Chapter 3: The Leaky Cauldron
A/N: Rest of story, unless otherwise notified, is NOT in Hermione's POV.
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Hermione slowly opened her slightly tearing eyes to see that she was once again on her side. But when she looked at the blanket Draco had given her to make sure she hadn't kicked it off the bed, she found just the opposite. She was holding it as if it were a teddy bear. She sighed a rather sad sigh that slightly shuddered due to the fact that she was crying. She slowly turned her head towards the clock to see what time it was.
"HOLY SHIT!" she screamed in surprise, while quickly jumping off the bed and dropping the blanket. "Oh SHIT!" she cursed again to herself, running to the bathroom to wash the tears stains from her face. She had to meet Ginny and the gang at 4:00 at the leaky cauldron, and it was already 3:30 (it takes about 20min to drive there from her house and she was in absolutely no mood to apperate). It took her about five minutes to wash her face, and get rid of MOST of the tearstains. She quickly ran back to her bed where, at the bottom, she had set out an outfit for her to change into. She quickly changed and rushed over to her full body mirror that was on the back of her bedroom door, to see if her outfit looked okay. She was wearing a light tan, sleeveless shirt, and tight cacky flare pants. The shirt had fancy, Victorian designs at the top, and white, pink, and green flowers at the bottom. Her shoes were open toed with no back, the heels were about three inches high, and the entire shoe was cream colored. Once she fixed her hair so that way it wasn't frizzy and it only had a slight wave, she was out the door and on her way to The Leaky Cauldron. She was in her red convertible, with her hair whipping behind her in the breeze. When she finally got to the Leaky Cauldron she saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny waiting outside for her. So before she stepped out of the car she brushed her hair, it had gotten pretty knotty on the way there. Then she casually stepped out of her car, while flipping her hair back so it was out of her face, and slowly walked over to them with a smile on her face.
Ron and Harry had been looking down at the ground so they didn't know she was there until they heard Ginny say, "Oh my gosh Mia! You look great!"
While slowly lifting up their heads to look at Hermione, Harry said, "Mia, you're la-" Harry stopped when he saw what Hermione was wearing. Before he could finish his sentence, Ron and his mouths dropped, gaping at what Hermione was wearing. After about twenty seconds of gaping, Harry and Ron said in unison, "WOW!"
"Uhhh. Thanks. I guess." Hermione replied with a cocked eyebrow.
After Ron and Harry wiped the astonished looks off of their faces, Harry said, "Oh. Okay, lets go in now." Hermione smirked unintentionally at Harry when he said this, she had picked up smirking from Draco when they were going out.
"Geeze Mia, you haven't smirked like that since you broke up with Dra-" Ginny quickly stopped herself before she made a mistake by saying his name, Mia always tended to get sad when someone mentioned his name (A/N: and who wouldn't? I mean, I know I would if I were her).
"It's okay Gin'. I don't mind talking about him anymore." Hermione said only half-truthfully. She was feeling oddly happy today, happier than she had felt in two years, actually.
"Okay, whatever you say Mia." Ginny said with a little bit of surprise in her voice, but she could tell that Hermione wasn't really telling the whole truth.
After about an hour, and about twenty butter beers each, the gang started to walk slowly, happily, and deeply in conversation, towards the door. When Hermione got to the door, she could have sworn she heard a laugh that sounded EXACTLY like Draco's laugh, but she thought she was just hearing things, so she walked on a little more. Then she stopped again, because she heard the laugh again, now she KNEW she wasn't hearing things.
"Draco?" Hermione didn't realize she had said this out loud while she slowly turned the top of her body towards the noise coming from a loud group.
"What'd you say Mia?" Ron asked curiously, inside hoping greatly that she wasn't hearing voices again. He slowly turned in her direction to see where she was and what she was doing.
When Hermione finally realized that she had said Draco's name out loud, she quickly snapped back to reality and replied to Ron, "Oh, nothing Ron. It's. Nothing. Y'all go on ahead without me, I have to go to the bathroom, so I'll see you at my house soon. Okay?"
Though slightly worried and curious, the rest of the gang left the Leaky Cauldron, hoping to soon see Hermione riding behind them in her Convertible.
Just as the other had left, Hermione heard the laugh yet another time, but somehow she could tell by how it sounded, that it wasn't quite complete. She slowly and carefully walked over by the table with the loud group sitting at it, careful not to let them see her, but close enough so she could see them. After she had taken a few steps towards the crowded table, the group at it stood up and looked as if they were going to leave. Just as the group had gotten up, Hermione recognized the people in the group, or most of them anyway. She recognized Blaise and Pansy from slytherin, but Hermione couldn't figure out exactly who the other person in the group was. Luckily, Pansy and Blaise didn't seem to notice her, but when the other person turned around and finally faced her direction, his piercing cold grey eyes caught hers. His eyes made Hermione jump ever so slightly, and apparently Draco had caught her eyes too, because when their eyes met, he jumped too. Draco's eyes immediately started to fill up with tears, though he didn't let it show, only Hermione could tell that it was happening. Hermione then realized why his laugh sounded incomplete, it was because his eyes were so dark and cold, not like they used to be. He quickly looked away, as not to cause himself too much pain, and so that way he didn't get his friends suspicious.
"Y'all go ahead. I'll meet you up there soon." Hermione heard Draco say to Blaise and Pansy as they all got to the door. Draco's friends must not have thought much of it, because the next thing Hermione knew, Draco was walking slowly and sadly toward her.
As soon as Draco was within two feet of her, Hermione jumped up and wrapped her arms tightly around Draco's neck. "Oh Draco! I've missed you so much!" Hermione said as tears of joy came pouring down her face.
Draco almost immediately pushed her away. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?" He yelled, both anger and sadness in his eyes. Seeing as Hermione had a surprised and confused look on her face, Draco continued. "Listen. You have some nerve trying to talk to me after you, number one, accused me of doing something that I would have never DREAMED of doing to you. Two, not answering ANY of my letters and letting me explain after you broke up with me. And three, depriving me from all of the happiness I ever had, by breaking up with me. Just answer me two questions Granger." He put an accent on "Granger," and was starting to yell louder. But he detensified a little bit after he saw Hermione flinch when he called her Granger.
'He hasn't called me "Granger" since sixth year.' Hermione thought to herself hurtfully. Then through tears she said, "Wh-What?"
"First of all." Draco started, fighting back the urge to wipe the tears from Hermione's face like she had once done for him. "If you haven't forgiven me for what you think I did, then why did you forgive Ginny so quickly?" He asked, slightly more calm then he was before, though there was still a little bit of anger in his voice.
"For three reasons." Hermione started, trying her hardest to choke back her tears. "First of all, she told me that even though y'all had been going out for two years, she didn't know that you were dating me, and if she had known, she would have broke up with you."
"WHAT!" Draco screamed angrily when Hermione said that Ginny had told her that her and Draco had been going out for two years. Everyone in the Leaky Cauldron turned their heads towards Draco in suspicion, but after a second, they all went back to minding their own business.
"Hang on." Hermione grunted irritably as she garbed Draco's arm and forcefully pulled him back into a deserted alleyway behind the Leaky Cauldron. "Now, back to what I was saying. Secondly, I can't exactly hate one of my best friend's sisters, it gets uber (A/N: Uber is pronounced oober. And it means extremely or very) complicated. And thirdly, she's the only friend that I've ever had that's a girl." When she finished, Hermione gave a big sigh, and plopped onto the ground in a random spot.
"O.Kay. Now for my second question." After Draco said this Hermione slowly tilted her head up so that it faced him. "Why won't you believe me when I constantly tell you that I never dated Ginny, and I DEFINITELY never slept with her?" Draco asked, suddenly sounding really depressed.
Hermione chose not to answer this question right away. But after Draco got an impatient look on his face she finally answered him. "Draco, I saw you with her." Hermione started off sounding really calm, but then she stood up and suddenly started screaming as tears poured down her face. "I SAW YOU, YOU CAME RIGHT UP TO ME! I SAW YOU DRACO! I. I saw you!" Her face was blotched red from the tears now, and she suddenly collapsed onto the ground (but she WAS still conscious). She searched for the strength to stand back up and when she found it, she stood up and said, "But you know what Draco!? I don't give a shit anymore! I miss you! I still want to be with you! I haven't been happy since the day I broke up with you!" If at all possible, tears were streaming down her face even harder now.
"And I still want to be with you Hermione." Draco replied trying to fight back the tears he was starting to get because he had made Hermione cry again. "I have been completely miserable since the day you broke up with me!" He was now starting to yell. "But I don't even want to SEE you again until you find out the TRUTH about what happened that night. When you finally know the truth, and when you finally decide to believe that I never so much as TOUCHED Ginny Weasley. When that day comes, maybe then I'll talk to you, and maybe THEN you can owl me." As Draco finished, he rushed out of the Leaky Caldron, a single tear streaming down his face.
For about the next half-hour Hermione was curled up in the same spot rocking back and forth with her knees to her chest thinking 'What does he mean by the TRUTH?'
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A/N: so. what do you guys think? Please review, it would mean a lot to me. If I don't get reviews, then I wont continue, so the ones who read it and don't review it. you could be ruining it for a lot of other people. Anyway, tell me what you think, whether it be good or bad, just to let you know. flames will be used to light the candles on the cake that will be made to celebrate this story.
A/N: Rest of story, unless otherwise notified, is NOT in Hermione's POV.
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Hermione slowly opened her slightly tearing eyes to see that she was once again on her side. But when she looked at the blanket Draco had given her to make sure she hadn't kicked it off the bed, she found just the opposite. She was holding it as if it were a teddy bear. She sighed a rather sad sigh that slightly shuddered due to the fact that she was crying. She slowly turned her head towards the clock to see what time it was.
"HOLY SHIT!" she screamed in surprise, while quickly jumping off the bed and dropping the blanket. "Oh SHIT!" she cursed again to herself, running to the bathroom to wash the tears stains from her face. She had to meet Ginny and the gang at 4:00 at the leaky cauldron, and it was already 3:30 (it takes about 20min to drive there from her house and she was in absolutely no mood to apperate). It took her about five minutes to wash her face, and get rid of MOST of the tearstains. She quickly ran back to her bed where, at the bottom, she had set out an outfit for her to change into. She quickly changed and rushed over to her full body mirror that was on the back of her bedroom door, to see if her outfit looked okay. She was wearing a light tan, sleeveless shirt, and tight cacky flare pants. The shirt had fancy, Victorian designs at the top, and white, pink, and green flowers at the bottom. Her shoes were open toed with no back, the heels were about three inches high, and the entire shoe was cream colored. Once she fixed her hair so that way it wasn't frizzy and it only had a slight wave, she was out the door and on her way to The Leaky Cauldron. She was in her red convertible, with her hair whipping behind her in the breeze. When she finally got to the Leaky Cauldron she saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny waiting outside for her. So before she stepped out of the car she brushed her hair, it had gotten pretty knotty on the way there. Then she casually stepped out of her car, while flipping her hair back so it was out of her face, and slowly walked over to them with a smile on her face.
Ron and Harry had been looking down at the ground so they didn't know she was there until they heard Ginny say, "Oh my gosh Mia! You look great!"
While slowly lifting up their heads to look at Hermione, Harry said, "Mia, you're la-" Harry stopped when he saw what Hermione was wearing. Before he could finish his sentence, Ron and his mouths dropped, gaping at what Hermione was wearing. After about twenty seconds of gaping, Harry and Ron said in unison, "WOW!"
"Uhhh. Thanks. I guess." Hermione replied with a cocked eyebrow.
After Ron and Harry wiped the astonished looks off of their faces, Harry said, "Oh. Okay, lets go in now." Hermione smirked unintentionally at Harry when he said this, she had picked up smirking from Draco when they were going out.
"Geeze Mia, you haven't smirked like that since you broke up with Dra-" Ginny quickly stopped herself before she made a mistake by saying his name, Mia always tended to get sad when someone mentioned his name (A/N: and who wouldn't? I mean, I know I would if I were her).
"It's okay Gin'. I don't mind talking about him anymore." Hermione said only half-truthfully. She was feeling oddly happy today, happier than she had felt in two years, actually.
"Okay, whatever you say Mia." Ginny said with a little bit of surprise in her voice, but she could tell that Hermione wasn't really telling the whole truth.
After about an hour, and about twenty butter beers each, the gang started to walk slowly, happily, and deeply in conversation, towards the door. When Hermione got to the door, she could have sworn she heard a laugh that sounded EXACTLY like Draco's laugh, but she thought she was just hearing things, so she walked on a little more. Then she stopped again, because she heard the laugh again, now she KNEW she wasn't hearing things.
"Draco?" Hermione didn't realize she had said this out loud while she slowly turned the top of her body towards the noise coming from a loud group.
"What'd you say Mia?" Ron asked curiously, inside hoping greatly that she wasn't hearing voices again. He slowly turned in her direction to see where she was and what she was doing.
When Hermione finally realized that she had said Draco's name out loud, she quickly snapped back to reality and replied to Ron, "Oh, nothing Ron. It's. Nothing. Y'all go on ahead without me, I have to go to the bathroom, so I'll see you at my house soon. Okay?"
Though slightly worried and curious, the rest of the gang left the Leaky Cauldron, hoping to soon see Hermione riding behind them in her Convertible.
Just as the other had left, Hermione heard the laugh yet another time, but somehow she could tell by how it sounded, that it wasn't quite complete. She slowly and carefully walked over by the table with the loud group sitting at it, careful not to let them see her, but close enough so she could see them. After she had taken a few steps towards the crowded table, the group at it stood up and looked as if they were going to leave. Just as the group had gotten up, Hermione recognized the people in the group, or most of them anyway. She recognized Blaise and Pansy from slytherin, but Hermione couldn't figure out exactly who the other person in the group was. Luckily, Pansy and Blaise didn't seem to notice her, but when the other person turned around and finally faced her direction, his piercing cold grey eyes caught hers. His eyes made Hermione jump ever so slightly, and apparently Draco had caught her eyes too, because when their eyes met, he jumped too. Draco's eyes immediately started to fill up with tears, though he didn't let it show, only Hermione could tell that it was happening. Hermione then realized why his laugh sounded incomplete, it was because his eyes were so dark and cold, not like they used to be. He quickly looked away, as not to cause himself too much pain, and so that way he didn't get his friends suspicious.
"Y'all go ahead. I'll meet you up there soon." Hermione heard Draco say to Blaise and Pansy as they all got to the door. Draco's friends must not have thought much of it, because the next thing Hermione knew, Draco was walking slowly and sadly toward her.
As soon as Draco was within two feet of her, Hermione jumped up and wrapped her arms tightly around Draco's neck. "Oh Draco! I've missed you so much!" Hermione said as tears of joy came pouring down her face.
Draco almost immediately pushed her away. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?" He yelled, both anger and sadness in his eyes. Seeing as Hermione had a surprised and confused look on her face, Draco continued. "Listen. You have some nerve trying to talk to me after you, number one, accused me of doing something that I would have never DREAMED of doing to you. Two, not answering ANY of my letters and letting me explain after you broke up with me. And three, depriving me from all of the happiness I ever had, by breaking up with me. Just answer me two questions Granger." He put an accent on "Granger," and was starting to yell louder. But he detensified a little bit after he saw Hermione flinch when he called her Granger.
'He hasn't called me "Granger" since sixth year.' Hermione thought to herself hurtfully. Then through tears she said, "Wh-What?"
"First of all." Draco started, fighting back the urge to wipe the tears from Hermione's face like she had once done for him. "If you haven't forgiven me for what you think I did, then why did you forgive Ginny so quickly?" He asked, slightly more calm then he was before, though there was still a little bit of anger in his voice.
"For three reasons." Hermione started, trying her hardest to choke back her tears. "First of all, she told me that even though y'all had been going out for two years, she didn't know that you were dating me, and if she had known, she would have broke up with you."
"WHAT!" Draco screamed angrily when Hermione said that Ginny had told her that her and Draco had been going out for two years. Everyone in the Leaky Cauldron turned their heads towards Draco in suspicion, but after a second, they all went back to minding their own business.
"Hang on." Hermione grunted irritably as she garbed Draco's arm and forcefully pulled him back into a deserted alleyway behind the Leaky Cauldron. "Now, back to what I was saying. Secondly, I can't exactly hate one of my best friend's sisters, it gets uber (A/N: Uber is pronounced oober. And it means extremely or very) complicated. And thirdly, she's the only friend that I've ever had that's a girl." When she finished, Hermione gave a big sigh, and plopped onto the ground in a random spot.
"O.Kay. Now for my second question." After Draco said this Hermione slowly tilted her head up so that it faced him. "Why won't you believe me when I constantly tell you that I never dated Ginny, and I DEFINITELY never slept with her?" Draco asked, suddenly sounding really depressed.
Hermione chose not to answer this question right away. But after Draco got an impatient look on his face she finally answered him. "Draco, I saw you with her." Hermione started off sounding really calm, but then she stood up and suddenly started screaming as tears poured down her face. "I SAW YOU, YOU CAME RIGHT UP TO ME! I SAW YOU DRACO! I. I saw you!" Her face was blotched red from the tears now, and she suddenly collapsed onto the ground (but she WAS still conscious). She searched for the strength to stand back up and when she found it, she stood up and said, "But you know what Draco!? I don't give a shit anymore! I miss you! I still want to be with you! I haven't been happy since the day I broke up with you!" If at all possible, tears were streaming down her face even harder now.
"And I still want to be with you Hermione." Draco replied trying to fight back the tears he was starting to get because he had made Hermione cry again. "I have been completely miserable since the day you broke up with me!" He was now starting to yell. "But I don't even want to SEE you again until you find out the TRUTH about what happened that night. When you finally know the truth, and when you finally decide to believe that I never so much as TOUCHED Ginny Weasley. When that day comes, maybe then I'll talk to you, and maybe THEN you can owl me." As Draco finished, he rushed out of the Leaky Caldron, a single tear streaming down his face.
For about the next half-hour Hermione was curled up in the same spot rocking back and forth with her knees to her chest thinking 'What does he mean by the TRUTH?'
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A/N: so. what do you guys think? Please review, it would mean a lot to me. If I don't get reviews, then I wont continue, so the ones who read it and don't review it. you could be ruining it for a lot of other people. Anyway, tell me what you think, whether it be good or bad, just to let you know. flames will be used to light the candles on the cake that will be made to celebrate this story.