Past Memories From A Phone Call Part Four

"Excuse me, where can I find the cafeteria?"

"Who are you looking for, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Hermione Granger. We have a lunch meeting."

"Ground floor, third door on the right."

"Thank you."

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"Hello Hermione."

"Oh god! Ow…"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. Here, let me help you up."

"Thanks…Draco? Oh Merlin, is that really you?"

"Yes, it is. Hi, Hermione, my, you've changed…"

"You have too…why are you here? I told you I would call you when I could meet you."

"Well, why can't you see me now?"

"Er…"

"I told you you were scared of seeing me again."

"Well since you're here I guess you can have a seat…"

"Thanks. Why are you sitting all alone? Are you as unpopular here as you were in school?"

"You're not making a very good third first impression, Malfoy. For your information, I was going through some paperwork. Sit down already. So did Lloyd just give you directions down here?"

"Yes, he did. I told him I was looking for you and that you were expecting me."

"As usual, you're always lying to get your way."

"Come on, Hermione, that's really not fair. I wanted to see you and I didn't want to wait for you to get over your fear. I wasn't sure how long that would take. So I decided to surprise you."

"Well you certainly did that. Oh, stop grinning you smug git….You've dyed your hair."

"No, I've just had it highlighted."

"But black?"

"I like the contrast between the blonde and the black."

"It looks…"

"You know it looks smashing, Hermione."

"I like it better blonde. Though, I have to admit, you do look better than ever."

"I know."

"And you're cockier than ever, as well."

"You don't look so bad yourself."

"Admit it, Malfoy; I make you weak in the knees."

"And you're cocky as well."

"Wow…you know, it really is great to see you after ten years."

"It's great to see you too."

"So you're sticking around for a while?"

"Yea."

"And you're happy about this?"

"I think it's time for me to settle down."

"And you want us to start talking again."

"Don't you?"

"Well if we do that, we're going to have to talk about a few things."

"Like how you were on my back all the time?"

"Like how you abandoned me."

"How you always wanted to 'talk about things'."

"How you were ashamed of me."

"How you were ashamed of me."

"How you lied to me."

"How you tried to protect me."

"How you were sleeping around when we had a relationship."

"That was once!"

"Twice, as I recall it."

"Alright, twice. But it didn't mean anything!"

"See, this is what I don't like: You just brush it off like it was no big deal and you don't regret it at all."

"Hermione, I did regret it."

"Did?"

"Do! I do. I mean, I thought we could let bygones be bygones and start over."

"Oh Merlin."

"Oh Merlin what?"

"The minute you waltz in here, after ten years, you expect me to forgive and forget all the things you did to me."

"I'm willing to forgive you for kissing Potter."

"A-a-a-no. Don't even five me that, Draco."

"Why can't we just start over?"

"Don't! try to touch me, Draco. And don't even come in here thinking we can start over. We have so much to work out. Oh, gawd, just get out. I don't know why you even came. I don't think this is going to work. Goodbye, Draco."

"Hermione…! Dammit!"… "There's no reason to stare, people!"

"Hello, are you Draco?"

"Yes…"

"I'm Eloise, Hermione's colleague. I saw you were talking to Hermione…well, trying to talk to her, anyway."

"What's your point?"

"I'm wondering how the hell you got my friend so angry. I've never seen her that pissed off."

"She's just being irrational. Nice to meet you, but I think I'd better be going."

"Well do you want to finish your conversation with her? I could take you to her office…"

"That would be helpful, thanks."

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"Hermione, there's someone here who would like to see you."

"Who is it Eloise…oh no, Draco, you get out. I don't want to talk to you right now."

"We need to talk about this if we're ever going to get anywhere, Hermione."

"Well I think I'm going to leave…good luck Hermione…"

"Thanks for leading me here, Eloise. Now, look, Hermione, I still love you and I'd like to at least be friends with you. But that's not going to happen if you keep avoiding confrontation."

"Have a seat then. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Maybe that stuff we mentioned back in the cafeteria."

"Alright Draco, why don't we talk about how you cheated on me for a Slytherin and how, afterwards, you begged my forgiveness and I forgave you and then you turned right around and did it again! Did you really think that you could keep that second time a secret from me, Draco?"

"No, Hermione, no…I didn't. I've told you a million times over that I'm sorry about that. You have no idea how much I regret it. I was just…confused. I had never felt the same way about you as anyone else. I didn't want to feel it. So now, why don't we move onto the subject of you kissing Potter?"

"Oh don't raise your eyebrow at me like that."

"Don't avoid the subject, Hermione. Tell me why you kissed Potter."

"Well…er…I…"

"Must be embarrassing: you're as red as Weasley's hair."

"Shut up."

"Well, go on; tell me why you kissed him."

"I wanted to see if other people were attracted to me, alright! I wanted to see if I could get other people, like you could!"

"You're mad, Hermione."

"Why? Why is that mad? Here you were, getting tons of girls when you were in a relationship and I couldn't even get one single bloke to even kiss me! Even my best friend didn't want to kiss me! I was jealous that you could get girls that and I couldn't."

"You wanted to get girls, Hermione?"

"No-you know what I mean, Draco!"

"Yes I do. Why didn't you tell me that?"

"It's embarrassing, that's why. So let's talk about something else. Like how you were ashamed of me."

"I wasn't ashamed of you, Hermione. You know how controversial it would have been if we'd been a couple in public. You did the same thing to me."

"Yes, I know. That's also why I wanted to protect you, Draco, which is something you were clearly against."

"I didn't need protecting, Hermione. I had everything perfectly under control."

"Until you almost got yourself killed."

"Yes, well, then I could have used a little help. But not the help you gave me by trailing my every move. You were boxing me in. I had no freedom whatsoever."

"Instead of telling me that you just pushed me away."

"I'll admit that was a mistake."

"And I know I should have been a more understanding girlfriend, but everything was just falling apart…I wanted to retain some sense of normalcy."

"I understand. So now we can forgive and forget and start over?"

"Draco I—"

"Hey, don't think a kiss is going to make this all—"

"Draco, stop! I'm trying to—"

"—talk here!"

"But it's not working very well, now, is it, Hermione?"

"That's because you keep kissing me! It's not going to—"

"Okay, Draco, fine, you win. Forgive and forget. We'll start over."

"I knew I'd get my way."

"As usual. Yes, yes, I know."

"You just can't resist my charm."

"And you're a really good kisser."

"Why thank you, Hermione, I'm positively chuffed."

"Well, you should be."

"So how about we go on a date? Friday night. I'll pick you up at eight."

"Fine, fine."

"See, Hermione, I knew we could work this out."

"Yea, sure. Now get out of here, I've got work to do."

"Of course, princess."