A/N: NOT MINE! ABSOLUTELY NOT MINE!
When she and Draco finally made it back to their flat, it was going on eleven o'clock. Draco headed directly for his room, muttering something about a shower. Hermione shook her head and wandered to her own room. Sitting on her pillow was a letter. She picked it up cautiously. After all, who knows what freaks are sending these days. But suspicions were thrown out the window when she looked at the handwriting. Only one person had handwriting that atrocious, and he refused to work on penmanship at all, even though they (Hermione and himself) got into terrible fights about it several times. She smiled, and shook her head. Only Ron…
However, now that she knew who sent the missive, she wasn't sure she could open it. Come on Hermione. You were in Gryffindor, for crying out loud! Where's that courage now? Apparently, the famous Gryffindor courage had abandoned her. She stared at the letter another moment. Then, she made up her mind. She couldn't hear a shower running, so she called out, "Draco, could you come in here for a moment?" When he didn't answer, she headed towards his room, letter in hand. "Draco?" She called again; then knocked on the door. "Are you busy?"
It was a minute or so before the door swung open, showing an irritated Draco in pajama pants. "What do you want, Hermione? Can't a guy get any sleep around here anymore?"
She took a step back. "So-sorry, Draco. It's nothing… It can wait until morning. Sorry to have disturbed you." What I fool I must look like. Imagine coming to Draco for support. She turned to flee back to her room, but he grabbed her arm.
"Wait, I'm sorry, 'Mione. I'm just tired. What can I help you with?"
"Like I said, it's nothing. Good night Draco." Okay, so he's tired. No problem. I'll just open the letter in the morning. She tried to detach his hand from her arm, but in the process, he caught a glimpse of the letter.
"Wait a tick, Hermione. What's that? Is it from the guy you asked to the wedding?" She froze. Great. She nodded slowly, keeping her eyes focused anywhere but on Draco. "Well, what does it say? Do you have a date?" He asked impatiently.
"I'm not sure… I haven't opened it yet…" She glanced up at Draco as she said this.
A look of compassion crossed Draco's eyes. "And you came… Merlin, I'm an idiot." He guided her towards a chair in the living room, and she gratefully sank into it. At the same time, she redirected her attention back onto the still unopened letter. A silence fell over the two of them for a few minutes before Draco ventured, "Do you… would you like me to read it to you?"
Her head snapped up to stare at him in astonishment. Read it to me? That had been the furthest thing from her mind when she had called for Draco. "N-no thank you… I really just wanted someone to … well, be here when I opened it."
He half-smirked at her. "Where's that famous Gryffindor courage now, eh?"
She had to smile at that. Classic Draco… "You know, I asked myself that same question."
He sat down in a chair across from her. "Well, now you have your support, so go ahead and open it, girl."
She nodded, and slowly opened the letter. It read:
'Mione-
Although your letter came as a surprise to me, I would be honored to escort you to the wedding. What time would be good to pick you up – or should I meet you there?
Affectionately yours,
Ron
She took a deep breath. He said yes. She turned to Draco, who was waiting patiently for her to say something. "He said he'd be honored." A small smile crossed her face. She glanced down at the paper again, mostly to avoid Draco's gaze. Then she noticed a line that had obviously been added after the other had been scripted.
I'm sorry.
As she looked at the line, her brow wrinkled in confusion. He's sorry? Well, that's nice to know. But sorry for what? Did he change his mind? Or is it about our argument? Or is it something else? She sighed. Trust Ron to be cryptic just when I need him to be crystal clear.
A voice brought her out of her thoughts. " 'Mione?" She looked up at Draco, who now stood closer to her. "Did you hear what I said?"
"I'm sorry, Draco. I was lost in thought. Could you repeat your question?"
"Do I get to know now who the lucky guy is? Or are you going to ignore me again, like you did with the question earlier?"
A blush covered her face as she remembered the conversation on the way to Ginny's. Obviously I wasn't as smooth as I thought I was…But should I tell him now? Is he any less likely to flip out now than before? She bit her lip as she stared at the rug. I just don't know how this is going to turn out… "Draco…" she started, "I'm just not sure…"
" 'Mione, if you don't want me to know, just say so. But I just want you to know that I just…" He stopped for a second. Then his hand was tilting her head up to look into his eyes. "I just want you to be happy."
She smiled up at him. "Thank you Draco. For everything." She stood, and walked towards her room. She could hear him sigh in defeat behind her. As she reached the door, she turned. "Draco?"
"Yes, Hermione?"
She took a deep breath. "It's Ron." With those two words, she stepped into her room and shut the door, taking great care not to see the slumped shoulders of the man now sitting alone in the dimly lit living room.
A/N: So, Ron's slowly coming back into the picture. What do you guys think? Hope you guys are enjoying the story still. ANY review makes me happy. If you hate it, let me know. If you like it, let me know. If you think I should change something LET ME KNOW! I like ALL reviews. grin
Mistri: I'm glad you responded anyway, even if you can't spell! smile I always have a beta check my work over before submitting it, so I HOPE they catch all my mistakes. fingers crossed
Superdork: I'm glad you have confidence in me smile That's always comforting. Honest, it is. Just let me know if something starts to bug you, so I can fix it if possible. wink
Siognee: I'm honored, and would enjoy co-authoring a story. Just keep in mind that I'm in Italy, so maybe I could just beta a story of your for now, and offer suggestions. But I'd be thrilled to help in any way I can. smile
As for Sabrina's wedding, I never saw Bachelor (#1), they didn't show it here. I did see Bachelor #2, which was kinda cool, because I got to be ecstatic when they went to Springfield, MO (where I was last year). But I'm working to make it classy as classy can be.
enoimreH: I changed it a little. Do you think it's a little better now? Tell me what you think.