosen One took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Okay, spit it out then."
"Get rid of the sidekick."
"Hey!" Weasley protested.
"This is between you and I, Potter - it always has been. Weasley is superfluous to this conversation."
"Fuck you, Malfoy. I have as much right to be here as Harry does."
Draco didn't even bother looking at the ginger Gryffindor. He kept his eyes trained on Potter and he saw the acceptance in his green eyes.
"Ron, let me talk to Malfoy alone."
"What?! No! I should be here too."
Potter turned to face Weasley. "Let me hear what he's going to say."
"That's not fair! She's my friend as well."
"I know! But he wants to talk to me. I doubt it's going to be anything illuminating, but I might as well hear him out."
Draco smirked as Weasley looked as if he was going to have a full-blown tantrum. He finally glared at them both before stomping off.
"Toodle-loo, Weasel," Draco called out mockingly.
"Fuck you, Malfoy," Weasley growled back.
"Yeah, you're making me regret bothering to listen to you already," Potter said.
"Neither of us would be here if it wasn't for Granger, so save the martyr bullshit for someone who buys it."
"What she sees in you is a mystery."
"I could say exactly the same thing about you."
"Get on with it then."
Draco took a minute to compose himself. The other boy always managed to rile him up, but for the sake of Granger, he was going to have to battle against the instinct to hit out at the speccy git.
"What are you doing to Granger?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb. It doesn't suit you."
"Did you just want to insult me or do you actually have something to say?"
He ran his hand through his hair. "Look, this isn't easy for me. I don't like you, I never have. You bring out the worst in me, but you are Hermione's best friend and you mean a lot to her."
"Thanks for that ground-breaking summary, Malfoy. I'm so glad I stopped to listen to it," Potter said sarcastically.
"Shut the fuck up for once and let me finish," he snapped. He waited for confirmation that he wouldn't be interrupted again. The Gryffindor nodded at him.
"She's miserable. This rift with you is breaking her apart. She doesn't want your blessing - she knows that's not going to happen - but she wants you to try and understand and to stop putting so much pressure on her."
"Why doesn't she come and say this to me herself?"
"You think she sent me to speak on her behalf? Engage that brain I think you possess. Would there be anyone worse than me coming to plead her case?"
"So why are you here?"
"Because you're not listening. I have no idea what that red-headed shrew you plan on calling your wife is saying, but, whatever it is, you're refusing to take it on board."
"And you think you have more of a chance."
"The fact that I'm here should tell you something."
"And that is?" Potter asked mulishly, not wanting to give an inch.
"You really are a stubborn arse," Draco said, amused. He'd usually get irritated with the Chosen One's intractability but Granger must be mellowing him.
"I may be stubborn, but I'm not the one who spent years making her life a misery."
"I'm not going to tell you what I told her as it's none of your business, but Hermione knows that I regret my previous behaviour."
"I hope she at least thought that, otherwise I'd be concerned for the state of her mind. Whether it's true or not is a different matter."
Draco could feel his temper rising. He struggled to not just tell the self-righteous prick to fuck off. He didn't appreciate having to bare his soul to someone who would throw it all back in his face.
"I'm here talking to you because I care for her."
"You care for her? Wow! That's profound."
It took all of his will power to swallow the retort he wanted to make. Instead, for the sake of his girlfriend, he allowed the sarcastic remark to pass. "This relationship is not what you think."
"And what am I thinking?"
"That I'm dating her as some kind of PR stunt."
"And I'm just meant to take your word for it?"
"No, but you are meant to trust her. She's decided that she wants to give our relationship a chance. You should trust her judgement."
"What if I think her judgement is clouded?"
"By what?"
"After the scene I witnessed, how about lust?"
Draco scoffed. "You really don't know Hermione if you think that. She weighs up everything and would never put her friendship with you on the line for something as fleeting as lust."
"How do I know you aren't using her?"
"You don't, I can only tell you that I'm not and that I love her. What you do with that information is up to you."
"You love her?"
"Why do you think I'm standing here, swallowing my pride, talking to you? If I didn't give a shit about her then I wouldn't care if you never spoke to her again."
Potter fidgeted with his broom, switching it from one hand to another. "What am I meant to do with that information?" he asked, confused.
"Stop being a prick and go and make up with her."
"And then what?"
"Accept my place in her life as I accept yours. I doubt we're ever going to be friends but she's not happy without you standing by her side. Maybe you should realise the same."
"When did you get so mature?"
He smiled grimly. "Azkaban has a funny way of doing that."
The Gryffindor stared at him wearily. "And if you make her unhappy?"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but if I do fuck this up then I give you permission to beat the shit out of me. I would deserve it."
Potter grunted before he reluctantly held his hand out for him to shake. Draco hesitated for a brief moment before he took him up on his offer. The significance of this, after all that had happened between them, was not lost on either wizard.
"I respect that you came to talk to me," Potter said begrudgingly.
He nodded curtly, refusing to be grateful for a few kind words from the Chosen One. "Tell your Gryffindors to lay off. No more hissed comments or giving Hermione the cold shoulder, and make sure Thomas doesn't confront her again."
Potter frowned. "Dean spoke to her about this?"
"He shouted at her and gave her a hard time. I don't appreciate it when she comes to me in tears, upset."
"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. She doesn't deserve that."
"She doesn't deserve her two best friends treating her as if she's some kind of pariah, either," Draco commented, observing the guilty look that passed over Potter's face with satisfaction.
"I'll talk to her," The Gryffindor muttered.
"No, you'll do more than talk: you'll apologise and make it up to her."
It looked as if Potter was going to rebel for a moment, but resignation settled across his features and he nodded, before walking away across the Entrance Hall and upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.
Draco flexed his shoulders, releasing the tension that had settled there since he'd come to the conclusion he'd have to speak to Granger's friend earlier that day. He wanted nothing more than to cuddle up next to his witch but, knowing Potter's character, he knew that the Gryffindor would be on his way to Hermione's quarters. He doubted that they would finish early. So he reluctantly headed down to the Slytherin dungeon. He hadn't slept there in weeks.
