October 26th, 2011

A/N: Dang, you people really like your Dramione. This story has gotten more hits than some of my older ones in around one month. Anyway, if you guys have the time, check out my profile and choose which fan fictions of mine you like the best so far. And for those of you anticipating a big Ron bashing, I'm not going to do that. I don't think he was a bad person at all, he just wasn't right for Hermione. If anything, I think she would break up with him. I don't know. You guys tell me what you think! Sorry I haven't updated for a while; I've been rewriting The Legacy Continues bit by bit. Another big thanks to kitcat234 for being the best beta reader a little amateur like me could have (:

Chapter Six

Hermione drummed her fingers against the kitchen counter at the Burrow nervously, worrying her bottom lip. It was September 12th, a week before her twenty first birthday, and she and Gina planned on opening their day care on September 13th. To top off the mountain of stress Hermione was dealing with, she still hadn't managed to show Ron the building quite yet. He was always busy with work, because as a new Auror he had a lot of desk jobs to handle, and she was in a flurry trying to get all of her preparations done.

Well, it's now or never, Hermione thought, standing up and abandoning her mug of tea, which was warm and untouched, even though she had been sitting in front of it for ten minutes. She wandered to the living room, because she had heard some exclamations of protests a while back, and figured Harry and Ron were playing some sort of game.

"'Mione, care to join us?" Harry asked, grinning at the curly-haired witch. He and Ron were playing Muggle video games on a T.V. Arthur had found and tampered with. There were glitches left when he was finished, so Hermione had taken it upon herself to fix it all the way, and the Weasley men had been attached to it ever since.

Hermione shook her head, a slight smile etched on her face. "No, thank you, Harry…I'm not that big on video games. Ron? Can I talk to you for a bit?"

Harry snorted, his eyes never straying from the television screen. "Words to fear, mate. Good luck." He continued to press buttons and the like, shouting when he died in the virtual world.

The Boy Who Lived or not, Harry is still just a boy.

Ron got to his feet reluctantly and followed his girlfriend of three years out of the room. He probably wouldn't have been anxious if Harry had kept that comment of his to himself.

"What's up, 'Mione?" Ron smiled at her, seeming to relax a bit when Hermione handed him a mug of his own.

"Well, I thought that if you weren't busy today," Hermione started, thinking that if Ron had time to play video games with Harry, he had plenty of time to see where she would be working, "you could come and see the building," she finished, sipping at her tea.

Ron scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders, which were well-muscled after so many months of Quidditch and Auror training. "I don't see why not."

Hermione held back on voicing her inner thoughts. Why did Ron have to act like whatever he did was a blessing for her? Hermione mentally berated herself. She tended to jump to the worst conclusions, and she was trying to rid herself of that bad habit. Ron deserved better.

"Come on, then," Hermione said cheerfully. She took hold of Ron's arm and apparated to the front of her soon-to-be daycare.

Ron's expression screamed This is it? He didn't say anything, though, so neither did Hermione. They kept the conversation polite, but it seemed wrong to the latter, like something was off.

"You guys have signed the papers and everything?" Ron asked, breaking the silence that had lapsed between the couple.

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The entire Weasley clan knew that she and Gina owned the cottage-like building. Even little Victoire had uttered something that resembled a "Congratulations" after prompting from her parents.

"Yes, Ronald," Hermione replied shortly. The use of his full name was not lost on Ron, who continued staring at the sign in front of Hermione's daycare in bemusement, like he couldn't believe what was right in front of his eyes and didn't understand what he had done wrong. Typical Ronald.

Draco was on his way back from an emergency call at St. Mungo's, and found that he was instead walking to Hermione's daycare. He hadn't expected that, nor had he expected that Hermione and the Weasel would be there as well.

He stood watching them for a moment, his hands shoved into his coat pockets. Normally he would have cast a warming charm on himself, but Draco had wanted to explore Muggle London, and he knew he would get some odd looks if he strolled around without a jacket.

Eventually, Draco decided he was being far too timid for a Malfoy, and approached Hermione and her boyfriend.

"Hey there, Hermione," Draco said with a slight smile. His gray eyes swiveled over to Ron and he acknowledged the indignant redhead with a curt nod. The bloke couldn't be that bad, if he was revisiting Hermione's new workplace willingly.

Hermione turned around and beamed at him. "Oh, hi, Draco! What are you doing here?"

Draco shrugged, and although he kept his eyes on Hermione, he also knew that Ron was glaring daggers at his head.

"I was in the area and I ended up here, I guess," he told Hermione, who blinked at him. Prompted by the confusion shown in Hermione's way of acting, he continued. "I got an emergency call from the hospital and decided fresh air would do me some good."

Hermione nodded, accepting that answer, and focused on her daycare again. Ron was silent, but that was for the best, because he would surely attack Draco if the two started to have an actual conversation. Hermione didn't need a repeat of her first six years at Hogwarts. Going through those encounters once was quite enough for her.

"So you're a healer now?" Ron asked, out of the blue. Didn't he just say he was coming back from St. Mungo's? Hermione thought, biting her tongue.

Draco glanced at Hermione and smirked; he had an idea of her line of thought. He didn't comment on it, and for that she was grateful.

"Have been for the past year," Draco said, removing one hand from his jacket to run it through his hair. "That's why I went back to Hogwarts for my last year. Sadly, you still need N.E.W.T.s to become a healer."

Hermione snorted and covered it with a cough. Draco caught her eye and grinned. Luckily, Ron didn't notice. He was too busy sputtering indignantly, until he was pink in the face. Had Harry been there, he would have commented that Ron looked a bit like his Uncle Vernon.

"You bloody git!" Ron exclaimed. "You haven't changed at all, have you? You're just as arrogant and as much of an arsehole as you were during school!"

Fearing the worst, Hermione tried to calm Ron. "Ron, please, you're blowing this all out of proportion." Her words had no effect on him, though, and she turned large and scared brown eyes to Draco.

He had no idea what to do. He had meant the remark as a joke; he hadn't expected Ron to react the way he was. Caught up in his thoughts, Draco barely managed to duck a punch Ron threw his way. He took a step back, and he was met by a vision of Hermione desperately trying to hold her boyfriend back.

"Ron, stop it! Come on, let's just go home!"

Draco briefly reflected on the fact that Hermione hadn't said, "Let's just go back to your place", and had instead used the word "home", like she lived there too. He hadn't decided how he felt about that – the only reason he cared was because he was her friend – when he saw something that made him want to run, more than Ron's threats did.

"Draco!" a sweet, deceiving voice sang. Hermione froze, and during that time Ron managed to escape her hold, but he didn't attack Draco again. Everyone's gazes were fixed on the tall, willowy brunette heading their way.

"Astoria?" Draco shook his head in disbelief. So she was stalking him now. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

Hermione's mouth opened and closed. She had heard plenty of abuse about Astoria Greengrass, of course, but Draco had never mentioned how drop-dead gorgeous the woman was. Hermione knew Draco was a rare case of a man who had a good sense of mind and good morals as well, and yet she couldn't believe that he had truly resisted all of Astoria's advances steadfastly. No male in his right mind would ignore her; even Ron, who was in a committed relationship.

Astoria brushed back her chocolate brown hair to reveal a perfectly symmetrical face, and Hermione found that she was feeling more and more self-conscious by the second, especially since Ron was shamelessly ogling Astoria.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked. Hermione wasn't surprised when Astoria called him out for being rude and impolite.

"One would think you would greet your fiancé in a more respectful way, seeing as you were brought up in one of the oldest pureblood families in existence," Astoria said, frowning.

Fiancé? Hermione thought. Draco was right. Astoria is off her rocker.

"You are engaged to her?" Ron stared at Draco, as if seeing him for the first time.

Hermione answered for Draco. "He was, and then they broke the engagement. I don't know why you're so interested." She attempted to appear indifferent, but she really did want Ron to reassure her in some way.

"How do you know so much about it?" The question was directed at Hermione this time, from Ron, and it caused the former to roll her eyes.

"Because I listen when someone talks to me," she snapped.

"Ouch," Draco said. Hermione gave him her death glare, but she was glad he was on her side. Ron simply wasn't being reasonable. That was another thing Hermione and Draco had in common – oblivious significant others.

Astoria addressed Ron and Hermione, if only because they were interrupting her conversation with Draco.

"And who are you two?"

Suddenly, Ron was part of the trio that helped bring down Voldemort and a professional, trained Auror once again. "I'm Ron Weasley." He held out a hand for Astoria to shake, but dropped it when it was ignored.

Astoria folded her arms. Hermione wouldn't realize it, but Draco knew Astoria was more curious about her identity than Ron's.

"Hermione Granger," she said as politely as she could to the repulsive woman in front of her.

Astoria regarded Hermione with contempt before she faced Draco again. "This is what you're filling your company with? A blood traitor and a mudblood?" She wrinkled her nose in distaste, and while Hermione was offended, it brought Ron back to himself.

As beautiful as a supermodel or not, Ron would hurt Astoria Greengrass for calling his girlfriend a mudblood, the worst insult of all in the wizard world.

Draco was ready to injure Astoria too, but he had a different mindset from Ron. Unlike the Weasel, Draco had connections, and he could ruin Astoria publicly, which would be a more terrible blow to her than any other assault.

The men had forgotten Hermione, though, and how she was more than capable of taking care of herself and fighting her own battles.

"I'm a mudblood and proud of it, Greengrass. I'm proof that no matter how 'pure' someone's blood is, it doesn't mean they're not ignorant pigs," Hermione said calmly, arching an eyebrow as if daring anyone to argue.

Astoria wasn't used to being attacked verbally, and to her face at that. She didn't know how to handle it. She looked to Draco to defend her, but there was no help there. Instead, the young Malfoy was smiling in an approving manner. Astoria couldn't believe what was happening.

Ron, taking advantage of Astoria's silence, drew Hermione aside and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. He would always love it when she stood up for herself like that; it proved everyone who ever doubted her wrong. He felt bad that he had acted the way he had, and when he and Hermione broke apart, Ron apologized.

"I'm sorry. It really is brilliant, and I'm very proud of you," he told her quietly with a shy smile.

Hermione kissed Ron's nose, and he took that as her accepting his apology, neither of them remembering that Draco and Astoria were watching.

"If there's one thing those two do right, it's making up," Astoria said in as innocent a tone she could manage.

"Don't even try," came the cold reply. Draco was a bit disconcerted – Weasley and Hermione had practically jumped each other. Had they no shame? Or at least respect for others? Draco didn't particularly care for public displays of affection; he never had, which had made Astoria's attempts at a relationship seem worse in his eyes. He didn't like it when he was in the relationship himself, but when others were, it was too awkward for him.

Now what brought that around again…? Hermione wondered internally. Then she looked over her shoulder and saw Draco and Astoria, and promptly blushed. She wasn't embarrassed about showing that she loved Ron. What embarrassed her was that a person she barely knew had seen something so personal.

Hermione didn't pull out of Ron's embrace. She simply turned around so her back was pressed against his chest, and did her best to remain dignified.

"I'm sure Draco has made this quite clear already, but if you haven't noticed, he doesn't care for you in the way you want him to. And frankly, I don't believe you truly care about him either. You're either doing this because you parents want you to, or you think it will give you the best future. If you actually like Draco for himself, you'd do a better job about bringing him to feel the same," Hermione said matter-of-factly, her little speech directed towards Astoria.

"I do care about Draco!" Astoria responded with wide green eyes. Either she was an extraordinary actress, or she was telling the truth.

"Then you should prove that soon, else he'll find someone who treats him the way he deserves to be treated." Hermione nodded at Draco and smiled. "I'll see you later. Goodbye Draco." She covered Ron's hand with her own and apparated back to the Burrow, hoping that Draco and Astoria would sort out their differences.

Draco couldn't believe that Hermione had left him with Astoria. She had winked at him before she vanished into thin air with that Weasel of hers, and he was trying to figure out what that had meant. For once, Astoria reached the right conclusion ahead of Draco.

"Listen, Draco, please, just for a few minutes. That girl – that – the Muggleborn – she was right, and we do need to talk about all of this, and not only because my parents want this for us. I honestly do care about you, and I think we could learn to love each other once we get married," Astoria said, almost pleadingly. "Won't you just give me a chance?" It was taking all of her willpower to beg like that. Purebloods simply didn't ask for anything in that matter. It was beneath them, and Astoria was as proud as they came.

For the love of Merlin, I think she's not spinning lies for once, Draco thought, more than a little amazed. He knew how much of an effort Astoria was making to reach out to him. He sighed, and wished he hadn't changed for the better after the Battle of Hogwarts.

"One date, Astoria. You have one date to convince me. You've already gotten me to give you a second chance, so make the most of it."

A/N: Again, sorry this took so long. I started this four days ago, and then I kept getting interrupted. Remind me to not use my mother's laptop for writing, because she always kicks me off. Go check out kitcat234's work, and Wizard-Pupil's - she has a new story up and it's funny and creative, and, well, brilliant. Thanks for reading!

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