When she closed the door behind her, she leant against it for a while. She didn't know how she was feeling. She was angry, and sad, and upset, and most of all lonely. All she wanted was to snuggle up next to Draco and feel his warm arms surrounding her, but it was stressful because she couldn't do it knowing that he could be lying to her again.
She finished off the rest of the day at her desk, dragging out every task so that she would have something to do until she left.
When she did leave to go home, she didn't know what she would do for dinner. She usually ate by herself anyway but today she felt extra lonely.
By the time she got home, she wanted chicken from a Portuguese place she heard about from a flyer in the mailbox. She already had her phone in her hand and was contemplating calling for a pick-up. The screen on her stove read 6:30, so she looked back at the phone and dialed Harry's number.
"Hello?" answered Ginny.
"Gin, it's Hermione."
"Mione! How are you? Are you okay? We haven't heard from you since the thing happened, and we've been worried since. I wanted to call but Harry said to give you space."
Hermione giggled to herself at this. That was so like Harry to be the rational one. "Yes, Ginny, I'm fine. We talked it out."
"Oh," she sighed. "So are you two better now?"
She wasn't exactly sure what to say. She didn't feel like explaining everything but she also didn't feel like lying to her best friend, so after a pause of silence Hermione had to change the subject. "Did you already have dinner? I miss you guys. Can we eat in together?"
"Oh, uhm, sure. Of course we can. Come over and then we'll decide what to eat when you get here."
She agreed to be there in thirty minutes and hung up.
While she was getting ready, the only thing she thought about was what she was going to say to them about the situation. She obviously knew that she had to tell them eventually but she wasn't sure how. Was she just going to blurt out that she was a giant mixture of hatred, sadness, anger and loneliness? Or would it just be easier if she told the facts first and then explained how she felt about it?
On the other hand, she wasn't exactly sure if what Draco told her were "facts." For all she knew, he could be lying just to please her. A part of her felt that he was telling the truth, but another part of her told her not to let herself get hurt by him again.
By the time she got to Harry and Ginny's house, she had a general idea of her speech in her head. She rang the doorbell and was greeted by Harry's reassuring face. They smiled at each other and he showed her into the house.
She walked into the TV room where Ginny was sitting on the couch waiting for the two of them. There were three cups of coffee in front of her on the coffee table; one that was full and two that were three-quarters full.
Behind her, Harry said, "We've ordered some Chinese food before you got here, The usual."
She made her way over to sit beside Ginny who opened her arms for a hug as she drew near. They embraced each other as Harry sat down on the other side of Hermione. Soon, they found themselves in a great group hug as Harry wrapped his arms around the two women. It was only then that Hermione found out that she was crying, and Ginny was shocked when she felt something wet drip onto her shoulder.
"Oh, Hermione it's okay," Ginny said soothingly.
More tears escaped from her eyes. "Maybe."
They all let go and Hermione started explaining what happened. The doorbell rang just as Hermione was telling them about the part when she left Draco's office, and Harry went up to retrieve the food. The two ladies made their way over to the kitchen where the dining table was already set with plates and cutlery. As they sat down, she finished telling Ginny how she is hesitant to believe Draco's outlandish story when Harry walked in with a big bag of food and some change in his hand.
He set the bag on the counter and began moving food from the counter onto the table. First the beef fried rice, then the chicken balls with sweet and sour sauce, then the Cantonese chow mein, followed by beef with broccoli and finally some fortune cookies, all laid out in the middle of the table.
As Ginny was getting herself some rice, Harry asked, "When he told you the story, how believable was it?"
"I just told you Harry, I don't know. Part of me thinks he could be telling the truth but it also seems like he's making it up just to keep me happy."
"Well, you know him better than I do. Do you think he would ever lie to you about that?"
Hermione thought about that. She recalled all the times they spent together, the memories they made. She wasn't exactly sure that he would fake all those happy times because he did seem genuinely happy. It was a different side of him that she had never seen.
But then again, she wasn't sure.
She pushed the subject out of her mind and helped herself to some beef. She took most of the broccoli because neither Harry nor Ginny cared much for it, but Hermione loved vegetables. She guessed that her friends sensed that she didn't want to talk about it anymore because they didn't press her with questions. Instead, Ginny decided to drift the conversation somewhere else.
"Hermione," she said after the awkward silence felt too uncomfortable, "I need your help picking out some paint colors for the bedrooms upstairs."
"Ginny and I have been arguing over which shade of white to paint our room for days," said Harry, seeming slightly annoyed.
"It's not white, it's just a light beige!" Ginny said defensively.
They all laughed at that. Hermione continued to smile and eat while Harry insisted he didn't care what color the room is, and Ginny insisted on how much it matters.
"All I'm saying," said Ginny with a hint of finality in her tone, "Is that I just think our room would be more appealing if it had a bit more color in it."
"Then why does it have to be white? Or "beige"? Why not a blue, or purple, or an actual color?" questioned Harry.
"Because it would be too harsh to the eye. Also, it's very difficult finding décor that matches blue or purple. Having a neutral background wall color makes it so much easier to find pretty décor for the home," Ginny countered.
The argument was getting pretty heated, and Hermione felt like she needed to step in. "So," she said loud enough to gather their attention, "Harry, anything new at the Ministry?"
"Eh, nothing too big. Working a bit more now that Ron's gone and they're still hiring for a replacement, but other than that, nothing really exciting." He shoved a spoonful of rice in his mouth.
Ron. Totally forgot about him.
"Have you heard anything from him lately?" she asked the two of them.
"We talked a few weeks ago, but it was very brief. Apparently they have him working a lot there. But he seemed happy," said Ginny.
Hermione smiled. Even though she didn't see or hear from him much anymore, she was glad to know that he was doing well.
They finished eating and sat down once the table was clear and the dishes were washed. The coffee was cold now so Ginny put all three mugs on a tray and reheated them in the microwave while Harry and Hermione sat on the couch discussing movies to watch.
When Ginny came back, she asked, "Hermione, what are you doing for you lunch on Friday?"
Hermione took a sip from her mug and said, "Hm, I usually eat lunch in the cafeteria at my office. So I'll probably be there. Why?"
"I was thinking we could have lunch together that day. A girl's day out. They're giving me that day off because they're relocating the shop. We hired movers to move inventory out of our old shop and into the new one, so I'll be free that day."
Ginny co-owned a shop with the wife of one of Harry's friends. It was a furniture shop, so it came very handy when Ginny and Harry moved into their new home. They recently purchased a bigger lot of land so they're moving their small shop to a bigger one that better suits the needs of the company. The other woman said she would take charge for the day, so Ginny didn't need to go.
She smiled. "I'd love that, Ginny."
Hermione didn't end up going home until 11:00 that night, but she didn't mind. She had an amazing time with her friends and was thankful that they were able to make her feel better. If anything, she was thankful to get her mind off Draco, or even just her problems in general. She laid in bed on top of the sheets, looking at the ceiling and was so tired that her eyes were shut before another thought of him came.