A week had passed since Draco had started working with Hermione, and she was still just as distant and polite as she was the first day. He understood. After years of bullying, he probably wouldn't trust himself either. They were working on separate pieces of legislation right now, and Draco looked at her. Her hair was down today, and curls kept falling in her face. Even though her hair wasn't frizzy anymore, it still seemed just as untamed as it has always been. He studied her features. He had never noticed how long her eyelashes were. They framed her eyes nicely. After a minute of Draco looking at her, Hermione finally looked up. She looked confused for a second.
"Do you need something Draco?" She asked, her eyebrows knitted together.
"No, sorry.. um.. I was just wondering how you wanted to word this sentence to make it more appealing to the committee." He picked out the sentence he had just been looking at, and when Hermonie took a look at it, she looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"It looks fine just the way it is." And with that she went back to her work.
Smooth Draco, he thought. That was the worst excuse he had ever given anybody. Still, he wanted to get her attention. He wanted her to start talking to him.
"So Hermione." She looked up at him. "How's your family?" She once again gave him a confused look.
"They're fine. I don't see them that often. They moved to the country, and I don't get a lot of time off work."
"Oh, so where are you living?" Draco asked, genuinely curious. Hermonie gave him a mischievous smile.
"Not so fast Draco. If you're going to ask me questions, I get to ask questions back." He got nervous, but nodded his head.
"Ok, shoot."
"How's your family?" Draco knew she was going to ask that question, even though she knew it was a loaded question.
"They're doing alright. I visit them a lot. They're still my parents. I love them." She nodded, but didn't ask any more questions about his family. He was glad – his parents were known Death Eaters and supporters of the Dark Lord. His dad went to Azkaban for two years, but was let off early because of his lack of support during the end of the war. His mom was known to have saved Harry Potter – he testified at her trial – and was saved from Azkaban. Draco, while being a Death Eater, was let off because the Ministry believed he was being influenced by those around him and would not have joined the Dark Lord willingly. He shook off his thoughts and asked Hermonie another question.
"So how is Weas- Ron?" Even though he didn't care about blood status, Ron still annoyed him to no end. He had a hard time respecting him. "Last I knew you two were together." At that, Hermonie looked down at the table.
"No, we broke up a couple years ago. Actually, he's dating Lavender Brown again. They just got engaged." She looked upset at the thought. "She's asked me to be a bridesmaid."
"Really? Even though she's dating your ex?" Draco was amazed that someone could be that dense.
"Well, to them we're just friends now." Draco could hear the hurt in her voice as she revealed that information.
"How often do you see them? It must be pretty regularly, if she's asked you to be a bridesmaid," Draco observed.
"Molly has Sunday dinner every week, and the whole family is invited. Since Harry and I have been best friends with Ron since first year, we are considered family too. So, to answer your question, every week." Draco's eyebrows shot up. She hung around Weasel and his fiancé every week? No wonder she looked upset. I would be upset too if I had to watch my ex moon over someone else every week and pretend to be okay with it, Draco thought, shocked at the situation that Hermione was putting herself in.
"Why don't you stop going?"
Hermonie sighed. "It's not that easy Draco. That would be rude to Molly and the whole Weasley family. They've done a lot for me, and I wouldn't want to suddenly just stop going to their house just because of Ron."
Draco was getting heated over this. He didn't really know why. Sure, he wanted to get to know Hermione, but why was he suddenly getting so over protective all of a sudden? It's because Ron is a twit, and she deserves better, he told himself. It was totally normal, he told himself. Slowly, he counted to five and asked her, "Do you ever bring anyone to these dinners?"
Hermonie looked taken aback at this question. "No, because it'd be kind of serious to introduce a boyfriend to the Weasleys. Besides, I haven't really had one… I spend a lot of time working." She mumbled the last part, like she was ashamed to tell him.
"Well, maybe you should. If he's going to bring a girl around you, it's only fair that you bring a guy around him. Why should you be completely miserable?"
At that, Hermonie looked annoyed. "I never said I'm completely miserable. And I'm doing fine for myself, thanks. Now, let's get back to work." And with that, she put her head down and started scribbling away on the paper she was working on with her quill.
Hermonie joined Harry for a drink after work at the Leaky Cauldron. When she arrived, he was already sitting at the bar drinking what looked like a muggle beer. Hermonie walked over to him and threw her purse down on the counter with unnecessary force. Harry looked taken aback at this.
"Hey 'Mione, you okay?" He asked uncertainly.
"Ya, I guess." She looked at Tom. "I'll have scotch on the rocks." Now Harry really looked shocked.
"You never order hard liquor, unless something is bothering you. The last time I saw you drinking hard liquor was when you and Ron broke up. What's wrong?"
Hermonie sighed. "Malfoy was getting on my nerves today. He started asking about Ron – which is understandable, last he knew we were dating – but then he started giving me advice on Ron and I's relationship and he just… made me feel terrible." Her drink had arrived while she had been talking, and she immediately took a big swig.
Harry looked concerned. "Terrible? How? What did he say?"
Hermonie furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the floor. "He told me that I should start bringing a date to the Weasley family dinners because Ron brings Lavender. Harry, he told me that I shouldn't be 'completely miserable'! He barely even knows me! How can he know how I feel when it comes to Lavender and Ron?" She looked close to tears, so Harry brought her in close and gave her a big hug.
"Hermione, I know that it was out of line for him to say. He shouldn't be giving you advice on your personal life while at work. But," Harry sighed, "When Ron brings Lavender around, you do get pretty down."
Hermonie took another swig of her drink and looked resigned. "I know. I feel pathetic."
Harry looked taken aback. "You are not pathetic! Never! If Ginny had started dating someone else, I wouldn't be happy. I'd be mopey and upset every time I saw them together. It's okay Hermione ! You know what you need to do?" She looked at him with glistening eyes. "You need to start dating again. When was the last time you were out on a date?"
Hermonie looked thoughtful. "Umm… like a year and a half ago?"
"Exactly. You're a beautiful woman, and you deserve someone who will adore you. Go out on a date, please, and find that someone. I love Ron, he's my best friend, but you deserve better than what he gave you. Okay?" Harry looked at Hermonie, who quickly sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"Okay Harry. You're right. I should. I love you, you know that?" She smiled at him and gave him a hug.
"Love you too, 'Mione. Now, enough with the hard liquor. Get a glass of wine instead. I know you love that one brand… um… Bermouth! Get that, and I'll tell you about how terribly embarrassed I was when a little girl basically assaulted me the one day…"
Harry went into a story about having a girl jump on top of him wanting his autograph. Despite the war being over for five years, he was still impossibly famous. Hermione and Ron had gotten their fifteen minutes of fame after the Battle of Hogwarts for their role in helping Harry, but luckily that had not lasted long. She didn't know how Harry could stand it.
They spent the next couple of hours catching up and getting tipsy. Harry insisted on walking Hermione back to her apartment, as it was dangerous for any witch or wizard to apparate with alcohol in their system. When they arrived there, Harry was about to floo when he turned back to Hermione .
"Hey 'Mione?" She looked curiously at Harry. "I know that Malfoy made you face your feelings about Ron and he stepped over some lines, but you should really give him a chance. He did save our lives. I don't think he's the arrogant toerag he was in school. It's possible he was genuinely trying to help. Just think about that, okay?"
She nodded, and Harry turned and flooed back to the flat he shared with Ron. Hermonie sat down and thought about what he just said. Maybe he did change. Hermonie decided to give him a chance and try to get to know him.