A/N: Thank you for your patience! I was on a short trip, and I couldn't post this chapter from my mobile. Fortunately, it's a nice long one for you. Enjoy!
December 1998—
"Malfoy," a voice drawled behind Hermione. It was a statement, not a question. If Draco had not been right in front of her, she might have thought it was him speaking by the tone. Her whole body tensed.
"Zabini." Draco said, and he did not sound pleased.
"Enjoying your holiday, then?"
Draco gave no answer.
"Does your mother know where you are?"
Hermione watched a scowl creep over his face. "Is that a threat?" he asked. She kept her back to Zabini, praying somehow she would not be recognizable.
To her surprise, Blaise let out a booming laugh. "No threats, Malfoy. You need to learn to relax. Carry on. Happy Christmas, Granger."
Hermione groaned inwardly. Of course he recognized her. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to catch a glimpse of his robes as he strode around the corner, still chuckling.
Draco groaned aloud.
"What do we—"
Draco kissed her quickly, urgently, pressing his anxiety into her. He pulled away just as quickly and squeezed her hand as he said, "I have to go do some damage control. You should return to your friends." With that, he strode purposefully away from her.
In an instant, Hermione's brain caught up from the shock. Her chest heaved in protest at him vacating her space so abruptly. "Draco," she hissed, and he paused. His eyes were storms, and she felt electricity crackling between them. It was delicious, and she wanted more of him. She bit her lip, and his eyes darkened. "Happy Christmas," she whispered. Her words meant nothing, but she knew her tone was dripping with promise. Tempting him.
Draco growled as he took three long strides back to her and attacked her mouth again, this time pushing her back against the bookshelves. He tasted and felt so good that she ignored anyone else who might see them. Luckily, they were in public, because if they were alone, she knew exactly where a kiss like that would take them.
After several more long minutes, they pulled apart panting.
"What about Blaise?" she asked him.
"Zabini can fucking wait," he said and kissed her again.
When they returned to the Burrow, Hermione racked her brains to come up with a reason to get Ginny on her own. It was long past time she confided in her friend. Mrs. Weasley noticed Ron's mood and tried to feed everyone sandwiches as some sort of a solution, heaping three of Ron's favorite onto his plate. Without a doubt, she would soon be giving them chores or asking them to decorate the last nooks and crannies, then help with dinner. Hermione could not risk a repeat of last night by trying to sneak up to Ginny's room later. She had to figure out a way to pull her aside right away.
"Mum," Ginny said, interrupting her thoughts, "Hermione and I are taking these up to my room. Girl time."
"Okay, dears, go ahead."
With that, Ginny grabbed Hermione by the arm and hauled her up the stairs. Sometimes, she could swear Ginny was psychic. When her door was locked, Muffliato cast, and both girls were comfortable on Ginny's bed, she began without any coaxing.
"Ginny, I've got to tell you something."
Hermione did not appreciate Ginny's smirk or the confident way she said, "I know."
"I, well, something's happened," she began. "With Malfoy."
Ginny nodded, still smirking, and waited for Hermione to continue.
"It hasn't been going on for long. Well, that's not exactly true, but this time it's different."
"Maybe you better start at the beginning. I get the feeling I'm missing something big."
So Hermione did. She told Ginny about the Twinned Quill ("Ohh, of course it was him!"), the nightly notes, the way he helped her through her dreams ("I wish I had known how to help you, truly."), their first kiss ("Yes!"), their ensuing fight, their rekindling, gift exchange, and the spark that led up to right before the holiday.
"What a thoughtful gift, and from Malfoy. Exactly the type of thing you'd want. Not flashy, but dead useful."
"I know. It was perfect." Hermione smiled, then blushed thinking about after.
"And how did you thank him?"
Damn it.
"I gave him a gift, too."
"That's not what I mean." Ginny wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione.
"I—yes—we kissed again."
"Aha! So today, you were trying to see if there'd be more to come. Damn my brother! You could've gone off with him for a bit and just seen where things took you. That idiot!"
"Well, there's more."
Ginny's eye's widened as she shared an abbreviated version of her meeting with Draco in the bookshop.
Ginny whistled appreciatively. "Smart man, cornering you in a room full of books. I'm surprised you didn't shag him right there."
"Ginny!"
"What? I'm just saying, you like books. A lot."
"So, you think it's okay that we're, er, whatever we're doing?"
"Okay? Hermione, it's bloody brilliant! I've been trying to get you to go for it with someone all term!"
"I know, I know. But you don't think it's a problem that it's Draco? I mean, you know, Malfoy."
"Don't be daft. Actually, it kind of makes sense. We were on different sides during the war, I know, but I think somehow you'll be able to understand him in a way others won't. And he's got more experience with some of the awful things you went through," Ginny grimaced briefly then continued, "Plus, he's intelligent and really grown into a hunk over the past year."
Hermione's heart soared, and she felt herself positively beaming.
"The real question is, what dirty things do the two of you write to each other about so late at night?"
"Ginny!"
"Ha! So you have!"
Hermione buried her face in her hands. She may have enjoyed the past night with Draco, but there was no way in the world she wanted to share it with anyone else.
On their way downstairs, Hermione stopped in her room to send Draco a quick note. She pulled out her notebook from its hiding spot in her trunk and hastily wrote.
' I've told Ginny about us. I hope that's okay. She's my closest friend besides Harry, and she's really supportive. Let me know how things went with Blaise. Same time tonight?'
Then, she ran downstairs to help Mrs. Weasley and the boys, who undoubtedly had already been put to work.
The evening continued surprisingly well. She had expected a lot of awkwardness and tension with Ron, but he spent most of the time with Harry and Bill, the latter of which had stopped by with a newly pregnant Fleur. Mrs. Weasley and Fleur spent the entire night gushing over the expected baby, so Ginny, George, and Hermione huddled themselves into a corner out of the way.
After a while, George excused himself to the loo, and Ginny had spotted Harry on his own, so she jumped at the chance to spend a few extra minutes with him. Hermione took the opportunity to go check if Draco had written back yet. She climbed the stairs feeling content. Ginny was supportive of her, which meant that Harry probably would be too. She was confident that George would be fine with whoever she was seeing. Hermione reached the landing with a definite spring in her step.
When she reached the landing, her bedroom door was ajar, and the light shone from within. That was not how she left things. Panic started to rise in her as she realized the one person who was unaccounted for below and—worse—that she had left her journal carelessly out. She forced herself towards the door and pushed it slowly open.
There was Ron, in the center of her room with the journal clutched in his hands, reading furiously. Her precious, private journal. A record of her entire history with Draco, full of things only meant to be shared between the two of them, was now being hungrily consumed by another. Not wasting a second, Hermione summoned the journal with such force that Ron yelped as it was ripped from his hands.
"You!" she found herself shouting. "How dare you!"
Ron's face twisted into an ugly scowl. "How dare I? How dare you! I knew there was something going on with Malfoy. What is that? It's sick! It's sick what you're doing with him!"
"Get out! Never touch my things again! You have no idea how lucky you are. The one journal I didn't think to curse, and you find it. Next time you won't be so lucky!"
"There won't be a next time! I forbid you from writing to him! Can't you see that it's sick and wrong?"
"The only thing that's sick, Ron, is your twisted invasion of my privacy! I said, GET OUT!"
"What's going on in here?" another voice asked.
Hermione whipped around to find George standing in the doorway. She had no memory of crossing the room towards Ron while they were screaming.
"ASK HER!" Ron bellowed, and George's expression hardened. He pointed his wand at Ron, and sparks flew, causing Ron to jump and curse.
"Hermione told you to get out, Ron. Get a move on," George said, and he sent another stinging hex for good measure.
Ron yelped and hastily exited the room. "You should ask her what she's done," he spat at George as he descended the stairs. "You won't be so quick to defend her when you find out what a traitor she is." His voice was low and menacing, and it sent chills down her spine.
George kept his wand trained on Ron until he was out of sight. Then, he turned to Hermione, entered her room, and shut the door behind him.
"Am I to take it," he asked evenly, "that Ron knows who's been making you so happy?"
Hermione nodded.
"And it's someone he doesn't approve of?"
She shook her head and sighed. She felt her eyes prickle with tears, and she tried her best to hold them back.
"It's Angelina. Angelina Johnson."
Hermione looked up, confused.
"I know, I know. Tactless to be dating Fred's ex. I don't know if it looks worse for her or for me. Neither of us meant for it to happen, but we've been spending some time together. We've always been friendly before, of course, but lately—I don't know—things changed."
It was just like George to level the playing field. Of course, the whole family would know from Ron within minutes, but this at least gave her the opportunity to share with him on her own terms. She gladly took it. "Mine's Draco Malfoy."
To George's credit, his only reaction was a slight raise of his brow. He almost looked impressed.
"We're both Head Students this year, and we've spent a lot of time together." A tear threatened to spill over again. "He's, he's not the same person he used to be. I know he was horrible before, but things changed for us, too, and—" She cut off, unsure how to continue.
George crossed the room and wrapped her in a hug.
"It's all so new, and I barely know how I feel, let alone how everyone else will react."
"Why don't you stay at Grimmauld Place tonight. I'll let Harry know, and I could stay there for a few days, too. The store's closed over Christmas anyway—give everyone time with their families, you know. It'll be just the three of us, like old times."
Hermione thought back to the summer they just spent together. Had it really been months ago already? Even so, the thought filled her with warmth, and she found it easy to agree.
Then the sound of raised voices floated up to them, and Hermione winced as she recognized Ginny and Ron's shouts.
George grimaced. "Right, you grab your things, and I'll go get Harry now."
It was a credit to both George and Harry that Hermione found herself settled in her bedroom in Grimmauld Place within minutes. Ginny had forced Ron outside to continue their screaming match as Mrs. Weasley fussed over everyone and added her shouts to both of her children's. This provided them an easy escape route. Mr. Weasley stood guard in the doorway and threw an apologetic look at the trio as they hurried through. Hermione shoved away thoughts of how his feelings might change when he learned that she was connecting herself to a Malfoy. Harry held Hermione's hand as they rushed to the floo with George levitating her trunk behind them. They marched her right up to her room, settled her in bed, and sat down on either side with her. Kretcher brought up a tray of steaming chamomile tea and biscuits for them all and bowed uncharacteristically low to Hermione before making an exit.
"You're not mad at me?" Hermione asked, breaking straight into the conversation she knew they had to have.
"No," Harry said in a reassuring tone, "of course not. I probably should've caught on a bit sooner, but I know you're not easy to fool. I trust you when you say he's changed, and to be honest, I definitely saw some of it today."
"Oh, Harry, thank you. That means so much to me. I just wasn't expecting all this."
"It's a bit of a shock to have it come out on someone else's terms," George added.
"I just feel so violated," and she explained to them about the Twinned Quill and her hasty decision to use a spare journal. When she was done, George let out a stunned whistle, but Harry's expression turned dark.
"That was dead wrong of him," he said through gritted teeth. "Remind me about those Twinned Quills when I'm not so angry. Ginny'd love that."
Hermione nodded.
"Ya know, Ron is lucky you didn't hex that journal. Marietta still has to use all sorts of glamour charms—I saw her not too long ago at the Ministry with her mum."
George barked out a laugh.
"I'm serious! I don't even touch papers in this house if I can help it," Harry grinned.
A scuffle in the hallway interrupted them, turning all three heads.
"Who's there?" Harry called, gripping his wand, which Hermione never saw him draw. She held her breath hoping it was not Ron. She knew it was a possibility that he would follow them.
"Hello?" a feminine voice called out. "Harry, is that you?"
A moment later, the owner of the voice was at the doorway, just out of Hermione's line of sight. She definitely recognized that voice but could not place it.
"There you are! Is Ron here?" the woman asked. "He said he'd be meeting me, but he wasn't in his room or in the kitchen."
"He said he'd meet you? Here? Tonight?" Harry asked with shock splayed across his face.
"I have to go," said George darkly. He got up to leave, turned back and patted Hermione's leg with a promise to return soon, then sidled out of the door. They heard the floo roar a few moments later.
A head peaked into the room, and Hermione instantly recognized Susan Bones.
"Hermione!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you! Ron didn't tell me you were moving back so soon."
Hermione noticed that Susan's voice sounded a little strained. "It was a rather sudden change," she replied.
"Oh." Susan looked Hermione over and seemed to register that she was intruding. "Well, I'm sorry to barge in here like this. I'll just leave Ron's gift on his bed, and I'll be off. Can you tell him I stopped by, Harry?"
"No problem," Harry said evenly. "Leave the gift with Kretcher, and I'll bring it to Ron later. He's living at his family home again, actually. He won't be back here for a long while."
"Oh, er, Happy Christmas then."
They waited until they heard the floo roar again, then Harry turned back to Hermione.
"I'm sorry about that," he said.
"Don't be. And you don't have to kick Ron out."
"Yes, I do."
Hermione waited for him to elaborate. He changed subjects.
"So, tell me about Mal—er, Draco?"
"Harry."
"No, seriously, what do you call him?"
"Harry."
"I'm just curious—"
"Harry!"
"He's sleeping with her," Harry blurted out. "Susan. She's been over here a few times, and always pretty late at night. I didn't know he opened the floo to her. I actually confronted him about her a week ago, and he said there was nothing going on anymore. He said it was just a fling, and it was over." His frown deepened, and he clenched his fist, where faint white scars popped out. "I hate lies."
Hermione could feel her blood pressure rising, only partly in Harry's defense. "Ron is free to see whomever he likes. I'm not a hypocrite about it, even if he wants to be," she said coldly.
"Yeah, well I'm not so sure he's seeing her. He made it sound like a physical thing. Actually, I got the feeling it was retaliation for when he, er, saw you… with Ernie."
"I see."
"Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about his justification."
"No, it's good that I know. I don't feel guilty anymore. He wants to pretend like I'm betraying him. Well, it's pretty clear where the betrayal actually lies here. He's just mad at himself and taking it out on me, like usual."
"Hermione… I don't think that's fair."
"It isn't fair, Harry! It isn't fair that he's been pouting for months, ignoring me, making me feel like I'm doing something wrong for being honest and trying to repair our friendship! All the while he's screwing some girl and jumping down my throat as if I were the one committing the sins."
"Okay, I get that, but I don't think Ron sees it that way. I'm not saying it's right of him, but he's not really putting any emotions into this, is he? He's just fooling around, same as it was with Parvati over the summer. Obviously your thing with Malfoy isn't just a physical thing, and I don't think Ernie was either, so it's a bigger deal to him."
Hermione clenched her jaw. She knew that if she spoke just then, she would explode at Harry, which he did not deserve.
Harry hesitated. "Er, it's not just physical between you two, right?"
She let out a slow breath, counted to three, and then very carefully asked, "Parvati?"
All of the color drained from Harry's face. He clamped his mouth shut.
"Well. That explains a lot."
"Hermione, I didn't mean—"
"Oh, I'm sure you didn't mean to let that one slip. Of course you didn't mean to betray Ron's confidence. Well, I'm so glad that while he was ignoring me all summer, he was fucking Parvati Patil and bragging about it to you."
"He wasn't bragging!"
"That's enough, Harry! I think I'd rather be alone now."
"Hermione—"
"No. If I say anything more, I'll say something I regret, and you're not the one to blame here. You should go."
Harry hung his head, then he got up and headed for the door. He paused at the doorway only to say, "I really am sorry, Hermione."
"I know. Goodnight, Harry."
"G'night."
Harry shut the door on his way out, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief to be alone. Except, now that she was alone, she had only her thoughts for company. They were an absolute whirlwind with all that had happened. How could the day have started so innocently and ended with so much anger? Not to mention the pure bliss she felt after being with Malfoy in the bookshop.
Draco.
After a moment's thought, she decided: yes, she wanted to talk with him. He was snarky and lately quite randy by quill, but he never tiptoed over her feelings. In an odd way, it was freeing. She pulled her journal and quill out of her trunk and settled herself sitting up in bed. The quill began to write immediately.
' Tonight it is. I've been think about you all day. Can't get you out of my head, Minx.'
She nearly forgot the note she hastily wrote after talking with Ginny. The note that inadvertently started this whole thing. That seemed like ages ago.
'Is it too late to write tonight? I've had the worst evening.'
'It's never too late. You know how I sleep.'
Hermione's lip twitched into the tiniest smile. Of course he was up, which was great for her, but not necessarily so great for his sleep patterns.
'I don't know if you'll actually want to hear all that's happened, but let me just say, right now I hate Ronald Weasley.'
'No arguments here. What did Weaselby do now?'
'He,' she stopped abruptly, just then realizing that what Ron did was as much a betrayal of Draco's privacy as it was to hers. She never thought to tell him she was recording his every word. How would he react to that? She sat there clutching the pen and wondering how to proceed. One thing she knew, she had to be honest with him. She started again on a new line.
'I have to admit something to you first, and you might be mad. I'll say in advance, I'm sorry.'
There was a slight hesitation on his end. 'Okay… just tell me.'
'I don't know why I've been doing this, but I keep our notes when we write by quill in a journal. It was just some sort of weird organizational quirk at first, and then I just continued. I don't know. I didn't mean to keep it all like some creepy record of everything we've said. Or, written, rather.'
'That's fine. I did the same actually. I never thought to mention it.'
'You did?'
'Yes, honest. I'm writing in it right now.'
'I can't believe you did the same thing! From the very beginning?'
'Yes.'
' Me too.'
'Why would I be mad at that?'
'Oh. Right.' Hermione bit her lip and forced herself to keep writing. 'I always keep the journal hidden. What we write is private, and I just don't want anyone else to accidentally get a hold of it. But today, I made a mistake, and I left it out.'
'Please, Granger, please tell me that Weasley didn't get to it.'
'I'm sorry.'
'I fucking hate him.'
'I'm so sorry.'
The quill stilled, and Hermione waited. She knew it was a lot to take in.
' How much did he read?'
'I don't really know. I caught him in the act and ripped it away from him. Then he sort of blew up at me.'
' He goes through your things and then gets mad at you? Fuck. I didn't know I could hate him even more.'
'Well, anyway, I'm at Harry's now, though I'm not too pleased with him either.'
'To be expected. He is a close second in idiocy to Weaselby. Did he try to defend Idiot No. 1 or something?'
'Not exactly, but he did let slip that Ron's been shagging Susan Bones.'
'What!?'
' And that he was shagging Parvati Patil over the summer.'
'I'm going to throw up.'
'My sentiments exactly. But, the problem is, this whole time Ron has been mad at me! Acting like I'm doing something wrong for showing interest in any other guy besides him, when he's out there sleeping around and sewing his wild oats or whatever—and IGNORING me. And now, he's telling all his family that I'm betraying him with you, when he had plans for this very night to meet Susan at Harry's to spend the night together.'
'Wait, how do you know that?'
' Oh, Susan was here. She seemed pretty shocked to see me, too.'
'Fuck, this is quite the drama.'
'I can't believe it. I can't believe him. How could he do this to me? He was supposed to be my friend. My best friend.'
Draco's pen stilled for a while. Hermione tried not to spiral, but she could feel herself slipping.
' Does it bother you that he's shagging someone else?'
She went automatically to reply "no," but something made her pause. Did it? Was she deep down really mad because Ron was with someone besides her? She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like if she and Ron were together. She could barely manage it. Her brain seemed to refuse to accept her being with Ron. Interesting. She tried again picturing Ron with Susan, and she was able to see them together fairly easily. There was no constriction in her chest. She was sure.
' No.'
'Does it bother you that people know about us?'
'So there's an "us"?' Hermione smirked at her words.
' That's what you said this afternoon.'
'I know. I meant it.'
'You're evading.'
She was. It did bother her that people knew about them, but how could she explain that in a way that would not sound hurtful. People had not accepted him yet, and no one really knew that he had changed, not like she did anyway. It ashamed her, but she did not like to think that people would judge her for trusting him. After spending a whole year devoting herself to saving Harry and the wizarding world at large, she just did not have it in her to fight a whole new battle so soon. Draco was worth fighting for, yes, but she had not yet recovered the strength to do it.
'If it takes you this long to answer, I already know.'
'No, please, no, it's not like that.'
'It's fine. I'd probably feel the same if I were you.'
' You don't even know how I feel!'
'Please do elaborate, then.'
'I don't know if I can explain it.'
'Ah.'
'You're making it sound all wrong, and it's not.'
' It's a bit hard to twist silence.'
'Stop. Don't do this to me. I can't take it after everything else I've been through today. I just need time.'
'Take all the time you need. And, in case you forgot, I didn't exactly have a day filled with peaches and cream while tracking down and dealing with Zabini.'
She had forgotten about that. Everything was spiraling out of her control, and she just wanted to scream. 'Please, can we not fight?'
It was Malfoy's turn to pause. 'Fine.'
'Do you want to tell me about Zabini?'
'Not tonight. Maybe another time.'
'Was it bad?'
'No. You can consider him another supporter, of sorts.'
'Another?'
'Yes, besides Weaselette.'
The image of Ginny's smirk flitted through her mind, and she remembered how it felt to be blushing about Draco with one of her best friends. Draco. She remembered the way his lips had felt on hers, and the ghost of a smile spread over her face. 'I liked seeing you today.'
'I liked pressing you up against that bookshelf.'
' That was rather the highlight of my day.'
'I should hope so.'
'So modest, Malfoy. Your humility is an absolute wonder.'
'In this, we can agree.'
Hermione laughed out loud at that. 'I wish we were still together now. Writing is wonderful and all, but I'd rather not be alone.'
'I'd invite you here, but I doubt you want to come to the Manor.'
'I don't know if I'm ready for that.'
'I know. Don't worry, I'm not sure I'm ready to be here either. Except for Mother…'
'Yes. Well, I'd invite you here, but it's not exactly my house, and I don't think Harry would take kindly to another unexpected overnight guest.'
'Ha. An excellent point. Can you take baths there?'
'Yes, actually. This is where the baths started.'
'Why don't you take one and spend time giving yourself some extra "attention"?'
' Draco!'
'What? You can pretend it's me. You know I'd be happy to step in and lend a helping hand.'
'I'll consider it.'
'Ooh, fuck yes. I'll be thinking about that for the rest of the night.'
Hermione did take a bath, but she did not follow Draco's suggestion. There was nothing even remotely sexual about the way she felt that night. But, the bath did help her relax and allow her to finally drift off to sleep.
She slept soundly for nearly four hours, until her dreams kicked in. Ron was screaming at her at the top of his lungs.
"FILTH! BLOOD TRAITORS! SCUM! HOW DARE YOU INFECT YOUR DISEASE ON THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK!"
Hermione woke with a start. Someone was downstairs. Before she had even grabbed her wand, her door flew open. It was Harry, wand tip lit, making sure she was safe.
"Stay here," he whispered, but she grabbed her wand and moved to his side. She glared at him, daring him to stop her. He nodded, extinguished his wand tip, and they moved to the stairs together.
As they approached the bottom floor, they heard faint sounds of scuffling between Mrs. Black's continued screams.
"Shut. Up. You. Stupid—"
"Expelliarmus!"
A wand went flying through the air, and Harry deftly caught it.
"Damn it, Harry!" The intruder. "Quit disarming me, and help me shut her up!"
"Shit!" Harry swore, and he tore forward to the portrait.
Hermione had recognized his outline before even hearing his voice: George had returned after his hasty departure earlier. She pointed her wand at Mrs. Black and poured all of her pent-up frustration into casting a powerful Stupefy and Silencio in quick succession. The screaming stopped, and the curtains slammed closed.
"Honestly," she whispered, "do you two have wands or not?"
"Not," said George.
"Oh! Right," Harry said, and hastily returned George his wand. "Sorry."
"Let's go to the kitchen," Hermione said, and she led the way.
Once the lamps were lit, and she got a good look at George, she knew the drama of the night was not yet at an end. The side of his face was starting to turn purple, and his knuckles were split and bleeding.
He noticed both Harry and her eyeing him, and he immediately snapped out, "Don't even start with a lecture. I've had an earful from Mum. Never been so happy I only had one for her to fill before." He tried for a grin that turned out sickly.
"How does Ron look?" Harry asked.
"Worse."
Hermione sighed and moved to sit beside George at the table. "Give me your hands."
George winced a little as she began healing each of his cuts and bruises.
"Thanks, Hermione."
"Thank you as well, but you don't have to go pummeling your brother for me."
"Oh, it wasn't for you. No brother of mine acts like that without getting the snot beat out of him. Mum and Dad had to send Charlie away earlier 'cause he tried to do the same. Bill just shouted at Ron, so he got to stay. They didn't expect me to show up so late, though, so I got mine in." This time, his grin came out wicked. "Percy will probably send him a strongly worded owl tomorrow."
They all laughed.