Chapter 17

Draco Malfoy was having a pretty damn awesome day. It had technically just started but he was still high on being pleased from the day before and from his date the night before that. By some strange plot twist it seemed that his ill-timed kiss, far from ruining his chances with Hermione, had actually seemed to spur her into moving forward with a friendship of a more romantic nature.

Upon entering his ("Our!") office, he did his best to compose his face into its customary taciturn look so as not to alert Potter to his unusually good mood. Potter was sure to have some irritating warning about not hurting his best friend; or worse, he'd want to offer advice or commentary. Like a couple of teenage girls plotting to win the heart of the cutest boy in class.

Just thinking about sitting cozy with Potter discussing his (potential) love life caused him to scoff with derision and so there was an appropriate sneer on his face when he finally entered their shared office.

Potter looked up and offered a greeting when Draco came in, but since Draco was very carefully not looking his direction he didn't catch the long speculative look Potter gave him. It didn't mean Draco wasn't aware of it, though, and his good mood suffered a tiny bit as he resigned himself to whatever conversation Potter was planning to initiate. He was probably going to have to make an extra effort to get along with Hermione's friends and the thought did not thrill him.

Still, avoiding the greeting, he hoped that if he could keep his head down and get to work that he might be able to make it too awkward for Harry to break the silence. He hoped in vain.

There were only a few blessed moments of quiet before Harry casually (too casually) said, "I had an interesting conversation with Ginny yesterday."

Draco gave him no reaction. Gryffindors! They had no concept of subtlety and they didn't even have the sense to be embarrassed about it. He pulled out his latest half-finished report on the movements of several wizards currently being watched for suspicious activity and loudly opened his files, an indication surely still too subtle for the thick-headed Gryffindor to accept as a sign that he meant to work and not chat.

When there was no other sound in the room for several moments, Draco was surprised to think Harry might have actually caught on. Out of the corner of his eye he chanced a look towards the corner Harry was seated in and saw that Harry was staring off into space, tapping a quill on the table, clearly thinking rather hard about something. Draco quickly looked back to his own papers, but Harry must have seen the movement because it prompted him to start talking again.

"Apparently, I need to send Ginny flowers more often." Harry stared at Draco pointedly, but Draco still wasn't meeting his eyes, not wanting to turn this monologue into an actual conversation. "And somehow I'm supposed to use the flowers to say something profound and profess my undying love."

Despite himself, Draco couldn't quite suppress the snort at the idea of Harry Potter navigating the intricacies of pureblood courting customs to impress a Weasley. A Weasley! Even though she was a Potter now, she would always be a Weasley.

But Potter misunderstood the snort and took it as a sign of commiseration. Still tapping his quill, he added, "I don't see why a dozen roses isn't good enough. She's always liked roses before."

Roses were trite. Everyone sent roses. Red ones, of course. Or worse, white ones. It's as if they wanted to tell the person they loved that they put as little thought into the gift as was possible.

"One dozen roses." Since Harry was speaking slowly, it appeared he was writing the words down onto a piece of parchment. Merlin, it looked like he was making a list. "Red roses," he continued. Then with a flash of inspiration he added, "Red and gold roses. They make gold roses, right?"

Gryffindors. Draco scoffed again, quietly, and Harry didn't notice as he was busy tapping the quill against the desktop.

"A-ha! I'll send thirteen roses. One extra for Baby Jamie." At Draco's incredulous look that Potter would not only be stupid enough to send an unlucky number of roses to his beloved wife but that he would imply to her that bearing and raising his only child and heir was somehow worth one single flower more than his customary perfunctory bouquet, Harry raised his brow and asked, "What? Seems poetic."

Truly, in the face of such crassness, Draco couldn't help but comment, derision lacing his tone. "Having anything resembling social graces or charm doesn't seem to be your area of expertise, Potter. Perhaps you should stick with whatever you did to win the girl in the first place and not burst a blood vessel by thinking too hard."

With a wry look, Harry asked, "You mean not being killed by Voldemort? Destroying horcruxes? Being the Savior of the Wizarding World? That seems to be what I do best and she seems to like that rather a lot."

Draco rolled his eyes and with a shake of his head turned back to his parchment. Dipping his quill in the inkpot, he scrawled out his next sentences, resolved anew not to participate in Potter's idiotic musings.

That determination was immediately undermined by Potter's next outrageous statement. "So you're thinking maybe something more along the lines of a cake or something shaped like Voldemort's head with a wand through the eye?"

With that particularly vulgar image in his mind, Draco got an ink smudge on his parchment and had to use a quick-erase spell to remove the unsightly blotch. The image of Voldemort's ugly face in cake form with a wand through the eye, however, was not so easy to remove. "Potter," he ground out, "I am literally not sure whether or not you are joking or if there is actually a reality in which that is an appropriate gift for anyone, let alone the wife you profess to love."

"You said to stick with my strengths," Potter protested, his defensive tone belied by the tiny twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "And that's not what George said when I got him that cake on the anniversary of Fred's death."

Draco gaped at that. Surely, not even Potter! Not even for a Weasley! And Potter actually liked the Weasleys, making it even worse. He was just about to sputter out, "Just buy her two dozen damn lilies!" when the morning edition of the Prophet arrived on their desks.

Harry pounced on it immediately, the subject of Ginny's bouquet temporarily abandoned, and he scanned through the sections till he found the Society pages. With a sigh, he shook his head, skimming his finger down the column of one particular article.

Curious, but not willing to start a new conversation, Draco waited for Potter to be done with the paper before casually picking it up and turning it around so he could see what had his partner in such a tizzy. There was an article on the Weasley family. Draco's eyes flicked up to read the byline and was unsurprised to see Skeeter's name on it, which could only mean the article was a mixture of half-truths.

Skeeter claimed to have inside information on the Weasleys' reactions to Ron's marriage to Lavender. The scandal was ripping the family apart, she declared, quoting (misquoting, more than likely) several different Weasleys making inflammatory statements about Ron's marriage as well as his previous relationship with Hermione. It was gossip and slander, ugly and most likely untruthful. It mentioned Hermione very little, except where it was in relation to Ron's 'record of romancing high-profile women' and so Draco found he had very little concern for the rest of it.

Not so with Potter. Harry was still standing by his desk, staring out their charmed window (overcast today), a look of frustration on his face. After he heard Draco set the paper aside, he spoke, quietly. "She tried coercing a quote out of Ginny, but Ginny told her to stuff it. The woman is a menace."

Silently agreeing, Draco turned back to his paperwork, wondering if he ought to say something comforting and then deciding such a thing was not only unnecessary but completely out of character coming from him.

Harry returned to his chair, plopping heavily into it, staring at the quill between his fingers and the unfinished list on the desktop. "She's right, though." And here Draco sighed heavily, knowing he was well and truly mired into another discussion. "The Weasleys are being torn. They love Hermione like family, but Ron is also family. Molly's in a right state, she can't bear the idea of not being welcoming to a daughter-in-law, but she's terrified thinking that if she invites Lavender into her home that Hermione will never set foot in it again."

"Sounds good, problem solved," Draco quipped flippantly.

This earned him a glare from Harry, who responded sharply. "It may be a joke to you, but I assure you it's not funny to either the Weasleys or Hermione. They're her family—we're her family—all that she has left, and you'll never understand her if you can't understand that."

Draco heard what Harry didn't say: that the Weasleys were also his only family, and having his wife and best friends torn different directions was taxing on him, as well. A part of him wanted to be sympathetic, but it was only a very tiny part, as most of him was taken up with the thought, "Ugh, Weasleys."

The look on his face must have been transparent, because Potter rolled his eyes at him. "They're good people, Malfoy. Even Ron—" but he didn't finish that sentence, and a good thing, because just the name was enough to cause Draco's eyes to narrow in tightly controlled anger.

Harry continued, agitatedly running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what's going to happen with Ron. The Weasleys are upset, everyone is upset. But I know when the dust settles Ron will still be family. And so will Hermione."

Irritated, Draco ground out between clenched teeth, "Are you trying to tell me that things will always be the same?" His tone was deceptively mild, but inside he was seething, unexplainably hurt at the warning he thought Potter was trying to give him. "It doesn't matter what Ron does, he will always be forgiven. The Golden Trio, intertwined forever, a holy inner circle along with your precious Weasleys. Unlike Malfoys who can never be forgiven." He hadn't meant to say that last part but the bitterness crept out as he imagined Ron being welcomed back to the folds of his family, Hermione gathered among them playing nice with his slag of a wife. Even the tabloids would eventually come around whereas Draco Malfoy would always be persona non grata no matter what he did.

Surprised at the acerbity of his tone, Harry turned to face him more clearly, his green eyes bright and piercing. "No, Malfoy," he said, quietly. "I mean that there will always be Weasleys in Hermione's life. And you need to learn to play nice. They are on her side, even though right now it is tearing them apart inside. Don't ever belittle their loyalty or you will lose hers."

Uncomfortable, Draco considered his words, unsure if the advice Potter was giving him was what it sounded like: a tacit approval of his awkwardly burgeoning courtship. Surely Potter meant it as a warning, instead. Draco responded with silence, his face serious for once, and lacking his customary sneer and snarky attitude. Eventually Harry turned back to staring moodily out the window.

But unable to concentrate now on his work, Draco worried the quill between his hands. He had been riding high on the success of his last date with Hermione, the first time he'd begun to think they were on the same page. But Potter's words made it clear just how very tentative his chance with her was.

She was a beloved celebrity while he was a step above a curse word. Though he had everything to gain from association with her, she had everything to lose. Would those Weasleys who adore her so much, even in the face of their own son's mistakes, still give her the same acceptance if she were dating a Malfoy? The animosity between him and the Weasleys was not one-sided. It went back so many generations it was practically tradition. She could lose her family, her friends, her standing in society … and what could he give her in return? Money, of course, which was particularly unimpressive to one Ms. Hermione Granger. And, well, himself.

Stripping things down like that made him feel a bit sick in the stomach. They would say he had taken advantage of her, stepping in when she was hurt and lonely. They would say she'd lost her mind.

The silence in the room was oppressive as Draco flipped that quill over and over, running his hands down the feather, his brain spinning as he contemplated his options.

He could back off and let her go, for her own good and all that. Something inside him violently protested that thought, though. He'd spent much too long convincing himself that he could never have her to give up now that there was actually a possibility that his feelings could be returned. If he let her go now she would find someone else, and because fate had always been against him, this someone else would not be a fool and he would not long leave her unattached, and Draco would never have this chance again.

No, he couldn't go back. The tally was still the same; he had little to offer her and that at much risk to herself. But he would take it. Because he was selfish. And because he was really beginning to believe that it was Hermione Granger or no one.

And if Potter was to be believed, it meant she came along with a whole passel of Weasleys. It was almost enough to bring a Malfoy to his knees in shame. Almost, but not quite. Because Draco had learned a few things in that same war they'd all fought in. One of those things was that sometimes the greatest shame came in not accepting change when it was inevitable. And in sacrificing those you loved on the altar of your misguided ideals. He would not make the mistakes of his mother and father.

Resolved, he pulled out a new piece of parchment. For whatever reason, the fates had granted him this chance to win Hermione Granger's heart. He would not waste it. It may be that she truly wasn't ready and still recovering from her last relationship, but if so then he would wait and build further on their friendship and gain her trust. He had absolutely no intention of letting her go. From the moment she was no longer attached to Ron Weasley he had had an uncontainable desire to be the next (and last) man in her life. He would convince her that his feelings were genuine.

He would make sure she understood that he'd never make her choose between him and her family, whoever she felt that may be. Except maybe Ron. He'd never be on the same side as Ron. Although, maybe, if the situation were dire, he might find it in himself to eat at the same table with Ron. Maybe. And maybe if he had some Firewhiskey first. (Also, during.) Well, actually, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

First things first, he had an owl to send. And a campaign to begin.

~~~ooo~~~

When the owl with the powdery white feathers tapped at Hermione's window, she had just gotten home. But she felt a little thrill go up her spine as she anticipated the message of the scroll that she removed from its place on the owl's leg. After the bouquet yesterday, she hadn't heard from Draco and had spent the day idly wondering (sometimes panicking) about what his response to her answering message would be.

She gave the owl a treat and it flew off. Hermione didn't even bother closing the window she was in such a hurry to open the letter. The note was short and simple but it simultaneously made her laugh and made her stomach clench with anxiety.

"You did ask me to dinner on Friday. I get off work at 6:00. DM"

Friday was tomorrow.

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A/N: Hello lovelies! I know it's been such a long time, but I have NOT forgotten this story. I just ran out of inspiration for a few things. I've been caught up in practical things that take my attention. Then when I finally finished the chapter, my beta had quit, so I spent a couple of weeks trying to find a new one. I usually post on Hawthorn & Vine first, but they've been taking the last three days to approve my chapter, and I couldn't wait anymore, so I decided to post here. I hope you all enjoy coming back to this story. I have already written the next chapter, and as soon as I get a new beta, I will post it. Expect it in 2 weeks. Beyond that, I can't guarantee anything. And by the way, I LOVE all of your reviews. Every time I get a new review, it gives me motivation to get back to an unfinished chapter and power through it. And yes, the next chapter is Date 2. And it's a doozy!