Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just this fanfiction.
Draco got into the car that would take him back to campus while still thinking about his father's words. Would he be able to disinherit him if he didn't end his relationship with Hermione? His father had never threatened him to such an extent, although the truth was that Draco had never done anything that warranted a talk like the one he had just had with him.
"But would I really care if he does?" he asked in his mind. The immediate answer was no. But then his mind began to create situations in which he was completely alone, depending only on his job and forced to earn money, something that he had never really done and that he doubted he would be able to achieve. Draco muttered a curse and hit the seat with his fists. This was supposed to be just another lunch with his father to talk about boring subjects. He was not expecting an ultimatum and threats from Lucius.
Draco ruffled his hair, annoyed by the anxiety he was feeling over this matter, and at that moment his phone rang. It was a message from Hermione. His girlfriend told him that she had almost everything ready for the homecoming party, and that she missed him a lot. The girl had write an "I love you" at the end. In other circumstances the message would have cheered Draco but now it only increased his anguish.
Draco reread the message, concentrating especially on the last line. "Father thinks I'm too involved with Hermione," he thought. "That's why he told me all those things"
The blonde settled into the seat and thought of the girl. He was sure that he loved her and if someone had asked him a couple of hours ago, he would have even said that he would like to spend the rest of his life with her, but now he was not so encouraged by that prospect anymore.
"I've changed so much in a year" he thought and couldn't help but remember his life before starting his relationship with Hermione. "Everything was much less complicated back then, everything was even easier"
The car stopped and Draco didn't notice it until the driver indicated that they had already arrived. He go out the car, immersed in his thoughts, and went directly to the house ready to lock himself in his room because he wanted to be alone, but Marcus stopped him when he saw him, "Draco, I've looking for you"
"Why, did something happen?" he asked.
"Nah, I just wanted to know if we can count on your contribution again for the homecoming party," Flint cleared his throat, "You know, it's always nice to have extra drinks"
Deep in thought as he was, it took him a minute to understand what his friend was asking of him, "Yes, of course Marcus, there's no problem," he shook his head, shrugging it off.
"Hey, are you ok? You seem… off," Marcus was looking at him with a concerned expression.
"I'm just tired," Draco smiled
"Ah, well, then I won't interrupt you anymore. Thanks again Malfoy"
Draco nodded and Marcus turned, walking away, but suddenly the blonde called him again, "Marcus, can I ask you something?" He moved closer to him
"Yes sure"
He had always trusted Marcus, and he considered him one of his few closest brothers, so he didn't hesitate to ask, "What do you think of my relationship with Hermione?"
Marcus looked at him strangely but smiled, "What do I think? Well, you two are serious right? I mean, you look quite committed to her," he shrugged, "To be honest Draco, I always believed that you would be the last of us to have a serious relationship, but when you are with Hermione..." Marcus chuckled and didn't finish
Draco was silent for a moment, but then he thanked his brother and hurried up to his room. Once inside, he locked the door and threw himself on the bed, but that only served to continue to mull over the issue of his father's threat so he stood up and exercised.
About two hours later, Draco was exhausted and frustrated as he kept thinking about his conversation with his father and his relationship with Hermione. Especially in the latter because now that he saw everything from another perspective he felt many doubts about Hermione. Draco yelled in annoyance, and pounded the sandbag until he couldn't take it anymore. In the end, exhausted, he lay down on his bed and slept until the next day.
"Hey sleepyhead, wake up"
Draco was slowly waking up due to Hermione's gentle looting. When he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he found her sitting on the bed with a huge smile on her face. He smiled at her too, but then the words of his father and Marcus came to mind, "Hermione, what are you doing here?" He asked, settling on the bed and feeling suddenly invaded.
"You were supposed to accompany me to my appointment with the drinks supplier, for the homecoming party, remember?" She replied sounding a bit nervous and Draco felt a pang of guilt hearing her.
"I fell asleep, sorry," he rubbed his eyes.
"Marcus told me that you looked pretty tired yesterday," she took his hand, "Was everything ok with your father?"
"Same as always," he shrugged, not wanting to talk about it, especially with her
He didn't say anything else, so after a few seconds Hermione cleared her throat and continued, "Well... if you still feel very tired I can go alone," she smiled nibbling her lips, "I'll see you later I guess"
Hermione stood up and then he instinctively took her hand and pulled her against him laying her on the bed, "Draco what...?" She asked but he interrupted her
"Don't say anything Hermione, please," he whispered before kissing her.
Draco hovered over her and tried to let Hermione's warmth erase all the doubts and worries he'd had since yesterday afternoon, but it didn't work. With each kiss, with each touch and each sigh of hers, he felt more and more confused and wondered what he was doing. His father's words and all the ideas he had had since yesterday grew stronger as he buried himself in her, and although Hermione seemed not to notice, he somehow grew farther away from her.
Once they finished Draco felt totally out of place, he didn't know what to say or what to do, so he was grateful that she announced that it was too late for her appointment so she left instantly after saying something that he didn't fully understand.
Draco stayed on his bed for a long time, feeling completely stunned, until he finally stood up and took a quick bath. When he left his room, it was already dark and he didn't know what to do, so he decided to join a group of his brothers and go for drinks at a nearby bar.
Draco sat at the bar counter and ordered a bottle of whiskey, which he downed pretty quickly as he watched the bar move. When he started the second bottle a couple of girls came up to him but he was too focused on his thoughts to listen to them.
Alcohol was rising to his head and bringing back memories of his previous life, which he now saw reflected in his brothers. They were dancing, playing pool or snogging. Draco laughed thinking that maybe they would end up in a hotel room, and couldn't help but think that he had done the same thing many times and that he probably would have been doing it right now, had it not been for his relationship with Hermione.
"If I still behaved like my brothers do, my father would never have pushed me as hard as he has," he thought as he poured another glass and brought it to his mouth.
Draco didn't recall leaving the bar or arriving at the house, but he guessed that his brothers helped him because when he woke up, at ten o'clock the next morning, he was lying in his bed with an excruciating headache.
At some point he must have fallen asleep again because he woke up in the afternoon to the loud music that seemed to come from the main hall. Draco grunted angrily and tried to sleep on, but the music and the bustle that seemed to be in the house kept him from it. In the end he gave up, put on clean clothes, and went downstairs to discover the source of all the fuss.
It turned out that the room was full of people trying to get everything ready for the party that night. Draco ignored them and headed into the kitchen to get something to eat. He found nothing but cereals, but he didn't care too much so he poured a large bowl and ate slowly while he watched the workers of some company unload the drinks for the party.
He was finishing eating when suddenly Angelina entered the kitchen to supervise the workers. Draco smiled at her and she leaned closer to him, "Draco, I finally found you!"
"Hello Angelina," he waved his hand in greeting
She smiled widely, "Draco I need to ask you a favor"
He sighed, tired, "What is it?"
"Well, as you know," she began, "In a couple of weeks we will have the initiation ceremony of our pledges and that is usually the occasion for... certain special events"
"Uhum," he looked at her impatiently
"Draco Malfoy", Angelina smiled condescendingly at him, "Rumor has it that you plan to ask Hermione to marry you on her birthday, so I wanted to ask you to wait until the initiation ceremony, please? It would be an excellent publicity for the sorority and I am sure that Hermione would have no problem in taking advantage of her beautiful love story to charm new applicants. What do you say?"
Draco watched her with his mouth parted and not knowing what to say. In the end he only managed to stammer, "Where did those rumors come from?" Asked feeling confused and anxious
"Oh please Draco," she took his arm, "You spent the summer together in Chicago, you met his parents, and an official engagement is the next step. Plus she already uses your initials," she rolled her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Well what do you say?" asked when the boy didn't say anything
"I'll let you know if I decide something," he answered quickly leaving the kitchen
Draco ran out of the house and continued to do so until he had to stop due to exhaustion. He leaned against a tree, having reached a small park, and closed his eyes as his breathing calmed.
Engagement? Marriage? Just thinking of those words and all that they entailed made Draco shiver. At what point had he changed so much? How did he allow Hermione to sink so deep into him, to the extent that others assume things about his life?
Draco hit the tree feeling full of anger and anxiety, sensations he detested. He had fled all his life from responsibilities, he had grown up without committing himself to anything, always having fun without any kind of attachments with anyone. "But apparently now people think I should marry Hermione." The idea terrified him and he remembered his father's words again.
Unconsciously Draco walked over to the same bar he had been the other night and sat at the counter once again. There were just a few people, and it was probably still too early to get drunk, but he didn't care. He needed a distraction.
The bartender handed him a beer and he began to sip it while trying to follow the music and push his thoughts away. After several bottles he felt much more relaxed, though a nervous feeling in his stomach still nagged at him.
He had started with a bottle of vodka when a message reached his phone. It was Hermione, again. The girl asked him to meet directly at the party, as she wouldn't have time to get ready before he picked her up as planned. Draco deleted the message and smirked, not remembering exactly when those plans were made.
"Hermione" he spoke her name in his mind several times and a strange sadness washed over him. He knew he loved her very much and that she was probably the most stable thing he had ever had in his life, but everything was going too fast and he couldn't seem to keep up. He had been too hasty since the beginning of their relationship and now all the gestures he had made toward her produced a growing sense of fear. Draco raised another glass of vodka and thought about Angelina's words. He was definitely not ready to marry Hermione. Nor did he want to. Still all assumed... his father had assumed that he would, so he had threatened to take away the family fortune.
For a moment Draco felt like a child, how could he live without the support of his parents? Everything he had, all the privileges he enjoyed... would he risk putting all that aside, facing the world alone for Hermione? Was it worth the sacrifice? The blonde felt a pang of guilt at the mere question so he continued trying to cloud his mind with alcohol.
A while later he was dragged by his brothers to the house, as the party was starting. Draco didn't protest as he felt a bit dizzy, but despite that as soon as he got home he went straight to the bar and filled a glass with beer.
Draco stared at his drink for a long time and tried to recognize the song that was playing until he noticed someone move to his side.
"My dear friend Draco," Ginny was leaning on the bar and smiling sideways at him. He didn't answer, but gave her a withering look and drank his beer, "I see we are in a bad mood," the redhead laughed softly
"Go away Ginevra," he grumbled and she laughed again
"Trouble in paradise Draco?" Ginny reached out to take a glass
Draco was going to answer, but in that instant a tall, dark girl stood next to Ginny and seemed to clear her throat as she pointed at Draco. Ginny rolled her eyes and nodded, "Draco, this is my friend Claudia," Ginny pointed to the brunette girl, "Claudia, this is Draco"
"Hello", the girl smiled very animated, although Draco just nodded and after that they were silent for a few seconds
"Well, I'm leaving," Ginny said at the end, "Keep having fun," and with a last giggle she left the bar
Claudia, on the other hand, moved a little closer to Draco, "Can you buy me a drink?" Asked with a sensual voice near his ear
"It's an open bar", he didn't pay much attention and poured another glass of beer
She seemed to hesitate for a moment but in the end she just smiled and continued, "So… are you having fun?" Asked, while gently stroking Draco's arm.
He raised his hand to stop the contact, but when he was about to do so he hesitated and allowed her to continue stroking him. Claudia, taking advantage of the permission Draco had granted her, took him by the hand and dragged him onto the dance floor.
Draco wanted to resist but as soon as he stood up it was as if all the drinks had gone to his head and he had no more will to say no, so he allowed himself to be guided by Claudia to where the others were dancing. She wasted no time and clung to his body as she sensually danced to the beat of the music. He felt uncomfortable at first because he knew it was not right to be like this with Claudia since he had a girlfriend, but the simple thought of Hermione caused him to remember all the worries that had plagued him since Thursday. And then anxiety and anguish washed over him again, this time mixed with a hint of anger and frustration.
Draco looked around trying to distract his mind but the lights were very dim, although he didn't need them as he knew that most likely his brothers had already started having fun in their own way. And then he decided that he too wanted to have fun and experience a party as he used to do before, so he pulled Claudia closer to him and, protected by the increasingly dim lights, he kissed her passionately.
She responded to his kiss and ran her hands down Draco's back, stroking him sensually as she moved her hips against his crotch. At first he thought that this kind of caress was not what he was looking for and what he had become used to, there was nothing tender or loving about the hands that ran over his back and arms, but he told himself that he just wanted to have a good time, so he lowered one of his hands down Claudia's side and brushed one of her breasts without much delicacy.
She moaned into his mouth and, after parting for a moment, took his hand again and led him off the dance floor. They made their way through all the people who had already attended the party and went up the stairs to his room. When they were about to enter, Draco considered that that was taking it too far, but then she kissed him again and the passion, which had already grown in him, overwhelmed him, demanding to be attended; so without thinking more he opened the door and then pushed her against the bed, losing himself in her body again.
Hermione set the cardboard box on one of the tables and turned to Rebecca, the pledge who was helping her get everything ready for tonight's party, "Becca I have to go now. Please tell Angelina that everything is ready here, okay? And remember that all you have to do is give one of these ribbons to the sisters and brothers who are underage so they can wear them before entering the party"
"Got it Hermione", the girl smiled
"Fine, see you at night", Hermione also smiled and took her bag, almost running out of the fraternity.
Hermione went to Harry's building, having promised to help him correct a project he was working on with some friends.
As she walked around campus she couldn't help but think about how weird she'd noticed Draco the last few days. Her boyfriend had been strangely evasive, hadn't even called her and wasn't responding to her messages. Hermione had tried not to dwell on it too much and not press him with complaints because she was sure he was behaving like that because of something related to his father, and Draco didn't like to talk much about him. So she had tried to understand him, even though she knew they would have to talk about it sooner or later; maybe tonight after the party.
Hermione went up to Harry's room. He greeted her with a huge smile of relief and they got to work on the project right away. The girl lost her sense of time and, when she realized, it was already close to nine at night, "God, it's so late," she jumped up, "Harry, I must go"
"I know, I'm sorry," he sighed, "Thank you very much for helping me Mione, seriously, I couldn't have done it without your help"
"No problem, this is important to you so it is also important to me," the brunette smiled, "Let me know if you need anything else, okay?"
"Sure", he nodded, "Now go and enjoy your party"
Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek and then left his bedroom. It took her about fifteen minutes to find a taxi and when she did, she texted Draco asking him to go straight to the party, as she still had to get ready.
The house was practically empty when she arrived, so Hermione went upstairs and took a quick shower. Then she put on the white dress she had chosen for that night and applied makeup as fast as possible. She put on her black shoes, her phone in her bag and left her room. She was about to go out into the lobby when she heard a couple of sisters whisper Draco's name.
Hermione knew that it was wrong to listen to other people's conversations, but she couldn't help stopping and staying silent, pending what they said.
"Did you see him? He was acting like a fuckboy again" said one of the voices
"What do you mean?" Asked the other and Hermione recognized Rebecca's voice
"He was snogging some random girl at the floor and then they went up to his room"
"A girl? Ginny perhaps?" Rebecca asked
"No, not Ginny," the other girl replied with a complacent voice, "They ended their relationship a while ago, around the time she was dating that cutie boy with the glasses. No, this was a new girl. A pretty one, of course"
Hermione's heart skipped a beat upon hearing their talk and she had to cling to the wall, her legs trembling as her mind processed everything they had said.
"It's so sad. He seemed like he was so in love with Hermione," Rebecca commented, sounding really sorry
"Oh please, Becca!" said the other girl, "That relationship was meant to fail. Hermione is not fit enough for Draco"
"Lucy, don't be mean!" Rebecca scolded her
"I'm not. I'm just pointing out the truth," Rebecca seemed to say something, but Lucy interrupted her, "I have what I was looking for, so let's get back to the party"
Lucy giggled again and then Hermione heard the sound of their heels slowly fade away. The girl dared to go out when she was completely sure of being alone again. She felt the tears struggling to come out of her eyes because of everything she had heard.
"So Ginny had been in a relationship with Draco", she thought as she remembered Ginny's words the previous semester. She had assured her that this would be the first time they would have sex, the only time. But apparently she had lied to her, and also had Draco.
A tear rolled down her cheek but Hermione wiped it away immediately. Now that she thought about it was so obvious. "I'm a fool," Lucy's words rang out in her head again.
The brunette unconsciously left the house and crossed the street to the fraternity. She didn't want to believe that Draco could cheat on her, she wanted to trust him, but she couldn't help having doubts. She pushed some of the boys into the house when she got to the door, and felt grateful that the lighting was so dim that no one could easily recognize her.
Hermione went straight up the stairs to the upper floor and walk the corridor until she got to the last door, Draco's door. She paused with her hand on the handle, inwardly wishing it was closed, but after taking a deep breath she moved the doorknob and it slid open effortlessly. And then she saw them.
Hermione froze in the doorway, unable to say or do anything as she watched a pretty, half-naked brunette girl sitting on top of Draco. He had his face buried in her breast, so it was she who noticed Hermione's presence and said something, causing Draco to lift his head. An expression of surprise and bewilderment spread across his face.
"Fuck no, Hermione, no", he carelessly pushed the girl away and quickly put on his underwear, trying to get closer to her girlfriend
Hermione instinctively stepped back and looked at him with her tear-stained face, "I didn't want to believe it", she said
"Please, Hermione let me explain…"
But there was nothing to explain, so Hermione turned her back on him and ran down the hall, ready to get out of that place as soon as possible. She ran back to the sorority with only one idea in her head: to leave her pathetic life behind.
Hermione hastily pushed open the door and ran into her room. Wasting no time she took out her suitcases and put her belongings away without much care, while her mind played over and over again Draco's expression as he cheated on her with that girl.
Ginny entered the room as she was closing one of her suitcases. Watching the redhead so lively and apparently cheerful, Hermione felt furious and had to control herself not to throw one of her pillows at her.
"What is it with you?" Ginny asked as she noticed the fury emanating from the brunette's body
Hermione ignored her, determined not to take it out on her and concentrated on closing the other suitcase. When she finally managed to do so, she lowered it from the bed and tried to drag it towards the door.
"Hermione! Hermione please listen to me", Draco had suddenly appeared in the room
"Get out of here Draco," she hissed furiously
"Hermione please", he begged, "I'm an asshole, I know, but please listen to me"
"GET OUT OF HERE!" This time Hermione couldn't help screaming and she couldn't stop her voice from breaking when she yelled at him
He didn't say anything for a few seconds, too shocked by Hermione's anger.
"What did you do to her?" it was Ginny who broke the silence
Draco, who hadn't been aware of her presence, turned to the redhead and glared at her, "Stay out of this Ginevra", he warned
She opened her mouth to answer him but Hermione interrupted her, "No, let her talk", she replied, "After all you two are together on this right? Just friends, yeah sure," she let out a hysterical laugh, "I must have been the only stupid enough to believe in that when the whole campus knew that you were sleeping behind my back"
"That's not true", Draco replied
Hermione ignored him and pointed at Ginny, "You were my friend! You were supposed to be my best friend", she cried, "I always stood by you Ginny. I put up with your hurtful comments, your rudeness and all your mistreatment because you were MY FRIEND", she hit her chest, "But how did you repay my friendship? Sleeping with the boy you knew I was in love with?" Hermione wiped her tears, "Why Ginny? Why do you hate me so much?"
Ginny didn't dare to interrupt her nor did she try to reply when Hermione finished speaking. Instead she stared at the brunette for a few moments, with an almost empty expression on her face and in the end she chose to leave the room
"And you, you are much more than an asshole." Hermione pointed at Draco. "I loved you. I loved you from the first moment I saw you, and I felt the luckiest girl when you told me that you loved me too", she sobbed and he took the opportunity to get closer and try to hug her, "DON'T EVEN TOUCH ME!" She shouted backing away, "You disgust me," she whispered and he shuddered, "I opened my heart to you and you have done nothing but destroy it. But you know what? I am the fool for believing that the great Draco Malfoy could actually change and became a better person. You only approached me because you wanted to have fun for a while like you warned me. Well, you got what you wanted it. I hope you are really happy now"
Hermione sat up in bed, exhausted, and kept crying. Draco instead had been petrified at Hermione's words. There was so much pain and anger in everything she had said. And he had caused everything in a moment of stupidity and weakness.
Draco clenched his fists and tears rolled down his cheeks but he didn't even try to wipe them away. He was the biggest idiot in the world but Hermione didn't deserve to suffer because of it, "Hermione please forgive me", he begged again in a choked voice
"Get out of here Draco," Hermione's voice sounded low but firm
"Hermione I... I love you," he finally blurted out, desperate. She raised her head to face him after hearing his last words. But this time her chocolate eyes had no trace of the kindness and sweetness that she had always transmitted to him.
"Get out of here", she repeated, "I don't want to have you around", and she stood up
"Please", he asked again
"Out", she remained firm, "I don't want to see or hear you, just go"
"Hermione"
She looked back at him with those watery but terribly cold eyes, and Draco felt a chill run through his body. He opened his mouth to say something else, but in the end he just walked out of the room.
Hermione closed the door as soon as Draco was outside and leaned over it, slowly her body slid down to the ground, while she covered her mouth with her hands to try to silence the sobs. She had never felt so sad and disappointed in her entire life, never had she experienced so much pain in one day.
"They're both fucking liars," she told herself as she stood up, feeling angry again. She looked around and scanned the room. Everything reminded her of Ginny, even though she had also lived in that place, she had never really felt part of it. She needed to get out; she needed to get away from everything.
Hermione reached for her phone in her bag and dialed Harry's number. He answered immediately, "Hello Mione," his voice sounded enthusiastic
"Harry please, I need you to help me", her voice cracked
"Hermione, did something happen? Are you ok?" Harry was immediately alert
"I don't have time to explain, please, just pick me up, okay?" She couldn't contain a sob
"Where are you?" He asked
"In the sorority"
"I'll go immediately. Wait for me Mione"
"Thanks", she whispered before hanging up
Hermione walked to the bed and sat waiting for her friend to arrive. The room was strangely quiet, though the faint sound of music came from outside. She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes trying to get the image of Draco and that girl out of her mind.
"Hermione, I know you don't want to listen to me but I have to explain"
Draco's voice penetrated the room and Hermione was startled, not expecting him to still be there. She wanted to ask him to be quiet or to leave her alone, but she felt so exhausted that she just remained silent.
"I know I'm a fucking jerk and I shouldn't ask for your forgiveness, but I need to at least try because I can't let you go. I love you Hermione", his voice cracked and the girl started to sob again, "And I would be lying to you if I said I don't know why I did it but, honestly, now all that shit I was feeling no longer makes sense and... all I know is that I love you and I don't want to lose you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me Hermione; please you have to believe me. Everything... everything I told you, the moments we spent together, all of that was real," he waited for a minute for her to say something, "Please Hermione," he whispered
"Draco? Where's Hermione? What's going on?"
Hermione heard Harry's voice and immediately stood up, opened the door and came face to face with Harry, "Mione, what's wrong?" He asked observing her decomposed expression and her tearful face
"Harry, please get me out of here", she asked trying to control her voice and not look at Draco
"Fine, but first tell me what's going on." He looked from her to Draco. "Did you have a fight? What happened?"
"It's nothing that concerns you", Draco's voice sounded furious and he gave him a penetrating look but Harry was not intimidated
"Oh but it does", he approached him and faced him, "Mione, I told you that I wouldn't be indulgent with him if he did something to you so..."
"This doesn't concern you", Draco hissed again and approaching the other boy, hit him with one of his fists in the jaw.
Hermione gasped and watched Harry stumble almost to the ground. She was about to reach out to help him but he recovered quickly and responded to Draco's blow with an identical one. Draco, being drunk as he was, did fall and couldn't get up, so Harry took the opportunity to try to hit him again, but Hermione grabbed him from his jacket and managed to calm him down, "Please Harry, stop it", she sobbed and he focused his attention on her
"Mione I told you..."
"I remember what you told me", she cut him off, "But I don't want to be here anymore, please take me out of this place", she asked
She sounded so dejected that he only nodded. Hermione went back into her room to get her suitcases, and he followed her.
Draco was still on the ground but when he saw that they were going to leave the house he quickly stood up, "Hermione, please don't go. Stay here with me", his voice sounded desperate
She gave him one last look that seemed eternal, but in the end she walked away from him followed by Harry and without looking back.
Draco froze in that place until he heard the sound of Harry's car, and it was as if something had turned on in his brain, so he ran to the front door but it was too late. Hermione was gone.
Defeated and furious he sat on the porch stairs and covered his face with his hands, remembering Hermione's expression when she found him with Claudia.
"Dammit!" he yelled
"You really screwed up this time Malfoy", Ginny had appeared out of nowhere
"Fuck off Ginevra", Draco answered
She looked at him for a few moments, but far from leaving; she sat next to him, "So what happened?"
"Why do you want to know Ginny? Do you even care?"
She shrugged but then sighed, "You know Draco? After listening to Hermione I wondered why we started this... relationship", she made a movement with her hand encircling them both, "Do you remember how it was the first time? When I came back from Switzerland and went to visit you"
Draco smiled sadly, he didn't understand what was all about but at least it distracted him from the pain he felt and the growing headache, "It was quite the surprise when you appeared on my door. You had changed a lot, I was happy to see you again, I had always liked you very much", she smiled at him, "And well... I think the rest just... escalated pretty quickly"
"Your father was furious that you were still my friend", she laughed, "Lucius never liked me or my father"
"Father is a jerk"
"Yes, he has always been", he nodded, "But now you're behaving like him", the grey eyes of the boy rested on her, "From what I heard, did you sleep with another woman?"
"I shouldn't have done it", he sighed and pulled his hair, "It was stupid and I'm afraid that..."
He couldn't continue but she took his hand, hesitantly at first but finally intertwined her fingers with the boy's, "I know", she replied
Draco thought her voice sounded full of pain and realized that her eyes didn't seem to glow with the fire that Ginny had previously radiated.
"Are you okay?" He asked all of a sudden
"Of course I am", she looked at him with a funny face
"Be honest Ginny", he looked her straight in the eyes, "Are you really okay?"
"Have any of us ever been?" she replied raising a perfectly outlined eyebrow and then smiled, "Well, I'll better leave now; this conversation has already gotten strange enough"
She stood up and walked a few steps, but then turned, "Draco", he looked at her and she seemed nervous, "I really hope you can get Hermione to forgive you." Her voice sounded thick.
"Thank you Ginevra", he smiled sadly at her
Ginny gestured "goodbye" with her lips and left the house.
Draco sat for a long time as he thought back to the conversation he had just had with Ginny. He had to accept that she had said something true: he was making the same mistakes as his father.
Since he was a child people used to say that he was very much like his father and Draco had always been proud of that, but after that fateful birthday, the altar on which he had placed his father collapsed and he vowed never to be like Lucius. And now he had broken that commitment to himself.
Draco got up, furious, and lunged against one of the walls of the house, and with each blow he released all the fury he felt towards his father, his brothers, towards Claudia, but mainly towards himself.