Cracked Foundations

"We need to talk."

The dreaded words. But Draco knew that Hermione meant them differently than the usual.

The day was Saturday, so Hermione was off work, and she'd been cooped up in her room the whole day. When she finally came out and entered the living room, Draco didn't even look up. She probably stood there for at least two solid minutes - she probably thought he didn't know she was there . . . but he did.

He looked up at her indifferently and pushed his reading glasses further up his nose. "Yes?" He caught sight of her expression and nodded, setting his book down. "Oh, it's time to talk about that conversation we had the other night, yeah?"

She hesitated, then nodded, coming to sit down next to him. He really didn't know what to expect, especially with Hermione. She was very up and down, high and low. Or maybe that was all women. Either way he didn't know what she was -

"I want to be with you," she said quickly, and he looked over at her amused surprise. "As in, really date you - I mean, well, is that weird?"

He leaned back into the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, smirking. "You want to date me?"

She shifted nervously and fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "Erm, well, yeah. I mean, I guess - it's not a big deal if you don't want to, Draco, really." she said hastily.

Draco supressed his laughter as he thoroughly enjoyed her becoming fidgety. "Well, I might be okay with that." he said with an over-exaggerated sigh.

She glanced at him, her brow furrowed, and then did an irritated double take. "You're making fun of me!" she exclaimed in realization, standing.

He laughed as she scowled, and she started to storm off to her room, but he hopped up and grabbed her around the waist, burying his head into her neck.

He smiled against her collarbone, chuckling. "I'm sorry, love."

"Oh, get off me, you bum." she said unconvincingly, pushing his shoulder.

He lifted his head and grinned at her. "Actually, I have a job now, so, as a matter of fact, I'm not a bum anymore. So, hah."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever." she muttered.

"And to answer your question," he murmured, studying her. "I would love to be in a relationship with you."

She smiled and bit her lip. "Well . . . good." she said, and he chuckled, kissing her.

XXX

"How the bloody hell did you talk me into this?" Draco muttered as Hermione dragged him by the hand to Ginny's office.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. You'll be done in minutes." she said, rolling her eyes as she knocked on Ginny's door.

"Come in." came Weaslette's voice from within.

Hermione started to open the door, and tugged his hand, but he didn't budge. She looked back at him with a warning glare.

"Come on, Draco."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Draco!"

"No - she's scary!" he whispered hastily.

Hermione gave him a wide eyed look. "You're scared of Ginny?"

He scowled as she started to laugh. "Don't you dare make fun of me, Granger, or - "

"Everything alright out here?" Ginny asked, popping her head out the door.

Hermione grinned at her. "Nothing, we're fine. He's ready."

She pushed him towards the door and he stumbled in, leaving Hermione outside. He swallowed as Ginny closed the door and he sat down in the chair across from her desk.

"Okay," the pretty red head sighed, sitting down, "This is going to be quick, since you probably don't know much, correct?"

He nodded. "Correct. So why am I here?"

"It's procedure, Draco," she replied, and sat up straighter. "So, let's get started. When did they start to actually pursue you?"

"Almost a year after Hogwarts." he answered.

She raised her eyebrows. "It's been years since then. Why didn't you come sooner? Actually, you didn't even come willingly."

He smiled dryly. "Would you've really believed anything I tried to tell you? I bet you still think I'm in on it."

She pursed her lips, studying him. "Don't be smart with me, Malfoy, I'm here to help you. Now, do you have a specific on why they're doing this to you?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because I immediately let go of the Death Eater life. I stopped killing and worshipping a dead man. So they came after me in revenge. There are probably others being chased, too."

Ginny rubbed a hand over her face. "Okay. What do they do? Because you're still alive."

He shrugged. "I injure them before they can do anything to me. I usually Stun them, then Apparate them someplace unfamiliar and then change locations. Or, at least, that's how it was until I met Hermione. It was her idea to become popular with the public, so they'd notice if I went missing or something like that."

Ginny frowned appreciatively. "Clever. So, do you have any idea if they have a leader?"

"I'm betting they do. But I have no clue who it is."

She leaned her elbows onto the deak and rubbed her temples. "Brilliant. Alright, have you been contacted by them since you moved in with Hermione?"

He cleared his throat and nodded, relaying the story of the alley and their sweet little 'we'll-be-watching' warning. He also told her Hermione didn't know about it.

"And why not?" she asked testily, "She'd be interested in this."

"Yes, well, I haven't exactly told her everything." he muttered uncomfortably.

"You what?" Ginny sputtered.

"She doesn't need this put on her shoulders, you know that," Draco protested defensively, "She's dealt with enough of this Dark Arts rubbish in her life, and I won't be responsible for burdening her more so. It's not fair."

"Erm, it kind of sound like you care about her," Ginny noted, raising an eyebrow, "I thought you two were only fake-dating."

"Yeah, we changed that this morning. We're really a couple now."

"Oh. Well, that's very odd."

"Yeah. . . ."

"Well, Draco, don't you think you've had enough of this Drak Arts in your life, as well?" she countered, "And Hermione fought Voldemort and the Death Eaters half her life, remember that."

"Yes, well, the difference now is I don't have a choice, and she does." he muttered bitterly.

"She'd want to know," Ginny reasoned, "She's obviously stronger than you think."

"I know she's strong, trust me. I'm just trying to protect her." he said somewhat desperately.

"Well, she's already in waist-deep," she said, sighing, "You better tell her everything, Draco, before I do. She deserves to know."

Draco didn't respond, he just looked away, locking his jaw.

"Yes, well, I'll call you in if I need anymore information," she said, standing. "Be safe, Draco. The Aurors will catch these guys, don't worry. You won't have to run anymore."

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Draco replied, unconvinced. He'd searched, too, back when it first started, and he couldn't find anything. And he'd tried everything within his control, and he didn't exactly have a budget. He didn't see hjw the Aurors would be anymore successful. But, then again, he would have both the bad and good guys on his tail twenty four-bloody-seven now, so they'd have to have a run-in eventually.

"You can go," she allowed, then glanced up at him thougthfully and advised gently, "Draco, don't give up hope. That's the biggest mistake you can make - you end up doing stupid things. There's still time for you. Your life has barely begun."

Draco just stared at her. Merlin, for someone a year younger than him, she sure seemed so much older and wiser than he could ever be.

"And remember - tell her." she reminded him, not noticing his observation.

Draco nodded shortly before walking out of the office wearily. Hermione stood up when he closed the door.

"See? That wasn't so bad - you weren't even gone ten minutes. How'd it go?" she asked as they started walking.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Fine, I guess."

"You've still got to tell me what's going on, you know." she said quietly.

He glanced at her, and a pang went through his chest. "Yeah, I know."
"Come on, we'll talk at home."

XXX

And he told her - finally. She just stayed silent the whole time, and, when he finished in a rush, she just nodded. If he was expecting anything, it wasn't that. He didn't even know what he was expecting, he was just shooting for getting through it and then just seeing how it went. Probably a stupid idea.

"And . . . that's all." he finished lamely.

She nodded, looking down. "Well, at least I wasn't too out of the loop. I just didn't get the Death Eater memo," she said lightly, "which I guess is a big part, since the people who almost brought the downfall of the Wizarding World are coming after you, and they're also the people who killed my parents, but -but . . . "

She didn't finish, and he didn't know what to say with such a touchy subject. He didn't even try 'I'm sorry' - he knew she'd gotten enough of those from him and everyone else. She finally cleared her throat and looked up at him.

"Well, we can get through it, right?" she said breathlessly and put her hand over his, smiling.

He nodded determinedly. "Yeah. Yeah, we can get through it, 'Mione."

She nodded back and patted his hand, standing and going to her room. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. If one thing bothered him, it was that he didn't know what was going through that woman's mind.

Draco hadn't really been attached to a woman in his life, not even so much with his own mother, so it was understandable that he was he was a little troubled at the thoughts going through his head. Something like, all he wanted to do was make it right for her. Or, he was scared that now she would just leave him in the dust because of how screwed up his life was. Or . . . he just - he just needed her.

He just needed her.