MY LAST NAME

Chapter 16

"How could you go behind my back and do something that reckless Draco?!" Hermione was furious.

"Don't have a fucking go at me, I wanted to help, I wanted to fix the mess I made!" Draco couldn't win. He kept his mouth shut, he wasn't speaking up enough, he speaks up, is accused of going behind her back.

Draco had walked in late after grabbing a few drinks at his mansion, just to wind down after his confrontation with Ron. Hermione was waiting up on the sofa with her worried mothers face on. He'd rolled his eyes after walking in and dropped his coat on the side, bracing himself for the storm. But he didn't think she'd be this angry.

"Draco, Ronald is unstable and he could've done something horrible. You saw what Harry did, and he's a lot more tolerable that Ron." She paced, thoughts flew around her head of what could've happened to Draco. She was so mad he'd do this to her.

"I can bloody look after myself Hermione" he placed his hands on his hips and shook his head looking down at the ground.

"All I wanted was to fix this fucking mess"

"He could've killed you"

"But he didn't."

Hermione stood and stared at Draco, his eyes were slightly red and dark semi-circles drooped underneath. She sighed and rubbed her brow whilst walking over to him.

"Please promise me you'll never do anything like this again?" She took his hand and let it swing by her side.

"I can't I'm afraid."

Hermione's eyes snapped to his.

"What?" Her voice was a little distant.

"I still have a score to settle with Harry, I need to be able to shake his hand too." He looked at her with a half smile. Hermione was lost for words, she was still angry, but she saw how much their relationship meant to Draco. She sighed again and kissed him softly.

"Just let me know next time, don't just take off." She half smiled and cupped his face with her free hand. He gently nodded before walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of water. Hermione followed and hovered in the doorway. Her light grey dressing gown dragging slightly on the floor.

"No tea tonight then?" She folded her arms and leant agains the door frame. Draco shook his head.

"I'm tired, I'm off to bed." He silently walked past her and into her bedroom. She walked in to see Draco hanging out of her bedroom window, taking a long drag of a cigarette. The moonlight shone perfectly off his torso and his white hair.

"Thought you'd quit" she walked in and hung her dressing gown on its peg. Draco's head swung forward in defeat.

"For fucks sake Hermione" he brought his head from outside, fag still hanging loosely from his mouth, he took it in his fingers.

"Can you just give me a break? Please?" He looked at her as she climbed into bed.

"I'm sorry, I just don't like the habit. You're better than that Draco." She seemed to realise what she was doing. She didn't know why she was being so uptight and rather grumpy tonight.

"I'm going to finish, and savour this cigarette, then I shall quit." He hung himself back out the window and after he'd finished it, he flicked the stub out into the depths below.

He crawled into bed and slid up to Hermione, who was already half asleep. He sighed and watched the stars flicker subtly before falling asleep.

Hermione woke up the next morning in a hot flush. She opened her eyes wide as she felt the heat burn over her like she'd never felt before. She sat up as the room seemed to spin. After a few moments the feelings disappeared and she slid her way out of bed, trying not to wake Draco up. She decided to just shake off her sudden temperature change.

It was only a few days until they both left to spend Christmas at her new cottage, and so he was packing things a bit at a time so she didn't have a mad rush to get everything ready a few hours before they left. She walked into the kitchen and put some bread in the toaster before flicking on the kettle. She opened her window and the sound of birds singing gently lit up the room. She sat at her kitchen table with her breakfast as she watched the traffic I the distance filter through the gap in between two terraced houses.

Draco shortly after was awoken by the smell of toast, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning as he did so. He walked to find Hermione sat in her own world, eating a slice of whole meal toast.

"Morning" he half smiled sitting next to her.

"Morning" she gently kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry about last night, I don't know what came over me" she poured him a cup of tea. Draco smiled inside.

"It's okay, I am too. I should've told you." He took her hand and kissed it softly. She smiled at him, her eyes full of love.

"I can't believe we go to Ireland on Wednesday" she beamed at the thought.

"Neither can I. Christmas will be perfect" he took a sip of his tea,his face fell serious. "I need to speak to Harry today."

Hermione's eyes widened as she took a bite for her toast

"Can't it wait until we get back?" Her eyes drooped with concern. Draco shook his head.

"I just feel like I need to do this. Everything I've done so far has never been any bloody good. I want to change it." He looked at her.

"Then we'll do it together -"

"No" he interrupted "I must do this on my own, please understand Hermione" he took her hands and gently squeezed them. She looked at him for a moment before nodding slowly.

Draco was sat in a small cafe with a steaming coffee, in a small town up the east coast. The rain was lashing down and bouncing off the pavement, the streets were empty and the sky was grey. He sat and drank his coffee,thinking over what exactly he was doing, before heading out into the elements. He ran through the street and turned right at the end of the road before heading down towards a rather grand townhouse.

The brick was red and cream with ivy climbing up each side of the symmetrical house, a huge iron gate groaned as it opened. Draco walked up to the porch, soaking wet through before he paused, his fist hovering to knock on Harry Potters front door.