Two days later found Draco and Hermione sitting in her dining room having a quiet meal. She had cooked pasta and alfredo sauce and invited Draco to eat with her. The kids were with Harry and Ginny for the night due to Ginny's claim that she and Harry need to get used to it.
"If you'd told me back in Hogwarts that I'd be sitting over a meal with you, I would have laughed in your face," Hermione said suddenly. It had been dreadfully quiet and she needed to say something to break the soundless tension they were wrapped up in.
"I would have too," Draco replied. "But I have to admit, this is much better than the alternative."
"And what would that be?" she asked him.
"Visiting Lucius and his new mistress," he sighed.
"You've stopped calling him Dad," she noted. He had always been so proud to be the son of Lucius Malfoy. Now, she noted, he barely liked to acknowledge the blood relation. Kind of hard when you look very similar.
"He was never a real father to me." Draco had a hard time thinking of any time that his father treated him as a normal father would treat their only son. When he was a baby, Draco was scolded for not speaking in full sentences and for calling his father "dad" as opposed to Lucius' preferred "father".
"You believed in him at one time," she said. "You hung on every word he uttered. You believed that he was more brilliant and powerful than Merlin."
"I didn't know any better," he admitted. "I'd been brainwashed from the start. I had no idea what I was doing was wrong. I honestly didn't think anything was wrong until Sixth Year when I was supposed to kill Dumbledore. I just ... I couldn't do it. Lucius was furious."
"I know," she said as she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "No one blames you for Dumbledore's death. And people are starting to forgive Severus as well." She looked down for a moment. "I wish you would have told us about your mother's unbreakable vow."
"I couldn't. You know that." He paused to take a sip of wine. "This dinner really is wonderful."
"Thanks," she smiled. "And I don't mean just about dinner. You've been great these past few months."
Draco let out a huge sigh. "Don't mention it. I mean, you lot saved my life more than once. Might as well repay the debt."
"It's more than that, isn't it?" she asked.
"I don't know what you mean," he replied. He knew she meant that he had a personal score to settle with everyone he'd ever come into contact with, whether the score was positive or not. He couldn't admit it though. He wanted to spill his thoughts to her. For some reason he couldn't understand, he wanted her to know personal things about him. But he wouldn't let her know anything. He couldn't.
"I know this is hard for you," she told him. "I know you're nervous about what could happen to you if they find out you're helping me. Even more nervous that they'll know it was your idea."
"My men think I'm dating you to get close to you and kill Potter and your family."
"What?" she asked. Did he just say
dating? Did he just say kill?
"That way it
doesn't look suspicious if they see me over here. They think I'm
undercover."
"Oh," she said dumbly. "So you were only acting like this incase your men find you ..." She couldn't understand why she was so upset about this new bit of information. She stood quickly, ignoring the pang in her chest, and grabbed her plate and his. "I'll just go wash these up. Finish your wine and I'll bring out the desert."
"Hermione," Draco called to her retreating back. When she didn't turn around he muttered, "Bugger."
Hermione walked into the kitchen and placed their plates in the sink. She cast a cleaning spell and leaned back against the counter. "Stop it, Hermione," she muttered to herself. "There's no reason you should feel bad about this. Ron would be ashamed of you, acting like this over Malfoy." Ron. She took a deep breath and opened the refrigerator and pulled out two puddings.
She felt hands touch her waist from behind and for a moment thought it could have been Ron. She knew, of course, that it wasn't, but she closed her eyes and pretended it was. "Don't think none of this is real," Draco whispered in her ear. "I know you've just lost your husband and I'm not trying to make you forget him or take his place. I'll never do that. But what's been happening between us is real, Hermione. You can't deny it."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about. Nothing's been happening, Draco," she told him coldly as she shut the refrigerator and handed him a bowl of pudding. "You're helping me avenge my husband's death. Nothing more."
"Nothing more?" he asked. "What about just last night when you almost kissed me?"
"I
did not," she told him. Yes you did, the voice in her
head told her. You wanted it. You shouldn't have stopped. So what
if it was just for comfort? You miss the feel of a man's lips on your
own. He'll never be Ron but why not give it a go? You can't have
Harry - not that you ever really wanted him - so why not go in the
complete opposite direction?
"You did," he said,
snapping her out of her thoughts. "And I'm not saying I would
have stopped you if you hadn't stopped yourself. I can't help it,
Granger ..."
"Weasley. My last name is Weasley," she corrected him sharply.
"You're husband is dead," he said flatly.
"I know that, Malfoy!" she yelled. "And I think it's high time for you and I to only see each other when we're working on locating Oliver. Now," she said, "is not one of those times, so I'd like to ask you to leave."
"You can't be unguarded."
"I have a guard on me at all times," she told him in a bored voice.
"I mean someone visible. I can't risk having them not be close enough to protect you."
"Why not?" she cried. "Would it be so terrible if Wood attacked me and my guards got rid of him once and for all? Because I certainly don't think so!"
"Hermione, calm down."
"I don't want to calm down! I want my husband back! I want to hold him in my arms and make love with him and ... just be with him!"
Draco wished at that moment that he could be completely honest with her. He wished he could tell her everything he knew, but he couldn't. Not yet. It was too risky for her to know. "Hermione, you have to be strong right now. Your sons need you. The Weasleys need you. And Harry, Ginny, and I need your help to get Wood. We'll be ready in a few day's time, and then we'll lure a few of Wood's men into the open."
"And then what?" she asked him as she looked up into his eyes. "What do you plan on doing after we have his men? Do you really think they'll tell us everything?"
Draco nodded. "We get the answers we need. I've been looking for Oliver Wood long before Ron turned up dead. I want that man killed in the worst way, even worse because of what he did to you and your family. We're going to ctach him, Hermione," he said as he put down the pudding and grabbed her forearms. His eyes pierced hers. "I swear to you we will catch Oliver Wood."
