A/N: I've reworked the chapter. Sorry the other version was so bad lol. Reading it back, even I have to admit it was kind of dumb. Anyway this is the newer and hopefully better version. I'm happier with it and I hope you will be, too.

Enjoy!


Hermione dashed through the dark, glistening streets of London, the ends of her curly brown hair bouncing behind her with each frantic step. All the words she had prepared on the train ride over had plummeted the length of her throat the moment she had seen him. Unable to shake the visual from her head, she slowed only as she had reached the intersection.

"Granger, wait!" he had called out, cutting in front of her just before she could cross. "J-just give me a moment to explain."

Startled by the lack of distance, she blinked up at him in frustration. "You've done enough."

"It wasn't what it looked like. I-I promise you it wasn't."

"Is it ever what it looks like when it comes to men like you?"

"Granger, if you could just let me ex —"

"Do you know what?" she cut in. "It's not even that you're still hung up on your ex. That makes you human. It's that you had tricked me into thinking I meant something to you."

He fell silent, as though the last part had hit him like a kick in the gut. "Is that what you think?"

"It's what I know. I've been down this road before."

"Granger, I … I know I've made some horrible choices in life but you've got to believe me when I say I wanted no part of that kiss," he explained, searching through her eyes for the smallest bit of forgiveness. "If I had any choice in the matter, it would never have happened. I-I was waiting out there for you."

"I'm still trying to grasp why she's at the show to begin with. Were you just going to split your time between us the whole night?"

"What? No, of course not. Blaise works with the band and got us all tickets. Pansy, Theodore and Astoria are at the show as well. Tracey was invited last minute."

She hesitated. "And what about Gringotts yesterday? I saw you two together."

"We were just talking," he insisted, the sincerity in his voice clear as day. "About you if you can believe it. I … I told her that we had reconnected at the wedding and she seemed happy for us. If I had known she wanted to get back together, I never would have engaged."

"You're just going to blame her? That's your plan?"

"It's not a plan when it's the truth. I need you to trust me."

"I did," she said to him, the anger in her eyes melting into sadness. "And now I know better."

Parting his lips to say something, not a word came out.

Rendered motionless, he stood there in silence as she cut around him and kept walking. Slowly it began to rain, tacking the streets and cars and surrounding rooftops as she left him behind.

The Next Day

"How were The Weird Sisters last night?" Teddy asked, the moment the Healer had entered.

For a moment Draco said nothing, the tired circles around his eyes having darkened. Although he was usually a morning person, he hadn't slept more than an hour the previous night and had only managed to eat a bite of the breakfast he had forced himself to make.

Jotting down some notes after he had examined his patient's progress, he realized that he had not yet said a word. "The show was good," he lied, having left the show after everything had gone to shit. "Sorry I couldn't make it for last night's visit. I hope Healer Greengrass was good to you."

"I could have sworn it was Healer Thomas."

"Right. Sorry. I … I must be more tired than I had thought. Don't tell Nurse Bulstrode."

Teddy gave it a few seconds before he had asked. "Is everything okay with you, Healer Malfoy?"

"Of course. A bit sleep deprived due to the show but apart from that …"

"You seem more than just sleep deprived," he assessed. "Did something happen at the show?"

For a moment Draco just stared at his notes, unable to decide whether he was more impressed or confused as to how Teddy was already so perceptive at such a young age. When he was fourteen, all he had cared about was Quidditch and making Potter's life miserable.

He was glad to have grown out of that.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he answered, having decided it was best not to divulge what had happened at the show to his underage patient.

Teddy frowned, more disappointed than upset. "Do you want to know something?"

"Sure."

"I think you're cool," he uttered, matter-of-factly. "Of all the adults I've met, you're the only one who talks to me like a real person. Everyone else just babies me or treats me like I'm broken due to … what happened to my parents."

Draco took that in, glancing up from his file. "I appreciate that."

"Whatever it is that's going on, Healer Malfoy, I know you'll get through it."

Were it not for the fact that he was utterly drained, he would have smiled at that. "Thanks, Teddy. Now let's get you some new ointment, shall we?"

Later That Night

"What an actual dick," Ginny blurted, unable to hold it in any longer. "How could he have done that to you after spending the night and leaving you such a cute note? Talk about mixed signals."

Poking at her dinner, Hermione said nothing in response. She had no words beyond what she had already said. It was humiliating enough having to repeat the story to her friends.

On the other side of the table, Harry cleared his throat after having remained mostly silent before that. "Could be worth a conversation," he offered, shrugging after his wife shot him a bewildered look. "That's not to say Hermione's feelings aren't valid. I just think there's a chance Malfoy was telling the truth."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Even if his ex had initiated the kiss like he claims, those things don't just happen out of nowhere."

"That's life, though, isn't it?" Harry put forth. "His ex could easily have misread the situation."

"Awfully convenient."

"It's not healthy to assume the worst in people, Gin. You're the one who told me that."

"He's not just anyone, though, is he?"

Shrugging, Harry had a bite of food. "That's for Hermione to decide."

The pair of them looked at her from across their dinner table, each point they had made echoing in the back of her mind before she had drowned it in a mouthful of wine.

"Maybe we should talk about something else," Ginny suggested, earning a nod from Harry. "One of the women on my Quidditch team gave birth to a beautiful girl the other week. They've gone with the name Titania but Nia for short. Isn't that adorable? I can't stop thinking about when …"

Losing focus, Hermione ate what remained of her food and decided not to think about it anymore than she already had. Not until after she had given herself time to process how she really felt.

Two Hours Later

Muffling a yawn with the back of his hand, Draco had a look at the time on his desk clock. Most other Healers had gone home for the night, leaving just a few night nurses and the receptionist. It had occurred to him to take his work home with him but he had always found it easier to focus at work.

On the verge of falling asleep at his desk, he got up to make some coffee.

Normally teeming with people, the corridors were empty as he made his way to the break room. For a moment he had fumbled with the coffee pot, his hands shaking a little due to the five cups he had inhaled earlier in the day. Only after he had secured it in place, the low rumble filling the silence in the break room, did he glance to one of the lunch tables to find a copy of Hogwarts, A History.

For a moment he was reminded of her, the many times she had recited lines from that same book as though they were rules to live by.

He couldn't help but smile a little, the feeling of which slowly tapered into a different emotion as he thought back to the other night.

Although he had tried to avoid thinking about it, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was still some hope left.

It was too much to show up to her flat or to any of the places where he knew she might be. She likely wanted nothing to do with him anymore but he felt she should at least know the full truth.

With a deep breath, he went back to his office coffee in hand and sat down at his desk with a slip of parchment in front of him.

Dear Granger, he wrote, giving himself a moment to breathe before he had replenished his Quill and allowed the words to flow freely.

By the time he was done, his coffee had grown cold and he had heard a tap on his office window.

Glancing to it to find an owl he had never seen before, he rose from his chair thinking it was just another work-related letter. A patient that wanted his professional opinion on something.

To his utter relief, he couldn't have been more wrong.

Dear Malfoy,

I'm throwing a surprise party at the house for Ginny on Saturday at eight o'clock. You should come. Hermione will be there, too. In case that part isn't obvious.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter.

Suddenly that last bit of hope didn't seem as feeble as it had a moment ago.


A/N: Thoughts?