Painting The Town Red

Hermione knew she couldn't very well stand by her door all night weeping. It certainly wasn't making her feel any better about all that had happened. And the fact that she had no one but herself to blame for Greg's outburst made her crying seem all the more pointless. Hermione pressed her palms into her eyes to stem her tears and shook her head roughly. Pushing away from the door, she made her way to her bedroom. Woodenly, she collected her nightgown from the closet and strode into the bathroom.

Originally, Hermione had planned a quick shower before going straight to bed for what promised to be a fitful and troubled night sleep. However, when the candles flickered on as she entered, Hermione unconsciously moved towards her bath. She had pulled out her wand and conjured steaming hot, bubbly water before she even realised what she was doing. Hermione shook her head at herself, then placed her nightgown on the bench beside the sink.

Her hands moved mechanically as she removed her clothes. Hermione didn't stop to take Greg's ring off. It simply slipped off on its own accord, landing on the floor with a slight metallic ping. She made no move to pick it up. As she continued to pull her shirt over her head, her fingers caught on the chain she had taken to wearing under her clothes. After untangling herself, Hermione frowned at the ring hanging at the end of the necklace: Draco's ring.

She slipped the chain over her head and bent down to retrieve Greg's ring. Undoing the clasp, she slid the ring onto the necklace. With a hushed clink, the two bands met in the middle of the chain. Hermione was just about to slip the necklace back on, when she realised the erroneousness of wearing another man's ring alongside her fiancé's.

Why was she still wearing Draco's ring? At first, she had told herself it was simply to punish Draco. She would keep the one thing that Draco had left behind, his precious family heirloom, from him until he begged for its return. But Draco had shown no interest in the ring. So, Hermione had been forced to recognise that although she had forgotten about its existence, after wearing it for ten years she had come to think of the ring as her own.

Hermione sighed as she undid the clasp once more, and slid Draco's ring off. It was past time to return Draco's ring and she would only be keeping it out of pure selfishness. 'Tomorrow,' she told herself firmly 'I'm going to give him back his ring, first thing tomorrow.'

With that decided Hermione placed the chain and the two rings by her nightgown and finally stepped into her lavender scented bath. As she sank into the hot, silky luxury, Hermione tried to push all thoughts from her mind. But as usual, the harder she pushed them away, the more they pushed back. How was it possible that she had worn a ring for ten years straight without noticing it. And when she had finally taken note of it, how was it possible that a man's ring had fit her so perfectly…Hermione gave herself a short, vicious pinch on the thigh. She couldn't believe that after the argument she had just had with Greg, all she could think about was Draco Malfoy's ring.

She closed her eyes once again, and sank deeper into the bubbles. It was no use, however, and she sat straight back up again, turning to look at the ring on the bench beside her. Her questions and thoughts were gnawing at her and Hermione was suddenly convinced that if she just wore the ring one more time, she would understand more. Without giving herself a chance to think more on it, she reached out for the ring and slipped it on her wedding finger. It felt absolutely right. No explanation came to Hermione, but all her questions faded away. A sense of calm seemed to spread and all of her worries about Greg, work and Draco simply melted into the water. Hermione gave herself up to her relaxed state. She closed her eyes and simply fell into a peaceful sleep right there in the bath.

'HERMIONE!'

Hermione gasped at the shout that awoke her. She had no time to react as she was pulled roughly out of the bath. Still fighting a cloud of sleep, Hermione spluttered as she pushed her sudden visitor away.

Ron Weasley appeared slightly green as he looked down at her in worry.

'Ruddy hell Hermione, are you alright? I came by to see you and for a second I thought no one was home. So I thought I'd use the bathroom,' as he blathered, Ron maintained an uncomfortably tight grip on her arm, 'but then I saw you just lying in the bath, not moving at all. And I swear you scared ten years out of me. I thought you were dead. I swear, you looked dead. I'm sorry if I gave you a shock or whatever but – Merlin's beard, Hermione, you're naked!' She could have roasted a chicken on Ron's face as his cheeks flamed with embarrassment. Turning away quickly he blindly fumbled for a towel before handing it to her.

'Uh…How about I wait for you outside, hmm?' Ron stammered as he bounced off the bathroom walls, frantically trying to leave.

Half amused by Ron's reaction to her nudity, and half annoyed by her abrupt awakening, Hermione quickly pulled on the clothes that she had dropped onto the bathroom floor. She slipped the chain holding Greg's ring over her head and remembering Draco's ring on her finger and tugged it off. But it stuck.

The ring that had slid so perfectly onto her finger now stopped stubbornly at her knuckle. She tried twisting it as she pulled, but the band didn't budge beyond her knuckle. Tears of pain came to her eyes as she continued to pull, but to no avail. She shook her left hand in frustration, before she remembered that Ron was still waiting outside. It was stupid to make her friend wait because of a stuck ring. It was highly probable that her fingers had simply swollen in the bath, and in an hour or so, the ring would slide off with ease.

Hermione took a deep breath against the stinging of her knuckle and walked out towards her living room. When she saw that Ron wasn't there, she headed for the kitchen- she should have gone straight there.

'Hey.'

Ron turned around, a sandwich in his hand. He swallowed his mouthful before smiling at her. 'Hey. I hope you don't mind.' He said, waving the sandwich.

'Not at all. Anything wrong, or were you just dropping by?'

'Just dropping by. Oh hey, I found this by the door.' he pointed towards the small velvet ring box Hermione had dropped earlier, 'Slack-ass Greg finally bought you a ring, did he? Did you drop the box in all the excitement?'

All she could do was cringe at his words. Hermione rubbed at her forehead in frustration as she tried to explain the situation to Ron. While he was one of her best friends, and she though she loved him dearly, Ron was not Hermione's top choice for a sobsister. 'Um... well, yes. Greg did buy me a ring. He even –' Hermione's voice faltered and she hated herself for it. She really did not want to cry about it anymore. 'He even wanted to set a date for the wedding. Um…but –'

Ron placed his sandwich on the kitchen bench and gathered Hermione into his arms as she tried to hold back the tears.

'I told him. I finally told him…everything. That I'm a witch; that I'm the Minister of Magic and… we had a fight, and he left.'

Ron pulled her closer to him. He gave her back a comforting rub and placed a sweet kiss on the side of her temple. Hermione began to laugh through her sobs. This was getting a little too Mills and Boon for her. She pushed against his chest, still laughing. 'Don't think that just because you're comforting me, I'm going to sleep with you.' Hermione mocked, shaking her finger at him.

'Eew. Thank you, Hermione. Thank you for putting naked images of you- and me for that matter- in my brain. Eew!' Ron screeched, seeming genuinely disgusted. 'Jeez, Hermione. Yes, I am a red-blooded heterosexual male, irresistible to members of the opposite sex. However, that does not mean I cannot comfort a female friend without wanting to get into her pants.'

Now Hermione didn't know if she should be offended by his vehement protestation or amused at his reaction.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I questioned your motives for comforting me, Ron.' She apologised with a smile.

Ron sniffed as he picked up his sandwich. 'Well, I'm just going to pretend you never said a thing. And I shall return to the topic at hand to say good riddance to him. I mean, Greg Johnson was a likable enough fellow…for a muggle. He could hold his own at the bar and he had a great sense of humour: he told me a few rippers –' Ron smiled when he realised that he was rambling. 'That is to say, the guy was a bit of stuffed shirt: always in his laboratory trying to explain something simple in his fancy scientific way. If he didn't accept you for who you are, then you are definitely better off without him.'

Hermione had to smile. Ron was holding his own as a sobsister. Once he got to the point, he seemed to know exactly what she wanted to hear.

'And besides: there are plenty more pigs in the sty.'

'Huh? I believe the saying is: plenty more fish in the sea.'

'Yeah, but fish are gross, with their googly eyes and their slimy bodies.'

'Pigs smell.'

Ron scoffed. 'There is nothing wrong with bit of odour. And besides pigs are loyal.'

Hermione rolled her eyes. This was more what she had been expecting from Ron. 'Okay, whatever. Besides, the point is irrelevant since Greg and I haven't actually broken up. He just wanted a bit of a sabbatical to think things through. And I don't really blame him. I should have told him the truth long ago.'

Polishing off his sandwich, Ron gave her a quick pat on the cheek. 'Don't blame yourself, Hermione. Wallowing in your sorrows is not going to get you anywhere. But drowning them might. Grab your cloak, we're going out.'

She flicked his hand away and cringed, 'I don't need to drown my sorrows. What I need to do is to think things through. If you want to go out and get sotted why don't you go and drag Harry out of bed?'

'Yeah, right. As if I could. Have you seen Ginny lately? She looks like she's about to explode. She won't let Harry out of her sight. And he won't leave her, cause he's worried she's going to pop and shower the entire city with babies.' He muttered grimly. 'Aw, come on Hermione, you're always thinking things through. But have you ever thought that maybe thinking things through too much is what got you into this mess in the first place?' When Hermione didn't respond, but merely stood there watching him beadily, Ron knew that her resistance was waning. 'We're going to paint the town red.'

With that he flicked his wand at towards her, turning her hair the same coppery red as his own. He gave her a wink. 'This way we won't be giving the media a field day with stories of a Minister gone wild.'

Hermione was crying with laughter. She was glad that Ron had convinced her to go out tonight to take her mind off Greg. Ignoring her protests, Ron had dragged her to the newest magically inhabited bar in London, Wyrd. They had squeezed through the crowd and found themselves a booth with squishy couches in a darkened corner, away from the dance floor. Hermione didn't really understand how people could come to places like this every single night. Maybe she was the only one who didn't find dark, smoke-filled places packed with people bopping to tedious pop music appealing. But hey, tonight was a night of experiences, and she was drowning the annoying music out with alcohol.

Hermione and Ron had each had two shots of firewhisky each, and Ron was literally under the table. Hermione was practically guffawing as she peeked under the table at him. 'Get up, Ron. There aren't any leprechauns under our table.'

'But I heard them. To be sure, to be sure…'

'Get up, you idiot. Merlin, you're nearly as bad as Ginny when it comes to getting drunk.'

'Hey! I'm not drunk. I am merely very relaxed.' The muffled protest wafted through the wood of the table. Hermione continued to laugh as she heard some scuffling followed by a rather loud and painful sounding thump against the table. Ron appeared, looking rather pained, on the couch opposite Hermione. He was cringing as he rubbed at the back of his head.

'Ow. If I wasn't inebriated before, I sure am now. I think I have a concussion.'

'Are you alright? We should probably go if you're hurt.'

'No…no. I was just kidding, Hermione. Listen, you stay here. I'm going to the men's but I will come back to try and reclaim my manhood by drinking you under the table.'

She shook her head at him as he stumbled away. Ron wasn't going to last much longer, and besides there was only so much bad music she could take. She was just pulling on her cloak when someone sat down next to her and drawled, 'Early mid-life crisis, Hermione? I mean, Minister.'

Draco nudged her further into the booth before pulling the bottle of firewhisky towards him and pouring himself a glass.

'Sit down, Draco, help yourself.' Hermione muttered sardonically.

'You're too kind. I hope that isn't permanent.' He said, nodding at her hair, 'I mean it in the best possible sense when I say that red is not your colour.'

She glared at him but he continued to sip at his drink casually. 'Are you following me, Draco? Because I have already told you that I do not need you shadowing me all the time. You're being paid to be my bodyguard during work hours, but after that you become a stalker.'

'Hey, you made it quite clear that I wasn't getting overtime. I am simply here to enjoy the night's festivities. That we both happen to be here is mere serendipity.'

If Hermione had been drinking at that moment, it would have all come out of her nose as she scoffed. 'It's hardly serendipity, considering everyone is here.'

'Speaking of everyone, where is your charming fiancé?' Draco asked, giving Ron's glass a tap, 'Unless you've taken to drinking out of two glasses I assume Greg is milling around here somewhere. And if he's here I take it you've finally let slip your sordid secret.'

She stiffened at his drawling words. 'Well actually, as you so eloquently put it, I did reveal my sordid secret. And since I'm here tonight with Ron and not Greg, I assume you understand how well he took it.'

Draco's jaw tightened as he finally looked at her. 'I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm sorry I'm such as ass.'

Hermione waved it off with a shrug, but he leaned in towards her until his cheek was just barely brushing against hers. 'You know, Hermione, as Minister, you could have him…taken care of. I'd be more than happy to oversee the project for you.'

The comment was so unexpected from Draco that Hermione's head snapped back in laughter. Her chin caught sharply against his cheek but this caused Hermione to laugh even harder. He settled back against the couch as she rubbed her chin.

'Thanks but I might take a raincheck on that.'

With a nod, he finished of his glass and poured another. This time he also filled the other, and passed the glass to Hermione. She picked it up and he tapped his glass against hers.

'You're not going to make a toast are you?' she asked dryly.

'Nope, I just want to get you drunk.'

Hermione relaxed back against the purple velvet of the couch and sipped at her drink. Neither of them spoke for a while. They didn't have to. They simply enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. And when they did speak, they both began at the same time.

'I hope –'

'Why aren't –.'

Draco grinned, 'Sorry…' He continued as Hermione shook her head, 'I was just wondering why you weren't out there dancing the night away.'

She followed his gaze towards the exuberantly dancing mass on the dance floor. 'Aside from the fact that this music is too shameful to listen to let alone dance to, I don't really dance.'

'I'll have to file that one away to reference: Minister does not dance.' He drawled. 'Right, so what was it you were saying before I rudely interrupted?'

'I was just wondering where Ron had gotten to. He went off to the men's a while ago. I mean, he's probably just found better company but he was pretty far gone when he left, and he hit his head on the table pretty hard. I hope he's alright.'

'I doubt he'd find better company than you in this place… but knowing Weasley, he'd probably scrape by.'

Hermione raised her brow at this but didn't say a word.

'I'll search the men's for him, if you'd like.' Draco offered, with a wink. Without waiting for her acceptance, he left the booth and was soon lost in the crowd.

With Draco out of sight, Hermione lifted her left hand up from her lap. She had forgotten the darn ring again. Only when she had seen Draco, had she remembered that his ring was still stuck on her finger. She resumed her tug of war with the band, only to groan in frustration when it still refused to budge. She tried massaging her knuckle, to no avail. Frantically, Hermione pulled out her wand to cast various enlarging and removal spells, but none of them came to fruition.

'You weren't kidding when you said he was far gone.' Draco shouted over the boppy music that seemed to be getting louder and louder. He supported Ron as he moved towards Hermione and their booth. 'I found him sleeping it off on the rest room floor.'

Hermione dropped her hands out of sight and put her wand away. 'We'd better get going then. I'll get him home and make sure he's alright. Hopefully he doesn't have a concussion. Thanks for finding him.' She said hurriedly. Hermione scuttled out of the booth and made her way to Ron's other side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

'No problem. Did you want a hand getting him home?'

Hermione tried to feign an interest in the floor of the dark bar and avoided looking at Draco as she replied, 'No that's fine. Thanks again.'

He merely smiled and sat down on the squishy couch again. But as soon as Draco stepped away from Ron, removing his support, Hermione nearly buckled under her friend's weight. Tall and gangly he may be, but Ron's swaying drunkenness made it difficult for Hermione to hold him up for very long. She stood under Ron's dead weight for a full minute staring at Draco, who was calmly polishing off the firewhisky.

'Okay, Draco. Maybe I could use a hand.' She finally sighed out of desperation.

He turned to grin at her, knowing full well that it would grate at her. 'All you had to do was ask, Hermione.'

Putting his glass down, he slipped his arm around Ron and started weaving through the crowd. While she wasn't really required to hold Ron up anymore, she stayed close to his side. She didn't really want to get too close to Draco, just in case he noticed the ring on her finger. She had no doubt that he would recognise it immediately, and then the drawling taunts would begin.

With Ron between them, alternating sporadically from loud snores to raucous ditties, Hermione and Draco conducted their walk to Ron's flat in silence. Since Ron's place was hardly a stone's throw from the bar, walking back had seemed the simplest solution. With her left hand safely tucked away in her pocket, and her other arm superfluously supporting Ron, Hermione was beginning to enjoy the brisk walk. The night was clear, although you couldn't see the stars. However, that was to be expected. They were in London after all. Hermione recognised the row of identical little flats that indicated the approach to Ron's place. Removing her arm from around Ron's waist, she pulled out her wand and gave her friend's front door a tap. Since they were all at each other's houses so often, Harry, Ron and Hermione knew each other's unlocking charms.

With an absentminded flick of her wand, Hermione lit the candles of the flat and guided Draco and Ron in. As they made their way to the master bedroom, Ron was quietly drooling on Draco's shoulder. He gently placed Ron on the bed as Hermione efficiently pulled off her friend's boots to make him as comfortable as possible. They had just tucked Ron under the covers, when his hand jerked out to grab Hermione's arm.

'Remember Hermy-own-e…fish are slimy. But pigs…they're loyal.' He slurred.

Hermione gave his hand a comforting pat and settled him back down again. She jerked her head towards the door and both Draco and herself left the room. Out in the living room, Hermione thanked Draco for his help with Ron. 'I think I'll stay here tonight, just to make sure he's okay.'

Malfoy nodded and headed towards the front door. Ensuring that her left hand was still out of sight, Hermione decided to see him out. Standing outside on the steps of the flat though, she suddenly became very aware of the ring she wore… and the man to whom it belonged to. The comfortable silence which had lingered between them before was now gone as Draco simply stood there staring at her, his eyes searching. Hermione didn't know what to say, and the tension made her nervously fiddle at her chain. Her uneasy tugs brought the chain and ring out from beneath her blouse, and Draco's eyes were immediately drawn to it.

'New ring?' he asked quietly.

'Greg gave it to me.'

Hermione pretended not to notice that Draco's jaw tightened in seeming anger before he turned to stride away. Draco was a complication she didn't need. 'Well that's funny considering it's his ring you're actually wearing.' A voice in the back of her mind scorned. Hermione shook the thought away and tried to ignore the silver band that now seemed to tingle on her left hand. She was concentrating so hard that Hermione didn't notice that Draco had stopped at the bottom of the steps and had turned back, striding up towards her again. She was jerked from her thoughts as she looked up at Draco. She opened her mouth to say…something, but he beat her to it.

'He doesn't deserve you.'

Hermione stiffened at the quiet but forceful comment. 'Why? Because he's a muggle? I don't know if you went and hit yourself on the head too, but you seem to be forgetting that I'm a mudblood.'

'That wasn't what I meant, Hermione, and you know it. He doesn't deserve you because he doesn't know you. Because if he knew you, he would understand that being a witch and being the Minister of Magic means everything to you. And he would love you all the more for it.'

Hermione suddenly felt like sobbing. Not because what Draco said presented an epiphany screaming out Greg's unworthiness, but because his words brought back the memory of a boy she had loved so deeply, so long ago. A boy she had said goodbye to so long ago without ever truly believing it.

Beyond conscious thought, her hand reached out to touch Draco's cheek. And though he had changed over time that single touch brought back memories of the Draco she had known so intimately. Hermione stood up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. All those nights they had spent together came flooding back. Hermione could feel a tingling sensation spread throughout her body.

Though at first Draco seemed to resist, it didn't last for long. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him, slanting his mouth over hers. Everything in Hermione's mind seemed to buzz and flicker with the familiarity of this embrace. So, it took longer than a moment for her to register the anger that emanated from Draco as he finally pushed her away. He gave the ring hanging from her neck a playful tug as he glared down at her.

'Go ahead and use me, Hermione, but not as a rebound for him.' Draco growled.

Before Hermione could think things through, her hand came across Draco's face in a stinging slap. She expected retaliation, but he simply gripped her wrist and pulled her hand towards him. Too late did she realise that it was her left hand, and Draco was looking down at his own ring sitting on her wedding finger.

'Well, that is interesting.'

Hermione stiffened as he began to laugh. If he hadn't still been gripping her hand, she would have ripped the ring off and thrown it in his face, dislocated knuckle be damned. With a cocky grin on his face he finally let go of her. He swooped down and kissed her once more before drawing back and walking away. His kiss shook her so much that she couldn't think of a thing to say to him.

'Get a good night's sleep, Hermione. You're going to need it.' He called back over his shoulder before disapparating.

How he made that sound like a threat, Hermione had no idea.

A/N: Hey, everybody. I hope you're all having a fabulous holiday season. I won't bore you with my excuses for not updating. I just hope y'all haven't given up on me. Huge thanks to all of you reading this. And I adore all the reviews I've been getting. Thanks to all those who are giving me suggestions in their reviews too, a lot of them are great and I'm trying to take them all on board. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Luv HObYtLAh ;0)