A/N: Sorry this toook me ages, guys, I've been busy with lousy schoolwork. Trust me, this fic would be done by now if not for it. I used to be an update queen! Haha. :) But I'm doing the best I can, so bear with me. This is also on the shorter side, and, yes, there's a cliffhanger - wince - but I wanted to end it here so I could get into the good stuff next chapter. :D

Happy reading!

A Plotting Man

Her eyes widened and she scrambled to the other side of the couch. What the hell am I doing?

Damon had his mouth open in shock, and she put a hand to her head. "Holy - Damon, I'm sorry, I'm stupid, I'm so stupid - "

"Hermione," he said quietly, avoiding her gaze. "It's fine. Really."

She bit her lip with a pained expression. "No, it's not fine, Damon, and I shouldn't have done it."

He sighed and looked back up at her with a slightly forced smile. "I understand, Hermione. I think you just need to think about things. Maybe you should go talk to Draco about it."

She hesitated before nodding, and he left with another word.

There was silence after the pop of his Apparation in which Hermione stared at nothing in paticular. She then collapsed onto the couch and groaned, limply punching the cushions. She could just imagine Draco snorting at her pouting.

So she was certainly surpsrised when she did. Her head snapped to the hallway entrance, where he was leaning against the wall, his hair a mess and only in sweatpants, a T-shirt and a light jacket when it was below freezing outside.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected."

Oh, no. That was not a good tone.

"Draco, listen, it wasn't anything, I can explain - " she said, sitting up.

"Oh, can you? Because I'm pretty sure I understand perfectly." he said bitterly.

She set her mouth angrily, but had a more pressing question first. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I forgot one of my T-shirts," he said in a bored tone, holding it up - one that Hermione used to always wear. "and I also wanted to say hi to Spot. But I see you on top of Damon instead."

"I was not on top of him, you prat," she snapped, "It lasted for maybe two seconds, and I realize my mistake. Even though we're broken up, so it shouldn't matter, right?"

"Well, I'm certainly being replaced fast." he said, looking evenly into her eyes.

"Draco, I'm not trying to replace you - I never could." she murmured, avoiding his gaze and shrugging.

"No, we're not doing this again," he chuckled shortly, "We've already had our bitter goodbyes, I don't fancy having them again."

He started toward the foyer, and she watched his back.

"I didn't want it to end, you know," she said tentatively, "Maybe we could reconcile after."

He didn't turn to face her immediately, but he turned his head. "How about we just see how this goes?" he said, not in a very promising tone.

She swallowed and breathed, "Okay."

And then he Apparated away.

XXX

"Oh, dear God, Harry, look at her. She's looks like hell."

"Shut up, Ron, you lousy excuse of a brother. That's your friend of ten years right there."

"It's alright, Gin, just ignore him, that's what I've learned to do over the years."

"Harry!"

"Sorry, Ron, it's true."

"Look, I think she moved."

"I hope she didn't hear Ron's comment, or we're all going to suffer her bad mood."

"What? She really does look bloody terrible. Aw, but look how cute Spot looks!"

"Ron!"

"You hopeless git, it's a wonder you get any women at all."

Hermione groaned, slapping a hand to her head. "What the hell are you three doing here?"

She was still on the couch, where she must've fallen asleep. There was a sinking of the cushion next to her, and knew it was Ginny by how delicate it was. She brushed Hermione's hand off her face and put a calculating hand to her forehead, checking motherly for a fever.

"Just came to check in . . . we heard about what happened . . . sort of. The Daily Prophet caught Draco checking into a Muggle hotel." she admitted reluctantly.

"And so did Witch Weekly," Ron added, and Hermione cracked an eye open skeptically. "but they also said he had two female lovers with him, so . . . "

"Okay, Ron, that's enough." Ginny said through gritted teeth.

"It's very encouraging how you had to clarify the lovers were female, Ron." Hermione muttered, sighing and sitting up.

"So . . . what happened?" Harry asked, sitting in one of the armchairs. Hermione placed herself next to Ginny on the couch, and Ron took a seat in the other armchair.

"Did Draco really leave?" Ron asked, not exactly in a friendly tone.

"Yeah." she murmured, looking at her hands.

"That son of a - "

"Ron." Ginny scolded, looking at him with wide eyes.

He set his mouth in an angry line, and sunk into his chair, his eyes slit with fury. Not a good sign.

Harry, on the other hand, just looked confused. "I don't understand, 'Mione," he confessed, "I thought you two were doing well. Unless it has something to do with the accident . . . ?"

"It just - it's kind of complicated, Harry. I don't feel like talking about it - it was only two nights ago. . . ." she said. She knew Harry was informed of the Death Eaters, being an Auror, and, of course, Harry Potter, the savior of the Wizarding World, but she didn't know if he knew of her involvement. "And then - and then Damon came over last night. . . ."

And she told them of the fiasco with Damon and Draco, cringing in anticipation at their responses. But they were understanding . . . well, except Ron, who was still seething.

"Hermione, it's normal to want to feel wanted and comforted after a breakup. The good thing is that you broke it off before it got too serious." Ginny assured her, though there was a worrying glint in her eye.

"It was just bad timing for him to show up. For both of them to show up." Harry reasoned, giving her an empathetic look.

"Yeah, well, for now, we'll just have to see how it goes. Once things . . . clear up, " she said, shooting a meaningful glance at Ginny, "I hope it'll get better."

"Well, how about we go out to lunch together in Diagon Alley?" Ginny suggested lightly, open to a yes or no.

Hermione hesitated. "You know, I think I'm going to stick around here for a while. But you guys go ahead."

They all exchanged uneasy glances before they finally agreed. They left, Ron shooting her a "comforting" 'if-he-does-anything-else-you-know-I'll-kill-him' look. Hermione nodded to humor him, and they Apparated away.

Hermione, of course, spent the rest of the day moping. She never thought she'd actually become one of those over-dramatic break-up girls, but there she was an hour later, whipped cream bottle in her hand and The Notebook playing on TV.

But she wasn't really paying attention. She had only had two squirts of the whipped cream, and she didn't feel the magical sympathy it apparently granted you.

So, really, Hermione wasn't a melodramatic break-up girl. She was more realistic, more logical than that. A little crying, and the girly stuff was done. Then, she decided and executed her next move to keep her life going.

Which was what she was working on.

The only problem was . . . what did she do from here?

There was a knock on the door right in the middle of the movie, and she grunted in annoyance as she heaved herself from the couch. The person must be someone she didn't know, or they wouldn't be knocking. She was slightly wary when opening it, but, after a moments thought, she opened it.

She gasped at who stood there. Someone who she'd thought was taking refuge in their home. Someone who she'd never wanted to see again. Someone who had once been one of Voldemort's most powerful servants.

Lucius Malfoy grinned a sly grin, his hands clasped behind his back, his hair neatly combed, his black cloak neatly folded. Just like she remembered. She didn't see a man who'd been hiding for the past few years, who'd apparantly been living in fear and regret.

No. No, she saw the same man she'd seen before the war. Maybe even a little . . . happier, if you may. A little wiser. A little more clever.

She saw a plotting man with a scheme in mind.

"Hello, Hermione."