A/N: As usual, thanks to my beta Cecelia Everhart, and, of course, massive thanks to my faithful reviewers. You rock!

18. Shadow of the Past

Hermione had followed Daphne out of the pub, and they were now strolling down the Muggle streets, trying to evade possible followers.

"You're okay?" Daphne asked after a while.

Hermione nodded silently. She had known that Daphne would be coming, but it still had been a shock to see her again for the first time after ... the hospital. Desperately, she suppressed all the terrifying memories of that particular night and tried to pull herself together. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"Hermione, I … I wanted to apologise for … you know."

Hermione shuddered. "It was the right thing to do. If you hadn't – who knows where I'd be now." She watched Daphne from the corner of her eye, and it was crystal-clear from her demeanour that she was remembering that night as well.

"Still. I'm a doctor. I'm bound to maintain confidentiality." She, too, cast a quick glance at her companion. "But I'm happy you don't hold a grudge against me."

Hermione sighed. "Daphne …"

But the dark-haired witch wasn't finished. She stopped and pulled her in an alley way. "But, Hermione, what are you thinking? Draco freaking Malfoy?"

Automatically, Hermione tensed up. "He's not like Viktor," she said defensively and tried to step away from the other witch, but Daphne caught her wrist and stopped her.

"He's still not a good man! I can't forgive him, and I don't understand how you could," she said, shaking her head, but letting go of Hermione's arm.

"I … I don't know." Hermione shrugged insecurely. "It feels like ages ago that we were in school, and now, that we're working together I feel like I should try and give him a second chance."

Daphne stared at her. "He bullied you, and called you names, and wished the death upon you! He watched you being tortured!" She shook her head again. "Hermione, he can't be good for you. He might've changed his views, but he is still a coward without compassion. I've never understood how Astoria …" Her voice trailed away into nothing.

"Why do you care?" Hermione snapped. She knew Daphne meant well, but she didn't appreciate being ambushed like this about her choice of boyfriend.

When Daphne answered, her voice had lost all its steel. In fact, it was gentler and more vulnerable than Hermione had ever heard her. "Because I saw you … I saw you hurt and broken, and I don't want to see you like that again."

Oh. Hermione felt her knees turn into jelly. "No! He wouldn't … he would never … never hurt me."

"I bet you thought the same when you started dating Viktor," Daphne deadpanned, looking her squarely in the eye.

Panic washed through her, making her stomach clench and her chest tight. Daphne was right. She would never have taken him for the man he turned out to be in the end.

Daphne's gaze softened, seeing her reaction. "Hermione, I'm not saying he will … he never laid so much as a finger on Astoria, but … I just want you to be careful. You can come to me whatever happens. I'll help you kill the bastard if we need to!" Daphne promised, a malicious look in her eyes.

"You mean that? It's not only because you hate him?" Hermione asked weakly, still shivering all over.

"No. But if this turns serious … you'll have to tell him about your ex-husband."

Hermione closed her eyes. "I don't think I can. He'll leave me."

"Then that might be for the best. Mark my words." She opened her handbag and handed her a piece of paper. It was a business card. "Here, my address."

"What about Theo?"

"I bet he's fighting with Draco at this very moment, but he'll calm down. You don't need to worry about him. He knows I'd leave him without hesitation if he tried anything." Daphne winked. "And somehow he can't live without me." Then, she turned serious again as if she was contemplating really leaving him. "But somehow I can't live without him either," she added almost sadly.

"Strange and cruel world," Hermione muttered. She tried to imagine her world without Draco, and it seemed dull, and grey, and lonelier than ever. He had brought colours back into her life, and joy, and laughter. "We should go back."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Daphne enquired softly, her blue eyes gentle.

"Perfectly fine," she lied smoothly. Together, they silently walked back to the pub.

Theo and Daphne left directly after they had entered (at Theo's insistence), and the mood stayed subdued for the rest of the evening. Hermione still felt tense and stiff; not even another beer helped her relax. Only Pansy chattered away happily, with Cormac throwing in remarks about his great personality, or skills, or whatever. Hermione couldn't bring herself to listen. Just one hour later, she excused herself on account of a headache.

Draco accompanied her to her flat as usual.

"Hermione, are you okay?" he whispered softly, tugging her down on his lap. She cringed at his touch and backed off a bit. The fingers that normally made her feel so good were nauseating, evoking pictures of Viktor in her head.

"What's wrong, love?" he enquired, noticing her reaction. His stormy grey eyes were worried.

"Noth –"

"It's not nothing. Did Daphne say something …?" His fingers abruptly stopped tracing patterns over her arm. His touch – albeit gentle – seemed to literally bite into Hermione's skin, and she winced.

"So, she did," he inferred. "Tell me!"

His demanding tone only made her more tensed. Abruptly, she jumped up and went into the kitchen. "It's nothing!"

He followed her. "I thought we were going to be honest to each other." Quickly, he reached for her wrist, making her react automatically.

"Don't touch me!" she hissed, leaping away.

Instantly, his face turned blank – his mask when he didn't want her to know how he felt. "It's bad then. Did you change your mind?" he asked flatly.

"No!" she breathed, trying to calm herself. She didn't know what to think, or what to feel, or what to say. "Please, Draco, I …"

"Then, tell me! Or I'll ask her myself," Draco threatened, and she could see that he meant it. He half-turned, but she quickly grabbed his elbow.

"Don't."

"Then tell me, in the name of Merlin!" he almost yelled.

The fear and the panic, the anger and the pain all bubbled and swirled inside her. "I can't," she hiccupped, repressing her tears with all her power. She felt her knees give in, but she wouldn't show weakness, so she clenched her teeth and straightened her back. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the shadow on his left arm, just in her line of sight.

The Dark Mark.

She didn't know why, but somehow it calmed her. He wasn't Viktor. He was only Draco, and Draco would never hurt her.

So she swallowed her sobs and her pain and pushed them deeply back inside. Then she locked them and the memories in her inner iron chest, so they wouldn't come out as long as Draco was here. She had snapped at him and hurt him, and he hadn't deserved that.

"I'm sorry," she muttered and looked up. His eyes were still like thunderstorm clouds, but they softened as soon as their gazes connected.

"Love, it's okay."

He had called her that before, but she hadn't noticed. "Why? Why do you put up with me? I'm such a mess, can't you see?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" he mumbled and leaned against the kitchen counter, like she did.

Silently, she shook her head. To her, it wasn't obvious at all.

Draco sighed. "What did Daphne say, Hermione?"

Be brave! she told herself. "She …" she started, but words failed her. Clenching her fingers, she tried again. "She only … she said something … we … talked about you, and she warned me … that you weren't good for me, that you were without compassion, and that … you'd deliberately hurt me just like Viktor did." More she couldn't say. She was afraid to meet his gaze, afraid she would find anger or worse, disappointment.

"And you believed her." It was more of an observation than a question.

"No … not completely. But the thought made me … sick inside," she tried to explain, clutching her stomach.

"Look at me," he pleaded gently, and she obeyed. His eyes resembled a silver river now, full of movement and emotion. "I will never – do you hear me? – never intentionally hurt you. I promise."

"You can't promise that," she whispered, averting her eyes. Viktor had promised her heaven, too, but in the end she had received nothing of it.

"I'm sorry for the things he did to you. You don't have to tell me now, but I want you to know that you can. And I can promise – I've taken an Unbreakable Vow before and I would again."

She swallowed. It showed her how much he trusted her telling her such things.

"You don't need to," she breathed and cast a quick glance at his face. He had been so gentle and kind, and she, on the other hand, had behaved like a demanding, spoilt child throwing a tantrum. Hermione felt like she needed to give him something back for all the pain she was causing. So she raised her gaze again.

"Viktor broke something inside me, my naivety maybe, but definitely my trust and my hope for the Happy Ending. Everything seems doomed to fail, all good things come to an end – without exceptions, so my fatalism takes over now and then. If you can't live with that … I won't blame you for leaving …" she swallowed. "But I want you to know how happy it'd make me if you stay." Very slowly, she leaned forward. She noticed that his eyes widened, but he didn't hesitate for even a split-second and met her lips halfway.

It was different kiss: bittersweet, salty from her unwanted tears, deeper, her hands curled into his soft hair, his fingertips like fire on her skin.

Finally, he gingerly pushed her away. "I'll stay," he whispered huskily, eyes dark with passion. They hadn't kissed since the first kiss they had shared. The second one had been even better and made her longing for more. "It'll always be like this, won't it? A rollercoaster of emotions." He chuckled and lifted her hand to his mouth to kiss it.

"Sorry," she sighed and leaned against him. "You should be mad at me."

"I should," he smiled sweetly. "You can make it up to me with another kiss."

She obeyed happily.

So, the cat is kind of out of the bag, right? You can probably guess what happened to Hermione...

I'm sorry for the drama, but those two ... *sigh*... they just crave drama, don't they? :)

Btw, one of my stories won the "Judge's Pick" of the House Competition! It's the second chapter of my Short Story Collection (the prompt is: "What do you mean, 'I thought you were dead'?"), so check it out and, please, let me know what you think!