Falling into Place

Chapter 4: Errands

Hermione quickly swipes tinted lip balm across her lips then tosses it into her purse. After being home for three weeks, she and Harry are finally going to spend the day together- just the two of them. Granted, the only reason this is possible is because Ginny has a game in Ireland that Harry was instructed to skip… Due to the long list of errands he was left to complete in her absence. When your best friend is engaged, you take what you can get. Beggars can't be choosers.

There's a knock at her front door.

"Hello." Hermione greets her best friend excitedly as she swings the door open. Harry's smiling face falls as soon as he lays eyes on her.

"You look nice today…" Harry comments and gives Hermione a once-over with narrowed eyes before entering her flat. He closes the door behind him. "Awfully nice for a day of running errands with me…"

"I don't like that suspicious tone, Harry Potter. Am I not allowed to look nice?"

"I've never seen that dress before." He quirks an eyebrow.

"That's because I bought it while I was on assignment in Italy." She smooths out the bottom of her white, flowy sundress and readjusts the strap on one of her sandals. "It's just a sundress."

"It looks like something you'd wear on a date." He chides. Her cheeks flush from embarrassment, which he quickly takes note of. "Oh." He gasps and widens his eyes dramatically. "Hermione Granger, you did wear that on a date."

"No- well, yes. If you must know, the Italian Minister's son took me out to lunch." She crosses her arms.

"You were in Italy months ago and you never mentioned any Italian suitors."

"Well, I didn't think I needed to because I knew the date wouldn't amount to anything." She explains. "It was just a lunch. Or two." She averts her eyes.

"Two?! My, my. Look at you, putting yourself out there. About time." He chuckles and retrieves a water bottle from her refrigerator.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She asks defensively.

"It's supposed to mean that you haven't gone on a date with anyone since Ron. Yes, I've been keeping track."

"You've been 'keeping track' of my love life?'

"'Mione, you're like my sister. Your happiness and well-being are important to me, so naturally, I've been keeping track- being the protective older brother figure and all."

"I'm older than you." She deadpans.

"Details, details." He waves her off.

"You're ridiculous." She barks out a laugh.

"Say what you will, but this is how things are always going to be." He says casually. "You better tell Gin about that Italian. She'll have a fit if she finds out from me."

"I will, I will." She grabs the water bottle out of his hand and puts it back in the refrigerator. "Can we go? Before it starts getting crowded."

"Yeah." He takes her purse from the counter and hands it to her. She leads the way out of her flat to a nearby alleyway, takes Harry's hand, and apparates them to the apparition point near Diagon Alley. They walk the rest of the way. "So tell me about this Italian."

"So gossipy… Has anyone ever told you that Ginny is becoming a bad influence on you?" She peers over at him amusedly.

"Yeah. Draco. At least once a week." They have a good laugh as they head into Quality Quidditch Supplies.

The sales associate- whose name is William- approaches them and informs Harry that his order is being stored in the cellar for safe-keeping. He instructs them to meet him at the register while he goes to retrieve said order.

"So… the Italian." Harry reminds her. She sighs exasperatedly- she was really hoping he forgot. This is precisely why she never meant for him to know- she knew he'd turn it into something bigger than it is.

"He's a few years older and is the Charms professor at their wizarding school…" She replies.

"Sounds like your type of guy."

"How could he possibly sound like my 'type' if I've only given you two pieces of information?" She asks incredulously.

"I have no idea." He smirks. "I hear the word 'professor' and automatically assume he's intelligent."

"An even better question, why do you think I even have a 'type'? I've only ever been with Ronald."

"Just a hunch." The tone of his voice and that slight twinkle in his eye indicate that it's more than 'just a hunch'. She's ready to interrogate him about it, but the sales associate reappears with a parcel tucked under his arm.

"I hope this is to your liking." The man says, carefully opening the box to show Harry the specially made pads that Ginny ordered.

"Everything looks great, William, thank you. Ginny will be pleased." William smiles proudly and reseals the box. Harry then hands over his Gringotts card to complete the transaction. As he does this, Hermione shrinks the parcel and places it into her purse.

"That undetectable extension charm of yours never ceases to amaze me." Harry remarks after they've exited the store.

"You have more than just a hunch, Harry Potter." She accuses- in reference to their unfinished conversation- and narrows her eyes. She's searching his face for some sort of sign when the realization dawns on her. "He told you something, didn't he?"

"'He' who?" Harry asks innocently. Innocently enough that any normal friend would probably believe him- that he has no idea what you're talking about. Unlucky for him, Hermione Granger is no normal friend.

"Don't play dumb with me." She warns with a pointed finger. "What did he tell you?" For a split second, he considers lying for Draco's sake, but he would never be able to find it in him to lie to her. It wouldn't feel right. And he knows better than to mess with that pointed finger. She disciplined Grawp- a bloody giant- with one of those, imagine what it's done with her two best friends. He sighs.

"Everything. On his side of the story, of course." Harry responds reluctantly. It's frustrating for him to be the best friend of both parties in this situation- both of them confide in him, so technically… He's simultaneously supposed to not divulge and also not hide information…

"Oh my God." She squeezes her eyes shut then covers her face. After three deep breaths, she looks up and down The Alley- it isn't busy, as it's not even noon yet, but still… "Alright, we are not having this conversation out here... " She grabs his hand and drags him toward the Leaky Cauldron. Once inside, Tom greets them and shows them to their usual secluded booth. "Thank you, Tom." She smiles at the elderly man. He smiles back then leaves to give them privacy.

"What-do-you-know-?" She emphasizes every word- even the punctuation mark- and stares intently at her best friend.

"Well, he told me… that he told you… that he has feelings for you. Although, he didn't really have to tell me anything. Ginny and I figured that out on our own."

"Of course you did…" Hermione covers her face with both hands. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You know I couldn't tell you. Draco is my friend too."

"But I was your friend first. Don't I have seniority… or something?"

"'Mione…" He raises his eyebrows and gives her a pointed look. Even she knows she's being ridiculous. She sighs loudly.

"And I'm assuming he told you that…" Her sentence is left unfinished.

"That he snogged you?" He smirks.

"Yeah.. That." It's been over a year since it happened, but sometimes she swears she can still feel his arm wrapped snugly around her waist.

"Did you snog him back?"

"Harry Potter!" Her face flushes bright red.

"You did." He starts chuckling, which gradually escalates to laughter.

"What's so sodding funny?!" She hisses.

"I've never seen you this embarrassed before." He says in between laughs. "It's rather cute."

"Shut it. I'll show you cute." She crumples up a napkin and throws it at his head.

Instinctively, he catches it before it can hit him. "Alright calm down." One of Hermione's favorite things about Harry is how he can go from playful to serious in the blink of an eye. She does as she's told and folds her hands in her lap. "Surely you know I can't really tell you what he told me."

"Yes, I know…" She never truly expected him to because even though Harry has never said it out loud, he respects and cares for Draco too much to betray his trust. But she still wishes that he would tell her- if only for curiosity's sake. She genuinely wonders what Draco has said about her.

"Right. I will say this, though," He pauses and adjusts his glasses. "He's a bit out of sorts."

"He said that?" The idea of Draco Malfoy being 'out of sorts' both unnerves her and lights a little flicker of hope deep within her.

"Well, no. I can just tell. He hides it well, but I know him better than he thinks I do."

"Because he puts up the same walls as you. Walls that make it easy to internalize everything." She recalls their entire adolescence - Harry carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and tended to close himself off. He believed it wasn't anyone else's job to carry his burdens. Thinking about that time for Draco, she can't even imagine how difficult it must have been for him to grow up in that house, to become a Death Eater, to be forced to murder someone... She shudders.

"Hey, I'm not as bad as I used to be." He points out jokingly.

"You really aren't." She smiles.

"You're one of the main reasons why I got better. And Ginny and Ron of course, but you… You were more vocal than everyone else - making sure I knew I was never alone…" He reaches across the table and lightly grips her hand.

"I couldn't ever let you forget." She squeezes back as tears sting the back of her eyes. When they were kids, Harry meant the world to her. He grew up in the muggle world just like her. He saved her from a bloody mountain troll, even though they weren't even friends yet! She always admired him. She still does.

"You'd be able to break down his walls, you know." He interrupts her train of thought.

"What?" She shakes her head to regain focus.

"Draco. You'd be able to help him."

"I couldn't. It's not my place." She doesn't have the right to do that. If anyone should be helping him with those walls, it should be his fiancee, regardless of their arrangement.

"You care about him, don't you?"

She furrows her eyebrows. 'Care'? It feels like a loaded question. She does care. But she always comes back to the fact that she feels like they hardly know each other. Can she wholeheartedly say that she 'cares' about him even though they're barely friends? "Well… I suppose so… He's my partner. And our partnership is important to me."

"Is that really all he is to you? Your partner?" He gives her another pointed look because, for being the brightest witch of their age, she can sometimes be a bit slow… But he can't be putting ideas in her head. If she cares for Draco, she needs to realize it herself.

"I- I…" She's ready to tell Harry how she feels about Draco, but she's hesitant. Saying it out loud makes it all too real… It reminds her that she was too late and that it's no one's fault but her own. She runs a hand through her hair. Oh Merlin, has she really picked up that habit from him? "I care about him." A loud, frustrated sigh escapes her lips. "I wanted to try… to be more than partners. To try to build a relationship from the ground up- starting with becoming actual friends."

"You don't think you're friends?" He asks, feeling very confused. If they aren't friends, then what the hell does she think they are?

"I don't feel like we are. We're partners, we work really well together. We see each other five days a week… But I don't feel like I really know him because we only ever talk about work."

"You know him, 'Mione. More than he thinks you do. More than you think you do." If only they could see themselves at dinner… Their synchronicity is spooky. "It's not like you spent seven years of your life actively getting to know Ron before you got together. Friendships are works in progress. They grow and you learn slowly- so slowly that you don't even notice it."

"But Ron and I became friends first year. Draco and I…"

"Started as enemies. Right. Is that why you feel like you need to start at square one with him? Because of the past?"

"No, no of course not. I've learned to let go of our past. Is it ridiculous of me to want to start from scratch with him? To ask him about his favorite color. Or about his childhood hobbies. I learned all those things about you and Ron because we grew up together. There's this large chunk of Draco I know nothing about and I…" She sighs for the upteenth time. "Idunno, it makes more sense in my head."

Harry smiles widely at his best friend. Only Hermione Granger would go to such lengths. Harry knows that the reason she's hell-bent on 'starting from scratch' with Draco is because he means more to her than she realizes. They've already established a bond and she wants to fill in the gaps.

"Hm," is all he manages to say with that smile still plastered on his face.

"What on Earth are you smiling about? God, you must think I'm ridiculous."

"No more than usual." His smile twitches up into a smirk. "But I think I know what you're getting at. Friendship will help you feel more comfortable with moving things forward."

"Exactly." Everyone attributes 'the brains' of the 'Golden Trio' to her, and while it's not completely off base, Harry is much more observant and intuitive than people give him credit for.

"So Hermione Granger has feelings for Draco Malfoy, huh?"

"I guess she does…" Her face flushes again. "She just took a while to come to terms with it. And now it's too late." She shrugs. "I suppose I should have seen that coming."

"You couldn't have seen that coming. None of us could have. He just went and got engaged. Who the hell does that?"

"I take it you don't approve."

"Not really. I think he's being a great big idiot- marrying for his parents' sake."

"His father's sick, Harry." She tries to rationalize.

"But I don't understand why he had to go an ask some woman he hasn't spoken to in over a decade… An arranged marriage? It's ridiculous. He's made all this progress and all of a sudden he's regressed because of these antiquated Pureblood ideals."

"Have you met her?" She remembers virtually nothing about the Greengrasses.

"Not yet. Draco's never brought her around. Says we'll 'meet her at their engagement party'. Whenever that is."

"I'm sure she's a good person. Draco wouldn't just marry anyone." She offers in defense for her partner. Draco is no idiot, no matter how much Harry thinks he is.

"You of all people couldn't possibly approve of this… Could you?"

"I don't approve of anyone marrying for anything other than love. But he needs the support more than anything right now. His father is dying, his mother is probably doing everything in her power to not fall into a deep depression, and Draco… He's probably hiding behind his newly fortified walls- trying to hold his family together. On his own." She looks at Harry with sad eyes because she's all too familiar with this feeling of helplessness. "The best thing we can do is be there if and when he needs us."

Harry agrees with a slight nod and sigh of resignation. "Alright." This is Hermione Granger: the voice of reason. "But then where does this leave you, 'Mione?"

"Well, I can't bring myself to tell him how I feel because it would be selfish. Too selfish. He doesn't need another complication in his life. So it leaves me… here." She waves a hand at their surroundings. "Stuck with my best friend, running errands." She smirks.

"Sounds like a fairly decent place to be stuck." He smirks back.

"Eh. Debateable." She shrugs nonchalantly, to which Harry immediately responds by throwing the crumpled napkin back at her. It hits her shoulder and she laughs. His face resettles into a serious expression.

"Are you… okay? I mean, have you been okay?" He frowns because she's been keeping all this to herself for three weeks already. If only they had this conversation earlier… but some things can't be helped.

"Still adjusting to everything but I'll be okay, in due time." She smiles this sort of half smile. Not quite forced but not quite sincere. Just enough to make herself feel better.


"Did Kingsley give you a raise or something?" Harry asks as he runs his hand over a rack of clothes in Twillfits. She managed to interrupt his errands and drag him in here because a dress caught her eye in the window display.

"What are you getting at?" Hermione peeks over the rack across from him.

"Twillfits? Notoriously considered more 'high-end' than Madame Malkins."

"No, Harry, I didn't get a raise." She rolls her eyes then ducks her head back down to continue her search. To be perfectly honest, Hermione began taking more interest in her clothing choices while she was away. Being in Paris, Milan, New York City… Opened her eyes to this whole new world of fashion she never even knew existed. Some people might mistake this sudden care for outward appearance as vanity, but she likes to think differently. Cutting her hair and changing her style are the most selfish things she's ever done for herself. And isn't everyone entitled to be selfish every once and a while?

"This." Harry appears from the rack behind her, a dress in hand. "This is what you're looking for, isn't it?"

It absolutely is. She rushes over to him. "How'd you know…?" She didn't say anything about the dress when she dragged him into the store.

"I'm brilliant." He states matter-of-factly. "I saw you eyeing it."

"There were three other dresses in the display, how did you figure this was the one?"

"Idunno, I guess this one caught my eye too." He holds up the hanger in the air and aligns the dress with her body. "Are you going to try it on?"

"I didn't intend to, but…"

"Go." He shoves the dress into her arms and pushes her toward the dressing rooms.

Five minutes later, Hermione draws the curtain of her dressing room back to find Harry not sitting on the chaise like she thought he would. She sighs then faces the full-length mirror to take a good look at herself. The dress is tasteful. Mauve. Pretty in a way that's almost too girly… The bodice is form-fitting with a lace overlay. High neckline. The skirt is tulle, which is a material she doesn't usually wear because it has the tendency to look 'poofy'... But this has just the right amount of volume so it flows down effortlessly to her knees. Quickly grabbing her sandals from the floor, she transfigures them into a pair of nude heels. After slipping those on, she returns to the sales floor to show Harry. She doesn't see him, but she can hear him speaking to someone- most likely the sales associate. Following the sound of his voice to the far left of the store, she ends up in the men's section.

She's busy tucking away a tag under her arm, so without looking up, she asks, "Harry, what do you think?"

"You look like a ballerina." He responds.

As soon as she's confident that the tag is hidden, she looks up and tells him, "That's kind of why I like it. You know how I wanted to be a ballerina pre-Hogwarts." Instead of seeing Harry with a sales associate, she sees Harry with Draco. "Hi." She greets Draco stupidly.

It takes Draco a few seconds to formulate a response because he's a little too preoccupied with what he's looking at. "Hello." He finally greets back, clearly just as surprised as she is.

"Like I was saying, 'Mione's helping me run errands." Harry says, his eyes darting back and forth between his two friends.

"Well, this wasn't on his list of errands." Hermione explains embarrassedly. Just her luck- he shows up a few hours after they talked about him.

"I was forced against my will." Harry grouses. "But well-worth the pit stop, I think." He looks over at Hermione again to admire the dress. "You look great, 'Mione."

"It's a bit girly for my taste, but…" She smooths down the skirt.

"It looks nice on you." Draco encourages. "Very high fashion." She really does look lovely. It brings him back to fourth year at the Yule Ball when she made her grand entrance with Krum. She turned a lot of heads that night- his included.

"Thanks." She nervously tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Why is she acting like a ridiculous teenage girl? It's like she's begging Harry to make fun of her later… She draws confidence from that thought alone and casually rolls her shoulders back. "I'm not sure what I'd wear this to, though. It's really only appropriate for special events."

"You'll find a reason." Harry comments then looks over to Draco. "You should see what she's been wearing all day. I told her she looks awfully nice for someone who's spending the day running errands. Someone else's errands, no less." Both Hermione and Draco see straight through Harry's feigned nonchalance. He's just trying to stir the pot and he will be chastised for it.

"Shuttup." Hermione crosses her arms in front of her chest and heads back to the dressing room.

"Judging from your heightened obnoxiousness, I'm assuming you two talked today." Draco asks as soon as he knows that she's out of earshot.

"Your assumption is correct." Harry fiddles with a few ties on display.

"Aaaand you're not going to tell me anything else."

"You know I can't. I respected your privacy and I will give her the same courtesy."

"You always have to be such a good friend." Draco grunts as he runs a hand through his hair.

"Well, one of us has to." Harry gives him a pointed look. "She's doing a fair bit better than you, I think."

"I'm sure. Her coping mechanisms are much more evolved than mine." Draco picks up a tie in the same color as the dress Hermione tried on. Harry watches as his friend pinches the tie's fabric between his fingers. "This isn't quite my color. It looks spectacular on her, though." Draco puts the tie back. As if he needs a metaphorical reminder of the thing he wants but can't have.

"You sure you don't want to talk to your parents? It's not too late to call things off..."

"I thought we weren't going to argue about this anymore, Harry."

"We're not. I was just saying." Harry sighs loudly. These two friends of his are driving him up a wall. Hermione reappears. "You're not getting the dress?" He questions her empty hands.

"Not today. I will when I find a reason to wear it." She turns to Draco and says, "So, would you like to join us for tea?"

"I thought today was just for us." Harry interjects.

"Well you managed to run into Draco- it would be rude not to invite him."

"It's not my fault he happened to walk into the same store as us."

Hermione glares at her best friend. "Ignore him. You've gotten good at it anyway." She says to Draco, who snickers at Harry's dejected expression.

"I'd like to. I need to finish a few things first but I can meet you afterwards." Draco replies.

"Dear?" A voice reaches them followed by the sound of light footfalls. They turn toward the sound. "Dear, were you able to find your father's handkerchiefs?" Narcissa Malfoy glides into the room, taking Harry and Hermione by surprise. Neither of them have seen Draco's parents in a decade…

"Yes, Mother. They're being packaged for us." Draco responds. He looks over at Harry and Hermione and finds them staring at his mother. He clears his throat. "Er, Mother. This is-"

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." Narcissa finishes her son's sentence. "Yes, Dear, we've met, remember?" She takes a step closer to them. "And even if we hadn't, it would be impossible to not know two of the most famous faces in the wizarding world."

"Mother-" Draco tries to reel his mother back in. He's worried she might intimidate them.

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Malfoy." Harry greets respectfully.

"Especially nice under these amicable circumstances." Hermione adds with a cordial nod of her head. Draco glances over at the pair, feeling impressed with their composure and confidence.

"Ah. Mrs. Malfoy. What a pleasure it is to see you again." The sales associate approaches the small group. "My sister took special care with the stitching on these." He hands a wooden box to Draco.

"I also would like to inquire about the dress robes I ordered last month." Draco says to the man.

"Of course, Mr. Malfoy. If you would follow me, I can refer to our record book." Draco follows him toward the front counter, but not before shooting his mother a warning glance. Hopefully she'll behave and be nice.

"I'm sorry that this is the first time we're meeting again since the war." Narcissa offers. "Draco has been a bit ashamed about Lucius and me. Not that I can blame him." She looks over at her son and smiles lovingly.

"He's not ashamed of you, Mrs. Malfoy." Harry says. "Forgive me, but I suspect he wants to keep his father… sheltered."

"I suppose you're right. He is rather protective of us. My Draco- he's a good man. A very good man. He's grown into a man I hardly even recognize and it's wonderful." She smiles kindly at them. "And I believe I have you to thank for that, Mr. Potter."

"There's nothing to thank me for, ma'am. And please, call me Harry."

"You helped him believe in himself again- you gave him the second chance he was convinced he didn't deserve."

"He is well-deserving of it. I will say, though, Minister Shacklebolt is the one to thank for hiring him into the Auror department as our consultant."

"Under your recommendation, as I've heard. You told the Minister what Draco did for you at Battle of Hogwarts."

"Well credit needs to be given where credit is due. I would have told the whole wizarding world, too, if Draco hadn't instructed me to keep quiet about it. I was rather impressed with him."

"Yes, humility was never one of my son's strong suits." Harry and Narcissa share a laugh.

"They seem to be getting along well." Draco suddenly mutters from beside Hermione.

"Merlin, Draco, you need to stop sneaking up on me like that. Damned Slytherin." Hermione hisses and he elicits a low chuckle. "But, yes, they do. He is Harry."

"Is everything in order, Draco?" Narcissa asks.

"Yes, Mother. Are you ready to go?"

"Just about." She smiles then turns to Harry. "Harry, do come to the Manor sometime, won't you? We haven't had guests in ages."

"Mother, I'm not sure-"

"Hush, Draco. It will be alright." She waves off her son. "Your father will behave. I'll make sure of it. And besides, he should get to know the people you hold most dear."

"People?" Draco chokes out.

"Yes, of course. Miss Weasley, Mister Weasley, and," she looks at Hermione now, "Miss Granger."

"Erm, well-" Draco looks at Hermione too. The last time she was at the Manor… She was tortured right in front of him. He didn't even care for her at that time, but it was one of the most harrowing things he'd ever experienced- watching one of his classmates suffer like that… At the hand of his aunt, no less. He feels sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

"We'd love to, Mrs. Malfoy. Whenever you'd like to have us, we'll be there." Hermione answers confidently. She knows she sounds confident. She doesn't quite feel it, though. She can, however, feel Draco's eyes boring into her skull, which she chooses to ignore. For the time being.

"Wonderful. Perhaps next month? Some time after the engagement party." Harry and Hermione shoot each other look at the mentioning of 'engagement party'. "Look for my owl." She clasps her hands together in excitement. "Come, Draco, your father should be waking from his nap soon." As if his mother has been waiting for him this whole time… Draco rolls his eyes.

"We'll see you soon, Mrs. Malfoy." Harry bids her goodbye.

"Goodbye, Harry, Miss Granger." Narcissa says with a smile then glides right on out of the room.

"I'm going to drop my mother off at home then I'll meet you." Draco says to them.

"Well, we're going to a cafe in muggle London because I'm done with my errands here." Harry explains, noting Draco's seemingly wary expression. Draco goes into muggle London for one of two reasons: to visit Harry and Ginny, or to accompany Harry to the muggle menswear shop near 12 Grimmauld Place- all the muggle suits he owns are from there. "Meet us in the Leaky Cauldron- we can all go together. Don't want your Pureblooded arse to get lost in muggle London." Hermione giggles while Draco narrows his eyes.

"Git." Draco spits before turning around to follow after his mother. "I'll be back in twenty minutes." He calls over his shoulder as he skirts out the door.

"Do you want to visit Ron and George for the time being?" Hermione asks Harry.

"Every time I'm there, George tries to give me samples of their new merchandise…" Harry groans.

"Don't pretend like you don't love being one of the first people to try them out."

"Well, I do love that, but I'm also one of the first to suffer the consequences of a faulty item."

"And I love that." She smirks.

"You're cruel." He pushes her playfully.

"Oh come on." She grabs his already outstretched arm and drags him out of the store the same way he was dragged in.

Weasleys Wizard Wheezes is busy as usual. So busy, in fact, that it takes Harry and Hermione almost ten minutes to get Ron to even notice they're there.

"Oh, hey." Ron squeezes past George talking to a customer. "Didn't know you'd be around today." He pats Harry on the shoulder and gives Hermione an awkward side-hug due to the crowded shop.

"I'm running errands for your sister." Harry explains, talking loudly over the crowd.

"Busy day." Hermione says, looking around the shop. She forgot how busy it gets on a Saturday during summer vacation.

"It's been kind of hectic for the past hour or so. A family with no less than a dozen kids walked in and of course they have a question about everything. George and I are about ready to tear our hair out."

"What's this about hair?" George says from behind Ron, which startles him enough to punch his brother in the shoulder. "Shit, that hurt." He nurses his sore arm.

"You know not to sneak up on me like that." Ron retorts gruffly. "I was just telling them about that family."

"Oh. the ones that make us want to rip our hair out."

"Yeah." Ron laughs. "Are they even planning on buying anything? Or are they just here to annoy the shit out of us?"

"I don't even have the energy to care to know." George looks over at Harry expectantly. "I've got something new for you."

"Oh, Merlin." Harry rolls his eyes then asks very seriously, "What is it?"

"Lemme show you. It's in the cellar. You gonna be alright for a minute or two?" George asks his brother, who nods in response.

While George and Harry scurry toward the cellar stairs, Hermione and Ron are left alone for the first time in a long time.

"So…" Ron scratches the back of his head nervously. "Running errands with Harry, then?"

"Yeah. Not an ideal way to spend time with someone, but Ginny…"

"Is Ginny." He finishes her sentence and laughs. He knows full well that his little sister has his best friend- the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the person who defeated the Dark Lord- wrapped around her finger. "The three of us should do something together… It's been a while."

"It has…." The last time the trio spent time together goes as far back as when she and Ron were still together because after they split, it took them some time to even be able to feel comfortable in the same room. Just because their breakup was mutual, doesn't mean it didn't hurt… "We should do something. How about next Saturday?"

"I'm… not entirely sure, to be honest. George and I tend to keep open availability for the shop on Saturdays…"

"That's alright. We'll find time." Hermione encourages.

"What'd I miss?" Harry asks, stepping up beside Ron.

"Just making plans." Hermione tells him.

"You told him about Mrs. Malfoy?"

"What about Mrs. Malfoy?" Ron asks, shocked.

"Oh. I guess not. We ran into Draco." Harry begins to explain.

"Yeah, he stopped by a little while ago." Ron offers.

"Right. Turns out he was here with his mother."

"We haven't seen her…"

"Since the Battle, yeah, I know. It was really weird for us too. Anyway, she's actually a very nice woman, believe it or not. She wants us to come over for tea some time."

"Tea? Like… at that bloody Manor?" Ron almost growls. "Is she mental?"

"Don't be rude, Ronald." Hermione reprimands him.

"But it's just… I mean- we can't go back there…" Ron pauses and looks gravely at Hermione. "You can't go back there."

"We can and we will." Hermione says definitively.

"She serious?" Ron looks over at his best friend incredulously.

"Yeah. 'Mione was the one who agreed. Needless to say, I was stunned. Even Draco froze up. I was about ready to decline the offer when she swooped in told her that we'd love to."

"'Mione…" Ron says worriedly.

"I'm very appreciative of your concern, but it's about time I face those demons." She says, feeling a little more confident than she did before.

"When, then?" Ron crosses his arms.

"We don't know. She said she'd owl us." Harry replies.

"Alright. As long as all of us are on board…" Both Ron and Harry look at Hermione. She nods.

"Ron, I need you over here." George suddenly calls from the register, effectively interrupting and ending their conversation.

"Sorry, I gotta go. It's probably those kids."

"It's alright, so do we." Harry says with a smile.

"Thanks for stopping by, you two. I'll see you on Friday." Ron squeezes Harry's shoulder then gives Hermione another awkward side-hug.

Hermione stands on her toes and yells, "Bye, George!" She and Harry wave goodbye then rush out of the shop just as another group of children come in. They walk in tandem into the Leaky Cauldron and easily spot Draco sitting alone at the bar.

Harry quietly slides onto the empty stool next to him and says, "Come here often?"

Without looking up from his drink, Draco begins, "No, but I'm meeting this gorgeous redhead who plays on the Harpies for a quick shag… So why don't you bugger off-" He looks up from his drink to see Harry sitting with Hermione standing closely behind. "Oh, fucking hell, Harry." He feigns shock. "I'm not- It's not what it looks like."

It's Harry's turn to say, "Git." He then proceeds to down the rest of Draco's scotch without permission in an attempt to anger Draco. "Damn, that's smooth."

"Right?" Draco agrees, amused with his friend's antics. "We ready to go?" Harry nods and Hermione leads them to the apparition point.


"So you've never exited into muggle London through the Leaky Cauldron?" Hermione asks in disbelief.

"I've never had a reason to before. I apparate to Harry's." Draco shrugs.

"We need to take him through that door one day." Hermione says to Harry.

"You're missing out on so much, mate." Harry says as he takes a bite out of Hermione's scone. She glares at him because she never offered to share. He just smiles back innocently.

"What could I possibly be missing out on?" Draco scoffs.

"This cafe, for one." Harry gestures to their surroundings. "This place is much better than Madame Puddifoot's in Hogsmeade. No snogging teenage couples in sight. And their menu is delicious. Seriously, try this scone." Harry breaks off a piece of Hermione's scone and offers it to Draco. Hermione rolls her eyes at her best friend- she's barely had any of her own scone- but she nods in agreement anyway.

"That is really good…" Draco is astonished by the quality.

"We'll ease you into all the muggle sightseeing. I'm afraid you might go into cardiac arrest if you're around too many of them for too long." Harry teases. He loves making Draco the butt of his Pureblood jokes.

"Or maybe he'd start foaming at the mouth." Hermione adds.

"Ha, ha. Very funny. You two are hilarious, really." Draco rolls his idea of muggle sightseeing has piqued his interest, though. For a while, he didn't understand the appeal, but he knows how much Hermione enjoys it… He looks over at her- she's trying to keep her scone out of Harry's reach and she even managed to snatch Harry's croissant off his plate.

"Oh, come on, 'Mione." Harry tries to reach for her plate- that now holds her scone and his croissant- but fails.

"You should've gotten one for yourself instead of stealing mine." She argues. "You haven't even had any of your croissant, so I've taken it as collateral." Harry reaches again and Hermione swats his hand away.

"If you two keep fussing around like that, something's bound to spill." Draco warns. "You also look like children." The two immediately stop what they're doing and shoot Draco a less than friendly glare, which he has a good laugh about. "Alright, continue if you must. But it would be very unfortunate if Hermione spilled something on her perfectly white dress." While their attention is diverted, Draco plucks the last piece of the scone off Hermione's plate and pops it in his mouth. Her jaws drops in shock, as does Harry's.

"We should have known that was going to happen." Harry mutters, defeated.

"Damned Slytherin." She mutters for the second time that day. Draco chuckles, which makes Harry laugh. Hermione tries to stay composed because she's not sure what's so funny, but watching them laugh makes it difficult to keep a straight face. "You're both ridiculous." She cracks a smile then splits Harry's chocolate croissant in thirds and offers each of them a piece.

"What were we even talking about before?" Harry asks after taking a bite. Draco and Hermione shrug because they have no idea. "Doesn't matter now, I guess. New topic: will you accompany me on the rest of my errands?" Draco groans. "C'mon, mate. A muggle supermarket. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Not in the slightest." Hermione deadpans.

"You don't get a say, 'Mione. Today was supposed to be for us in the first place." He narrows his eyes at her and she laughs.

"I have nowhere to be." Draco concedes.

"Great." Harry is very satisfied that he doesn't have to grocery shop on his own. He hates when Ginny leaves it for him because he always manages to forget something.

The three finish up the rest of their drinks and set off toward the supermarket. As Hermione expected, she ends up doing most of the shopping. Harry just pushes around the cart. He claims that he's less likely to forget things if she takes the lead. She thinks that's absolute rubbish, but she honestly doesn't mind doing it. She rather enjoys teaching Draco the ins and outs of grocery shopping.

"What in Merlin's name is this?" Draco picks up a package of instant ramen.

"Ramen noodles. You just pour hot water on top and wait three minutes." Hermione explains.

"What…?" He widens his eyes and stares at the package.

"'Mione, do we usually have long grain or short grain in the house?" Harry walks toward them carrying two bags of rice.

"Ginny gets short grain." She replies. "How did you manage grocery shopping for the year and a half I was gone?"

"I always went with Ginny." Harry tells her then walks back down the aisle to return a bag of rice.

"That redhead is too smart for her own good… She purposely made Harry run these errands today because she knew I'd be around." Hermione says to no one in particular.

"I'm convinced that woman belonged in Slytherin." Draco says absent-mindedly as he turns over the package and begins to read the cooking instructions. She is thoroughly amused with the sight of Draco Malfoy standing in a muggle supermarket, analyzing a package of instant ramen. "Stop staring at me. You're making me feel like an idiot." He says without looking up. She smiles and takes the ramen out of his hands.

"Do you want to try this?"

"I… Idunno, is it good?" He asks cautiously.

"It's alright. I used to love these when I was growing up, but they're terribly unhealthy so my parents rarely bought them." She tosses the package into the cart. "It's good enough for you to try at least once. My treat." He gives her this sort of sheepish smile, which she finds so endearing that she has to turn away from him. She sees Harry standing only a few feet away, clearly keeping his distance in order to observe. She shoots him a nasty look then pushes the cart past him. He doesn't even try to hide the triumphant smirk on his face. If he wasn't her best friend, she's sure she'd hex him right here.

The rest of their shopping trip goes on just like that- Harry making sure he's picked up the right things, Draco asking about strange muggle food products, and Hermione answering every question they throw at her. When they get to the checkout lanes, Harry and Draco empty the cart onto the conveyor belt while Hermione bags the groceries in an organized fashion.

On their way out of the store, a man clad in workout attire calls out to her as he approaches. "Hermione Granger?"

"Hi…" She answers warily then shoots Harry and Draco a confused glance. Who is this guy?

"Nathaniel. Nathaniel Saunders?" He gestures to himself and takes off his baseball cap as if it'll help jog her memory.

"Saunders…" She wracks her brain until it finally clicks. Harry and Draco can almost see the metaphorical lightbulb go off in her head. "Nate! From down the street. I didn't even recognize you."

"Yeah, I lost a little weight." He answers embarrassedly. 'A little' is an understatement. He's probably lost twenty five kilos since she last saw him. Now, he's all muscle… "I haven't seen you in… six years? A long time. You still look great, though." He offers and not-so-subtly looks her up and down. 'Still'..?

Harry clears his throat.

"Er, right. Nate, this is Harry." Hermione introduces him. Harry quirks an eyebrow and flashes a smirk at her before stretching his arm out for Nate to shake.

"Nice to meet you." Harry says politely.

"And this is Draco." She says.

Draco looks extremely disinterested, but he offers his hand anyway and says, "Hello," in his cool drawl. She looks at him curiously because they rarely see this version of Draco anymore.

"Nate and I were neighbors." She begins to explain.

"We went to primary school together. Her mother was my dentist." Nate continues. "After she left for that secondary boarding school, I only ever saw her during summer break."

"Boarding school." Draco repeats flatly, trying to stifle a smirk. Is that what she told people? It's not a lie, but still… Harry elbows Draco as means of berating him, but Harry just ends up stifling his own smirk.

"Harry and Draco went to the same boarding school as me." She subtly glares at them. "That's why we all know each other." She tells Nate.

"I see. So are you both from around here?" Nate asks them.

"Yeah, I actually live a few blocks from here." Harry replies. "Draco is… Not from this part of London." Draco coughs to hide a laugh and Harry elbows him again.

"Do you live around here?" Hermione asks to distract Nate.

"No, I actually ended up moving to Brighton about three years ago. I'm just visiting some friends for the week. Speaking of-" Nate looks down at his watch. "They're waiting for me so I should probably get going. Maybe we could meet up again while I'm here?"

Clearly, Nate is directing this question only at Hermione. Draco straightens up and clenches his jaw in restless anticipation. Meanwhile, Harry peers over Draco to try to gauge his reaction.

"Um… I- I work five days a week… And, uh, I always spend Friday nights with friends." Hermione answers awkwardly, cursing the fates for putting her in a situation like this. How is she supposed to respond to the advances of another man when the man she has feelings for is standing right there? Is she supposed to say 'no' because she has feelings for someone? Or 'yes' because that someone is already engaged to someone else?

"Next Saturday, then. I'm leaving the day after." Nate looks at her eagerly.

"I might be able to do coffee in afternoon…" She has no idea how she came to this decision but there's no turning back now.

Draco's jaw tightens even more.

Nate looks a little disappointed that 'coffee' is all she's offered, so Harry steps in and says, "Sorry, mate, I had already asked her to help Draco and me with some stuff."

Draco visibly relaxes. Harry meets his eyes for a split second before focusing back on Nate.

Hermione sighs in relief- leave it to Harry to swoop in and save her. What compelled her to suggest coffee? She has no interest in entertaining Nate… Perhaps a part of her knows she'd feel bad if she flat out rejected him right there and then.

"I see…" Nate furrows his brows and his eyes dart from Harry to Hermione to Draco and back to Hermione. "Coffee sounds great. I'll, uh-" He pulls a cellphone out his pocket. "I'll call you."

"Oh, right. Sure." Hermione begins reciting her number so Nate can save it onto his phone.

Draco has seen Hermione use her muggle cellphone a few times to speak with her parents. The thought of her using it for any other reason never dawned on him…

"Well, it was nice meeting you two." Nate gives a half-hearted wave then jogs away.

"Nathaniel Saunders." Harry states plainly as soon as Hermione turns back toward them. "Friendly."

"He's harmless." She says- moreso for Draco's benefit than Harry's.

"You picked a hell of a day to wear that dress." Harry gives her a look as if to say 'I told you so.'

"Shut it." She huffs. If Harry's going to be weirdly protective of her, there's nothing she can do to change it. She looks around to make sure there are no muggles, then quickly shrinks the grocery bags so they can put them into her purse.

On the walk back to Harry's, they stop at a bakery.

"I'm just gonna step in and get a few things for Ginny. It looks pretty crowded in there so you two can just… wait out here…" He gives both of them a look. "I won't be long."

Now that they're alone, the atmosphere is heavy. Weighing down on their shoulders. Hermione looks at Draco. His expression is flat. Still disinterested. There's that wall he likes putting up.

"It's just coffee." She says, looking straight at him. He won't meet her eyes- he keeps looking past her- and it's incredibly irritating. "Should I have declined his invitation?" She asks a little more harshly than she intended.

He finally looks at her and releases the breath he feels like he's been holding since the supermarket. "No, of course not."

"I'm sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable."

"Why would I feel uncomfortable? Because you're getting coffee with a man you haven't seen in six years, even though you rejected the man you see everyday?" He asks sarcastically, his voice cold.

"Draco." She says just as coldly, daring him to continue with his attitude. "I never rejected you. You know that."

"I'm sorry." He sighs frustratedly. He knows she didn't. Even if she was planning to, he hadn't given her the chance to do it. "You have every right to go out with whomever you please."

"I know I do." She says plainly. As if she'd ever let a man dictate her life decisions. "But he really is harmless."

"I wouldn't be so sure. He wasn't very subtle with the way he ogled you." He arches an eyebrow. "I can't really blame him, though." Draco's once-over is done much more tastefully- to admire, as opposed to ogle. "Harry's right. You picked a hell of a day to wear something like that." He gestures to her outfit.

"Shuttup." She scolds him and her face flushes red. He went from almost starting an argument with her to hitting on her in a matter of seconds. The man is completely absurd.

He laughs and says sincerely, "You look nice." Oh great, now he's being sweet.

"Thanks…" She backtracks to their original conversation, "I mean it when I say that Nate is harmless. But I hope that if I ever happen to… find someone I care about, you could be supportive… As supportive as I am of you and your engagement." God only knows how painful it is for her to sit idly by.

He looks at her again- really looks at her- and feels a pain in his chest. These are the words of someone who is forcing herself to be silently resigned. Because of him.

He hears himself saying, "I'll be supportive." He doesn't particularly want to, though, so he adds, "But I can't promise that I'll like the guy." The seriousness in his tone makes her laugh out loud. "You think I'm kidding."

"On the contrary, I think you're being one hundred percent serious." She smiles. "And I'm okay with that."

"Well, good."

"I can promise you that I won't hate Astoria." The name feels strange coming out of her mouth.

"That's because you're a much better person than I am."

"This is true." They laugh a little. Their eye contact does not waiver. "Can I ask you something?" He nods. "Why are you waiting until your engagement party to introduce her to everyone?"

He wasn't expecting that question. "Um, well, I feel like introducing her to people in a casual setting makes it seem too real. Our relationship, I mean."

"Shouldn't it be real, though? You're engaged, after all…"

"It's complicated… I guess it makes things too personal."

"And you don't want things to feel personal between you?" She doesn't quite understand the logic behind that.

"No." He answers truthfully. "We agreed to this arrangement, not to emotional involvement. An arranged marriage is archaic and not at all ideal, but it's the kind of thing families like ours will overlook for tradition's sake."

"I mean no offense, but are all Pureblood values absolutely insane?"

"Most, but not all. There is one shining beacon of morality among Pureblood values- the importance of family. Even if your family is the type to be disillusioned by a powerful dark wizard for decades… Family is still everything." With that, Hermione holds back any other comments she planned on making. She can't argue against it. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you accept my mother's invitation to come to the Manor for tea? I can't imagine you ever wanting to go back there… Not after what my… family did to you." He feels his stomach lurch.

"Like I told Harry and Ron, I decided it was time for me to face my demons. What better way to do it than at the place where I first encountered them?" She shrugs, trying not to make a big deal out of it. But she knows the minute the owl from Mrs. Malfoy arrives, it's going to be a lot more difficult to conceal her anxiety. "Does your father know that I'm a part of your life?"

"Yeah, I told both my parents straight away as soon as we started working together. He gave me a bit of grief about it at first- 'how can you stand working with a muggle born like her' and all that rubbish-" Hermione cringes. Draco gives an apologetic look. "But he eventually shut up about it. I should warn you though, just because my father is a dying old man, doesn't mean he's gotten much nicer. He's cold and aloof as ever, but he listens to my mother so she'll make sure he behaves. It'll be alright."

"Everything turns out alright in one way or another- I'm a firm believer in that." She's not sure how many times she's said a variation of that statement- out loud or to herself- but she means it, so she smiles.

"I know." He smiles back.

From inside the bakery, Harry watches the pair talk and smile at each other while he waits for his order to be boxed up. It seemed like they were ready to argue at first, but the conversation simmered down quickly. At least they were productive with the time he gave them… Draco looked about ready to curse poor Nathaniel Saunders earlier. How can Draco feel so possessive of Hermione, but not want to fight for her? Harry is convinced that the Malfoys are all so blinded by anticipatory grief that they don't understand the implications of this marriage. It's utter malarkey. To make matters worse, Hermione is basically encouraging said malarkey. She's probably the only person who can talk Draco out of this misguided life decision, but she's too scared to do anything about it because she doesn't want to be 'selfish' and they have to 'be supportive'.

Both Harry and Ginny agreed that they will offer any advice that the pair comes looking for and that they will always lend an ear to them… But they also agreed that they cannot and will not interfere. If there's any hope for these two hopelessly stubborn individuals, they need to figure out everything on their own. It's the only way things will ever work out between them.

Harry and Ginny actually have a long-term bet running, which is ridiculous and downright horrible. Ginny thinks that Hermione will come to her senses first. But Harry has faith in Draco. He was smart enough to notice Hermione's brilliance once- he'll do it again. Harry's sure of it.