Chapter 4
Hermione sighed to herself, wondering what she had just done. It was one thing to help her friends out with school work or facing Lord Voldemort.
It was another thing to rig the Quidditch try outs so that Cormac McClaggen lost what very well could have been his spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Even if he was a prat and it was well deserved.
She knew no one saw, or even suspected what she had done, but it didn't make it any less wrong on her part. She had still confounded him, practically handing the Keeper position to Ron.
And what made it worse was that Ron didn't know that she had done it. If he ever found out, he would probably be furious with her for not believing in his abilities. The whole point of the tryouts were for him to prove himself.
But he had deserved it really; despite her rocky relationship with Ron, it didn't mean Cormac could just sit there bad mouthing him and insulting her friend. Plus he had this way of leering at her and the other girls in her year, and it gave her the creeps. There was something off about him, and she in no way wanted to have anything to do with him or his cockiness.
She knew it was still wrong though; she could care less about the Quidditch cup, but at the same time she knew Ron often was unsettled when it came to preforming. Had she really done the right thing by confounding him, knowing it meant Cormac would lose out? For all his faults, she couldn't really deny that he was good at the sport.
She walked down the hall, without saying a word. She knew she could head back to the dorms after the try outs, but with the selection of the Quidditch team, it would probably be a loud and distracting environment. Plus she had a few assignments that she planned on getting ahead on, and if she went back, she knew her friends wouldn't be in a working mood.
Hell, she probably could get ahead on the Arithmacy assignment she had due. Despite her and Malfoy deciding to split up the topic so they had very little to do with each other, she still didn't exactly trust him. She knew he was a bright student, debatably one of the top in their year. But could she trust him to do their assignment to a level she was happy with? Could she trust that he would actually put in the time and effort, and not just leave her out to dry?
It might have been unfair of her, but the answer was no. In their five prior years of school, she had never had to work on anything with him, so she couldn't really say she knew much about his style of work, or what he would present her when they finally merged their sections. It couldn't really hurt to be prepared in the case that she wasn't happy with his sections so she had a backup source of material for his section.
She stopped suddenly, as she looked up to see none other than Malfoy emerging from the bathrooms. She quickly stepped to the side, even if he didn't look up to see her standing there.
He loosened his tie and she could see his skin looking faint, despite it regularly being pale. In fact, he almost looked sick.
He tugged on his sleeves, as if he were afraid of it rolling up, and revealing something he didn't want others to see.
It was a look she knew all too well from spending time with Harry and Ron.
He was hiding something that he didn't want anyone else to know about.
And with the nervous behaviour he was exhibiting, she couldn't help but wonder just how close Harry had been with his guess about Malfoy being a Death Eater.
She knew it was still a long shot; why would Voldemort want a sixteen year old serving him? Surely he would be more useful to Voldemort once he was out of school and had Ministry ties.
But that didn't mean that the blond wasn't hiding something else. For all she knew, he could just be feeling sick. She didn't exactly know him that well, so maybe Malfoy was naturally a jumpy person when others weren't around and he didn't need to be projecting a tough exterior.
She wasn't all that sure why she even cared. Malfoy was nothing more than a thorn in her side whom hopefully after their seventh year, she would never have to see again.
She knew the Ministry of Magic, as well as the rest of the wizarding world, had its' share of pricks like him, but if she never had to see Draco Malfoy ever again, then she would be very happy with the way her life had turned out; despite how unlikely it might be, it was definitely enough for her to use to get through the days when he or other students were being particularly unpleasant to her.
And with the articles she was reading in the Daily Prophet, it wasn't all that unlikely that the mentality of pureblood superiority would affect her chances of getting a job, no matter what her standing in the school was. It was one of the reasons she had worked so hard at school; she didn't have the family connections that so many others had, nor did she have the financial backing. Sure, her parents were rather well off, but she wouldn't be able to survive financially if she didn't have a job, not to mention how dull her life would be. And she sure as hell didn't want to work in the muggle world.
It was a thought that dug at the back of her mind, and she knew sooner or later she would be forced to confront the very real possibility of discrimination against her in the work place simply for being born to muggle parents.
Sighing, she pushed the thought out of her mind, as she made way to the library. And with Malfoy no longer in her line of sight, she pushed all thoughts of the boy out of her head as well.
Ron rolled out of the bed, as he saw the clock on the nightstand hit six p.m.
He knew he still probably had a good several hours before his wife came home, but it was his mother he was afraid of confronting.
He hadn't given her any notice about going out to a pub, as he usually did when she was watching Rose during the times Hermione was working late. And if she asked Harry about him being at work until 6, and Harry didn't back him up, he surely would get an earful from his mother. Hell, the last thing she needed to know was that Ron had taken most of the afternoon off. With Harry working closely with Malfoy, he hardly seemed to notice what Ron did at work anymore. And Hermione had made it clear how little she cared about their family.
He stood up zipping up his pants, and he heard a faint mumble from the other side of the bed, as the blonde looked up at him, still naked in her bed.
Daisy, Darcy, or whatever his name was, looked surprised, "Leaving already?" she asked siting up.
He nodded, as he pulled on his shirt, "I'll floo you," he offered half-heartedly, despite sensing the lie in it. None of the women he slept with ever meant anything to him, they were just outlets for his frustrations, and bloody hell were they good outlets. But he didn't care for any of them, so it didn't really matter anyways. He wasn't cheating on Hermione, not on any of the ways it counted.
And honestly it was pretty much her fault anyways. The women he shagged made him feel like he was special. They were interested in him, and thought he was brilliant, for the parts he played during the war.
He was a hero, and they treated him as such; it was what he deserved after what he had gone through. And Hermione had a way of making him feel inferior. She didn't care about him, nor did she care about their life together. Why else would she go and continuously get promoted instead of caring for her family? She basically was saying she didn't trust him to provide for them.
So it wasn't wrong of him to seek what he so surely deserved from other sources. It was just a good shag and nothing more. Besides, Hermione would never find out anyways, and even if she did, she couldn't exactly do anything about it. She was his wife, and he still was the man of the house. So really, she would just have to deal with it; hell maybe it would even make her be a better wife, and less of a disappointment.
Hermione grinned as she sat down at the table, while Harry brought them firewhiskies. Draco was sitting across from her and she couldn't help but feel a sense of lightness.
She rarely went out anymore; what with her long hours at work, and with Rose at home, it seemed like she rarely got time for herself to spend with friends. But as they had wrapped up the Delaney case today, winning after several long months of investigation and prosecution against the man who had attacked several muggles and cursed them into going on crime sprees for his own entertainment. It had been scary to see the amount of damage the use of an Imperius curse could cause.
The damage control had been monumental, and the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes found themselves working overtime for months trying to erase the events that had happened from all the muggles involved. Hell, they had to use a Thunderbird after realizing that the use of oblivation on thousands of muggles would never work.
It was a reminder to them all that those who believed in the inferiority of muggles still existed, and that there would need to be a constant source of observance to ensure that someone such as Voldemort did not rise again.
But the aftermath of the war did plague them all, and she knew that it would be far harder for anyone to rise as quickly as Voldemort did. However it didn't make them any less of a threat; by fearing the possibility of another up rise, they couldn't overlook the truth as Fudge had.
"Three firewhiskies," Harry said proudly as he placed the glasses in front of them, before sliding beside her.
She raised her glass out to the table before proclaiming, "To wrapping up long cases," she grinned, as the other two echoed her sentiments, and clinked their glasses against hers.
"Merlin knows it took far more than long enough to do so," Harry sighed, as he took a long gulp of the drink in front of him. "Seriously, it shouldn't have been so hard to prove that Delaney was responsible for it all."
"Evidence is key, mate," Draco reminded his partner before grinning at her. "But seriously Hermione, if it weren't for your prosecution, the case might have been in trouble. If it was anyone less competent than you, the case could have gotten thrown out for lack of evidence."
"It's why you're the best at what you do," Harry said, before bumping her shoulder with his. "And why you deserve your promotion, not matter what anyone else says."
She didn't know if Harry talked much about her relationship with Ron to Draco, and from the frown appearing on the other man's face, she wasn't all that sure she wanted to know. She knew better than anyone that it was a poor relationship, but it didn't change the fact that they had a life together; a daughter together. Throwing it all away wasn't exactly the easiest of things to do, especially when their families were so closely intertwined.
"Thanks," she said softly, looking down at her drink and not at either of the two boys in front of her.
Harry downed his drink and kissed her cheek. "I probably should be getting home soon; I don't want to leave Ginny alone with James.
She smiled at her friend, and squeezed his hand, "Give Ginny and James my love," she said smiling at the thought of her godson, who was a few months younger than Rose. She knew her friends hadn't planned on getting pregnant young, but when it happened, both of them had been ecstatic.
"Will do," Harry said, before nodding at Draco. "I'll leave you two to it then. Good night."
She looked over at Draco, realizing that it was probably one of the first times they had ever been in a social setting by themselves. Hell, even when they were at school, they never actually went anywhere together. And in the years they had worked together, Harry was usually with them when they were out, or they would meet at work. There was very little outside, even if it was just the Leaky Cauldron.
"It's different, isn't it," Draco said softly, seeming to read her mind. "We never did this back then; go out, I mean."
"No we didn't, did we?" she murmured. "But things were different back then. We couldn't exactly just go to Hogsmeade on a date. Not with who you were and who I was. It wouldn't have worked."
"I know," he smiled sadly, "It didn't work, did it? I did care for you back then. Hell, I would have changed sides for you. I would have told Voldemort to go shove it, if I could."
"If it weren't for your mother," she reminded him, "You needed to keep her safe. You were just a kid, Draco. You didn't know what to do. You did what you thought was best. I don't blame you for that, how could I?"
"I'm still not sure I made the right choice," he admitted and she looked at him carefully, "I should have tried harder to get her out. Or even to have just kept her safe. There are days when I just wish I had accepted your offer to go to Dumbledore. Maybe then things could have been different, between us anyways."
"Maybe," she said softly, not daring to allow her mind to go where it so often wanted to. She couldn't bring herself to imagine the life she and Draco could have had, if things had been different. If they had been different.
"I never wanted to hurt you," he sighed, "I loved you, Hermione, but I needed to keep you safe. I couldn't let you get caught up in my mess, and I needed you to be safe. You couldn't have done that if I kept loving you and stayed with you. You constantly would have been in danger. I know you, and I know that you would have done anything to protect me; I know that you would fought to keep me safe. And you had so much to worry about; you had to help Harry defeat Voldemort, and you couldn't do that if you had to think of me. You couldn't do that if you were killed because I loved you."
"I know," she said, giving him a soft smile. "I never would have let you break up with me the way you did if I didn't know. Maybe in another life, if the war hadn't forced us apart, things could have been different. But I know you never would hurt me intentionally. I know that you only ended it because you thought it was the right thing to do. I didn't want to be used against you, and if Voldemort, or anyone else, found out, they would have hurt me to hurt you. Or they would have used you to get to me. I don't blame you for what happened; we both know that from the beginning our relationship was haunted by the war, and what we needed to do."
He nodded at her, "I'm glad you're happy now," he told her softly, "You deserve that much."
She didn't have the heart to correct him, so she settled for smiling softly at him. "So do you," she said, to her ex. "You deserve happiness, Draco. I hope you find that one day."
He didn't meet her eyes, and she didn't say anything afterwards. And as much as she wanted to stay, she knew she should get home before Ron got too upset with her for staying out late. Saying her goodbyes, she stood to leave, not letting herself dwell anymore on the past and how things used to be.
Astoria looked on at the scene, not at all liking what she was seeing. She didn't care if Draco had decided to grab a drink with some co-workers after hours; she cared about the fact that Draco had stayed to talk to the tart in front of him even after Potter had left.
What did Granger think she was playing at, talking to another man while her husband wasn't around? And from the looks of it, the two of them were rather close. Hell, it was more than enough to make her blood boil.
Draco Malfoy was hers, regardless of whatever delusions he seemed to have stuck in his head. He belonged to her, and it was to her that he would be getting married to. Not Hermione Granger. The whore couldn't have him, especially since she was married. And if Astoria had anything to do with it, he would never see her again.
With the way Draco was looking at Granger, she wondered just what was going on between the two of them, and who knew about it. Better yet, was Ron Weasley aware of the fact that his wife was screwing other men?
She knew she would have to take drastic action, and as a plan began to concoct in her head, she smiled to herself. Let Hermione Granger enjoy tonight, because tomorrow Astoria would begin her revenge. And it would not be pretty.
A/N: So Hermione and Draco were together back in school. How many of you saw that coming? As this story is partially told in flashbacks, those will be used to explore their relationship when they were in school. As for those of you wondering just how much longer Ron and Hermione will be together, not for much longer, I promise! Anyways, I hope you are all enjoying this story so far, and see you next week!