A/N: Hi guys, I hope you were all able to process the kiss I threw on you in the last chapter. This fic isn't even halfway over, so much more drama to come! I warned you. :)
Thanks to my beta Cecelia Everhart as usual.
On another note, I'm competing in the House Competition as a Stand-in for House Ravenclaw. I've already posted a drabble and a short story, and another themed piece will be up soon. So, go and check them out!
For that reason, I feel I should apologise for this chapter. I didn't have the time to edit it was thoroughly as usual, but I wanted to give you guys something to read!
Now, enough from me. Enjoy the following chapter and don't forget to review!
17. Meeting the Slytherins
Draco stared at her unblinking. He still felt Hermione's sweet kiss on his lips. Automatically, he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Merlin's Beard, she had actually kissed him. So much for taking it slow.
She wanted to try; she had said it out loud. He definitely had to reply something this instant as to not look like a prize idiot. "O-okay," he stuttered. "We try."
The radiant smile she gave him rewarded him at once.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "The food," he mumbled and hurried to the door. Quickly, he paid with the strange muggle money Hermione had lent him and returned to the table. In the meantime, Hermione had prepared plates and glasses and conjured some flowers to decorate the table.
"That smells wonderful," she said.
He nodded, unsure what to say. He felt the need to talk about that kiss, about what they were now, but he didn't dare to ask her or push her again.
She sighed and looked at him. "Stop overthinking this, Draco."
"I'm not," he mumbled and stuffed some noodles in his mouth.
"I can see the steam from here," she quipped.
"I just … what are we now?"
"I think the concept is generally referred to as boyfriend and girlfriend," she answered dryly.
He froze. Was she meaning what she had just said?
"Snap out of it!" Hermione interrupted his racing thoughts.
"You really want me to be your boyfriend?" He really couldn't believe it. He felt unworthy of her.
She paused, frowning. "Well, I can't deny my feelings for you. I still want to take it slow, but, as I just said, I want to try."
"Why?"
"Because it feels right," she answered simply. "Or have you changed your mind? I know I'm not what you had hoped for as a girlfr –"
He interrupted her in mid-sentence. "No, I haven't. Please, be my girlfriend."
She smiled. "Okay." Slowly, she took a bite of her food and then said, "Wow, we're officially dating now."
He grinned. "Does that mean I'm allowed to buy you a birthday present?"
She shrugged. "I suppose. But you don't need to spend money on me. That's not why …"
"I know," he reassured her quickly. "But I want to."
"I can't stop you, I guess."
He grinned. "Nope."
Silently, they finished their plates, both lost in their thoughts.
"Does that mean we'll tell the others?" he finally asked.
She winced. "Would you mind waiting a bit? It feels so rushed, and I'm not sure they'll understand."
"Fine by me. That means I can sleep peacefully at night, without having to worry about Potter or Weasley barging in and killing me in my sleep."
"They won't."
He smiled crookedly. "Are you sure? I'm not. But we'll have to tell them eventually."
"I know," she sighed. "Let's first survive this week and then we'll tell them."
"Fair enough."
The remaining days until Thursday passed quickly, with some innocent handholding and reading together in the sun. They had decided to tell his friends nothing about the relationship as it would only complicate things. He knew Hermione was really nervous about it, and he tried to reassure her as well as he could. He had also noticed that Hermione behaved slightly different now. She didn't push him away anymore, but she seemed to be cautious around him as if it were too good to last.
On Thursday, they spent the afternoon at his flat and then apparated together to the Leaky Cauldron. None of his friends were present, so they sat at the bar and chatted with Hannah Abbot, the landlady.
"Hi Hermione, I don't see you here very often," she greeted Hermione and looked askance at Draco, "Malfoy. What can I bring you both?"
"I'll start with some Dragon Scale. Thanks," Draco muttered.
"Me too," Hermione agreed. "We're meeting with some of Draco's friends. How's Neville?"
Hannah handed them their beer. "Oh, you know, new school year and all. He's quite happy to be back in Hogwarts. But nothing exciting has happened so far, only Myrtle flooded another corridor. Filch was in a fuss," Hannah chuckled. "I'll tell him you've been here."
"Thanks. Maybe we can meet up in Hogsmeade some time."
Draco noticed that Hannah's eyes constantly wandered between them. He barely remembered her from their time at Hogwarts, but she had been at Harry's birthday party. For the first time he noticed the ring on her finger. "You and Longbottom are married?" he enquired all of a sudden.
Her eyes narrowed. "Yes. Any problem with that?"
"No. I just didn't know," he answered calmly.
"Hannah, please, Draco's okay. We're working together," Hermione intervened.
"And that's it?" she asked pointedly.
"You've read the article," Hermione sighed.
Hannah blushed. "I didn't believe it of course, but now you're here … in a Pub, again, … meeting his friends."
"As long as Skeeter's not here," Draco mumbled and scanned the room.
"Impossible. She's banned from entering as a journalist. I want my guests to be left in peace."
"That's fortunate," Draco answered and tried to smile, but Hannah still seemed suspicious. Luckily, she was called by another customer and hurried away. "Puh," he sighed and touched Hermione's hand in passing.
"Sorry," she muttered, turning on the bar stool so that her knees touched his leg as if by accident. "She never got quite over you bullying her husband."
He groaned in jest. "Please don't make me apologise to Longbottom, too."
She grinned, but suddenly she froze. "Blaise is coming."
"All's well. Stay calm," he whispered and then turned to greet his friend. "Blaise!"
The tall Italian headed purposefully in their direction. "I wasn't quite sure why you wanted to hang out with all of us, but now I get it. Hello Granger." He winked.
"Call me, Hermione," she said smiling, at once captivated by his charm.
"Well, then Hermione, I'm Blaise," he smiled back. "Should we procure a table?"
"Fine," Draco mumbled, following his friend.
"So, tell me, what is this all about?"
"I wanted to meet you," Hermione threw in.
Blaise raised one eyebrow, and Draco was quite sure that he was figuring it out. "Fair enough," he only remarked and ordered some Firewhiskey.
A second later, the other three Slytherins arrived, worming their way through the crowded pub. Tracey smiled, but when she spotted Blaise, her smile died. Draco was cursing inwardly; he should have thought about that. Nevertheless, Tracey approached them, Theo and Daphne in tow.
"Hi Draco, Blaise, and …?" she faltered.
"Hermione," his girlfriend said at once and stood up. It was clear that Tracey hadn't stopped because she didn't know Hermione's name, but because there was the war heroine, best friend of Harry Potter, sitting on their table.
"What's she doing here?" Theo asked roughly, eying her with disgust.
"Hush, Theodore!" his fiancé Daphne exclaimed at once. "She's his girlfriend."
"You shouldn't believe everything that's in the papers," Blaise drawled, before Draco could say something. "And now sit down and be nice!"
Theo narrowed his eyes but sat down anyway. "I thought this was supposed to be something casual."
"It is," Hermione said firmly, albeit a bit pale. "I'm here as a friend."
Theo clenched his teeth, but said nothing more.
"You are working with Draco?" Tracey tried to break the ice.
"Yes. I'm Junior Assistant in MLE. At the moment we're working together on a law to improve –" Hermione started but was rudely interrupted by Theo.
"Nobody cares about that stupid law, Granger."
"Theo!" Draco and Daphne cried out at the same time.
"What do you do for work, Daphne?" Hermione asked without batting an eyelid.
The dark haired witch flinched. "I'm an assistant physician at St. Mungo's," she answered, avoiding Hermione's eyes.
"And do you like it?"
"Yes, I do." Very carefully, she looked up. "Hermione, I'm sorry for our last mee–"
"Don't mention it!" she interrupted her quickly, turning even paler. "And you, Theo?"
"I don't recall being on first name basis with you," Theo answered coldly, earning himself an elbow nudge from his fiancé. "I do freelance work," he admitted grudgingly, albeit not very informative.
"Blaise, you work at the ministry, right?"
Blaise nodded.
"And you Tracey?"
"I write for the daily prophet, like Ginny," the girl explained.
"Please don't tell me you work with Skeeter," Hermione tried to joke.
Tracey laughed. "Hell, no. I'm not a fan of gossip."
"Hermione, fancy seeing you here" a dark voice interrupted them, and Draco turned around. Pansy and McLaggen were standing right behind them.
"Cormac and Pansy." Hermione smiled weakly.
"Nice to see another Gryffindor between all those snakes," McLaggen remarked and took the empty seat next to Hermione. "So, you're Draco's girlfriend now. Wouldn't have expected that from you."
"We're not –" Hermione started but was interrupted by Pansy.
"You and Draco, how exciting! How did that happen? Cory and I met at a charity dinner at the Ministry …"
"What would you like to drink?" Hannah saved them from Pansy's babbling.
They all ordered quickly, trying to change the subject, but Pansy was unstoppable. " … we dated for a few weeks, but then Cormac received a contract for the first team of the Chudley Cannons. You were married to that Quidditch player Krum, weren't you? So you know how it is. At first I thought, a Quidditch player – really? But then I saw him play and he's wonderful. I wonder why he wasn't in your house team, but Potter must've favoured Weasley..."
While Pansy chattered on, Draco noticed that Hermione had turned ashen. But before he could say something, Daphne asked, "I need a bit of fresh air. Hermione, would you mind joining me?"
His girlfriend looked startled, but nodded nevertheless. "Please, excuse us." She touched Draco's shoulder in passing to let him know that she was okay, but he still watched her worriedly.
Theo interrupted his thoughts. "What the hell are you thinking, mate? This is Hermione freaking Granger! You used to hate her!"
"But I don't anymore, okay?" he snapped.
"You can't be serious. You know what she and her bloody friends did. They destroyed your life."
"Keep your voice down," Blaise warned, while Tracey and Pansy watched them anxiously.
"V-Voldemort destroyed my life, not she," Draco hissed back, not caring about who would hear them.
The whole table flinched.
"Does your father know?"
"Yes!" Draco lied smoothly. "Don't you dare to say something hurtful or I …"
"You what? You don't scare me, Draco!"
"Stop it, the both of you!" Blaise interrupted them harshly. "Theo, if you can't behave, it's better you leave."
"So you're okay with him dating that …" he searched for words and then looked Draco squarely in the eye. "… Mudblood."
Within a second, four wands were pointed at him. "Take that back," McLaggen hissed before Draco could.
"No fights in my establishment or you have to leave right now!" Hannah interrupted them sharply, wand drawn as well.
"Apologise!" Draco growled, ignoring the landlady.
"Sorry," Theo snarled, not meaning a word of it.
"Calm down," Blaise murmured and lowered Draco's wand. "You don't want a fight."
He was right. Although the rage still pulsated though him, hot and glowing, he didn't want to risk a fight.
"That was dramatic," Pansy remarked.
"Shut up, Pansy," Draco sighed and earned himself a glare from McLaggen.
"Did anyone else get the impression that Hermione and Daphne know each other?" Tracey changed the subject.
"Maybe they met at the hospital," Blaise reckoned.
"But, doesn't she work as a surgeon?" Tracey asked Theo, who nodded curtly, still glaring at Draco.
"Maybe she had an accident," McLaggen said shrugging.
"Who cares anyway?" Pansy laughed and threw her blonde hair back in a carefully rehearsed move.
Me, Draco thought, but didn't say anything. While the others started chatting, he kept an eye on the door. They had been outside for five minutes now.
Maybe something had happened?