Chapter 15

I went to sleep last night, thinking about you. Life is just a dream after all. Come find me when you wake up.

-Lang Leav

Present Time: September 2001

Draco gripped his wand in his pocket as he followed Hermione through Potter's house. He had no idea what to expect. Was this an ambush of some sort? It was eerily quiet. The only sound was a large clock ticking in the hallway. When they reached the sitting room Draco had met Potter in over a year ago, it was empty. Thank Merlin. He relaxed slightly as he took in their surroundings.

The room was much less gloomy than before. The furniture had been replaced and there was a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Draco guessed Potter's girlfriend was behind the change. Draco remained standing in the doorway as he watched Hermione sit down in a chair, stand up, walk to the fireplace, then sit back down in the chair she'd started in. Once it looked like she'd settled, Draco took a seat next to her.

"Um, sorry for tricking you into coming here but I worried if you knew it was me asking you to meet, you wouldn't come. And - uh - I didn't want to go to your house. I don't even know what happens to people who show up at your house uninvited."

"They're beheaded," he deadpanned.

She let out a small laugh, but it didn't light up her face for very long. She was clearly nervous. She was fiddling with her necklace with one hand and gripping her knee tightly with the other. Draco wanted to reach out and squeeze the hand on her leg but didn't know if that would make things better or worse.

Hermione bit her lip, then stood up abruptly. "I think we should go outside," she announced. "It's hot in here."

"Okay…" Draco stood up and followed her toward the back of the house, through a kitchen, and out a back door that opened onto a patio that looked over a sizable garden. Hermione walked to the edge of the patio, stopping near the railing. Draco went to join her and when he saw her shiver slightly, pulled his wand out, intended to cast a Warming Charm around them.

She held her hand up and said, "Wait," then pulled her wand out and cast several floating flames around the patio. "Heat and light," she explained

"Show off," Draco mumbled as he returned his wand to his pocket.

Hermione simply smiled before leaning forward over the railing and looking out at the garden.

Draco stood behind her and watched her for several moments. When it didn't seem like she was going to say anything, he started with, "Hermione, I-"

She turned around and shook her head, effectively cutting him off. Draco was relieved, since he had no idea what was about to come out of his mouth. Hermione leaned back against the railing and sighed. "I'm going to go first. I have a speech planned and now I just need to work up the courage to actually say it."

Draco knew exactly how that felt. He nodded and waited patiently for her to start talking, bracing himself for any possibility. She surprised him with her first statement.

"I'm always right."

He couldn't help but laugh. "Modest, too."

She smiled, then said sternly, "Shut up until the end."

"Also, bossy."

"I'm serious."

Draco pressed his lips shut and motioned for her to continue. She took a deep breath before beginning again.

"I'm always right," she repeated, "except for when it comes to you. I've been wrong about you from the start. When I thought you were just a worthless, failed Death Eater, I was wrong. I thought you were evil and I was wrong. Unredeemable, selfish, close-minded,-" she counted out on her fingers as she said each word, then paused before putting each finger down one by one as she said, "-wrong, wrong, and wrong."

Hermione was staring at Draco with a gaze as intense as one of Potters', the flames dancing in her irises and highlighting the specks of gold there. Draco couldn't have pulled his eyes away, even if he'd wanted to.

"You drew me in. You showed me parts of yourself I don't think you've shown anyone else. And I -" her eyes darted around, landing on a spot just behind Draco's head. "I convinced myself that I was special. But that was wrong, too. I thought you shared all that with me because I was important to you but I think it was the opposite. You found it easy to talk to me because you didn't care what I thought."

"No," he said quickly. "Not at-" She gave him a stern look and he stopped talking. He had promised to stay quiet until she was finished. He let out a frustrated sigh and motioned for her to continue.

"When you were an idiot in the park, I convinced myself you liked me but were having trouble working through it. That was wrong. When you pushed me to break-up with Ron, I thought it was because you might want to be with me instead, but I think that was more about your hatred for him than anything having to do with me."

Draco shook his head as she spoke but she was looking away from him, focused on a potted plant on his left.

"I thought you liked me. You read all those books and you tried so hard to be my friend. But that's all it was for you. Friendship. And I was fine with that at first. I was happy to have several months to be single and figure things out but I thought by the time we stopped working together, we could…go out. Or at least set up some time to meet regularly, like what I have with Theo and Daphne.

"But my rotation ended and you left without a second thought. You left, Draco. Left, for a whole summer!" Her eyes snapped back to meet his. "No visits back, no letters, not even a message sent to me through one of your friends. You were just...gone.

"If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to keep myself away. So I was sure you couldn't like me as much as I liked you." There were tears in her eyes now, which shattered Draco's heart into a thousand pieces. He'd had no idea he'd been hurting her. "And when I found out earlier that you've been back for over a week and didn't reach out I - sort of snapped. I went to Daphne and demanded she tell me everything she knew."

"What?"

Hermione nodded. "According to her, I'm not wrong. She said you do like me, a lot, and that you've been fighting it because you don't think you're good enough. Is that - is that true?"

"Yes," he breathed. He didn't know if she was finished talking, but he didn't care, he had to speak now and make her understand how much she meant to him.

"I'm sorry you thought you weren't important to me. It's the opposite, I can assure you. And - fuck -" He covered his face with his hand. "I've been trying to tell you for months and kept...not. Kept talking myself out of it, then convincing myself it was for the best. And I only left because - honestly - I don't know, but it's just more proof that I'm rubbish."

When he finally dropped his hand and looked back at Hermione, her expression had changed from sad to determined. "Daphne told me that between the three of us, you have the lowest self-esteem. I laughed, saying, 'Are we talking about the same Draco Malfoy? The one with plans to erect a statue of himself in his front courtyard?'"

Draco just shrugged. His heart was in his throat and he didn't think he could have managed to speak, even if he had words in mind to say, which he didn't.

"But she was right, wasn't she? I guess I should have known. You told me in that second meeting all your darkest secrets. Or, rather, our darkest secrets."

Draco simply nodded.

Hermione stood a step toward him, then placed a tentative hand on his arm. She seemed to be expecting him to push her away and when he didn't, she moved her fingers down his arm until she reached his hand. She linked her fingers with his, then closed her hand around his.

"You told me once you felt like you'd been looking for someone for years. Well, I've been looking for someone, too. You."

Draco's eyes widened. Fucking hell. This was from the letter. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. Was this really happening?

"I can see even now you're rejecting the thought, but I mean it, Draco." When he felt her hand on his cheek, he opened his eyes again. "Yes," she continued, "even with your sarcasm, your dark moods, your nightmares, your unrelenting guilt. With your arrogance, your flawed political opinions,-" she paused to let out a small laugh, "-and terrible upbringing. Your complete lack of self-worth and constant fear that you're doing it all wrong. Even with all that, you're the person I've been looking for."

"Bloody, fucking hell," Draco whispered. Hermione's face fell and she pulled her hand out his and took a step back. He closed the distance between them and grabbed her sides, holding her in place. "No, sorry, I-"

"Please, Draco. Just - please, tell me I'm not wrong about this. I really hate being wrong. Please tell me I'm the person you've been looking for, too."

Draco stared into her eyes, which were wide and pleading, for another few seconds. Then, he moved his hands to the top of her back, pulled her close, and kissed her.

At first, he just pressed his lips against hers and that alone was everything. He was holding her in his arms (finally!) and could feel her body relax in his grip, melting into him. It was like she'd been holding her breath for months, the tension mounting each day, and now, she was finally able to let it all go.

The sounds of the night faded out and even the air around them went still. It was just them, two lost souls, coming together after far too long spent apart.

Soon, it wasn't enough. Draco needed more. He began to move his mouth against hers as he shifted a hand to the back of her head. Her lips moved in time with his, soft, but insistent and he celebrated inwardly - she was kissing him back!

It's happening! It's actually happening! Bloody, fucking hell!

Can you shut up? I'm in the middle of something here.

Draco buried his fingers in her hair as Hermione moved her hands to the back of his neck and pushed them under the collar of his shirt, gripping his bare shoulders firmly. Draco pushed her back against the railing, wrapping an arm around her to support her upper back, then pressed his body against hers. Fucking hell, she felt absolutely perfect.

He'd kissed several witches in his life, but this part had never been his favorite. He typically viewed it as something you needed to do to get to more enjoyable activities. But this - kissing Hermione - was a whole other thing. He could do this forever. His hands were all over her, in her hair, on her neck, gripping her waist and back under her shirt, cupping her face in his palm. He couldn't seem to get enough.

The whole time, she continued to kiss him eagerly and was even the first one to slip a tongue into his mouth, entwining it with his as they continued to hold each other tightly, as if it would all disappear if one of them let go.

When Draco and Hermione eventually separated for air, they continued to cling to each other. "Is this real?" Hermione whispered, her breath tickling his lips. Draco began kissing a path down to her jaw, then neck as she moved her hands up and started playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"It's not real," he whispered in her ear. "You're just imagining this."

He nipped her earlobe, then grazed his teeth along her neck until he reached her shoulder, which he bit before peppering kisses back up her neck.

"It wouldn't be the first time," she breathed.

Draco leaned back and smirked at her. "You imagined this?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I think I've made it pretty obvious that I like you."

"Maybe you made it obvious tonight, but you sure as hell weren't making it obvious before."

"Are you kidding me?" She shifted in his arms but Draco just tightened his grip on her. Now that he had her, he certainly wasn't planning to let her go. Ever.

You're a kidnapper, now?

Shut up!

"I was so obvious!" she continued. "I kept up all those meetings with Theo and Daphne, thinking you'd show up but besides that one breakfast with Theo, you never did. I increased the frequency of our meetings to three times a week, but I only met with the other representatives once per week, if that. I mentioned about twenty times before the Gala that I didn't have a date, then brought up your birthday another twenty times, trying to get you to invite me along. You really didn't notice any of that? I know you're not that thick."

She'd moved one of her hands to the side of his head and had been running her fingers through his hair but now that she'd said her piece, she pulled her hand down and gave him a stern glare.

"I am that thick. I missed all of it." Draco sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. He hated seeing the sadness in her eyes as she talked about the past few months. He'd been the cause of that.

"Hermione, I liked you almost from the start, but it took me forever to figure it out, then even longer to work up the courage to tell you - which I never did. You're so perfect and I'm so...not."

And suddenly, it hit him. This was real, this thing between them was playing out in real life. It was no longer a desperate desire that lived in his head. She wanted him, him, of all people. Hermione Granger had chosen him. No, he couldn't let her make a mistake like that. This was even worse than choosing Weasley. Draco finally let go of her and took a step back. He felt the pain of the loss immediately.

"I'm not the person for you," he said sadly. "That can't be how this goes. It would just be...wrong."

"Wrong or hard?" she challenged.

"Both. Either way, you deserve better."

"Don't do that. Don't shut down right when I finally got you to open up." She stepped toward him and put her hands on his waist. "Let's just go back to kissing and you telling me how much you like me."

Draco placed his hands on her shoulders. "I do like you. Well, like isn't strong enough of a word. I'm obsessed with you but in a - uh - non-creepy way."

If you're going to make that claim, don't tell her about the stalking.

I'm in the middle of a serious conversation here. Let me push this lovely witch away (for no fucking reason besides the fact that I'm terrified), in peace!

Draco shook the unhelpful thoughts from his head, then pulled back out of Hermione's grasp. "I don't - I don't deserve this." He dropped his hands from her shoulders and took a second step back. "I don't get to be this happy."

"Yes, you do. You need to stop punishing yourself! That's what you've been doing these past few years, punishing yourself. For the war, for how you treated me growing up, for living when your father died. For avoiding Azkaban. For taking the Extraction Potion. For being worse at this job than your father would have been. For being more compassionate and caring than him. For being rich and having it so much easier than others.

"And some of that is your fault and most of it isn't, but none of it means you don't get to be happy. Let yourself be happy, Draco. Let yourself be happy - with me."

There it was again. The words from the letter, just as his future self had written them. There was no denying it now, somehow, someway, Draco was going to end up married to this witch. The thought was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying.

"Can you do that?" she asked. She looked so beautiful in the light of the flames. Her skin was glowing gold, her eyes wide and sparkling, and her hair was a mess, thanks to their passionate kiss from earlier, but it was still lovely, the way her dark curls framed her face.

"I don't know," Draco said honestly. This situation was so much more complicated than she realized and he should tell her, she deserved that, but - once again - he couldn't find the words.

Hermione watched him for a moment, waiting for him to say more. When he didn't, she took a deep breath and ran a finger under her eyes, wiping away a few tears that were forming there. "That's all the begging I'm going to do tonight."

She kissed his cheek, then said in a sad, almost disappointed tone, "You were right when you said it would be hard. So, if you want this, us, you need to commit, fully. Just - think about what I said and let me know what you decide."

Hermione walked back to the house and there was a sound of the door opening, then closing and with that, she was gone.

Daphne was pacing Draco's bedroom when he returned home after leaving Potter's house. He wondered briefly how she'd made it in there, especially since he hadn't reopened the Floo connection between their houses yet, but let it go. His mind was full of other concerns right now.

Daphne jumped when she saw him. "Hi."

She looked defensive, like she was bracing herself for an attack, but Draco had no plans to hex her, or even to yell. Instead, he crossed the room in three paces and pulled her into a hug. She let out a giant sigh of relief as she wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Did you see her?"

Draco nodded into her shoulder.

"And you don't want to kill me?" she asked tentatively.

"No more than usual."

"Oh, thank Merlin."

Draco stood there hugging her for a long time. He was so completely drained from his meeting with Hermione and was grateful to have something to hold on to. When he eventually went to pull away, Daphne tightened her grip on him. He looked down and found a wet spot on his shirt. She'd been crying.

"Daphne?"

"Sorry," she murmured, burying her head further into his chest.

"What's wrong?"

She waited several moments before responding. "I missed you."

Draco gently pushed her away, then sat her on his bed and passed her a handkerchief. "Sit here for a second."

Draco peered out the window and confirmed it was too cloudy to see any stars, then took his wand out and began turning the ceiling into the night sky. Daphne leaned back on her hands and watched as he transformed his bedroom.

"You've known how to do this the entire time? Why didn't you mentioned it?" she asked when he was finished and had joined her on the bed.

Draco shrugged. "It's not as good as being outside. A lot of the constellations are wrong but it's better than nothing, yeah?"

Daphne leaned against him. "I'm really sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to tell her so much, but she caught me at a bad time and I was thinking, 'Damn, people like me are struggling to find that one person in the world they're supposed to be with and these two idiots already found each other and are too stubborn to do anything about it.' I sort of snapped, but I shouldn't have betrayed your confidence and I-'"

"It's okay," Draco said quickly. "I'm glad you told her."

"Really? What happened?"

Draco laid back on the bed and patted the spot next to him, indicating Daphne should do the same. When she was lying next to him, looking up at the stars on the ceiling, he said, "I'll tell you later. First, tell me why you were crying."

When Daphne didn't respond for a full minute, Draco asked, "How about you just tell me what I missed while I was gone?"

Draco had seen Daphne in early August, when she'd visited him in France, but she hadn't given him any updates about what was going on in England, claiming she wanted to enjoy her holiday and not think about home. Draco had been fine with that at the time, since he hadn't wanted to hear about Hermione, but now he felt bad. He'd clearly missed something big.

"You're right," she said eventually, "most of these constellations are incorrect."

Draco let out a long breath, then turned on his side to face Daphne. "I'm sorry I left. I needed to get away from Hermione but I realize I left you, too. I should have sent more owls or gone to the trouble of setting up a Floo call everyday, but I was sort of a mess. I missed you, I did, and right now I'm extremely worried about you. Will you please tell me what's wrong?"

"It's nothing as bad as you're thinking. Just more Blaise drama. I'm sure you're sick of hearing about it, by now."

Draco took the hand of hers that was closest to him and squeezed it. "I understand how it feels to have one person consume your thoughts, waking and sleeping, so I am in no position to fault you for it. Tell me."

"Fine." She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I won't tell you all the details that led me to this point, but I've come to the realization that I love him more than all the others. I feel like I've dated every eligible bachelor in the country, and even a few ineligible ones," she added with a smirk.

"But every time, I end up comparing the wizard I'm with, to Blaise. I've been thinking that maybe I'm just missing him from my life. He was my best friend, after you, and I - I just want him back, as a friend, but don't know how to make that request without coming off as embarrassingly pathetic. And what if I can't just be friends with him? Or what if he doesn't even want that?"

"I think he misses you, too. He wouldn't be putting so much energy into being angry with you if he didn't care. You know how lazy he can be."

Daphne let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess."

"I think you just tell him, bluntly, that you want to be friends again, but without sex this time. Tell him the fight has been exhausting and you're ready to put it behind you. We can practice, if you want. We can even use Polyjuice, if you want to make it realistic."

She smiled and turned her head to face him. "Okay. I'd like that."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here while you were going through all of that."

"Me too." She shifted on her side to face Draco. "Now, tell me what happened with Hermione."

Draco told her everything. From their chance meeting in the lift at the Ministry, to the letter he'd been planning to write, to his summons from Potter, to every word of his conversation with Hermione.

"You kissed her?" she asked when he was finished talking. Draco smiled. After everything he'd said, that was her focus. Daphne really was a romantic, deep down, even though she liked to pretend otherwise.

"I did and it was perfect, a hundred times better than I'd imagined it in my head. And she admitted she'd imagined kissing me, too."

Daphne hit his arm. "Of course she imagined kissing you. I'm sure she's imagined doing a lot more than that with you, too. You can be such an idiot sometimes."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. He turned so he was facing up again and saw Daphne do the same out of his periphery.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I have to tell her everything." He'd decided this as soon as Hermione had left him alone on the patio. If he was going to start something with her, he didn't want any secrets standing between them. The pain of their past was bad enough, they didn't need any more baggage in the way.

"But I'm really bad at telling her things like that," he continued. "I have no problems telling her other things, like when I'm in a bad mood, or when I miss my father, or when I was struggling with the time travel. But this - I don't know. I guess I'm worried I'm going to fuck it up."

"I think you-" Daphne was interrupted by a knock on the door. They both sat up in the bed, then Draco stood and went to open the door.

"Hello, Draco," his mother said from the hall. "I just needed to tell you-" She cut off when she caught sight of the scene behind Draco. "Is that…?" She pushed past him and walked into the room, turning around slowly as she took in the night sky.

"I almost forgot about this spell," Narcissa whispered to herself. Her eyes were wide and distant and Draco guessed she was remembering her childhood. "But Andromeda's all wrong. And Orion, the Seven Sisters…" She took her wand out of her pocket and began casting a few spells under her breath. Draco watched as most of the stars rearranged themselves.

"Right," his mother said when she was finished. "Sorry to intrude. Hello, Daphne, dear. I didn't realize you were in the house. The sky is accurate, now, so I'll leave you two alone."

"You don't have to," Daphne said. She shifted on the bed and indicated a spot for Narcissa. "There's plenty of room."

"Oh." Narcissa looked over at Draco, who just shrugged. She nodded and laid back on the bed next to Daphne. Draco went to join them as he wondered what Daphne was up to.

"Thank you for fixing all the stars, Mrs. Malfoy. Draco did a dreadful job and it was bugging me to no end. Can you teach him how to do this properly?"

"Why don't you just learn how to do it?" Draco grumbled.

"Why would I do that when I have you?"

Narcissa chuckled. "Yes, Daphne. I will correct Draco's technique, later."

They were quiet for a while, each lost in their own thoughts, when Draco's mother broke the silence by asking, "Which one of you is sad?"

Draco was about to say, 'Daphne,' when Daphne said, "Both of us."

Narcissa hummed, then turned her head toward Daphne. "How about you go first, dear. What's wrong?"

Draco was surprised when Daphne actually responded and even more surprised to hear she was telling the truth. "I'm in love with Blaise Zabini and I'm pretty sure he feels the same, but he's unable to show it because he's incapable of love. I still want him in my life, even as just a friend, but am not sure how to make that happen."

Narcissa was quiet as she considered Daphne's problem. "Why is he incapable of love?"

"What?"

"People don't turn out like that unless something happened to make them that way," she said knowingly. Draco wondered if she was thinking of someone specific. Maybe her sister, Bellatrix? "Do you know if anything happened to turn Blaise off the idea of love? I mean, growing up with a mother like that would probably do it, but I wonder if there's something more specific."

As she said that, Draco thought of the story Theo had told him about Blaise being abandoned at King's Cross station during Christmas Break, following his grandmother's death, and how as a result, he refused to celebrate the holidays. Would that do it?

"He's always been like this," Daphne said thoughtfully. "Do you know of anything, Draco?"

"I'm not sure," he said carefully.

"He probably just doesn't want to say in front of me," his mother cut in. Damn, she knew him too well. "I'm sure he'll tell you once I leave but first-" she turned her head to Draco, "-your turn."

Draco waved his hand, dismissively. "I'm fine."

"Daphne just said you're sad. And even without that, I've known, Draco. You've been down for months. Now it's time for you to tell me why."

"It's...complicated."

"Try me."

Draco was trying to think up a good excuse when Daphne said, "He's in love."

"Daphne!" he scolded. "I am not in love."

"I thought we were past the denial phase."

"Who's the witch?" his mother asked, effectively silencing the other two.

"Uh...that's the complicated part," Daphne replied.

"Shut up, or I'll Silence you," Draco warned.

"What's the problem?" his mother asked. "Why is it so complicated? And why are you sad about it? Does she not return the sentiment?"

Draco pursed his lips shut. He was not ready to talk about this with his mother. What was Daphne's problem?

"Just tell her," Daphne said, nudging his side.

"Yes, Draco. Tell me," his mother added sternly.

Draco sighed and closed his eyes before saying, "It's complicated because she's not...um...what you'd consider a proper match for me."

"In what way?" Narcissa pressed.

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and let out another sigh.

"Her taste is clothes is atrocious," Daphne supplied, "her manners are...decent...but not what you'd expect from a lady of an Estate like this, she never knows when to shut up, she-"

"That's enough," Draco cut in.

"But in all other ways she's perfect for him," Daphne added quickly, before Draco could interrupt her again.

Narcissa was silent and Draco was too afraid to look over and see what expression she was wearing, so he focused on Orion, Daphne's least favorite constellation, instead. His mother turned her head and Draco could feel her eyes on him. He closed his eyes, anticipating her next question.

"She's not a Pureblood, is she?"

"No," he breathed, keeping his eyes closed.

"Ah," was all she said.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Draco peeked his eyes open and looked over at his mother. She was looking up at the stars again. "Is this why you joined me in France all summer?" she asked when she noticed him looking at her.

"Yes."

"Huh."

What was she thinking? It was impossible to know. She'd cut off all communication with her own sister for marrying a Muggleborn, but that was ages ago, would she do something like that again? In the future, it seemed like she'd been trying with Hermione, but it was clear their relationship was strained. That was understandable.

Several minutes later, Narcissa sat up on the bed and Draco sat up with her. She reached out and touched his cheek, then moved several hairs back into place. "If this witch has the power to make you as miserable as you've been these past few months, I'd say she has quite a hold on you. Does she have the power to make you happy, too?"

"Yes," Daphne said, sitting up. "I can attest to that. They get on so well, it's eerie. She's brilliant and beautiful (when she makes an effort) and challenges Draco in a way very few people do. I think you'd like her, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Is that true?" Narcissa asked Draco.

He nodded, even though he wasn't sure about the 'his mother liking her' part.

"Then don't worry about the rest. We can hire people to shop for her and put her in etiquette lessons to clean up her manners. But the rest, you can't teach that and some people go their whole lives without finding it."

Draco nodded again. He was touched, but also unsure if she'd think this same way if she knew the witch he had in mind wasn't just a half-blood, but a Muggleborn, and not just any Muggleborn, but the outspoken best friend of Harry Potter who would have no interest in conforming to the expectations set for a lady of one of the most prestigious Pureblood Estates.

Narcissa reached over and patted his leg before getting to her feet. "I've intruded on this little chat for long enough. I just stopped by to let you know Robinson called while you were gone and moved your meeting from 11:00 to 8:00 tomorrow. There's a note on your desk about it but I wanted to let you know in person, since you'll need to wake early."

"Thank you, Mother." He watched her walk out the door before sighing and flopping back on the bed.

Daphne laid back down, then turned to him and asked, "Can I be there when you tell Hermione she needs to take etiquette lessons?"

Draco simply groaned in response.

The following night, Draco was standing on the doorstep of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, yet again. He'd taken the whole day off to figure out exactly what he was going to say to Hermione. When Draco was finally ready to leave his house and go tell her all the things he'd practiced, he realized he didn't know where she lived. So he found himself here, about to ask Potter for yet another favor.

The list of debts Draco owed Potter was embarrassingly long. There were the times Potter had saved his life, the time Potter had spoken up at his trial and helped him and his family evade Azkaban, the help Potter had given him with the time travel, the strange speech Potter had given him in France, which Draco thought was meant to be helpful, the assistance he'd given Hermione yesterday by summoning Draco to his house, and now this. And what had Draco done in return…?

He'd apologized about a year after the war for tormenting Potter and his friends in school, he'd forced out several 'thank yous' in the past year, and…he'd upset his best friend by leading her on, then abandoning her all summer. Not great. Draco pushed the unhelpful thoughts from his mind and knocked on the door.

Potter didn't answer and Draco began to wonder if he ever answered his door. It wasn't Hermione this time, but Ginny Weasley.

"Hello," she said, not surprised to see him.

"Hello."

"Are you here for Hermione?"

"Uh, yes. I don't have her address and was hoping you could…"

Ginny crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "You were hoping I could…?"

Draco scowled. Of course she was going to make this difficult. "...give it to me," he finished.

"What are you going to say to her?"

"That's none of your business."

"Except...it is. If you upset her, that's my business. And if you make all her dreams come true," she added doubtfully, "that's also my business, since she's my best friend."

Draco sighed and said through gritted teeth, "I'm not going to tell you anything before I tell her. If you're as close as you say, I assume she'll catch you up, later. Now, please, her address?"

Ginny regarded him with a very stern expression. "Is it real? This...attraction? It's not some sort of trick? Some way to make a name for yourself with the press?"

"I bought off the press," Draco replied matter-of-factly. "If I wanted to make a name for myself, I could have them print whatever I want. My feelings for Hermione are real."

"And will you end up together in the future?" Ginny asked quickly, as if hoping to catch him off guard.

"I'm not going to tell you that."

She just pursed her lips in annoyance.

"The address, Weasley?" Draco pressed.

"You can't call me Weasley. It's too confusing." She straightened and held a hand out to him. "You can call me Ginny."

Draco shook it slowly, wondering how much more of this he was going to have to endure before she gave him the damn address. "Okay...are you going to call me Draco, then?"

"No. I plan to call you Ferret."

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "Then I'll be calling you, Ginerva."

She scowled, causing Draco to smirk. It turned out listening to hours of Hermione spouting off boring information about her friends was finally paying off. She'd mentioned once that the only thing Ginny hated more than people using her given name was people pronouncing it incorrectly.

"It's Gin-ev-ra."

"What did I say?"

She scoffed. "Are you really going to antagonize someone you're asking a favor from? I thought Slytherins were supposed to be cunning."

"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be nice," he countered.

"We're meant to be brave and chivalrous. I'm not scared of you and though I am refusing to help you, you're not a damsel in distress, so I'm still meeting the characteristics of my house. There's nothing about us having to be nice - that's Hufflepuffs."

Okay, that was sort of funny, but Draco didn't want her to know he thought so and kept his face blank. "Is that it, then? You're refusing to help me? That's fine, I'll just send her an owl." He hadn't wanted to wait for the back and forth of an owl, since he was worried he'd lose his nerve if he waited too long, but this clearly wasn't working and he couldn't think of anyone else to ask.

He was about to turn to go when she said, "I'm not refusing you."

"Okay, then," he sighed, turning back around. "How many more hoops are you going to make me fly through before you give me the damn address?"

"Just one more."

"Make it quick."

She glared at him and he guessed that like Hermione, she hated being bossed around. "Why didn't you ask her out? You were flirting with her for months, but you never made a move."

"That's personal."

"Is it because she's a Muggleborn?"

"Of course not."

Ginny crossed her arms and fixed him with an intense stare. "Tell me why and I'll give you her address."

Draco rolled his eyes. Fucking Gryffindors. Why did they have to make everything so difficult? "I was convinced I couldn't make her happy. I still, sort of am."

She watched him for a few moments, her expression unreadable.

"Did I earn the address?" he asked sharply.

"She lives across town on Fairview Street in a tall, grey Muggle apartment building. You can find her in flat 7B."

Draco let out a sigh of relief. He was about to leave, but forced himself to say, "Thank you, Ginevra," first.

She'd already opened the door and was halfway inside when she turned and said over her shoulder, "Don't muck it up, Ferret."

A/N: Oh man, things are happening! Continued thanks to my beta reader, Lancashire Witch, and to you all, for reading!