Effects

Hermione watched Draco walk out the door and then she had a vision.

"Now, get going. I don't want to see your ugly face again," Hermione heard Ron order as she saw only blackness. Then her eyes began to open and she saw flickers of light. Someone was walking away from her. Who was it? Why were they leaving? Hermione didn't want them to go. Why couldn't Ron go? The last thing she saw was a blonde figure walking out through the door and then the door closed behind them.

Her vision ended as Draco closed the door behind him. "Draco, don't go!" Hermione heard herself say. It seemed so distant, as if she weren't saying it at all. Did I just call for Draco to come back? Am I going crazy?

Hermione tried to remember what she was supposed to be doing before Draco had showed up at her door. She looked at her watch. 2 o'clock, shit I'm late for that meeting with Mr. Weasley!She disapparated.


Ron came home that night, fully sober. This time it was Hermione who was out of it and she hadn't even been drinking. While she was making dinner, she burnt the vegetables three times because she was thinking about what had happened that morning. Ron had to take over the cooking.

While they were eating, Ron would try to start a conversation by asking "So, what did you do today, honey?" or "Meet anyone new lately?" to which Hermione replied with "not much" and "no, not lately" in a dry tone, not really wanting to talk about anything. Every time Ron opened his mouth, she would either have a flash back of what had happened with Draco that morning or the scene from her dream would replay in her mind.

Finally Ron asked, "Are you okay, Hermione? You seem to be somewhere else tonight?"

"I'm fine," Hermione said waving it off, "it's probably just because I had a tiring day at work. I was late for a meeting this afternoon and I had so many extra things piled on my desk for next week because Blane'll be away next it wasn't funny."

Of course, she was lying through her teeth but Ron was satisfied. He stopped talking to her until they had finished their dinner. "So, does my darling want her dessert?" Ron asked in what he thought was a seductive tone, but Hermione wasn't in the mood.

"Not tonight, Ron. I'm too tired." Ron pouted, trying for the sympathy vote. Hermione wasn't taking the bait. She got up from her chair and took her plate into the kitchen. She then walked into the bedroom, put on her favourite midnight blue nightgown and hopped into bed, pulling the blankets under her arms while laying her head back on the pillow.

She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind so sleep would take her but the scenes from that day kept rushing through her mind. Why did Draco have to come to the house? Why couldn't we have bumped into each other again, at the ministry or somewhere else? And who am I supposed to talk to about this? I can't tell Harry because he was the one that told Ron I had been with Draco in Diagon Alley. I can't even tell Ginny because she might let something slip to Harry and even if she didn't, it would be a big thing for her to keep from her big brother. Argh, this is hopeless. Maybe I should just go to a psychologist and see what they say.

Thoughts were rushing through Hermione's head until, at last, exhaustion finally let her sleep.


Meanwhile, in the small wizard courts, Draco was having some trouble of his own. The incident with Hermione had really rattled him. He hadn't meant to kiss her and now he had, he couldn't stop thinking of it. He had liked kissing Hermione, yet he knew it was wrong. He kept telling himself she was married and he would never have a chance with her.

But then why did she kiss you back?was all his brain could muster. It didn't make sense. And because it didn't make sense his brain would not let the matter go.

When he was trying to concentrate on creating a case for his clients, thoughts of Hermione always seemed to creep their way into his mind. Usually Draco was good at his work and hardly ever lost a case. Since the episode with Hermione, he had lost five straight. His boss knew something had to be wrong.

Anna Racell always kept an eye on her lawyers, making sure they did whatever was necessary to achieve their best. She had kept an especially close eye on Draco though. She thought he was a bit of a catch and more than once had tried to come on to him, but the answer was the same each time. He wasn't interested and she was his boss. He didn't want his colleagues to think she favoured him.

After he lost his fifth case in a row, she decided to have a talk with him and called for him to come up to her office. He knocked on the door. "Come in."

"You wanted to see me?" asked Draco, a bit hesitantly.

"Ah, yes Mr. Malfoy. Take a seat." He sat on one of the chairs in front of her desk and waited for her to speak again.

"So, I hear you just lost another case."

"Yeah, it is a bit depressing," Draco admitted.

"I believe this is your fifth loss in a row. Not like you. I don't remember you losing a case before this streak started."

"Only two."

"So, what's happened to bring these losses on now?"

"I'm not sure," Draco said worriedly and then he decided to say what he first thought when he had been called here. "You're not going to fire me, aren't you?"

"Fire my best lawyer?" Racell posed. "Now, how stupid would I be if I did that? No, I just wanted to know what was getting you down. What's distracting you from doing the great job you usually do?"

"Well, three of those cases I don't think I could have won even if I was at my best, but I guess there has been something on my mind this week," Draco pronounced.

"Did you have a fight with a close friend or something?"

"Well, not so much a fight, but it does involve a friend."

"Do you want to talk about it? It could help to clear your mind." She had always thought there was someone else Draco longed for, even if he didn't know it himself.

"It can't hurt any more than it has already, I suppose. It's just, I met up with an old friend a couple of weeks ago and we went out for coffee. Her husband spotted us and he didn't like the fact I was alone with his wife. But it wasn't like I was going to try anything."

"I see, do go on."

"Well, after he warned me not to go near her again, I bumped into her a second time. Seeing as he was out of town, we didn't think it would hurt if we finished catching up. But it did hurt, because we were seen and he was told. He ended up going home drunk and hurting my friend. I went around to her place to apologise… one thing led to another and I… I kissed her. It's been playing over and over in my head ever since."

"Well, to me, it sounds like you want to be more than friends with this woman."

"Mmm, that was my conclusion. But she's married. She seems happy with him too. I don't want her to be hurt anymore."

"Does she know how you feel?" Anna bet she already knew what he was going to say.

"I don't know. I don't think so."

I bet she knows exactly how he feels,Anna thought to herself.

"Well, do you ever plan on telling her?"

"There's no point. It will only make things worse."

"Did you ever think she might feel the same way for you?"

Yeah, that had crossed my mind,thought Draco. "She is married, of course she doesn't feel the same way," Draco replied, starting to get hot headed.

"Well, I still think you should tell her. Get it off your chest. If she doesn't feel the same way then at least you will know for sure. Maybe then you can concentrate on your work a bit more, hmm?"

"You haven't steered me wrong yet," Draco sighed, agreeing with her. He needed to confront Hermione one last time and tell her how he felt (once he figured out what that was). Get it off his chest and confirm nothing could or should ever happen between them because Ron was her husband and that's the way it should be.