Chapter 35 -
Present Day:
"Anthony, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, moving to the side, to hold the door open.
"May I come in, I really need to talk to you?" he said. Then, without waiting for her response, he barged in.
"How did you know I was here?" she asked.
"I went to your office and your assistant said you took the day off today to help your mother and father paint," he explained. He looked around and said, "Where are your mum and dad?"
"Dad went to the office, he really didn't want to paint, and mum is making us some lunch." Hermione closed the door. She was weary having Anthony here, but she really did not think he would ever hurt her, especially here in her parent's house.
He asked, "Why aren't you at work today, anyway? Really?"
"Is that why you stopped by, to ask about my attendance record?" she asked, disgusted. "Listen, Anthony, say what you came to say, and then I would appreciate it if you would leave."
"Have you heard from Malfoy this morning?" he asked.
"I told you we aren't seeing each other anymore, why won't you believe that?" she asked.
He said, "Why not indeed." He looked around nervously and said, "Where is your mum again?"
"In the kitchen," Hermione stated. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
He took two steps closer to her and said, "I know that wasn't Zabini's tie. I know it was Malfoy's." Her silence and shocked demeanor confirmed his accusation. He asked, "Did you think I was stupid? If you continue to play with fire, you will be burned."
"You are full of it!" she said. "You need to leave, now. You are being melodramatic. Just say what you really came to say. If you came to make accusations, you made them, now leave. If you came to quote little words of wisdom, you have done that, too. I really do not see any reason for us to keep talking. We are not friends anymore. And while we are on the subject of the blame game, you aren't without fault, you know."
"What have I done?" he asked.
"Two words," Hermione said, "Percy Weasley."
"What about Percy?" he asked, confused.
"I overheard you and Blaise talking in Blaise's apartment. I know what you are, and what you've done, and as soon as it can be proved, you will go to prison for a very long time!" Hermione opened the door back up and said, "Now, leave, before I call the Aurors."
He rushed up to her so suddenly, she was caught unaware. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into a table that was against the wall in the foyer. A vase with flowers, which were on the table, fell over in the fight. He shook her hard and said, "What do you know? Tell me what you mean! What do you think you overheard between Blaise and I!"
Mrs. Granger rushed from the kitchen into the foyer. She saw the vase and flowers on the floor, her daughter backed up against the wall, and Anthony Goldstein hovering over her. Hermione and Anthony both looked at her as she walked through the door.
"Anthony, I think Hermione asked you to leave," Mrs. Granger said, in a stern but steady voice.
Anthony let Hermione go so suddenly that she slipped down the wall. He turned back toward them and said, "You are making a huge mistake dismissing me, Hermione!" He walked out the door and slammed it hard behind him.
Hermione stood up and said, "Dad will have to finish the living room the good old fashion way. I have to go to see Harry."
Hermione went home, changed, and went right to Harry's office. She ran in without knocking. He stood up when he saw her enter. He said, "You really shouldn't run in here without knocking. I might have been doing something embarrassing."
"What type of embarrassing things do you do in your office?" Hermione asked with a look on her face, which denoted disgust.
"What did you do in your office the last time you were there?" Harry asked.
"Good point," she admitted. "Hey, how do you know what I did that last time I was in my office?"
"Never mind that, where have you been? The Aurors that were watching you didn't know where you had gone and you weren't home, or here!"
"My assistant knew where I was, I was helping my mum at home," she said.
"Well, your assistant never told us that!" Harry spat.
Hermione said, "Get that wand out of your arse, Harry! Did you even ask her? Why can't I take a bloody day off every now and again! First Anthony gets angry because I took a day off, and now you do."
"When did you see Anthony?" Harry asked her.
"That's why I came down here, and if you would just shut up I would tell you! He came to my mum and dad's house. He told me he knew that Draco and I were still seeing each other. He made some threats, got physically abusive, and then he left."
"Physically abusive?" he asked. She removed her jacket and showed him the large bruises that were forming on her arms. "Well, we are looking for the bastard," he said, as he gently touched one of the bruises. "He confronted Draco last night in the stairwell, apparently he knew Draco was in the office with you, and he knew it was Draco's tie because Draco was missing a tie when he pretended to drop by to see you. He waited for Malfoy, and then he threw a curse at him. Nothing too serious, but it left him incapacitated for a while."
She immediately became worried. "Is he okay?"
"Yes, he's perfectly fine, and he will get out of St Mungos this afternoon."
"He's in St Mungos?" she screeched.
"Did you not hear the 'he's perfectly fine' part?" Harry asked.
"I need to go see him," she said.
"No, you don't. You need to stay here, and let me tell you, with Goldstein on the loose, you will have a 24-hour guard, whether you want it or not. Malfoy will be fine, he didn't even want us to tell you," Harry said.
Hermione's face fell. He did not want to see her. "Does he blame me?" she asked.
"Don't be stupid, Granger," Blaise said as he walked in the office.
"Seriously, does no one know how to knock?" Harry asked.
"Blaise, have you heard from Anthony?" Hermione asked.
"Not at all, but I heard about Draco. I just came back from seeing him and they have already let him go. He's a bit sore, but no worse for wear," Blaise offered.
Hermione turned to look at Harry and asked, "Why would Anthony just want to hurt him? If he were not above killing Percy, why wouldn't he want to kill Malfoy, too? In addition, I thought he wanted Draco to win. None of this is making any sense at all to me, and I don't like it one bit," she said.
"I feel the same, but I don't have time to discuss it right now. I have work to do. Either go home or stay right here at the office Hermione. No roaming around," Harry warned.
"I want to go see Draco," she said.
Blaise said, "That's why I am here. He asked me to come and to tell you that he doesn't think you two should see each other until this all blows over, just for your own sake. Also, there are all sorts of press there. It's not everyday a prominent business man and perhaps the future Minister of Magic is attacked right here in the Ministry."
"But if Anthony knows everything, then we don't have to hide any longer," she said.
"Either way, until the election is over, Malfoy said he doesn't want to see you," Blaise said.
Harry said, "Hermione, I think it's for the best, and actually, he said basically the same thing to me."
"What?" she asked, obviously hurt and confused.
"Sorry, Hermione," Blaise said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Malfoy told me how you were going to ask me to take you to the black tie event tomorrow. He thinks it would be a good idea if we went together, so if you will have me, I would like to take you."
Hermione felt overwhelmed. "Sure, whatever." She walked down the hallway, her hand skimming the wall as she went. Draco didn't want to see her right now. Why? She thought it was ironic that only a short month ago she would have liked nothing better than to curse Malfoy herself, but now, she loved him, and she only wanted him safe. She had loved him for a very long time, actually. She went to her office, shut the door, and collapsed on the sofa. She wanted this bloody election over with immediately!
Flashback:After lunch, Hermione went right to Harry's office. She poked her head in and said, "Knock, knock, what are you up to, Mr. Potter?""Not much, Miss Granger, and why are you in such a chipper mood?" he asked.She came and sat on his desk and said, "Can you keep a secret?""Can I keep a secret?" Harry laughed. "That's like asking me if I have a lightning bolt scar on my forehead. I think I can keep a secret.""I've made a decision," she said, swinging her legs back and forth. He grinned at her. He motioned with his hands for her to continue. "I am finally going to ask Draco Malfoy out on a date!""Oh, my worse nightmare, after the return of Voldemort, has come true," Harry whined. She hit his arm. He said, "So his feelings for you are finally reciprocated?""Apparently, and he kissed me after lunch today," she said with glee.Harry made a sour face and said, "No, that's my worse nightmare after Voldemort coming back. Yuck, you kissed Malfoy." Hermione hit his arm harder this time. He said, "In my defense, he isn't one of my favourite people you know, but I know he's had feeling for you for a while. We've discussed it, you see, he and I.""Oh really," she said, drawling out the 'really'. "Discussing me with Malfoy, are you?""I say it's high time one of you made a move, so go ahead and ask him out. While I will never really like him, he has changed, and for the better, and he cares for you, so whether you want it or not, you have my blessing. Just don't ever kiss him in front of me."Hermione swatted at his arm again. She jumped off his desk and said, "Do you know what this news conference is about? Anthony told me about it at lunch."He came to stand, put a file away, and said, "The gossip is that someone else is going to be throwing their hat in the old election ring. You are going to have some competition, Hermione!" Harry smiled at her."I like competition," she said, matter of fact."Yes, well, maybe this person, whoever he or she is, might win and you won't have to take a job you don't want," Harry said. She had never come out and said she didn't want the job, but he knew she didn't, and for many of the same reasons he didn't want the job when it was offered to him. She, like Harry, preferred to stay out of the limelight, and thought they could have more power to change things it they didn't have to worry about being in power. "Do you want to escort me the lobby in ten minutes, Hermione? We will see for ourselves what this business entails.""Meet me by the stairs," she said. She hopped off his desk and started down the hallway.She saw a familiar blond head. She ran up to meet him. She touched his arm, and said, "Draco?"He turned around. She smiled, but he had a slight frown on his face. However, it melted and was replaced by a smile when he saw it was she. He looked at the man he was walking with and said, "Give me a moment, won't you?" The man nodded and walked away."I'm sorry," Hermione said. "If you are busy, I won't take up your time.""I'm not busy, well, I will be soon, but not at the moment," he said."Are you here for the press conference?" she asked.He knew at that moment that she had not heard the news. "Yes, I am," he confessed."I wonder who's running against me," she asked aloud. He shrugged. "I wanted to ask you something, Draco." She froze on the spot. She did not know if she had the nerve to ask him. He took her elbow and led her to the wall, so they were away from all the people walking toward the middle of the hallway."Ask me what you may," he said, smiling. He was dying with anticipation. He knew that kiss today was the right move. Maybe she was going to ask him for another kiss. If so, he was willing and able.She stared up at him for a long time. The man he was walking with earlier came back and said, "Malfoy, come on, we are going to be late. The press conference is in three minutes.""In a minute!" Draco snapped at the man. He walked her further down the hallway. He said, "Please, what did you want?""Are you going to the press conference?" she asked."Yes, is that what you wanted to asked me?" he asked, somewhat disappointed."No, it's just, I thought maybe you were here stalking me again, but you are here for the press conference," she said, but more to herself."I could stalk you later," he joked."It's a date," she said boldly."What?" What did she say?"After the press conference, you and I should get together, do something, have some coffee, or maybe, I don't know, just do something. It's a date. A date." She had trouble breathing and her stomach was doing cartwheels, she was so nervous. She felt like she was going to have emergency diarrhea, she was so nervous. And he was just staring at her. If she was alone, she would bang her head on the wall and say, 'stupid, stupid, stupid'. When his silence continued she said, "I was joking, and I forgot what I really wanted to ask you."She turned and practically ran down the hall. He ran toward her and reached out for her arm. He spun her around."No!" he practically shouted."No?" she asked. No what?"No, you weren't joking, not really, were you?" he asked. All his words came out jumbled, and he knew he was making a bloody fool of himself. He finally said, "How about we go out tonight, for dinner, or whatever you would like? Do you think that is something we could do? Dinner? Tonight?" He had one thought, and it was this: He was an idiot.Now it was her turn for complete and utter silence. The man from earlier said, "Now, Malfoy!" and he started to pull on Draco's arm. He maintained eye contact with Hermione as he was pulled down the hall.Harry came up to Hermione and said, "Come on, Hermione, the press conference is starting." He started to pull her down the hall also. Soon they had caught up with Draco and the other man. She looked at Draco and nodded."Is that a yes?" Draco shouted over all the people.All she could do was nod again, as she was now too far away to speak to him, unless she wanted to yell. Bloody hell, Draco was going to announce his candidacy for Minister of Magic, and the ONLY reason he was going to run in the beginning was to get Granger finally to notice him, and now, she agreed to go out with him, before the news conference. In fact, she asked him out first, he was just too dumbstruck to answer.He waited to be announced to the press and he had a terrible thought. What if this all backfired. What if she was upset that he was running against her? No, Anthony Goldstein made it perfectly clear that Hermione didn't even want the post. Draco had even asked Harry, and Harry more or less said the same thing. Maybe she would be grateful that he was running. Perhaps he was saving her from a fate worse than death, and besides, he rather wanted the job, after all. He would make a good Minister of Magic, and he would have the prettiest undersecretary that any Minister ever had, well, except for Percy Weasley, since he was referring to the same person.He stepped up to the podium, made his announcement, stood in the glory of applause, looked out at the crowd, and saw the woman he had a date with, and she had a frown on her face. Why was she frowning? She looked right at him, shook her head no, and ran away, with Harry on her heels.
After the press conference, Draco went to Hermione's office. Her assistant told him that she went home. He apparated to her front door and rang the bell. When she did not come to the door, he started to bang on it. He started to call her name. She heard. She was on the other side.Somehow, he could sense her presence on the other side of the door. He leaned up against the door and said, "Hermione, hear me out, please open the door." He waited and got no response. "Listen, I know this is rotten timing, but one thing doesn't have to do with the other. You will see, we can go out tonight, and have a wonderful first date. I have been waiting for this date for a lifetime. Please, Hermione, open the door."She opened the door. She was not about to let him in, however. She said, "Why didn't you tell me that you were running against me? You must have known I would not be pleased. You kissed me today..."He interrupted, "We kissed each other!""...and all the while you knew that you were going to make that announcement! Did you want to make a fool out of me? Oh lord," she suddenly put her hand up to her mouth, "I told Harry that I was going to ask you out today!""One thing doesn't have anything to do with the other!" he repeated."Oh, Malfoy, you are either incredibly blind or incredibly dense! They have everything to do with each other. I cannot go out with you now! How would it look to the public? I don't even want to go out with you now! Go away Draco, just go away." She slammed the door while he stood on her threshold. He put his hands back up on the wood of the door, and banged the door hard twice. "Granger!" he shouted.She opened the door again and said, "I hate you Malfoy, I really, really do! I was a fool to think otherwise!""You thought otherwise? When did you think otherwise? All you have ever done is treated me with contempt and maligned my character at ever turn! I've tried and tried with you, Granger, and you know what? I'm through! I give up! You say you hate me, fine, hate me. I love you! There, you have it. I love you. I always have and I probably always will and you know what that makes me, Granger?" He pushed her so that he was standing partly in her doorway. "That makes me the world's biggest fool! You know what else? I am going to crush you! I am going to beat you so badly that in the end, not one person will want to vote for you!" He turned around and left. She slammed the door, even though he was no longer there, but still, she felt a slam was fitting.
Present Day:
Hermione stood outside the door of Draco Malfoy's flat. She had knocked twice, but there was no answer. She was told he was released from St Mungos, so where was he? Maybe he went to his parent's house. She was about to leave when he opened the door.
"You should leave, Hermione."
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine, but we really shouldn't see each other, not as long as Goldstein is still out there. Let's not push fate." He started to shut the door.
She put her hand on the door panel and said, "But this is just for appearance sake, right? After the election, we can see each other?"
"We'll see," he said. He was joking, but he knew it wasn't a joke to her when he saw the tears that came immediately to her eyes.
"What?" she said in a weak, pathetic voice.
"Come here, Granger, you silly thing," he said. He pulled her to him and put his arms around her now sobbing body. He smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead. "Do you seriously think I would turn you away? Did you think I would give you up that easily?" He kissed her right temple, and then her right eye, tasting her salty tears. "I love you, Granger, and no matter what, I won't ever give you up again."
"You scared me," she said, as she tried to stop crying. "I thought I mucked it all up."
"What did you do wrong?" he asked. "I really do think we shouldn't be together until the election, however. I will get to see you, although from afar, tomorrow night at the black tie event. Now, I know you have two little Aurors following you. I see them lurking in the hallway right now. I know you will be safe, so go home, take a hot bath, and dream of me," he said, and he kissed her lips as soft as a caress.
"Always. I always dream of you," she said in return. She touched his face and turned to the Aurors. She said, "I guess I am going to my house, gentlemen." She turned back to look at him and smiled. He smiled back.