Chapter Thirteen
Lunch at the Burrow
July 15, 2001
Molly beams at me as soon as she opens the door. She immediately puts her arms around me, giving me a bone-crushing hug. When she finally lets go, she sees the pie I have in my hands.
"Oh dear, you didn't have to," she coos.
"It's apple pie. And don't worry, mum made it," I say, handing her the pie. Baking and cooking have never been my specialty.
Molly and Arthur insisted that we call them by their names now that we're 'grownups'. It took some getting used to especially when Harry's dating Ginny while I dated Ron. Despite my falling out with Ron, the Weasleys have become my second family — having lunch at the Burrow at least once in two weeks and Arthur bringing some cake Molly baked to my office. Things have changed too because now there's no need of whispering behind our backs. Sometimes, old members of the Order gather for old time's sake. Even Kingsley finds time to get out of Minister duties to eat with us. And it's great, to just talk about mundane things instead of plans on how to defeat Voldemort.
"Tell her thanks for me, will you? I'm sure it's great," Molly says, never wiping off the big smile she always has on, and adds, "Well, stop standing there. Come on in!"
I follow her to the kitchen where she's finishing up on cooking. She flicks her wand and a pan starts to float in the air, pouring buttered corn on two small bowls. On the stove, two pots are sitting over the fire. The other one's boiling while Molly hovers over one, holding a ladle to her mouth and taste-testing the spaghetti sauce.
"Should I set the table?" I ask seeing as Molly's handling everything pretty well here.
"Thank you dear. We'll be eating outside, in the garden. You can prepare the table for nine. It's almost time so they should be back soon," she says.
I start to ask come back from where but Molly's already tending to the other pot just before it boils over. So I focus on the task at hand. I may not be good with cooking but I'm perfectly capable with other spells. I find the plates and utensils and levitate everything in front of me to the garden. There's already a long table there covered with a white linen cloth. With a flick of my wand, everything sets themselves on the table in front of each chair.
Then there's a laughter sounding suspiciously like George from behind followed by a shriek.
"Hermione!"
Just as I turn around, a sea of long, red hair greets me as Ginny flings herself at me. I hug her back and over her shoulder, I see George, Harry, Ron with an arm around Hannah, and… Malfoy? With their broomsticksin their hands, they're walking down from the hill where the Weasleys usually play Quidditch.
"Malfoy here was just talking about how he hid Ron's stash of chocolate frogs," George explains when Ginny releases me.
"Don't make me regret my decision Malfoy," Ron says without malice, like he's… joking?
Malfoy just laughs at the comment. I want to ask how he's here and why he and Ron aren't hexing each other to pieces. But suddenly, Arthur comes out with Molly hurrying behind him.
"I'm sorry for being late, something came up at work. Well, Perkins needed my help. I couldn't just ignore an old partner," Arthur mutters under his breath. He looks like he's been running around, still with dirt on his forehead. Molly immediately scourgifies it with her wand ("I've been telling you, you missed a spot.")
Then Malfoy steps forward and offers his hand to Arthur, " ."
This surprises Arthur but nonetheless, he takes Malfoy's hand in his and smiles, "Mr. Malfoy, good to see you here. Very good indeed."
I can tell he's quite uncomfortable with the unfamiliar sight of Malfoy in his backyard. After all, Lucius Malfoy was his archnemesis back in the days.
"Please, call me Draco," Malfoy says smoothly, with a sincere smile plastered on his face. Arthur immediately relaxes at his words and it just amazes me how Malfoy can make people at ease whenever he wants to.
"Then call me Arthur."
After that, each of the Weasley sons take turns in giving their father a hug. Harry shakes Arthur's hand while Arthur claps him on the shoulder. Hannah just smiles with Ron still holding her. I watch as they listen to the rest of Arthur's story about the incident with Perkins.
After everything that has happened, George moved out and found a place of his own. He certainly can afford it with all the money he's getting from the Weasleys' Wizzard Whizzes. Ron became his roommate partly because he wants to be there in case George misses Fred. With Charlie still in Romania and Bill and Fleur expecting another baby, it's just Molly and Arthur most of the time as Ginny goes on tours and practices on most days. I can see that they look happy having their children at home.
While everyone's laughing, I notice Malfoy walking towards me. He's in a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hair slightly ruffled by the wind. He looks like a normal person then, and quite attractive at that.
"I didn't know you had a white shirt in your wardrobe," I tell him once he's standing beside me.
"Ha-ha Granger," he says sarcastically.
"So what brings you here," I ask casually.
Molly goes back inside to get the food.
"Oh, Weasley invited me," he answers just as nonchalantly.
I give him a quizzical look. "Really."
Then Molly's saying, "Let's all settle down, shall we? And talk while we eat lunch," as she comes out again with all the dishes in front of her. We all follow her and find our seats with Arthur at the head of the table and the plates of food setting between us. Everyone's passing along bowls and serving the other some pasta. After a while of talking and clinking of metal against porcelain, Molly has started pouring firewhiskey in our glasses.
"I just want to take this time to thank Draco," she announces, looking around as she holds her own glass up and adds while looking at Ron, "for saving our son's life." She then finally directs his gaze to Malfoy and says, "Thank you dear. How can we ever repay you."
"It's alright Molly," Malfoy says with an awkward expression between a smile and a grimace.
"Mum!" Ron suddenly yelps sharply, his ears already so red.
"Oh don't be so embarrassed Ronald," she quips before saying, "To Draco."
"To Draco," we all say in chorus and drink the firewhiskey in our hands.
This explains things. I look at Malfoy who's sitting right across from me and I can see his discomfort at the attention he's getting. It's funny because when he was younger, he's always craved it — that duel with Harry in first year, showing off their latest broomsticks in second year, and so on. Now Malfoy barely talks to the press, leaving all the talking to other Aurors when asked about their cases. He likes his privacy so much that one time when we were out, he threatened a reporter we caught getting a photo of us. Sure enough, no news whatsoever concerning us got out. And we stuck to hanging out in Muggle places after that.
It's Harry who tells the story when Hannah insisted on hearing it. He, Ron and Malfoy were checking on a tip-off of a sighting. The reported Death Eater threw a Killing Curse at Ron. Ron couldn't seem to move and because Malfoy was only a few feet away, he jumped and pushed Ron out of the way, sending both of them sprawling on the ground. The distraction immediately allowed Harry to immobilize and incarcerate the Death Eater.
"Ron couldn't speak after that. One of us even had to take him Side-Along," Harry finishes.
"I was in more shock that Malfoy saved me," Ron says defensively.
"Hey," Malfoy barks as if he's hurt and everyone starts laughing.
It's so nice to look at him blend in so easily. For some reason, it makes me happy that he's friends with the most important people in my life. I catch Ginny's eye and she gives me a curious look. I can only ask myself what it means before she speaks up.
"Well, Harry and I have an announcement to make," she says gleefully, holding Harry's hand on the table. Harry starts to blush behind his spectacles. "We're getting married!" Ginny squeals, showing us her engagement ring — a simple silver ring, with a little diamond on top of it. It's so beautiful I wonder why I didn't notice it before.
Hannah gushes in delight. George howls at Harry in encouragement. Molly has tears in her eyes as she hugs Ginny. Arthur stands up to clap Harry again on the shoulder as he waits for his turn to embrace his daughter. Ron's awkwardly hugging Harry. Malfoy congratulates them both. I knew that this was going to happen eventually but I can't help my eyes from watering as I squeeze Ginny then Harry in a tight hug.
"But we're not getting married until next summer," Harry says as we all settled back in our seats. "With the Quidditch World Cup coming up next year, Ginny will be too busy to prepare for both the wedding and the Cup."
"By giving me time, he still thinks he can get away with the preparations," Ginny says playfully. But I can see how happy she is and how she appreciates Harry's understanding.
xxx
The rest of the lunch consisted of dessert and more talking and laughing. I can say it was the best we had so far, most definitely better than that time when Ron and I were giving each other cold shoulders throughout the meal that ended up in a big fight. That was the last argument we had before we decided that it wasn't working out.
It's a good thing because I can see that he's never been happier. Hannah is so good for him. Her patience and gentleness easily complements Ron's temper and comical nature. Ron started noticing her last year, at the second Celebratory Ball. He thought she was pretty with her blonde hair framing her small face instead of her usual pigtails. He even liked her better when she laughed at all his jokes.
"What's going on between you and Mafloy," Ginny suddenly asks when she leans back on the counter beside me. We're alone in the kitchen washing the dishes. Everyone else is outside, drinking butterbeers and enjoying the summer afternoon sun.
"What do you mean? We're friends," I say honestly and quite uncomprehendingly, not knowing where this is coming from.
"Don't lie to me Hermione — "
"— I'm not — ,"
"I can see the way you look at him with those googly eyes. And the sneaking glances he gives you when he thinks you're not looking. He smiles… affectionately when he sees you're laughing for Merlin's sake!" Ginny bursts.
He does? Something drops at the pit of my stomach.
"I don't make googly eyes at him. And he definitely doesn't smile at me…," I say, denying everything Ginny just said and add quite stubbornly, "affectionately."
She gives me a disbelieving look before her eyes widen. "Oh my God. You don't know, do you?"
I laugh at her, not entirely sure how to react to this.
"This is absurd, Ginny. I think you're just so in love that you're seeing things. Besides, the guy has a girlfriend," I try to convince her.
For a few seconds, it looks like she's considering my words. "Maybe…"
I don't think she completely believes me but I feel relieved when she lets go of it. I change the subject and she seems eager to talk about how she wants her wedding to be. For a while, I listen to how she imagines it to be like Bill and Fleur's wedding. Even though that didn't end up like how they planned it to be, the ceremony was still beautiful. I remember her telling me excitedly about it during the wedding. Ginny may play a sport for a living but she appreciates weddings and dresses. She goes on about the color theme and everything but my mind keeps on wandering back to Malfoy. I can't help that nagging feeling in my belly when I try to imagine Malfoy smiling affectionately at me.
"Hermione… Are you okay?" Ginny suddenly says worriedly. My face is burning up.
"I'm fine. It's… er, must be the summer heat," I explain.
I'm glad when Ginny nods and continues on talking about the wedding.
This is not good.
A/N: Things are changing between Hermione and Draco. Finally right? I hope you're excited! Drop some reviews if you want. I LOVE hearing from you guys! xx